Whole Wheat Mini German Pancakes

Whew!  What a busy semester this has been!  Needless to say I haven't been posting as frequently as I would like.  I'm finishing up a couple of projects in my [infrequent] spare time and will be posting a bit about some things I've learned in my classes so far.  For now, here's a recipe for a fun breakfast food I made recently.

I first learned to make German pancakes in my cooking class in middle school. (Yay elective courses!)  I've made them regularly over the years and was delighted when one of the blogs I subscribe to posted a recipe for minis.  Perfect, my kids would love them, especially how they puff in the oven!  I altered the recipe slightly and we had a great breakfast... even if mine didn't turn out as perfectly intact as hers.  :)  I think I needed to grease the muffin pan a little more.  

Whole Wheat Mini German Pancakes

(adapted from Chef in Training)

makes 18-24 pancakes

6 eggs

1 c whole wheat pastry flour

1 c milk or equivalent

1/2 t sea salt

1 t vanilla extract

1/4 c butter, melted

Syrupy Raspberry Sauce

1 c water

1/4 c sugar or honey

1 t lemon juice

2 1/2 T cornstarch

1 1/2 c raspberries

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.  Grease two 12-count standard muffin tins, for a total of 24.  Blend together eggs, flour, milk, salt, vanilla, and butter until smooth.  Pour batter into prepared muffin tins until each cup is about half full.  Bake for 15-18 minutes until puffed up and golden brown.

For raspberry sauce: Cook water, sugar, lemon juice, and cornstarch* in a medium saucepan over medium heat until it thickens up. Stir in raspberries and simmer for about 10 minutes.

Fill each mini German pancake with sauce, sprinkle with powdered sugar (optional) and enjoy!

*To keep it from clumping, place the cornstarch in a measuring cup, add about 1/4 t of water and mix until evenly combined, add a few drops more and mix again, continue several times until the cornstarch is evenly blended and thin enough to pour.  Then add to the pan of other ingredients. 

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Monday -  Craft o Maniac Monday -- Craftastic Monday -- Tuesday -  Get Your Craft On -- Sew Cute Tuesday -- Tuesday Talent Show --  Wednesday -  Sugar and Dots -- Your Whims Wednesday -- Create and Share -- Whatever Goes Wednesday --  Linkin’ with Lil’ Luna -- Thursday -  Strut your Stuff Thursday -- Transformation Thursday -- Thrilling Thursday -- Make It Wear It -- The 36th Avenue Party Time -- Friday -  Flaunt it Friday -- Frugal Friday -- Weekend Wander -- Tickled Pink Fridays -- Weekend Wrap-up Party -- Catch as Catch Can -- Friday Flair -- Feature Yourself Friday -- Simply Link {Party} -- Pity Party -- Frugalicious Friday --  Saturday - Strut Your Stuff --  Lovely Crafty Weekend --  Sweet Saturday -- Sunday -  The DIY Showoff Project  Parade --  Sunday Showcase Party -- Creative Bloggers Party -- I Heart Naptime -- Think Pink Sundays

Is Facebook Showing You Everything You Want to See?

Yes, it is a bit whiny to complain about a service that's offered for free, but I'm going to take a moment to complain about Facebook fan pages.  Did you know that when you like a page, you aren't always shown their posts?  That's even if you want to see them.  In the past Facebook has shown posts to about 40% of fans.  Just recently they changed things again and now only 10-15% fans are seeing posts from the pages they like.  Of course it's based on complicated algorithms that take into account interaction with the posts, but still... So frustrating!  Personally I think it would be nice if they would just default to showing everything and then people could opt out of seeing what they didn't want to see. 

You may have already heard about the way around this, but in case you haven't, here's what you need to do:  (Thanks to the talented people over at MCP Photoshop Actions and Lightroom Presets for this)

Click on the image to enlarge

Hope that helps you stay up to date with all your favorite people and companies!

Quick House Cleaning Tip and School Update

This post is kind of random, but I just wanted to get something up since it's been a while. (I'm almost done with the t-shirt costumes!)

One of the best house cleaning tips I have ever received was to focus on one area in the house at a time.  Countless times I have found myself picking up a couple of things, immediately taking them to the other room where they belong, putting them away and repeating that over and over again without making much progress in the area I was trying to clean.   But using a bunch of bins / baskets / bags to place items that don't belong makes cleaning up one area a whole lot faster!

I [had -- before we moved] a bunch of plastic bins, one for each room in our house.  I would go to an area (usually the living room) and place items that belonged in different rooms in their own bin. 

It really helped me clear the area quickly so I could do the vacuuming, dusting, straightening, etc that I needed to do. After that I would have the kids take their things to their room, and I would take the other items to their respective rooms and put them away.

It's such a simple thing but it has really made a big difference to me, especially with small children who often leave their things strewn all over the place!


And now for a quick school update -- We were on the waiting list for our neighborhood school, and because they had fewer students in a higher grade, they had an extra teacher and ended up adding a whole new kindergarten class. So, my son is now going to that school!

I was really enjoying doing the K12 method (it's so fun when they send all the books and materials and supplies for all the standard subjects including art, science and music). But it was difficult to keep my son interested for long. After the first week he was getting comfortable and not giving it the same attention he did at the beginning. It was also a challenge with my daughter, being smaller, needing so much attention and care (i.e. diapers/toilet training, frequent snacks, water, cuddling, anything).

So we were excited when we were notified that he got in this year. Although it is bittersweet since I'm still a little apprehensive about how he will behave in school (so far so good, mostly), what his teachers will be like, and how the school functions. I'm not totally convinced standard public school is the best thing for children, but I think it's what my son and I both need right now. He needs the social interaction and the reminder that he does actually have to follow some rules (he doesn't like mine), and I need the time apart so I can have some one-on-one time with my daughter, miss my son and learn to appreciate him more.

Here's to a great year!

PDF Pattern How - To

I have been thinking a lot about PDF patterns lately.  I've been wondering how people make them, how they digitize them, how they ensure they print out the correct size, etc.  And now I know!  It turns out the website Sew, Mama, Sew!  had Carla Crim from Scientific Seamstress do a series of three posts describing the full process of creating PDF patterns.  She even reveals some resources she uses to make things easier and the very basic software she uses to digitize the patterns. 

Part 1 - Pattern Drafting and Grading

Part 2 - "eFormat" Your Pattern

Part 3 - Writing Instructions and Marketing Patterns

I'm so excited!  I just may end up creating some patterns and selling them on Etsy.  I'll probably start with some childrens patterns while I get the hang of it, then try my hand at womens patterns.  It's also a good way to give away freebie templates for craft projects.  Oooo ideas, ideas!  Happy day!