It is all I know to say ~

book ~ Milk & Cookies
from ~ darling daughter #1
Macadamia nut white chocolate chip cookies
~ for a friend

What do you do when there is a loss...well of course you bake....? I am not making light of recent loss that 2 of our dear family friends have experienced. One a father in his nineties, the other a son recently returned from his first year of college. I stumbled on my words as I spoke to each of these families and asked each time if I could bring them dinner?

So, the answer to my offering was "thank you, but no" but I could not resist to at least make cookies for a friend.

I think making food, when you know someone is in need, is a way we humans try to take care of one another, it is primal to feed, nurture and show we care. We share meals for celebrations, remembrance and everyday breakfast, lunch and or dinner. It is way to connect, have shared experiences and to listen to one anothers tales of their day, their triumphs and their wishes. 

 As we attend the different celebrations of life I will bring cookies.

Oatmeal cookies for breakfast?

cheater OJ tea

 

oatmeal cookies 

tomatoes

before....

     When we get the sniffles I make an oj tea inspired by the book Kitchen Playdates. Instead of juicing the fruit, I purchase the orange and grapefruit juices, throw in the thyme spring and a cut lemon and heat it up on the stove. lazy...... I have made this elixir from fresh fruit and I do recommend this method...but if you are feeling sick, it is quicker to purchase the juice instead. I store the oj tea in mason jars and keep it in the fridge. We heat it tea up in a mug and sweeten it with honey. The aroma of thyme, citrus and honey is perfect. I purchased this book many years ago in an attempt to find food that dd #4 would eat. She is our little 'air fern'.

      I was craving an oatmeal cookie. They actually go quite nicely with the oj tea. From the Fanny Farmer Cookbook, I have had forever, this is my 'go to' recipe for oatmeal cookies. Like with everything thing I do I have to personalize it.... I added a teaspoon of vanilla, use half shortening and half butter and am generous with the molasses. They have egg, oatmeal, butter, molasses, raisins...perfect cookie for breakfast...most of the food groups represented.

      The tomatoes in the garden are growing rapidly. There are so many tiny yellow flowers. We will have more tomatoes then we know what to do with. And in our backyard, sad grass, which will become a larger garden with flowers, herbs, vegetables, melons and a bean pole in the center. It will measure 23' x 16', if I remember correctly. After the success of the little garden, I am ready for the next adventure. 

       More pictures to come...progress on the Mara Shawl (edging) and I decided to cut my stack of Children at Play fat quarters (purchased at Alewives Fabrics on-line) for a Ferris Wheel quilt pattern found on both "Twin Fibers" and "Q is for Quilter" blogs. I now understand why many bloggers have WIP's, works in progress. Because as I look around my room, I see all the projects still waiting to be completed. When I began crafting and sewing and quilting and knitting I told myself that I would first complete my project before starting another. This lasted a year or so. Then as I read this blog and that blog, wandered around various Pinterest boards and ooh and awed over this project and that, I too have accumulated a variety of WIP's. But it gives me options, keeps me interested and eventually they are finished. It is much more enjoyable to work on something interesting.  

      Two things about 'my' One Little Word....Last years and this years word began with the same letter, weird or not. And this years word, edit, is so hard. I guess I need the growth.So in the spirit of my one little word I will edit something then I can play with fabric as my treat.

      Enjoy your day

Monday Muffins

Good Morning!

I had 2 bananas sitting on the counter last night and I thought best make some muffins for my family.

I enjoy The Muffin Lady cookbook. They are quick simple recipes that are very tasty. I changed 2 ingredients, first I did not have mace, so I substituted nutmeg and cinnamon. The recipe calls for 1 cup oil so I used 1/2 cup oil and 1/2 cup applesauce. My darling husband purchased  2 different sized ice cream scoops for me to use for cookies and other baked goodies. These are very handy in the kitchen. I can't say enough about having the proper tools for cooking and baking. It does make all the difference. My girls are off to Seminary with muffins and bread that will extract a filling...hahahaha

Drizzling here today after a sunny weekend...A great day to stay home and knit by the fire

Happy Monday

Lists and things

Wednesday September 15th, 2010

So I wanted to share my list of 12 quilts and 12 dresses I would like to complete. But first I would like to amend my 'Plan'...I thought, perhaps, I would like to have this all done in one year. Then I started thinking if I would enjoy the time spent on each project or look at them  as just another task in the long list of chores I have made for myself. With that said, I do not have a time limit, though I would like to complete a dress and a quilt each month. I think it is a bit more reasonable...for me at least.

I also finished reading  "The Five Love Languages" by Gary Chapman and I discovered that my primary 'love language' is probably Quality Time, although I seem to need a little of each of the 5. So whether the 'quality time' be spent with others or by myself, I really want to enjoy and appreciate all the projects.

There are times when I get off on tangents...mostly from browsing around the internet and I see something I just have to make. So I will take the time to post those projects too.


The Quilts

1. Pinwheel Dolly Quilt (completed 8/8/10)
2. T-shirt Quilt
3. Windows & Frames (made from mens business shirts.Kate Dixon)
4. Poodle Hugs Quilt (Katy Jones)
5. Honu Quilt (Lisa Boyer)
6. Daisey Chain (Brioni Greenberg)
7. Mod Square
8. Bedtime Story (Aneela Hoey)
9. Family Tree Appliqué (Alicia Paulson)
10. Silhouette Wall Quilt (Alicia Paulson)
11. Little Houses (Ingrid Press)
12. Summer Quilt
13. and something using patchwork hexagons

The Dresses

1. Ice Cream Social dress (Oliver & S completed 8/21/10)
2. Yoga Skirt (Patty Young completed 8/10 & 9/14/10)
3. Antoinne (Citronille)
4. Wrap Dress (for my daughter)
5. Shirt Dress (Heather Ross Weekend Sewing)
6. Coffee Date Dress (The Selfish Seamstress)
7. Men's Shirt Dress (re-purposing a mens shirt)
8. Vintage dress for my other daughter
9. Megan peasant Dress (Sis Boom)

Three more to go....

Tangent #1

Today I did get a few things done, walking around the park, grocery shopping, going to the bank, filing and cleaning. I started a batch of bread, White Oatmeal-Potato Bread by Beth Hensperger from her book A Bread for all Seasons. I'll let you know how it turned out. But no sewing, perhaps another day...

Happy Dough

 Ileen