My First Casting

Final finish of the earrings - Sand blasted Sterling Silver cast and freshwater pearls

Wax model

Plaster mold with liquid metal

Raw Casting with stem and spruces.

French Macaroons, yes please..

Since last summer, where Jeremy and I traveled around in Europe, I've been craving these french delicacies. They are quite time consuming but so worth it when you get to enjoy the treats after your hard work. I made 5 flavors of macaroons; vanilla, chocolate, pistachio, strawberry and blueberry using the real deal for flavor and a little food color for appearance.

I started out by making the basic recipe and divided it up into five bowls where I added the different flavors and colors.

Basic Macaroon Recipe

300 g of almond flour
480 g powdered sugar
200 g egg whites (about 6)

Mix the almond flour and the sugar. Beat the egg white until they form stiff peaks. Add the egg whites to the almond mixture and beat all air out the mixture.

After dividing the portion into 5...

Macaroon Variations

Vanilla macaroon - add 1-2 teaspoon of vanilla sugar. No food coloring.
Chocolate macaroon - add 1 tablespoon dutch process cocoa. No food coloring.
Pistachio macaroon - add 1 dl of ground pistachio nuts. Add a little green food coloring.
Strawberry macaroon - add 2-3 strawberries (pureed in a blender) also add a little more almond flour and powdered sugar to keep the texture of the mixture. Add a little red food coloring.
Blueberry macaroon - add 2-3 tablespoon of pureed blueberry. Also, add a little more almond flour and powdered sugar to keep the texture of the mixture. Add a little blue food coloring.

Set the oven to 140 C or 275 F.

Add the mixtures to different decorating bags with a decent size tip. Make very small macaroons on the parchment paper with good spacing- they will get larger. Then let the macaroons "dry" for about 20 minutes before you put them in the oven. This is very important ( I messed up on this on the first round), they crack, they don't raise and they just don't look very good. Then place the macaroons in the oven for 10-12 minutes depending on how large they are.

Macaroon filling

2 egg whites
1 dl sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla sugar

1 dl of soft butter (unsalted)

Place whites and sugar in a heatproof mixer bowl set over a pan of simmering water. Whisk until sugar dissolves and mixture registers 160 degrees on a candy thermometer. Remove from heat, and whisk on high speed until mixture is cool and stiff peaks form, about 6 minutes. Beat in vanilla. Beat the butter and add to the meringue mixture. 

Filling variations

Vanilla - as is. ( I added a little more vanilla though  :-)
Chocolate - add 1 Tablespoon Dutch Process cocoa
Pistachio - add 2-3 Tablespoon fine chopped pistachio nuts
Strawberry - add 2 Tablespoon strawberry puree
Blueberry - add 2 Tablespoon blueberry puree

Mix and match the macaroons and fillings for fun variations. Happy macaroonie day!

Wells Park

This weekend and week has been pretty busy with guests most of the weekend and finishing my final jewelry piece for tomorrow. Can't believe it's already been four weeks. These pictures are taken in Wells park Overlook about a 10 min. drive south of Lawrence. The First picture has little Lawrence in the background. There is only about 3 1/2 weeks until I'll be leaving Kansas for new adventures. Can't wait!

Pesto Farfalle with Andouille Sausage

Made this easy but yummy pasta recipe the other day and thought I would share.

Recipe:

3/4 pound of pasta
12 oz of frozen peas
1 Tablespoon olive oil
1/2 pound Andouille sausage

Pesto:
1 Handful basil
1 Handful arugula 
2 Tablespoon olive oil
2 Tablespoon of pasta water
2 Tablespoon pine nuts
1 garlic clove
Tiny squeeze of lemon
Salt and Pepper

Cook the the pasta, adding the frozen peas during the last 3 minutes of cooking. Meanwhile, cut the Andouille sausage into thin slices and heat in skillet. Mix all the ingredients for the pesto in a food processor until its creamy. Cool the pasta and the peas and add the meat and the pesto. Enjoy!

Opskrift:

750 g Pasta
350 frosne aerter
1 Spsk. Oliven Olie
500 g Andoiulle polse

Pesto:
1 handfuld basilikum
1 handfuld rucola
2 Spsk. Oliven olie
2 Spsk. pasta vand
2 Spsk. pinje kerner
1 fed hvidlog
1 lille tsk. citron
Salt og peber

Kog pastaen og tilsaet de frosne aerter 3 min. inden pastaen er faerdig. Imens, skaer Andouille poelsen i tynde skiver og steg paa panden. Bland alle ingredienser til pestoen i en food processor. Koel pastaen og tilsaet Andouille poelserne og pestoen.

DIY - Leather Scarf

I finally finished my deerskin lace scarf. To make it more fluffy and give it structure and volume, I used a patent knitting pattern - (I'm actually not sure what the correct name is in English - patent is the Danish name:-)   The amount of masks must be divisible by 3 - I used 30 stitches with size 15 (10mm) needles. Start with knitting two together. Create one mask and lift one over. Repeat. You should always be starting a row knitting two together and finishing with lifting one mask over.

Irregular Sterling Silver Pentagon Rings

This week we've been learning different methods of setting stones, how to texture metal and create different patinas. I made these rings from sterling silver sheet metal. One of them is polished on the outside and brushed on the inside. The other one is made by reticulation, which means to heat up the metal with a torch so hot that it almost melts but only starts wrinkling or distorting. Tomorrow I'll be going to a gemstone show in KC. I'm really excited to start adding stones to the metal.

Crabcakes

  

Yesterday we had some friends over for dinner. We made these delicious crabcakes, roasted potatoes and vegetables.

 Crabcake Recipe

2 Cans of crabmeat

1 Egg

1 Cup of chopped cilantro

Chopped green onions

2 Tablespoon flour

2 Tablespoon breadcrumbs

1 Teaspoon chili powder

1 Teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 Teaspoon salt

Krabbekager Opskrift

2 Daser krabbe kod

1 aeg

1 handfuld cilantro

Finthakket forarslog

2 Spsk. mel

2 Spsk. rasp

1 Tsk. Chili

1 Tsk. Cayenne peber

1 Tsk. salt

Mix all ingredients well then form little cakes. Fry on a pan with generous oil.

 

 

Hammered Brass Gold-plated Bracelet

Our first jewelry project was due today ( the other one was just for fun or because I wanted a bangle:-). The "Gypsy" piece is what our professor called it. There wasn't really a design strategy or an idea from the beginning, just start hammering, rolling and soldering. I started with a foot of 16 gauge round brass wire, hammered like crazy, annealed, soldered, sanded and polished and ended up with this leafy shaped bracelet. Gold-plated it. Finally getting excited about metal work!

Formal Topsytail

This formal hairstyle takes about 5 min. and is extremely easy to make. It's basically a triple topsy tail pinned in a bun.

Early Birthday Present

Yay! Early birthday present from my hubby. Already got some fabric and started my next project. Probably a dress or a skirt- I haven't quite decided yet.

Jewelry Class

I started my jewelry class this week. Things were kind of slow in the beginning getting to know all the tools and techniques, but I finally made something; A ring and a bracelet out of Sterling silver wire. Brushed on the sides and polished on the outside and inside. I also got to stamp it Sterling. Pretty simple for now, but I'm working on it;-)

Audi R8 Model

This Audi R8 was a group project from last year studying a monocoque frame system. The model is made with basswood and acrylic and has a select pine base with a fluorescent tube light that lights up the acrylic etched drawing.

Summer Dips

These past few weeks I've been trying out different summer dips and these are my favorites.

Roasted Eggplant and Basil Dip

Recipe

1 Eggplant

1/2 Red Onion

1/2 Cup of fresh chopped basil

2 Tablespoon olive oil

1 Teaspoon red wine vinegar

Salt and pepper

Squeeze of lemon

Heat oven to 400 F (200C). Place eggplant cut side down on a rimmed baking sheet and roast until soft. 30-40 minutes. Let cool.

Scoop out the flesh from the eggplant and roughly chop. Mix with ingredients. Serve with Chips or bread.

Grillet Auberginer og Basilikum dip

Opskrift

1 Aubergine

1/2 Rødt løg

1 Håndfuld basilikum

2 Spsk. oliven olie

1 Tsk. rødvins eddike

Salt og peber
Citron

Spinach and White Bean Dip (center)

Recipe

1/4 cup Olive oil

1 Garlic clove

1 Can of white Cannellini beans

2 1/2 Cups of spinach

1/4 Cup Fresh dill sprigs

1 Tablespoon of fresh lemon

Salt and pepper

In a small saucepan, heat the oil with garlic until fragrant. 2-3 minutes. Let cool. In food processor , puree the garlic oil, beans, spinach, dill, lemon juice, salt and pepper until smooth. Serve with Crostini.

Spinat og Hvid Bønne Dip

Opskrift

1 dl oliven olie
1 fed hvidløg
1 Dåse hvide bønner
2 håndfulde spinat
Frisk dild
1 Spsk. citron
Salt og peber

Tomatillo and Avocado Dip (front)

Recipe

4 Medium tomatillos

1 Avocado

1 Jalapeño

1/2 Cup fresh cilantro

1/4 white onion, chopped

2 Tablespoon of fresh lime juice
Salt and Pepper

In a food processor, pulse the tomatillos ( I just used tomatoes, which tastes good too), Jalapeño, avocado ,cilantro, onion, lime juice, salt and pepper until the mixture is the texture of relish. Serve with tortilla chips.


Tomatillo og Avocado Dip

Opskrift

4 Mellem Tomatillos (grønne tomater)
1 Avocado
1 Jalapeño
1 lille hånfuld cilantro
1/4 hvidt løg
2 Spsk. lime juice
Salt og Peber

Saturday

 

Kansas City is a fun mix of perfect Disney-like areas with bunnies, squirrels, deers and birds hopping around (pretty much like in Snow White :-)) and the exact opposite, grungy abandoned buildings with graffiti, overgrown weeds and trash. Heaven for photography. Ate lunch at the Farmhouse where I had an amazing homemade trio ice cream for desert - caramelized peppercorn vanilla, lemongrass sorbet and maple. Thanks Jesse for taking my pics:-)

Waterfall Braids in Ponytail

A waterfall braid is a french braid where you only add hair from one side. I never know how to end a waterfall braid delicately and usually just end up collecting the remaining hair in a ponytail or a bun. For this hairdo I did three braids that end in a side ponytail.