Irish Potatoes

Last night as Sunday dinner was winding down, I told everyone they had to get out of my house because I needed to make a craft. Someone pointed to the Irish potatoes, and asked, "Why don't you just take a picture of these?" And then there was brief discussion of food craft. I figured since it's a category on Craft Gossip, and the potatoes need to be manipulated to look like potatoes (clay!), I was done. Plus which I doubled the recipe*, but forgot to double the butter, then I needed to work a stick of butter into an incredibly stiff dough. It wasn't just crafting; it felt like a workout! 


Oh, and dinner was awesome. This easy brisket. Everyone wanted the recipe. (I wish I had had the online version. In the paper, it said a 4lb brisket fed 4-6 people. Online a 4lb brisket serves 8-10. We have eight, and Jersey eats for three. I bought a brisket that weighed more than I did when I was newborn. Leftovers!)

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Irish Potatoes are a particularly Philadelphia treat which are not at all Irish, and are not made from potatoes. It's candy. When I first moved here, I thought they were the weirdest thing. And not terribly tasty. Then Cathy, a Philadelphia native, gave me her grandmother's recipe (and permission to share it). This year, Sissy asked me to make them. So these have gone from "weird" to "family favorite" in three years! 

I did not photograph potatoes.

Cathy's Grandmother's Irish Potatoes
2 lb confectioner's sugar (powdered sugar, icing sugar, 10x sugar)
4 oz. butter softened
4 oz. cream cheese softened
1/2 cup coconut (optional)
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
Cinnamon

Keep a little bit of confectioner's sugar aside. Mix everything else in a bowl with hands (Do it; I almost broke my KitchenAid mixer with this recipe.) Roll into bite-size balls. (Or not so much balls as potatoes. You know what potatoes look like.) Mix the confectioner's you held back with cinnamon until it resembles the color of potatoes. Roll balls in cinnamon mixture. (Don't worry if the color seems off. While they chill, the powdered sugar will disappear, leaving the candies looking just like potatoes!) Chill the candies, but let them soften a little before you eat them

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So I sat on my bum and stitched while watching an old Midsomer Murders. I may have a finish of this sort to show you soon, which is good because I don't want to alienate my stitching friends with this turn toward general crafts.

My cousin and I are taking a last minute trip to New Hampshire for my grandmother's birthday tomorrow. I will be on the road for much of Tuesday and Wednesday. I'm trying to figure out a portable craft from my list but I'm not sure I have two. Sissy and I will travel to Florida to visit our parents this month, and when I made my schedule I built in crafts that were easy to travel with. Of course, cross-stitch travels, it just takes so damn long. In fact, someone asked if I would be embroidering this month but I didn't think I could  stitch and finish-finish a piece of embroidery in one day. So there's a question for you: if I start a stitching project for a craft, do I have to finish-finish it the same day to count as a "craft-a-day?" Poll in sidebar.

* Don't double. Make two batches.

That Piecework Biscornu

You saw that biscornu that won the PieceWork Excellence in Needle Arts Awards pincushion contest, right? (If not, it's over there <---.) Well, the new PieceWork has the directions for a companion piece, the Blackberry Truffel Tuffet, which I like a little better because it's a little less gaudy. Just a smidge.

You might want to put your thinking cap on because they've announced the 2009 contest: brooches. I can't find the rules online (duh) but I seem to recall that the deadline is April 1. Or thereabouts.

Also they reminded me that you should come to Philadelphia. PMA is exhibiting quilts from Gee's Bend. This exhibit has traveled across America, but this is the last stop. It closes December 14. PMA also recently opened a whole new building devoted to costume and textiles. (You should look through those pages because there is a lot of interesting information about how they created the new storage for the bags and hats and textiles that textile geeks can deeply appreciate. You will also see how absurdly some project conservators dress. Pay attention. There will be a quiz.)

While you're here, you can take the short trip to Lancaster to see Rags to Rugs: Pennsylvania Hooked and Handsewn Rugs at the Lancaster Quilt and Textile Museum; there's lots to see in that area for textile enthusiasts. And eat.