the icon range

Love it that St. Louis has an arch. Seattle has a space needle. What does Minnesota have? That #%$@ Spoonbridge! Ok, it's kind of neat to visit, but does it define our state, and our people? As a designer, clients usually want us to include that icon that represents us. A big fish? Paul Bunyan? Turns out that Ohio and Montana also think that Paul Bunyan is their icon too. He did stamp out all of the those lakes all over the country. Anyway, I spied this t-shirt at the thrift store last week. Some anonymous illustrator's take on icon-ry:

Just after I put up this post, I received this mailer from the MN Historical Society. It's done by Brett Schoonover. Super talented guy. http://www.brentschoonover.com/

Here's a close-up:

One thing about the shape of the state of Minnesota--all designers CHEAT the pointy shape on the upper right side. You always have to shorten it to fit on the page. Here's the true scale of the state:

But certianly more interesting than COLORADO! What is your favorite state shape?

Sewing Your Own Oats - Part Dew

Sure, freezing a log of dough and saving it for later is a nice thought. In a month, when I'm crunched for time I can bake up a sheet of cookies for that unexpected drop-in guest. Well, not gonna happen. Seems that the "cookie duh" (cookie monster) apppeared and devoured most of the dough.

It's neat how the knife sliced right through the oats.

Here's what the log yielded: SEVEN!

In the fresh batch, the butterscotch chips were hidden.

You're right Cathy, they didn't spread out as much.

Sewing Your Own Oats

I've found it's IMPOSSIBLE to duplicate a friend's recipe exactly as they made it.  Beth makes the greatest "stolen neiman marcus (or is it Mrs. Fields?) chocolate chip cookie" recipe. It uses oatmeal that you put in the food processor to make it a finer texture. Some of the chips are ground up too, which gives it a brownish/taupe-ish color. Then you bake for a VERY short period of time. So I tried it myself. Close, but I think I'll just let Beth make them. She has it all figured out. Perfect every time!

So on to BEV's oatmeal cookies. She brought them to a party at my house a few years ago and they were memorable. So memorable that when I saw her the other day, she was happy to give me the recipe.
Here's my attempt:

Things didn't start out very well. 

I set the microwave for 25 seconds...or so I thought. 

I wasted a whole pound of butter. @$%#! Thanks to mega quantities from Costco, I had more butter in the fridge so I moved forward with the project.

Standard mixing proceedure, sugar/butter, eggs/vanilla, dry, then oatmeal/chips. 

Nothing unusual, except for the delightfully scripted recipe which includes:

1 teaspoon soda (That’s baking soda not Coke)

3 cups “Old Fashion Oats” (Don’t be using any of that quick stuff)

½ cup chopped California walnuts (I’m sure there are other places in the world that grow walnuts)

1 cup raisons (leaving the raisons out or substituting would be sacrilege)

Well sacrilege, here I come, because I substituted BUTTERSCOTCH CHIPS. They are my vice of the month. And no nuts. The kids would have a fit.

Also in the recipe: "Here comes the good part – Eat while still warm."

My first pan of cookies were like pancakes, way too thin. But very edible.

So I added a smidge more flour:

Much better. This is the backside (probably a blog photography first):

One last tip from the creator: "For freezing: (But why not eat them all right now) Make rolls of dough and wrap in plastic wrap or waxed paper, seal in double freezer bag. Good for 3 to 6 months."

So I did it but this log doesn't have the extra flour so they will be pancakes. Can't believe I even own freezer paper...what did I buy that for anyway?

PS coming soon: my attempt at Dianne's Oatmeal cookies...but never mind. Let's just say hers can't be duplicated either.

The Garage Condo: The new "UP NORTH"

Last weekend we were invited to "CARS AND CAFE", an early morning event that's over and done with by 11am. It has a flea market, carnival-like atmosphere, but the items on display and aren't for sale. It's held at the Auto Motor Plex in Chanhassan, right near Paisley Park studios. Upon arrival, the first thing we saw were tons of people and heard the roar of expensive engines.

The next thing we saw were the "garage condos".  

Rows and row of the them, many with great garage decor.

There's a main lodge. If this place had a pool, 

you could come here for a vacation.

Cars aren't the only things housed here. 

I saw a guy working on a great big boat. 

I also learned what a "Rat Rod" is.

It's a car that is intentionally left rusty and raw. 

The surface is sealed so the rusty stays perfect. Really cool!

SOOOOO a Needle Pulling Thread...

Remember when Maria from the Sound Of Music made outfits out of curtians? A few years ago I picked up this fabric at Unique Thift.  It was a nice cotton that was made into 2 lengthy curtian panels. I paid less than 3 bucks for it.

I thought the pattern/color was very similiar to a dress I had just seen in Vogue. This spring at Target I saw these dresses and thought the fabric was very similar to curtian fabric stashed in the basement. Maybe Target was inspired by the dress in Vogue, too.

Elastic waist skirts are also very "IN" this year.  I picked up WIDE elastic at Joann Fabrics for $6.

Sammy has a skirt similiar to the ones above. Looked very easy to duplicate. Idea is now hatched.

I put the girls to work. They learned how to make and pull a gathering thread & press and sew a hem.

Of course all couture creations involve fittings.

All for less than $5 bucks each. Don't they look great? I still have enough fabric to make one more...

Caramel not Carmel

Mom makes everyone caramels at Christmastime. 
She makes boxes out of old Xmas cards to hold the 
candy and writes everyone's name with her calligraphy pen. 
2004's packaging had a curvy shape:

Mom's been wanting to teach the girls how to make them. 

She came the house last weekend fully prepared. 
That's the girl scout and teacher in her.  

The recipe is from one of the volumes in 
her Woman's Day recipe encyclopedia.

Once everything was measured (and don't ruin it by adding nuts!)

all it needed to do was to cook on the stovetop.

Sammy went first. Notice tiny bubbles early on.

Stirring duties were transfered to another willing student.

Still stirring. Notice how the bubbles are larger.

That's the same wooden spoon we used when I was a kid. 

They tested the temp by dropping hot candy in cold water. 
I didn't take a photo of that.

The pan is from Martha Stewart's collection at Macy's. 

Nice even heat with a non-stick coating. 
It worked great and clean-up was a breeze.

Seems like they stirred for about an hour... 
think I'll check the photo records for the time.

Wow! I was right. They started at 11:20 and didn't 
pour it into the Fire King casserole until 12:24pm. 

And mom wasn't trying to be hip and trendy by using 
the old yellow glass casserole. 

She got it for her wedding in the 50s, 
and "that's the pan I make the caramels in".

The caramels needed to cool before cutting. 

After about a half hour, we put it in the fridge and 
went to the fabric outlet. All I brought home was my life 
(that place is a fire trap!) and this lovely photo.

Oops, we were gone a little too long. 
Now the caramel was a little too cold.

See the spatula marks where mom forced 
it out of the pan onto the cutting board.

After cutting into 1/2 inch strips and then into one inch-ish pieces with a chef's knife, 

Mom showed us how to wrap them in waxed paper.

 "Roll it than twist the outer end of the wrapper and push it in.

If you twist it too close to the caramel, it can tear the paper."

I put the bowl up high. When it's in full view, you're constantly into it.

Think I'll go have one--RIGHT NOW!