Ahhhhhhhhh!!!

I made Quinn this little monster guy for his first birthday. (One! My baby is one! Oh my goodness!) He could not care less about it, much preferring to spend his precious time putting small inedible items in his mouth, but Adelaide loves it and has adopted it for now.

It's the Koji pattern from the Wee Wonderfuls book. I challenged myself to work only with what I had on hand for this project. The corduroy is from an old pair of Adam's pants. I have so many old clothing items sitting around waiting to be fabric-harvested, so this made me very happy. The wool felt is left over from when I made Adelaide some play food a couple of Christmases ago. And the argyle quilting cotton has been sitting on my shelves for years.

The pattern came together nicely and didn't take too much time. It's sturdy. And kinda cute, despite the wonky facial expression it ended up with. (I tried to get that mouth on straight, I really did, but...)



I have to keep reminding Adelaide that she can't keep Koji forever. Someday Quinn might actually want him. So she's requested one of her own.

I love Jeni's*

I am a fan of ice cream. If you know me in the real world or have been reading for a long time, this is no surprise to you.

And while I love many, many ice creams, I do have a very favorite: Jeni's Salty Caramel. I happened upon Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams while on a trip to Columbus and thought it was some pretty yummy stuff. Then I was able to find some pints locally. I tried a few flavors (all very, very good), eventually hitting upon the Salty Caramel flavor. And then I was in love. Seriously. I never branch out anymore. If I'm in the market for a fancy (pricey but worth it) pint of ice cream, it will be Jeni's Salty Caramel.

But that is not the end of the love story, my friends. Jeni's has a book! So the other day I got my hands on Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams at Home and found that it included a recipe for the Salty Caramel ice cream! Yay! So many exclamation points!**

It was a bit more complicated and time consuming than my usual ice cream recipes, but it was manageable. And it is tasty. I'd say mine turned out not quite as good as the pints, but it was close. Definitely a decent substitute when buying $10 pints of ice cream doesn't seem like a good option. Although given my love of those pints, I probably consider it a good option way more than is reasonable.

So consider this my recommendation. For both the book and the store-bought ice cream. Find it.*** Eat it. Thank me.

*This is not a sponsored post or anything. Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams does not know I exist. I love them anyway. And I think my real-life people (like my co-workers) are tired of hearing me evangelize about an ice cream brand.

**In looking up links for this post, I discovered that the recipe is also available online here.

***There is a Jeni's coming to Chicago! To my old neighborhood! I cannot wait to make a field trip.

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I don't like it that much, but at least I finished it! Right? Right?

I have finally come to the less than thrilling conclusion of my maternity sewing project.



I've been working a few minutes here and a few minutes there on the Mariposa Tunic from Handmade Beginnings for a couple of months now, stitching away when I could find a spare (and not completely exhausted) minute or two, which wasn't often, obviously.

The pattern has a maternity option and a non-maternity option, and can be made as a dress or a tunic. I went with the maternity tunic.

And, though I kind of hate to say it, I have some issues.

First, I had read several pattern reviews that recommended adding some length to the tunic and some height to the modesty panel, so I did (about 4 inches to the length and 3 inches to the panel, if I recall), and thank goodness! This would not have been wearable for me otherwise. I'm 5'8", so maybe on someone shorter it would have been okay? But I don't typically have a problem with shirt torsos being too short, so maybe not.



Also, the ties: The pics in the book show it tied up front. Well, in reality, they aren't long enough to wrap around and come back to the front to tie, but the shape of the area where the ties connect to the main part of the shirt makes it not really work to tie in front without the wrap-around move because it leaves the chest really baggy and weird. So I can only tie this in back. Which isn't terrible, but is not what I had envisioned based on the book.





The inside is kind of messy. This is partly me, because I could have gone all fancy and figured out how to finish it more nicely without tons of messy, exposed, notched seams. But since I made Adam that Negroni (Colette Patterns, best pattern I have ever sewn from), I just want all the patterns to be as nice as that one and tell me how to make it all pretty and professional, gosh darn it.

The general fit is probably the most disappointing thing. Based on the size chart guidelines, I made a Small/Medium. I have almost outgrown it already. I am 7 months along and have gained a "normal" amount of weight, but my belly is definitely pushing the limits of this shirt. Yet the bust is too roomy, even though I have definitely gained at least a "normal" amount of pregnancy bust as well. So the fit is just off for me. It looks frumpy.



I like the chambray fabric I picked out (from JoAnn Fabrics). The sleeves are fine. And that's about the best of it. Not thrilled. Would not recommend.

Oh, well. I've already started my next project (for Adelaide, because after this I'm not feeling the selfish sewing right now), so onward ho!

KCW: Dotty Spring Pajamas

Hooray! I finished the pajamas, and it went a lot more smoothly than the first time around! Success!

Pattern: This was my second attempt at the Sleeping Johns and the Envelope Tee from Growing Up Sew Liberated. Once again, I cut the pants in the 2T size and the shirt in the 18-24 month size. This time, the only adjustments/changes were to make the short sleeves a bit longer than called for, more of an elbow-length sleeve.





Fabric: The brown ribbing has been in my stash for years, but I'm sure it was from JoAnn's. The dotted fabric is also from JoAnn's. It's a really nice knit, with a lot of stretch but also more stability than the waffle knit I used the first time around. The bolt sticker called it "legging knit," so there's that. It just feels really good, you know? Plus, Adelaide likes the dots.





How it went: Pretty well, amazingly enough. The thicker knit helped a lot. I think I need to add a little bit to the rise of the pants to accommodate the big cloth-diapered booty. And there was a lot of extra length in the legs for my on-the-small-side almost-two-year-old (I hacked off two inches, and there's still room to grow). The shirt fit great, though.

Comfort zone

You know how some things just seem too intimidating to try? There's not necessarily a good reason. Somehow, some things just seem tricky.

I've made great progress over the last few years at trying things that, for whatever reason, real or imagined, used to seem to hard. Sometimes these adventures have been successful. (See: growing dried beans, canning.) Sometimes they have not. (See: growing potatoes...but don't worry, I haven't yet given up on that one.)

My latest foray into new territory has been making my own body products. I've been interested for quite awhile, but I kept putting it off. It seemed complicated, time consuming, and potentially expensive. Turns out, these were some of those aforementioned "imagined" reasons.

Everything I've made so far has taken under half an hour and been super easy. And, yes, loading up on a fully stocked cupboard of essential oils and whatnot would get pretty pricey. But slowing building a stash of a few ingredients at a time can be quite reasonable, especially if you're using them to make products that will replace products you used to buy.

Example: I've been buying this fancy-pants, all-natural powdered deodorant for a few years, and it worked pretty well, but it cost $20 for a bag that would last me around 6 months. But the homemade deodorant I recently made? Working even better (!!!) and I'd be surprised if the ingredients for a 6-month supply cost more than $2. Woohoo!

Seriously, this might just be my new favorite hobby. Expect to hear more.

And if you've been thinking about jumping in, do it! I know there are a lot of books out there, and a lot of great online resources as well. I've been using the book Organic Body Care Recipes* quite a bit, both for some of the recipes and as a fantastic reference on ingredients and their uses. Not to gush, but I really love the section on ingredients. It makes me happy.

*Just a note, for purposes of full disclosure: When linking to books, I have started using affiliate links through IndieBound rather than just linking to Amazon.com as I had been doing (the Amazon.com links were not affiliate links). I'll still only be linking to books I like or want to talk about or whatever. I promise.

 

 

 

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I am a Bunny

I adore Halloween. Because candy and costumes rock my world.*



Knowing that this may be my last chance to costume Adelaide without her input, I chose one of my favorite children's book characters ever: Nicholas from Richard Scarry's I Am a Bunny. (Adam got to pick the costume last year, just so you know. We're being all fair and equal here.)



Besides pure adorability, this costume choice had another major plus: the overalls and shirt can be used as regular clothes** for the rest of the winter, and the sewing was minimal yet satisfying. Just like last year, I based the kid's headgear on the Sweet Pea Pilot Cap, this time with a few major adjustments (ears, obviously, and a velcro neck closure). Also just like last year: procrastination. I did most of the work on this bunny-eared hat the day of. I should have gone up another size with the hat, but it still worked. And the tail is just a couple of scraps sewn together, stuffed with some fiber fill, and safety pinned to the overalls.



None of our neighbors knew who she was. Maybe I am a Bunny isn't as widely read as I assumed?



But that's okay, because she sure charmed the heck out of her parents!






*Decorating the house and yard with spiderwebs, tombstones and pumpkin-shaped strings of light, not so much with the rocking my world. That's just not my jam. When Adelaide gets older maybe I can delegate it to her so we look less slackerish on this front?

**I tried going the thrift store route for these, but I had no luck at all, so I ended up on ThredUp. It's pretty cool. You can buy gently used kids clothes AND send in your gently used kids clothes to earn some cash (via Pay Pal) or site credit. My buying experience was good. I haven't sent in my own used stuff yet because I'm taking my time and REALLY filling that bag up, but I'll let you know how that goes. Full disclosure: The link is my referral link, and I can get credits when you use it.

Highs and lows (and tomatoes)

The garden this year had it's ups and downs.

The bad: The corn was ravaged by squirrels. The cucumbers gave us a couple of good weeks of production before dying a mysterious death. Rabbits (we think) ate the broccoli, though it may still give us a little something. And the wildlife ate 5 of our 10 tomato plants at the seedling stage. I still don't seem able to grow onions. The potatoes were almost a total bust (worse than last year, even). And the carrots are strangely stunted and have bad spots (huh? this has never happened to us before).

The good: Beans! The green beans were awesome again. The black beans rock my world. Fresh lettuce from the garden is the best thing ever. The basil went bonkers. We have four good-sized pumpkins growing! And we're getting a pretty decent crop of tomatoes from our surviving plants.



To hold on to some of the tomatoey goodness, I oven roasted them and put them away in the freezer to use for pasta sauce some dreary winter day. I used the method in The Homemade Pantry. It was easy and smelled good, but I won't be able to report on the tasty (I hope!) results for a few months.



Remarkably, even though the "bad" list looks longer than the "good" list, it still feels like victory. We grew some food; we got to eat it; it was yummy. I mean, can you honestly look at those roasted tomatoes and tell me it's not a win?

The kitty

It is my goal to make Adelaide one thing for each gift-giving occasion.* The Wee Wonderfuls book has been helping me meet that goal so far. There was the mermaiden for the first Christmas, and for the first birthday I gave "Katie Kitty" a whirl.



Adelaide is kind of obsessed with our real cat (the cat, let me take this opportunity to say, is not likewise smitten), which is what led me to choose this project.

It came together quite nicely, I think. The only change I made was to follow this suggestion with the legs.



I do so little hand sewing that when I start a project that requires it, I remember "Oh, I hate hand sewing!" But as this project progressed I found myself thinking that hand sewing isn't so bad after all. Maybe. At least, I seem to be improving with practice. My ladder-stitched attachments may not be the prettiest of all time, but they aren't glaringly bad and the parts seem like they'll stay on when subjected to abuse from the kiddo. Which is the whole point, I guess.



The body fabric is some wool (I think) herringbone I grabbed a ton of at a thrift store quite some time ago. And the dress fabric is left over from ... something. I had a heck of a time finding any nice colors of wool felt locally, but I finally found some wool scraps at a local quilt shop that seemed like they'd work (not really felt, I think, but the edges didn't unravel at all after me picking at it quite a bit). So far, so good. I didn't make the shoes. I ran out of time before the birthday and haven't felt the need since. So she's shoe-less, possibly forever.

Anyway, stuffed kitty verdict: I am pleased.



*This is easier than it might sound to some people, because Christmas and birthdays are pretty much the only regularly scheduled gift-giving occasions I am into. Every Hallmark-recognized event need not be an opportunity for more "stuff." If feeling gifty, an out-of-the-blue gift on a random Tuesday is much nicer.

A list of food-ish things

I have this mish-mash of food-related stuff I've been meaning to post but, for some reason, keep not getting around to. So I'm just going to brain dump it here and now.

1. The Hearty Brown Lentil Soup in Love Soup. I've made few things from this book so far, and I've liked them all, but this is number one for ease, yum, and being filling. Plus, it makes a lot. I'd recommend the book if you, uh, love soup. Especially if you're a vegetarian (which I am): all the recipes are vegetarian, but there's still lots of basic, hearty stuff.

 

2. Black bean patties with corn relish and avocado cream sauce. I made these for the Super Bowl. Really good. Relatively easy. Only change I'd make is less lime in the avocado cream sauce. It was insanely limey.

3. Easy, yummy guacamole. I don't know why/how, but I have had bad luck with making guacamole. This was easy and yummy (as I said two sentences ago, but maybe you forgot?). I forgot the onions - after everyone left following the Super Bowl, I was putting away some chips and saw an onion on the counter and was all, where'd that come from? - but it was still really good, amazingly enough, even though it's so simple.

4. Speaking of things I've had bad luck with: chocolate birthday cake. It's Adam's birthday, which means chocolate-cake-baking time. I went with the Hershey's Perfectly Chocolate Cake recipe for the third year in a row, what with it being the only non-fail chocolate cake recipe I've ever made. It's in the oven now, so wish me luck!

5. Lasagna in the slow cooker. This recipe was really easy, gave me a good use for some of the pesto I made and froze this summer and fall, and turned out pretty darn tasty. I recommend it. I made it yesterday afternoon and was able to forget about it (except for the part where it made the house smell like deliciousness) until we were ready to sit down to eat dinner. Awesome.

6. From months and months ago (how is this not already in a post?): I made my own pumpkin puree. Yeah, I was pretty proud of myself. We bought a jack-o-lantern pumpkin for Adelaide this fall, but we just left it intact on the front porch rather than carving it. So after Halloween, I decide to make use of it. I love doing stuff like that because it makes me feel all resourceful and what have you. Plus I love eating pumpkin seeds. Anyway, I'd never cooked a pumpkin or made a puree out of its guts, so I used this helpful tutorial. It took a lot longer than instructed to cook my pumpkin (it was huge, and took about an hour with the stovetop steaming method). But it worked! Hooray! And I cooked the seeds as instructed here.

Hoosier Pie

I really didn't post about this back around Thanksgiving? Really? I didn't mention the recipe that turned Adam around on the concept of pecan pie?

Because it is pretty darn good.



Now, I like pecan pie. I prefer a Thanksgiving offering that includes both a pecan pie and a pumpkin pie so I can enjoy some of each. This year, we hosted Thanksgiving (for the first time! and we all survived!). I delegated pumpkin pie to my mom, but I knew I wanted to try the Hoosier Pie recipe from A Homemade Life. I read it a few months ago and made a note of the Hoosier Pie recipe.

See, Adam has said for years now that he doesn't like pecan pie. Fair enough, I guess. Well, no. Not fair. I couldn't just let that be. I needed to make him like pecan pie. (Healthy, I know.) And Hoosier Pie was going to be my secret weapon. Sure, it is a pecan pie. But it has chocolate! And liquor! And it is Hoosier Pie. This may not be a selling point for everyone, but Adam is from an Indiana family and is a lover of Hoosier basketball, so for me, this was like a little gift from the baking gods. Because with a name like that, he had to at least try it.

And he did try it. And he liked it. Ha! Winning!



The big pie went pretty quickly, too quickly to get photos, but I used some extra pie crust to make some mini pies a few days later. Rest assured, it was just as tasty in mini form.

(This recipe looks like the one.)

The Mermaiden

I always think I'm going to make things for Christmas (gifts, decorations, cards, etc.). It will be fantastic, the things will be beautiful, I will feel all accomplished, and so on. Of course, this rarely works out as envisioned (see this post over at Made By Rae, which pretty much describes my issues exactly).



I did manage to make one thing this year: the Mermaiden! I've had the Wee Wonderfuls book since, I think, September. I've been planning which delightful dolls to make for Adelaide, but this is the first project I've actually managed to do.

She's a wee little mermaid for a wee little girl. And I think she's pretty cute, if I do say so myself.



I had to do the fin differently than instructed, though it was entirely due to my own areas of weakness and inability, not the instructions or pattern. I just don't hand sew well at all. And I also usually hate trying it, which doesn't help. Also, the decorative machine stitching just wasn't working out for me. So I gave up and formulated my own plan, which worked fine for me and made me happy.



I wish I had been able to make more of these projects by now, because there are so many cuties. I hope to get moving on some more of them this winter, once we settle in to the slower pace of January and February.

The problem with books

The problem with books is that they make me want to ditch all the practical, everyday things I am supposed to be doing with my time. You might be tempted to believe that the problem seems to be with ME rather than with books, but I assure you that you are mistaken.

I went to the library last weekend. God, I love libraries. Lovely places just bursting with books (and movies! and music!). And they let you take things home! For free! And if they don't have a book you want just hanging around, they will have one delivered from another nearby-ish library. Also for free! It is a magical place, I tell you.

But the point is, I checked out some "just for fun" books. And started reading. And didn't want to spend any time over the weekend without a book in my hands. And, to be frank, the book I was reading wasn't even that good (it was fine, but not great, not a real page turner). But reading is just so delicious.



Speaking of delicious: cookbooks. Specifically, the newest addition to my collection: Love Soup. Now, you might think that a cookbook would not give me the problem mentioned above. After all, cooking ends with food. To eat. Which is pretty darn practical. But then why did I spend all my post-baby-bedtime time last night looking at cookbooks and even cooking food, only to realize around 8:30 that I had no plan for dinner? I do have an interesting little eggplant and roasted garlic dip as an appetizer for tonight. (Why did no one tell me roasting garlic was so easy? Seriously, people. I needed to know that. I could have been roasting garlic all this time, but I have not been!) And I have plenty of new plans for future (soupy) dinners.



Another problematic book I'm dealing with right now: Wee Wonderfuls. So much awesome! Why would I want to spend time sewing nice practical things like a tablecloth or curtains when I could be sewing the cutest little toys ever? I hope Adelaide likes stuffed toys, because she's going to be getting some.

Though I am proud to say I actually did pull myself away from my bookish world this weekend long enough to sew the tablecloth. Which is good, because it was terribly easy and should have been done long, long ago. But more on that another time.

Two quick things

The thing about cleaning without creepy chemicals: Let me tell you a little bit about the magic of baking soda. I was cleaning the bathtub the other day. There was a lot of serious scrubbing involved, and it was not going well. Then I remembered that baking soda is supposed to be a good mild abrasive, so I sprinkled some baking soda in the tub and tried again. Holy cow. It was amazing. Just a bit of wiping with the sponge, not even real scrubbing, and the baking soda took all the grime right off. Just baking soda, water, and a sponge. I was so darn impressed.

The other thing: This is just about the cutest book trailer in the world.

Oops.

Holy moly, it's been nearly two weeks since my last post. I'm still here. I haven't been abducted by alien life forms or anything.

I've got this whole list of sewing and cooking projects...I just haven't actually managed to do anything on the list yet.

It's been busy around here. Too busy. You'd think I'd at least still have some food to post about or something...I mean, we do have to eat after all. But no. It's either been boring, usual stuff (I've made chocolate chip cookies at least twice) or epic failure (rarely do I take one bite of something and think "Well, I definitely won't be trying this again," but that happened a few days ago with a lentil dish).



I did learn not to listen to the instructions The Joy of Cooking gives regarding brushing egg yolk over a tart crust before blind baking it. Unless you want to spend fifteen minutes post-baking trying to pick apart foil and crust, only achieving moderate success (which means I was able to salvage about half the crust, the rest was permanently attached to the foil). At least the berry filling was yummy.

In less whiney news: I am getting ready to modify and cut into a new dress pattern from Built By Wendy Dresses, so here's hoping the "getting ready" part gives way to the actual modifying and cutting very, very soon.

Crime and punishment...no, wait, not punishment, just cookies.

On Saturday, Adam had a nice day planned that took us all over the city, including a trip to the Glessner House Museum down on Prairie Avenue. The house was very cool, and I am madly in love with the kitchen/pantries (yes, pantries, plural...gosh, I love a pantry). But one of the best things about our visit was that I bought this book!

The Nutshell Studies of Unexplained Death combines some of my very favorite things: miniatures, mysteries, odd historical artifacts. Frances Glessner Lee grew up in the Glessner House. Later in her life, she created these dollhouse-sized crime scenes, complete with clues and murder victims, to help train investigators. They are kind of creepy, I guess, but entirely fascinating, and I would love to take a look at them in person.

In completely unrelated news, I made these snickerdoodles. They were pretty good. They stayed nice and soft for as long as they lasted. I think melting the butter helps with that.  But I have decided that I really prefer a snickerdoodle that includes cream of tarter. So the search for the perfect recipe remains ongoing.