Weekend Warrior?

I made so much stuff last weekend, but somehow don't feel like I have much to show for it. Must be because I usually spend at least one weekend afternoon giving the house a good scrub down. Not so last weekend, I had a sick hubby and an urge to sew.


I made 2 skirts (one is for sale in my etsy shop). I made a curtain for my kitchen and a dish drying pad (it was a miserable failure). And I worked on my knitting but somehow, my list of stuff to do keeps getting longer rather than shorter. Ill leave you with tonight's dinner. Mushroom, apple and sausage risotto. If you havent tried to make risotto at home because it seemed too daunting stop making excuses, buy some arrborio rice and get to work. Its waaaay easier than I thought it would be and such a wonderful cold weather meal. Plus, you only use one pot, what could be better?

Christmas crafting… already… really?

Slacking off already. This does not bode well for my bloggy experiment, but I'm chalking it up to the Halloween holiday and a horrible cold that I've been on the verge of getting for like 2 weeks now. Grrrrr. Now that Halloween is over. It's time for crafty peeps to turn their attention to the impending Christmas season. I made some delicious acorn squash soup and some pumpkin scones over the weekend (stay tuned for the scone recipe). And some of Martha's Pumpkin chocholate chip squares. So decadent... so delicious. I also managed to whip up a cute little birdie ornament. I've seen these all over the interwebs in various form and really wanted to try my hand. I like the way it turned out, though next time I wouldn’t bother with the beading on the back. Maybe some pretty fabric instead of felt…. hummm.


Anyhoo, I'll be making more of these throughout the season probably as gifts. The knitting continues to move along but I won't be posting pictures since I'm not sure whose been reading this and I wouldn’t want to give anything away. So here I go … onward to the Christmas crafting!!

Halloween here I come.

This time of year is always highly anticipated and then over before I can bat an eye. Not so this year. I am making a conscious effort to stop and smell the pumpkin pie. Last weekend I spookified the front yard as well as finished setting out some of my indoor decorations.


I put together an awesomely gross centerpiece with some stuff I already had laying around the house and the rest of Terry's apples.


I painted pumpkins. Got the idea at Pink and Polka dot. She uses plastic décor pumpkins but I decided that I could justify buying pumpkins earlier if I were to paint them with acrylic paint and then wash it off when it's time to carve! This way I don’t have to go and buy more pumpkins when the ones I carved at the beginning of the month are falling apart right before Halloween. Win Me!


I bought a costume for Joe which needs some slight mods. Ill post pics when they're finished. And I neglected to bake. I haven’t been in the most bakey of moods, however, since the nice manager at top foods told me there is a national canned pumpkin shortage and I am a sucker for stocking up, I now have 5 cans of pumpkin puree staring at me from my pantry. I will be indulging them soon. I'm on the hunt for fantastic pumpkin recipes and I think the first will be an attempt at a pumpkin scone. Stay tuned for the results.

Apples and Zombies

Bruce's uncle Terry (Brenda's Dad) is one of my favorite people. Generous, helpful & kind I never leave his house without something delicious. Sometimes fresh eggs, blueberries, salmon caught that day or cleaned crabs. I swear, when the zombie apocalypse happens, I'm headed straight for Terry's. This time, it was apples. A huge plastic grocery bag of them. 2 apple pies (in the freezer) and one apple crumble later (sorry, Bruce and I devoured it before I could take pictures). I still have half a bag. I'm thinking about a chocolate apple cake recipe I found. Any other suggestions?
Last night Bruce took me to see Zombieland. It was super fun. After that we went to dinner at Trellis in Kirkland. If you live in the area and haven't been, run... don't walk. It was lovely. Staff was attentive, friendly and helpful and the food was fantastic.
I also did some sewing and knitting over the weekend.

The squid-cat from Coraline for a friend's niece.


A bunny nugget from the free pattern on Rebecca Danger.

Cheddar, Parm, Walnut & Black Pepper Scones

4 cups flour
4 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. cream of tartar
3/4 cup butter
2 large egg yolks
1 1/4 cups milk
1 cup grated cheddar (I used aged white cheddar, but I'm sure any kind would be super yum)
1/2 cup grated parmesan
1/4 cup walnuts
a whole bunch of cracked black pepper (didn't measure this I just kind of added till it looked right)
kosher salt

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Grease 2 large baking sheets or use that Reynolds Release foil. I cant live without the stuff now. Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl or if you are a lucky lucky duck like me, in the bowl for your kitchen aid. Blend in the butter until you have a coarse mixture. Separate the eggs... uh, separately. Beat one yolk with a fork, and stir in the milk. Add to the dry ingredients and mix till combined. Add your cheeses and walnuts and then grind the crap out of a pepper mill over the whole shebang. Continue mixing until you have a soft dough.

Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and kneed a couple of times. Divide in half and roll gently into 2 circles roughly 7 inches across. Cut each circle into eighths. Mix the remaining egg yolk with 1 tablespoon of water and brush onto the tops of your wedges Sprinkle with kosher salt. Bake 12 - 18 minutes or until golden brown.

I would love to hear what you think about this recipe if you feel compelled to try it out.

Welcome back Fall, I missed you.

Fall is my favorite time of year. I love the crisp morning air, the blue skies, the wearing of sweaters, boots, big socks, sweat pants, tights with skirts, and most of all, I love the holiday season especially Halloween. This is when I ramp up, especially in the creative department. I'm sure you'll get sick of my holiday themed posts/projects soon enough. Or maybe your a little crazy like me and cant get enough. Ive been baking a lot. Ill post my recipe later for these delicious scones.

There has also been banana bread, butternut squash soup and home made pretzels (they were divine). Ive also been busy in the crafty department. I made this pennant, well I thought it was called a pennant, but I saw someone call it a bunting somewhere else so perhaps Ive been misshapen.

I made my own bias tape for this, how cool is that? It was also my first experience with freezer paper. I am extremely lazy and couldn't be bothered to actually iron it down, so theres lots of little splotches outside the lines on the lettering. In this case, it was a happy accident. I also stenciled the spider bodies, but drew on the little legs myself with a sharpie (wayyyyy too skinny to try to cut out of the paper, I found that out the hard way). I love the way it turned out. I think this will be something Ill use year after year.

My first post

Here goes. Apparently, I'm blogging now. Ack! Bruce made me do this by the way, its all his fault. I'm hoping this will be a place to share my crafty and bakey and maybe a little about Bruce and Joseph and Roy and Brenda. Well get to them later. Lets talk about me. I'm a chronic creative. I work full time as a graphic designer but I have to come home and make stuff too. I knit, I sew, I bake, I cook, I glue things together, I stab myself with pins and generally have a lovely time doing all of it. I like gross and creepy stuff as much as I like cute stuff. Halloween is my favorite holiday. I love my friends but I love spending time alone with my husband more. Bruce is my best friend. We've been married for 6 years this September. Its my favorite thing, being his wife. Joe is our darling doggie. You'll love him. Everyone does. Roy is our crusty old cat, we've had him since we first became a couple. He has dandruff and terrible breath and hes the sweetest cuddle bug. Brenda is Bruce's cousin and my BFF. She indulges my love of horror movies even though they scare her. I think that's all for now. I'm sure I'll think of lots of other things to tell you as we get to know one another. Talk to you soon.