Last week I spent a lot of time making bread.

I was trying to make a Jack-o-Lantern Loaf by carving a face in the top just before baking. It never quite worked so I gave up on the idea for the time being, but it served as a fantastic crash course in bread baking.

The main problem was that when the dough was too wet I ended up with a smiley face, and when I made the dough stiffer it wouldn't allow itself to be formed into a ball and the one face that did turn out ended up on a loaf that had propped itself up (like a laptop opening, or, you know, a book, those paper thingies).

I chose the recipe for Nigel Slater's "A Really Good and Very Easy White Loaf" from this post at The Amateur Gourmet. There is nothing like a little taunting to get me to move into action in just under a year. The loaf turns out adorably rounded, and the very first comment says it resembles a pumpkin, which must have stuck with me until now because it was the first recipe I thought of when I decided to make jack-o-lantern bread.

The recipe as is calls for eight cups of flour which makes a very impressively sized loaf that would be perfect to casually display when you expect guests to come around. But, halving the recipe makes a loaf that is plenty big enough for two people. I suggest cutting it while it's still warm inside and melt Halloween chocolate between slices, it is so good that way. Also, it's the perfect vehicle for pumpkin butter.

I also decided to make an early Halloween dinner and made the Prosciutto version of an Awful Edible Flesh Worm.

I included sauteed kale as Swamp Greens and mashed cauliflower as Maggot Mash. (Cut cauliflower into pieces which you steam the crap out of, mash in a bowl and add a little butter and a little half-n-half, salt and pepper, surprisingly delicious.) Too bad it wasn't a Farmers Market Wednesday, I was really hoping to find purple cauliflower so I could call it Gray Matter!

I had enough posts to cover the Design*Sponge guest blog for another week. This week interviews with Alicia Paulson, Susan Beal and Amy Karol have gone up. Later this week is Cinnamon from Poise and Daria from Glamscience.

I wanted to do a little follow-up with what is going on with the lovely ladies of the interviews, in order of appearance:

Suzy's Frock Shop was a Finalist for Peoples' Pick of Best Boutique at nwsource.com and was listed in Seattle Magazine's issue of Best Shops. I absolutely love this hearts and horses scarf even though I wasn't a horsey girl, and I'm still going through that flat wallet-love so this checkerboard wallet is calling to me.

Kristen announced that next year's Plush You show will be so big it needs to be held in two places next year. Also, she is having a signing for her Plush You book at Elliott Bay Books this Saturday, Nov. 3rd.

Paola put up a fantastic post about taking product photos, with some extremely helpful before and after comparisons. She edits photos using Picasa which is free and owned by Google. Also, this mid-century modern interiors coloring book which she has in her shop looks amazing.

Alicia is busy finishing her book which comes out next year (?) and I'm looking forward to an awful lot. Go Alicia go!

Susan has announced her new jewelry making book Bead Simple which will be available March of 2008 but you can pre-order it on Amazon now. I got to peek inside the book and it's beautiful, starts with the basics and has a friendly tone. It's probably going to get me into making jewelry for the first time. There is more information at beadsimple.com.

Amy will be having a signing for her book Bend-the-Rules Sewing (which I love) next Thursday at Bolt fabric shop in Portland. There will be gifts for those who bring a finished product made from a pattern in the book!

Cinnamon is busy getting ready for the DIY Trunk Show in Chicago on Nov. 17th, which I wish I could attend.

Daria is busy getting ready for the Queen Anne Artists Trunk Show here in Seattle on Nov. 10th. I'm planning on picking up a few glittery things from Daria at that show.

Congratulations to Rare Device on the opening of their San Francisco shop! See pictures here at Design*Sponge.

Congratulations to Mighty Goods on the opening of their site of stuff for kids, Mighty Junior! I really need the guidance on what to buy for a very smart five year old next month, this is perfect.

Delight is celebrating their half-year-iversary with a $200 shopping spree

Congratulations to Craft on having their Last-Minute Halloween costumes on the CBS Early Show! Susan Beal made the monkey costume, and Diana Eng made the Lego and Sushi. You can find instructions here.

This Saturday, Nov. 3rd, Kristen Rask will be at Elliot Bay Books with local plush artist, SOWA. to sell the newly released Plush You! book. SOWA will be also doing a demonstration on how to go from 2 dimensional sewing to 3 dimensional. Good times.

Thursdays are Craft Day on the Chronicle Books blog and they have announced that they are looking for five intarsia knitters to submit patterns to get into the next knitting book, Picture Perfect Knits by Laura Birek.

It's the season for those nouveau craft shows:

- Bust Craftacular in NY is Saturday, Dec. 8th.

- Chicago's DIY Trunk Show is Nov. 17th.

- Urban Craft Uprising here in Seattle will be December 1st and 2nd at the Seattle Center.

- The Queen Anne Artists Trunk Show will be Nov. 10th here in Seattle at the QA Community Center. It's being organized by our very own Daria of Glamscience!