Linzer Tarts for Valentine's Day!

They are the classic.  I found a great recipe online here.  I have made this recipe several times, and it always comes out great.  We used Bob's Red Mill ground almonds.  It really makes the cookies rich, and tender.  And the all-time fav Smucker's Seedless Raspberry Jam is the filling.  Such a treat!  But, boy, are they a lot of effort for a very few cookies.  I guess that's why they are the Valentine"s Day treat!

Linzer Tarts

from Allrecipes.con

Original recipe makes 1 dozen

    1 1/4 cups unsalted butter, softened

    2/3 cup white sugar

    2 cups sifted all-purpose flour

    1 3/4 cups ground almonds

    1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon

    5 tablespoons raspberry jam

    1/3 cup confectioners' sugar for decoration

Directions

    Cream the butter and sugar together until the mixture is light and fluffy. Beat in the flour, 1/2 cup at a time, the almonds and cinnamon, and continue beating until the mixture becomes a slightly stiff dough.

    Shape the dough into a ball, wrap it in wax paper or plastic wrap and refrigerate it for about one hour.

    Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).

    On a lightly floured surface, roll the 1/2 of the dough into a sheet 1/8 inch thick. With a 2 1/2 inch cookie cutter, cut as many circles from the sheet as you can. Knead the leftover scraps of dough into a ball and roll it out again into a 1/8 inch sheet. Cut out more circles. You should now have about 12 circles.

    Arrange them on an ungreased baking sheet leaving about and inch of space between them.

    Repeat the rolling and cutting process with the other half of the dough, but before placing the second batch on the baking sheet, cut out the center of each circle with a 1/2 inch cookie cutter. Bake both batches for 10 - 15 minutes or until light brown. Cool on cake rake for 20 minutes.

    Spread tops of the solid circles with a thin coating of jam, lay a cutout cookie on top of each, pressing the two together so they make a sandwich. Spoon a dab of jam into the opening of each tart and sprinkle the tops with confectioners' sugar before serving.

    NOTE: Keep dough as cold as possible for easier handling. You may have to chill it after rolling it out so that it will be easier to cut.

Happy Valentine's Day!

New books - Lithia Trilogy & The Wings Series

Both of these series are young adult or teen fiction.  I say that upfront, because for some of us older folks that may be a deal breaker.  Often these books are more plot driven and sometimes with fresh ideas or perspectives, so I turn to these as sources of fun, new stories.  And let's face, they are much more eye-catching in the bookstore new releases areas.

The Lithia Trilogy

published Oct 2011

published Oct 2012

This series by Blair Richmond is set in the fictional town of Lithia, which is the actual town of Ashland, Oregon.  The setting of this story is as much or more a part of this series as the characters.  I particularly enjoy stories with unique settings, so this was a very cool aspect for me.  For those who don't know, Ashland is a small town in Oregon and is the site of the American Shakespeare Festival.  This area is surrounded by majestic Pacific Redwoods, and there is an active preservation movement and strong local environmentalist ethic.  This story draws on the eery solitude of forests at dusk and night to enhance and inform the story.  All the main characters are vegan, too.  This adds an unusual perspective to the modern vampire genre.  And (without giving away too many spoilers) the vampires are uniquely a part of this environment, as well.  Of course, theatre and Shakespeare (another of my nerdy addictions) figure into the stories, too.  What can I say but that this sereis seems tailored for me.  I'm sure there are more of you out there who will feel the same.

Most of the story can be fairly quickly ascertained by the strong foreshadowing and basic deduction from readers.  But these are fun, fast reads.  They are short, so there is no major commitment is involved.  I got Out of Breath as an ereader download from my local library and went on to immediately purchase the sequel.  I guess the series close is coming this year, since it is subtitled as a trilogy.  You can read more about the author here. 

The Wings Series

book #1

book #3

book #2

book #4

These books are fae stories by Aprilynne Pike.  I am currently on book three, Illusions. This series follows the events of a young girl, Laurel.  This series is set among high school students, so it really is a stretch for me to maintain interest.  It is a credit to the story and the characters that I have continued to follow it this far.  Though finding a good series on the fae is harder than in the vampire genre.  In these books, the fae have been given a "fresh perspective."  While it is unique and interesting, I do think I prefer the traditional Celtic lore, and stories that are written within those perimeters.  Again, these stories are fast, easy reads without major commitment, which for me means a good read while on workout equipment.  I think that these books are well suited to a young high school audience, but the story action and mystery evolve fast enough to maintain an adult audience.   Aprilynne's blog is here.

I guess that I am still looking for the next great adult fae series.  I enjoyed Moning's new offering Iced, but like other's I failed to connect with it in retrospect.  I really like the Fever world, but Dani is just too young to be the lead in a series.  I mean, how is Moning going to age her fast enough?  I guess, we'll have to stay tuned for the answers.  And I'll read each new entry if only for the Fever World fix.

What are your favorite fae books?

Tonner Dolls and Beyond

I've been playing with my new dolls.  There was a sale table at the luncheon.  Almost everything was on sale for 15% below the website prices.  And no shipping, of course! 

 Here some more shots of Liz in her most excellent sailor outfit---

With my sweet Ellowyne: Feeling Drained, too.

And the big surprise was Maudlynne Macabre.  I bought her as a show gift for my daughter at a friend's suggestion.  When we opened her, she was so awesomely cool!  Her body is fairly articulated and posable.  With those cute eyes, very reminiscent of Susie Sade Eyes.  And there are even patterns already out on the market for her.  I hope Robert expands this line.

The shoes are great little rubbery mary janes.

Awwwww, those eyebrows. . .

I also got my first Evangeline at the show.  Fittingly, I opened the box and took her first pictures in a popular local graveyard.

We'll take more at the graveyard soon.

While I have been trying to switch to collecting more small dolls (to go in our small house), I caught or renewed this big doll virus at the Luncheon, and I came home with all tall dolls.  No Amelia Thimbles, not one. 

There was a table with a large display of American Models, and oooooooohhhhhhh. . .

(more on that later)

Another parting shot of Ell

San Francisco Tonner Luncheon Review

A happy collector receives her Luncheon Exclusive during the registration process.

I am very excited to report about the San Francisco Tonner Luncheon.  They told us early on not to take pictures.  So I did as told.  Although I will pepper this post with photos of the dolls I bought at the show.

My Patsy Luncheon Exclusive

This was my first Tonner event, and it was a lot of fun!  Robert is a very handsome, well dressed and intelligent man.  He is both charming and witty.  He had prototypes of the very popular Patsy Dolls and her outfits for 2013 on display.  There are several new dolls coming!  And more so very cute outfits!  There was one that was a light blue snow suit complete with earmuffs that had me set to pre-order.  And there was a super cute rain coat set with ladybugs on the clear rain coat,  oooohhhhh.  I wish that I could have taken pictures for you to see.  There was a lot of the new Wilde Imagination line available for viewing and pre-order.  And another major display was of the upcoming American Models line.  I had not seen much of this line before, and I abso fell in LUV.  I cam home and found one to order.  She is on her way!  Stay tuned for a post on her, but back to the luncheon. . .

I did speak to Robert several times.  I put in a request for the much desired elbow joint on Patsy.  And I mentioned that there is still very large and active Yahoo! Group for the Ann Estelle 10ers.  He politely said that he hoped enough of us continue to buy the Patsy line so that he can continue to expand it.  I think he definitely felt that he was taking a big risk in introducing another 10" child doll to the market.  He said plainly in the Q & A period that child fashion dolls simply don't sell, and he has to follow the market to survive as a company.  I think that Ann Estelle just got played out (so to speak, maybe pun intended).  And he said that Mary is not producing as much new work for him to reproduce anymore.  Also, he said that he needed to produce something in the Effanbee line to retain the copyrights, ergo Patsy.  The molds for the original either don't exist or he doesn't have them.  But he needed to use something from the line, so he sculpted a new doll for Patsy.  I know there has been some confusion about why he named her Patsy, rather than something else when she was so different from the original.  That's the answer.  While Robert is an artist, he also has to be a businessman, and copyright laws are difficult seas to navigate.  From the Q & A period, it became quite clear how much that determines what he is able to produce.

Essential Lizette - Wigged Out, Too in Bay Breeze Outfit

On a very happy note, he said that if the surprising success of Patsy continues he is willing to consider more dolls in a Patsy "family" line, with dolls like Lilah or Betsy McCall.  And he said he stopped making furniture because he lost the connections to the means for production.  But now he may have solved that problem.  He hinted that there may be furniture for the Patsy line in the near future!  I personally am very excited about that.  I have all of the Ann Estelle furniture and I love it!

During his presentation, Robert spoke about dolls still in preproduction and planning stages that will be the newest additions.  He has secured the rights to do a new Sindy doll: Britain's popular version of Barbie.  And he is very excited about a line he has long been interested in-- a doll based on Carmen Dell'Orefice, the oldest working model.  And a new line based on the book and upcoming movie Warm Bodies.  I saw the prototypes for the two lead characters, and they were very cool.  But, well, uhhumm, I'm kinda into the zombie thing. . .

So there was a lot of news.  And he showed us some very funny videos that he had made for the last Wilde Weekend convention.  It was so exciting to see the new line and fun to connect with other collectors.  I find myself wishing that I could attend the Tonner Con in Chicago in a few months.  It just doesn't really seem possible.  But here's to dreaming. . .

Parting shot:  Robert Tonner's signature on Patsy's little bum!

A Mannequin for Barbie

* COOL PRODUCT ALERT *

Barbie: "Be A Real Fashion Designer"

I bought this set for my daughter at Toys R Us a few days ago.  You get 5 dresses inside with embellishments to decorate them for $24.99.  I was very happily surprised to find a mannequin hidden inside!  If you look carefully at the pictures you will see the girl playing with it.

As the reviews note, stickers, gems and ribbon don't stick too well with the "peel back off" type adhesive.  We ended up using our own fabric glue and sewing, too.  It was a good springboard for the beginning to learn to sew lessons.  The five dresses we got were slightly different.  They are actually pretty as they are delivered, but there is some criticism of the quality.  I think that the fabrics were chosen with the functionality of the stickers in mind. We used some of our own ribbons, etc.

But for me the real find was the mannequin!  My daughter gets to keep the dresses.  I get the mannequin.

 And the stand comes apart at the bottom for easier dressing.  I really like that feature.  Even slim skirts can be easily taken off and on.  No more stabbing Barbie's with pins.  It's a happy day for Barbies at our house.

And seated with the yellow ribbon belt, is the doll in the dress that is my daughter's very first design!  Cut and sewn entirely by herself, at 8 years old.  Let the play begin!

Tonner San Francisco Luncheon Dolls

Well the preorder page for the Luncheon dolls is up.  I guess that we are allowed one of each.  Delivered at the Luncheon.  Here are the released promo pictures. 

Does This Make Me Look Too Happy?   Ellowyne  LE 300

Disenchanted Evening Evangeline Ghastly  LE 130

I already ordered the Patsy. . .

Patsy’s New Year  LE 150

See You There!

Mystixx Vampires

A new vampire doll caught our attention during the end of the Christmas shopping rush--  Mystixx Vampires by Playhut.  They even already have their own music video on YouTube.  Toys R Us has them on the shelf right next to Monster High dolls.  And of course, Bratzillas are directly across from that.  So... kind of hard to miss.

Anyway, they have a body that is very similar to Monster High, although, Mystixx are slightly taller and the elbows and knees don't bend.  Pretty lame that, though. 
There is a Flickr Pool with lots of comparison shots.

  The concept is that the doll is a normal girl during the day and a vampire at night.  Like Delilah Noir, I guess.  So there is a face on the front and back of the head and the head turns around, to change the faces.  They have really great outfits and are packaged with an extra outfit and wig in the box with the doll.  They are a good value at $19.99, if you get them at TRU, but they are being scalped at high prices on Amazon and EvilBay.  A fun way to spend those TRU Rewards dollars from Christmas that are due to expire this month!

Happy New Year!