Lots of time has passed. My last post was about a big project that I am working on (yes, still working on it) but there is an even bigger project that has put much of my crafting on hold. Baby #3. So, there will be some updates at some point about Halloween craftiness and the “big project” but for the time being, I still need my early bedtime.
I haven’t been writing much because I’ve been working on a big gift for my brother and his new wife. I do have a few smaller projects on the camera to download and now that we have a working computer again, I’ll get busy.
I made some crayons the other day for a birthday party. I used this silicon baking tray, which we won in a raffle and heated them at a low temperature (200ish) in the oven until they melted. The crayons turned out really well, especially the ones with bits of similarly colored crayon. I wish I had taken a picture of the finished gift but I was frantically running around trying to get out the door to the birthday party and it completely slipped my mind. We gave a little sketchbook and a rainbow selection (six crayons) tied up with a little piece of pretty paper and ribbon. I think it looked nice, but I should have included a more descriptive message in the card because the recipient’s mom was entirely sure what to do with them! Note taken.
Shortly after posting about my love affair with rhubarb, I came across this recipe for rhubarb soda. Of course, I had to try it. It is fantastic for several reasons:
1) the blog intercultura y cocina (which is quite lovely) is written in Spanish — so I learned a few new words while trying out the recipe. For example, ruibarbo = rhubarb, a cognate for sure but probably not exactly what I would have guessed if I had tried to imagine the word on my own.
2) the finished rhubarb syrup that the recipe creates, can be used for many different types of beverages (and probably other things too). I tried out the soda using 1 part syrup to 4 parts Perrier sparkling water. It was pretty good. I also tried rhubarb lemonade using approximately 5 parts lemonade (we have the frozen Minute Maid kind that you mix with water) to 1 part syrup. This was REALLY good. I added a few frozen strawberries and it made a wonderful pink lemonade.
3) it is another way to use rhubarb before we get out of season!
Anyway, I’ll post some non-rhubarb things soon — either that or I’ll just change this blog to rhubarb only blog.
I love rhubarb. Some people put on weight during the holiday season, I put on weight during rhubarb season. I just can help myself from buying bunches of it at the farmer’s market. Once I have it, I can’t help but make pies. The problem is, I am the only one in the house who really enjoys rhubarb + anything pies, and I always end up eating the entire thing in just a couple of sittings. So, in an attempt to maintain control, I froze a bunch of chopped rhubarb so that I can space out the pies a bit. However, I did make the mistake of trying some strawberry rhubarb preserves using this recipe with slightly less sugar.
Paired with butter and homemade bread (with this recipe, substituting honey for sugar) — I’m in trouble again. And, I haven’t even attempted my mother-in-law’s amazing rhubarb custard dessert, because I know that would be too much for me to resist.
I just couldn’t resist this amazing sewing machine for the kids from Etsy seller Wood Clinic. Oh, it is beautiful and works really well on a chair next to my own sewing machine or on the table in the living room. There is a little wheel on the side you can turn to make the “needle” go up and down. Good fun, I tell you. Eleanor has already “sewn” several dresses and, in the process, totally disassembled the spool and thread (yarn) with which it came. I can’t stop her though, she is creating!
The kids tried papier mache for the first time — about two months ago now (!) — and they really enjoyed it. Frankly, I was amazed at how good both of them were at understanding how to add layers of paper and also managing the glop. We didn’t make anything specific, just practiced the technique of dipping newspaper strips, squeezing off the excess glue, and applying the paper to a base (in this case egg cartons).
We were practicing for a toddler/preschooler art group that we did with some friends (more to come on that once I get my act together) but I think the practice ended up working better than the actual class. I added some purple liquid watercolor to the glue to see if it would show up as they added layers, but it didn’t really do much. Maybe tempera would have been more effective — we’ll have to try it next time. I can’t find the exact recipe I used for the project but there are plenty online if you search for papier mache (or paper mache). We ripped the strips small so that their little hands could easily manage the process. I did cook the glue though, which isn’t entirely necessary but apparently makes the end product stronger. I also read that a recipe with a bit of salt prevents the papier mache from molding — good hint for anyone living in a humid area. Good messy fun.
I made this baby blanket ages ago for dear sweet Charlie but then forgot to photograph it before giving it to him. I did manage to take a picture of the fabrics before putting it together though.
Then, a few weeks back I had the opportunity to watch him for a few hours. He came with blanket in tow [big smile], so I took the opportunity to get a couple of shots of the blanket in action. It is similar to the blanket I made for another friend, but I didn’t know if Charlie was going to be a boy or a girl, so I tried to stay gender neutral. The front is pieced from long strips of the green flannels and attached to the flannel backing with no batting. It makes sort of a nice swaddling sheet, bigger than most blankies you get at the store and warm enough but not too hot as the weather turns summery.
And, Charlie is such a cutie, I’m happy to see him enjoying the blankie.
Not doing a lot of blogging lately, but definitely baking. I don’t exactly know why either — having the oven on as the temperature outside rises isn’t necessarily the most logical thing. Anyway, lets start with the bread.
I made my first ever batch of whole wheat bread and it was amazing. So amazing in fact, that I forgot to take a picture of the finished loaves. I used this recipe and boy, was it good. I didn’t exactly have the right ingredients so instead of white bread flour, I used a combination of regular all purpose flour and white whole wheat flour (the King Arthur kind) for the first part and some whole wheat bread flour from the local food co-op for the second part. It worked just fine — the bread was light but held together well. I think foodies would say it had a nice crumb. I was able to slice it for sandwiches for the kids, which is what really mattered to me!
Next up, booby bars. I have to credit Sarah with the name — I made some of these granola bars for her because they had several ingredients that my midwife had recommended as milk production boosters back when I was nursing Eleanor. The basic recipe I followed is here, but really I added so much stuff that I figured I should probably just share my version here:
2 cup Oats
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 cup whole wheat flour (again, I used King Arthur’s white whole wheat)
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 to 1/2 tsp ginger
1/4 tsp cloves
1/2 cup unsweetened coconut
1/2 cup peanuts
1/2 cup soy nuts
1/2 cup sunflower seeds
1/4 cup ground flax
1/4 cup sesame seeds
1 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup molasses
Add anything else you like. Add more honey/peanut butter/molasses to make it stickier if it is too dry. Mix all the ingredients and press into a greased pan. I like them thick so I use a 9 x 9 or two loaf pans. The more ingredients you add the bigger pan you will need (obviously). Bake at 325 for 20 minutes or until edges are browned. once cooked, I like to cut the bars before it cools and then they sort of break apart when you take them out.
And, finally, some Rhubarb & Strawberry Hand Pies a la Angry Chicken. Here is her post/recipe. I found the crust on her cheat sheet to be a bit dry so I tried a second time and added a bit more water (maybe twice as much). The second crust came out better but I put it on a regular pie, which I don’t have picture of. Instead I have a picture of my little pie volcanoes, complete with rock-hard lava flow. Ok, so they are not beautiful, but they tasted good, at least the non-hardened lava parts. I could have rolled the crust a bit thinner as well — maybe next time.
For some reason I have been whipping up a lot of things for little heads lately. A couple of days ago (or maybe yesterday?), I made a chef’s hat for the kids. I had seen the tutorial a long time ago created by Joanna Armour of Stardust Shoes and posted here over at Michael Miller Fabrics. While the little one was sleeping, Eleanor and I cut up an old sheet and put the hat together. It really didn’t take very long at all and the result was very pleasing to both of us. We have been reading the book Whose Hat? by Margaret Miller lately and the first page features a chef’s hat. I think having her own personal chef’s hat in hand made Eleanor really want to cook. She made several batches of “pie soup” as soon as the hat was finished.
I didn’t actually get the hat all the way finished. I stopped at the point in the tutorial just before the raw edges on the inside are finished off. I figured Eleanor wanted to use it right away and I can go back in and tidy it up later. I used what we had on hand (the sheet mentioned above) and I did not have fusible interfacing, so instead I used some flexible plastic screen from the back porch door which was recently repaired. I sewed a little tube in the straight part of the hat and used my handy-dandy little bodkin to thread it through. It worked really well, though if you hold it up to the light you can definitely see the screen! The kids don’t seem to mind though.
The other headpiece I recently made was for a special birthday girl. After seeing this post at tiny happy, I was inspired to both buy one of the flower fairies books (Flower Fairies of the Trees by Cicely Mary Barker) and make a crown.
I tried several attempts at making the crown, I couldn’t figure out how to get the flowers attached so that they lay nice and flat. The trick, I eventually figured out, was to take off all of the plastic stuff on the back — I had bought a big stem of many artificial blossoms and they were attached to the stem with a piece of plastic. I used some of the plastic mesh left over from the little house attached in the back with a piece of 3/4 inch elastic, a piece of nice soft wool felt hand stitched all around, and just sewed the flowers on with stitches across their centers. It is a bit wider than the tiny happy version but I think it turned out nicely.
