She’s here!
The best craft project ever! Finished two weeks ahead of schedule 
She was born on the 24th at 5:18am, weighs in at 6lbs7oz and is 18 inches long. As predicted, she got here before I finished her quilted wall hanging! Hopefully I’ll get it done before she goes to college.
It may be quiet around here for a bit as we all get used to each other, but I’ll be checking blogs when I can, posting endless baby pics to flickr, and planning post baby crafts between
naps!
I think this child may come out quoting Monty Python, because for weeks I’ve had the compulsion to do something very strange and anglophilic– make mince pies, from scratch (no bottled mince for us! nope!). I’ve never been a big fan of mince pies or spicy fruit desserts in general (I only like plum pudding with nearly a whole jar of hard sauce on it), but this year the idea of mince pies would *not* leave me alone. Which culminated in literally HOURS in the kitchen, muttering and stirring and making a mess. I used this recipe for the mince, and this recipe for the pastry crust. If I did it again (which is unlikely) I would halve the mince recipe, or be prepared to can some of it, because it made WAY more than necessary.
But look! They turned out so pretty:
Instead of stars or lattice-work, I used my wee autumn leaf cookie cutters to make the tart tops. I think they tasted the way mince pies are meant to– spicy and tart with a buttery crust. Now mince is OUT of my system and I can move on to other things!
