Good Things Come in Small Batches

Do you want a brownie but find you’re afraid to commit to an entire pan? I don’t have that problem anymore. And I don’t even need to figure out how to half an egg.

tiny brownies

Makes two brownies. Or one great big brownie if you don’t like to share.

Small Batch Brownies (vegan – but don’t be scared)

Preheat your oven to 350F.

Pull out a small mixing bowl and put in the following:

  • 4 1/2t. unsweetened cocoa
  • 1/4c. all purpose flour
  • 1/4c. sugar
  • 1/8t. baking powder
  • 1/4t. salt
  • 2T. water
  • 2T. cooking oil
  • 1/4t. vanilla

Mix it all up well and pour it into a greased 3×5 loaf pan. You can sprinkle the top with crushed pecans or walnuts if you like them. I like roasted, salted pecans myself.

Bake in the preheated oven for around 20 minutes. The top will look a little dry when it’s finished.

Let Ellie lick the bowl because

omnomnom

Hey! No eggs!

These are pretty rich. You can moderate that with a big scoop of ice cream and some homemade chocolate sauce.*

Or skip the baking altogether, it’s the perfect amount if all you want is brownie batter. I will not judge you for Brownie Indiscretions.

*Put 1/2c. water, 1/4c. sugar, 1/3c. cocoa, and a big pinch of salt in a small sauce pan over medium heat. STIR. I mean it! Don’t walk away! It can go from delicious to napalm in an instant. When you are happy with the viscosity, stir in 1/2t. vanilla. Store in the ‘fridge in a lidded container.

Snacks

A couple people asked to see Ellie’s felt tea bags.

tea bags

Sewn up on the machine with ribbon strings and pinked edges.

backlit tea bag

I put dark brown in the middle so it looks like there is tea inside.

I went ahead and took a few more pictures of my favorites while I had the camera out – a lot of her Teeth Prizes have been play food.

eggs!

I didn’t “make” these, just painted them. Ellie loves to count them.

fixins

Sandwich fixins. The sack in the back has potato chips.

bowties

One of the first things I tried.

tortilla

I’m proud of the tortillas – I put aluminum foil inside to keep them folded!

Now I’m kind of hungry.

Fifteen Minutes

This is a bear I made. He’s in a magazine!

my bear

Buttercream Bear is the high end Teddy Bear in the article “Behind the Price Tag” in the March 2010 issue of American Baby Magazine. This distinction is well deserved – hand knit with cashmere makes anything pricey. And that’s awesome. Or it would be awesome if the attribution wasn’t completely wrong (even in the buyer’s guide, so good luck to anyone who wants one) because of failure to fact check or figure out how Etsy works or ask or even read the bear’s tag.

I’ve been in touch with editors and there have been apologies all around. Which is nice. Hopefully there is some kind of correction in the near future. Which will be nicer. But still.

I’m not over the angry yet and you can’t help feeling how you feel.

Many thanks to my Darling Sister (Maintaining Sanity) for the pictures and for procuring multiple copies of the magazine. I can’t wait for them to get here so I can see him in person.

My bear (my former bear – he was bought from my shop last month) is famous!

Prize

Every night Ellie brushes her teeth without a fight, she gets a sticker for her calendar. At the end of the week, if she has collected a whole row of stickers, she gets a prize.* She’s never missed a prize. Last week it was a set of felt tea bags that I made to go with her tea set.** This week, it was some itty bitty buddies and snacks.

itty bitty rabbit and bear

Angora and Cashmere! Even tiny things can be fancy things.

She made them a bed in an animal cracker box, but this morning they moved into the doll house. It doesn’t look like the peg cats mind too much.

itty bitty bottoms

They aren’t in the pattern, but I feel that tails are important.

The Teeny Tiny Knitted Toys pattern can be found on the free patterns page at Little Cotton Rabbits. You’ll have to scroll, but the cute you pass on the way to the tiny toys makes it worth it. Especially the Easter egg ornaments (keep scrolling)!

*Prizes (and presents of all kinds) were called “ho hos” (in deference to the greatest present giver of her young life) until last night when she started to call them “prah.”
**These were an enormous hit. Not only did she make tea in the little tea pot, she made it in the cookie jar and in the dollhouse bathtub.

The Face of Two

When you are two, you (apparently) don’t need to hold hands when walking on the sidewalk.

the face of two

Also pictured: Meeow (freshly made Build-a-Bear Birthday Kitty)

Happy Birthday, Baby Dear. You’re making too much noise for me to write a more lengthy post.

PS Meeow is now naked and Big Kitty is wearing her Hello Kitty underwear. Ellie was very specific about the two Es in Meeow’s name.