Stitching Serenity 13... and a German Apple Cake recipe!

Stitching Serenity 13...until next year!


    
We had another wonderful weekend in Santa Barbara (other than being a bit warm!) for the 'Berry Good Smockers Stitching Serenity 13. 

 

 

     Our class the first day was the Terrific Tote, and everyone worked hard to get as much of their bag completes while we were in Santa Barbara.  We has one who finished completely (no unfinished project for her!) and everyone else got down to the last step or 2!

 

 

 

     You can see me cracking the whip, showing one of the steps for the outside of the bag.

 



     Here are some of the 'almost' finished bags.  As you can see, Irene marched to the beat of her own drum and made a cure pink/green floral bag.  Some people were camera shy, as were their bags!

 

 

     Here is a shot of just the bags.  A fun time was had by all!

 

 

The second day was Embroidery of Madeira, Part I and Part II.  We watched slides and looked at many of my Madeira treasures and then did some stitching the Madeira way!

 

 

     We celebrated 2 birthdays that weekend, so I brought a German Apple Cake for Irene and Roseann.  My kids were bummed, as they were not allowed to eat it!  It is a great cake - not too sweet.  It is perfect with a little dollop of whipped cream or ice cream.  No pictures now, as I forgot to take them in SB, and too hot to make a cake right now!  Will post the next time that I make it.

 

Here is the recipe:

 

German Apple Cake

Heat oven to 350°                                           Grease and flour a tube pan

4-5 med apples, peeled and sliced thin                   2 tsp cinnamon                      5 T sugar

3 cups flour            2 cups sugar               3 tsp. baking POWDER
1 tsp salt               ¼ cup orange juice      4 eggs
1 cup oil                2 1/2 tsp vanilla
                                                                                     

Mix sliced/peeled apples with cinnamon and sugar and set aside.

Mix the rest of the ingredients.  Layer in floured tube pan: 
Dough
Apples
Dough
Apples
Dough

Bake at 350° for 1 hour 20 minutes to 1 hour 30 minutes.  Cool before removing.

Enjoy!

Hope you all had a wonderful 4th.

 

Happy Stitching,Vaune

PS PPD arrived in warehouse Tuesday - I should have them by the end of next week, finger crossed!

 

 





Happy 3rd? of July!

 

Happy 3rd of July, and 4th too!

 

 

 

 

 

     I live in a small town of about 30,000, about 60 miles from Los Angeles.  A suburb of the suburbs of LA, as I like to say.  We have lived here 25+ years and have seen it really grow. 

 

 

 

     When it incorporated (about 3 years before we moved here), they did not have much money.   When it came time to make plans for the 4th of July, the City Council found out that if they did the fireworks on the 3rd, they were half price!



 

     The tradition was born!  It has really grown!  There is a huge gathering at the main park with food vendors, bands, etc.  We always walk to one of two parks that are 2 blocks from our  house and watch from there - you can see everything (although 25 years have made the trees a bit taller!) and enjoy the show!  We just got back from our Oooohhhhh and Aaaaahhhhh visit, watching all of the fireworks, and even though these pictures are not the best, it is a joyful reminder of the freedoms that we have in this country.

 

Have a wonderful and safe 4th of July, and remember that we live in the greatest country in the world!

 

 

On another note..............I am actually home for a while and will be posting a bit more regularly. Santa Barbara and Stitching Serenity 13 was last weekend - the totes were great and I had the best time looking (and remembering) at my embroideries from Madeira - brought back such wonderful memories!   I will be sharing my favorite tools in my next series, along with my recipe for German Apple Cake!

 

Happy Stitching,

Vaune