Tiramisu

A while back my housemate and I made tiramisu for the first time. I was looking for something I could make quickly and easily for an Italian dinner party later that night, so I grabbed a recipe off the internet and modified it heavily to fit what we had on hand. We made the happy discovery that tiramisu is very forgiving.

We substituted extra-strong regular coffee for the espresso, and used store-bought ladyfingers instead of piping our own. We also made it in baking dishes, but it would look beautiful in cups or glasses.

If you're ever looking for a rich, delicate dessert that you can make at the last minute, I recommend this recipe. The flavor will improve after it's been in the fridge for a day or two. But I know for a fact that instead of waiting you could just eat it all immediately as soon as it's chilled.

Ingredients:

• 6 cups of coffee, brewed extra strong (we used four scoops of coffee in a drip coffeemaker)
• 7 Tbsp. Kahlua
• 4 eggs, separated
• slightly more than 1/2 c. powdered sugar (we didn't have castor sugar, so we used powdered sugar we'd made in a blender, and just went by taste)
• 500 g mascarpone cheese
• 2 c. heavy whipping cream
• 500 g ladyfingers (savoiardi)
• cocoa powder for dusting

1. Beat egg yolks and sugar in a large bowl until the mixture goes pale and thick.
2. Add mascarpone and beat until combined. It doesn't matter if it's a little marbled.
3. Whip the cream until stiff peaks hold, and fold gently into the egg mixture. Gently!
4. In a perfectly clean metal bowl, beat the egg whites to soft peaks.
5. Fold the whites into the cream.
6. Mix the coffee and Kahlua together in a small bowl.
7. Dip ladyfingers in coffee & drain well.
8. Cover bottom of dish with ladyfingers, layer with half of cream mixture.
9. Repeat with another layer of ladyfingers & cream.
10. Smooth top & dust with cocoa.

Fiber has kept me sane through some really difficult times, and this week is no exception. Having a simple mechanical task to complete helps, especially when it means you get to touch something soft and watch something colorful.

I've had a few skeins of yarn waiting to be wound into balls for quite some time, and this week I've gotten most of them ready to be knit into scarves and neckwarmers and other warm things. One of them didn't have ends. No, really. It was a skein of Manos with a few knots in it, and apparently somebody skeining it got knot-happy and accidentally tied the ends together. It was like Sam Beckett's life all tangled up in a big red yarny octopus made of one continuous loop. I made a break in the loop and got it all untangled and neatly wound, so I guess he gets to go home now.

And there's this:

It's the most awesome yarn ever. It's handspun art yarn from Cool Climates and it is filled with bazillions of fibers in bazillions of shades of white & off-white, and LOTS of wild and crazy texture, and bazillions of cool things in it like pearl beads and antique lace and super twisty bits of overspun crazy-plied awesomeness. It's going to be a scarf or neckwarmer when it grows up.

For the past several weeks, I have been semi-absent from a lot of the great online communities where I usually hang out. As some of you may know, my aunt passed away recently after a long battle with cancer. It hurts. A lot.

She was one of the rare people in this world who are truly kind all the way to the core of their being. Kind and sweet and gentle and smart and fun to be around. She cooked and baked extremely well. Like, made-from-scratch cheesecake well. Like the chocolate-covered cherries at Christmas were made individually by hand and the sweet creamy filling inside them started out as powdered sugar and vanilla and whatever magic dwelt in her kitchen. She made beautiful jewelry. She was wicked good at Scrabble.

She was good at life. I miss her.

Her death and her life have given me a lot to think about. I've been trying to find my way back to a normal routine and get back in the swing of things. Some days I succeed more than others.

Shop update!

The Club is Afoot!

Today I am feeling optimistic. It's been a good fiber week. I got everything in order for the Myth & Magic Club (which you should join, because it's awesome) and things are well underway. I was really afraid that I would solicit the assistance of other artists to make the non-wooly surprises for the club packages, and talk up the club all over the internet and then no one would ever sign up and I would be totally embarassed and have to go back to the artists and say, "Actually, it turns out that I won't be buying several custom items from you after all, because no one is even remotely interested in this club."

I mean, how awful would that be? But, I have been saved from this terrible fate! The club will take place after all! Which excites me to no end because I am really looking forward to it and have plans for some really amazing batts. They will be a bit more luxurious than the batts usually available in the shop. I'm using this club as an experiment in making batts with a higher percentage of fancy fibers like bamboo, milk fiber, silk, angora, etc. And as an experiment in branching out a little into using some fibers that I didn't dye myself, but bought from other fabulous indie dyers, some of whom use different dye techniques than I do.

There is still lots of room in the club, and 1 month subscriptions are available for those on a budget. So come play with us!

In other news, today my first-ever Ravelry ad started running. It's just a simple banner ad I made for the Myth & Magic Club, and it will run for 1 week, until sign-ups for August close. I have no idea if it will be effective in selling club subscriptions or bringing people into my shop, but I will know in a week. So that's a new thing too.

And speaking of new things... soon I will start dyeing silk scarves for the gallery, some of which will be available in the shop at some point. Like several weeks from now. And I'm going to try my hand at indigo dyeing. So indigo dyed fiber will be available in the shop... whenever I get the hang of indigo dyeing. Best not to hold your breath, I hear it's insanely difficult and takes a long time to learn and that the learning curve is steep and fraught with peril. Then again, I heard that about point spinning and long-draw spinning only after I had taught them to myself with little difficulty & was surprised to hear it. So, we'll see.

That's it for now. To the Post Office!

Seeking Artists & Crafters for purposes of Awesomeness!

Today I'm working on the details for my new fiber club. Which will be announced soon. And which will be awesome. For right now, let me just say this: It will be 4 oz. of spinning batts each month for 4 months, and there will be a theme. I've never done a themed club before, and I'm super excited. I'd also love for this club to have the option of coming with a few extra treats like herbal teas, handmade soaps, etc. for those who like a little extra pampering.

So I'm looking for folks who make those things who'd like to be a part of this. I figure there are two ways this can work. Folks can send in sample sizes of the things they make along with their business card, a coupon, etc. and use this as free advertising. The samples could be included in fiber club shipments at no extra charge to club subscribers. Or, I can work out a deal whereby I buy full-size items & include them with the monthly club shipments, and customers pay a bit more for their subscription to cover the extra awesomeness. Some folks love extra goodies in their clubs, and some prefer just the fiber. I will offer customers a choice between a no-frills fiber-only club and an extra awesomeness club.

Here's what I'm looking for:

• Handmade hot- or cold-process soap that is all natural & scented only with herbs, spices, & pure essential oils. No melt-n-pour or premade bases. No artificial ingredients. Just the good stuff -- high quality fair trade oils and butters, fresh dried herbs & spices, pure essential oils, and of course organic ingredients are always a plus.
• Other bath & body goodies -- bath salts, lotions, etc. Again, all-natural is key. No artificial fragrance oils.
• Hand-blended teas -- Fair trade and organic will always get you brownie points, because they are good karma and the world needs more of that going around. :)
• ACEO's or small art prints
• Greeting cards
• Hand-poured candles -- scented w/ essential oils, & made from palm, soy, or beeswax.
• Stitch markers for knitting/crochet
• I'm open to other things that I think fiber folks will like.

The extras in the boxes don't need to be the same each month, so you may participate for just one month or more. It's completely up to you. Most importantly, things need to go with the theme of that month's box. I'm keeping the theme a surprise from customers until I introduce the club, so if this sounds like the kind of collaboration you might be interested in, please email me atSerendipityFibers@gmail.com to find out the secret monthly themes & see if they're something you'd like to work with.

Shop Update

A little weekend shop update to start your week off right...

Available at Serendipity!