Whole Wheat Norwegian Rosettes -- Recipe

Every year when I was growing up my grandmother (whose parents immigrated from Norway in the 1800s) would make Scandinavian cookies and treats at Christmas time.  The two I remember the most are Rosettes and Krumkake.  I've always wanted to continue that tradition and a few years back my husband bought me a Rosette iron.  Since then I've made them every Christmas.  I love them but they're rather time consuming!

When my family converted to eating 100% whole wheat and whole sugar I thought I was going to have to stop making most of my favorite desserts and treats, like Rosettes.  Not so!  I've discovered I can substitute nearly every time by using whole wheat pastry flour.  It's a finer ground flour made from a less dense wheat than regular whole wheat flour.  Sometimes it takes a little modification, but other times not.  I also used whole sugar (Sucanat) in the batter for this recipe.  Since it only called for a small amount the molasses flavor would not be a problem. The only thing I "cheated" on was the confectioner's sugar on top.  I wanted the white, but otherwise would have ground Sucanat in a small coffee grinder to use instead.  Maybe next time I'll try grinding up Xylitol.  I wonder if that would work...

Whole Wheat Rosettes

2 eggs
1 Tablespoon whole cane sugar
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt

confectioner's sugar to sprinkle on top

Place a sauce pan or low pot with oil about 2 inches deep and heat to 375 degrees F.  Combine eggs, sugar and salt, beating well.  Add flour and blend with fork or whisk.  Add milk, a little at a time, making sure to eliminate lumps, and stir until smooth.  Place the iron into the hot oil and and heat for 2 minutes.  Lift out and let excess oil drip from the iron for a moment.  Dip into the batter to slightly below the top edge of the iron and immediately transfer to the hot oil.  Hold the iron in the oil (keeping it off the bottom of the pan) for about 30 seconds, or until golden.  Lift out, turn upside down to drain excess oil.  Using a fork, gently push the rosette off the iron onto paper towels placed on a cooling rack.  Reheat the iron in the oil for 1 minute and cook the next rosette.  Repeat until batter gets too low.  Let rosettes cool, then sprinkle with confectioner's sugar. 

The amount this recipe makes is dependent upon the size of the iron(s).  I got about 18 large cookies out of it.  This recipe was adapted from a recipe submitted to allrecipes.com by  Pat Kersteter.
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I'm linking to all the fun link parties on my "Blog Parties I Link To" page, including

Giveaway! -- CSN Stores

I'm so excited to offer my very first giveaway!

If you've been making the rounds on the blogs any time recently I'm sure you've heard of CSNstores.com.  You know how other websites have different sections for departments?  Well, CSN has so much to offer they have created a different website for every department!  (That's more than 200 websites, by the way)  They sell nearly everything from tv stands, couches, tables, chairs, bookcases, bed frames, dressers, etc, etc (on the furniture end) to home decor of all kinds, cookware, housewares, tools and home improvement supplies, outdoor furniture and decor, baby gear, pet supplies, shoes, fitness equipment, office and school furniture and supplies. 

They are letting me offer a $25 gift certificate which can be used at any of their websites!  It does not include shipping, but many things have free shipping anyway (some larger items even have free inside delivery -- now how cool is that?).  Open to residents of the US and Canada.

To enter (leave a comment for each one you do): 

1.  Become a follower/subscriber of my blog (or if you are already)

2.  Post on Facebook about the giveaway and link here

3.  Tweet about the giveaway on Twitter with link here

4.  Post on your blog about the giveaway and link back 

This giveaway will be open until Sunday night, 11:59 pm MST and the winner will be announced Monday morning.

Good luck!

Paper and Ruffles Lampshade Redo

Have you ever completed a project only to decide you don't like it and do it over again?  That's what happened with a couple lamps I was working on for our master bedroom.  Thankfully I didn't have to redo the whole thing, just the lampshades.

I wanted to try to decorate our bedroom (since it really hasn't been decorated at all) and bring in some warm colors so a while back I spray painted two matching lamps red. 

before

after

The two lampshades I had on them were plain white (too stark of a contrast for me), so I Modge Podged some paper with some dried grass and other natural flecks of stuff in it.  At first I hot glued double fold bias tape to the rim of the shade, and it looked pretty good, but I wasn't too in love with it.

So I decided to take off the bias tape and replace it with ruffles.  Okay, so maybe I just wanted an excuse to use this fabulous thing...

This ruffler attachment, although looks like its modern counterparts, is from 1957.  It's a great companion to my 1954 sewing machine.

I started out by cutting strips of fabric 1" wide (although I could have used ribbon as well) and left the edges raw.

I just sewed down the middle and had instant gathered trim!  I could have also used elastic thread on the bobbin to get the same result.

Then with some hot glue, I had my finished product. (I found that ruffles on the top and bottom looked a bit too frilly for my taste)

Linking to all the fabulous link parties on my "Blog Parties I Link to" page.

Tragedy in the Community -- Provo Tabernacle Destroyed in Fire

In the heart of Utah county, in Provo, Utah, there is a building which is by far the most beautiful and treasured in the whole county.  It was completed in 1886 and was a hub of activity for the community.  Held in the "Provo Tabernacle" were church gatherings of various faiths, concerts, funerals and graduations.  Some of which my family and I attended.

Photo circa 1880s

Circa 1980

Circa 1986

Circa 1890s

Circa 1986

In fact, a concert was scheduled for December 17th and 18th.  Film crews were set up to film it and beautiful, expensive musical instruments were arranged inside.  In the very early morning, around 2:45 am a security guard called 911 saying there was a fire.  Fire crews worked hard all throughout the day, but it appears the beloved Tabernacle may be a complete loss.

My family and I drove past about 16 hours later and it was still burning inside.  It was surreal to see that beautiful landmark in such ruin.  The only consolation I feel is that the fire happened in the dead of night when no one was there, instead of in the middle of the concert when the building would have been packed with people. 

Below are some photos I took of the scene. (Click on the photos for larger versions)

Spray from the fire hose coated the trees in ice

I Heart Faces -- Fix it Friday #81 -- Photo Edits

I recently discovered the website I Heart Faces.  It's a fun website with photography challenges, tips, interviews, etc.  One of the things they do is "Fix it Friday" where participants can download an original photo and make any edits they want, then share it on the I Heart Faces website.  I decided to try it out!

Here is the original photo (not by me):

Here is one edit I did, solely in Adobe Lightroom:

I applied a preset called "Angels Light" I picked up from a talented photographer who sells and sometimes gives away presets Nelli's Lightroom Presets.   Then I bumped up the reds, oranges and yellows to give it a more autumn-like feel.  I put in a touch of fill light to bring out the detail in the woman's jacket, and that was it. 

And another one, because I love close-up crops (also in Lightroom):

This one I did even less work on.  (Maybe it shows... ha ha)  I applied a preset called "Free Bird", lightened a bit, and added a subtle vignette. 

I'll be doing most of their "Fix it Fridays" and photo challenges each week from now on, so keep a look out for them.  Except this week their theme is pet photos and we don't have any pets, so I'll have to wait till next week... or try to borrow someone else's pet... :)

Gingerbread House with the Kids

Today the kids and I decorated a gingerbread house.  I had thoughts of baking one from scratch, but honestly with my kids aged 4.5 and 2, they wouldn't have had the patience for it (and as a result neither would I!).  So I purchased a ready built house kit (with a tiny amount of candy) from Target.  I bought some additional nuts and candy to use to decorate it. 

I wasn't too concerned with perfection, but I was hoping it would look nice.  The kids actually did pretty well with it and didn't try to take candy off of the house.  Daisy, 2, put on a few pieces but mostly sat there eating stuff out of the bags.  Seymour, 4.5, did really well and put on lots of decorations. 

Yogurt pretzel roof, tiny gummy bear Christmas "lights"

Candy rock chimney

The back door

Seymour had the idea to make a Santa Claus, but for a while I wasn't sure what I was going to use to make him.  Then I decided to just put some things together and hope for the best -- and he actually looked pretty good!  I used two red candy rocks that were roundish, half a cashew for the head, a slice of small white jelly bean for the beard (and the icing just happened to make a nice little point in the middle), and a peppermint candy for a hat. 

Santa with a ... turban?

I'm glad we all had a good time together.  Unfortunately our card making session did not go as well... Such is life with small children, no?