one shabby chick

We are the pirates who don't do anything

If you have never seen this movie - then you probably don't know what I'm talking about - but apparently I'm liking the vegetable movies lately...

Whenever I think of pirates, I think of those little guys - sitting in their boat - singing about "piratey" things.

My little guy has been asking me to make him a eye patch for a while now...it was always at a time when I wasn't sewing or I just forgot (which is horrible - I know) so finally yesterday I was determined to make it for him.

I guess he's been watching this movie and loved the eye patch. It had to be green - he picked out the fabric. I had a little mishap and the first one got thrown away - my brain just wasn't functioning and I had made it so it was impossible to turn inside out...but the next one got a seal of approval from the little pirate - and of course Baby Girl needed one too after seeing her brother's...

I'm making these today for our annual Cookie Exchange party. We usually have it at my house but it's pretty crowded cozy so my friend offered her beautiful, spacious home so we are having it there instead. I'll try and remember to take my camera and snap some pictures. It's basically a girls' night out - with cookies. And I always have a few prizes (an apron and tote bag) for the tastiest and prettiest cookie.

Have any of you gotten the new voile by Anna Maria Horner? It's amazing...I'm trying to figure out a dress I can make for the girls for Christmas - it will drape so beautifully - for some reason I was thinking it was going to be like Heather's Far, Far Away but it's nothing like it at all - almost has a silk feel to it..

And I also got some Hope Valley in the mail - have already cut into it for a Christmas gift....

Oh and I almost forgot - made these for Christmas gifts for a few friends...inside is a gift card to Starbucks - I used this tutorial - really great and fast to sew up!

400

The mail just keeps coming - this time it was a purchase from Kerri's cute Etsy shop.

And I picked up a cookbook yesterday - made a blueberry dessert last night - so good! Hubby said it tasted good but he wasn't sure about the texture. I am wanting to incorporate it more into the family meals but not sure how that will go over.

Baby Girl has been eating everything I've made "raw" but the older two are pretty picky (especially the oldest). The seven year old eats pretty much everything too. Why is that? We fed them all the same foods when they were babies - somewhere along the line we let it slide and the eldest ended up so picky. We are trying to remedy that but it's a constant battle.

But mom's on a health kick now so everyone is in danger :-)

Anyway - on to the 400th post giveaway...how does some munki sound?

I was thinking 40 5" squares of different munki prints.....and there will be some really good ones!

I may need to make you work for it though...how about a link to your favorite healthy recipe? It doesn't have to be "raw" but just something healthy and (maybe but not necessarily) kid-friendly?!

I'll start - this blog has super yummy recipes - and my friend is one of the contributors! She emailed me a couple of delicious recipes this past week - thanks Boni! She's also the one that linked me to this wonderful website!

ok - how about yours? I'll leave the giveaway open until Sunday night....

**edited to add: Comments are now closed!

Red Letter Quilt

I had planned on getting this up sooner (sorry Cynthia) but we (just me - the kids ride their bikes) have been walking to swim lessons and then today when we got home, my 7 year old was needing some one-on-one time so we played Stratego - he beat me and was so excited too!

Anyway - here's the Red Letter Quilt all done:

I washed and dried it last night and the raw edge applique is totally fine.

Here are my two reluctant helpers (my son and his friend).

I think I want to try a smaller version of this as a baby quilt - smaller circles too.

The raw eating is going good - lost a few pounds already.

I made this the other day for lunch and used a raspberry vinagrette  as the dipping sauce.

Raspberry Vinagrette:

1/2 c. canola oil (I used olive oil)

2 T Honey (you can use raw honey)

1 T mustard (you can use whole grain)

3 T Balsamic Vinegar

1 t lemon or lime juice

salt and pepper

1/2 c. fresh or frozen raspberries

Blend in blender until desired consistency. You could always add a bit of water to thin it out if it's too thick.

Going raw (among other things)

I've started eating raw - not forever - just for a few weeks or so. I need to lose about 20lbs. and thought this would be a great way to jump start that...and get me eating right too.

So far I feel great - way more energy!

Got some great swap mail today:

And have been working on a couple baby girl quilts...

Hubby has the cold flu so he's been in bed all weekend - poor guy - he missed out on the fireworks on the 4th (we went bowling too - it's so fun...we do it every year!).

Hope to finish up the Red Letter quilt tonight and I'll share pics of it tomorrow!

 

Sunday

Hope everyone is having a wonderful Father's Day!

Hubby is off playing some soccer with his friends - and we watched a game today after church - can't believe the US made it through! The kids are outside playing a mini game right now too.

We are having the family over for dinner and making fajitas (this marinade is so yummy!) and my sister made Banana Cream pie since it's my dad's favorite.

I made Hubby some Rice Crispy Treats but used Frosted Flakes instead - he was talking about them the other day and how they ate them when he was little.

I've started sewing up the Red Letter Day quilt....

I'm thinking diagonal lines for the quilting but we'll see.

We have swimming lessons tomorrow and my tote class at night (which I need to make up some samples for) so a busy day - plus the house needs to be cleaned!!

Piles

Piles of veggies from the local farmer's market (that is only about a 10 min. walk from my house - I love it! I go every Sat.).....

Piles of totes for the shop (you know, when I get around to uploading them)....

Fun pile of fabric from a giveaway....

and a pile of strips that are waiting to be sewn into a quilt....

And some already sewn...

I was planning on working on my quilt for Dana's quilt-a-long today but Heather Ross fabrics on Ebay sidetracked me...I got myself back on course for a while (see photo above) but then ended the day shoveling sand and rock to make way for a blow-up pool for the kids (and I am super sore now!!).

I think I can get in a little more sewing tomorrow before Hubby and I head off to a wedding at 3:33 (yep - that's the time on the invite). Major hippies - should be quite the wedding!

Brussels Sprouts

Yep - never thought I'd talk about brussels sprouts...never really thought I'd eat one actually. But that changed a while ago after I spotted this recipe.

And now Molly has this recipe in her wonderful book (I seriously cannot get enough of this book - it's fantastic!). So I had to try it out - yummy!

Today I finished sewing up the rest of my quilt-a-long rows and then finished up the front.

And the back (I didn't have enough solids so had to go with a print too).

I'm waiting on this batting since there's so much white in the front and I only have off-white batting.

I also (surprise) broke down and ordered some more fabric...from here and here. So I should have some fun mail days soon!

This might be a long one

Isn't it amazing how you can look back over the past year through your pictures (and your blog)?!

I really love the fact that this blog has documented things that I would have totally forgotten otherwise (like how Baby Girl used to call go-gurt soop-mario).

I was thinking while reading everyone's recaps that I hadn't really sewn that many quilts this year but after looking at my pictures I realized I was wrong.

Some were for friends...

and family

my kids....

and I even gave one away.

I joined a quilting bee (and have another one set to start in January)

and used a long-arm quilting machine.

I have worked up quite a stash this year thanks to all the fabric goodness that is out there right now

and 2009 will be a fun time to use some of it up.

I made a call before I left for Costco last night (which was CRAZY) and turns out the theme this year is Mexican (not Japanese - I'm still crying about no tempura).

So I'm making enchiladas and Tres Leches and thought I'd give you the recipe I use. I have a Spanish cookbook so I'm going to translate it as I type. Hopefully it will make sense.

Happy New Year!!

TRES LECHES

Cake:

1 box white cake mix (or yellow is fine too)

(and whatever other ingredients needed to make cake - as listed on box)

MIlk "sauce":

1 (14 oz.) can sweetened condensed milk

1 (12 oz.) can evaporated milk

1/2 pint of whipping cream

2 egg yolks

1/2 cup rum (if desired - I never add any to mine)

Sweetened Whipped Cream:

Whipping cream (I never measure - just pour in a good amount)

4 tsp. sugar

Preparation:

Prepare box cake mix according to package directions. After it is done, remove from oven and pierce with a fork all over the top of the cake.

While cake is cooking, prepare sauce. Put all milk sauce ingredients in a small saucepan and stir until mixture is almost to the boiling point (but don't allow it to boil). Remove from heat and pour mixture on top of cake. Allow to cool completely.

Whip whipping cream and sugar together until mixture is thick and then spread on top of cake. Enjoy!!

Homemade

Tomorrow night we have a homeschool Christmas party and there is a cookie contest for the kids. We spent the the better part of the day shopping for ingredients and this afternoon (and evening) baking.

Bela is making these. I have to pick up the white chocolate tomorrow (to dip them in and then sprinkle with peppermint bits) since we couldn't find any today.

Big brother is making these.

The kids also have to take white elephant gifts under $10 so I made some homemade gingerbread play dough and picked up these cute cookie cutters on sale at Walmart.

My kids loved it - and it's much cleaner than rolling out real cookie dough :-)

We have to make the cookies tonight since I am spending the day shopping with my sister - fun! Hopefully I won't be too worn out for the Christmas party - we are even going caroling.

** OK since I made you read all of that I guess it's only fair I announce the winner of the giveaway....

Congratulations.....Susan Cahill. You're the winner! Thanks for entering everyone and I'm sure I'll do another one after the new year - they are just too fun!

Random Integer Generator

Here are your random numbers:

28

Timestamp: 2008-12-06 05:30:38 UTC

Brown butter frosting and Tennessee pecans

I'm really not the baker in the family..that's my sister's title. And I'm not in charge of making any desserts for tomorrow but I've been craving these cookies for a while now so I finally made some.

I like baking but I really don't like having my kitchen messy - I think one reason is because there's not a lot of counter space so I feel the need to clean constantly while baking. Another bizarre syndrome I'm sure.

My grandpa has a pecan tree in his yard in Tennessee and sent us a bag. I saw this recipe while thumbing through Martha's book last night and made a batch of them as well.

I'm actually making mashed potatoes (which are horribly fattening the way I make them - cream cheese, sour cream and milk) and cranberry fluff (which we somehow make much different than any recipe I could find - it's basically red jello, cool whip, chopped cranberries, and mini marshmallows) tomorrow.

So these are just for us to munch on :-)

I am so glad calories don't count Thanksgiving week - right?!

Hope you all are feeling very thankful for everything you have and the family and friends around you - I know I am.