There are so many of you out there making Girasoles with our KAL and I wish I could invite everyone to a Sit & Knit one night to work on them! (Never mind that we couldn’t contain all of the KALers here at Loopy Central if you all came on the same night. This is just me, thinking wishfully wishfully thinking contemplating how fun it would be.) See this little circle? It’s the start of Knitting Daughter’s KAL. She and Elf Donna talked themselves into making one and I’m really happy about that.  Donna is using Cascade 220 and KD is using Cascade Heritage. KD has knit plenty of socks and scarves, but this is her first lace project and her first chart-reading project. I think being a Loopy Elf for the summer is getting to her….

Thanks for weighing in (snicker) on Brownie Batter Blizzards. I’m glad that it’s a limited edition flavor and that it will be going away soon. I have a better option for all of us. Remember when I blogged about Marlon and her amazing knitted pastries back in February?  As soon as I saw them, I was trying to figure out how to get some, as they are just too cute. I told her that she really ought to set up an Etsy shop so that I could buy some other people could enjoy her beautiful work, too. And she did! As soon as she opened, I hopped over there and bought these two – the Fruit Tart and the Chocolate Strawberry Cake. They arrived in a cute package, and got here lickety split (when you consider that she shipped them from Amsterdam). I thought that I’d set them out on display in our kitchen at Loopy Central, but I have kind of been enjoying them in my office for too long, now. I don’t want to give them up. (Check out the latest pastries in her shop. The whipped cream cracks me up! And the Poached Pear in Wine Sauce? Rhubarb Pie? Carrot Cake? sigh.) She plans to continue to add a few new ones in most every week, so bookmark it and keep an eye on things there.

My contest question for you this month: If you were knitting up your favorite dessert, what would you be knitting? (Not a fan of desserts? What other food item do you think would be fun to see knit up?) Leave your answer in the comments and I’ll draw for the winners next week. Since Marlon used Wollmeise Rhubarb in her Rhubarb Pie, I think we’ll use Wollmeise yarn for the prize in the contest. That seems fair.

Sheri whowouldliketoseeChocolateTruffleCakeknitup

Well Holy Cow – I had no clue that we’d end up with over 1000 comments on our Happy Anniversary blog last week! You have no idea how fun it was to go through and read all of your wonderful comments and best wishes. I wish I could email each and every one of you to tell you how much we appreciate you. Due to the large number of entries, I decided to give away 10 drawings instead of 6. Remember, one prize goes to the person who guessed closest to the number of skeins we had here on August 1st. The other 9 have been randomly drawn. It was funny to see the wide variance in numbers guessed! We do send out a lot of skeins each week, but we also have a lot of skeins arriving each week as well. The total in-house at any given time goes up and down, but the number on August 1st (according to our website admin section – so no, I didn’t have to hand count each one) was 7977. Would you believe that someone actually guessed within 4 skeins? Greta from Oklahoma guessed 7981 and wins the big prize! (Next year I ought to have you guess total number of items we have in stock – yarn plus accessories plus patterns. Or maybe not. I don’t think I even want to know that number, as it might overwhelm even me.) The other nine prizes go to: Michele in Maine, Megan V, Shelby B, Jenifer C, Mo B, Sarah L, Lisa, Amy H, Kim and Margaret R. (Email me your addresses – sheri AT theloopyewe DOT com, just so I can make sure the prizes are going to the right place. I do have last names for Sarah, Amy and Margaret, so email me if you’re wondering if I mean YOU!) Thanks so much for participating in the contest, and more importantly thank you so much for your continued support and encouragement. This was Year One, and we do plan to be around for a long time to come.

This week’s recipe is my favorite to make for “company”. It always gets rave reviews and it’s suprisingly easy to make. I hope you and your family enjoy it!

Chocolate Truffle Cake

Melt in pan and then cool:

8 oz. semi-sweet chocolate
1 cup sugar
1 cup unsalted butter

Add in:

1/2 cup brewed coffee
4 beaten eggs

Line a springform pan with foil and then butter the foil. Pour batter in and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes (or until crust forms.) Cool to room temperature and then refrigerate overnight.

Topping:

Whip 8 oz. whipping cream, 1/4 cup powdered sugar, and 1/4 tsp. vanilla until stiff peaks form. Pile whipped cream on top of cake and garnish with raspberries or strawberries. Serves 10. (Keep refrigerated. Can also freeze the baked cake base and just add the whipped cream and fruit when you’re ready to serve it.)

Sheri anyonedoinganythingfunthisweekend?I’mjustplanningonstayingintheairconditioning…..