Happy Cake and a Winner!

Friends and family know I'm positively smitten 

with my now 2 year old niece, Breezie.
Here are some of the makings of 
her very happy Birthday party
that took place last Sunday:

There was, as Breezie calls it, Happy Cake!
(This delicious chocolate cake with
a fudgey chocolate filling was made by 
East Side Bakery in Cortland NY.)

 Gifts made with love by Aunt Tierney.

 Using only Castle Peeps fabrics by Lizzy House
(plus a metallic dot fabric for the card backs)
I made Breezie this game of Concentration,
plus a simple storage tote bag.

 Be forewarned, if you decide to make some 
for the special young person in your life 
you may not be able to stop with only one set. 
Two more sets are cut & waiting at my sewing machine!

 Here's a look at some of Lizzy's spunky, funky 
fabric designs from her Castle Peeps collection. 
There are more designs and colorways in the collection
but I used only what I had enough of 
for two exact patterns each.

I hope this game brings Breezie hours of fun.

Puff the Magic Dragon is being celebrated for its 

50th anniversary with an assortment of items.

I chose this hard cover book with CD for Breezie, 

but there's also a pop-up version.

I think she'll like the charming illustrations.

I know I do!

The Star of the Show!

 These paper favors were the BIGGEST hit of her party!
They brought about a great deal of belly laughs from 
all of the party-goers, young and old.

 The final part of my gift was the Odette Hoodie 
(pattern by Carrie Bostick Hoge.)
When I saw this pattern on Ravelry I immediately  
knew I had to knit it for Breezie!

The yarn is Lark (color: Twig) by Quince & Co.

Lark is a springy, cushy, domestic wool 

that I found thoroughly enjoyable to knit.

Totally Breezie.

It's safe to say that a good day was had by all, 
especially the Birthday Girl
(pictured here with her Grandma Ray Ray.) 

Drum roll please!

The winner of last week's Silver Trumpet 

Blogiversary giveaway is 

Clarice of Storybook Woods! 

Clarice at one of her book signings.

I will contact you Clarice to see which zipper pouch 

you'd like to call your own. I want every one

to know you've been inspiring me for a few years now,

from recipes to family love, to the art of blogging. 

Congratulations Clarice, and thanks for playing along! 

A Celebration & Give Away!

Chocolate-Nut Hand Pies 

are a tender, flakey way to celebrate

Silver Trumpet Style's 2nd Blogiversary!

This simple treat was a spring board from a dessert 

my dear friend Tracy made for one of our BITE dinners.

You can find her recipe here, 

(scroll down to Transylvania Dinner, Chocolate Walnut Strudel) 

and these are the simple changes I made:

4 oz. of chopped Lindt Dark Chocolate bar with Currants.

Puff pastry dough cut into 4" diameter circles.

Place about 1 Tbsp. of the filling in the center of each circle.

Brush the edges with a beaten egg before folding 

the pastry in half and pressing fork tines around the edge.

Now for the give-away:

Winner's choice of one Silver Trumpet zipper pouch!

The winner will be selected from those of you who kindly 

leave a comment sharing your best party tradition.

Is the same cake recipe made for every birthday?

Is there a scavenger hunt for gifts? Party games?

Share your favorite party tradition and

be sure to include an email address ("dot com"), 

or link to your blog or FB page.

 The winner will be announced next week.

 I hope you will love to call one of these zipper pouches

your own or know someone special who would! 

Thank you all for visiting Silver Trumpet Style.

You make it all worth sharing! 

Mid-Winter Discoveries

 Growing organic celery.

Here's a look at each of 4 weeks so far.

  I'm excited to finally get around to these vintage quilt squares

I found while poking around a local antique shop last year.

Handling them is an honor. Who made them? 
How was she planning to stitch the blocks together?
Just look at these prints and colors!
What stories do these scraps of (a family's?) life have to tell?

There are enough blocks to mix with my own stash to make 

a throw that should be the perfect size for summer nights 

around the campfire. 

Gosh, I can almost imagine it on this blustery 10 degree day....

While on Pinterest I came across foodforliving.com

and was inspired to try her recipe for homemade 

Gingerbread Pecan Nut Butter.

Making your own nut butter is easy 

and lot less expensive than store bought.

And yes, this tastes as good as it sounds!

(Click either link in red above for this recipe and more!)

What discoveries are you making?

I'd love to hear!

And the Award Goes To...

"Liebster" is German, with the approximate translation of "favorite" or "dearest". The Liebster Award is a fun and friendly way to pay it forward to    up and coming bloggers with less than 300 followers. There's no voting or judging; only appreciation and kindness. These bloggers deserve recognition for their wonderful blogs, and I'm grateful to my dear friend Tracy for nominating mine!

**Here are the details on receiving this award**

1. When you receive the award, and choose to accept it,  you post 11 random facts about yourself and answer the 11 questions from the person who nominated you.
2. Pass the award on to 3-5 other bloggers (who have less than 300 followers) and let them know they've been nominated.
3. Create 11 questions for these 3-5 bloggers to answer.
4. Link them in your post.
5. No tag backs!      

11 Random Things about myself:

1. I'm a kid at heart.
2. I married another kid at heart.
3. I love baking, especially anything chocolate.
4. Talking on the phone with my (step-)daughter Alyssa always makes me happy. 
5. My cat Stanley is the coolest cat I know.
6. I recently began meditating and am hooked. 
7. This winter I'm drinking lemon-honey tea, peppermint tea and          yarrow tea.
8. In recent years, to my family's delight, I've really loosened up on           my neat-nick tendencies.
9. I constantly surround myself with color, pattern and texture. 
10. I feel most at peace when I'm creating, and am truly happy when            I'm hanging out with my nephews and niece.                   

11 questions my Liebster Nominator Tracy wants me to answer:

1. What is the one food that you wish you liked, but you just don't? For example, I wish that I liked mushrooms - but I can't stand them.  Ground beef. Ugh.
2. How many books a year (or month or week) would you say you read? Do blogs count?
3. What is one embarrassing memory from your youth that you feel comfortable sharing? That would be the time I unknowingly "stole" from a local restaurant a box of Thin Mints just sitting next to the cash register. My 6 year old self thought they were free for the taking, which they were, but not the whole box at once! By the time we arrived home my parents saw what was in my lap and promptly drove all the way back to town to return them. All the while, I remained in the back seat. 
4. Hellman's Mayonnaise or Miracle Whip?  There's only one right answer here - so be careful! I don't have a preference! Oh no!
5. If you could do something else in your life other than what you are doing right now - what would it be? Walking the hills and valleys of Scotland, through heather and bracken, over lovely old stone bridges and along narrow foot paths carved into the hillside. 
6. Favorite all-time singer or musical group?  Far too numerous to choose just one, so today my favorite is Mumford & Sons.
7. Do you like riding on roller-coasters, and if so - do you have a favorite one? Yes I do, once I work up the courage. They're all the same - a building up of suspense followed by a very long scream!
8. Favorite season of the year? While each offers something special, Spring time makes my heart soar, so that's my absolute favorite.
9. If you could have one talent that you know you don't have, and will never really have, what would it be? To sing and perform on stage. 
10. What is your favorite way to spend time by yourself? Either in my studio with music on, wearing PJs and working my heart out, or curled up in the corner of the couch, knitting in front of a good movie! 
11. Would you rather do the cooking, or do the cleanup afterward?  Both!

11 Questions for my three Award Nominees:

1. What are you too chicken to try?
2. Have you ever eaten a worm?
3. What's your preference: a real book or an e-book?
4. As a child, what was your favorite story?
5. What's the last song you listened to?
6. If you could only eat one food for ever and ever, what would it be?
7. Where is your Mother's Mother originally from, and have you been there?
8. What's the best and worst thing about blogging?
9. What ritual do you turn to when you want to feel all cozy and relaxed?
10. What 3 words best describe you?

The Big Finale...I'm nominating these 3 extraordinary Blogs:

1. Lisa Jordan's lil fish Studios, for her exquisite devotion to natural dyeing, felting, embroidering and for handling life with great care.
2. Lara Smoot's Have Needles Will Knit, for her fun-loving approach to knitting, designing, cooking, sewing and for our long-distance friendship.
3. Bonnie Sennott's Blue Peninsula Knits, for her larger-than-life artist's soul, sublime knit pattern designs, and quest for seeing beauty all around her. 

Congratulations, and I hope you each accept your nomination! 

You deserve it!

Storm Clouds Rumbling Through

 Thunder bolts and lightning, too!

 

At long last, my Storm Clouds (boy's) quilt 

for Project Linus is finished and will gladly be 

delivered to our local drop off site this week.

All through the process I've imagined a boy 

wearing the warm layers of 

color and movement like a hug. 

Now that the quilt is finished, in retrospect 

I can say my wish is for both of us to take comfort in 

the collective power of love, hope and giving. 

 If you follow my blog you'll know I didn't use a pattern.

 As a planner, I like to know where I'm going, 

so working intuitively (a.k.a. making it up as I go)

 was way out of my comfort zone.

The process of making this quilt changed all of that. 

Right from the start I knew I was making a boy’s quilt, 

but still many other choices needed to be made. 

I began by choosing half square triangle blocks. 

Next, I decided on the colors red and blue, 

and allowed black, white and gray. 

Stop. No pattern, no more direction. 

Well there I was working along doing what I could - 

preparing as many blocks as I had scraps for

and randomly arranging them on the design wall, 

when just at that time, a volatile storm rolled through our valley. 

I couldn’t help but notice my "random" arrangements 

 looking a lot like the rumbling, tumultuous skies overhead.

 Storm Clouds!  

Light broke through the clouds, 

figuratively and literally as represented in the borders. 

Starting with only one block and limiting myself to scraps, 

I found my way to a quilt that tells a story. 

One that will soon be passed along to a special audience of one.

I'm deeply grateful for Project Linus. They take it from here, 

doing all of the work involved with getting each quilt 

into the hands of a child in need here in the US.

If you're interested in donating hand made blankets and quilts, 

their website offers free patterns from many talented  

and generous quilters, knitters and crocheters, 

as well as other useful information. 

Have a look around and be inspired!

For anyone interested in a different approach to

designing your next scrap quilt, a free "Recipe" 

will soon be available here. It promises to be an adventure!

Have you made up your own quilts as you went along?

Have you given or received a quilt that really meant a lot to you? 

I'd love to read all about them in Comments.  

Let's Get Acquainted

I'm honored & thrilled to be test knitting for Lara Smoot.

Designing like gangbusters, she's quickly

building up a store of knitting patterns that are 

easy to follow, fun to knit and gorgeous to wear.

Above is Mirrored Step, Lara's second sock pattern.

Stay tuned for what promises to be a fantastic 
pair of finished socks, and news of 

the pattern release in mid-late February.

  

What's the yarn, you ask? 

...into the whirled

Saginaw: 2-Ply Superwash Merino
Color: Voila - Variegated

Fingering

 400 yards/skein 

Since it began, I've been following: 

FOLK Magazine

&

FOLK Lifestyle (the blog)  

$10.00 for a year-long subscription...

pretty hard to beat for the refreshing slice of 

authentic, honest modern American life

directly delivered to one's inbox all year round. 

I'm in!  Are you?!

Give It a Whirl

Storm Clouds steadily advances toward completion!

With the quilting nearly finished, sewing

the binding (the icing on the cake!) comes next.

From the very beginning, I've so enjoyed 

the creative process for this particular (Project Linus) quilt 

that for anyone interested in using scraps  

in a beautiful & fun way, I'll provide a free "recipe" 

rather than a precise pattern.

"Recipe" will make more sense once it all comes together,

which will be within the next few weeks - stay tuned!

(Squeal!)

Over the holidays, my dear friend Chris gifted me this 

festively adorned bottle of blood orange olive oil 

from a shop she loves, F. Olivers.  

The fragrance is delicious and delightful. 

The olive oil came with a recipe for Harvest Hummus

which I just had to try!

Throw everything in the food processor & give it a whirl! 

(Thank you for the fresh pumpkin Ellen!)

F. Oliver's Harvest Hummus

  

1-15oz. can pumpkin puree

2 Tbsp. tahini

1 clove minced garlic

1 Tbsp. fresh, finely chopped parsley

1/2 tsp. salt

1 Tbsp. F. Oliver's Fresh Pressed 

Blood Orange EVOO

1/2 tsp. cumin

1 Tbsp. lemon juice

Combine all ingredients in a food processor 

and puree until smooth and creamy.

Serve with pita chips, veggies, 

or use as a sandwich spread.

Optional: sprinkle with paprika, cinnamon 

or toasted pumpkin seeds.

Are you trying new recipes or whipping up cool projects?

I'd love to see and/or hear!

New Year, New Comforts

As a kid, this was the view out my bedroom window.

   

Because I live in the same home today, 

I still get to enjoy this view. 

 One of my New Year's resolutions is to take time 

each morning to soak up peace and quiet 

before moving on to the day's hustle & bustle. 

I can't think of a better place than in my old bedroom.

Another resolution I've made is to give more 

time and attention to my love of all things folk-tale. 

Tall tales. The battle of good vs. evil. Charming illustrations.

Over the years, I've established a beautiful collection 

of children's books, and it's time they came down 

off the shelf. Not to mention that my own sketchbooks 

need a work out, as well as those empty notebook pages. 

Sketching and writing, a 2013 must-do to get back in touch

with that inner storyteller and artist. 

Stay tuned for updates as this resolution progresses 

over the course of the year.  

On that note, classic and not so well known stories 

penned by the Brothers Grimm are getting 

a well-deserved spotlight this year, 

celebrating their 200th anniversary. 

This brief video gives a nice introduction 

and overview direct from their home land, Germany.

You may be familiar with The Little Mermaid, Cinderella,

Little Red Riding Hood...masterpieces.

I want to give a special thanks to my dear friend Vickie 

for opening the door to my new crack-snack, 

Sugar & Spice and Everything Nice Mixed Nuts, 

a la the queen Paula Deen. (Click link for full recipe)

 Beat an egg white and thoroughly toss the nuts, 

then dump in the spices, sugar and Rosemary.

 After a fast (or slow?!) 20 minute wait while they bake, 

indulge! Couldn't be easier...

but a word to the wise, 

let them cool before the addiction takes hold!

What's an old passion you have, 

or a New Year's resolution you've made? 

I'd love to hear!