One Month & A Dozen Posts Later...

One month ago, in this post, I decided to do my best to post more frequently, in hopes of making my tiny corner of the interwebs as cheerful as possible. It felt like we were in for a long haul of this staying-at-home business, and a month later, it looks like we've got a way to go yet. I always want to make sure this blog is a calm, happy place, and I especially wanted to be more present now during this extraordinary time of stress. I hope you're finding this a bright spot to stop for a minute during your day, because I am definitely enjoying sharing my days more often. Let's just keep going, shall we?

Today we have the four food groups of a stitching blog: a framed/finished piece, food, freebies, and a feline. What could be better? Up first, my finally framed Garden Sampler by Karen Kluba. I stitched this beauty a couple of years ago and I'm delighted to say it's still available! I used the recommended Valdani threads and stitched it on PTP Valor, my absolute favorite fabric color. I stumbled across the green wood frame on clearance a few years ago and squirreled it away and it happened to be perfect for this sampler.

I snuck a tiny fox into the garden!

I spent a while in the kitchen today, trying out a couple of new recipes: Cappuccino Cake Brownies and a tiny lemon pound cake. Happy to report they are both keepers!

Tiny Lemon Pound Cake (5 1/2" x 3" loaf pan)

Whisk together:
1/2 c. cake flour
1/4 tsp. baking powder
1/8 tsp. salt

In a separate bowl, whisk together:
1/3 c. sugar
4 Tbsp. butter, melted and cooled
1 egg, room temperature
1 1/2 tsp. grated lemon zest
1/2 tsp. lemon juice
1/4 tsp. vanilla

Glaze:
2 Tbsp. sugar
1 Tbsp. lemon juice

Gradually add flour mixture into wet ingredients; combine but don't overmix. Pour into greased and floured pan and bake at 325 for 30-40 minutes, rotating the pan once during baking. Let cool in pan 10 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack. To glaze, combine sugar and lemon juice and microwave about a minute, stirring once, until sugar is completely dissolved. Using a toothpick, poke holes in the top and sides of cake and brush with warm glaze. Allow to cool completely before slicing.

I've been posting a lot of freebies lately, most of which are from designers participating in the "Be Well and Stitch" project. If you've missed any, just click on the "freebie" label at the end of this post and all of my posts containing freebie links will pop up. There are tons, and there are still a few trickling in. The latest entries that I'm aware of are:

Lila's Studio, an adorable bunny

Shepherd's Bush, a sweet sheepie 

Well, now. That was some pretty good stuff, wasn't it? New stash, new recipes, new freebies! And there's more to come! The kitchen is cookin' and the sewing room is hummin', so stay safe, stay healthy, and stay tuned! We'll be right here.