Baking Week Almost to an End

Good morning! I have a few more items of baking today and then I am done for this event.

First things first: please do go and enjoy STUFT Mama Flat Kitty Friday - Photo dump edition. Enjoy the kid at the breakfast table. :) Flat Kitty went with me to Rally Obedience on Thursday and it was fun to see the other handlers enjoy the participation.

Hooray! Another day without sun! :)  Grrr...

If these dog treats do well at the bake sale I think I will focus more on dog items next year.

To be honest I am intimidated by a couple of the bakers participating with me - they seem a bit more gourmet. :) However I also felt belonging because I submitted my list - which was embarrassingly long - another gal submitted a super long one too. She is also known to get up at 4am and bake. She also is the head baker for a local soldier baking project so it is great I met her.

I was preparing my treat bags on the ironing board (of course) and finally felt the full weight of Nim's intensity below me. I think he was actually willing the treats to jump off.

Admittedly I haven't been sewing enough, but I am ALMOST done with this project. I actually considered moving my sewing machine down into the main living area (where I am baking) but it would just be too big of a project.

I do need to get this hot-pink thread project off the machine however so I can work on others. :)

I was taught a baking lesson by my scones yesterday. These batches below were made same day, maybe 30 minutes apart and yet the front set looks way "prettier" than the back set. I am about 50/50 on the presentation with them anyway, but yesterday gave me a rare lesson in why.

In my typical "why measure" or "more is better" style the back set got some extra berries - I didn't want to put the bag back in the freezer with about 1/4 or so berries left in it. Made sense at the time.

Basically excessive berries made the dough overall more watery, hard to work with, and because it is packed with berries more likely to fall apart.

Have a great Friday and I leave you with some upcoming dog events:

30 June 2012: Bark for Life of Issaquah. I am still trying to fully understand this event but in addition to the actual cancer walk I believe there will be events such as Rally and Nosework.

14 July 2012:  Rally to Support Military K9 Care Program. I love the idea of care packages for K9s and their handlers.

22 July 2012: Old Dog Haven "Walk for Old Dogs." I love this organization so much that will definitely register and at least stop by at this walk (despite Bellevue Park having quite possibly the worst behaved dog handlers in the area). My guess is it is going to be too clogged (small park) and not enough awareness. If I can't rescue a senior right now at least I can support those that do.