Saturday Morning Pancakes

Mmmm, don't ya just love 'em?  My kids sure do so we make these a couple of times a week and always on Saturday morning.  With homeground wheat they are wonderful! 

This is the book I use for alot of my homeground recipes and the source for the pancake recipe.  I believe this book is only available on the Bread Beckers website.  This is a homeschool family who started their own bread products business in their home.


The kids love to help with the pancakes and they always beg me to make shaped pancakes.

Just put non-stick spray on metal cookie cutters, flip and remove shape.

And here's the recipe...

Note the change for waffles.

Enjoy YOUR Saturday morning!!!

I Warned You That I Was A "Natural" Crafter

So what would you do if you were at your local community garden plot, which has been over-run with wild rabbits as of late (and we all know what rabbits will do to a garden) and you find that a coyote or some such critter has decided to make his dinner out of one of them and leave the remains in your garden,  Now I'm an animal lover as much as the rest of you.  I'm a vegetarian, for goodness sake.  In fact, to prove to what lengths I would go, I rescued a baby rabbit half the size of my hand and took it home and kept it safe until it was big enough to release (ok, I did NOT release it back in my garden) even though it's parents and siblings had been desimating my produce.  I just couldn't stand the thought of this little thing being eaten by a coyote.  But, forgive me, I digress.  So what do you think you would do if you found that a coyote had eaten cottontail cuisine in your plot, leaving only a few tufts of fur and a foot?  Well if you're a crafter like me...YOU MAKE SOMETHING!!!
Here's where I'm going to alientate half my readers and endear the other half but here goes.

I soaked the rabbit's foot in bleach water and then dehydrated it in my Excalibur dehydrator (No, there was not any food in it at the time!)  Then I glued a piece of wool felt around the leg end and wrapped it with a rubber band until dry.

Attach a key ring and VOILA!

Instant GOOD LUCK! (Well not for the rabbit)
O Come on, You know you all want one!

TA DA!!

Sometimes in life, you just have to crow!! 

W I P Wednesday, I needed to complete my daughter's knitted pants.

TA DA!! (btw, this pattern was published in the premier issue of  Living Crafts Magazine)

Next I needed to turn the heel on my mother's birthday sock.

TA DA!!  (I even picked up the gusset and am starting on the decreases.)

Finally, I needed to sew the fabric backing onto my friend's story blanket.

TA DA!!!

Yesterday was a good day!

As for today...

(Oooh!  Don't you just love mushrooms!)

Two pairs of Waldorf Doll Jammies

And a pair of wool pants to go wth both tops. 

And then, a quick trip to the thrift store...

And look at the rainbow of wool sweaters I picked up.  Oh the things I can make with these!!

And to that I say...TA DA!!!!

W I P Wednesday

Some of you may already know that Tuesday is Spinning Day in my home. Now, I spin on others days too when I get the chance, but I MUST spin on Tuesday to assure that I will get some spinning accomplished in my busy week. In my last spinning post you saw the beautiful hand-dyed Silk/Superfine Merino from Redfish Dyeworks that I was spinning up. 

It is now finished and yesterday on Spinning Day I began the plying process.  I decided on a two-ply after reading The Intentional Spinner by Judith Mckenzie-McCuin, who recommends a two-ply for knitting lace.  I intend this yarn for a small lace shawl or cowl so I am taking her advice.

I transferred half of my single onto my ball winder using an emptly toilet paper roll as a make-shift bobbin, weighing it all the while to be sure I was getting at least 2 of my 4 oz. on the tube.

And then put the remainder on another tube. Got them on the Lazy Kate and ready to ply.

I was able to start plying last night and will show you the resulting yarn soon!

BUT it is now Wednesday and I have decided to turn Wednesdays into W I P Wednesdays.  If you're a knitter, you know that W I P stands for Work In Progress.  I have so many works in progress, I'm embarrassed to mention them all.  So to force myself into methodically finishing them, I am putting them out there to the blog world for all to see. And for all of you to hold me accountable.  SO, let's begin...

 

A pair of knitted pants I started for my daughter a year and a half ago.  Fortunately these came out very large so they will still fit her and also fortunately they are knit in cotton so she can wear them into spring and summer.  As you can see, the knitting is finished and they are so close to being pieced.  Then I need to fold the wasteband over and add elastic.  Why have I waited so long?  Next...

A lovely pair of socks I started for my mother in September which were intended for her birthday which was in August.  I actually had the socks finished last month but since I changed needles (going from double points to magic loop) on the second sock to save time, and they came out different sizes, I had to start the second sock over again.  Aaarrgghh!  So much for saving time!  I am so close to starting the heel flap.  If I could get the heel turned today, I'd be happy.  And finally...

My dear friend, K, who lent me the Viking, and who was also one of my students in my Knitted Farm Blanket class needs her blanket sewn up.  I offered to do this for her since she has been so gracious about lending me her amazing machine.  Since I will see her tomorrow, this simply must be done today. 

So that's my W I P for today.  Stay tuned and we'll see if they actually get finished. :)

Monday Night Family Feast

I've decided to start a new tradition:  Monday Night Family Feast.

Monday tends to be a fairly light day for me and I'm able to spend a little more time in the kitchen so I decided to treat my family to a bigger than usual meal.  A "feast" for us.  Our usual meal normally consists of a big salad and a vegetable dish which is not only healthy but time saving.  But with no classes and no deadlines on Monday nights, I decided to do something different.

The menu was:

Mushroom Lentil Stew

Brown Rice

WHO Bread

Salad

And for desert, Yogurt Bread and Strawberries

I say "was" because I never made it to the salad part.  When I poured the hot stew into the terrine and lifted it to take it to the table, the enire bottom cracked and dropped out. Ahhh!  I was able to salvage half the stew but spent the next half hour cleaning up.  So we had some leftover edamame from lunch instead. (Anyone who knows me would know that this kind of thing happens to me on a regular basis so I just take it in stride now.) :)  Regardless, it was a very nice meal.  Recipes follow.

Lentil-Mushroom Stew (from the aforementioned Whole Earth Cookbook)

1 1/2 quarts stock or water        

2 C lentils, washed                     

1 onion, sliced and chopped       

1/2 lb. mushrooms, sliced           

1 tsp dried basil                         

1/2 tsp salt

2 stalks celery and tops, chopped

2 carrots, sliced

1 can stewed tomatoes (I used fresh chopped)

1/3 C oil (I used a tbsp olive oil for sauteing)

2 tbsp vinegar (I used balsamic)

Bring stock to a boil and slowly add lentils.  Reduce to a simmer and cook 1 hour.  Meanwhile, saute onion, mushrooms and basil in oil.  Set aside.  Combine all ingredients, except vinegar, (I had to add a little more water at this time) and cook at least 1 more hour (I cooked it less), or until lentilsare tender.  Add vinegar before serving.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  Serves 4 well. (Unless your soup terrine breaks.)

The WHO bread, which I'm not sure but I would guess stands for Wheat, Honey and Oats, is from  SouleMama.  Since the recipe is for a 1 1/2# loaf, I changed it for a 2# loaf in my Zojirushi. 

Here are my changes:

1 1/2 C water

1 1/2 tsp salt

4 1/4 C flour (I used 1/2 home ground red winter wheat and 1/2 All purpose)

1 tbsp sucanat (instead of brown sugar)

2 1/2 tsp yeast (I always use SAF Instant in my bread machine)

The Yogurt Bread Recipe is as follows:

6 oz. yogurt
2 eggs
1/4 C oil
1/4 C apple sauce
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 C sugar ( I used 1/3 C honey)
1 1/4 C flour (I used Home Ground Whole Wheat - HGWW)
1 heaping tsp. baking soda

Mix (whisk) together yogurt, eggs, oil, applesauce, vanilla and sugar.
Stir together flour and bakin soda in seperate bowl.
Mix dry ingredients into wet ingredients, add fresh fruit (optional)
Bake at 350 for 30 min.

*Flavors of yogurt that work best are: lemon, peach, raspberry, and strawberry/banana with fresh mashed bananas.

Pick a day of the week for your own Family Feast.  I'll do my best to keep my tradition going too!

Yummies For Our Tummies

One of the things we are very strict about in our home is no sugar.  In fact, my girls have never knowingly eaten sugar.  At birthday parties, we conveniently walk away when they are serving cake.  When checking out at the grocery store, they are not tempted by the well-placed candy display.  So for their birthdays, we make one of our everyday treats and add candles. Voila, natural birthday "cake".  My six year old wants either pancakes or muffins for her birthday but my three year old is insistent.  Banana muffins for her birthday and nothing else will do.  When she has a hankering for me to make them for her, she just tells me it's her birthday and I automatically know what she wants.  I found this recipe in an old recipe book from the thrift store.   

Anyone remember the Whole Earth restaurant?

Seven of them were gone before I could even take the picture.  And here's the recipe...

I add walnuts, sunflower seeds and pumpkin seeds, and for muffins, I bake for 23-25 min.  Yummm!

As much as we enjoy our raw nuts, now and then we will snuggle up with a bowl of fresh, hot, roasted pumpkin seeds/pepitas.

Spread on a cookie sheet, spray on olive oil spray and sprinkle with sea salt.
Roast in a preheated oven at 350 for 3-5 minutes.  When they puff up like little balloons they are ready. 
Enjoy!

One More For Good Measure

In case you were wondering, these pants are so quick and easy to sew up.

Here are a couple of patterns that I've used. 

 McCall's 5035 and Butterick See & Sew 5009

An another Spring outfit is born.

What Kind of Mother Do You Think I Am?

Did you think I could make an adorable outfit to give to my friend's daughter and not make one for my own daughters?  You should know me better than that!

My little Cuties!

And of course SARAH has to match.

Ready for our play date!

Just Call Me Hester

I have to apologize for being away these past few days. I thought my friend's return from Maui meant that she was taking my new love away from me. So what would you do if you knew you only had a day, nay a few hours left with a tantilizing new craft. One that has stolen your heart and made a mockery of your "natural" name. Like that man you want to flirt with, but every fiber of your being says you should never marry. Oh the deliberate strokes of the needle, like they were programmed just for you. Just staring deep into the LCD screen makes you quiver with the anticipation of what's in store. So I ask you...What would YOU do??? You would embroider darn it and you would embroider until you had covered every inch of every fabric, every t-shirt, every doll t-shirt in your home. So that when this cold hard stranger was gone from your life forever, you would have sweet rememberances of your time together. So that's where I've been my friends. Deep in the clutches of a Viking love affair and to heck with all other crafts. And to that I say, THANK HEAVEN FOR BIRTHDAY PARTIES!!!! Because when there's a birthday party, a gift HAS to be made and nothing will break the spell of a new craft faster than a deadline.

8:00 am Homeschool

10:30 am Home Appraisal (Yes, We're really moving.)

11:00 am Gather Supplies

11:15 am Layout and Cut

11:30 am Sew Baby Sew (Oh, I do love my serger!)

12:30 pm Present Finished

12:31 pm Present Wrapped

My friend has yet to pick up her Viking so I've covered it, yes, covered it so I can't be lured in by it's colorful images and pre-programmed madness.  I'm free, I tell you!  Free to craft again.  But every now and then I will wear it's image on my chest, my Scarlet Letter, like the Hester Prynne that I am.

And wear it proudly!! 

"Ah, but let her cover the mark as she will, the pang of it will be always in her heart." Nathaniel Hawthorne

I Gave My Heart To A Viking!

While one of my friend's has been enjoying 10 days in Maui, I have been happily babysitting her brand new  Husqvarna Viking Topaz embroidery machine. 

She had sewn on it but had never used the embroidery attachment and hoped that if she lent it to me, I would be an expert by the time she got back and could just show her how to use it rather than her actually having to read the manual.  I thought this was a brilliant idea and I think, in fact, I will go into the business of borrowing people's new crafting machines so that I can be their personal owner's manual.  Anyone have the new Bernina 830, a Cricut Expression, a Passap or Silver Reed knitting machine, or a 4 harness loom they would like me to borrow to show them how to use? :)  Anyway, as life often does, my week got so busy I wasn't able to touch the machine until yesterday, the day she was coming home!  Let me tell you, this machine is so user friendly, it all but pushes the buttons for you.  Having had no experience whatsover using an embroidery machine, I was able to sit down and start creating in minutes.  Within 30 minutes I had one project completed and was packing the kids off to the fabric store to buy thread, stabilizer and t-shirts. 

We picked out a design from the book, put a shirt in the hoop, gathered up our thread and pushed "start".

If I wasn't so fascinated watching it sew, I could have actually gone away and done other things while it was creating but I could not take my eyes off of it.

Finished in minutes and it was SO much fun...

We made some more!!!