"D" day

Doggies. Doilies. Dessert. Dancing. Diving into the ocean. All very good things from the letter "D".

Anybody make doll-clothes? I have sewn a few items for DD's American Girl doll. But I never knit for a doll, other than this:
Last weekend, I found some great books at the library. All about knitting heirloom doll clothes.
















The patterns are for all sizes of doll, but the items I want to make the most are:

This cape/poncho for DD's American Girls Kirsten doll. Isn't it cute?! What a great idea....and this:
What a great little mini-bedspread. Gorgeous!

And look at this lovely dress! What a nice gift for a child's doll.

D is for double-knit. I am so enamored of this technique. And I still have yet to complete even one project of that knitting style. Drool. This is one possibility for a first project;

or this:

from a previous post.

I love any double knit, really. Here's a cute scarf (I think I linked to it before), I'd love to make a double knit scarf--how warm would THAT be?! Oooh, I could make a double-knit scarf from the post-office knit charts, that would be cute! Maybe I'll try something like this amazing project soon!

Baking rocks. That was my first culinary love. Here is a recipe for No-Rise Yeast Dough. It is versatile, and great if you don't have one big block of time to spend on baking bread. You make the dough, cover it and refrigerate it 5-7 days, taking out what you need to make fresh dinner rolls, cinnamon rolls, pizza crust and other yummy creations. Wanna know where I got the recipe? Remember "The Home Show" in the 1990s?

No Knead, Make-Ahead Roll Dough


2 pkg dry yeast
1/2 c warm water (110-115* F)
3/4 c butter
1 c boiling water
1 c cold water
c/4 c sugar
2 t salt
2 beaten eggs
7-8 c white flour

Dissolve yeast in warm water (I use hottest tap water). Mix butter & boiling water; cool slightly. Add to yeast mixture with cold water in a large bowl. Add remaining ingredients IN THE ORDER GIVEN. Stir til dough starts to to pull away from the bowl. Put into greased very large bowl, seal airtight and put in fridge. Keeps up to 7 days there!

After 24 hours, uyou can roll it out for pizza dough, cut into rounds for biscuits, roll into balls and place in muffin tins (2 balls per tin = parker house roll shapes, 3 roll per tin = cloverleaf rolls). I find it easier to shape if you oil your hands with olive oil first.

You can brush the tops of the rolls with melted butter and sprinkle on poppy or sesame seeds. You can add 1 t cardamom to the dough for swedish rolls, but you have to do this prior to rising. You could add dill, rosemary or other herbs too for savory rolls. Maybe even grated cheese, mmm.

Form dough, let rise (1-2 hours) in greased pans. Bake at 375* F for 12-15 minutes, until brown. Let cool. (Adjust baking time for pizza dough--for pizzas, we use a clay stone and 425* with toppings in place for 8-14 minutes. Adjust this for your own best pizza method). Let cool.

Freeze rolls in plastic bags. To thaw, remove from bag and let sit on counter. When thawed, put in brown paper bag folded closed, into 275* oven til warm.

For cinnamon rolls: roll out 1/2 the dough into rectangle (18" x 12" is good). Spread with softened butter from edge to edge. Sprinkle a mixture of sugar and cinnamon over all the surface. Cut into 2 rectangles 9" x 12", then roll each up into a log. Slice into 1-1/2" slices, place into greased cake tins and let rise up to 2 hours. Bake as listed below. (Top with powdered sugar/milk/vanilla-extract glaze when cooled a bit.)

What I did the last time I made these: on Sunday I made this dough, Monday night after work I formed the cinnamon rolls and put them covered with plastic wrap in the fridge overnight again. Tuesday morning, I set the rolls on the stovetop while the oven preheated, and baked them before work. We had hot fresh cinnamon rolls and I still got to work on time!!! Woo hoo. It was also fun b/c I had made homemade butter on Sunday, and used that. YUM

Now for the bad things...

D is for d-oh! Here's a list of Bumpydoink's blogging Disappointments:

1. This can was a potential craft project.(scroll down) I loved the graphics. I wanted to make it into a planter. I saved it for months, until I couldn't bear to look at it anymore. I finally dumped it in the recycle bin. I should have at least used the canopener. Really. How hard is it to punch some holes with a nail?

2. My harvest of rose-hips. Yeh. They sat on my counter, then in my fridge til they were old and wrinkly. I tossed them.

3. Another wasted harvest. I HAD to pick these lovely serviceberries, because they are edible and they were on my property. I could've left them to feed the wildlife, but no. They rotted in my fridge.

4. This was such a mess. The product I chose for grout remains loose and wet FOREVER. It never hardened (well it might be hard now that it is 25 below zero outside.) The stones I so carefully laid out have moved, fallen, and been repositioned. This can't be used at all now. D is for DEBACLE.

5. Last year's garden. I bought seeds, just a few; I knew my time was limited. Guess what?! All the seeds I bought are still in their packets, unopened. Maybe this year?

Hope springs eternal.

It's sad to have a great idea that does not come to fruition. And I really hate waste. Maybe by reviewing these posts, I can do better this year =D

Dreams. I have very vivid dreams that seem to correlate with running a fever (and I have been sick a lot!) In the dreams, I am running and being chased by zombies/bad guys/robots/tornadoes/dinosaurs/grizzly bears. In some of the dreams, I have to turn and fight because the attacker is gaining on me. In my most recent one, I was being chased by a crowd of robot-clones of Aim from another planet, and at the end of the dream I was cornered and had to use a fireplace poker to defend myself! What the *#@%^ ?! I'd like to awaken refreshed after sleep. Not battle weary! I should lay off the vampire novels at bedtime....

D is for disturbing!

Hope you all sleep sound and dreamless tonight :D


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