Posted on

fabric for a baby quilt

baby quilt fabric

My friend Lauren used fabric to cover shelves and make embroidery hoop swatches for her baby girl’s nursery. We were chatting about what to do with the leftover fabric and I suggested a baby quilt. Let me tell you, when I saw all of this cute fabric, I was so happy when she said yes. These prints are so sweet!

I can’t make my standard Easy Baby Quilt, but still want a design that’s simple. Maybe an Easy Baby Quilt Level 2? We’ll see.

knitted sweater update: It’s finished and adorable, but not yet delivered.

kombucha update: OhMyGoodnessThisTeaTastesSoGood!

Posted on

the mother of all tea

kombucha tea

Do you drink kombucha? I’ve seen it mentioned here and there over the past year, and when my CSA offered a class about it, I decided to learn more. I love tea — black, green, herbal, caff, decaf — I drink it all. How could I not be interested in a fermented tea drink?

Taking a class made me feel more confident that this is a really easy process. Tasting different brews gave me an idea how different tea leaves and brew time affect the end product. I was also glad to learn kombucha has a low pH, so I don’t have to be concerned about botulism. (Remember when I worried about that when I canned apples?)

Everyone in class left with a SCOBY (Symbiotic Colony of Bacteria and Yeast) to start their own batch of tea. (That’s mine pictured above.) I’m brewing in a one gallon glass container and mine has already started to grow into a stereotypical round mushroom-looking mother. I guess that means I’m doing it right!

I have to say I’m a little nervous about this, like when I made yogurt for the first time. In a world that’s so anti-bacterial, it’s weird to invite it into your home and into your food.

What do you think about kombucha? Ever heard of it before? Do you buy it at the health food store? Brew it at home? I’m curious!

p.s. Here’s a sneak peek of my current knitting project.

Posted on

csa bag four: lots and lots of greens

csa cabbage

week four: kale, cilantro, napa cabbage, salad mix, carrots, head lettuce

Well, I’m definitely back to eating lots of salads. I’m also excited to make another batch of cilantro pesto. My daughter cheered for more kale chips, which I made yesterday. I don’t expect them to last past tonight’s dinner.

I made saag “paneer” with the turnip greens and collards. It’s amazing how such a big bowl of greens can cook down to such a small amount of puree. I had to add two bunches of fresh spinach from the store to feed four adults. I also substituted extra firm tofu for paneer to make it healthier. The dish got a thumbs up from my mother-in-law, who is from India. Yay!

The napa cabbage found its way into Heidi Swanson’s Japanese pizza recipe with a few modifications. I skipped the leeks and added some shredded carrots and chopped green onions. It was so good I ate my portion straight from the pan – never even added the garnish.

My favorite salad right now: salad greens tossed with balsamic vinaigrette, chopped tomato and strawberries, hard boiled egg whites, crumbled feta cheese and a sprinkle of sunflower seeds.

This is starting to sound like a food blog! Don’t worry, I’ve got some knitting that’s almost ready to share. Pics to come soon!

Posted on

csa bags two and three

csa cilantro

week two: broccoli, green garlic, radishes, salad turnips, lettuce mix, cilantro
week three: broccoli, salad turnips, purple top turnips, head lettuce, collards, green onions

I need to do a little bit of catch up on my CSA notes. Even though I planned out how to use my veggies the first week, I wound up throwing things together at the last minute in the evenings.

  • Instead of the kale salad, I made kale chips. They are one of my daughter’s favorite and she practically ate the whole batch in one sitting.
  • I was in the mood for Indian food, so I added the radish greens to my Channa Masala for Dummies recipe. Yum!
  • I roasted one batch of radishes in the oven at 350 degrees. I usually roast veggies at 500 degrees, but I was afraid the radishes would cook too fast. Instead, they didn’t get that brown crispy outside my family loves. They were good, but not great.
  • I pan sauteed the second batch of radishes with chopped turnips, broccoli stems and onions. I let them get nice and caramelized, then added the turnip greens until wilted. Yum!
  • That big bowl of cilantro pictured above lasted a long time. I added chopped leaves to all kinds of dishes, but used most of it to make cilantro pesto.
  • After the second week, I bought a salad spinner and it’s made life so much easier!
  • I’m still buying a few organic staples from the store each week: lemons, tomatoes, avocados and strawberries.

My favorite sandwich right now: fried egg over medium with tomato and avocado slices on multigrain toast.

My big plan for this week is to make saag with the turnip greens and collards. I’ve done a little research and even though most recipes use a mix of spinach and mustard greens, saag is technically any type of green. Crossing my fingers on this one!

Posted on

a bookish kind of summer

There’s something special about a good book. The lines between fiction and real life get blurred. You feel like you really know the characters and miss their company when you’re finished reading. You almost don’t want their story to end because you hate saying goodbye.

A good book can take over your life. “Just one more chapter” becomes “is it really 2 am?” You abandon things like knitting, crochet, sewing, blogging — even laundry. You’ll be hunched over your book in the living room and hear grumbles from the kitchen that “there’s nothing in this house to eat.”

summer reading

I’m not the only one in the house bitten by the book worm. The first day of summer vacation my daughter insisted we go to the library to sign up for the reading program. A librarian had visited school and my daughter knew exactly where to go and what to do. She picked out her books and announced that she was ready to get her own library card.

Once home, she quickly finished her picture books and picked up Judy Moody, Girl Detective. I should have seen it coming, but I was surprised on our next visit that she didn’t even want to look in the picture book section. One chapter book and my girl was hooked. We came home with another Judy Moody, a few Cam Jansens and a Little House.

And so it begins: reading at the table, in the car, before going to bed. “Just one more chapter, Mama!” “Can I just finish this page?”

summer reading

I’ve finally come back to reality. The laundry is folded and the pantry has been restocked. I’ve got an untouched stack of craft books that need to be read before their due date. Friends are having babies this summer and I’ve got to start on gifts. Time to get back in the world of non-fiction and get some things done!

My daughter, on the other hand, is a lost cause. I’m so happy for her.

Posted on

daisy desktop background

may flowers

I’m still going through my flower pictures from last summer. One of my favorite flowers is the daisy. I like how the petals curl under on this particular one. They seem so graceful and relaxed.

My laptop desktop is littered with screen shots and icons. This pretty flower gave me the incentive to finally clean things up.

Feel free to download and share.

Posted on

gift card wallet

gift card wallet

Here’s the little gift card wallet I came up with after sewing this. It fits all of my requirements: small, thin, definitely ok to give to a guy.

gift card wallet

I played around with interfacing and decided that it worked best backing up the outside fabric. I tried it on the inside pockets, but it was too hard to sew through. I also tried it without, but the wallet was too floppy.

gift card wallet

I also abandoned the fastener. As long as I pressed the finished piece really well, it stayed closed on its own. I’m sure that’s because of the stiff interfacing I used.

It’s my hope that these little wallets aren’t just for giving the gift card. They would be great to hold a drivers license or credit card, maybe even a school ID or business cards.

I’m also thinking of working up a knit or crochet version. It might be a great project for using up leftover sock yarn!