Baking and Sewing

The next project in my sewing class was round bunting, essentially a fabric banner. I'm not really a fan of knick-knack type things. I decided a couple years ago that if I ever became a mom I would not be the mom who keeps every drawing, every craft, every school project that her child makes, it just seems like clutter. I'm not saying I'll throw everything away, but a couple drawings for a memory/scrapbook is sufficient. Likewise, I probably won't keep every little craft I make throughout this sewing process, but I'm learning different techniques with each project so do them I will. This project took me 4 hours, luckily there was a House marathon on USA last week so at least I was entertained, plus I have a thing for Gregory House. I was really focused when I sewed the letters on so those look decent, but once it came to attaching the front circle to the back circle I just wanted to finish so it looks pretty sloppy. Also, I wasn't supposed to use felt fabric for both sides, only on the back -- which I realized too late, so it was pretty hard to keep it all aligned. But hey, New Years Decorations? I think, yes. 

As for baking, Dan really likes peanut butter so when I found a chocolate peanut butter cookie recipe I was really excited to make it. I'm usually not a fan of peanut butter flavored things but these taste pretty good. I got the recipe from cooking light magazine. 

Here's the recipe:

Ingredients:

1 cup granulated sugar

1 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 cup creamy peanut butter

1/4 cup water

1/4 cup canola oil

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 large egg whites

1 large egg

2 2/3 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

2/3 semisweet chocolate minichips 

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees

2. Combine first 8 ingredients in a large bowl; mix until smooth

3. Mix flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a small bowl. Add flour mixture to sugar mixture, stir until combined. Stir in miniships (I just used one cup regular semisweet chocolate chips). Drop tablespoonfuls on baking sheets and bake for 12 minutes. Cool on wire rack.