angry chicken

box of Clementines

I really like citrus. I have discussed this before, I know. But I have to talk about this again. I keep buying boxes of Clementines. We are on our 3rd now since Christmas, and eat them constantly. I have here my favorite breakfast which is maple syrup and homemade granola (from this recipe cheat sheet) and then plain yogurt and a Clementine on top. I had never had orange with granola until last year and it's so good. Very refreshing. Sometimes I use a regular orange, but I never take the time to segment it all fancy, I just peel it and then hack it up and throw it in. Pete's not about the membrane on oranges, but I like them just fine. The girls are split. My brother is actually very uncomfortable with membranes or anything fibrous in food. I actually thought he was going to hurl when he helped the girls carve pumpkins this year. He's what I call a bio-phobe. Like, his worst nightmare ever is seeing potatoes with eyes/roots growing on them. It's hysterical. He's all about computers, so I guess this sort of makes sense? I grew up with incredible pride that I, his little sister, could gross him out so easily. Which I did often. Wow, sorry if I ruined this breakfast for you. I am pretty sure there are certain words you should never use when writing about food and membrane is probably one, but what else to call that orange part? Plus, it's funny.

Okay, the polka-dotted aprons keep coming in for Tie One On! I will try to finish the gallery this weekend, when the e-mails stop coming. . .and the new theme will be up very very soon. Thanks you guys!

they didn't beat me.

I made the lollipops. I have been thinking about these for about 4 weeks now. Reading, checking books out of the library, going to find molds and flavorings. . .all that. There was a failed burnt to heck 1st batch, and this is batch #2—a success.

I am super happy with these molds. I wanted a thick lollipop with crisp edges—so they almost looked like tinted ice cubes. The plastic molds I found were too shallow and didn't have a hard edge. These were way more money, about $8 for 6 shapes or something (the plastic ones are only about $1) so I felt like a dork, but I am happy I stuck with my vision. Re-reading this, I am a tad embarrassed I am writing about my "vision" and how it relates to lollipops, but it's a blog.

Now they are tucked in glassine wraps tied with baker's twine. The pink ones are very lightly flavored blueberry (long story involving a 3 year old) and the green ones are sour apple. I hope to give these as little Valentine's Day treats and then have some extra for decorating cakes/cupcakes, which was the real reason I wanted to figure out how to make these. For this cupcake. Too cute. And I got a different thermometer, too. Mine had to be submerged way too far to get a reading—so far that I was afraid the syrup would boil over, so I took care of that. Now onto toffee. Why do I torture myself? I am still trying to get into old pants.

***update: Thank for the lollipop love! Here's some info:

Natural Dyes and flavorings: Nature's Flavors and Seelect have both flavors and colors. I got mine in town at either whole foods or wilds oats, I think, I have had them probably way too long.

The molds: I can't find the info! I know, lame. I threw out the packaging and I haven't found them online. I got mine at the Decorette shop here in town (Tigard location) Maybe we should call them? (only one of us should-ha!)

***update #2:

Ginger found the molds! Thank you!! They are here. They are called Sweet Creations Lollipop Molds. Probably available elsewhere, too.

Baker's Twine: From the Martha Crafts Line at Michael's. Hands down my favorite product of hers to date. I love this stuff so much, I think I have every color.

What's floating in there?: I placed some sprinkles in some of the molds before filling them. They turned out pretty cool. Mariko told me to try this, so I had to.

I didn't make this cake.

Pete's birthday was Sunday and this incredibly cute cake was brought by Melissa to celebrate the occasion. Wow! I made an ice cream pie (photos soon) so this was just perfect. And look at it! It's from the Bakery Bar and is a carrot cake with a cream cheese frosting— not too sweet at all. Just perfect. It's a 6" round with 4 layers. I think I might have to try this size. 8" rounds are my go-to cake pan size because I love the height they give, but now I am thinking I want even more. Height that is. Pete made out pretty good. He got some kill Pumas and some smart-wool socks. Not terribly exciting, but still good. He's actually playing out tonight. After a long hiatus he is playing live music again and I am so happy. The guy is a genius. A music major who picked up brainy software development on the side (?) He has missed the music side of life for awhile now and I have missed it too, vicariously through him. He is the best Dad ever, one of those guys that is 100% with the girls when he is home—which is how I get all my Amy stuff done. But, I feel guilty, or I have felt guilty, that he's had so little time of his own for the last few years, so now that he's playing music again is so very cool. Putting the 3 girls to sleep by myself while he's out playing is laughable. The last gig he had they were still up when he got home, on the couch, reading—but hey, at least no one was crying.

I think Pandora has a sick side to it. Have you noticed this? Like every once in awhile it will throw in something completely random, like Captain Beefheart. *edit-pete has confessed he added this to our list on pandora. but still.

aprons and stuff

It's Friday and I am happy about that. It's not been a bad week, but I am looking forward to getting some help around here. I have some projects in mind—some crafting and some cooking. I had a failed batch of lollipops and I am determined to not let beat me. Reading the thermometer correctly will help immensely, I think. I didn't have it submerged enough last time and so my sugar syrup turned black while never getting to the hard crack phase on the thermometer. Oops. It's just sugar and water, right? No biggie. Not like the 4 eggs and 2 cups of sugar I wasted when I forgot to put the flour (the flour!) in my pumpkin cake last weekend. That is still irking me, actually. Oh, cooking with the girls can be fun and so not productive. I blame them, for the record.

Here's my apron for Tie One On, the theme being Polka-dotted Lovelies. It's for a young girl, and I thought it would be a great gift with the cookbook there. That's my copy, which is well used. I love this cook book. I think there is a sewing version too, but I haven't seen it in person. This fabric is by Grand Revival and the ruffle is from my trim basket.

other stuff:

-Julie over at Booga j reviewed a bread baking book that has been calling out to me. You have to read bout it, it sounds so cool!

-The bloggies!!! I am honored to be nominated in the Best Craft/Art Blog category along with the other great blogs, not martha, PostSecret, posy gets cozy, and apartment therapy. I just had thai food with Alicia last night and am now planning on T.P.-ing her house, you know, as a gesture of friendly competition. And I got a chance to talk to Megan of not martha fame this summer, and she was so cool and swell, I feel totally comfortable driving to Seattle to T.P her house, too. This is my 3rd year being nominated and I think I have come in last each time. I assume so, because they list the winner, and then the other blogs. . .and I am always listed last. So one can assume, that, you know, I am last. So my goal this year is to be second to last. Vote! I always feel so excited to see the other nominated blogs are out there. I am going to check out the music ones for sure. I can only listen the Fraggle songs a bit longer around here before I go all hyphy.

 

someday I will make one.

Here's another book I recently picked up, again a Japanese craft book. ISBN978-4-277-49061-0. I have yet to try a project from a Japanese craft book, but I am game. There are diagrams in this book and it seems reasonable enough. It's more of a thick pamphlet, not a book—it was only $3.95. I love the big-trivet-for-your-hiney thing. If I had one I'd feel like I were sitting on the coolest hot pad ever.

I have to try it 'cause I can run to a local crochet expert if I get into trouble. The last time she helped me crochet I was very pregnant and mentally impaired. I promise to do better this time.

Okay, can't find this book online either, sorry. If anyone can, please post it in the comments. It's published by Ondori. Again, I get my books here in town, you can read all that info in my FAQ.

In keeping with my recent theme of pouring over books at night but not actually starting anything related to their contents, I have been spending way too much time over here at this wallet draining needlework bookshop, The Mad Samplar Books. Ouch. If you like used or rare books of the needlework variety, sorry in advance.

picnic at hanging rock-ish

I just got this book and am smitten. It's all about altering t-shirts, sweaters, and whatnot by adding lace, doilies, and bits of trim. The photos feature all girls, but of course I want to dress like this, too.

So elegantly cool. That crown there is just a circle of lace. Brilliant. And the doily on the strap is perfect.  Bloomers make an appearance too, so I felt compelled to take this book home with me.

The photos are so lovely. These girl look so real. Albeit a bit moody, but hey, that's real too, you know? It sort of reminds me of a more casual Flora and Henri. The ISBN is 978-4-12-390158-1. There are no patterns in this book because it's altering existing clothes, so there's just illos with generic ideas. It's all in Japanese, of course. I can't find it online right now, but I know you sleuths can. Here's an image of the cover. (I get all my Japanese books here locally, you can see more info in my FAQ.)

And thank for all the eMailorder #8 love!! Don't forget to show to paper cuts in the Mailorder group on flickr, I can't wait to see!

eMailorder #8!

It's here! Please head on over to kingpod to get yours now. In this special PDF issue you will get 4 paper cut designs, along with helpful directions and a mailorder recipe. I hope you enjoy cutting these as much as I did

Print these out at home on any color paper you like. Now you don't have to worry about transferring the paper cut design. How handy! And, what a lovely Valentine's Day gift these would make!

A brief note to special Mailorder subscribers-

The last issue for subscribers was #7. . .so you have them all. I know, number 7? This is because the first subscription round was 3 issues, and the second was 4. . . hence the silly 7 number, so this # 8 is a new issue and a pdf only. No worries, the red envelope has not gone away, we are just trying some different formats for fun and excitement. Like, we need more around here.

naan too hard.

Naan! Why haven't I tried making this before now?

This was my first time making naan and I think I got the recipe here, but I looked at a few, put the laptop on the kitchen counter, and then just went for it—and this was 2 weeks ago, so lord knows. It was terribly fun grilling these and they froze well. I had to freeze them because the recipe made about 16. I made pizza for the girls on them, but because I called them naan first and then pizza second, they were rejected. This resulted in not my finest mothering moment, but oh well, Pete and I ate the heck out of them. I should try making them with whole wheat flour or white whole wheat flour (has anyone tried this type of flour?) so I can feel 35% better about stuffing way too many carbs in my belly. Yum!

I should have used this book, which we love, but I can't find it, which is ridiculous because it is huge. Not the type of thing one would lose. I know for awhile it was a structural part of a makeshift desk (don't ask) but that has been dismantled, so it could be anywhere. It looks like it's out of print, but powell's has one left. Here's some at amazon, too.

bloomers

These bloomers were requested the week before Christmas and were sewn later that day when I was totally insane. I used my go-to kid pants pattern (I don't have the pattern # in front of me, but really, any one will do fine) and just made them shorter, added the lace on the hem, and some ribbon (not functional—decorative only) on the side. The ribbon bows are stitched down, so they can't come untied. This minimizes issues that may arise which could result in not leaving the house anytime soon, at all. They are for the oldest daughter, but a request has been made by the middle child as well, although it's fleeting.

These are perfect for under dresses along with Heidi and Little Bo Peep style dress up. And, they match her dolly's bloomers, so there you go. Matching the dolls has gotten very important. Ask Grammie. She has been slaving away sewing a matching jacket for Sadie to go with the jacket Santa (Grammie) made for her dolly. Of course, there was a doll sized muff too, and when Sadie got her jacket to match, Delia asked where the matching muff was. Tough crowd. I love this so much—sewing doll clothes and matching clothes for the girls and all that, but sometimes I wish for the days when they would only wear pajamas and lifevests (for real) or I just want them to wear yellow jumpsuits everyday and be done with it. Like in Bottle Rocket. Or Devo.

stuff that looks like other stuff

I love these cups from crate and barrel. I snoozed and didn't buy the larger ones and now they only have these petite (but not as useful) espresso size. Still, I really dig them. The whole ceramic-looking-like-a-disposable thing kills me, like these containers at yoyo ceramics, thanks sarah. These porcelain dishes that are cast from take-out containers as molds are stellar as well.

And how much do I love The Curiosity Shoppe anyway? A whole lot. Much time is spent there cruising around and also reading their shop blog. I love it when cool shops have blogs. And restaurants, too, like Little Red Bike Cafe. Oh, and speaking of Portland restaurants, we had a lovely dinner at Cava the other night. It's Amy and Randy's new restaurant.You can see their drool worthy menu here—please get the profiteroles. Please. It's the nicest place to hang out, I highly recommend it. And they have a kids menu too, although the only kid we had with us isn't eating grilled cheese yet and thankfully was asleep most of the meal.