Pardon the Creativity

Hibernation {explored}

2012-02-08T08:30:00.000-08:00

I know I've been absent for some time.

Instead of going over the all the reasons why I'm just going to say I'm back.

...

That said. I've taken on a new project. I've bought a camera. As you can see I've got a ways to go. But life is simplified when you have a lovely (tall) younger sister who will (mostly) obligingly pose for you (and consequently let you put up her hair and pick her outfits :).

Now if I can just get the resident photographer to slow down so I can catch up!

See, isn't she cute.

We took a vacation to the mountains in January. Idaho was missing snow until our getaway weekend. We bundled into a cabin to watch movies, eat comfort food and knit,

and take pictures of course!

Have a whimsical week!

Sweet Sixteen (part 2)

2011-08-17T08:08:00.000-07:00

Or, how to celebrate a 16th birthday.

Start with: Cinnamon Sugar Baked Doughnuts

These doughnuts are perfect sweet and buttery on the outside and doughy inside. Best start to any birthday. And if your dough flops it makes delicious cinnamon rolls :)

Next... what do you make for dessert that's sophisticated but still fun?

Lady Fingers & Strawberry Ice Cream

I can't even remember now where I got the recipe. I do remember a bit of a fiasco with measurements though :) We had to double the recipe part way through and wound up with a lot of lady fingers in the freezer.

Piping consistently was our biggest challenge but they tasted good whether they were shaped right or not.

We made our strawberry ice cream of course!

Happy Birthday!

Pictures by the Resident Photographer

Sweet Sixteen (part 1)

2011-08-08T10:50:00.000-07:00

Maddie turned 16 in June!

I gave her a sketch :)

Look familiar :)

She's darling and I can't believe she's so grown up!

Happy Late Birthday Post!

Of course pictures by The Resident Photographer.

Finally summer... maybe

2011-06-13T15:02:00.000-07:00

I know it's been some time. Do I still have any readers out there?

While the weather hasn't been very cooperative as "summer" weather (more like playing hide-and-seek) last weekend ended my primary commitments for this year - very fun but very time consuming - & sprung me into feelings of summer whatever the forecast may be.

It feels like summer vacation for real.

Maddie has been saving recipes from pile of old Martha Stewart Magazines. Lately we've been craving Frozen Mango-Cream Cakes.

We've been hoarding our mangoes until we've had time to use them, I'm afraid to say they were a little wrinkly :)

We peeled them nonetheless and whipped together this mango summer magic on Sunday.

Uhm... yum.

We've learned a neat trick: when using heavy whipping cream in recipes you can substitute some greek yogurt. We decided to go this route with the mango cream and I couldn't tell a difference. I'll post our adaptation here.

Frozen Mango-Cream Cake

adapted from Martha Stewart Magazine

serves 8

You can either make this in one large 8-inch spring form pan or shape 8 individual cakes in 2-inch round ring molds.

For the Crust:

Vegetable Cooking Spray

1 oz. salted dry-roasted macadamia nuts (app. 1/4 c.)

3 T. granulated sugar

1/4 c. all-purpose flour

1 T. unsalted butter, melted

For the Mousse:

1/4 c. fresh orange juice

1 envelope (1 scant T.) gelatin

2 firm but ripe mangoes, peeled

(ours definitely weren't firm!)

1/2 c. granulated sugar

3 T. lemon juice

1/2 c. heavy cream

1 c. honey Greek yogurt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly coat inside of ring molds or spring form pan with cooking spray.

For crust: pulse macadamia nuts & granulated sugar in a food processor until finely ground. In a bowl, combine nuts, flour & butter with fork until mixture resembles coarse meal. Press mixture in to the bottom of desired pan & bake until golden brown. (The recipe says about 12 minutes but ours burned so just check it regularly!)

For the mousse: Pour orange juice into small saucepan & sprinkle with gelatin. Let stand until softened, about 5 minutes. Heat over low heat, stirring, until dissolved. Remove from heat.

Slice mango to puree, setting aside some slices for garnish. In a blender, puree chopped mangoes, granulated sugar & lemon juice until smooth. With machine running, add gelatin mixture in a slow, steady stream, and blend until combined. Transfer to a bowl.

With a whisk or an electric mixer on medium speed, beat cream until soft peaks form. With spatula gently fold together whipped cream, greek yogurt & mango puree.

Divide mixture into molds or pour into prepared pan. cover with plastic wrap & freeze until firm (at least 4 hours).

When ready to serve let cake stand at room temp to soften. Serve garnished with mango slices.

Maddie said this tastes just like summer. The

Resident Photographer & Maddie drizzled chocolate sauce over their mango cake. I tried it and was pleasantly surprised but preferred the fresh taste.

Now didn't we make that look effortless?

Actually it's been a while since we cooked together. We made a big mess, everyone was tired & I was rushing to finish so we could watch a family movie.

But the end result was just right for a Sunday evening.

Inspiration

2011-04-14T13:03:00.000-07:00

I've moved.

Spring is usually a busy season for me.

This year in addition to my usual work I'm in the midst of college application processing, scholarship hunting, traveling for work and writing.

I got a little burnt out. My family recommended a change.

The Resident Photographer and I had been, to put it glamorously, sharing a "studio" - really the bonus room in our house.

It was perfect... I'm planing to move away to college this fall which has shifted my focus quite a bit. When the room swap was brought up it was perfect timing, that was Thursday.

Saturday I picked a color, Saturday night the Resident Photographer and Maddie started painting while I worked. Sunday I moved in.

I picked the color so fast and then rushed out the door to work, all night I worried about my choice - "Lost Atlantis" sounded a bit extreme. It turned out fine in the end.

Now here's hoping for some inspiration :)

All photos by the Resident Photographer

The Letter B

2011-02-21T15:48:00.000-08:00

Today (err- Saturday was) is brought to you by the letter B.

Birthdays

Buttery Croissants

Bunting

And Babies!

Happy Birthday to the Resident Photographer!

Saturday Bethany turned 19.

We started the morning channeling our inner French, with warm buttery croissants and cafe au lait - might I add very sophisticated.

We decorated the dining room with our bunting and the cupcakes with pennants - which perhaps isn't so sophisticated, but definitely fun.

We had a lazy day at home, just the way she likes it. To be honest we did a lot of decorating considering how small scale the party was - but I think that's part of what makes it special.

I get a lot of inspiration for things from blogs. But lately, I've been trying to find simple fun ways to decorate. The bunting was a good start but I know there are so many other ideas out there!

If you're looking for some fun party inspiration you can check out Jordan Ferney's blog.

Saturday Mornings: Leftover Paper

2011-02-18T07:40:00.000-08:00

That's right, paper.

This week was a tad hectic.

I haven't calculated the hours I was at the restaurant (have I mentioned I work at a restaurant - well, I do) because of V-day, but it was a lot. While being an incredibly lucrative holiday for the restaurant it was also incredibly tiring.

I somehow managed to throw together a brunch Saturday morning but alas, no pictures. It wasn't for us anyway but it involved some killer quiche lorraine and our orange muffins, which may have been even better the second time around. We went out for cinnamon rolls and bought wool for felting while breakfast was enjoyed.

But that's not what this is about.

This is about what to do with leftover wrapping paper from Anthropologie and a few vintage Ladies Home Journals.

Make yourselves some bunting, of course.

I've been plotting some bunting for a while now but planned to make it out of fabric. During Christmas I bought some beautiful hand made wrapping paper from Anthropologie. It's been lying around ever since and I didn't know exactly what to do with it until bunting came up again.

We just cut out triangles of both material, pasted them together and strung them on some yarn.

voila!

It has totally transformed our room into something festive and is going to be amazing for birthday parties. It is a slightly time consuming process but wound up being quite sturdy. Try it out.

Oh, and if you're looking for something yummy to try for breakfast tomorrow we made these a couple of weeks ago. We used our pizza dough recipe with some hard white wheat, well they were yummy.

Tomorrow is the resident photographer's birthday - ack! I am sadly unprepared - but there will be bunting!

Saturday Breakfast: Orange Muffins

2011-02-05T11:44:00.000-08:00

Maddie and I have been working on a tradition. We are the "early risers" at home - not counting parents, I mean - so on Saturday mornings we've been doing some sort of breakfast baking.
Now, you may remember this breakfast from last year. We hope to be doing some extravagant breakfast but lately we've just pondered the kitchen until we find something that sounds yummy and quick.

Last Saturday Maddie was craving orange muffins. She wasn't fully clear on what she wanted them to taste like, except for orange. A few internet searches later I determined most orange muffin recipes contain cranberries and nuts, which she did not want.

So, we thought - hey we cook, let's just make something up.
And we did.

Now... here's the problem with making up recipes and blogging about them a week later... you might forget exactly how you did it but I'll do my best.

It goes something like this:

Orange Muffins

2 c. Wheat Flour
2 t. Baking Powder
1/4 t. Baking Soda
1/2 t. Salt
1 Stick Unsalted Butter, melted
2 Eggs
Zest of Two Oranges
1 c. Fresh Orange Juice
1/3 c. Sucanat
1/4 c. Honey
Coarse Sugar to sprinkle on top

Mix together dry ingredients with zest. Blend butter, sucanat, honey and eggs. Stir together flour mixture and orange juice. Spoon into prepared muffin pan and sprinkle with coarse sugar. Bake @ 350 for 20 minutes.

I can't exactly remember how long we baked these for... But I believe it was about 20 minutes :) We will probably make them again soon since we still have an abundance of oranges around and the muffins were pretty easy to eat.

The muffins wound up with a hearty orange flavor. Sucanat isn't a refined sugar and has a different flavor. If we had used white flour I wouldn't have risked it. As it was the wheat and orange flavor were just nicely sweetened by the sucanat. They were especially delicious warm but still good later. I think you could add some yogurt to the recipe or granola for crunch, maybe even make an oat topping. Yum :)

So, it's Saturday - go make a mess.

P.S. All Photos by the Resident Photographer

Musing

2011-02-02T20:55:00.000-08:00

Oh, poor neglected little blog.

I'm posting a few more Duluth pictures in celebration of finally (and I do mean finally) getting my computer fixed. Unfortunately I'm still having a slight issue with my internet browser but iphoto is restored.

I went to Duluth back in October, I think. I took somewhere around 60 photos but most of them are retakes as I found myself readjusting to my sad little camera - it's from 2004, which I think is "ancient" for digital technology and I didn't have the Resident Photographer.

And actually Amy may have taken this one...

...there, that's one thing I've been meaning to do for some time now! Hah. I wish I had taken more pictures but I found myself finding a hard time identifying as a "photographer." I certainly didn't want to be a tourist and I felt awkward pulling out my little camera - it just doesn't look the same sitting around adjusting your settings when your camera looks a little outdated but isn't old enough to look cool vintage. I must have succeeded somehow because I did get asked multiple times whilst near the lighthouse to take group photos :)

And one more...

Maybe I'm trying to much with the black and white setting (and I don't know the people in the picture) but I like the feel to be sure. If you would like to see more pictures of Duluthishness and beyond you can look here.

Goodbye Christmas, Hello 2011

2011-01-06T16:12:00.000-08:00

How was your New Year's Eve? I spent mine over a hot stove at work... but I think if you have to work holidays then you might as well do it at a restaurant (in case you didn't catch it, I work at a restaurant) - at least everyone around you is celebrating and you can live vicariously :) In my case it was twice vicariously since I only saw the servers, but whatever, I still like the idea.

In any case I did make it home in time to ring in the new year with my journal and my puppy sleeping on my toes. There also may have been chocolate, but I'm not saying.

I didn't make a "list" this year. I usually like to make some sort of goal list but this year I didn't feel the need. However, if I had to say some goals for this year, they would be:

Knit More

Blog More

Be Creative More

There that's done. As for the first I don't think it will be much of a problem. At the moment I'm working on a marvelous surprise project. I don't think she reads my blog but just in case we'll stay hush hush until after it's delivered. I'm also totally inspired by Amanda Soule! She knit 12...13... 14 ! Sweaters this year.

Now for the second, this one I'm counting on my sisters to keep me in line for and as far as being more creative goes, I think this is a good first project. January is cold and dry and depressing here - some patches of bright would be fun to pull out when we have company with children or for a birthday, don't you think.

Now, on to these babies...

These are French Macarons - Sort of like a sturdier meringue sandwich cookies. And the chocolate ones are to die for.

No, really, they are.

I should have had someone else hold this thing. Look at my cuticles! I was the one eating it I suppose.

I found these macarons surfacing in the blog world last yearish? Mostly from the Portland area I think. I made them for our family Christmas this year.

And I'm not going to lie, they are a lot of work but as I said before the chocolate ones are to die for.

I found the recipe over at David Lebovitz site. I followed his recipe and instructions and they worked fine when I didn't pipe the cookies out too big. I think they're supposed to be pretty small but I've never seen one in real life! The big one's just cracked. I got very impatient waiting for the ganache to harden so I would recommend making that first and letting it chill until you're finished with the cookies. The white one's are just vanilla with buttercream in the middle, they really aren't very impressive - I've a request for a different flavor and think i'd like to try raspberry or something else.

They (that is the chocolate ones) pair nicely with a cup of strong coffee.

Oh... and I read that these little guys are the new "cupcake" so watch out for them.

I also wanted to post a picture of the last Christmas Project.

This is the one I was finishing on Christmas Day...

This is a pretty traditional dress for me to

make and it wasn't complex I just had sooo much going on.

Unfortunately the pictures of this dress aren't fantastic. By the time I finished it I had lost the light. This dress is for little Lilly, my 6 month old niece. My mother was going to buy her a dress but I stopped her. It seems so impractical to buy little girl's dresses when they're so simple to make.

I hunted all over the fabric store for something pink or purple (LIlly has three older brothers - she's always in a girl color) but I kept coming back to this sweet little print.

I went ahead and added a belt so I could make the dress bigger. The shoulders are quite broad but the belt keeps everything together pretty well. I wouldn't be surprised if she fit in it until she turns one.

happy new year!

Days (late) for Christmas - Part 4: Knitted Gifts

2010-12-30T10:57:00.000-08:00

I started knitting these headbands back in November and I totally got addicted. I've known how to knit a basic stitch since I was 12 or so but hadn't moved past it until this year. I picked up Martha Stewart Living for November (you know, I just realized how involved Martha was this Christmas!). I flipped through the pages at the news stand in the Duluth airport, deciding right then and there that I was going to knit that headband.

To my surprise cabling was quite easy. My first headband (the green one) took several tries until I got the pattern down, then the rest flew. I planned to make a lot for friends and family but only made it through four (which is actually pretty good for me, all things considered.)

I gave the Resident Photographer the headband which she is quite beautifully modeling here, and the green one we keep on hand for whoever needs it - usually me on my walks with the dog :)

They're are super cozy and a nice way to keep warm without giving you hat hair.

The other two headbands I knitted went to my sister and her daughter in Utah. Sadly our Christmas package to them (and two of their other packages!) was stolen off their front steps. I hope that stupid thief felt guilty when he saw the little wrapped headbands and other homemade gifts. I was spitting mad, for once my homemade gifts were finished in time and then this. *Sigh* I still have enough yarn though so I'll be knitting replacements this week. Elise & Eliana I hope you like your gift!

If anyone is interested the pattern is here. It's a great anytime gift and we're looking at several more months of cold weather I think - try it out! I'm eager to test out the mittens but need to finish those headbands first!

happy knitting!

And here's a picture for the road...

Poor thing... we couldn't resist.

Days (late) for Christmas - part 3: Christmas Day (or I drink to much coffee day :)

2010-12-29T09:49:00.000-08:00

We had a (very) quiet family breakfast Christmas morning. I can't remember the last time our Christmas morning was so quiet. We usually have family dropping in early while we're still opening our stockings! Traditionally when someone got married instead of losing someone we just gained another person! Then came the kiddos (I have 12 & 1/2 nieces and nephews). We've turned over a new schedule, which meant this Christmas was quiet (we had the loud celebration with my siblings on Sunday) but next year we'll have everyone to ourselves on Christmas. It's been so nice that everyone gets along fine and doesn't mind taking turns.

All this to say Christmas morning was a slow start. Lots of coffee and of course the traditional last minute stocking stuffing. I planned a breakfast for the six of us: Apple & Cheddar Frittata, potatoes and bacon. (I'm not allowed to put green things in the eggs - my parents and I like it but my younger siblings protest - otherwise there would have been some spinach in there somewhere!) We didn't get a good picture probably because we were all still so sleepy eyed, so I'm going to skip to the cake but please know, breakfast was yummy.

Maddie got these antique birds for Christmas from the resident photographer.

They were the perfect addition. Grandpa & Papa in back ground.

So... this cake has been rolling around in my head for some time now. I think I must have been inspired from this post. We have a dear friend who gives us Lemon Curd each Christmas. We've had it on cookies and scones but it was time to try something new. I love white cake but it has to go with the right meal. We wanted to keep Christmas simple this year since it was just us and our Grandparents so I thought it was the perfect time to test it out.

I made the cake into three layers so we could put as much lemon curd in the middle as possible. I was worried the cake wouldn't be moist enough without any frosting but it was perfect with a cup of coffee. We had a rather white meal if I think about it: corn chowder, homemade rolls & White, Lemon filled cake but everything paired really nicely. You can find the recipe here; I divided the batter into three 8 inch round cake pans for more filling and dusted with powdered sugar. I also trimmed the edges to make the cake even but the sides did end up looking a little naked after that!

I spent Christmas day sipping coffee (I probably drank an entire pot by myself!). The resident photographer (See her pictures form Christmas Here!) and I alternating spent time in the kitchen and our "studio" (*cough* which is really half of our room set up for sewing). She was kind enough to keep me company while I finished a Christmas gift for Sunday.

Speaking of coffee, I conveniently got a French Press for Christmas! And some odds and ends: yarn (yay for knitting!), a basket for my knitting, a scarf, photos, buttons (the pin on kind from the black apple, and a guitar tuner... now I suppose I have no excuses but learn to play!

You guessed it! Pictures on this post by the Resident Photographer.

Days (late) for Christmas - Part 2: Truffles

2010-12-28T09:59:00.000-08:00

These cocoa babies were probably over kill for Christmas this year, but I couldn't break tradition. I started making them for my chocoholic brothers several years ago. My family is big (and getting bigger again!) I have four (chocolate loving) brothers and three (equally chocolate loving) sisters. Our numbers exploded a few years ago as people started getting married and having babies so we switched to a gift exchange plan. I like to add a homemade gift to the package each year and for the boys it became traditionally, truffles.

Even though we did away with the Christmas exchange this year - everyone was spending more on the nieces and nephews anyways, so we switched to family gifts - I made a batch to share around our celebration.

These are very simple to make and that's part of the reason I love them. They're easy to squeeze in when you're busy in the kitchen. I follow Martha Stewarts recipe. I've wanted to branch out in my coating, I always use dutch cocoa because I'm in a hurry. I've toyed with the idea of adding something spicy (the way the brothers like things :) to the coating but haven't experimented yet.

We (siblings) celebrated together on Sunday. We had so much food, these barely got touched! But fortunately they store nicely in the freezer.

I made up a handful of these little gift boxes for my friends. They turned out quite cute and were a great way to give away the truffles and marshmallows. I have lots of paper left over so I'm eager to find more boxes for next years' goodies.

Days (late) for Christmas - Part 1: Marshmallows

2010-12-27T11:42:00.000-08:00

I took on a bit more than I could handle this Christmas. I was up until 1am finishing projects Christmas Eve and still wrapping presents Christmas morning! I don't think anyone minded though :) That also means that my plans for blogging as I worked on projects went out the window. We just snapped pictures as we we went then washed dishes and cleaned our rooms (again, and again, and again).

This was our third(?) Christmas making marshmallows and boy was it worth it. After last year almost breaking our Bosch (which isn't supposed to be humanly possible, by the way) and having a huge sticky mess, plus accidentally adding too much peppermint - I wasn't sure if I was ready to try again, even a year later.

Then I ran into a slightly different recipe over at Seven Spoons. (I had used Martha Stewarts recipe before.) We were delighted!

We concluded that the texture was even better than the last two years, but this could also be because our mess was somehow minimized (perhaps we're finally growing up?). Oiling the spatula is also key!

I liked the addition of egg whites, which seemed, at least in my mind, to make them "heartier." Plus we used honey instead of corn syrup with absolute success!

These were meant to have on hand to give as gifts but I sampled way too many. They melt just perfectly in hot chocolate but even plain they're solid little vanilla squares.

These are just begging to be made. I think they'd be perfectly festive for lonely January.

What we've been up to...

2010-12-16T10:38:00.000-08:00

Exporing Duluth, and the superior waters

I spent a week exploring Duluth, catching the very very last hints of autumn. In fact my flight out was delayed by a snow storm. I spent my days wandering along the surprisingly warm beach, collecting sea glass and eating swedish food.

Then we decorated... wait for it... the garage!

For Thanksgiving!

As we've grown our centerpieces have all but disappeared. Years ago, my sister in law led us all in collecting, gold charger plates. We use them every Thanksgiving. We've reused the apples for place settings a couple times now but it's so simple and beautiful.

I'm not super keen on Thanksgiving food but I love all the left over turkey in recipes. My sister and I made Turkey Noodle Soup from (who else) the pioneer woman's recipe. We followed her recipe for egg noodles too.

baking

drinking excessive amounts of hot chocolate thanks to the resident photographer

decorating for Christmas

did I mention baking?

Anyone have good gift suggestions for parents? I've been working on a few ideas but nothing yet!

I've been knitting away on some Christmas gifts. We're also plotting some first aid salve for gifts. And I have a really exciting gift squirreled away for a certain someone.

p.s. I stole most of these pictures from my sister :)

Be Ready

2010-11-28T21:07:00.000-08:00

Be land ready

For you shall go back to the land.

Be sea ready

for you have been nine-tenths water

and the salt taste shall cling to your mouth.

Be sky ready

for air, air has been so needful to you-

you shall go back, back to the sky.

-Carl Sandburg

When we were four

2010-10-13T14:20:00.000-07:00

And chaos interminably reigns...

This is the life. Period. That's all I have to say.

I have three sisters. Together we make four, of course.

Then we have a few sisters-in-love(law). And a couple of sisters just cuz. (Love you Karli!)

But there's just something about just the four of us being together. It doesn't happen very often anymore. Elise lives in another state and is most often missing from our sister time.

Do you realize how difficult it is to find decent picture of us all together, without someone cracking up or me ruining it by talking! This is what we usually look like...

Ahh, that's more like it. Here we are casting off for a good laugh!
Well, that's what I've been up to, in a nut shell. What about the rest of you?

For more pictures check out Beth's blog here!

Playing Hide and Seek with the Sun

2010-10-06T08:45:00.000-07:00

It's been deceivingly summerish around here until suddenly Monday, we woke up to an overcast day! I can never seem to remember what the weather is supposed to be like around here this time of year. Obviously, it's October, it should be cooling off. I know that much but Idaho can be very diverse and I think I'm just used to taking it as it comes. It's still only in the high 60's but that was enough of a push to get me fully in the mood for Autumn. At least the sky matches the colors of the landscape now! It was so deceiving (if not actually pleasant) to crunch the leaves downtown in shorts and sandals and sunshine.

I would love to do some canning and baking but there just isn't time! It's a constant joke between a few of my friends that my common response to how life is, is "Good. And busy." Seems it's become my motto. But the one thing that's marvelous about being busy, is (if you can) you learn to enjoy the simple things: coffee in pottery mugs, walks by the pond with the dog, the slightest change in the weather...

and spontaneous crafting nights with sister!

My sister sent me a link to most lovely yellow flower.

And I immediately wanted to make one just like it.

I bought this hat at Forever 21 last year. It had an ugly black pinwheel fabric flower on it. I always meant to change it out but didn't before it warmed up. It's quite whimsical and from some angles down right Charlie Chaplin (which I'm still not sure how I feel about) or an almost horrible 90's throwback (just don't pair it with any vests or primary colors!). I think the flower helps :)

We have a rather spacious sewing ~~room~~ corner but packing four girls and dog in was quite cozy. We were climbing over each other and constantly losing the scissors. Perfect bonding time!

I think the hat is backwards but I like it better this way ;)

They're are lots of tutorials online for fabric flowers. This is a flat rose. I sort of followed both this tutorial and this one from Thread Bangers (which is actually part two, you can find the first video here). I didn't make the flower as formal as Tanya, I left my edges rough and it's lopsided in a very pleasant way.

We also made some fluffy organza flowers (although it wasn't organza - don't you love how we follow the rules). And attached some tiny roses to bobby pins with hot glue. Bethany made a huge flower with some vintage fabric that turned out pretty fun.

Thanks to the resident photographer for the photos!
P.S. You may recognize the scarf from this post!

A Lavender Colored Autumn Sky

2010-09-30T10:04:00.000-07:00

I crept into the sewing room and found some inspiration in a scrap of soft purple fabric and a Japanese Dress Pattern Book. There is so much inspiration inside from all the sweet little girls, muted colors and wonderful pictures! I love the line drawing for directions - if only it were in English!

I seem to always run into a snare transferring the pattern from paper to fabric. All the patterns come printed on a large sheet and it's a matter of tracing through Japanese characters and several sizes to find the pieces you need! However, it's very worth the hassle and the directions are simple enough that, even if I don't cut things out exactly right, I can trim pieces to fit as I go. (If anyone else has a trick to using these patterns I would love to know!)

Here's a peak into the sewing room

It's far from perfect and I didn't iron it for the picture! The pleat in front isn't quite right and I got impatient with the bias tape finish and improvised. I love it for it's peasant simplicity.

It would be darling over a white turtle neck. I have a particular little girl in mind for this but I still have to see if it will fit! I have no idea what size I wound up making, I just eye-balled it.

Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun

2010-09-23T13:19:00.000-07:00

To Autumn
-John Keats

Season of mist and mellow fruitfulness,

Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun,

Conspiring with him how to load and bless

With fruit the vines that round thatch-eaves run-

To bend with apples the mossed cottage-trees,

And fill all fruit with ripeness to the core;

To swell the gourd, and plump the hazel shells

With a sweet kernel; to set budding more,

And still more, later flower for the bees,

Until they think warm days will never cease,

For Summer has o'erbrimmed their clammy cells.

Who hath not seen thee oft amid thy store?

Sometimes whoever seeks abrad may find

Thee sitting careless on a granary floor,

Thy hair soft-lifted by the winnowing wind;

Or on a half-reaped furrow, sound asleep,

Drowsed wit the fume of poppies, while thy hook

Spares the next swath and all its twined flowers;

And sometimes like a gleaner thoud ost keep

Steady the thy laden head across a brook,

Or by a cider-press, with patient look,

Thou watchest the last oozings hours by hours.

Where are the songs of Spring? Aye, where are they?

Think not of them, thou has thy music too-

While barred clouds bloom the softy-dying day,

And touch the stubble-plains with rosy hue.

Then in a wailful choir the small gnats mourn

Among the river sallows, borne aloft

Or sinking as the light wind lives or dies;

And full-grown lambs loud-bleat from hilly bourn;

Hedge-crickets sing; and now, with treble soft,

The redbreast whistles from a garden-croft,

And gathering swallows twitter in the skies.

Happy first day of Autumn!

A record year for rain

2010-09-16T08:02:00.000-07:00

I signed up to be a part of Art House Co-op Sketchbook Project, some time ago when my sister told me about it. (If anyone else out there is working on this project too I would love to hear about it.) And for those who don't have any idea what I'm talking about: essentially, you sign up to illustrate a sketch book. Once the book is filled you send it back to The Brooklyn Art Library where it goes on permanent display.

I got excited waiting for my sketchbook and thinking of all the things I was going to draw on the pages. Then I thought of how many pages there were, how little time I had and how many other people were going to look at it... and I never did anything.

This is my confession: I am a procrastinator. And I'm very busy. I don't like to cut myself too much slack but in part it's true: time is short around here. I've had a sick dog and traveled a lot this summer; not to mention my brothers wedding and the two babies born in the family, plus work. In my life it's mostly the personal things that I procrastinate. Things like blogging, cleaning my desk, articles and art projects get pushed back constantly.

BUT I should always have time for art! I think I psyched myself out over this whole art on display thing... My sketches out there for anyone to look at? Scary. Bring on the procrastinator.

So, this post is mostly for some accountability. I spent money to join this group, I got the book and now I'm telling you - I'm going to draw something in it!

That said, it's the first taste of Autumn around here, which I'm hoping inspires my theme for the sketch book - A Record Year For Rain. I'm hoping *fingers crossed here* that I can fill the book with some great poetry and sketches. For me often, words and images flow together and I would love to bring something like that to this little project. I have some ideas of how to do this but I'm not sure my art will hold up to my imagination.

Bring on the rain!

not your everyday apron

2010-08-28T13:33:00.000-07:00

I drug myself into the sewing room, a few nights ago to start a project. I've been in something of a sewing slump lately. I ran into this lovely yellow fabric at the store months ago and snatched up a few yards but it came home and sat on the fabric pile for too long. I had picked it up with an apron in mind. We (sisters) tend to fight over one apron in the kitchen - which is ridiculous considering how often we're in the kitchen together and how boring (it's just black) the apron is. I cut the apron in a similar shape to the coveted apron but flared it up a bit.

There's something to me about yellow and grey that's very nostalgic. The colors together are very calming and feminine, in the right shades. I'm slowly finding myself collecting yellow and grey items: a book, a bag, an apron.This yellow and grey is so fitting for cold grey days.
I can't wait to mix up all sorts of baked goods in it this winter.

It's been pretty quiet around here lately but things should be getting messy soon :)

P.S. All pictures by the resident photographer.

The taste of summer

2010-08-16T22:03:00.000-07:00

Let's be clear about one thing first... this is not a food only blog!

That said, we made ice cream today.

I cannot express how delighted I am at the end of each weekend when I remember I'm not going back to school this fall! I've been dissatisfied with my college education of late and am saving my pennies and looking into other (college) options just now. I felt like celebrating my extended summer.

This is turning into another of those "favorite foods" sessions but here goes. I love ice cream! It's the perfect summer dessert and Maddie (my sister) has been asking to make it since her birthday (back in June - oops!). We had a big family dinner tonight so of course we had for dessert... Strawberry Ice Cream!

It's a little like magic pouring thickly sweet milk into the churn and then voila! Absolutely perfect fluffy ice cream. It's so easy I feel like I haven't done anything. (I left Maddie pureeing all those strawberries while I ran out for ice, so really she did all the hard work :).

Look at our happy ice cream faces:

Our cones were still drippy soft (the ice cream really needs to sit overnight, but all well!).

I can't get enough of the kiddos running around with ice cream faces!

I was simultaneously scooping cones and snapping pictures crazily - they're just too cute!

*Sigh* summer, how I love you.

Basil

2010-08-11T20:34:00.000-07:00

Life has been crazy. I've been running around since April and I can't believe it's already August. I've got lots of big plans for things to blog about, it's just going to be a matter of finding time. For now creativity fits under the food category and food is whatever is blooming in the garden. So we have Basil.

Thanks to my mother we have a monster patch of Basil plants blooming.

Basil is the best. And here we must digress to all the wonderfulness of Basil: It's green - my favorite color; it smells wonderful; it's easy to grow (or at least my mother makes it look that way); it makes the best Thai food ever and I love Thai food.

Somewhere between visiting Utah, camping and California, my sister Maddie and I commandeered the kitchen to make some Thai Basil Chicken

I call this my "Imitation Thai Dinner" and if you've had authentic Thai, this does taste different but the fresher your basil the closer it tastes to Thailand. This is also known as the company dinner around here, it's just so simple to whip up and everyone loves it. Or at least I love it.

Thai Basil Chicken

I know I originally found the recipe online but I can't remember where!

Serves 4-6

2 T. Sesame, Peanut or Vegetable Oil

1 lb Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast

1 Red Bell Pepper, Cut into 1/4 Inch Strips

3-4 Garlic Cloves

1 Serrano Pepper (or more if you want more spice)

4 T. Hoisin Sauce

2 T. Thai Fish Sauce

1 t. Sugar

1/4 Cup Water

1 Cup loosely packed Basil Leaves

Jasmine Rice

In a wok or skillet heat stir fry chicken for 4 minutes in hot oil. Add red bell peppers, garlic, and serrano. Cook for 2 to 3 minutes. Add hoisin, fish sauce, sugar and water. Throw in basil and toss until it wilts. Dump it on a bed of rice and enjoy.

This recipe really is delicious with these exact ingredients but I've fudged countless times. Plus it's high summer and seems such a shame to only use peppers in a stir fry, so we threw in zucchini and used some fresh peppers from the garden instead of serranos (I don't know what kind they were? They looked like banana peppers).

Enjoy

Something tells me it's all happening at the zoo

2010-07-22T16:44:00.000-07:00

I love the zoo, which doesn't quite make sense, I'm not much of an animal person (except for the dog)... this is evinced by the fact that I seem to only have pictures of the two legged types roaming around with me.

Beware those sharks!

(Eliana's my favorite - in the back of the boat on the right)

I'm so rusty on photography (especially since I've had to revert back to my kodak since my sisters nice camera died). I've been so lazy about taking my own pictures because I live with a photographer. It's been fun to try again, even if I find myself frustrated with how things come out.

If you want to see some really good pictures (taken by the resident photographer) go here and enjoy all those happy faces.

She wore sunlight in her hair

2010-07-21T10:58:00.000-07:00

We've been busy around here lately...

drawing, skipping, hiking and eating lots of ice cream.

I took advantage of vacation to practice sketching and my little niece gladly obliged.

I was really delighted with how the picture turned out - thanks to a little girl who loves to pose for her aunts (my dogs on the other hand still come out pretty terrible :).

I went hunting for a frame but couldn't find anything I liked so I cut one out of cardboard and covered it in a flannel fabric I had on hand. It now rests on her mama's desk.

Photos by RD Photography

Hello Bright Eyes

2010-07-17T12:16:00.000-07:00

Mix three sisters, one dog, one hyundai and 5.1 hours of music and you get...

An epic road trip dance party.

Hello open road, sunshine and caffeine.

I'm on vacation with all my sisters (one, two and three ^) in Taylorsville, Utah. It's been one long sip of coffee, summer afternoon, backyard pool splashing, cinnamon roll, sketching, music and laughter filled, messy, catching up, tasty, movie watching, crafting adventure...

and they're will be more to follow.

Saturday Mornings...

2010-07-10T21:03:00.001-07:00

Or a birthday breakfast

We've been very busy all this year so a lot of birthday celebrations have come at breakfast.

My mom's birthday is tomorrow but what with church and other plans it worked better to celebrate today.

The Menu:

Eggs Benedict w/ Black Forest Ham

Fresh Cantaloupe and Grape Salad w/ Greek Yogurt

Sautéed Asparagus

Amish Coffee Cake

Cooking is rather cathartic for me, if that doesn't sound too extreme. I cook at a local restaurant, so you would think I get enough week nights but I enjoy the break from cooking the same old thing and having more control over my ingredients. Food brings a lot of pleasure to those around you and that's one of the reasons I love being a cook, that and using really sharp knives.

Lately I've found myself cooking more and more elaborate meals as our family has been so busy. It's my little way of giving them a break.

Breakfast is one of my favorite meals to cook. It combines one of my favorite foods (eggs) with just about anything else you can imagine. Sweet. Savory. You want cake for breakfast - you got it. Somehow it always comes out brighter than other meals, or maybe that's just the coffee...

When I cook it's usually combined with a good amount of chaos and my computer. This morning I used this recipe from the Pioneer Woman for a quick hollandaise sauce, and man was it easy and delicious.

While I must confess my first attempt curdled and failed miserably (I didn't have the butter hot enough). The second turned out perfectly creamy. I've always heard the praise of hollandaise combined with complaints of the difficulty encountered making it, but it's no longer so folks. Hollandaise has been freed!

yum!

The presentation is my favorite part of every meal. I love the actual cooking too, I just get very satisfied when things turn out right and all the colors fit so nicely on the plate.

Those eggs are a double heart attack waiting to happen but man is that sauce worth it. I tried not to calculate calories and freak out while making it - that certainly was a lot of butter but so yummy. And it was probably overkill to have coffee cake, but a little sister wanted to contribute. It's only every once in a while anyway.

It is a challenging meal to make to feed a crowd (I only fed 6 this morning) and I've put it off for that very reason but everything kept really well this morning. The hollandaise didn't lose it's nice texture. The recipe also fed the six of us with some left overs although the original says serves four. I had a lot of side dishes though.

That said, happy cooking chickens.

Next week we're off to visit this sister in Utah so stay tuned. We're probably going to be home bodies and not see to much of SLC but I have some projects planned :)

Enjoy the mess!

I'll build you a home in the breast of a willow.

2010-07-08T14:29:00.001-07:00

A certain special friend of mine had a birthday last week.

I'm really late in sending her gift but better late than never!

This was the card for the gift...

Amy (my birthday friend) has wonderful fashion and it's rare that I feel

confident giving her a clothing item. But this scarf is just too fun.

I found the pin (it's made from a vintage scarf) at one my favorite coffee

shops and the scarf is made out of an old t-shirt I bought second hand for $2.

Since it's going in the mail and will most likely arrive wrinkled, I

sketched this example of how to wear it.

Making the scarf is really simple (I've cut up multiple old t-shirts from my own wardrobe :)I ran into the tutorial at the Thread Banger site, if you'd like to try one out.

It's all tied together and ready to go out in the mail. Unfortunately she's out of town for a few days and I'll have to wait a while before she gets it. So no one go spilling the beans!

Thanks to the resident photographer for the pictures!

Enjoy the mess!

Beginnings

2010-07-08T12:49:00.000-07:00

I find myself the author of this new and rather auspicious looking blog (thanks to the resident photographer/designer) and have been summoned to make my presence known.

*clears throat and adjusts script*

I will be brief here and simply state: This is the beginning, I hope, of something great!
Beware the mess! I don't color (or cook) inside the lines.
I have no agenda for this little blog, just a peak into my attic existence as I stretch my imagination.

*gestures to invisible crowd*

So, I'll share a little, and hopefully you'll share a little and we'll be friends.