The First Cut!

Ok. So, I've been talking about making this quilt out of some old t-shirts for quite some time now.  I've definitely had a large black garbage bag, that I keep stuffing more shirts into, for at least a year now (and sometimes saving shirts from the bag and quietly incorporating them back into wardrobe rotation), but I've probably been blabbing about it for much longer. I do that - talk about things too much before actually doing them.

But tonight! Tonight was a big night! First, I made it out to Fabricland (FABRICLAND!) to purchase sashing fabric, backing fabric, and some handy fusible interfacing, to help keep my t-shirts from being too stretchy. I opted not to get batting for in between my layers. I might regret this later, but the backing fabric I chose (a cozy, bright red, fleece) seems to be hefty enough... I had a hard time picking my fabrics, since my t-shirt collection is on the rather loud side of things. Finding something that would 'match' proved to be futile, so I grabbed something that I hope will at least be inoffensive. We'll see.

Once I got home, I procrastinated a bit more, and then pulled my garbage bag out of the closet, and chose my first victim! I didn't think I'd have a hard time cutting this shirt up, but I did. Strange.

Here it is! A cute, baby blue t-shirt brought back from a trip my parents took to Newfoundland, for one of my moms cake decorating conferences. It was more an around-the-house kind of shirt, and was well loved...but definitely doesn't hold the same sentimental attachments as some of the other shirts in the bag. Maybe they'll be the last ones cut.

Some things I learned today about cutting fabric and quilting:
1. I really need to buy a rotary cutter, because all my cuts are jagged and uneven
2. The process of tying my quilt looks like it's going to be a huge pain in the ass.

Sweets for my Sweet!

Yesterday was Valentine's Day, and I kept up the tradition of baking something ridiculously chocolatey for myself and the boy. We don't take Valentine's Day very seriously around these here parts, but baked goods and little treats are always appreciated!

I got the boy a really cool travel guide for our upcoming trip to Chicago:

He got me a pretty bouquet of white roses:

And I baked us this sinfully delicious batch of Double Chocolate Chocolate Chip Brownies to share:

If you love brownies that are the perfect combination of just-a-little-bit-crunchy on the outside, and melt-in-your-mouth on the inside, you must bake these. Oh, and they go really well with chocolate brownie ice cream. Just sayin'.

Double Chocolate Chocolate Chip Brownies (from Martha Stewart's 2010 Holiday Magic Magazine)

1/2 cup unsweetened butter, softened & cut into pieces; more for pan

3/4 cup AP flour

1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

8 oz bittersweet chocolate (the recipes says you can use semisweet too, but that's for chumps)

1 1/4 cups sugar

3 large eggs

Extra chocolate chips for later

1. Preheat oven to 350. Butter 8 inch pan (it says square, but I used round) and line with parchment paper, leaving overhang on two sides. Butter parchment (the parchment paper really helped to get the brownies out of the pan, and saved on clean up!).
Whisk flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt in a bowl 'til combined.

2. Melt butter & chocolate in large saucepan over lowest heat (the magazine suggests doing this in a pan over simmering water, which you can do if you want, but this works well too. Just don't turn the heat up high and stir often!). 

Once melted, remove from stove and add sugar; stir to combine. Add eggs; stir! Stir in the flour mixture, and add in those extra chocolate chips I mentioned. Stir in flour mixture until just moistened. Now, transfer the mixture into your prepared pan!

3. Bake for about 25-35 minutes (until a toothpick comes out with just a few crumbs attached). Cool in pan on wire rack about 30 minutes, then lift brownies out of pan w/parchment and cool longer on the rack. 

After they are nice and cool, cut them into whatever shape and size you would like, and eat them! They will be amazing and you won't be able to stop.

Welcome to Whisks and Whimsy!

Hello! Welcome to my little place on the internet. I think you'll like it here. The idea for this blog started when I decided to make a quilt out of all of my favourite old t-shirts, and wanted to document the process and tell stories about each shirt and why they were special. But then I thought: "Well, blogging about a quilt could get mighty boring. And what if I want to talk about baking? Or books? Or some crazy random thing that everyone needs to know about?".

It became apparent that I needed a less focused blog approach, which was fine with me, since I like doing so many things. Whisks and Whimsy was chosen as the name after a long, drawn out process that involved many lists, pints, discussions with friends, and other procrastination tactics designed for the sole purpose of never getting around to actually starting a blog at all. It's nice as it combines my strange affection for words starting with 'wh' with baking terminology and general fun and creativity.

I still haven't made the quilt. But I have started the blog, and that will be the impetus for actually making the damn thing. In the meantime, please visit often for recipes, pictures of baked goods, lists, stories, crafts, etc., etc., etc.