angry chicken

squares of lemon flavored goodness

These lemon squares (from this book) were made last week and while they were good, the crust was not 100% perfect. A little cardboard-y and not the melt-in-your-mouth crumbly short bread texture I prefer in a lemon bar.

To make the crust layer you grate frozen butter with flour and powdered sugar, so that was fun. The girls liked it. My favorite all time lemon bar recipe is here and it's so good that I shouldn't deviate because nothing can compare, but these were very tasty anyway. After they cool, before cutting, I always refrigerate bar cookies—the potentially gooey ones. I use parchment paper now to line the pan, and then cut while chilled semi-firm. I cut the edges off, too. They are yummy to nibble on and make the squares look just perfect. Since my newly instated parchment paper policy with all bar cookies, cakes and brownies, life in the kitchen had been much more rated G, not R, which is good for the whole family.

a happy sunday

Baby and I had a wonderful afternoon out with an eggplant, a black apple, and her lovely beau. After buying way too many types of socks, knee highs and arm warmers, we had a bite at Caffee Pallino. The grapefruit gelato was divine.

Bagel and cream cheese.

Fancy ding dong, called something else, but come on, it's a fancy ding dong.

Biggest cup of coffee ever. And yes, Emily is super nice, funny, and down to earth, and crazy cute.

new duds

These were purchased after midnight 2 weeks ago. With a nursing baby on my lap. It's amazing the damage I can do one-handed. I got this in grey.

I surely do not need another pair of wooden earrings that are a variation of a circle, but I had to get these anyway.

I love this silk/cotton blouse so much. These are all from forever 21, which is here in the mall and downtown and elsewhere, but not only do I not get out enough, when I do, the mall seems horrible and waiting in line to try all this stuff on seems even worse. So, I shop very carefully online, I pretty much know what will fit after many failed attempts. Like this lovely blouse here will be worn unbuttoned for a bit, if you know what I mean.

Another reason I buy online with this shop is the pieces haven't been tried on. This is not a freaky germ issue I have or anything like that, more that these clothes get so damaged from shoppers yanking and pulling on sizes that are too small—buttons pop off, seams are split and half the merch is on the floor when I go there, so I really think online is better, especially for sale stuff from any store. Sale items get so thrashed in shops! I am always shocked. Then I usually replace any mediocre buttons, add better ribbons, and look carefully at seams, reinforcing if I need to and all that—it all holds up surprisingly well. And stylin' too!

desserts and misc.

These milk chocolate cookies are from that cookie book. They were divine. Not my first choice, but the girls wanted them, so we made a batch and I was surprised at how good they were. They were like cookie brownies. I was thinking about getting all crazy sick with these and putting ice cream between 2 of them and freezing them—but I think it would kill me. Still, it's a good idea. The extra cookies went to Pete's office because of my sugar thing. The girls don't really care, they are much more about salty foods.

Here's my favorite dessert right now. Pineapple and orange with a few cashews and a little coconut.

Middle child loves it too. So, significantly reducing sugar in my diet has been awesome. I have a nibble of something sweet on the weekends, and an occasional maple-syrup-on-yogurt type breakfast, but the random sweet thing I really don't miss. I do, however, need to bake so Pete's office (and friends and sometimes the random person at the door) reap the benefits.

Random things:

-I was alerted to the errata page for the Artesian Bread in 5 Minutes book I keep posting about. (Thanks Mari!). Yes, indeed, get on over there, 'cause it's 2 packets of yeast, not 1 1/2,  and sometimes a 40 min rest should really be more like 1 1/2 hour.

-We are thrilled that our almost 10 month old Liddy is now playing the games we had forgotten about that were so loved by our other children, games such as I'm Gonna Put This On You, I'm Gonna Put This Behind My Head, and the old standby, This is My Hat. Hysterical. She might be our funniest baby yet.

-Um this shoe site 6pm, sister site to the dangerous Zappos is haunting me. Watch out and don't do what I did, which is buy euro kids shoes super cheap (and pay shipping) and then have them not fit the kids (and have to pay shipping to return them) yeah, I suck. But, for adult non-growing feet, it could be awesome.

-In my continuing research of Blackwork inspiration, I found this great shop, Pinpals, where I snatched up this delightful pin. I can't get out needle and thread right now, but I can shop! Click, click.

big skirt, tiny skirt

There was a big bag headed for Goodwill this weekend and Sadie pulled this out. This is a great skirt that never really felt like me so after a few summers, into the bag it went.

Then back out of the bag it went, downstairs into the sewing room, and now on Sadie. Sweet! Good thing she is tall and thank you easy-to-alter-elastic-waistband!

a few things:

-I have had a compelling urge to start a blackwork project. (More Tudor love.) Mostly because I can't really embark on a new thing right now, so of course I want to. I was planning one before Christmas but haven't yet. Something like this, which is just lovely.

-I finished reading Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close: A Novel. Moving and sad and very good. I'm now reading Anna Karenina after starting but not finishing We Were the Mulvaneys. I realize now this might seem like an Oprah list, but it is not. But what if it were? I was so mad at a book group I was in years ago that purposely steered away from any Oprah pick book. That's a shame, you know? I am really enjoying this particular translation of Anna Karenina. Not that I have anything to compare it to, but the intro is fascinating.

-Here's a wonderful e-mail from Shan I got regarding oven temps and their insanity. This is why I love blogs—I get e-mails with this much info. It's awesome.

In real life I work for a company that repairs commercial food equipment and I thought I’d share a little info about ovens and thermostats (which you didn’t ask for – hence the annoying).  All thermostats have ‘swing’, most home units have a lot of swing, meaning that they fall well below and rise far above the set point before they turn off or turn on.  In other words you set the temp at 350, the elements turn on and the temp starts to rise.  When it reaches 350 the elements turn off but the temp will still continue to rise, sometimes by quite a bit (mine has a 50 degree swing).  With the element off the temp will then start to fall and once it drops to 350 the element will turn back on, but again the temp will continue to fall until the element catches up.  When you set an oven to 350 you are really asking it to average 350.

Now for the part you already know:  An oven thermometer is absolutely the way to go, but don’t expect it to show you a constant temperature because an oven is constantly rising and falling.  Also, if you haven’t already discovered an internal thermometer I highly recommend them…you will never use the timer again when you are cooking turkey J  The one I use has a probe that goes into the meat on one end, and plugs into a counter display on the other (just lay the wire through the oven door).  It also has a remote unit that I can carry with me (my favorite part) so I can sew and mind the turkey without even getting up.  Multi-tasking at its finest – heh. Mine is like this.

Great new craft book-

I have in my hands Susan Beal's new book, Bead Simple: Essential Techniques for Making Jewelry Just the Way You Want It, and it's awesome. The projects are wonderful, the how-tos are clear and well written, and the tips and resources are extensive—the whole book is a much needed resource for me. There's a handy icon guide which quickly shows you if a project is hard, easy, time consuming or super quick, and the technique illustrations masterfully drawn by Alexis Hartman are very easy to follow.

My own jewelry/beading experience is pretty hodge-podge. I started beading in middle school and high school on a bead loom, with seed beads, to wrap crystals. Come on! It was the 1980s, you know. Then I did a bit in college with vintage beads and chain, but always knew I was missing critical things, like learning to wire wrap. I wanted to learn knotting and pretty much everything else too, but all the books/magazines out there were so not my scene. I then took some jewelry classes and learned to solder and designed our wedding rings, but the basics, like using the right clasp, connecting pieces—I just had some major holes in my know-how. This is the book I needed.

I have to mention that not only is Susan a great writer and author she is one of the friendliest and most supportive people I have met in the craft scene. Along with learning some great beading skills, you should get this book for the good karma of supporting such a wonderful person. I wish I had it years ago, and I am so happy I have it now. My 9 month old baby can't wait to pull more earrings out of my ears and break more necklaces. At least now I can fix them.

So, here's some info:

Susan's personal blog, West Coast Crafty

Bead Simple Website

And Meet Susan here in Portland!

Bead Simple event at Powell's
1005 W. Burnside St, Portland
(in the Basil Hayward Gallery upstairs)
Monday, April 7 at 7:30

I'm going for sure. And unrelated, please buy an oven thermometer. Man, mine is 35° too hot!! I knew my oven ran hot, but I didn't know it was that off. . .jeez!

 

new spring make-up

I ordered some samples from Afterglow, a mineral powder make-up company that was rated really low on Skin Deep (low meaning the least creepy) and am really happy with what I got. Also—how cute! Samples! I love that. I spent $20 on all these, so it wasn't the cheapest thrill, but I got quite a few powders and eye shadows, lipsticks and lip glosses to play with, and even though they are in tiny sample size containers, they all are good for several applications, depending on how sloppy I am. The face powders are great, as is the blush—

although I saw myself later and realized I had put the blush on like a crazy person. (I was driving. I am bad) The eye shadows come in a matte and a glittery style, the glittery one being more popular around here, of course. I am on the hunt for a good green eye shadow. Like really green, not a taupe-y green, and I didn't see one in this line and the Josie Maran one I bought a bit back isn't green enough. Anyhoo, I love this stuff so far. Afterglow makes pencils too, which they don't have samples of, but I am curious.

Unrelated: 2 videos I have been watching over and over again because they make me laugh so hard. This one, can't stop singing this song! And this SNL skit, which kills me.

fabric for wearing on your body.

I just got an e-mail from Holly that I was going to paraphrase, but my brain is fuzzy— so here it is. She writes:

"I just listened to your podcast on craftypod about sewing your own clothes.  The part that struck me was the importance of choosing the right fabric.  I have been disappointed by this mistake myself many, many times.  My question, though, is where do you find good fabric that is not quilting cotton?  At my local JoAnn Fabrics the choices are not good and online I don't find too much beyond solids and some uninspiring prints.  Do you know of any online stores that sell nice cotton/lycra/blends?"

Yeah—quilting cottons (think Moda, Freespirit, etc.) are awesome for crafts and quilts but not always the best choice for clothes. There are exceptions, but for adult clothes they can be a bit heavy and stiff for the most part.

Using old clothes (especially wool sweaters, pants, and old t-shirts) for sewing new garments is always so thrilling—and really rewarding. Check Melissa's pants for Sam. I like to raid my own closet to make new clothes for the girls, then I can use just the right knit or other fabrics that are hard to find by the yard (and new garment fabric is crazy expensive!) I have had more luck doing this than thrifting for clothes to take apart and reconstruct—but that works great too, especially if you leave the house, which I don't do much right now. Check the excellent Wardrobe Refashion site for a lot of ideas about this kind of sewing.

For new fabric, I usually buy here in Portland. I need to be able to touch it and see it drape. I sometimes use quilting cottons for tops/dresses/aprons for kids clothes, so I can buy that online—I know how it feels. For linens, rayons, tencel, wool, bamboo, hemp, jerseys, all that, I usually buy in person. Most big cities have at least one high-end fabric shop that sells fabric suitable for clothes. Right? What is the world coming too?

In Portland, for garment fabrics, I shop at:

Mill End Store
Josephine's dry goods
bolt
fabric depot

(Am I missing any Portland shops that sell a decent amount of garment fabric, not just quilting cottons?)

What about online? I don't have a ton of experience buying garment fabric online. I've listed some online shops I have used or that are highly recommended that have garment fabrics (Not just quilting cottons.) Do you all have a favorite online source for fashion fabrics? Especially knits? Please add it in the Flickr comments, because you know what book is coming out soon, right? And it's all about sewing knits.

I don't have hot links enabled in the comments here, so head on over to the Bend-the-Rules flickr group to add a link if you have one. Thank you!

***And Portland peeps, Anna Maria Horner needs your help! Please read and possibly get lovely fabric for your sofa! Free!

 

I need to dust off my needles

photo by Michael Crouser

Portland's own Larissa and Martin John Brown have a new knitting book out, Knitalong: Celebrating the Tradition of Knitting Together and there are some mighty fine projects in this lovely book. This one above is designed by Adrian Bizilia of Hello Yarn fame. I am a stalker of hers, so I am delighted she has not 1, but 2 (!) projects in this book.

Super cute cover, huh? Time to get my needles out. After I sew that outfit. The list is growing. . .

rye bread and quiche

Here's a crust-less quiche for dinner and rye bread from this book. So far, I have made the master bread recipe, the olive oil bread, (made into pizza and calzone) rye bread, and then the challah dough that I made into hot crossed buns (and also into a traditional braided challah.)

All the breads have been stellar except this rye here. He sure looks cute, but I'm not 100% sure about him yet. I need to try again and then try a traditional rye recipe to compare with. I love rye so much, toasted with butter and raspberry jam, so I might be too critical.

The crust-less quiche is my go to dish for using up random produce bits. The crust-less part isn't really a health driven decision as much as a time saving choice. Pete prefers it to have a crust for sure, but blind baking makes me crazy. At least with a baby in the house, you know what I mean? I need to set the timer once and be done with it.

A sort of recipe for the quiche:

-Saute 1 onion with garlic and shallot about 7-10 minutes and add 1 1/2 cup chopped broccoli, or red pepper, or corn, or a bit or spinach or whatever you have on hand and saute a little more, about 5 more minutes. (The key here is don't add too much— there should only be about 1 1/2 cup of veggies, and don't mix anything together that sounds gross.)

-mix in a separate bowl:
3 eggs
3 TBL flour
salt and pepper
1/2-3/4 cup grated cheese you have on hand (like jack, white cheddar ,or a blend of what you like)
1/2 milk (or enough to make it soupy)

Sometimes I add Dijon mustard, or curry powder, or thyme, or cumin, depending on the veggies I am using—it's all very customizable.

Pour the onion and veggies in a 10" pie plate and pour the milk/egg mixture on top. Bake in a 375° oven until brown on top, about 35-40 minutes.

That's it! yum!!

next up. . .

On deck is this incredibly cute pattern from oliver + s. (Congrats Leisl!!) These sewing patterns come with a paper doll and the outfit shown on the pattern. Seriously! So flippin' clever and cute. Check out all the sweet patterns and the blog and flickr group, too.

The shorts I have planned in a brown linen, much like the pattern shows, and for the blouse I have my eye on this lovely Liberty fabric over at Purl. Sigh. So very good.

soup of beans and other items

Easter was great but I have never felt so tired—not since Christmas, anyway. Ugh. We are still in our pjs here and it's almost 2.

Thanks for all the happiness with the tutorial. It was stupidly fun to do and I'm glad it made you laugh, cause it made me laugh. I have a lot to say about bias tape—there are so many ways to apply it and some are better than others depending on the application. I do describe ways to sew it on in my book, including mitered corners—but I must also direct you to Alicia's excellent tutorial on mitered corners as well. I actually make the binding differently when I bind a quilt than she does here for the dishtowels, but I sew the mitered corner the same way. For curves, just go for it. I know it seems like it won't bend but it will (cause it's on the bias!) so try it out with big curves first. I used the exact same method for the curved pocket on my skirt as I showed in the video tutorial—I didn't even pin!

Here's some beans I soaked. Instead of using canned, I used these in the white bean soup from Barefoot Contessa with rosemary from the garden and it was lovely.

I added a salad, bread (again from this book) and a newish anthropologie catalog and I had the best lunch ever. Did I mention I was alone? I was. So that was pretty awesome, too.

 

bias tape tutorial (all by machine)

Here it is! There are many ways to sew bias tape on and here's a method I don't describe in my book. It's all stitched by machine and is how I trimmed hem and pockets on this skirt. Enjoy, and hooray for totally unprofessional video making!

**if this video is unavailable, check back in a few hours, okay? I don't know what is up with You Tube, it was working fine before. . .I will keep checking it. You can also try this link here.

happy spring!

Many things have been made this week in preparation for the first day of Spring (our big family event at home) and Easter. This bunny cake is lemon ginger and is a modified version from this month's Everyday Food. Or was it in this month's Martha? I can't remember. I also realized why I liked it so much—it's almost identical to a mailorder recipe from 2 years ago.  I am so predictable. It was served with mixed berry compote and almond whipped cream. Sadie thought the whipped cream tasted funny and the bunny had a broken neck. Also, note to self, before I use these crazy big animal pans, think about what I will serve it on. I had nothing big enough to present this creature, so he was served off the rack. Sort of tacky.

Hot crossed buns made from the challah dough recipe from my new bread book. They were very very good and can't wait to make more from this dough. There wasn't an exact recipe for this in the book, I just used the dough, added cinnamon sugar and and egg wash on top before baking and then made an orange icing.

Only one Easter dress was completed. This was weeks ago, and since then dresses were purchased by various family members, and the girls were more interested in dress up, so this is the only one this year that was sewn by me. As I was about to trim this with lovely ribbons and make it all fancy, the middle child said to leave it plain because it's Cinderella's rag dress. Ah, yes, of course. My tastes once again don't quite live up to her sparkly version of a proper holiday dress. But at least Cinderella can wear it while cleaning. And she does.

I am super excited and flattered that a Bend-the-Rules Sewing Swap has been organized by Clicky the Moose! How cool and fun! The first project is a swap for the Pleated Beauty Handbag, check it out. (sign-ups are closed March 31st)

easy comfy skirt

There have been better photos on this blog. I could have used an iron and that is baby food there on the wall and floor. But let's not focus on that, or the outlet behind my right leg. Let's look at this skirt I made from this fabric I have had for about 6 months. I finally decided to cut it, and felt a bit selfish I didn't use it for the girls, but I need this to be in my life, not cast aside when the girls grow bigger or doesn't fit into the week's dress-up rotation.

The girls have requested I wear tights and skirts more—so they were quite pleased with this. It has an elastic waist instead of a back zipper. To do this, I take my favorite skirt pattern and instead of the zipper, I make an elastic waist. The trick is to not stitch up the darts at all and to add a little extra wiggle room. Then I stitch a casing, use a length of elastic that fits my waist and thread it through. I have to really tug it over my hiney, cause it's fitted, so when it's on, the elastic pulls taught—it doesn't even look like an elastic waist, you know what I mean? It's even more forgiving if you use a stretch cotton or denim. Super easy.

The pocket and the hem are trimmed with yellow bias tape, and I did this all by machine. I am thinking about showing this no-swearing way to get the binding on. . . I want to shoot a short video tutorial of it with my flip! So, now that I have written this, it's supposed to motivate me to do it.

what our cookies look like

We made some Spring sugar cookies last week. I made these cookies in 3 stages—one day I made the dough, one day we cut out the cookies (with 2 adults I freak out less, but this time it was just me and the 3 girls and it went just fine, somehow.) Then one evening Grammie and I made the icing and let the girls have at it. They got to decorate them completely on their own, no food styling here. These shapes are all bunnies, chicks, flowers, and whatnot, which is awesome, because you can't even tell what they are now. I made a simple icing of melted butter, powdered sugar, and milk until it was sort of drizzle-y dropped from a spoon. I also put out little bowls of sprinkles. I used this great natural food coloring (in the post here) for the icing, which was completely negated by the large quantity of creepy sprinkles that were dumped on each cookie.

A bunny head. Okay, these cookies were so good. They set up hard, well, they do if the icing isn't 1/2" thick, which is what these were. I used the sugar cookie recipe from my new cookie book (although I'll bet the recipe is similar to this one) and as you can see, they look quite different. But, you gotta love that 100% kid baking thing, you know? They were so proud.

you can click on it for a bigger view

letter folding and doane paper **update: the fold is here! thanks stacie!

are there chocolate birds for these nests?

More spring activities over here. I remember making these in kindergarten, and haven't had them since. Why?? I love them so. It's just shredded wheat, crushed, with melted milk chocolate chips poured over.  They are so stinkin' good! Little malt ball eggs are added as a garnish. This is Sam's, quite nice, huh?

Delia has a few more eggs on hers. This is a wonderful small person project. Easy, fun, not too messy, and fast.

the recipe for 3 big nests:

6 big squares shredded wheat, crushed (about 1 1/2 cup or so, crushed, per nest)
1 bag milk chocolate chips, melted (11.5 oz)

Pour the melted chocolate over the shredded wheat and mix well. Have the kids do this in a big bowl with a spoon so little hands don't get burnt. A big bowl is especially good for enthusiastic stirrers. Dump onto waxed paper and build 3 little mounds. Then using the back of a spoon, make an indent. Fill with eggs and let set. It takes about 1 1/2 hours to firm up. You can just pick them up and eat them when they dry, although the middle child prefers stabbing at hers violently with a fork, shredding it and making a huge mess everywhere, then picking up minuscule pieces and licking them off her fingers. Whatever keeps her busy.

primitve dolls wearing shawls

I got these very sweet primitive painted dolls for the house for Spring/Easter. They are from Bayberry Cove, which is a lovely shop, I always fall in love with something when I look there. These are designed by Stacey Mead and I can't find much about her online, but did find this amazing pig, which I might need as well.

I have only made a painted rag doll once, from a Gail Wilson kit, and I totally loved it. It was so fun making a muslin doll, stuffing it, and then painting it. I really would love to make more. (When?) So, I thought about making something similar to these, but time is limited right now and I wanted to get something up before next week—so I had to buy these. They are wearing shawls and little slippers! You understand.

On the  other shelf next to the dolls are these turned wood people and eggs with watercolor added by the girls. I think Pete added the faces, but I wasn't around for this craft project, so I'm not sure. They have quite a few egg shapes at Casey Wood Products, which is where all this stuff came from.

Unrelated, I plan to get some books from the library about handwriting analysis. Just cause. I have always wanted to know more about it. I distinctly remember what all my friends handwriting looked like in middle school, with the note writing and all. . . do middle schoolers still write notes? Or is it all texting now? That would be so sad, I loved looking at handwriting growing up, now, I love it when it looks familiar, you know? Like, when I really know it, and could spot it right away. I need to handwrite out some blog posts, that would be cool.

oil and vinegar

Possibly not the most beautiful subject for a photo. These are dipping sauces/salad dressings. I was sick of making them crazy-style during the dinner chaos, so thought at the Sunday bean soaking party I have with myself, I'd also make big batches of sauces and dressings.

I used these pretty mundane jars. I really wanted to make these in wonderful jars for this photo, but had none on hand, and really, I am taking a photo of my salad dressings here (only on a blog) so why pretend that they are in nice jars? But they taste really good! We have a super basic group here, nothing unusual, but good to always have on hand:

a dipping sauce

1 part soy sauce
1 part rice wine vinegar
a bit of sugar
a bit of toasted sesame oil

honey mustard balsamic vinaigrette

2 parts olive oil
1 part balsamic vinegar
a bit of honey
a bit of Dijon mustard
salt and pepper

raspberry vinaigrette

2 parts olive oil
1 part raspberry vinegar
a bit of sugar
juice of a lemon
salt and pepper

I taste as I go and often add different things each time. I am in love with walnut oil—so I try to use that when I have it. I usually add herbs and chopped shallots too. Especially to the raspberry dressing. I heart shallots. I am never without them. Even though I have made these dressings/sauces for a long time, there was something thrilling about taking out all my oils, vinegars, mustards, etc. and making these all at once. Like a big stinky science lab. There are a ton of recipes here in the condiments section of MSLO. Very inspiring. I was going to look at Epicurios too, but had to join up, so I did and then realized I already had joined god knows when, can't find my password. . . I hate this, and it happens to me all the time. So I haven't looked there yet.

I am itching to do a big kitchen spring cleaning. I did go through my baking cupboard last weekend, god, what an uncomfortable thing to do—I was on the floor covered in old pans, stuff was everywhere, (of course this was on a lovely Saturday morning, disrupting breakfast, and taking over our very small kitchen) but it was worth it—I found not one, but two bunny shaped pans squirreled away! Who knew?

brownies from a new book

I just received this new book, Martha Stewart's Cookies: The Very Best Treats to Bake and to Share, and the timing is difficult with me limiting my sugar and all, but for research purposes, I had to try out a recipe. Notice I have switched to limiting my sugar, not cutting it out all together—cause, well. . .that's not going to happen. But I am thrilled to report that smaller sized pants were purchased last week! Moving on—

These are coconut brownies that actually have very little coconut swirled in. I am not a huge coconut fan but wanted to make something different and not completely tempting. They were immediately frozen to send to a friend with an upcoming birthday and the rest went to Pete's work, where I hear they were well received. I did try half of one and it was amazing. This was with coffee before 8:00 am when I think all chocolate should be consumed.

The book is very pleasing. It's a soft back and includes this great visual index which is so handy. The inside photos are mostly full bleeds, sparse and well done, and the text layout is really minimal. Lots of white space on the pages. Of course the recipes look wonderful as well. I have a feeling I will use it often. Hopefully not too often, if you know what I mean.

sweet crowns

I found some of this eyelet trim while rummaging through my sewing stuff. I have to reorganize my sewing desk. It's so out of control. I was so happy to find just the right length to make this crown, inspired by this book I posted about a bit back.

I sewed a length of pipe cleaner on the inside (this is the outside here, you can see the zig-zag stitching at the bottom if you squint) so it would stay curved around tiny heads. I turned the pipe cleaner ends in on themselves, they are sharp!

Then I folded the short ends up twice, stitched, and then sewed on Velcro. You can see the white pipe cleaner stitched along the bottom—it doesn't need to go the whole length. This fits both girls which was crucial because I only have one right now. I love the sweetness and simplicity of these.

And so does Liddy!

new shoes not on my feet

These new shoes came home with me last week. The girls approved and they were significantly on sale at Halo, a dangerous wonderful shoe shop here in Portland. (They have a bunch of pairs here, too.) It's amazing how fast I can buy something like shoes with 3 girls in tow. In about 2 minutes, if you are wondering.They are Mariana by GOLC and are vintage reproductions. I love them so much. The girls approved and the 3 year old said they were much prettier than what I was currently wearing, which were probably black clogs. I am showing them here because really, where am I going to wear these? I mean, I will wear them, I know I will, but right now, with parks and the library being the 2 main places I seem to go to, they aren't getting much street time. I put them away with my other heels, and was shocked to see how many pairs I have. What the? Considering I haven't worked outside of the house for over 5 years, I feel I might have too many pairs. But then, sometimes I feel as if I have very few shoes, so obviously I am delusional and can't be trusted. Oh, and I was going to take a photo of them on my feet, but that peep toe there is too revealing and my toes need a bit of work. We don't need to see my toes right now, right? It's still winter after all.

That reminds me, I was researching a bit back on non-creepy nail polish and nail polish remover and there is a new kind (new to me, anyway) I want to check out by Acquarella. I haven't seen it in person or tried it, but I am very curious. Okay, after reading all this info on their site, I am interested, but it seems like a lot of steps? Or maybe I just react to too many words. . . I can't tell. No, I take that back, it's a lot of steps. I also need to try other non-creepy brands as well, like Honeybee Gardens.

something is growing in my fridge

I was excited to get this book I read about a bit back, Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day: The Discovery That Revolutionizes Home Baking in our local newspaper and then again over at Booga j and I am so happy! It's a big book of bread recipes similar to the no-knead bread, only easier, faster, and with many many variations. You just mix and then put it in the fridge. Then, the next day, cut off a hunk, let it rest, and bake it. That's it! I didn't use a stone nor do I have a peel, both of which are recommended, I used my cast iron dutch oven instead (like with the no-knead bread) and it worked great. This is all white bread-y, I wanted to try the basic recipe straight up first, but next I will make it with white whole wheat flour and report back.

It makes a lot of dough. Like a huge amount. This is a big bowl here and it takes up a lot of room in the fridge. You just cut off what you need, it can last weeks in there. I can't wait to try the challah recipe. Everything is in this book, pizza dough, pita, wheat bread, white bread, rye, you name it all with this mix and dump method. Amazing. Stay tuned to see this bread along side of bean soup and salad in the coming days. Oh, the excitement around here!

Unrelated but worth mentioning nonetheless:

-I contributed to the newest issue of Small magazine (the small bites) please take a look at this very awesome kids webzine.

-This weekend Susan and Diane will host an event at Twisted here in Portland. Here's the info. Sounds very cool and I hope to go and check out this fine shop and see these lovely crafty ladies.

-Even if the Other Boleyn Girl is not so hot, Semi-Pro is supposed to be funny, so I will improve my mind that way.

-There have been some questions about Mr. (Bad) Ice Cream Pie. The recipe is this; you take a cookie crumb crust (either purchased or homemade, you know, with graham crackers crushed with butter or chocolate wafer cookies) and then soften ice cream in the mixer, spread 2 different flavor layers on, freeze, then add whipped cream and freeze again. Eat and feel sick. I still don't miss him. Ha! Now, I am eating fresh baked bread with jam. So, not 100% sugar free, but let's not quibble.

**update
find the no knead dough recipe (not from the book above but from the craze going around last year) and a ton of info about dutch ovens over at not martha's excellent post. I have a dutch oven with no name on it, and it was given to me, so I am no help there. To bake the bread in the dutch oven, you plop in (no greasing necessary) and cook covered until the final 10 minutes, then take the lid off so it will brown.

fabric shopping

I am finding much to be excited about over on the New Arrivals page at Reprodepot. This would make up so pretty as a spring dress for the girls. Okay, I am having a hard time deciding on fabric for the dresses this year. . .they may get more than one, since I already cut out 2 dresses last week. Curses.

So cool.

Also cool.

I love these bold shapes and colors. And I had a pet turtle named Herman.

And frogs! It's kind of papercut-y, so I love it.

And did you all hear that the Other Boleyn Girl (movie) is supposed to, um suck? Like really really suck. Our local reviewer gave it a D-. D-?? I mean, really? Is it that bad?

I will sort of miss you ice cream pie.

Okay. I am totally serious about the no sugar thing now. For real. Only fruit as a dessert. Not forever, but at least until I lose some more weight. I do pack on baby pounds and this 3rd baby really tipped me over the edge. I have made great progress, but am at a stand still right now and need to get serious. So, goodbye Mr. Ice Cream Pie. I don't even like you anymore. You are sort of a bad friend anyway, you take and take and then leave me way too many messages asking for more. I've had enough. And hello to you Miss Valencia Orange, you are amazing. I love you. Or at least I like you a whole lot. Way more than that lame Pie Man over there. Don't even look at him, I don't want him to start acting up. This won't last long, Mariko, I promise.

-Beans!! Firstly, thanks so much for all the advice on homemade corn tortillas (I still need a press) and soaking beans. I have only soaked/cooked black beans (lentils and split peas don't count in this experiment, cause they are easy, you don't need to soak them) so that is all I can vouch for, but the defrosting went great. I just freeze the barely undercooked beans with a little liquid, (in glass containers or zip-locks depending on my hysteria) then to reheat, I run them under water to make them individual beans again not a unruly block of bean ice. Then I heat them up as if they were canned. Awesome. Firm, not mushy, and far superior. I'm going to try red beans and cannelli beans soon. I make 4 cups of brown rice on Sundays and freeze it too (in 1 cup serving sizes) so I will just add beans to the list.

Next up this week is to make a font of my own handwriting for a mere $9! (via How About Orange, she links to the coolest stuff.)

And I feel remiss, I realize that a meme went around, (a "you make my day" meme) and that several sweet people mentioned this in my comments. Thank you!!! I am the black hole of memes. I always think I will play along in some way, but then I sort of freeze, especially when it involves tagging others. Sorry to be a meme-lame-o.

And happy10 year anniversary honey! No cake for you!

oh the drama.

Okay, I haven't read this book but it's on my list and I am very excited for the movie as well. . .

I was fascinated by the Tudors series over the summer (or was it spring?) but I had to take a break and my viewing was sporadic, using my mom's HBO and all. I recently read The Secret Diary of Anne Boleyn and also have been reading about the Tudors over at Grammie's (she kept all her college texts—dang that woman underlined a lot.) and can't get enough.

Sounds like, from the description of the The Other Boleyn Girl novel here, this portrait of Anne is not so flattering. But, in The Secret Diary of Anne Boleyn, she is portrayed very sympathetically. There are so many differences in the historical facts—they seem like completely different stories. Hmmm. At any rate, I love this stuff, so tragic and horrible and interesting—all in great clothes. And, what I want to know is, does Natalie Portman have a 6th finger!? Come on!! Cause Anne did, I'm just saying.

Speaking of highbrow entertainment, we finally watched Superbad last night after having the DVD from netflix for probably 2 months. I don't know what was funnier, watching it or watching Pete laugh at it. I think at one point he almost fell off the sofa.

 

spring window shopping

I love the simplicity of these shapes and colors over at Little Fashion Gallery. I feel a sense of calm just looking at them. That, and a  total fear of kids paint or the frozen blueberries my middle child is addicted too.

This color is so wonderful.

I can't get enough of these folky dresses.  Just exquisite.

early spring for a few days

Thanks for the sweet comments about all that stuff! I feel very grateful and a bit sheepish and really tired, actually. I have been getting these low-level headaches this week, I can tell I need to rest and veg-out with a movie (or 3.) God, remember the days when you could sit and watch 2 movies in a row? I don't. I wish I could do that now. Man, that would be awesome.

Okay, we went out of town last weekend to the coast and it was amazing! Warmish and so sunny. Oregonians know how rare this is. It's a big deal. This sand worm here has two teeth and is trouble. Watch out.

It was warm, but not hot, about 55 and sunny, but my 2 older girls are no coat wearers and this middle child seems impervious to cold of any kind. I am refusing to believe that running around without enough clothes at the beach on had anything to do with the fevers this week. Of course little miss no pants here didn't even get sick.

a few items from the brain cupboard:

-I am searching for easter chocolate/candy molds now. I am overly excited about this.

-I am no longer buying canned beans (she said confidently) after soaking and cooking batches this week and freezing them, I have had enough of the mushy expensive canned variety. The homemade cooked ones are so much better, firmer, and tasty. I will report back on this new development.

-I am going to start making my own corn tortillas. I need a press, but then I am all over it.  I also have put on hold about 4 Rick Bayless cookbooks from the library. I am excited. Boy, he can do some yoga! I find this freaky and funny and kind of weird.

-The Easter dresses have been cut out.

a bunch of stuff about me

Okay you crazy sewers, BTR just went into it's third printing this week!!! Woo-hooo! I am so proud and excited—thank you!!! It's funny, many people have asked (or suggested to me) that writing a book is like having a baby. It's not. I did both at the same time, and it's really not the same. Writing a book will not give you swollen ankles. However, that book also won't smell good. But, one similarity is—once you put them out there, the book or baby, they have a life of their own. I love it when I get compliments on my book (or my babies) and try not to take it too personally when I get criticism. (Ugh.) Ultimately, it feels like they have less to do with me, and more to do with themselves and how people relate to them. Enough of the baby/book analogy! You can see the life Bend-the-Rules Sewing has over on the Flickr group. There are more than 2000 photos now—seriously!! Never in a million years did I think I could help/inspire sewers to make so many things. The discussions and question topics are so great too—and I just added a topic regarding what sewing machine to buy for you newbies, so hopefully that will spark some good recommendations. Please visit this group, look at the photos, upload your own, and ask your sewing questions. I visit often, and the ever diligent group members are super fast (thank you!!) so someone will help you out lickety split.

Okay, in other news, I just finished up an e-mail interview at mamazine, thank you Amy. I try to not be too repetitive. And my blog b-day (3 years!) is today, or tomorrow, not sure. I wanted to do a give-a-way or some cool PDF thing, but haven't gotten to it yet. Um, you saw Alicia's amazing dishtowel embroidery designs she posted as PDF for free, right? Can I just use that as my gift? Alicia, I will bring you caramel corn that has been on fire, okay?

And, when not starting a fire in the microwave (I didn't really) I am in the middle, in a dead heat ,actually, of working on book #2. Yup. I am very very excited about it. It's going well and taking up all of my brain time and craft time and everything in between. Oh, the time management is hard—it's like blood from a turnip, man. I still hope to squeak out some Easter dresses and all that, but there has been not much play and a lot more work around here. Good work, but work nonetheless. Creative work, which at times can be an oxymoron.

So, the Blog Birthday. It's all such a trip and I am not feeling particularly articulate right now (obvious?) but it's safe to say almost everything in my life, creatively, has changed since I started this blog and my kingpod site before that. Thank you all for reading this blog and buying my book, and laughing at me. I have come to realize that my two favorite emotions are humor and empathy. I think they go hand in hand. Oh, I am worried this all sounds cheesy! (Two kids have a fever today and I am still trying to avoid sugar so I am a bit crazy. I should edit this, but I am not going to.) Anyhoo, it's all good. That's what I mean to say. Blogging is fun and writing book #2 is fun (remind me of this in 3 months) and seeing all the BTR projects on flickr is WAY fun. So, thanks you guys, very much.

the instigator

So, here's what made me kick sugar for a while. I got the idea in my head to make homemade caramel corn and had to make it right away. Right away. Like during bathtime right before bed, which was already running very late. I actually said to Pete, "I'm going to just research caramel corn recipes, I won't make it tonight or anything," me=liar. I didn't mean to lie. When he came out of the bathroom, I had a huge bowl of popcorn already popped. There's nothing like hot sugar syrup + kids + chaos + a first time recipe, all after 8:30pm. (More like 9:00pm)  Awesome. My husband is the most patient man ever. The recipe is insane. You actually make all of it in the microwave. (!?) Then it involves stuffing a big brown paper grocery bag full of popcorn into your microwave. Like you have to cram the thing in. It doesn't fit easily, you totally have to shove it in, making it ridiculous to watch.

I found this same recipe in about 20 places after I searched around. I followed it exactly and yes, the sugar coating sticks to the inside of the bag, but there is still plenty left to coat it and it's so sweet anyway, it really is okay if a bunch sticks. Here's the recipe:

1 stick butter
1 c. light brown sugar
1/4 c. white corn syrup
1/2 tsp. fancy salt if you have it

add later:
1/2 tsp baking soda
slivered almonds or nuts of your choice (optional)

Put about 3 quarts (I used 3 bags of non-creepy microwave popcorn) in brown bag and set aside. Mix first 4 ingredients and put in microwave. Boil on high for 2 minutes. Stir in 1/2 teaspoon baking soda and nuts. Pour caramel over popcorn and shake. Put in microwave, cook on high, 1 minute. Shake, cook on high for 1 minute again. Shake, spread out on wax paper to cool. You can store this in jars or some other airtight container. This makes a whole lot, like 2 cookie sheet full. Also, in my research, I discovered that you can bag your own popcorn for the microwave, which is wonderful because then you know what's really in it. Or, you could just make it the old fashioned way, or air pop it. Did I mention that this is so very good? I got very very sick eating too much of it for breakfast. Lesson learned.

When I told friends about this in an over excited way they either said, "Oh yeah—sounds good sort of?," or "I thought you got rid of your microwave?" Tough crowd. I did, while pregnant with Liddy, go through a patch of intense paranoia which involved a lot of things (like plastic) and the microwave was taken away and put in the garage and replaced with a toaster oven—which I love to bits. The microwave came out again this Christmas. I still have issues, but it sure is handy.

nature n' stuff

We had a lovely morning adventure walk this week at Tryon Creek State Park. I love that place. It was a sunny day, but quite misty, cold, and mysterious in the forest. The girls were on the look out for fairies and possibly talking wolfs. They are heavy into fairy tales right now. I told Sadie the real version of The Little Mermaid recently, which she prefers to the happy one, of course. Tragedy is way more exciting. We are however, editing out the beheading of the suitors in the 12 Dancing Princesses. Pete thinks that punishment is unnecessarily harsh. I figure, if a bunch of dudes are trying to find out where these 12 dancing princesses are going off to at night, being beheaded if they failed would be a huge motivator. He says it would severely reduce the amount of suitors taking up the challenge.

Some things making me happy and/or excited:

-Wee Wonderful's newest Stitchette is available. Quilting Bee?! Gads, they are cute!

-This fabulous object by decoylab has made me $28 poorer in the best way (Thanks sarah, you are a terrible influence.)

-The Small Object has clothespin doll kits!! Good lord! With the face already printed on, no more swearing at the horrible wood grain/bleeding pen disaster.

-Who could have dreamed I'd have reason to bring up the Shatner again this month? I just read about this.

-I was thinking about the garden and instead of working in the yard and starting some much needed clean-up, I sat on my hiney in front of the computer and found this great gardening site, Heavy Petal, instead.