Tart Apples

I am not sure if you remember the post I wrote about foraging for food a couple of years ago. This has been a great year for apples. We are very happy that the pantry is slowly but surely filling up with jams and jellies for the Winter. I just finished making another batch of apple butter with crab apples from the "secret tree" in our neighborhood.

We actually planted our own Dolgo Crab Apple tree this year. Just in case... The fruit of this type of crab apple is a bit larger than the regular ornamental crab apples. The little apples measure about 1- 1.5 inches in diameter. When they turn dark red color they are ready to eat.

I wish the dolls could help make the apple butter. After all the apples are doll size. If only I could teach the dolls how to handle sharp knives. Their hands are the perfect size for these mini apples. My hands are very tired and sore from processing pounds of tiny crab apples. But they are so oh so tasty! Hope you find one of those wonderful trees and give this forgotten fruit a try. They are definitely worth the trouble. And your friends and neighbors will be astounded when you share such a wonderful treat.

I am planning on making some Apfeltaschen later this week - once my hands recover...

What children want

When I was little I only owned dolls with light skin that resembled my own coloring. When people ask for custom made dolls I have noticed that folks mostly ask for dolls that look like the child they are buying for.
In understand that desire. After all, the first doll I made for my daughter was blond and blue-eyed like her.

But now I remember that what I always wanted as a child was a doll that was different from me. I wanted to own a darling little black baby. In raising my own child, I noticed that she always seemed to prefer the dolls that were different from her. Maybe it's because as children we are not prejudiced. We have this wonderful curiosity about things that are different from us.

So now that I make waldorf dolls I love that  I can make up for the years of missing out on ethnic dolls. My favorite kind of dolls to make are dolls that have darker skin colors or are a different ethnic background from my own.

This is Elizabeth, my sweet dark gal, in her two-pocket jumper dress.  She comes with two of my tiny little bonbon babies. They are so sweet! This set is listed in my Indieshop now!

soft baby dolls...

I live to make soft dolls for young ones...

First dolls for toddlers and young ones - the real simple ones - are my favorite toys to make...

When I am sad I make dolls...

I am very much out of words again this week. Why so sad?

 Robin Williams. Am I silly to care? Why would a celebrity's death get to me so much?

It is hard to wrap one's mind around the facts. If people who have that much money, talent, and fame cannot make it - how are us regular folks supposed to make it?

It is just too weird. To picture that person in his huge mansion. Alone. Lonely.

I often feel lonely, and I do get depressed. I miss my family and friends in Germany. I often feel like nobody here gets me. Even my own husband and kids.

I guess I try to turn all the negative stuff into good stuff. When I get sad I make more dolls to keep me company...

Farewell, dear Robin! Wish you could have turned things around. Wish you could have turned all that damned sadness into laughter. And stayed around a little longer... RIP

Giveaway

I am running a Giveaway on Facebook page. So please stop by. It will last thru Friday night 9pm my time.

Soft Pumpkin Baby

I know the last pumpkin baby is not exactly cheaply priced. It will go up for auction in my Indie-store soon. It is probably a doll that not a lot of folks can afford. But considering the amount of hours I put into my fully formed dolls (15 hours and more) I have decided that I can no longer sell them for under $250. So I try to keep simpler baby dolls around my shop for folks who can't afford the dress-up dolls with all their little doodads.

My little soft dolls are perfect for introducing youngsters to natural Waldorf dolls. I just mailed one to my little nephew in Germany. Hope he enjoys playing with this little blue feller.

This morning I finished the little orange dude you see here. Well, could be girl doll too. You decide!

Pumpkin Baby

This is little Karin. My sweet 11 inch pumpkin baby.
She will go up for auction in my Indiecart store on the 15th of this month. Hope you stop by and check it out!

Veggie Pizzas

I have had so much fun cooking with all the fresh veggies and herbs from our garden this summer. Last night I made the most delicious pizza pies. My daughter and I made the crust from scratch. We prefer to make crusts that are partly wholewheat flour. I like it because it gives the crust a lovely nutty flavor. The extra fiber in the diet can't hurt either, I suppose.




Here is my pizza crust recipe in case you want to try it:

2 cups regular flour
2 cups wholewheat flour
2 Tsp corn meal
1 tsp salt
1 1/4 - 1 1/2 cup warm water
2 1/2 tsp yeast
1/4 olive oil

mix together by hand or in food processor until you have a lovely stretchy dough. If too sticky add more flour. If too dry add a bit more warm water...let it rise for about an hour

punch the dough down and knead by hand, then roll out into individual pizzas, I get about four 12 inch pizzas from this amount of dough

topping option number 1


make some seasoned tomato pulp by cutting up fresh tomatoes from the garden (or use canned tomatoes) chopped up finely, add a couple pinches of salt, 3 Tsp olive oil, clove of garlic minced
spread this on your rolled pizza dough, top with some shredded mozzarella cheese, and freshly grated Parmesan cheese, sprinkle a bit more salt on top

bake this in oven at temperature of 450 degree until edges turn brown and cheese begins to brown
take out and sprinkle with pieces of prosciutto, and top with fresh arugula and more grated Parmesan.

Topping option number 2


brush rolled out pizza crusts with some olive oil
top with goat cheese chunks, kalamata olives, banana peppers, and some fire roasted red peppers
finish off with grated mozzarella cheese on top

bake in oven at 450 until edges turn brown - about 10- 12 minutes per pizza pie

this recipe will feed a family of 4 plus leave you with some nice leftovers for lunch the next day.