Fun Owl Snack

 

I made these owl snacks for recess on Friday last week.

Ingredients:

Sliced Banana 

Sliced Apple

Frozen Blueberries 

Slivered Carrot

Peanut Butter 

Bread

Spread peanut butter on the bread to make the owl body.

Use peanut butter to glue the apple wings, banana with blueberry eyes, and the carrot beak onto the bread.

Serve to children and enjoy the smiles!

You could also toast the bread or use Nutella as variations on this basic idea.

My Mother's Chocolate Cake | Recipe

 This is a moist, fudge-y, chocolate cake made with plenty of butter!

My Mother's Chocolate Cake Recipe 

4oz. Baking Chocolate, Chopped (I used 3/4c. of cocoa powder instead without adding any extra shortening or oil)

1 1/2c. Unsalted Butter (3 sticks) (I used salted butter)

1c. Boiling Water

2 Eggs

1 3/4c. Sugar

1 1/2 tsp. Vanilla Extract 

2 1/2c. Flour

2 tsp. Baking Powder

2 tsp. Baking Soda

1 tsp. Salt

1c. Hot Coffee

Melt butter and chocolate over medium heat with water. Remove from heat.

Beat eggs, sugar, and vanilla until creamy.

Add chocolate mixture to the egg mixture.

Sift together dry ingredients and stir them into the batter.

Add coffee. Mix to combine.

Pour batter into two 8" greased and floured cake pans.

Bake at 350°F. for 25-30 minutes.

Remove from oven and cool on wrack 10 minutes before turning out of cake pans.

These cake layers were so fragile. I wrapped them in plastic and foil and froze them. Before they had a chance to thaw I assembled the layers. I made a 2 ingredient dark chocolate mousse to go between the layers. I followed Ann Reardon's video instructions.

The original frosting recipe that came with the recipe is as follows:

Frosting:

1 1/2c. Softened Unsalted Butter

2 TBS. Milk

1 1/3 lbs. Powdered Sugar

2 oz. Baking Chocolate, Melted

1 tsp. Vanilla Extract 

Whip together with an electric mixer.

Now for the funny story that goes with this cake recipe:

My grandma found this recipe in a newspaper. The title of the recipe read "My Mother's Chocolate Cake." My grandma clipped it out and mailed it to my mom. She said, "With a title like 'My Mother's Chocolate Cake' my daughter better have a copy." even though my grandma had never made the recipe. That's her sense of humor. It is a very tasty chocolate cake. My mom made it once when my grandma was visiting so that at least she would know what a good recipe she had passed on. 

My Mother's Chocolate Cake with
dark chocolate mousse and butter cream frosting
dyed with reduce beet juice.

Nature | September 2026

 There are several sunrises coming up in this month's collection. I cannot get over how beautiful sunrise is! It is so frustrating to look at my screen after taking a picture and see only a fraction of the details showing up in the picture compared to what I can see with my naked eye. You are just going to have to get outside and see some sunrises to understand what I feel.

Our last monarch emerged. I was able to catch it on video.

It was so gorgeous!

"I've got to go! I've got to go to Mexico!"

My neighbor sent me this picture and asked if I wanted it. She knows me. I said, "Yes!"

We look forward to seeing what type of moth it turns into. We used Google lens to identify it as a Polyphemus Moth Caterpillar. They are huge!

QuietStandards Rag Doll Pattern Instructions

This post is the instructions for my Doll Pattern. I use to try to sell this pattern on Etsy, but I have now decided to release it here for free. 

This link will give you access to the pdf with the pattern pieces. You should be able to print them from there.

This link will give you access to the document with the instructions. You should be able to print them from there.

QuietStandards Rag Doll Pattern

Supplies:

- ¼ yard cotton muslin in color of your choice

- Embroidery floss for the face in colors of your choice

- Thread

- 4 oz. Polyester filling 

- 25 yds. of Yarn for hair in color of your choice

- Thread in the same color as the hair

Step 1. Cutting Out Fabric

Lay the pattern pieces on double layer thickness of fabric. Pin in place and cut out pieces. Trace markings for face onto the right side of the fabric. Trace the  seam allowance markings and arm and leg placements onto wrong side of the doll pieces.

Step 2. Embroidering The Face

Make the eyes with full 6 strands of floss. For the eyes make French knots.

For the eyebrows, nose, and mouth use 1 strand of embroidery floss. Stitch the eyebrows, nose, and mouth using a Stem Stitch. 

Tip: Tie your embroidery off very firmly on the backside. Children will usually be hard on the face and you want your facial features to stay on for a long time.

Step 3. Sewing The Arms And Legs

Sew the arms, right sides together, along the ¼ inch seam allowance. Turn right side out and stuff with polyester filling, a narrow dowl such as a pencil or chopstick is helpful with task. Fill with stuffing until you are satisfied with the fullness of the arms. 

Sew legs, right sides together, along the ¼ seam allowance.Turn right side out and stuff with polyester filling. Fill with stuffing until you are satisfied with the fullness of the legs. 

Tip: Basting the open ends of the arms and legs once they are stuffed makes the pieces easier to work with later.

Step 4. Sewing Body And Attaching Arms

(Warning: This is the most difficult step. Getting the arms to fit inside the doll's body while you stitch the seam is difficult, but it is worth the effort. Take your time, you will persevere.)

Pin the arms inside the doll body at the arm placement markings, matching raw edges: baste in place.

Sew the doll body, right sides together, along ¼ inch seam allowance, leaving open the leg placement and the area between the legs.

Tip: Sew an extra row of stitching where the arms are attached. Doll arms have a lot of strain put on them and the reinforcement stitching can help them hold up to use.

Turn right side out. Stuff with polyester filling until desired fluffiness is achieved.

Step 5. Attaching Legs And Sewing Up The Opening

Fold under the ¼ inch  seam allowance at the base of the doll. Position the legs at the leg placement markings: Pin, and Baste.

Stitch the whole opening closed. Stitching through all thicknesses close to the edge of the fold.

Tip: This seam can be stitched twice to add reenforcement for the legs.

Step 6. Making The Hair

Pick out a thin book, 8 inches tall. Wrap the yarn around the book 56-66 times or, until the wrapped area is about 4 inches long. At the open end of the book snip through all the yarn with scissors, resulting in strands of yarn 16 inches long. 

Draw a line with a pencil down the center of the back of the doll's head. Continue the line down the center of the forehead for ⅜ of an inch.

Double thread a needle with thread the same color as the hair yarn, knot it securely.  Make a small stitch along the pencil line at the base of the doll's neck. 

Loop the thread back around a strand of yarn at the center of the piece of yarn.

 Stitch the yarn into place. Make the needle come up along the center pencil line a very short distance ahead of the secured strand of yarn. With the needle and thread loop back around a second piece of yarn. Stitch the second strand of yarn into place. Make the needle come up along the center pencil line a very short distance ahead of the second piece of yarn. Continue like this until all the hair is stitched on the doll.

Gently comb the hair into pigtails. Tie the pigtails tightly with yarn. Stitch the pigtails to the side of the doll's head.

Braid the pigtails and secure by tying yarn around the ends. Trim the ends of yarn to make them even.

Congratulations, your Rag Doll is finished!

Birthday Wellington!

   I had big plans for my birthday luncheon this year. I wanted to take the opportunity to make something special. Having come across some really nice cuts of deer back strap, I decided to attempt my first Wellington. 

  To learn the process I watched America's Test Kitchen Beef Wellington video, Chef Jon's video, Gordon Ramsay's video, a few shorts, Fallow's Beef Wellington Guide, and Chris Young's video, just to name a few. I will add my references at the end. 

  I took most of my inspiration from Chef Jon. He advised to keep realistic expectations. The meat is going to exude juices all over once you cut into the roast. The pastry is going to get a little soggy. Accept that. His tip is to bake extra pieces of puff pastry to serve with the Wellington, that way you still can have plenty of crispy, flaky pastry to go with the meat. He also prefers a more simplistic method and avoids the use of crepes or prosciutto. 

  I started by making the duxelles ahead of time. I knew that school would be back in session at the time of my birthday and it would be difficult to pull off the extra steps if I waited until the week that I needed the components.

  I minced 2 ½ pounds of mushrooms by hand. I substituted onions for shallots and used a tiny bit of balsamic vinegar in place of wine. I seasoned the mushrooms with salt, pepper, bay leaf, and thyme. I didn't have any truffle infused pāté that Chef Jon recommended but I had some homemade liver pāté so I mixed in a spoonful of that once the mushrooms had finished cooking down.

  Three days ahead I pulled the meat out of the freezer to thaw. I had two small pieces of deer back strap in one bag. I would make two small Wellingtons. I thought it would be the perfect amount for my family and I would be able to cook them effectively in my toaster oven.

  Once the meat was thawed I patted it dry and salted the surface. Then I wrapped each piece tightly in plastic wrap to form them into nicely shaped logs.

  I started the Puff Pastry two days ahead of time. You may remember that I learned how to make Puff Pastry last year in order to make an Egyptian dessert.

For the Wellingtons I made 1 ½ recipes of that puff pastry in one batch. It turned out to be the perfect amount for what I needed.

To assemble the Venison Wellington I rolled out a section of puff pastry, brushed it with a whole egg egg wash, and let that dry for a minute. While the egg wash was drying I spread Dijon mustard on the meat.

Next I spread the duxelles onto the pastry, and rolled the piece of meat up in the pastry like a fat sausage in a blanket. I brushed it with egg wash.

I really wanted to add a lattice ornament to my pastry. I had no lattice cutter but when I was little my mom let us play with hers when we had playdough. I remembered how it cut the dough and I tried to replicate the pattern on a section of puff pastry using a ruler and knife.

Voilà! I was so happy with these lattices! They were perfect! (Perfect enough for me.) Everything got another coat of egg wash.

I baked the Wellingtons at 450° F. for 27 minutes. The internal temperature reached 122° F. I removed them from the pan to a cutting board. After resting 5 minutes the temperature had risen to 150°F. The meat was perfectly cooked. It was between medium/rare and medium. What a relief. One of my main concerns was getting the meat cooked right without over cooking it. I opted not to sear the roast because I just knew I would over cook it, if I attempted a sear. American's Test Kitchen left out the searing in their recipe, too, so I was in good company.

My meal was delicious! I wanted a restaurant quality meal at home and that is exactly what I ended up with. 

Menu:

Marinated Cucumber Salad

Mashed Potatoes 

Venison Stock Gravy

Maple Glazed Roasted Carrots 

Venison Wellington 

Coconut Cream Pineapple Drink

Reference material:

The Kitchn mushroom duxelles 

The Kitchn Individual Wellington 

The Kitchn Puff Pastry