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New site

Hi, you guys!

I have been taking a break from making jewelry while my family is living in Sweden, and something I have been meaning to do is update my website.  I have done all the web design since the beginning of AnneMade Jewelry in 2004, first with FrontPage, then Expression Web, Blogger, and now WordPress.  It’s like learning a new language, and I’m definitely using a different part of my brain.

Here’s a picture of my daughter fishing near our home Gothenburg, Sweden. Hope you are having a good summer!

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2015-06-30 13.51.44

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Chocolate Mug Cake

I saw a recipe for 5 Minute Chocolate Mug Cake on Kate’s blog that sounded awesome, so tonight I tried it and I was not disappointed. Make sure you read the comments about beating the egg and gently mixing – it makes a difference.

Those of you who know me know I have (ahem) a bit of a sweet tooth, so it takes a lot to reach my limit. I am currently chocolate drunk and NOT sorry, although ask me again when I’m lying in bed wide awake at 3am. And get this – I don’t usually like chocolate cake. I did have a glass of milk and frosted it with the remnants of a previous project which made the mug cake that much better, so now I feel compelled to share The Frosting recipe. It was actually part of a chocolate cake recipe from BHG, the results of testing recipes for the “moistest, richest, chocolatiest cake” but didn’t do it for me. They obviously didn’t try Chocolate Mug Cake.

But they were so right about The Frosting recipe. If I had to choose one food to have while stranded on a desert island, the food of which I would ne’er grow weary, it would be Chocolate Sour Cream Frosting even if I had to make it myself. I even scanned my yellowing, greasy, pieced-together magazine clipping just for the delicious photo.

Chocolate Sour Cream Frosting
12 oz (2 c) semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 c butter
8 oz sour cream
4 1/2 c sifted powdered sugar (that means sift, then measure)

In a large saucepan melt the chocolate and butter over low heat, stirring frequently. Cool for 5 minutes. Stir in sour cream. Gradually add powdered sugar, beating until smooth. Makes 4 1/2 cups of frosting, enough to generously frost a multilayer cake. (It may look runny for a few minutes after you finish, so just keep beating it until it cools a little and stiffens up.)

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Catching up

Okay, so I’m a little behind on the blogging. And the housework. And my Inbox. Steve’s been traveling a lot (although it’s not his fault), and I seem to be happier and get a lot more things accomplished when he’s home. And I seem to have a pretty bad case of Babies on the Brain, so I tend to have more to talk about over on my other blog.In the jewelry department, I am working on a Bird Nest tutorial (pictured), cleaning off my workbench a little, ordering silver, embellishing some Viking Knit… Of course I like to actually finish something before telling you guys, but I thought I’d throw you a bone to let you know what’s in the pipeline. I went to an awesome bead show in Vienna, VA a few weeks ago and saw some of my favorite lampworkers, including Patti Cahill from Dyed in the Fire. Talk about little works of art! And yes, you heard me right. The market price of silver has been over $21/troy ounce this year and now it is around $9, so I will be adjusting kit prices accordingly.
Website update: When I said the site now has a “fresher, high-key” look, I didn’t realize that everybody except for me was seeing just a boring plain white screen aside from the text and pictures. It’s supposed to look like this, with a sage floral print in the background. I posted on a webmaster forum and got a quick response, so the problem should be fixed now. (You may need to hit Refresh to see.)Perhaps the next installment in my book collection should be The Lazy Housekeeper: Easily-cleaned surfaces, those that hide dirt, etc. I personally believe that dust is a protective covering, so my coffee table is actually “flocked”. If you’re in the market for a dog, choose one with short hair that doesn’t tumbleweed, thereby keeping your wood floors cleaner. Having a screened porch with brown indoor-outdoor carpeting has really cut down on the paw-wiping necessity, too. Now if I could only find a way to harness the energy in the wagging tail and apply that to the noseprints on the windows.