Cats in Hats

Pomfret knitters embraced the cat hats.  Here's part of our cat hat collection.

This is a really fun knitting book.

Yes, you are reading this correctly.  Cats in Hats by Sara Thomas is a wonderful new knitting book with patterns for cat hats.  Laurie, the librarian at the Pomfret library, knows exactly what will be a hit for the knitting group.  We spent an entire Tuesday afternoon laughing over the creative and fun hats in the book that are all modeled by adorable cats.  We decided to make a collection of cat hats for the library so patrons can check them out during the summer.  We are hoping to get a collection of photos of Pomfret cats in these stylish head pieces.

I love this picture from the inside cover of the book.

The top hat cat hat.

A collection of hats with twisty embellishments.  A carrot, a cactus, and a red boa.

Many of our hats feature big pom poms.  Who can resist.

It turns out that my cats really hate wearing the hats that I made for them.  Max was my first hat model.  He was very mad at me, but waited out the hat humiliation with dignity.  Adam was less kind.  He got loose and hid from us so thoroughly that we couldn't find him.  When he emerged, the hat was around his middle with many tears, the pom pom was ripped off.  He brought the pom pom out of hiding for me a week later, so I repaired the hat and gave it over to Laurie for the library collection.   By the way, small dogs can wear these adorable hats too.  I bet they might enjoy them more than the cats.

Max in his new hat.

Adam in the hat, just before he took hid from us in protest.

Making Skeins!

Today I used my new nitty notty for the first time!  Brian was a big help adjusting the equipment and holding the big scan of yarn. I was very happy to use my new tool too. 

Cinnamon Rolls for Easter Sunday

Bobby Fisher, our school Chaplain, is my biggest cinnamon roll fan.

It isn't Easter Sunday without cinnamon rolls.  Our school chaplain, Bobby Fisher, leads a beautiful sunrise service on Easter morning here at Pomfret School.  We enjoy the sunrise with friends and family with songs and prayer to celebrate Easter.  After the service we gather for fellowship and (here's where I come in) cinnamon rolls at the Lodge.  Bobby is my biggest cinnamon roll fan.  Every year he pulls me aside the week before Easter and with that look on his face that says, "Can I count on you to make them, for all of us?"  How can I say no?  It's every baker's dream to have such a dedicated fan.  I have to admit that the rolls are very tasty and, when served warm, are a perfect complement to the sunrise service.  I always make two pans on Easter Sunday, one for the fellowship group and one for my family, who don't like to get up early for the sunrise.

I use the recipe from The Tasty Kitchen Pioneer Woman blog.  Cinnamon Roll Recipe  I actually started using her recipe about six years ago, before her Food Network fame or the launch of Tasty Kitchen website.  This recipe is easy to follow and works great.  Over the years I have modified it only slightly by adding more kneading time and more rest time for the dough to make it easier to roll out.  I like to proof the rolls overnight in the refrigerator so that all I have to do is bake them in the morning.  I use a cream cheese frosting from the Cinnabon website that has lemon zest and lemon juice in the mix.  The lemony tang gives the frosting a really nice flavor.   Delicious!

Gabe pointing to his cinnamon roll choice.

Gabe asked me to teach him how to make cinnamon rolls this weekend.  It was a lot of fun to make the same recipe with him, explaining my process to him.  He mixed all the ingredients, kneaded the dough, and helped me gauge the correct moisture of the dough.  When we got it right, I pointed out to him how the dough feels moist but not too sticky.  We rolled the dough in two shifts, letting it rest for 30 minutes each time to get a thinner spread of dough.  I think the end result was very good because we got extra layers in our rolls.  He asked if we could make them really big and juicy, so we rolled the dough out into square instead of a rectangle.  Gabe carefully analyzed each roll and chose the perfect one for him to eat first.  My apprentice gets the first dibs on the rolls!

Confucius Cake

Gabe with his Confucius cake.

Gabe cutting out his cake desin

This week Gabe decided to make a Confucius cake for a class project.  His 6th grade history class is studying ancient China.  About a week ago he opened his text book to the picture of Confucius and said "I want to make a cake that looks like that."  Why not?

First he made made a wax paper cut of the cake pans so he could make a template for the cake shapes.  He used our "go to" cake recipe for yellow butter cake from Birthday Cakes for Kids.  My job was to assist him, but he really made the whole cake himself.  He wrapped the cake in plastic wrap and popped it in the freezer overnight to make the design phase easier.

The next day he took his cakes out of the freezer and just admired them for a few minutes.  I though to myself, "He's starting to sound like me when I make something, scary!"  He cut out the main shapes using his wax paper pattern.  Then he made a huge batch of butter cream frosting using the recipe from the same book.  The colors he chose were dark gray for the beard, white for the face, and orange for the hat.  He made the eyes blue to match the decorations on the hat, even though we all know he had brown eyes.

He did all the decorating.

Gabe really enjoyed making his school project.