Impossible puzzle from the annals of winter

I think we are far enough out of mega winter for me to share this project without jinxing the weather. Rachel and I spent two months, cooped up inside this winter, working on this 500 piece impossible puzzle. Calling it “impossible” was only slightly an overstatement. When I brought it home, Rachel rolled her eyes and wished me luck. I opened it up, started putting the border together, and about a week later we were both elbow deep in puzzle mania. We would work on it for hours in the evening, and again when we woke up in the morning. The going was slow- sometimes we would stare at the puzzle for almost ten minutes without being able to put two pieces together. We devised all sorts of strategies to tease out subtle differences in color to make construction easier. We were obsessed, and it was fun! Toward the very end we had the idea to take pictures so we could make a GIF. We almost pulled an all-nighter to finish it. At some point we got too tired and had to leave the rest for the morning.

When we finished it, we decided that we couldn’t take it apart after all that hard work. I used spray glue to affix the puzzle to an art board. When the glue dried, I painted the top with a clear sealant like Mod Podge.

I trimmed the art board and I framed it, and there it stands! It may not be a great work of art, but it kept us entertained in the darkest days of winter. That’s a memory I’d like to keep around.

Hope you enjoyed the mini tour of our little rowhome during this post.

 

Rooibos Cinnamon Ice Cream

I’ve been on an ice cream kick lately, mainly because Rachel borrowed an ice cream maker from a friend a few weeks ago. We made coffee frozen yogurt, maple ice cream, and then… Rooibos. I’m not sure whose idea it was, but it is a winner. Each bite is an explosion of creamy, tea-infused nectar. Fit for a queen. My mouth is watering as I type and the conclusion of this post will certainly find my tongue wrapped around a scoop of nutty, tea-y, sweet Rooibos ice cream.

Here’s the recipe:

• 1 c whole milk
• 3 Rooibos tea bags (or a couple tablespoons of loose-leaf tea)
• 1 c cream
• 1/2 c sugar (or a little less)
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 4 egg yolks
• ice cream maker

Heat the whole milk and steep the Rooibos tea in it. Let cool. Whisk together the Rooibos-infused milk with the cream, sugar, cinnamon, and egg yolks. Pour into the ice cream maker- follow the manufacturer’s instructions to churn the milk mixture into ice cream. Our ice cream maker has you freeze the bowl for a few hours before churning, assemble the ice cream maker, pour in the milk mixture, and let it churn for 15 minutes.

It’s the perfect treat to cool off on a steamy Philadelphia day. I had to try my hand at photographing it so I could share it with you. I think the pictures turned out pretty well. I tried taking pictures of the ice cream on a cone, but they were the same color!

Making ice cream as many times as we did left us with tons of egg whites. We made angel food cake (which is surprisingly easy to make from scratch) to use them up.

 

 

Transferring domains

Hello lovelies! 

I am transferring my site’s domain tonight, so it may be down for an hour or two. Have no fear! It should be up again soon. From now on I will only use the hoopesparkstudios.com web address. I will no longer be using the hoopesparkstudios.wordpress.com web address. It’s probably a good idea to update your bookmark. 

I’m keeping my fingers crossed that this goes smoothly. Wish me luck!

Claire