Tag Archives: Cooking

Paper, pen and glue

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Ever since giving up scrapbooking as a hobby I’ve hyperfocused on everything else.

Knitting. Jewelry Making. Baking. Quilting. Cross Stitch. Sewing.

But every now and again I get out some patterned papers and adhevise. I cut different shapes and different sizes. I trace chipboard to make big, bold lettering. I cut ribbons and use them as page tabs. I age papers with a special walnut ink. My fingers get sticky from the glue sticks. They turn brown from all the distressing. And for a few brief moments I regret giving up scrapbooking. Especially those occasions when we lazily go up and down the different aisles of the local craft store. Scrapbooking has come a long was since I started it in 1999. Styles have changed. Altering is the thing of the future. Funky shaped chipboard books. Single photo layouts. Sewing your pages.

It was fun to do a little creating for a swap partner of mine. Just a little something she can put up in her space. I’m only showing one picture that way it won’t be completely obvious who I’m making this for, (since I’m not sure if she will read this).

Lots of different stuff going on here. You can take another look.

I assure you that I have been knitting though I have no proof to show. I finished the Jaywalker sock and had to frog part of the second. Once I finish both I will share a picture. No point in showing just one, unless you are a peg legged sea captain who favors colorful knit socks!

My weekend didn’t go quite as planned. I’ve been immensely unmotivated though I’ve been trying hard to stay at the task at hand. I’m behind on my Etsy orders so I really need to get going! Bags weren’t made. Quilting never made it to the sewing machine. However, I did finish a sock!  And this altered name banner. So it’s not all bad.

Especially when I was able to quench my crafter’s guilt with a couple of these:

Apple fritters. So good that I had to make them Saturday and Sunday. And maybe even tonight.

Pizza, Pizza

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I guess I’ve been on a cooking/baking kick lately. I’m diligently trying to make our family more healthy with fruits and veggies. More homemade foods rather than processed box foods and frozen foods packed with bad calories and sodium. I’m happy to say that I’ve seen a big difference. Shawn has given up drinking sodas and now takes his water thermos and flavored waters. We’ve all been eating more seasonal fruits. I made my own strawberry jam, (which I now realize I forgot to post about), and will be making apple butter very soon. I’ve been trying hard not to waste foods, especially leftovers. And you know what? It feels good.

Doing all of this along with my daily, (sometimes not), 1 mile walks, I feel better. The hysterectomy has done wonders for me mentally as well. I can safely say I haven’t experienced any lows since the surgery. Was this my miracle cure? I don’t know. But I’m taking advantage of the good feelings and trying harder than ever to keep my moods balanced.

The baking and cooking has helped. I love being in the kitchen, but for the dishes. I love creating new dishes. And I love the praise from Shawn and Jem when I have a new dish to add to our ongoing list of “What’s for dinner”. Today I made myself a little treat: Homemade Pizza. I thought I’d share the recipe in case any health conscious, (or people with tight budgets), wanted to try it for themselves.

Homemade Pizza Dough:

In a small bowl mix together:

3/4 C Warm water, (must be warm)

1 tsp Honey

1 TB + 1 tsp Active dry yeast

Let sit for 20 minutes, the ingredients will become foamy.

In a large bowl mix together:

1 1/2 C Flour

1/2 C Semolina or Corn Meal

1 tsp Salt

Once yeast is ready, mix all the ingredients together. By hand, mix for 4 minutes. By food processor, mix for 2 minutes. Let sit in a bowl with a wet paper towel covering it for 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Divide dough. On board, or clean counter, dust with flour or corn meal. Roll out dough to 5 1/2″ circles. Coat with olive oil and bake for 3-5 minutes or until bubbly.

Add pizza sauce, toppings and cheese. Bake for additional 10 minutes.

I’ve used this recipe and put our pizzas on the grill and they are delicious! If you choose to use the grill spray some cooking spray, (like PAM), on the grill so that pizzas won’t stick.

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Friday Fill In, (yes I’ve joined the bandwagon thanks to Maryanne.

1. The last meal I had at a restaurant was a salad buffet at Souplantation.

2. Insects is something I intensely dislike.

3. The full moon brings out the crazies!

4. DGAF is one of my favorite local expressions.

5. Sometimes it’s best to leave the dishes.

6. “Juno” is the best movie I’ve seen so far this year!

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I’m looking forward to knitting, tomorrow my plans include sleeping in and Sunday, I want to go swimming!

Queen Bee

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Busy weekend. Busy as a bee.

I did a little bit of quilting:

Fabrics are “Fresh Squeezed” by Sandy Geravis for Moda

I did a little yarn shopping for an Etsy bid:

I did a lot of research:

I painted the kids room, but I don’t have any pictures. Tomorrow I promise.

I also did quite a bit of cooking. I tried out a new Slow Cooker recipe: Beef with Shitake Mushroom/Hoison Sauce. I made homemade guacamole and corn tortilla chips. I made my Fudgey Brownies for dessert since I didn’t have anything to satisfy my sweet tooth. And to top it all off, I made strawberry jam and it is delicious. Today’s menu included home made bean and ham soup with biscuits. Call me a homemaker extraordinaire. Go ahead, I dare you!

I even got a little scrapbooking done with a 7gypsies kit. I can’t show you the book until it’s done though, it wouldn’t do it any justice. Time and patience my friends.

The rest of the weekend included watching The Ruins with my crush Johnathon Tucker which while very corny was still a pretty good scary movie. It’s all about ancient Mayan ruins. I didn’t manage as much rest as I would have liked but I was productive and that makes me feel pretty useful.

Just wait til you see Central Park Hoodie.