Pumpkins

Snazzy Vest

I made D this vest. It has a lime green swirl lining. It is just.. too fabulous for words.

Live clams

I bought fresh clams at whole foods the other day. the fish monger instructed me to keep them in the refrigerator with a wet towel on top of them, and they would last for the next two days until my clam bake party. Of course I will be posting how-tos on all of our delicious feast items.

CLEANING:
First, gently tap any clams with open shells against the counter top. Discard any clams that do not close their shells within a few minutes or that have cracked or chipped shells. Place all the clams in a bowl and fill it with cool tap water.
Let the clams sit for 20 minutes to an hour. During this time, they will spit out the sand from inside their shells. When you're ready to cook, lift each clam from the water and scrub it to clean any particles or grit from the outside surface.

Happy Birthday Laura

Laura turns 21 today. She gets a yellow cake filled with strawberry surprise, frosted with almond buttercream icing.

Strawberry Surprise

1 can sweetened condensed milk
1 tub cool whip
1 package frozen strawberries
1 can crushed pineapple in juice

Smash strawberries in a large mixing bowl. Strain pineapple and keep juice for later. Add crushed pineapples to crushed strawberries. Add can of condensed milk. It is thick like honey, not watery like real milk. Stir together nice. Last gently fold the cool whip into the fruit mixture. Do not over-whip. Refrigerate until firm.

Apple Fritters

4 eggs
3/4 C. milk
3/4 C. flour
1 tsp vanilla
dash of salt
Good quality apple
4 tbs butter
sugar
cinnamon

Preheat oven to 400*. This requires two pie pans. In each pie pan, place two tablespoons of butter, and place in oven. Over a dinner plate, use mandolin to thinly slice apple. Coat apple pieces in cinnamon and sugar. In a 4 C. mixing bowl, combine eggs, milk, salt, vanilla, and flour. Whip the mixture until it looks like smooth pancake batter. Remove pie plates from oven. Arrange apple slices in a single layer in each pie plate. Evenly distribute pancake batter over each apple covered pie plate. Sprinkle top of pancake with cinnamon and sugar. Bake for 20 minutes, until edges peel up and center is not liquidy anymore. Serve with warm maple syrup!