Grandma's Raspberry Sauce

My Mother-in-Law asked me to make a cheesecake for her annual Christmas Eve soiree.  (My favorite cheesecake recipe comes from The Best Make-Ahead Recipes cookbook.)  She also entrusted me to make her famous raspberry sauce this year, from a recipe that she received from her mother-in-law.  It is a wonderful sauce for cheesecake; the bright, tart flavor cuts through the dense richness of the cheesecake.  As I'm not planning on becoming a mother-in-law anytime soon, I thought I would share the recipe with you.

Grandma's Raspberry Sauce:

Thaw one 10-oz package of frozen, unsweetened  raspberries in the refrigerator overnight.  Put the thawed raspberries in a medium saucepan and crush with a potato masher.  Add 1/2 cup currant jelly and 1 Tbsp cornstarch to the saucepan.  Cook over medium heat until thickened, then for an additional minute.  Off heat, stir in 1 tsp vanilla extract, 1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice and a dash of salt.  Strain out seeds and cool.  Place waxed paper directly on the sauce and refrigerate until chilled.

I poured the whole amount over my cheesecake and let it run down the sides.  Then I topped it all with fresh raspberries.

Random Stuff I've Been Up To

I had to bake a cheesecake tonight for my Mother-in-Law's annual Christmas Eve party.  I got started a bit late, and now I need something to do to keep me awake until it cools enough to be put in the refrigerator.  Since I haven't posted in a while, I thought that maybe I should go through my pictures and see what I've been up to for the past month. 

I crocheted a hat for my friend, Bee, over at Bee's Hive o' Drama.  Not only is she a supastar paper crafter, she's wicked funny, to boot.  She also looks really cute in hats.  Sweetpea modeled it for me:

I followed the Color-it-Beautiful hat pattern from the Nov/Dec '08 issue of Crochet Today.  The flower is from the Wrapped Wreath pattern in the same issue.  I've made two more of these, but haven't gotten around to the photography yet.  Here are my ravelry.com links for the hat above:

Hat

Flower

I knit a basic beanie for Sugarbear's teacher.  He happens to be a BIG USC Trojans fan:

Sugarbear was my model this time:

I made Chocolate-Dipped Marshmallows for Sugarbear's class holiday party:

I just speared some marshmallows on lollipop sticks, dipped them in melted CandiQuik, and sprinkled some Christmas sugar flotsam on them.  Can't get any easier than that.

I made some Christmas lounge pants for the kids.  Sugarbear wanted nothing to do with them. 

At least Sweetpea liked hers.  And I got to test run my new serger (Juki MO-644D) before hubby made me put it back in the box so he could wrap it for me for Christmas/my birthday. 

The kids made their annual gingerbread houses.  Thank goodness for the wonderful kits they have available these days.  They are a bit chintzy on the candy, though, so I made sure to supplement the stash.

I can't believe that I've done hardly any baking this month.  I did make this Cinnamon Bread, and it was yummy, but mostly I've just been in a sewing/knitting/crochet mood lately.  I guess that's better for my waistline anyways.

Pumpkin Smoothies

I found the original recipe here at familyfun.com.  I "kicked it up a notch" with the addition of pumpkin-pie flavoring syrup.

Pumpkin Smoothies:

Mix 1/2 cup canned pumpkin, 3/4 cup whole milk, 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg, 1 tablespoon brown sugar,            2 tablespoons pumpkin-pie flavored syrup, and 4 to 6 ice cubes in a blender.  Pour into 2 glasses.  Top with a dollop of whipped topping if you so desire.

Jedi Robe

Sugarbear wanted a dark brown Jedi robe to go with his Anakin Skywalker Halloween costume.  I modified this pattern (Simplicity 5512 view E) to make it.  I made the sleeves less "pointy" and rounded off the hood in the back.  Now I'm wishing I had a serger so the seams would look nicer...oh well, a girl can dream...

Here's my little Jedi:

A note about this pattern:  You need to know how to sew princess seams in order to attach the sleeves.  I realized as I was making this that I do not like to sew princess seams but I am definitely more skilled at them as a result of this project.  I wonder who sews Jedi robes in that galaxy far, far away.  Probably a droid.

Christmas in September

The new Better Homes and Gardens special Christmas magazines are out.  Did I mention how giddy that makes me? 

Hmmm.  What should I make first?



That's Corny

My market has been stocked with lots of yummy, sweet corn lately.  Here's a tip for making boiled corn extra delicious:  Add a tablespoon of sugar to the boiling water before dumping in your corn.  For other veggies, I would usually salt the water, but salt makes corn tough.  The sugar water enhances the natural sweetness of the corn.  I wait 'til the corn is hot and buttered before salting to taste.

More Hats

I was in a hat making mood this past summer.  They seem to be the perfect, portable project for summertime travels.  I made another Shells Sunhat for a friend's daughter:

Ravelry link here.

I made the sock monkey hats from Stitch 'n Bitch Crochet: The Happy Hooker for my sister's friend.  She is a collector of sock monkeys and is also a new grandmother of boy/girl twins!

Ravelry link here.

Sweetpea has been taking ice-skating lessons with some friends this summer.  One of the girls had a July birthday, so I whipped up a little hat for her to wear in the cold rink:

This was just a basic beanie of my own design.  It was my first time making a pom-pom.  I think it came out rather cute.  The birthday girl loved it:

 

Ravelry link here.