Incoherent Scribblings

No Cake without Frosting

So much for my insightful week of blogging… Anyway…

Last week, I decided to make myself a birthday cake. Apparently, according to Mausi, that is what you do here in Germany. You make your own birthday cake and are supposed to be prepared to serve cake and coffee (In my house, milk: We don’t even own a coffee maker.) when people “drop by” to wish you a happy birthday.

We don’t have many friends here and my in-laws live five hours away, so the chances that anyone would “drop by” to wish me a happy birthday were slim (which is OK by me), but I wanted a cake to celebrate my birthday anyway.

A quick word on “dropping by:” I am American… I don’t like for people to just “drop by” my house and I would never just “drop by” someone else’s house. However that is perfectly acceptable here in Germany, and truthfully, something that really bothers me… but I digress.

Anyway, A. was generous enough to offer to buy me a cake from one of our local bakeries for my birthday, but I declined. Honestly, I am not a fan of German cake. (Something I believe I have mentioned before.) In my opinion they are too dry, too heavy, and not sweet enough. Therefore, if I wanted a cake I was going to have to make my own, and so I did.

What I really wanted was a German Chocolate Cake complete with coconut pecan frosting. I figured that I should be able to find all the ingredients for a “German” Chocolate Cake here. But alas! I did not.

Actually, I found everything I needed except one major ingredient. Because, you see, what Americans refer to as a “German” Chocolate Cake is not a German cake at all. In fact, according to The All New Joy of Cooking, “[t]his well-loved American cake is not the legacy of our German immigrants but the contribution of a man named German, who invented German sweet cooking chocolate.”

However, it wasn’t the sweet cooking chocolate that I had a problem finding. It was the pecans for the frosting. I thoroughly checked the nut section, but no pecans were to be found. I finally relented and asked one of the salesladies if they had any pecans (Germ. trans Pekannuss), but she tried to sell me Brazil nuts (Germ. trans Paranuss) instead.

My disappointment turned to astonishment when A. suggested that I should just make the cake and forget about the frosting. What?! Is the man daft? The ONLY and I repeat ONLY reason one makes a cake is to compliment the frosting. There is NO CAKE without frosting!!

However, before we went to the store, something told me to be prepared for them not to have all the ingredients for a German Chocolate Cake. Because I listened to my little voice, I also had a list of ingredients for a Carrot Cake complete with Cream Cheese Frosting (my second favorite frosting cake). I knew that I could find everything for a Carrot Cake not only because Philadelphia Cream Cheese is common here, but because I made one the first year we were here for A.’s birthday.

So, I made myself a Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting for my birthday and because I “conveniently” forgot that cream cheese frosting is a bit too rich for A.’s palate, ended up eating almost the whole thing myself!

A WIP and 25 Questions

Earlier this month I put a handful of stitches into Mirabilia’s 2001 Freebie (Guardian Cherub). I didn’t do too much work on it, because I had to order some Kreinik thread and Mill Hill Beads for it. Though I could have worked around the metallics and the beads, I decided to wait for them to arrive before I did any more stitching on it.

Besides, I had other projects that needed my attention. But since I got my RR done and my thread and beads finally came in the mail yesterday, I decided to work on my Guardian Cherub today.

I am changing quite a few colors on this piece. I am doing the baby’s bunting in lavender instead of gray-green and I think I will do the cherub’s dress in either pink or blue (haven’t decided yet) instead of yellow. I don’t really like the background either, so I will probably change it too, but won’t decide on the colors until I get there.

So, that is my quick stitching report of the day. Now, on to other things. I saw this on Becky’s blog yesterday and because I thought the questions were interesting, I yanked it.

25 Most Asked Stitching Questions:

1. How old were you when you started cross stitching? I started stitching in March of 1999, so I would have been almost 24.

2. Who taught you to cross stitch? My best friend Dawn. I was visiting her over spring break and she was stitching a violin and roses piece. When she showed me I asked her if she thought I could do it. She asked me, “Can you count?” I said yes. She said, “Then you can cross stitch.” The rest is history.

3. What inspired you to begin cross stitching? Once again, my best friend and that violin and roses piece. I wonder if she still has it…

4. What has been your most difficult cross stitch piece? I think I would say “Cat in Garden.” The cross stitching itself wasn’t that difficult, but it was the first good-sized piece I stitched on Evenweave. In addition to that, it had lots of different shades of green and I kept losing my place on the chart.

5. Do you have friends that stitch? Yes. As I mentioned above, my best friend. My friend Susie (who I met here while she was living in Munich) also cross stitches. And of course, I feel like I have made a lot of online friends.

6. What is your favorite stitched piece? Right now, I would say “Girl’s Time Out,” but it changes every time I finish one of my pieces.

7. What is your favorite fabric? Definitely Evenweave. Since I asked this as an SBQ, I have changed my opinion and am currently most fond of 32 count Linen, but that may change when I stitch on my new Silkweaver Hand Dyed fabric!

8. What is your favorite fiber? Good old-fashioned DMC or Anchor cotton floss. I have tried rayon fibers and didn’t like them much. I just got my first order of Kreinik metallics and am looking forward to stitching with them. I have not yet tried silk or hand dyed fibers, but hope to do so someday.

9. What is your favorite needle? This might sound a little funny, but I am not sure. I have never bought any needles. All of the needles I have came from kits, so I suppose I have your “standard-sizes.” I do have one needle that I use a lot (I can tell because it is slightly discolored), so I suppose it is my favorite.

10. Do you prefer black & white or colored charts? I like colored charts with symbols, but will use either.

11. How many Works In Progress do you have at this time? 5: This is the most that I have ever had going.

12. How many UFO’s do you have at this time? 0

13. How many cross stitch charts/kits/mags do you own? I have a handful of magazines, a whole bunch of charts, and maybe half a dozen kits.

14. How much fabric do you have in stock at this time? Not too much. I buy about a half a meter of fabric at a time and try and use it all up before buying more. I have some white and cream 32 count Linen, some 27 count white cotton Evenweave, some 25 count blue Evenweave, some 28 count pink Rayon/Cotton Evenweave, and a little bit of 14 count Aida. Oh yeah, and a handful of fabric that Susie sent me for my birthday!

15. Where is your favorite place to stitch? In the living room in my chair near the window

16. What is your favorite time of day to stitch? Early afternoon

17. How many pieces have you stitched in your lifetime? It is probably getting close to around 100. Not bad considering I have “only” been stitching for six years!

18. Do you give your stitched pieces away? Not very often. I am a pretty selfish stitcher. I stitch things for me, me, me!

19. How many different fibers do you have in stock at this time? I have almost a complete set of Anchor, I am building up my DMC stock, I also have a few rayon fibers, and a few spools of Krienik #4 Very Fine Braid.

20. How many pairs of scissors do you own? 1 pair of fabric-cutting scissors and 1 pair of embroidery scissors.

21. Do you use stitching enhancers (lights, scroll frames…etc)? At night, I turn on the light and I always stitch with a hoop.

22. How many pieces that have been stitched but not yet framed or finished off in some other way do you have at this time? A bunch! I have been better about finishing this past year, but I have a lot that I just don’t know what to do with yet. When I get an idea, I finish something. Otherwise, they wait.

23. Do you have a craft/stitching room? Are you kidding me?! We live in Europe in a one bedroom apartment!

24. Why do you stitch? Good question. I am a housewife and I mainly cross stitch so I have something to do, but it gives me a creative outlet as well. I like working with my hands and feel like I am creating a work of art when I stitch. Quite simply, I enjoy it!

25. What is your most memorable time related to cross stitching? I would have to say when I started stitching again in 2003 after a two and a half year break. I got out the UFOs that I had and finished them up. I stitched some Christmas presents and really “rediscovered” stitching.