Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Cookies

I just baked a batch of these yesterday for practice and not a single one is left to take a picture of! I developed this recipe to include a lot of organic alternatives. These cookies come out big, soft and never too sweet. They have always been a hit.

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Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Cookies
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Tools:
Large mixing bowl
Wire whisk
Sifter
Ungreased cookie sheets
Wooden spoon or baking spatula
Cookie scoop or teaspoon
Cooling rack

Ingredients:
1 cup butter or margarine, melted in the microwave
3/4 cup organic sugar
2 cage free eggs
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups organic whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 cups organic semi sweet chocolate chips
2 tablespoons unsweetened applesauce

Mixing Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F
2. Melt butter in the microwave (about 40 seconds on high)
3. In a large bowl whisk together butter and sugar until creamy
4. Beat two eggs until fluffy, then whisk well into the butter& sugar mix
5. Add pure vanilla extract to the mix and whisk again
6. Sift in the flour one cup at a time, mixing well throughout w/ spatula
7. Sift in the last bit of flour and baking soda, mix until smooth
8. Mix in chocolate chips (you can substitute any kind of chip)
9. Mix applesauce into the dough, mix until evenly distributed
10. Place cookie dough by the heaping teaspoon onto ungreased baking sheets, leaving about 2 inches between each cookie for expansion

Baking Directions:
1. Bake for 8 to 9 minutes in the preheated oven. They may seem a bit soft, but will firm up as they cool.
2. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.
3. Share and Enjoy!

Archery - Making a Leather Quiver

This past Saturday I had a day long Functional Sign Language training in Lancaster which was conveniently only a few minutes away from Lancaster Archery Supply. I dropped into their facility to have a look at bows and get some quiver options. I knew going in that I wanted a hip quiver that was basic and functional for target shooting. I really struggled with the knowledge that I could make one myself if I just drafted a pattern and had some tubes. I ended up buying a simple quiver with three arrow tubes to dissect and recreate out of leather. I mainly did this because they didn't have separate arrow tubes in stock and I figured the few extra dollars spared me having to draft out a decent pattern from scratch. I will go over my process below.

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LEATHER QUIVER
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My leather target quiver is based on a simple modern target quiver. It is basically a sleeve pattern piece of leather that tucks into a rectangular tab at the base of the sleeve. It uses three arrow tubes to hold twelve arrows. It is designed to be a hip quiver and has a strap that can be attached to a belt of a pair of pants using a clip.

I used a 3oz brown leather for the outside of the quiver and used the original canvas piece as a lining. A 4-5oz leather alone is probably a better idea. I also used oval shaped scraps of black leather as reinforcement areas for the strap that secures the arrow tubes. The straps are from the original piece, but could easily be made with leather straps and riveted below the O ring for the belt clip.

I sewed the entire piece on my Janome, but I have to admit some of the areas were difficult even for my heavy duty machine. I would suggest taking your time and having a pretty hardcore needle in your machine.

Here are some pictures of the finished quiver:

Archery - Making a Leather Shooting Glove

As I wrote in a previous post, I'm finally getting into archery and have little in the way of supplies. I've been working over the past week to change that though. Along the way I ran into a problem that I often have. I found myself looking at supplies and immediately going "I could make that. In fact I have the materials at home already. I should just inspect it and figure out a pattern for it on my own." I of course have to recognize that my creative talents are better left to sewing and leather work as opposed to woodwork. So I decided to concentrate my efforts thus far on a leather shooting glove and a leather target quiver. First I will discuss the glove.

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THREE FINGERED LEATHER SHOOTING GLOVE
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I made it over the course of two days. All in all it probably took closer to three or four hours of work including patterning and sewing, but there was much delay in between. (A certain budgie wanted to be on my hand when I was trying to hand stitch.)

I created the pattern based on a leather winter glove I own and a pattern I found on Glove.org. That glove site is profoundly helpful and was created by an SCAdian lady. I may include the pattern image if I ever decide to scan it. Most of the sewing was done on my new machine, but the tips of the fingers, the center points between each finger and securing the horn button were done by hand.

I used a lovely 3oz brown leather I purchased a few months ago for the glove and a strip of 5-6oz black leather that I got a few Pennsics ago for the wrist strap. The horn button was purchased at Jo-Ann's. I am happy with how it turned out for the most part. I had some difficulty getting the points to meet with the tips of the fingers, but this was expected for a first time glove project.

Some pictures of the completed glove are below:

Palm view of the entire glove.

Horn button and wrist strap.Back view of fingers.

Palm view of fingers. The middle one aligned poorly toward the tip. Grr.

Save the Dulcimer

I am not quite finished the next project I want to share here, but I came across something today that was just bloody fabulous. I will share that instead. There is a talented dulcimer player in the UK by the name of Dizzi. I will let the following videos of her music speak for themselves. Hopefully you'll understand my loss for words concerning her.

First, a Medieval-esque approach...
(I'd love to see her in some period garb btw)


Second, the rocking fab modern adaptation...

Medieval Limp Book Binding Part II: Process and Closure

I finally went out and purchased a tripod for my camera so I can make some tutorial videos! I'm excited to finally share my limp binding process steps. The videos below cover my process and a technique for book closure. I have also added links to two videos that I found very helpful when I was just starting. Enjoy!

Medieval Limp Binding Process 1/2


Medieval Limp Binding Process 2/2


Medieval Limp Binding Closure


If you are interested in book binding, you may also want to watch:
Ricefz's Simple Book Binding Part 1
Ricefz's Simple Book Binding Part 2

Archery Practice

I finally, after years of excuses, made it to an SCA archery practice. Being poorly under equipped, I was glad they had some loaner gear on hand. I can't say I'm good at shooting but I didn't hit any people, didn't damage anyone's arrows, stayed withing two feet of the target area and only got scratched up a few times. That all spells first day success to me. Tonight was probably the most fun I've had in a while. That mostly being attributed to the combination of finally doing something I've put off for far too long and having the chance to do it with a friendly group of people. The evening was nicely wrapped up with a group trip to a local diner and my almost one hour ride home (which flew by). Once I got settled at home, I got online and ordered a dozen wooden target arrows. I'm definitely pretty excited about all this. I will absolutely be there next week and I'm hoping that I'll have the chance to get a few things in the mean time. A flemish string, bow stringer, bracer, hip quiver and glove are on that list. I don't want to rush out and get the first things I see. I would like to at least be patient and get some quality supplies if I'm going to stick with this. I have a sign language training this weekend in Lancaster, so I may stop by the archery shop out there and see what I can do about making myself a properly stocked archer. Horray for discovery!

This image above is "Discoverer" by Gold-Seven

Birdie Muffins

Today I am sharing a recipe that I've created based on a bird bread mix. These mini muffins include tons of nutrition for your little bird. I hope your feathered friends enjoy them!

Birdie Muffins

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INGREDIENTS

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1/2 cup organic whole wheat flour

1/2 cup wheat germ


1/4 tsp baking soda 



1 washed free range egg with shell

1 1/2 Tbs organic virgin olive oil 


1/2 cup organic apple apricot sauce

A few slices of carrot

A few leaves of organic baby spinach

A few small florets of broccoli

1/2 cup seed mix

Suggested seed mix: Wheat berries, millet and your bird’s regular seed

Veggies: You can use other veggies, but be certain that they are safe for your bird

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COOKING INSTRUCTIONS

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Preheat the oven to 350 degrees

Grease a mini muffin pan

Mix flour, wheat germ and baking soda together

Wash the egg

Beat the egg, egg shell, oil and applesauce in a blender

Add the veggies to the blender and mix until finely chopped

Add the wet mix to the dry ingredients, stirring until smooth

Stir in the seed mix

Fill the mini muffin sections 1/2 full

Bake for 11 minutes at 350 degrees.

Cool on a rack

Refrigerate a few muffins and freeze the rest for later

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NOTES

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These muffins may be a little big for keets or lovies, so make sure you break them into little pieces when you feed them to your bird.