Mmmmm Lemon

I kind of went a little lemon crazy last week. I made this lemon bread. DELICIOUS. Go... go to your kitchens and make it now! I added more zest than was called for and also added the zest and juice of one lime. It came out fantastic and I had one particularly guilty evening where I polished off the last quarter of it in one sitting. I've also made lemon bars of late from *gasp* a box. I wouldn't do it again. Scratch is much better except for cake. Boxed cake mix is a modern marvel. And I made some lemon cookies that were kind of bland. That's why we do this though right? We test until we find our favorites and then add them to our bakey arsenal. Luckily I have a group of coworkers who are wonderful guinea pigs for new recipes. How about cupcakes next week guys?

Babies on the Brain

I swear everyone I know is either pregnant or has small children. This is awesome in my world because knitting/sewing for babies usually goes fairly quickly and works well for my ADD personality and desperate need to be constantly working on new projects. The hat above is for Mia, the 9 month old daughter of some dear friends. I found the pattern while looking for something to knit for a new baby cousin. The vintagey vibe didn't seem quite right for them (I ended up making a little strawberry hat which is loosely based on the umbilical cord hat in Debbie Stoller's Stitch and Bitch and of course cant find the picture I took).
Right so back to the pixie hat... see the ADD kicking in already? I found this vintage pattern and I knew that my quirky friends would dig it for their little girl. To add to the old skool vibe I cut a little toadstool out of felt, added a couple of spots in a cream color and blanket stitched that puppy on there. Then because I am never done embellishing, I added a little gingham bow. Oh I also added i-cord ties by picking up 3 stitches along each of the edges. I hope her mom likes it and sends me a picture *hint hint*.

Dear Blog, I'm Sorry.

I cant believe I haven't posted since November. I was so burnt out from Christmas gift making that I had spent a good 2 weeks doing nothing but barely keeping my house clean and playing xbox with Bruce. But now, I'm back on track! I'm knitting 2 baby gifts for good friends (pics to follow). I also have big plans for sewing, mostly because of this.


Do I have the best husband ever or what? I cried. Literally, sobbed for a few minutes when I opened it on Christmas morning. I think I caught Bruce a little off guard. I have wanted a dress form for most of my life and now that I have one I haven't opened the box. This is mostly because we are in the middle of a horrible bathroom remodel.


Note to self: If you only have one bathroom, hire a professional. All that aside I'm feeling rejuvenated and ready for makins. I think 2010 is going to be a very crafty year.

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.