The Baker's Catalogue (done by King Arthur Flour) arrived in my mailbox a few days ago and I am wanting some stuff in it:

• little cake eggs pan
• huge egg cake pan
• mini baked doughnut pan (and regular)
• doughnut and bagel dough cutter
• easy to read angled measuring cup
• huge plastic jars
• leather potholder
• lattice crust pie cutter
• fleur de lis bundt cake pan
• huge cracker jar

They also have all sorts of decoration, mixes, icing mixes, sea salts, mandolines, pasta makers, ricers, food mills, graters, cookie and buscuit cutters, flavored chips (cappuccino!) and melting chocolates, and chocolate accessories. I'm impressed.

chicknits was on Wild Chicago tv last night!

fillyjonk sent me these tips on making yummy cream of wheat (pssst! it's her birthday! happy birthday!)

You want the longer-cook kind. Trust me. If you want it creamier, use milk instead of water for cooking it (Did I mention you MUST do it on the stovetop, not in the microwave, if you want good Cream of Wheat?). Don't let it boil. If you have a candy thermometer, use it so that you know when the milk is at the "scald" stage. I find that dark brown sugar is the best topping, but you can experiment. And a little pat of butter is nice if you're not fat-phobic. It does take a certain amount of effort to make what I would consider "perfect" cream of wheat - which is why I never eat it for breakfast but more often in place of a big dinner when I'm not hungry or too tired to face "real" food. Oh, and incidentally, the reason the Cream of Wheat might be so good at your workplace could be that they make it in huge vats. Cream of Wheat and oatmeal are about the only foods I can think of that are better when made in huge quantities.

yum! how to make your very own chocolate-banana ice cream sandwich from nobody's fool [who has an incredible newsletter you will not regret subscribing to]

Shop envy: A few days back Squibnocket linked to her local shops - Fresh Baked Goods of the lovely and very cool knitwear, and Peach Berserk of the fantastic and customizable clothing. And Dangerous Chunky has visited both Red Lipstick who has a shop along with her fabulous weblog, and Brooklyn Handknits of the very cool knit skirt I want so very much.

It's another case of How Did I Miss This? - I'm loving Keri Smith's fun stuff page, including the comics she does for Get Crafty.

• create your own mini purse
• how to make your own funky curtains
• creativity soup
• directions for making a magic book

They are all wonderful, go! do them all! And if you havn't seen them yet, take a look at her story in a box books, forget children, I'm going to buy them for myself.

Squibnocket is looking for "somewhere on the web that takes the gauge of the yarn you have and spits out patterns that would be compatible?" (already tried: eKnitting). Anyone know?

hee hee! new article up at indie bride - Get Real: A true and terrifying tale of a reader, a magazine, and wedding-cake bubble blowers

for our quilting pleasure Shannon is charting her progress on a starry night quilt over at dogmestic

tuxedo wearing strawberries via jejune

Neat - take a look at this link to the artist Pate Conaway knitting giant mittens - click the progress link for windows media video of him knitting and showing the mittens. Link via Bagatell, another knitting blog to add to our collection, via dangerous chunky, who sees all.

Amy found that fish box I talked about at neat shop called Oop! - check out some of the stuff they carry:

• wish stick
• chalk vase and
• coffee chalk mug
• sweet little coasters
• history ruler
• tulip lights

With that chalkboard paint that is out I bet you could make your own vase or coffee mug... or gee, anything else you would want really. Anyone use the chalkboard paint? Does it work?

both GirlHacker and Ugly Green Chair point us to these articles on Julia Child's kitchen arriving at the Smithsonian - one and two

Dawn lined to Celebriducks! I love these things and got a Shakespeare one for Christmas.

An art store around here used to carry these plastic pencil or brush cases shaped like a fish. I can't find them anymore!