Cabin in the City

Books, cats and midwestern charm.

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Coming Soon // Walker’s Point Makers Market

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I am so excited to announce that a Walker’s Point Makers Market is here!

As you may know, I’ve been selling at Madison Makers Markets for a few years. These events are super fun because they’re part craft fair and part bar crawl (genius!). I always wished for a Milwaukee one and my wish has come true! Big thanks to Sara at I Heart Indie Markets!

You can find me and Kaminski Handicraft at Great Lakes Distillery. I’m thrilled because they’ve got some great stuff and a really awesome tasting room (and the tour is a good time, too).

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My 2019 Christmas Baking List

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I love Christmas and I love Christmas baking. I love how productive I feel after a long day in the kitchen making cookies and desserts for my family. (And I love how I can reward myself after a long day of baking with a Christmas movie and a glass of wine.)

This year I’ve got more bakes on my plate than ever. Here’s what I’ve baked (and will be baking in the next few days).

Cookies

My whole family bakes Christmas cookies, and we all have our specialties (shout out to my Aunt Mary who makes candy cane cookies for me every year!). This year I made a few old favorites and some new-to-me recipes.

  • Cream cheese pillows: These are a favorite of mine, my Aunt Debby and the crowd at the Cookie Takedown. Michael loves to think of new names for these, like cookie calzones and cookie pierogi. They’re apt for sure.
  • Pioneer molasses cookies: These are an old, old favorite with my family. I’m so happy that Michael loves them as much as I do!
  • Italian rainbow cookies: I sampled these at Taste of Home‘s cookie give away and loved them. I decided to make them myself. I’ll say that these were a major hassle, but I’m glad I gave them a go!
  • Cornflake wreaths: These cookies are so easy to make and always a hit (with me at least). I like to add a little almond extract to the mix for more flavor.
  • Mandelbrot: I am in love with Midwest Made by Shauna Sever. I made her mandelbrot recipe (they’re similar to biscotti, but not quite as hard) and they’ve gotten rave reviews so far!
  • Apricot kolaczky: I make kolaczky most Christmases. This year I used a recipe out of Midwest Made. It’s a good one!

Christmas Desserts and Breads

  • Chocolate babka: I obviously had to make my superstar recipe for the holidays.
  • French silk pie: This is one of my favorite desserts. I figure it’s time I learn how to make it from scratch and then share it with the fam for Christmas dessert (and I’m aiming to try the recipe in Midwest Made).
  • White fruitcake: Yes, another Midwest Made recipe! I’ve made this white fruitcake recipe in the past but I wanted to switch it up this year. And yes, my family like fruitcake. Weirdos, I know!
  • Cranberry tart: I made this tart last year and it deserves a repeat performance. It’s so simple to make, but I think it looks pretty fancy—especially dusted with a little powdered sugar.

Writing out this whole list really makes me realize how much baking I’m doing this holiday! Whew!

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Taking a Break from Stitching by… Still Stitching?

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via Etsy // Cross Stitch by Anary

This November was a great month for Kaminski Handicraft. I had record-breaking sales at Cream City Creatives and a good show at Madison Makers Market. Results like these make all the time spent with needle in hand worth it.

But the second I was done with those shows, I knew I wanted to take a break until at least after the holidays.

Let me tell you, those first few days lazily watching The Crown without distraction felt amazing. But after a few weeks, I started to get antsy. I like to do. So I put together a puzzle (another grandma hobby). It was great, but I felt like one was enough. And I felt like just sitting wasn’t enough.

So I picked up cross-stitching.

Taking a break from stitching by still stitching? I know. It doesn’t make any sense. But it feels great! I downloaded a few patterns from Etsy (if you’re not doing this yet, do it now) and started stitching one afternoon with a friend.

And I can’t stop.

I made a few gifts (I’ll keep those under wraps for now) and made some good headway on this pattern from Cross Stitch by Anary. I also snagged this pattern on sale from Ritacuna (I’m on a bit of a Russia kick right now—just watched Anastasia and The Last Czars; also reading The Last Days of the Romanov Dancers).

It’s really soothing to have a pattern to follow and zone out a bit while watching The Kacey Musgraves Christmas Show and some holiday episodes of Bob’s Burgers. I think I found my off-season couch craft.

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Coming Soon // Holiday 2019 Craft Fairs

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It might seem early to be thinking about the holidays, but for crafters, it’s never too early.

This year, I’ll be at two holiday events: one in Milwaukee and one in Madison. Local folks, I encourage you to check these both out! I’m saying this not only as a maker but as someone who has shopped both (and found lots of great things).

Cream City Creatives

I took a bit of a flyer on this show last year and I am so glad I did! It was so much fun selling in my own city.

Cream City Creatives is two floors full of amazing makers and artists. I highly recommend coming out for this one. There were so many unique gifts to be had (and plenty that were exchanged under my family’s Christmas tree).

Madison Makers Black Friday Market + Pub Crawl

These Madison Makers Markets are some of my favorite events both as a shopper and a vendor. Seriously, what could be better than kicking off the holiday season than by shopping small and having a great drink?

So Madison friends, I encourage you to check this one out. It’s reliably a good time and Old Sugar Distillery (where I’ll be at) has some spectacular drinks.

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A Real Treat // My Recipes on TasteofHome.com

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You probably know by now that I spend my days working for Taste of Home. Consequently, I spend a lot of time cooking and baking. Occasionally I share some of my recipes online there, and it’s a real joy.

Recently, though, some of my recipes went through the Test Kitchen’s official tests (not just casual coworker testing) and were approved to add to the official Taste of Home library and got some fabulous new photography. I’m absolutely and incredibly thrilled.

You can check out all my Taste of Home work here.

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If You Like Piña Coladas (and Zucchini Bread)

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If I’m being totally honest, I’m not huge on zucchini bread. I always think this bread would be good if only it didn’t have all these zucchini bits in it. But once in a while, a good recipe changes my mind. For me, it’s this one from Taste of Home – with a few adjustments of my own.

I’m big into this recipe because it’s full of just as much good stuff – AKA pineapple and coconut – as it is zucchini. I’m also a fan because in the hottest days of summer is when I’m craving tropical flavors the most. And I’ve got a bumper crop of squash.

Piña Colada Zucchini Bread Ingredients

OK, let’s cut to the chase. Here’s what you’ll need for this recipe:

  • 4 cups flour
  • 2½ cups sugar
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1½ teaspoons salt
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 4 eggs
  • 1½ cups vegetable oil (you can sub in some coconut oil if you want)
  • 2 tablespoons rum
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 3 cups shredded zucchini
  • 20-ounce can crushed pineapple, drained
  • 1 cup shredded, unsweetened coconut, divided

Mixing It All Up (+ Baking)

Mixing this bread up is easy. Start by whisking together the flour, sugar, soda, baking powder and salt in a very large bowl. Then in another bowl, whisk together the eggs, oil, rum and vanilla extract. If you have coconut extract, feel free to add a teaspoon. If you have rum extract, use a teaspoon in place of the rum in this recipe (it’ll be more potent).

Pour the wet ingredients into the dry, along with the pineapple and stir until just combined. Then fold in the zucchini and three-quarters of a cup of coconut.

For baking, you can use just about any loaf pan you like, but this recipe divides perfectly into three 8×4″ loaf pans. Or two of those and two mini loaf pans. You get the idea. Just grease the pans and line with parchment. Fill them about three-quarters full and top with the remaining quarter cup of unsweetened coconut. Pop in a 350ºF oven for 50 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

How’s It Taste?

The result is pretty darn tasty. You get a little kick of rum but plenty of sweetness from the pineapple. Also, I’m a big fan of crunchy coconut on the top.

Personally, I’d eat this just for breakfast, but it’s got enough charm to bring to a party. Cheers!

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I Can Pickle That [Bread + Butter Refrigerator Pickles]

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One of my goals for the month was to can or pickle something. Pickling feels very on-brand for me in that Portlandia-adjacent way.

via GIPHY

But let’s be real, pickling and canning seemed like a bit too much for a first-timer like myself, so I decided to try a refrigerator pickle first. I modified a recipe from The New Midwestern Table (one of my favorite cookbooks) and I have to say, the pickles turned out pretty tasty! And making them was way simpler than I ever thought.

What You Need for Easy Refrigerator Bread + Butter Pickles

This is a great recipe because everything you need is easy to find and the bulk of it can be found in your own garden (or farmers market). Here’s what you’ll need:

  • 4 pounds pickling cucumbers
  • 5 tablespoons pickling salt
  • 4 cups vinegar
  • 1¼ cups sugar
  • Half sweet or Vidalia onion, sliced thinly
  • 6 cloves garlic, slightly crushed
  • 2 tablespoons mustard seeds
  • 1 teaspoon dill seed
  • 1 teaspoon celery seed
  • ¼ teaspoon turmeric

How to Make Refrigerator Pickles

Making refrigerator pickles is so simple. Start by washing your cucumbers and getting rid of any spines (that’s more for any garden-picked cucumbers). Then slice the cucumbers thinly — about an eighth inch thick.

Toss together with the pickling salt and let stand for 30 minutes. A word on the pickling salt: It sounds kind of archaic or like it would be hard to find, but most grocers have it tucked in an unexpected corner. Just ask for it!

When the 30 minutes are up, rinse the pickles in ice-cold water and blot dry with a clean towel. Place them inside a large, dry bowl. Toss in the thinly sliced sweet onion.

Then add all the rest of the ingredients – vinegar, sugar, garlic, mustard seed, dill seed, celery seed and turmeric – to a saucepan. Heat on the stove until boiling, giving the mix an occasional stir. Once this is boiling, pour it over you sliced cucumbers and onions. All you have to do then is just let it hang out until the mixture is room temp.

How to Store Refrigerator Pickles

Once the pickles are up to room temp, put them into jars. I found the simplest way to do this was to pack jars full of cucumbers and onions first, then I came back through and filled the jars with the liquid. This batch made about 10 half-pint jars.

After that, just screw on the tops and pop in the fridge. Eat them within a few months. Trust me, they are so good you won’t have any problem polishing them off (I made my first batch a week ago and the first jar is almost gone).

These bread and butter pickles aren’t precisely bread and butter, but I don’t mind. They’re a touch sweet but plenty salty and flavorful thanks to all the add-ins. I will be making everyone I know try these until they’re all gone (and then I’ll make even more).

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New Tools of the Trade [AKA Why Didn’t I Try This Sooner?]

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Ever since I got my new light table, I considered my embroidery process to be 100% optimized. I was, as usual, wrong.

The sticking point this time: my tracing tools. Since day one, I’ve been using a marker with water-soluble ink to trace on most of my designs. This worked fine. It did the job, but sometimes the marks would come back and I’d have to rinse the fabric a few times. Plus, I had to account for drying time. Overall, though, it worked OK.

Then I started hearing rumblings of a pen that erased with heat. I was intrigued. This pen is just a regular erasable pen from Pilot. I scoffed. How could a pen not designed for fabric be good for fabric? The fools that use that!

So for months and months (years?), I avoided the Pilot Frixion craze because I didn’t think it was craft-worthy. I also didn’t want to gamble with this in case it made permanent marks. Yes, even though sometimes my water-soluble pen would occasionally leave permanent stains. I am a genius.

Finally, though, I saw the Pilot Frixion at Michaels. Armed with a 40% coupon, I grabbed a pack. If they were a bust, at least I’d only be out a few bucks.

After letting them hang out in my purse for a few weeks, I finally worked up the nerve to give these pens a try. I scribbled on a scrap of light colored fabric. I ironed over it quickly expecting some sort of faint mark. Nope. The ink was totally gone after just one pass. I was proven wrong (very common).

It’s been a few weeks since that little experiment and I am 100% on-board with this new tool. The old pens? Well, they’re gathering dust. And these new ones are my favorite stitching trick. (Not to mention they’re great for sewing, too!)

You can grab these pens just about anywhere. I snagged mine at Michaels, but you can get a better deal right at Target.

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Stamped Rolling Pin Sugar Cookies

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For my birthday, my amazing sister-in-law brought me this totally gorgeous rolling pin all the way from Poland. I had seen plenty of these before (though never one so pretty) but hadn’t ever used one. Of course, I had to get to work right away making some cookies. I’ll give you my recipe plus a few tips on how to use one (because it took me a minute to master it).

The Classic Stamped Sugar Cookie Recipe

According to the box, this is the cookie recipe to use with this rolling pin. Who was I to argue? I just converted the measurements as best I could from metric and here’s what I’ve got:

  • 1 cup butter, softened
  • 1-1/3 cup confectioners’ sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 1-1/2 teaspoons almond extract
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 3-1/3 cups flour

It’s a pretty simple recipe. Just cream together the butter and confectioners’ sugar. Then add in the egg and almond extract and beat until nice and light. Mix in your salt and flour until combined and you’re done!

Roll out the dough until nice and thin with a regular rolling pin – I’d say somewhere between a quarter and an eight inch thick. Then go over with the stamped rolling pin and cut out shapes with any cutter you like (I just used a basic round one). Pop in the oven at 375ºF for about ten minutes (or golden brown). Done!

Chocolate Stamped Cookies

Of course, I couldn’t just stop with almond cutouts, I had to try some chocolate ones, too. For a while, I was really wracking my brain if my family’s regular chocolate cutout recipe would suffice. Then I was frantically googling recipes. In the end, the answer was right under my nose. Truly. My friend got me Bravetart for my birthday and on the cover are stamped sandwich cookies. I gave those a shot. Here’s the recipe:

  • 1/2 cup butter, softened
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 3 tablespoons light corn syrup
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1-1/4 cups flour
  • 1/3 cup cocoa powder

To make these, combine the butter, sugar, syrup, salt, baking soda and salt together in a stand mixer. Beat until fluffy – about five minutes. Scrape the sides and then gradually add the dry ingredients.

It will look pretty dry at first, but if you keep it going with the mixer, it will smooth out.

Bake at 350ºF for 10-15 minutes.

Some Stamped Rolling Pin Tips

I’ll tell you right now that using this rolling pin took a little practice, but I think the effect is worth it. So just follow these tips and you’ll be on your way to some darn pretty cookies.

  • Don’t chill the dough. I know. This goes against everything you’ve ever learned about rolling out cookies, but with this recipe, it’s best to just work with the dough right out of the bowl. Chilled it’s just too crumbly and the dough really wants to pull up with the decorative rolling pin.
  • Give the pin a dusting.Like with any cutout cookies, you should give the rolling pin a dusting of flour ahead of time. Same goes for this decorative rolling pin. Because this one has so many crevices, I took a clean (and never been used) paintbrush to get the flour into those nooks and crannies. It helps tremendously.
  • Firmly press with the rolling pin. Cue this Spongebob clip. Then really do press down firmly to imprint the design. The more definition you have before going into the oven the better. You’ll end up with more distinctive cookies after baking.
  • Be patient. Patience is not my strong suit, but it’s worth working on for these cookies. Until you get the dough the right temperature (I chilled my first and then learned from that mistake) and the pressure just right, these cookies can be a bit tricky. But once you get the technique down – it took me probably three or four passes – it gets much simpler.

Good luck with your fancy rolling pins!

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Spring Fever + Spring Shows

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I’ve got some pretty exciting news, folks! Well, exciting if you’re a big fan of craft fairs and art shows.

This spring I’ll be selling at not one, not two, but three craft shows in Milwaukee and Madison. This is my busiest season yet. I can’t say I’m ready quite yet, but I’m getting there!

I’m looking forward to these events not only because I love a good maker event, but because they’re a great reason to get out of the house this spring. If you’ve got spring fever, come check these out!

MKE Local Market 414 Pop Up

Sunday, April 14

This will be my first time selling with MKE Local Market, but I’m pretty excited! This market is on 4/14 – AKA Milwaukee Day. I’m excited to celebrate my city and experience a new space. Third Branch Creative Studio looks pretty swank!

Madison Makers Spring Market & Pub-Crawl

Saturday, May 11

I had so much fun at this event last year (and at its Black Friday slot, too). I’m happy to be setting up at Old Sugar Distillery again. Grab their homemade cherry soda or a Cuba Libre and let’s chat!

Madtown Artisans Spring Event at High Noon Saloon

Sunday, May 19

Another new-to-me show! This one will be at Madison’s High Noon Saloon and will be hosting some of my favorite Madison-based makers like TacoCat Creations and No Coast Paper Co. And let’s be honest, shopping with a drink in hand is always a fun time.

Of course, you can always keep up with all my events over on the Kaminski Handicraft Facebook page. Hope to see some folks at these events coming up!

And, yes, that Mrs. Maizel hoop up top will be for sale!