Real Gingerbread

I have lots of cookbooks and lots of gingerbread recipes, but this one from King Arthur Flour is one of the best I've tasted in a l-o-n-g while (since Grandma Dovie made gingerbread!). Best of all, you can make this with whole wheat flour and you can't tell!

King Arthur Flour Gingerbread

• 2 1/4 cups King Arthur white whole wheat flour, or 2 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon each cloves and nutmeg
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
• 3/4 cup molasses
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 large egg
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1/2 cup diced crystallized ginger (optional) <- I didn't use any of this
  

Directions:

1) Grease and flour a 9" square pan. Preheat the oven to 350°F. ( This was too thick for my taste in the 9-inch pan so I used a 12 x 7 or so dish.)

2) In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg.

3) Melt the butter in a heatproof measuring cup. Add the molasses to the cup, and pour into the dry ingredients in the bowl, mixing to moisten.

4) Add the water, stirring until everything is moistened. Whisk together the egg and buttermilk. Stir into the batter until it's evenly combined. Stir in the crystallized ginger.

5) Pour the batter into the prepared pan, and bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until the cake just begins to pull away from the edge of the pan.

6) Remove from the oven and cool on a rack for 15 minutes before slicing; gingerbread is best served warm with whipped cream or ice cream.

You can find the original recipes with pictures here.

A Finished Object

I have finished Janine's Tea Set apron.

I think the sashes are long enough that she should be able to wrap them around and tie a nice bow in the front.

The teapot and cups are machine appliqued.

Sometimes it helps to be an engineer with all that drafting and design training. 'Cause, no sir, that is not bought scallop trim. It is custom drafted, cut and sewn for this particular apron.

I am my own worst critic, but even I think this is kinda' cute. I particularly like the graphic quality that the Amsterdam material imparts to the appliques. It looks vintage and modern at the same time. Janine did a great job picking out the materials.

She has an entry on her blog at thepinkteapot.blogspot.com.

Drumroll, Please

The winner of the fruit cocktail apron is commenter 26, who is Theresa.

The winner was picked by the random number generator at random.org.


Thanks to all who posted a comment and thanks to sewmamasew for hosting the giveaway. Wasn't it fun?

The Design Process

I'm designing and making an apron for Janine of the The Pink Teapot. She wants it to have the same color pallette as her blog. So here's the fabrics she has picked out. The pink is Amy Butler. The black is Kona Black. The print is called "Amsterdam" and is by Cranston. I've washed everything and ironed it.

A big plug here for Fabric.com. They have the best selection of fabric and their staff is so nice and helpful.



It needs to be pink with a black scalloped edge:

Got that part done.













It needs a teaset appliqued on it.

Well, I got the teapot done. I'm thinking about
a button on the top of the lid as an accent. This teapot was quite difficult to applique. Lot's of curves and turns, but so far it looks pretty good.

I didn't think that the print would work for the applique. I thought it was too big in scale, but it's lending itself to the design pretty well.

The applique is about 4 or 5 inches in height and about 6 inches in width, including the handle.

It's Blog Give-Away Day

It's the Fruit Cocktail Apron!

This is a half apron, made of medium weight purple denim and trimmed in a coordinating fruit and flowers print. Everything was pre-washed before construction, so you won't have any shrinkage problems. All of the bias tape trim is double stitched to keep it from fraying in the wash. ( I learned that one from personal experience!) The overlay makes 3 pockets so you have lots of room to put your potholder or oven mitt.

This is a nice slim fit and won't make you look like you ate all the holiday cookies.


A couple of closeups for detail:

The print pattern.














Detail of bias tape trim.












This is an easy one-size-fits-most and should easily fit up to a women's 2x size.

Leave a comment and I will randomly select one person to receive this apron.

Due to shipping cost, I need to restrict this to the US and Canada only. Comments added until midnight today, EST will be eligible.

Holy-moly, have you folks seen that list at sewmamasew! I'll leave the comments open until Friday.

Thanks for stopping by Dovie's Aprons. Come back soon.

Watch this Space!

I'm participating in blog-giveaway-day on Dec. 3. This is hosted by sewmamasew.com/blog.

Of course, the giveaway item will be a fabulous apron. Pics to be posted soon.

Be sure to check out sewmamasew's wonderful guide to handmade gifts during the month of November. There are tutorials for d-i-y-ers as well as links to shops and sellers.

Don't forget to stop by here and post a comment on Dec. 3.