playing joyce

Eliza

2009-09-17T07:23:00.002-04:00

These were made for Eliza, my super sweet niece!! The dress was made with fingering weight cotton yarn on size 3 needles--took quite a while to make but the result was darling! The pattern was called Little Sister's Dress from Ravelry. The bonnet was from Itty Bitty Hats. Eliza's growing so fast, she probably won't wear them for very long. Which only means I'll have to just keep knittin...

Jammin

2009-08-25T09:11:00.002-04:00

I've been going a little crazy with the jam making this year. I've made several batches of strawberry, red raspberry, and blackberry. Next I'm thinking of peach. Never tried peach jam...

I like freezer jam better than canned. It tastes like fresh fruit. Ball has a new fruit pectin for freezer jam that requires NO cooking. Seriously, it takes about 10 minutes to make. Anyone have any good recipes to share? Pass them my way!

Flubber!!!

2009-08-21T16:38:00.003-04:00

School started this week and we still had some things to check off on our summer to-do list...Flubber being one of them. If you've never made this you HAVE to try it. Probably not meant for kids who still put things in their mouth since it contains Borax (found in the laundry detergent aisle near bleach) It's not messy at all and we just put them in Ziploc bags.

FLUBBER

Mixture 1: 3/4 cup warm water

1 cup Elmer's glue

food coloring

Mixture 2: 2 tsp Borax

1/2 cup warm water

Stir mixture 1 together in bowl, mixture 2 in another bowl. Make sure both are mixed well.
Pour mixture 1 (the colored one) into mixture 2. No need to stir, just reach in and pull out glob of flubber. Work it for 2-3 minutes then drain off excess liquid. FUN!!!

Thrifty Finds

2009-07-31T09:32:00.005-04:00

On the way to my parents house sometimes we take "the Amish way". Take a few back roads and drive through an Amish community. There's several farms, a one room school-house and a General Store. Sometimes we'll see the horse and buggies tied up behind the store. The Olivesburg General store is full of surprises. It has a thrifty/vintage section, crafts, and then Amish supplies for canning and even clothing. Found this tablecloth that I planned on cutting up for dish-towels or an apron-but I love it so much I just can't do it. The tea cup is from China-been looking for one on ebay and ETSY for awhile now. And Charleston Chews!!! Remember these? You can only find the bite sized ones now. Growing up, we lived a block away from Lawson's. We would get these and put them in the freezer. Yum!! Kyle and Madison are now fan's too!!

Summer Frozen Treats

2009-07-15T09:21:00.003-04:00

Here's a few yummy treats the kids have made this summer. The first one is frozen chocolate souffles from Kraft. We used french vanilla pudding and Chip's Ahoy cookies. We've also tried it with chocolate pudding and Oreo's. We put popsicle sticks in them to make them a little more fun to eat.

The Cheesecake Sandwiches (also frozen) are also from Kraft Foods. We couldn't get them to look nearly as pretty and perfect as the web site but they were still good!!

Try this!!!--round up 5 full size sheets of newspaper. Extend one arm out all the way and try to crumple each piece of paper into a ball.
Odds are, your muscles will tire out after 2-3 sheets. ( found this challenge in Family Fun magazine)

Flower Petal Bib

2009-07-14T08:47:00.004-04:00

Knitted this for my cousin's little girl, Jillian. Turned out cute enough-I'm just not sure how practical since you have to tie it behind the neck You know how those squirming babies can be!!
Also, my cousin thought it was a shawl!!

Not much crafting going on here this summer. Mostly swimming and reading and lots of new recipe attempts. I love to cook (and eat). I also love to just look through cookbooks. I look through the same ones over and over and each time find something new to try.

For the past year I've been participating in recipe swaps through Swap Bot. Some are international and I've received cookie recipes from Scandinavia, soups from England, and lentils from India. Some are sent by e-mail and some are written out on recipe cards. Yesterday I received one from Texas for a "Healthy Dish" swap which was Zucchini Pie. If it's good I'll
post it--Veggie Power!!!

Sweet Little Backpacks

2009-06-22T12:38:00.004-04:00

Who doesn't need a cute back pack to take to Cedar Point? The bottom 2 were the first ones Madison & I made. The top ones are for my 2 very best friends, Lori & Neej for their 40th birthdays. I love the colors!! I have a few more to make yet my sister wants one identical to mine and Kyle has picked out some cool camo fabric.

I have changed up the pattern a little and made the casing better, combining 2 different patterns. I even used cording instead of making my own straps. Just makes it an even speedier project and doesn't leave out any of the cuteness. The original pattern is from Sew What Bags and I used the casing instructions from Weekend Sewing.

Herb Garden Supper

2009-06-12T09:12:00.003-04:00

I joined a book club about 10-12 years ago and ordered this book, but never used it or really even looked through it. It is amazing!! All three of the things I made used herbs from my container garden I planted this year.

Rosemary Focaccia Bread, Grilled Vegetables and Tabbouleh. We made sandwiches with the bread and veggies and topped them with provolone cheese. The bread could have been a little thicker. I didn't read the whole recipe and ran out of time so I skipped the last 2 hour rise--still turned out-just a little flatter!

The Tabbouleh calls for Bulgar-but I needed some protein with the meal so I used quinoa instead. I stopped eating meat back in April ( after reading this book) and am always looking for meat-free ways of incorporating protein in my diet. So I'll probably be posting some of my creations here for you to try!

Teeny weenie bolero

2009-06-11T10:13:00.003-04:00

This is for my sweet little niece, Eliza. A pattern from Ravelry using organic cotton yarn. I'm very proud of it!! I took a little crafting siesta...but I'm back!!! Trying to do a little more sewing --I love instant gratification. The kids have some crafts they want to try and of course there's lots of baking to be done. Stay tuned....

lovin the pies!!

2009-05-06T15:41:00.004-04:00

I might be on a crafty break-but not a bakin break! The first pie was strawberry rhubarb, my mom's crust recipe and my grandma's pie recipe. Turned out pretty AND yummy-David and Amanda even got to try a slice!! How about that lattice top, Chrissie? Practicing with paper definitely helped-thanks!
On Easter I made a Fresh Lemon Meringue pie-Martha Stewart's recipe. I always think of my dad when I eat this pie-it's his favorite. Any other pie suggestions? Blueberry maybe? Anyone know where I can get Elderberries?

Happy Earth Day!!

2009-04-22T12:56:00.002-04:00

Kroger's was using paper bags decorated by local Elementary students today. I received the cutest bags-I hate to use them!! This one was actually decorated by our neighbor, Zetta.
In honor of Earth Day, the kids and I walk down our road and pick up trash. We've done this the past few years. We walk about 1/2 mile on one side of the road and come back on the other side. We collect 2-3 bags of garbage just in that small area. Most of it can be recycled. The kids enjoy it so much that Kyle wants to be a "trash guy" when he grows up!!

Little Easter Lambs

2009-04-13T10:09:00.002-04:00

Aren't they cute? The knitting needles have been pretty busy lately. Most of the projects are gifts and are still a secret so I'll post later!!!

Chillin

2009-03-27T12:00:00.000-04:00

Off to Orange Beach for some R&R...

The Message

2009-03-23T08:41:00.002-04:00

Yes, that really is my dirty van back window. I drove around for 2 weeks with this on the back. I just couldn't wash this message away ( at least that's my excuse). I liked looking into my rear-view mirror and seeing "I love Mommy". People at the grocery store even made comments! Thanks , Kyle, I love you too!

Pretty little pie

2009-03-19T11:15:00.004-04:00

Besides wearing green and drinking a few beers, we celebrate St Patricks day with food!!! I made Corned Beef and Cabbage, kiwi, and a Key Lime Pie. This pie is so simple to make-I combined 2 recipes and it came out perfect. I followed the recipe on the bottle of Nellie & Joe's Key West Lime Juice but added an extra egg yolk according to the Martha Stewart recipe. Tastes like the beach to me...without the sand and salt water.

New use for old yarn

2009-03-09T14:20:00.006-04:00

Remember this? I've decided to NOT fix the giant armpits and start over with other projects. I actually hate the yarn but I also hate wasting anything. The nice thing about using Ravelry, is that you can do a search on a specific type of yarn and hundreds of projects are listed for it. Here's a start...
This is the "Christine Bag" I made it alittle bigger than called for --a girl's gotta have a big bag ya know.
Even stitched in a cute fabric liner.What do ya think?

The end of THE END

2009-02-25T05:10:00.005-05:00

We did it! Lying on our bellies, side by side on the living room floor, Madison and I read together the final chapter of Lemony Snickets's "A Series of Unfortunate Events". 13 books in all-the final book naturally was called, "The End". Bittersweet...

We've spent the last year reading these books. It all began when Madison was reading the first one and started having nightmares about the book--that's when I started reading them along with her. We would wait for each other to finish before we went on to the next book.

Last year during spring break, we would walk along the beach and Madison would say, " Mama, what do you want to talk about?" , " "What do you think is going to happen next?". This went on for the next year. So it only seemed right to read the final chapter out loud together. I'll miss these books...and all our talks about them...

Now what, Madison?

"Harry Potter" she says!

Recent finishes...

2009-02-24T16:09:00.008-05:00

1 scarf and lots of hats...The scarf was for my friend, Neej, it's so soft made from alpaca wool. Every year or so I make a new one for her. I love the pink and gray.
This one is for Chloe--you can't see all the eyelets throughout the hat--but it's very cute!
Every baby boy needs a camo hat...

I love making hats. As I've said before they're quick projects. This one was for Jenna as she out grew the last one I made for her. (modeled by Madi)
Getting ready for the next charity project. Knitting hats for the local hospitals. All sizes; preemie, infant, child, and adult. Interested in donating?

Perfectly Proper British Tea

2009-02-20T14:29:00.002-05:00

My sister Michelle (the other half of Joyce), loves a good theme. So for Madison's 11th birthday, she put together everything you need to host a "perfectly polite, pretty and pleasant British Tea Party". She has a pretty tea pot for herself and then another pot for a guest (Kyle).
Including Earl Grey Tea (for a boy) and Lady Grey Tea. Also a scone mix, English shortbread, orange marmalade, and Devon shire cream. Oh, let's not forget the sugar cubes... 1 lump or 2?

VD Dinner

2009-02-16T09:32:00.003-05:00

Since I have no finished crafts to blog about, here's the Valentine's Day Dinner I made for my 3 sweeties. I try to make something red each year-so this time I made spaghetti with heart-shaped meatballs, heart garlic bread and yummy chocolate chip cookies. I started off shaping all the meatballs into hearts, but half way thru I ditched that idea. So whoever was lucky enough to find a heart meatball-received a kiss!!! I think everyone managed to find one!
My plan for dessert was to make chocolate chip cookie ice cream sandwiches. But my cookies were way too thick so we made sundaes with them. Hope your day was sweet too!!!

Anthropology Sweater

2009-02-05T08:50:00.009-05:00

$5...yup, that's all this sweater cost me to make...and only a few hours of my time. Found this pattern on Ravelry based on an Anthropology sweater. You can knit the sleeves and length as long as you like. I made it according to the original pattern. Do you like the broach? It's one of Madison's hair clips!!!

This one is for my mom.(a reknit from the Christmas sweater that was a bomb) It was made from Baby Alpaca wool and is ever so soft. Because of the yarn quality, it wears so much nicer than the cheaper version above. The broach is from my Great Aunt Velma. When my grandma knew I was making these sweaters she had me look through her jewelry. Merry Christmas, Mom!!!

tiny t's

2009-01-29T09:41:00.004-05:00

I have a stack of onesies just waiting to be transformed into something original and cute. Here's a few. The top one I embroidered from sublime stitching for Madison's teacher. The bottom two I tried an iron transfer---never again--it was quick but the "m" in "me" didn't all transfer and they look cheap.
We've been snowed in here for the past 2 days--bitter sweet as now the kids will have to go extra days in the summer. We have managed to build another sledding ramp down the back steps-we've done this the last few years-fun for all!!!

Inauguration Dinner

2009-01-21T08:44:00.006-05:00

In honor of our new president I decided to have a little celebration dinner. I found a recipe for the chili he likes to make-it was yummy. It calls for a few different ingredients (turmeric and red wine vinegar). I would definitely make this again. One of my favorite daily blogging reads is The Crafty Crow. It has so many cute kids craft ideas. The red-white-and-blue drink recipe was from there. Fun and festive!! The kids came home from school with stories from watching the inauguration on TV. Madison's teacher cried. Kyle's class each wrote letters to the president. Kyle asked him to stop the war in the Middle East and to keep gas prices low!!!

7 Random Things

2009-01-15T10:27:00.007-05:00

I have been tagged by Amanda at Made in a Tree House. Here are 7 random things about me that you may or may not already know. To pretty much quote her, this might be annoying to read or just too much personal information. Just a warning...

This is the most obvious one...I love to knit!!! My motto is "if I'm sittin--I'm knittin". I must sit alot-because I sure do knit alot!!! I don't know what it is about knitting. I've been told it's "yoga for the hands". It's relaxing. It's not so intense that I can't talk or watch tv while I'm knitting. I love to make gifts for people. Usually while I'm in the middle of a project I'm already thinking ahead as to what I'm going to make next. Call me crazy but I just LOVE to KNIT!!!
I have played the flute for 30 years!!! Yes, I'm a bando, band- geek, what ever you want to call it. I am good at it too (nothing like tootin my own horn...or flute...hee hee). I went to district and regional contests, played solos, trios and quartets. Yup, you see me in a different light now don't ya?
I'm addicted to the Nintendo DS. I mostly play Animal Crossing but I also like I Spy and any puzzle game. Madison & Kyle both have a DS, so I usually wait til they're in bed at night to play theirs-I could play it for hours!
I like playing in the snow. Shoveling, hide and seek, making forts, igloos, snowmen...you name it-I just like being outside in the snow. Yesterday I sat in the swing holding our cat outside until my fingers were numb and we were covered in snow. I think it feels good to get outside in the winter. Helps fight the winter blues.
I love coffee. Any type of coffee. Black, sweet, fancy, it doesn't matter. I always have 2 cups in the morning-freshly ground, then switch to tea in the afternoon. I like both the simple Tim Horton's coffee and the more robust Starbucks. My favorite is the Peppermint White Chocolate Mocha at Starbucks. It's like drinkin an Ande's Mint!!!
I'm obsessed about my weight. Always have been-probably always will. I've never been a big fatty but always wish I was 10-15 lbs smaller, I guess. I remember in High School doing these crazy rice and fruit diets. I've tried Adkins, South Beach,, and Weight Watchers. I always go right back to my current weight. You'd think I'd learn by now?!?
I can recite my ABC's backwards. Seriously. I went to school in Michigan for K-1st grade and it's something we were taught. Really...ask me...I can still do it!!!! Leave it to Michigan to teach things backwards!!!

The above random picture is a sweater I made my mom for Christmas which I am in the process of unraveling and reknitting using a different pattern. It turned out too small and overall just crappy. Updated picture soon!!!

Cute or Strange?

2009-01-12T08:54:00.006-05:00

Ever since Madison & Kyle saw the movie, Mr Magorium's Magic Emporium , they liked sock monkeys. One day we saw some at Target and the kids said, "Mama can you make us one"? (notice how they didn't say "buy"). So these were Christmas presents. I even embroidered an "M" and a "K" on each foot so they could tell them apart!!

Lopsided and mis-shapen ears add to the character, don't cha think?

Cute little red bum!!!

Special Olympics Donation

2009-01-05T09:52:00.003-05:00

24 scarves!!!!! They're being shipped off today. Thank you so much to all my crafty co-workers for their time and effort. This is part of a world-wide donation to the Special Olympics for their World Games taking place in February. The yarn and colors were specified. (definitely not my choice of yarns) Stay tuned for the next charity project...

A look back...

2009-01-02T15:49:00.005-05:00

Took a little blogging break and enjoyed the holiday season with the family. We were busy baking, crafting and playing. Here's a few of the Christmas treats we made. Christmas Peppermint Bark, Cinnamon Rolls, and Popcorn Balls.
The Christmas bark is just melted white chocolate and crushed up candy canes. I make this every year just because it only takes about 10 minutes.
I wanted to start a new Christmas breakfast tradition. So I spent some time looking for gooey cinnamon rolls that you let rise overnight in the fridge. They were delicious (maybe not Cinnabon quality) but definitely will be making them again next year.
Popcorn balls bring back lots of memories from band --yes, I was a band-geek and proud of it!!! We used to sell popcorn balls every year and had to spend many hours in the school cafeteria making them with our parents. I'm sure we were licking our fingers as we sampled them--(mental note-never buy homemade food gifts from teenagers)!!
The popcorn ball recipe was from Susan Branch's Christmas book. I read this book every year-I love it. Tons of recipes, decorating tips, crafts and other memory making ideas. I know I've talked about her books before-and this won't be the last time either-I LOVE them!!

Our Books of Christmas

2008-12-17T11:19:00.010-05:00

The kids have a whole basket of Christmas books they've received over the years. My grandma gets them a new one each year, signs and dates them. In 2000, when Kyle was a baby, I continued the tradition. This years book was The Night Before Christmas, a book that was mine growing up. Here's some pictures of our favorites.

Biscuit's Christmas is a scratch and sniff book. The smells have all faded but it had hot chocolate, pine cones, and candy canes. (much better than the Sesame Street scratch and sniff that had sardines and garbage smells-yuck!!--remember David and Michelle?)

The Lump of Coal by Lemony Snicket is a book from the library, but very cute, more adult humor, but definitely worth reading. Madison and I have a soft spot for Lemony Snicket as we're on Book 12 (of 13) of The Series of Unfortunate Events.
What are your favorite Christmas books/ traditions?

Warm Heads

2008-12-16T08:52:00.006-05:00

New hats for the kiddos. They picked out their own pattern and colors, all I had to do was sit down for a few days and knit-nothin to it!! Madison's pattern came from the Hat Attack on Ravelry. Kyle's hat is my new favorite pattern. I might make more of these with my boxes of yarn I have. Really, I might have to rent out a POD or build an addition on to our house. There's more yarn at The Johnson's...(anyone remember Louis Anderson?)

Beans Beans the Magical Fruit...

2008-12-15T10:03:00.005-05:00

Thank you AJ for the idea for this craft!! Beans and split peas make up this super quick and easy candle holder.

Line a plastic bowl with plastic wrap (we used a Cool Whip container).
Mix together 1 bag dried mixed beans and 1 bag of split peas and cover with Elmer's Glue.
Press tightly into bowl and push candle down in the center.
The next day just pop it out and remove plastic wrap. Waa-la!!!

Favorite Things

2008-12-11T09:28:00.010-05:00

Decorating the house for Christmas is something I dread. All the many boxes stored all over the house need to be gotten out, creating even more clutter, everything needs dusted as you go--you know how it is...But once I start taking things out of the boxes, it's like I'm seeing them all again for the first time. I remember who made this, or when I received that. I want the kids to remember all these things as well-so I retell the stories over and over each year ( I get this from my grandma) The wreaths above were made by my Grandma Blackman. She is a great crocheter. When each of the grand kids graduate from High School, she makes an afghan. When you get married you receive a Christmas tree skirt. That's just the way it goes!
These angels were made by my Great Aunt Velma. My mom passed them on to me. She always hung them in the same doorway every year-so I do the same. I use the same thumbtack hole in the dining room ceiling every year! You can get a better view of these if you click on the picture. I've had to change the cotton balls a few times when they get discolored-other than that-it looks pretty good for being about 40 years old!
Madison made this gold-painted macaroni candle a few years back-I wish I had put the year on some of these things. I love macaroni crafts. Necklaces, picture frames, even cooked macaroni in a shoe box with your eyes closed can pass for maggots at Halloween! Macaroni-gotta love it!
Our Christmas Village!!! Chip & I went to a Christmas party about 12 years ago and they had a HUGE village all lit up on their hutch. It looked so pretty. We started ours that year and have added on a little each year until we ran out of room. We also put ours on our hutch and leave it set up until February. We leave the lights on all the time--it looks very wintery.
Madison made this Popsicle stick tree in preschool. I love how the sticks are all crooked-it wouldn't be as cute if they were perfectly straight.
This is Kyle's Rudolph from preschool-it's legs are clothespins and has fingerprint spots!
This salt dough hand print was hard to get- we were only able to get Madison's. Kyle was just a baby and every time I spread his fingers out and placed them on the dough, he scraped his fingers through the dough and made a fist. We tried over and over-he wanted nothing to do with it!
This stuffed Santa is my absolute favorite!!! It was my grandma's and every year when I was little(OK OK I still do it) I would run straight for the Santa and play with him. A few years back my grandma gave him to me. His fabric is starting to get pretty worn and thin- his plastic belt has since torn (I don't know what happened to the white one my grandma crocheted for him) . I set him on the fireplace hearth in a basket every year now and hope that one day my grandchildren will come running through the house to come and play with Santa. ( Madison and Kyle think he looks strange!)

Tiny Trees

2008-12-09T16:43:00.005-05:00

First off, these dark and dreary winter days are horrible for taking pictures. These tiny trees are quick and fun to make. You can sew buttons (or use grandma's earrings) and make them as simple or as fancy as you want.
Look up^^^ for my new banner. My grandma made me this quilted tree skirt about 15 years ago when we bought our house. I LOVE it!!! Nothing better than receiving hand-made grandma gifts!!

For the birds

2008-12-08T15:29:00.005-05:00

We have so many traditions at Christmas-time. Many are the crafts we do each year. Saturday, we made a big fire in the fireplace, popped popcorn (REAL popcorn, none of that microwave stuff) and made popcorn garland. I remember doing this a few times as a kid-it's harder than I remember-most of the kernels break in half so we ended up eating more than we strung!!
We also made pine cone bird feeders. We smeared peanut butter over a pine cone and rolled them in sunflower seeds. We were just watching the birds outside today. They were flying from branch to branch so happy with their winter treats!
We also walked in the Jingle Bell Run. A 5k race for the Arthritis Foundation. We wore our Santa hats and even painted our noses red. Although our noses were red anyways...it was FREEZING outside. By far, our coldest race we've done. This is the 4th one for the kids. I used to bundle them up and push them both in the double baby stroller. 3 years ago, Madison ran the whole thing with me and I pushed Kyle by himself. When Kyle outgrew the stroller, I carried him on my back ..and now finally...we all walked together--no strollers, no carrying!!!

Pretty in Pink

2008-11-24T14:32:00.003-05:00

Pink Baby Uggs!!! ugh!!! The knitting needles have been working overtime these past few weeks. Most of the finished products are hush hush--Christmas is just around the corner, you know! I'll post the pictures eventually....These Uggs and Tulle-Topped hat are for Ashton who is 90% sure it's a girl. Babies only see black and white anyways! You know the saying, "Tough Guys Wear Pink"...

Being Silly

2008-11-22T10:23:00.001-05:00

Remember this episode of Seinfeld? We were big Seinfeld fans. When I saw this I couldn't stop laughing!!! Anyways...Happy Festivus!!!!!

Madison's Cabin

2008-11-14T10:08:00.006-05:00

Madison's 5th grade class is reading The Sign of the Beaver. She had to construct a cabin from the 1700's. She worked a little each day for about 2 weeks. She sacrificed some Lincoln Logs (had to be glued together), made a rug, curtains and stone path too. The roof has to lift off so you can see the inside. Even found a use for the Happy Meal toy (horse from the movie Spirit). Looks pretty good, huh?
The Johnny Cake recipe was also from the book. She made it one night this week. It's alot like cornbread, but doesn't call for flour. It has buttermilk and molasses. It was REALLY good!! I don't use molasses very much (never), but I might start--it can be substituted for sugar and honey in recipes, plus adds a nice golden color.

Special Olympics Scarf Project

2008-11-11T12:32:00.002-05:00

Here's the first batch of scarves to donate to the Special Olympics. Thanks, Amy, for your 2 (hers are on the left). Many more should be finishing up in the next few weeks from all my knitting friends. Any style of scarf can be made-using the required yarn. So get knittin...

Apples Apples and More Apples

2008-10-29T10:36:00.009-04:00

Our favorite apples to eat are Honeycrisp, but for baking I like Ida Red or Jonathan. My Grandma Blackman makes the world's best applesauce using these. She cooks her apples with the skins on to give it a reddish color. This was my first time using the crock pot for this. I added a little water to a full crock pot of sliced apples-then when they were mushy, I used my submersion blender. Not as much texture as grandma's applesauce, she uses a ricer, but it was quick and easy. I freeze it and when ready to eat just add a little cinnamon and sugar. Yum!!
This was a Sour Cream Apple pie-kinda custard-like. Very good-This I'll definitely make again. I got the recipe here.
My mom's recipe for apple dumplings-been eating these for breakfast!!!
This was my second attempt at making apple-butter. A few years ago, I tried canning some. I didn't leave enough space at the top of the jars, and after sealing them, they exploded in the basement!!! So this time I froze the apple butter!! This recipe was also made in the crock pot-my whole house smelled so good! Here' s the recipe, try it on Grapenut Bread!!

Scarecrow Cookies

2008-10-27T09:50:00.004-04:00

We made these Saturday and took them to our annual family hayride. They were a big hit!! We used pumpkin cookie cutters and made jack-o-lantern cookies when we ran out of the scarecrow supplies. We used sugar wafer cookies for the hat, chocolate chips for eyes, candy corn noses, licorice lips and pretzels for the straw hair. These were on the Crafty Crow blog. (cute kids craft blog), but the directions are here.

Frosty Hat

2008-10-26T14:30:00.002-04:00

A gift for Sarah at work. It turned out super cute, kinda tall for a baby hat, but still cute!!

I bought a peck of Ida Red apples and am going to try my mom's recipe for apple dumplings today. Tomorrow is applesauce and Tuesday apple butter. I might need more apples...

70's Flashback Craft!!!

2008-10-25T13:30:00.009-04:00

Another Family Fun craft for the kiddo's. It called for a tennis ball for the head but we used some old plastic baseballs instead. Super easy and quick!!

Kyle even learned to braid!!! Our computer has been down with a nasty virus-I was going through blog withdrawal!

Baby Uggs

2008-10-14T10:26:00.001-04:00

I might have to make dozens of these. Made with Suede Yarn-so so soft!!! I found the pattern on Ravelry.

More campfire cookin

2008-10-08T11:13:00.007-04:00

This is chili and cornbread. The chili was a Cooking Light recipe (current issue). The cornbread was a googled recipe. The bread didn't have very much flavor but we put it in the bowl of chili so you didn't notice.

Making popcorn over the fire. We took about an 18in piece of heavy foil and put a little oil and few tablespoons popcorn, sealed it up (leave room for popping) and put it on a stick. Shake it every few minutes so it won't burn.

This is about our 4th bag! The first one turned out the best-it was perfect! But the next few bags burned a little, I think we got it too close to the flames!!

Getting ready for a fall camping trip this weekend-Hopefully it won't get too cold at night, cause we're tentin it!!

5 Hour Baby Sweater #3

2008-10-07T15:30:00.002-04:00

Made this one with Vanna White's yarn!!! I couldn't find the link to my pattern but you can google it and and it will pop up. Trying to finish up a few projects so I can get started on Christmas. So much knitting...so little time....

Madison's Butterfly

2008-10-05T13:13:00.002-04:00

The current Fall issue of Family Fun has some cute ideas for nature crafts. This is made by Madison. You can also make animals and people from pine cones and acorns. She just glued leaves onto the back of a stick and added smaller twigs for antlers and googly eyes.

Lilly's Hat

2008-10-01T08:35:00.004-04:00

I have no idea who Lilly is-It's just the name of the hat. Quick, cute and fun. The only thing that was tricky was to keep 224 stitches from getting twisted on the circular needles. For the flower, I had to do a search on crochet flowers. Sweet!!

Soup of the week

2008-09-30T08:45:00.004-04:00

Last spring I participated in a world-wide vegetarian soup recipe swap. So each week I try to make a new recipe. This one was from Mexico-it's one of my favorites so far. It's even better the next day. Here's an old link to another yummy soup and some quinoa info.

Corn & Quinoa Chowder

3/4 cup quinoa

1 tsp cumin seeds

2 1/2 c frozen corn

1 lg red potato

1 lg onion or shallot

4 c broth

2 cups milk

1 lg red pepper

handful cilantro

Toast quinoa and cumin. Saute corn, onion, and potato in oil. Add broth & milk. Boil. Reduce heat and add quinoa. Cover & simmer 10 min. Stir in pepper and cook until quinoa is tender. Add salt , pepper and cilantro. YUM!

This week the soup I tried didn't turn out so good, actually it was pretty bad. It came from the UK and it was called Apple and Parsnip Soup. I ate it for 2 days before finally giving up! I also tried a Red Pottage, from England. It was a beautiful color but I wasn't a big fan of the beet flavor. I ended up freezing small portions and tried mixing it in with tomato sauces for pasta. We were all pretty disappointed when we lost it all and had to pitch it after the power outage!! (hee-hee)

Silent Auction

2008-09-29T14:16:00.005-04:00

I made these for our Silent Auction at work. The proceeds are going towards our Family Support Fund ( assists patients families with parking, meal passes, etc) There were several other Handmade donations for a great cause. These are once again from BTRS-can't say enough about this book!

Another Charity we're donating to is for the Special Olympics World Games. We're making scarves for all the athletes. You can be creative and use your own pattern or use the ones provided. The only requirement is to use the recommended yarn and colors.

The Praire Girl's Guide to Life

2008-09-26T09:15:00.003-04:00

Here's my Death Hat that killed me in The Hat Attack!!! I love it!!

So I found a reference to this book on one of the blogs I read. "The Prairie Girl's Guide to Life"(how to sew a sampler quilt and 49 other pioneer projects for the modern girl) The author, Jennifer Worick, is a huge fan of Laura Ingalls Wilder. It is full of crafts, cooking and home remedies from simpler times. I knew I loved this book when I read, "I knit during American Idol and design jewelry while watching Project Runway". I thought, "me too"!! (although I don't do the jewelry thing). Anyways, cute book-check it out!

Fresh salsa

2008-09-23T14:57:00.002-04:00

We love love love fresh salsa!! It looked especially pretty with the yellow tomatoes. These were from Harley and Sarah, an Amish family Chip's dad is friends with. They give us eggs and produce every week or so.
When I make salsa, I just throw a bunch of stuff together and keep tasting it. This time I used about 6-8 tomatoes, 1/2 bunch of cilantro, 2 onions, lime juice, garlic, and salt and pepper. It made tons!! Pass the chips, please!!

Skirts...

2008-09-22T14:31:00.007-04:00

Just in time for fall...a wrap skirt and an elastic waist a-line skirt. Just need to hem them up!!

Fire away!!!!!

2008-09-21T11:00:00.002-04:00

Just sent off my "weapon" in the Hat Attack. I got a late start since the power was off and I couldn't get to my pattern on-line. Now my neck hurts and I have arthritis from non-stop knitting! This hat goes to my target in New Jersey-I hope now to make it to round 2...

Doesn't Barbie look freakishly cute modeling the hat?

Who needs electricity?

2008-09-20T13:32:00.004-04:00

Hurricane Ike hit Ohio pretty bad. We were lucky, only 4 trees down and a loss of power for 4 days. Not too bad. We lost alot of our food and thought we might lose the fish in the tank-but they survived. I did alot of knitting by candle-light. Working on another 5 Hour Baby sweater. We also read books and played cards.

This was our biggest tree on our property. The root ball is about 5-6 ft!!! It fell into our neighbors yard-just missing their pond.

This tree was dead anyways-Chip said it couldn't have fallen in a more perfect spot! We actually learned alot from this experience. We spent alot of quality time together and were very thankful that we had running water and the weather co-operated with us (no rain, not too hot or cold).

We were actually bummed when the power came back on. We were enjoying cooking out on the fire and using candles and flashlights at night. Plus it was so quiet. Our road was blocked from both directions by downed power lines-so NO TRAFFIC!! The evening we got electricity, we still cooked outside and still sat by candlelight in the evening. Now the kids are saying "no lights after 8 pm"! They spent most of their time this week (since there wasn't school), building a "house" in the woods and swinging in the hammocks!! aaahhh...simplicity...

Little bit more of these...

2008-09-12T09:13:00.004-04:00

This was a zipper pouch I made for my mom. Once again from Bend-the-Rules-Sewing! I'm excited to make a few skirts next. I have the fabric and measurements, now I just need to sit down and make the pattern and start sewing. Did I say sit down? That's all I've been doing the past 2 weeks. Nasty sinus and ear infections have really knocked me down a notch or two.

I've been wearing sleep masks for years, being a night shift nurse. I have a black silky one that I got free with our luggage or something. When we go camping I wear one so I can sleep past 5:30 a.m!! I just use my black mask as a pattern and made these. They're reversible and I put a dark grey cotton in between to help block out the light. (remember my foxy grey camping sweats , Lori-that's what I used!) Now Kyle wears the black mask and Madison and mama get the pretty floral ones! Now we're all sleepin til 9a.m.!!

HATS

2008-09-10T10:18:00.006-04:00

Baby hats are one of my favorite things to make. They're quick and so cute. These are all from Itty Bitty Hats. The turtle hat didn't turn out quite as cute-how will a baby ever be able to hold it's head up with those giant Tortuga's !!

"Webkinz Project Runway II"

2008-09-08T08:30:00.003-04:00

OK OK tired of the Webkinz pictures? Try living in a house with about 50 of these things!!! It's a Webkinz world at this house!! I've been looking for knitting/crochet patterns for these little guys for awhile and finally found some through Ravelry. This as an awesome source for fiber arts, millions of patterns and groups to join for swaps or charity. You have to register, for free, and in about 2 weeks you're sent an invitation to join. Check it out!! Here's the patterns for all you Webkinz mama's!!

16

2008-09-05T09:26:00.003-04:00

16 red roses for 16 years...our wedding anniversary was yesterday. Chip always gets me the number of flowers for the number of years. We had plans for dinner, but I've been sick all week so we decided on pizza instead!! Madison & Kyle even got 4 roses a piece plus the new bat webkinz--no fair--it's my anniversary!

Just received my yarn for the Hat Attack!! The battle starts Sept 16-I hope to make it past the 1st round. If nothing else, I'll get a new hat out of it!

Designing/Recycling

2008-08-30T14:16:00.011-04:00

Endless possibilities to use old t-shirts.

Simply cut about 3 inch slits on each side of shirt and tie them together. You can even cut the sleeves off and tie the sides up to the shoulders, but Madison wanted to keep the sleeves.

Ta-da!!!

Cut off the bottom hem (this is used for the tie arounfd the neck), cut under the arms, make 2 small holes in the front for the straps. Very cute. Took about 5 minutes!!!

Cute little skirt ( or tube top) from a silky t-shirt --just tied up the sides for a more fitted look.

Even a bikini (I won't be modeling this)...this required a bit of sewing.

It's war!!!

2008-08-27T08:57:00.003-04:00

Head over to hat-attack and sign up for the knitting battle!!! You knit and send your partner a hat before they do or else you're killed! Everyone is given the same pattern and they tell you the recommended yarn to use. The competition keeps going until theirs one warrior standing. The prize is $500 of yarn. Sounds like fun. Game on...

Lovin the Herbs!!!

2008-08-20T09:35:00.003-04:00

This is my first attempt at an Herb Garden-I have to plant in pots because of our lack of sun--(I keep forgetting that I was the one that wanted all these trees). But I did find a little spot that seems to get enough sun. I planted Basil, Parsley, Oregano, and Cilantro. The basil is my favorite. These are my 2 favorite recipes using it.

Tomato Salad

1 pint of cherry tomatoes, halved

cubed fresh mozzarella cheese

handful of basil leaves

olive oil

kosher salt and pepper

The Quintessential Pesto with Risotto
2 -3 tsp garlic

kosher salt

large handful basil leaves

2 heaping Tb pine nuts

1/2 cup fresh Parmesan cheese

4 T olive oil

Risotto-cook as directed using broth then add pesto. This is a variation of the recipe in The Splendid Table's How to Eat Supper.

One more 5 hr sweater

2008-08-06T10:31:00.002-04:00

Do you know what starts tomorrow? Pre-season football!! Which translates into...KNITTING TIME!!!

The Best Ice Cream Cake in the World

2008-07-31T10:13:00.002-04:00

Better than Dairy Queen, hands down!! Chrissie is the one who passed this recipe on to me--I've made it twice so far this summer. It keeps well in the freezer--and I decorate it with sprinkles. This one has little fishies on it!!! The recipe is from Kraft Foods.

We let them go...

2008-07-30T10:45:00.002-04:00

We released the butterflies...a little sad, but they seemed so happy just flying around outside. It was windy that day, they flew as high as the tree-tops!!!

Kids embroidery pillow

2008-07-28T15:11:00.003-04:00

Here's the finished project from here .These were drawings the kids made when they were little that I traced and embroidered to make a pillow for my bed. I have to flip it over each day to be fair!! We might try some place-mats next--but they want to do the embroidering this time themselves.

Knotty Bones

2008-07-25T08:39:00.003-04:00

Yep-it's what you think-the Wishbone!! We've been performing some experiments this summer-one of them is to take a chicken bone and soak it in vinegar for a few days. It become very bendy and you could probably tie it into a knot but our chicken must have been a little guy cause his bones were tiny! If you leave it set out to dry it will get hard again. Try it--but first...don't forget to make a wish!!!

Another wee-one gift

2008-07-24T10:41:00.004-04:00

My first embroidered gift! Using Sublime Stitching..very easy and BTRS bib patterns. This gift goes out to Carla who's having a little Gabriella pretty soon!!

butterflies!!!

2008-07-21T09:57:00.006-04:00

Our cocoons have hatched!!! 2 weeks ago we received our caterpillars in the mail. After about 1 week they formed cocoons and now we have 4 Painted Lady Butterflies!! The kids feed them every day with fresh flowers and paper towels dipped in sugar water. We're going to release them this Friday. Their life-span is only about 2 weeks-so we're observing them for 1 and setting them free for the other.

Camp fire cookin

2008-07-17T09:10:00.002-04:00

I've been wanting to use this cast iron dutch oven for awhile now but just getting around to it. This was my great-great grandma's and I found it years ago in my grandmas barn. I tried to clean it up a few years ago but didn't know the proper way to care for cast iron, so I almost ruined it-it turned to complete rust. One of my camping buddies told me to lube it all up with Crisco inside and out and bake it. It came out all black and shiny--brand-spankin-new!!! (my house stunk for a week though!!)
This recipe was one from my friend, Wendy, who uses her cast iron alot. It was super simple. We camped out in the backyard and made this Sloppy Jo Biscuit Bake. YUM!!

The Loraine Bag

2008-07-14T11:15:00.004-04:00

Stitched this up this weekend for Loraine at work. Hope she loves it as much as I do!! I'm only making one more and it's for me-after that I'm going to find a simpler and quicker bag to make.
Have a few baby gifts to get started on-maybe a little embroidering of some bibs.

2008-07-08T19:15:00.004-04:00

Aren't these cherries beautiful? We picked them at the orchard down the road in the pouring rain. Actually it was fun-we were the only ones there and the cherries were all rinsed off for lots of tasting!!! We picked 5# in what seemed like 15 min. 5 pounds doesn't get you much-I made a cherry pie (my first) and had enough to freeze for 1 more later. The pie was yummy-it was on the cover of this month's Cooking Light. The best part was with the extra pie dough I made Sugar Pies. I don't know if my mom made this up or if it came from my grandma. My mom would save the little pie tins from pot pies and put a little milk, sugar, and cinnamon on the bottom. It makes a custard and completely reminds me of when I was little. I just used muffin tins. Has anyone else heard of these?

Happy Independence Day!!!

2008-07-04T12:55:00.004-04:00

Thanks Jenna, for your crafty ideas!! Patriotic bracelets, nail paintin, and hair wraps!!! I'm not sure how to make the bracelets, Madison made them and is teaching me today. We bought tons of fun beads and lots of hemp.

The manicure (and pedicure) was easy. White nail polish (like the thick white from a french manicure set) then dip a tooth pick in red (we didn't have blue) and dot it to your nails. Very cute!!

For the hair wraps, you make a small braid, tie 3 long pieces of embroidery floss (red, white & blue) to the top of the braid. Take one color at a time and wrap it tightly around the braid, covering the 2 colors that you're not using. Just tie them off at the bottom. Pretty festive!!!

New fruit of the week--What am I??

2008-07-03T09:55:00.002-04:00

Once a week I buy a new fruit. Something we've never tried before. The kids try to guess what it is. These pics are a Star fruit (duh) and a Blood Orange. Both were good. We've also tried Ugly Fruit, Mango, and kumquats. This is a great and fun way to sample new foods. Vegetables are next...

Kyle's self portrait

2008-07-02T10:30:00.002-04:00

I wish I would have marked age and date on every art project I saved from the kids over the years. This is one of Kyle's self-portraits, I think he was 3. Notice how he spelled his name...
y-k-l. I'm going to take both of these napkins that I made (previous one was Madison's rainbow drawing) and make a pillow for our bed.
Starting week #3 of marathon training. So far, so good. The kids are training too-they rode 7 miles with me on Saturday on their bikes. I'm hoping they can go 10-12 miles before the summer's over-that's my longest distance before school starts.
Madison helped me in the kitchen all morning yesterday--we made blueberry jam and gazpacho. First time for both recipes. The jam is yum with a capital "Y"!!!! The gazpacho is good...very healthy...tomatoes, cucumbers,celery, red pepper, red onion, cilantro, parsley, black olives, lemon...all pureed together for a nice cold soup. It probably would be picture pretty except the olives turned it into a brownish color-so I didn't snap any pics to post. The kids liked it--I let them dip chips in it--chips make anything taste good. But to me it's just like eating salsa-and salsa probably tastes better!!!

Strawberry Heaven

2008-06-29T12:11:00.003-04:00

We picked 25# of strawberries on our trip to Michigan!!! I made 2 batches of freezer jam, 2 batches of strawberry shortcake, froze 3 qts for smoothies, 3 qts for pies, another bag of strawberries and rhubarb (from Aunt Sandy's garden) and then I made a fresh strawberry pie. Notice the apron in the pie picture--grandma made it and gave it to me along with another apron that was my great Aunt Velma's.

Birthday gifts

2008-06-28T12:58:00.006-04:00

Here's the little pouches I made for Lori & Neerja for their birthdays. These are both from the Bend the Rules Sewing book that I love love love. I then sandwiched them in tissue paper and zig-zag stitched the edges and trimmed with edging scissors. Cute, huh?

5 Hour Sweater

2008-06-23T09:39:00.002-04:00

I think it really WAS only a 5 hour sweater. (Chip thinks it took longer!!!) It's mighty small though. The pattern didn't say, but I'm thinkin it's a preemie size. I'm donating it to The Yarn Shop where they distribute them to local hospitals. I might send along a few hats too.

We're off to Michigan to visit my grandparents this week. It's always so fun-the house is full of lots of cousins, noisy, crazy, and lots of yummy food. We always stay up late just talking and laughing...good times!!!

The "Leslie" Bag

2008-06-22T12:31:00.002-04:00

This is my favorite thing I've made so far. I love this Japanese floral print from Superbuzzy.
More bags are coming--I'm waiting on my Amy Butler fabric shipment--1 bag for me and one for another friend at work.

Kids art embroidery

2008-06-20T09:48:00.003-04:00

Got this idea from soulemama. (scroll down). This was a birthday card to Kyle from Madison when she was 6. I taped it to a window and then taped a cloth napkin over it and traced it lightly with a pencil. Then I embroidered it using the same colors she used. I went through all the kids artwork and chose a few to do this with. So so so cute!!!

Oh how I've missed you, knitting!!

2008-06-17T10:01:00.002-04:00

It felt so good to start a new knitting project! I've been watching my friend, Leslie, whip up these sweaters. They are adorable!! The pattern is The 5 Hour Baby Sweater .
But I'm thinking mine will be the 5hr and 35min sweater. I should never start knitting in the morning until I've had my coffee fix!! Madison left at 8:30 for volleyball camp (yes, I know she's growing up). So I sat down and knitted until Kyle woke up at 10. It was so quiet and peaceful in the house. I made my current favorite breakfast--1/4 cup old fashioned oats, 1/4 cup Grapenuts cereal , cover with milk and microwave 2 1/2 min. add a generous drizzling of honey...yum.
I didn't complete very much from my "to do list" yesterday. I did plant some basil, cilantro, parsley and oregano. I'll attempt some more next year if these grow well. We have limited full sun-so it's always a struggle for me to plant anything that needs much sun.

Wanna Play Catch?

2008-06-08T22:19:00.002-04:00

Another cute craft by Madison!! Can you see the little yellow ball at the end of the ribbon? Made with a dowel (sp?) rod and a paper cup---so easy!! It would be a fun birthday party craft.
Just celebrated Kyle's 8th birthday-of course it ended with A squirt gun fight and eventually Kyle being thrown in the pool by Scott. Kyle had tons of fun!!
Now we're off for our annual camping trip for the week. Heading up to East Harbor State Park. Lots of bike trails and a nice beach on Lake Erie. Hopefully no rain....

I believe...

2008-06-05T09:47:00.002-04:00

I believe the best things in life contain chocolate.
I believe I'm always right (except when I'm wrong).
I believe that 40 is the new 30.
I believe in my right to the perfect pair of jeans.
I believe if you really want to know how you look, don't ask your mother, your sister,
or your best friend, Ask your 10 year old.

Sand and Spice

2008-06-04T10:49:00.003-04:00

Sand and spice and everything nice...This is a project made by Madison during her Ohio history week at school. It's a piece of sandpaper, draw a picture with glue and then sprinkle dried spices over the glue. It smells really good. She usually draws bunnies..go figure.. It looks like the bunny has some saggy boobies...or are those arms?
I've been sewing like crazy here, but I can't post any pics yet, they're all gifts. Stay tuned...

It's the last day of school...YEAH!!! we went to our annual breakfast party this morning at 7:45. A neighbor hosts this every morning on the last day of school. She invites everyone on our road over for donuts and juice and the bus picks everyone up there. It was pouring down rain today. The boys were outside in it playing football. Kyle was soaking wet when he got on the bus!!!

Could You, Would You?

2008-06-02T02:55:00.008-04:00

We got Madison this book for her birthday. (a book to tickle your imagination) It's a great book for cute little conversations. We layed in her bed tonight and she read it to us and would ask, " If you had a secret room, what would you put in it?"

madison--"I guess my books, webkinz and a refrigerator for snacks"

If you could keep one possession your whole life what would it be?

madison--" The heart necklace from daddy" (I'm not making this up-she really said that!!)

We had a great weekend. It started with my 40th birthday celebration, thanks to all my family and friends for coming out "into the wind". It was alot of fun!!

Saturday was "the best day of my whole life" according to Kyle as we planted flowers in the rain!!

Sunday I sewed for a bit and then we worked in the yard, sat by the pool and then cooked our dinner over the bonfire--corn, pizza and roasted marshmallows. Kyle was so tired, he started to fall asleep on the swing!!! a good day...

Boy/Girl Pouches

2008-05-22T09:57:00.002-04:00

Madison and Kyle have been asking for these for awhile now. Kyle needs one to keep his allowance and Madison wants one to carry her hair accessories when she has a sleep over. I made these very quickly and WITHOUT MISTAKES!!! This is a first!!
I have a few more that I want to make and experiment with some trim. Next I'm making another pleated bag for a friend at work. Be prepared, Leslie, for a fabulous bag!!

Happy Birthday to Me!!!!

2008-05-15T17:03:00.002-04:00

This is my giant pile of stuff I bought on my shopping spree today. It was fun-swim suit, sunglasses, new book (i'll blog about it on another day) , shorts, flip flops, several shirts, and some earrings. Went to lunch with Lori ( actually we just drank Corona's), it was a good day.

Crayon cookies

2008-05-14T14:17:00.003-04:00

After making the Hot Rocks, we had a zillion unwrapped, broken crayons. So we made these. Of course we're not going to eat them!!! It was fun to watch them melt and get all swirly.

So a fun thing happened to me yesterday. I had my new bag hanging up at work last night and one of the physicians spotted it and new it was from the Bend the Rules Sewing because she has the book and has made several projects from it also!!! We chatted for a few minutes and discovered we were both craftsters and exchanged blog/flickr info. She is very talented and I loved her fabric choices so much that I put in my first order to Superbuzzy ( Japanese fabrics). I think it might be hard to shop at JoAnn's after this. Thanks!!!!

Hot Rocks

2008-05-12T11:54:00.003-04:00

This was one of our Mother's Day crafts. Don't throw away all those broken crayons...melt them on some rocks!! The glitter crayons are the best. I got the idea from Wise Craft.

put rocks in the oven at 350 for 15 min. Be careful--VERY HOT!!!
in the meantime, start unwrapping all those old crayons
"paint" onto the rocks. If you just push the crayon onto the hot rock, the wax will melt.
the smoother the rocks, the prettier they look.

And here it is....

2008-05-09T14:14:00.005-04:00

I'm so proud of this bag!!!! I love it. It turned out very cute with almost no noticeable mistakes!!!

I only broke 3 needles on my sewing machine...

Quinoa Soup That Rocks Your Boat!!!

2008-05-07T14:43:00.002-04:00

Yes, that's the name of the soup. It really does "rock your boat" too!! I am new to Quinoa ( keen-wa). It's the Most nutritious grain, high in fiber and protein.

Quinoa Soup That Rocks Your Boat
· 2/3 cup quinoa
· 2 cups water
· 2 tbsp olive oil
· 1 yellow onion, chopped
· 1 carrot, julienned
· 1 leek, white part cut in half, rinsed and cut
· 2 cloves garlic, minced
· ½ - 1 red chili pepper
· 1 can (400gr/15oz) crushed tomatoes
· 4 cups vegetable stock (or 4 cups water + 2 stock cubes)
· salt and pepper to taste
For garnish:
· 1/3 cup finely chopped parsley
· 2 tbsp grated lemon peel
· Green part of leek, finely chopped
Variations: (Add these to the soup, or use instead of something else. Don't want carrot? Or just feel like adding somethign else to the soup? These are great.)
· 1 big handful spinach leaves
· 1 can white beans (rinsed and drained)
· 1 red bell pepper, cut into small pieces
Add quinoa and water together and bring to a boil. Simmer for 5 minutes and in the meantime prepare your vegetables. Peel and chop onion and garlic. Cut leek in half lenghtwise and rinse it. Chop up. Peel and julienne the carrot. (If using bell pepper cut it into small pieces). When the quinoa has simmered for 5 minutes drain it. Pour oil into a large soup pot and add the vegetables and garlic (if using spinach in the soup, don't add it yet). Sauté for a few minutes and then add finely chopped red chili, saute for another minute. Add quinoa, the can of crushed tomatoes, vegetable stock and let the soup simmer for about 20 minutes, until the quinoa is soft and has started opening. (If using spinach add this in just a few minutes before taking the soup of the hob and if using beans add them in 5 mins before taking it off, just enough to get them hot). Add salt and pepper to taste.Add the garnish ingredients to a small bowl and sprinkle over the soup before you eat it.

Current project

2008-05-05T13:57:00.004-04:00

So, this bag (kinda looks like a skirt at this stage) is a little trickier than I thought it would be. It's for my "Bend the Rules Sewing Swap". It's a Pleated Beauty Bag. I love the fabric!! I'm going to make one for myself if I ever finish this one!!! Once again the seam ripper is my BFF. I sewed it inside out not once, not twice...but 3 TIMES!!! I keep thinking that I'll learn from my mistakes but so far it's not happening...

Swap Package

2008-05-04T11:41:00.003-04:00

Here's my first Swap package I received. They're so soft...I almost hate to use them. I also participated in a vegetarian soup swap and a Favorite recipe swap. So I'll be sharing some new recipes from time to time after I've tested them. Here's the first one...straight from the UK. I made it yesterday for dinner along with shrimp and portabella mushrooms. It was very good.

Simply Lovely Carrot Soup

1 onion , sliced

8 carrots, peeled and sliced

2 Tb oil

4 cups stock

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

1 cup milk

1tsp dill

1Tb soy sauce

Cook onions and carrots in oil for 2-3 min. Add stock and salt and pepper and cook until tender, about 30 min. Add the rest and puree in food processor or blender. YUM!!!

Lots of time to knit!!!!!

2008-04-28T14:46:00.002-04:00

14 hours in the car to Orange Beach...no problem...I was a knittin fool!!! Here's my latest swap projects which will be shipped off today. Can't wait to see what I'll receive!!

We had an awesome vacation--lots of family bonding time. The kids love just hangin out on the beach as much as we do. Madison is a new lover of crab-legs. Kyle could eat cheeseburgers and fries every day of his life!! As far as me & Chip...we're all about the margaritas. They taste even better by the beach!!!

Surf, Sand and Sun....

2008-04-18T10:20:00.001-04:00

Off we go to Orange Beach, Alabama for some much needed R&R.....

Susan Branch

2008-04-17T14:58:00.004-04:00

One of my favorite all time very yummiest recipes in the whole wide world is Lemon Pasta from Susan Branch's Summer Book. It is good warm or cold, with chicken or shrimp added, any way I've fixed it it is yummy with a capital "Y"!!!!!!!! My mom usually gets me a new Susan Branch book for Christmas each year. Her books are awesome, not only for the recipes, but pretty to look at also. She does her own watercolor illustrations and hand-writes out everything. Madison has her Baby Book and I have her address book. I think I'm going to get the recipe cards next. You can go to her website to view her fabrics, books and lots of other fun things.

magnets, magnets, and more magnets

2008-04-13T16:39:00.003-04:00

I found this idea from The Crafty Crow. We used flat-bottom clear marbles, scrapbook paper and glued a magnet to the back. This was super quick and easy. The kids want to make them for each holiday!! The ideas are endless!

Strawberry Jam

2008-04-12T10:21:00.002-04:00

I always think I'm going to try a new fruit combo for my jam, blueberry/peach, blackberry/kiwi, but I always stick to our old fave...strawberry. I almost always make freezer jam because it's so quick, but I also don't have that much freezer space, so if I make enough of it I'll have to can some. Does anyone have a good recipe to share?

My Etsy Love

2008-04-10T09:15:00.008-04:00

I LOVE ETSY..I LOVE IT, LOVE IT!!!!! Etsy is a site where you can buy/ sell all handmade goods. I've only purchased a few things so far but I have many many things I'm "watching". They have jewelry, clothes, housewares, fabric, yarn..everything. Here's what I've purchased so far. The sweater is from Bernies Girl-she takes vintage sweaters, takes them apart and pieces them together with different sweaters. The shirt is from Sweet Charlotte, she custom made this for me, I just sent her my measurements. The scarf is from East Haven, hand painted cashmere from Singapore. So go take a look..it's addicting!!!

Congratulations to my sister-in-law, Amanda (made in a tree house). She was featured on the Craft ( april 3 ) blog for her contributions to the Columbus City Sampler. She was also in the Dispatch on monday in the Arts section!!!!! Zombie's Rock!!!!

The Zip Pouch

2008-04-04T18:30:00.002-04:00

I love my little zip pouch. The liner is hand stitched. It takes a little more time but has a nice finished look. Kyle wants one next for a new wallet. Mine is to take to work to hold mints, gum, chapstick...all the things I'm always digging for in the bottom of my bag. This is also from Bend the Rules Sewing. I've talked about this book before, it's great for beginners-easy to follow instructions and has step-by-step pictures too. Check it out!!!

2 posts in 1 day!!!

2008-04-03T17:01:00.005-04:00

I just couldn't wait to post the results of this. So quick-probably 1 hour, including correcting mistakes. This is from Bend the Rules Sewing. Do you like the pink button? It's actually one of my grandma's earrings!!! Clever, huh?

Don't look...I'm naked!!!!

2008-04-03T08:59:00.003-04:00

A naked teapot?!? Well I can fix that. I'm working on a felted tea-cozy. I've never felted before. Now that I'm almost halfway done with it I realized I could have sewn it quicker with wool than actually knitting it but oh well!! The pattern is from Knitty. I'll post the link when it's finished. I love to drink tea. I make a cup, sometimes a pot, every afternoon when I start to feel sleepy. It's usually around the time the kids get home from school and we sit down together at the table for homework. Madison likes it too and will offer to make it for me!!! (she drinks decaf ) Kyle wants to like it, we make him some, but he just can't seem to like the taste.

I have a few sewing projects I'm working on and will finish today. I posted my curtains and bibs on the Bend the Rules Sewing Flickr group. Check it out if you get a chance. There are so many crafty people out there!!!