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Category Archives: family

Sfogliatelle

09 Saturday Feb 2019

Posted by Julia Monroe in All Sparkled Up, allsparkledup, baking, books, family, Uncategorized

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

baking, cake boss, sfogliatelle

He had me at this statement:
“Unless you are a professional baker and an accomplished one at that, you probably shouldn’t try to make these. I’ve seen grown men brought to the brink of tears trying to make sfogliatelle.”
Thus was the introduction to the Sfogliatelle recipe in Buddy Valastro’s Cake Boss cookbook so I absolutely had to try it. I would be meeting Buddy Valastro at his Cake Boss tour in Raleigh NC, 2011, and wanted to tell him that at least I tried.

My son and I truly enjoyed the intensity of this recipe process. Buddy was right, it’s not for the faint of heart and you need a really BIG table. I covered our wood dining room table with a plastic tablecloth so we would have enough space.

1

Holding the sfogliatelle dough after it went through the pasta machine.

Starting Buddy Valastro’s “The Cake Boss” sfogliatelle dough. We put the sfogliatelle dough through the pasta rollers about a dozen times, sometimes folding it in half, until the texture seemed right.

2

Beginning to stretch the long strip of sfogliatelle dough.

Here we begin to stretch the sfogliatelle dough.

3

Continuing to stretch the sfogliatelle dough.

Stretching the sfogliatelle dough.

4

The dough gets thinner.

Stretching the sfogliatelle dough. The recipe is on page 175 of Buddy Valastro’s “Cake Boss” book.

5

Stretching sfogliatelle dough.

We had to be so very careful to not poke holes through the dough

6

Stretching the thicker edges of the sfogliatelle dough.

Stretching the edges of the sfogliatelle dough.

7

The sfogliatelle dough felt incredible, like cool, soft velvet.

It’s hard to believe this dough was made from just flour and water with a little sea salt. Amazing! It had a cold velvety texture and was super drapey and soft.

8

Checking the thinness of the sfogliatelle dough.

The dough is almost thin enough! We had to take that little strip from the pasta machine and stretch it to 7′ by 2 feet. It hung over the ends of the table.

9

Not too many holes in the dough. Yay!

Sfogliatelle dough, stretched and thin enough with not too many holes. My son Noah and I are elated that we did it.

10

Spreading shortening by hand and rolling the dough.

Beginning to roll the dough. Noah spreads shortening completely across the dough as I roll it.

11

Continuing to roll the sfogliatelle dough.

Continuing to roll the dough. We cut the two foot roll into two pieces and put them on a cookie sheet in the refrigerator to bake the next afternoon.

12

Slicing the long roll of sfogliatelle dough.

The roll of sfogliatelle dough is sliced 3/4″ thick for the beginning of Lobster Tails.

13

Pressing the dough out like a telescope to make the cones for filling.

Pressing the dough out like a telescope, the dough is formed into a cone.

14

Piping the pate a choux pastry into each cone of sfogliatelle dough.

Pate a Choux (Cream Puff dough) is piped into each cone of dough. It was quite a challenge piping filling into all the bent ones. They looked like mummy-strangled popovers, with filling oozing out all the cracks.
The suspense is building, isn’t it? All that flaky goodness is surely going to be something amazing? Well… see the next photo.

15

hahaha our super crispy and flakey sfogliatelle are all wonky!

Ha ha ha ha! All our Lobster Tails burst! They look seriously deformed. We were ROFL over them. But they actually are extraordinarily light and crispy with a blizzard of shattering crumbs with each bite.

16.

A sugar-dusted, crispy, light, amazing Sfogliatelle, recipe from The Cake Boss cookbook.

Sugar-dusted Lobster Tail. Recipe from the Cake Boss cookbook. 3 days to make, 7 luxurious minutes to eat, 8 seconds to lick the fluffy, Italian Cream Custard Filling and last crispy crumb off the plate.

I took a small container filled with the best of the sfogliatelle to Buddy Valastro’s show. He was so charming and entertaining and awesome! A genuine good-hearted soul. After his show, we stood in line for our chance to meet Buddy and get a picture taken with him. The line moved fairly quickly.
As soon as it was our turn to meet Buddy, I opened my bin to show him my attempt at Sfogliatelle. The first thing he said was “Those smell good!” He picked one up and held it and studied it and said “It’s so light!” I was so happy! I asked him what we did wrong to make them all burst at the seams and he told me we rolled the dough too thin, to keep it thicker next time and to not push the cone out too much so there was more overlap of the strips. I got the impression that he would have loved to talk a lot longer about making good sfogliatelle but other guests were waiting in line for their photo with him. I would have loved to talk for hours about pastry! We got our picture and I walked out feeling so encouraged. It was a fantastic experience.

Meeting Buddy Valastro after his Cake Boss show in Raleigh NC 2011.

For years I kept one sfogliatelle in the freezer because “That’s the sfogliatelle that was touched and blessed by Buddy Valastro!” haha That was the only time I’ve ever made sfogliatelle but I’m thinking of giving it another go.

I raise a toast to the true Cake Boss.

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The little cake she decorated

29 Tuesday May 2018

Posted by Julia Monroe in All Sparkled Up, allsparkledup, baking, birthday, cake decorating, family, food

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birthday party, cake, cake decorating

She turned 10 and had fun putting the royal icing fantasy flowers on her little cake at her party.

She even broke some petals from the flowers and used them so creatively. I love her style!

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Christmas at Sea Tablescape

23 Saturday Dec 2017

Posted by Julia Monroe in All Sparkled Up, baking, Christmas, crafts, DIY, family, holiday, home, home decor, Uncategorized

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

Christmas table, home decor, lunch, tablescape, toy ship

I hosted a Christmas Lunch for two of my daughters-in-law. The tablescape was Christmas at Sea, which featured an old ship that belonged to my dear father-in-law. I love the Christmas song “I Saw Three Ships Come Sailing in on Christmas Day” and that was the original inspiration for the table. I would need smaller ships to fit three on the table though so one ship was big enough. One of my daughters-in-law used to work on a cruise ship so the theme was all the more fun.
1 Christmas at Sea tablescape-0474
The ship was placed on a piece of fluffy white batting in the center of the table. Small glass balls in white and wintery shades of gray were scattered like bubbles around the ship.
2 Christmas at Sea tablescape-0476
Small crocheted snowflakes were hung from the ship’s sails.
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I also hung several glass balls and glass icicles and chandelier prisms from the ship to add to the wintery icy effect.
4 Christmas at Sea tablescape-0487
The napkins were made from Vintage Christmas Carol sheet music fabric from Spoonflower. I had the design printed on Linen Cotton Canvas and it made lovely napkins.
5 Christmas at Sea tablescape-0483
On each napkin I placed a sugar cookie snowflake. They turned out pretty but are so fragile that I broke the royal icing on several even before the lunch! But I adore snowflakes so I’ll probably make these again, even if they do break easily.
6 Christmas at Sea tablescape-0485
Several of the smaller snowflake cookies were placed around the ship.
7 Christmas at Sea tablescape-0486
To light the ship, I used three strands of tiny, battery operated lights. The battery boxes fit perfectly under the ship and were hidden under the white batting.
8 Christmas at Sea tablescape-0484
Lunch was Potato Bacon Chowder, Ham Barbecue Rolls, Spinach Salad, and Cranberry Cheesecake Pie for dessert. We were sad that one of the girls couldn’t make it due to a sore throat. But now I have a good excuse to host again. It was too fun to only do once. Instead of Christmas at Sea, it will be Winter at Sea!
9 Christmas at Sea tablescape-0480
I wish we had a fireplace mantel in the living room. I’d love to style ships like this on a mantel. If you do, please post in the comments and share. I’d love to see it!
10 Christmas at Sea tablescape-0489

 

 

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A Warm Winter Game Weekend

16 Monday Jan 2017

Posted by Julia Monroe in family, home, home decor, lighting, party, Uncategorized, woodwork

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Tags

family, family game night, game night, home decor, party

I’ve wanted to host a game night for a while but everyone’s schedules were really busy. So we freed up the whole weekend and let the gatherings happen when they could. What fun!

First of all, I wanted warmth and light. Right after Christmas is always so dreary. All the prettiness of Christmas is packed away and all that’s left is cold. So I did a little searching and gathered a bit of warmth from around the world.

First and most important, there had to be fur from Russia.
1-winter-game-weekend-fur-throws
I have a large fur throw in the living room but needed something smaller for the dining room chairs. I found the perfect fur at JoAnn fabrics and made two throws from 1.5 yards of fur to drape over the backs of the chairs.

I adore knits from Scandinavia and found a beautiful heavy knit, also at JoAnn Fabrics. 1.5 yards made two more comfy throws for the chairs. I also used another yard of fur and a lovely wool throw that a friend had given me.

On one chair is a pillow I made using Floral Wood Carving Stripe fabric from Spoonflower.  2 carved wood flower stripe fabric pillow.jpg Roostery sells premade pillows using the wood carving fabric too. The wood buttons were fun to carve while watching Gilmore Girls. :) 3-hand-carved-wood-buttons

On the table, more softness. “Go ahead and put your elbows on this table!” Oh the softness! 4 Winter Game Weekend soft table.jpg

I’ve never leaned on a table so soft that your elbows sink in, and there are no words to describe how comforting this is!!! If you want your guests to linger, you’ve GOT to try it!

To get it soft enough, I used these layers: Felt-backed plastic tablecloth, cotton table cloth, fluffy old blanket, chenille bedspread-turned into a tablecloth and a thick cotton throw. 5 Winter Game Weekend table throws and blankets.jpg

Our table belonged to my grandparents. Decades of love and laughter have taken place around this table. The only thing I’d change is if it were a trestle table with rounded corners and center pedestal so we could fit more people around it without bumping the table legs. My father made the family trestle table and I’ve always wanted one. This trestle table is beautiful! But really, all these tables are gorgeous here.

The first two nights I used the white bedspread/tablecloth as the top layer. The last night I put the maroon spread on top. You simply must try this! Make sure you use washable throws though, in case there are crumbs and spills. From now on, I’m going to be watching for thick, washable throws that can be layered on tables. I might even make one for my desk. Yes! … um… zzzz…. maybe too much comfort for a desk… ;)

For lighting, I wired old chandelier crystals and glass icicle ornaments to the light fixture. The crystals were salvaged from a family heirloom and I cherish them so much. 6 Winter Game Weekend icy chandelier.jpg They add a delightful sparkle and look quite wintery.

7 Winter Game Weekend chandelier with crystals.jpg Two corners of the dining room have lamps. The terrarium is still unfinished, tied together with cord but the plants are growing fine. They’re over a year old now. I finished all the carving but have yet to cut the wood base, glue it all together and line it with copper. The glass top of the terrarium is the old dining room light fixture that we removed when we bought this house.

8 light fixture and wood carved terrarium.jpg I also keep white mini lights on top of the china cabinet and dining room bookcase until winter is past. To me, mini lights don’t remind me of Christmas, they mean health and well-being. The more light in winter, the better!

While visiting my daughter in Tokyo, I learned about Japanese tables that were warmed underneath. What a great concept! To mimic the comfort of a kotatsu, I put an electric blanket under the table to tuck our stocking feet into. 9 Winter Game Weekend electric blanket floor.jpg

On the table I put a beautiful leaf plate from Arhaus. It was perfect for holding cookies – German Springerli and Viennese Chocolate Hazelnut Crescents.10 Winter Game Weekend Springerli Chocolate Hazelnut Crescents.jpg

One of my sons made me a gorgeous chalkboard tray for Christmas. He did a beautiful job on it! It was jolly fun writing on the tray, playing tic tac to and keeping score. 11 Winter Game Weekend Arhaus leaf bowl.jpg

We warmed our hands on cups of rich cocoa, Swiss chocolate of course. 12 Winter Game Weekend Chalkboard Tray.jpg

Friday night was just the girls. We played Old Maid, the very cards that I used in my childhood in the 60’s. So much fun!! 13 Winter Game Weekend playing Old Maid.jpg It had been so many years since I played with those cards. There was Fifi and her poodle, Greenthumb Gert, whose plantings were being nibbled up by rabbits as fast as she planted them, and Milkman Mo with his begging cats. Love the humor in these old cards, which probably would be deemed totally “politically incorrect” now-adays. 14 Winter Game Weekend vintage Old Maid cards.jpg

Saturday night, children and adults together played Clue. We did our best using  English accents and Oh the mystery and laughter!

15-winter-game-weekend-clueMiss Peacock, how can you be capable of such a deed! Mr Plum’s strategy was quite scientific. And Colonel Mustard actually held the pistol and knife. This view of the chandelier is only possible if you’re a game piece lying in the billiard room. haha 16-winter-game-weekend-professor-plum-looks-up

One of my favorite warming strategies was loading fireplace videos on tablets and displaying them in the bottom of the china cabinet. Fire where there is never any fire!  17-winter-game-weekend-china-cabinet-fireplace I sure wish some company would create a mini fake fire device that could play a simple, looping fire video like this and fit in a small space like a china cabinet. I would buy several in a heartbeat. Fire amongst the plants in the living room? Yes! Fire on my nightstand as I go to sleep? Yes! The last time we had a fake fire was when we made a fireplace in the oven. There’s something comforting about flame, even if it’s fake.

Sunday night’s beer and poker game ended up being postponed because the flu visited. Alas. But even as I write this, I’m feeling quite toasty. The throws are still on the chairs and I feel the warmth radiating against my back. My laptop is set up on this table and my arms are leaning in on the softness as I type. A Winter Game Weekend after Christmas has definitely become a tradition in our home.

18-winter-game-weekend-all-the-best-of-the-worlds-warmth

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THE Carpenter Christmas Tablescape

25 Sunday Dec 2016

Posted by Julia Monroe in All Sparkled Up, Christmas, community, Craft Fail, encouragement, family, Inspirational, Uncategorized

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Tags

Christmas, Christmas tablescape, tablescape

Carpenter, as in not someone’s name, but rather the vocation. The wood worker that cuts down trees and uses sharp gouges to make houses and three-legged stools.

And not just any carpenter, but THE carpenter. Jesus could have been any profession in the world. But he was a worker of wood, a simple carpenter by trade. When I volunteered to do a tablescape for the Christmas brunch event at our church, the first thing I thought of was Christmas trees and wood, and how significant wood is in relation to Christmas and Jesus… and me.
1-christmas-wood-tablescape-front
2-christmas-wood-tablescape-1658
Jesus worked in a wood shop. He used logs and blocks of wood. He used saws and gouges.
3-christmas-wood-tablescape-tools-1657
At the end of a day he would have had the glorious smell of aromatic sawdust and curly wood shavings clinging to his garments.
4-christmas-wood-tablescape

As an apprentice, one of the first pieces of furniture he would have made would be a three-legged stool.

6-1-legged-stool

Three legged stools can sit firmly on uneven surfaces.

6-3-christmas-wood-tablescape-favor

And if one leg is a little longer than the other, the stool still works so it is the perfect beginner’s project for making furniture.
6-2-3-legged-stool
7-legged-stool-ornament

8-christmas-tablescape-setting
My dad enjoyed wood working as a hobby but he didn’t build furniture. He built his own house, he loved cutting down trees and chopping wood, and he loved carving.
9-dons-wood-carving
I learned to carve by watching him. “Never fight the grain of wood,” he quietly said. “Work with the grain, not against it. Take tiny cuts. You can’t put wood back but you can always cut away tiny bits. Take your time.”
10-dons-wood-carving
My father had incredible patience and I watched in silence as he made tiny cuts in the wood.
11-dons-wood-carving
12-dons-wood-carving
I was 22 when I married and moved away from home. All I learned about woodworking was during my childhood but I never forgot my father’s skill. My father passed away just a couple days before Christmas, two years ago. But instead of having the memory of his passing be something hard, it is beautiful this time of year. Because my father worked with wood and so did Jesus. My dad never got to see my carving. But somehow, I think he knows and is glad.
14-my-wood-carving-1772
15-my-wood-carving
Wood workers mark their tools and their woodwork. It’s called a “maker’s mark.” My dad carved his name into the gouges he made from nails.
16-dons-tools
17-dons-tools
18-dons-tools
He carved his name and date in his carvings.
20-dons-carving
He sometimes carved the location where he made his piece.
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Jesus knew all the details of woodworking.
21-christmas-tablescape-details-1656
His first contact with wood was being laid in a wood manger, a feeding trough for animals. It was rustic and rough.
22-christmas-tablescape
As he grew, He learned how to shape wood and smooth wood, remove tiny bits to make something functional and beautiful. He knew which trees were strong, which had the best grain, which smelled aromatic. And he would have known about maker’s marks.

As I put together my Carpenter tablescape, I included two wood cross beams leaning against the back of the creche.
23-christmas-wood-tablescape
After spending a life working with wood, Jesus’ last contact with wood was being nailed to it.
24-christmas-wood-tablescape
And there, in the cross, was Jesus’ “maker’s mark”, the nail prints.
25-christmas-wood-tablescape
This Christmas, what is precious to you? To me, it is the memory of my dad, the wood carver.
26-dons-self-portrait-wood-carving
And being blessed with the ability to work with wood like my dad and Jesus, The Carpenter.
27-christmas-wood-tablescape-manger-1655
28-christmas-wood-tablescape

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In Lieu of Luke’s Diner – Sugar Crusted Orange Ginger Muffins

05 Wednesday Oct 2016

Posted by Julia Monroe in All Sparkled Up, allsparkledup, baking, family, food, recipe, tea time

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

baking, food, Gilmore Girls, Luke's Diner, muffins, recipe

The plan was to get a free cup of hot coffee from “Luke’s Diner” in town. Commemorating the 16th anniversary of Gilmore Girls, and to celebrate the upcoming debut of a Gilmore Girls mini series, Netflix sponsored pop-up “Luke’s Diner” in coffee shops all over the country. Oh my goodness, I love that show!

I had every intention of going and really looked forward to it. In fact, I even walked toward the line and snapped a picture. What a special event in town!

"Luke's Diner" pop-up at one of the local coffee shops

“Luke’s Diner” pop-up at one of the local coffee shops

But then I started to miss my own “Rory” so much that I had to leave. If I had stayed, I feared I would have started to cry and end up blubbering something like “Will you please be my daughter? I miss my daughter! Anyone in this line, can I please be your Lorelai because my daughter lives halfway to China and I’m missing her so much and we watched Gilmore Girls together when she was going to college and HOW can I possibly get a cup of coffee that we would have shared but can’t because she’s halfway to China??” If I had stayed, I totally would have done that. 0_0

So I left without coffee, immediately went home and did a Sookie thing – I whipped up some Sugar Crusted Orange Ginger Muffins and cried the entire time. I sure did.

Sugar Crusted Orange Ginger Muffin

Sugar Crusted Orange Ginger Muffin

I made up this recipe years ago, just because I needed a batter that fit in the big, new muffin tins. I still use my favorite batter-scooping spoon, even though the handle is broken.

Scooping the muffin batter with the broken spoon, just because it's the perfect size and shape for scooping.

Scooping the muffin batter with the broken spoon, just because it’s the perfect size and shape for scooping.

Sugar Crusted Orange Ginger Muffins

Sift together in a large bowl:
3 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
5 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp cardamom

Mix together in another bowl:
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups milk
1/2 cup oil
3 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted
1 tsp grated orange rind

Mix together in another bowl:
3/4 cup raisins (I like golden best but any raisin will do)
3/4 cup candied ginger cut up into little pieces (I never buy the precut ginger because it has too much sugar sprinkled on it. All that extra sugar changes the texture of the recipe. It’s better to buy candied, sliced ginger and cut it up yourself with scissors.)

Dump the egg mixture into the flour mixture and quickly stir with a whisk or wooden spoon about 5 or 6 strokes. Mixture will be lumpy and NOT mixed together.

Dump in the raisins and ginger.

Stir quickly and thoroughly but briefly using a wood spoon or whisk. Mixture will be lumpy. Make sure you scrape the dry ingredients off the bottom of the bowl while mixing. If the batter gets rubbery and stretchy, you mixed it too long and the muffins might be tough. Anyway, drop spoonfuls of batter into greased, large muffin tins.

Sprinkle tops with coarse sugar crystals.

BAKE at 400F for 20-25 minutes.

Makes 12 large muffins.

Spicy bits of crystalized ginger and raisins stud this ginger & cardamom muffin.

Spicy bits of crystalized ginger and raisins stud this ginger & cardamom muffin.


After I had two cups of good strong coffee and a muffin, I felt better. But since I miss my daughter so much, I’m declaring it Official Wallowing Day. Truly. At least once a year I just need a good wallow.

I miss you and love you, Heather. <3
And Texas just seems like half-way to China. ;)

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She walked back from the beach

05 Monday Oct 2015

Posted by Julia Monroe in All Sparkled Up, ballet, beach, family, photography

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ballet, beach, family, photography

Walking back
She walked back from the beach.

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They walked in the gloaming

01 Thursday Oct 2015

Posted by Julia Monroe in All Sparkled Up, family, nature, photography, sunset

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allsparkledup, Atlantic Ocean, family, gloaming, nature, photography, sea, sunset

Gloaming: that time of day when the brilliant sunset has passed and the sky softly darkens.

They walked in the gloaming by the sea.

They walked in the gloaming by the sea.

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Wishing there were pirates

29 Tuesday Sep 2015

Posted by Julia Monroe in family

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beach, family, grandkids, imagination

Looking for pirates.
 

Don't let go of the sword.

Don’t let go of the sword.


Hoping for pirates.
Never give up.

Never give up.


Wishing there were pirates.
3 Wishing there were pirates
Enjoy the view.

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There, in the sun

06 Monday Apr 2015

Posted by Julia Monroe in All Sparkled Up, color, family, lighting, photography, sparkling, sunlight

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Tags

color, family, hair, photography, portrait, sunlight

“Don’t move!” I told her.

The sun shines through the west window for a short time each late afternoon, hitting a narrow sliver of wall half way between the dining room and living room. Sometimes I move the dining room chair and sit in that small sliver, if only for a short time and let the sun soak into my face, eyes closed.

She was walking from the living room to the dining room and paused just a moment and I happen to look over at that moment and I told her Don’t move because I wanted to capture the sun on her blue hair.  One moment more either way and I would have missed it.

How many moments like that have we missed because we’re too busy walking or talking or cleaning or doing?  The sun follows the same path every day. It isn’t the sun that changes, it is I. I don’t want to miss what the sun lights.

She stopped briefly in the sun, just long enough for me to capture the frame.

She stopped briefly in the sun, just long enough for me to capture the frame.

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