angry chicken

feeling foolish

I needed to use up just a handful of berries before I frozen them all. These got added to some whipped cream for dessert. That's it. Barely sweetened whipped cream added to mashed berries and then more whipped cream on top. It's really tart like this, which I love, but you could add sugar to the berries to take the edge off. It's basically this blackberry fool recipe. And here's a healthier version that sounds good. wait— I think it does. Hmmm. Does yogurt seem like an odd pairing with whipped cream? Not sure about this. And if you make a fool with mostly yogurt at what point is this just a smoothie? Anyhoo, the 100% whipped cream fool was very very good.

And a random food story-

We were eating at Humdinger (an old-timey burger joint with 4 tables and is still cash only) which has barely changed since I was 5 and they have this challenge where if you eat a HUGE soft serve ice cream cone in less than a minute, you get $20. So, this 14-year old kid tried it and failed miserably—but then his buddy wins $20 by eating, get this, an entire stick of cold margarine. God! The dude working there asked the diners if we would be offended is he tried, 'cause it was so sick and wrong. I said no, but told the kid that he should at least try it with butter because margarine isn't even food, but he just laughed. Oh, the youth. I'll bet he had a bad day the next day. Sorry for the gross out. Humans are funny and weird.

coloring work

 

 

Coloring is the work of the day around here. It's mostly coloring on blank sheets of paper and in small sketch books—illustrating stories they make up. Often these are about a "crazy party" but sometimes they involve a ballet performance. The middle child (whose work is shown here) is all about full saturation of color and filling up the page, entirely. She does this in a fast, almost frantic way, very unlike her older sister, whose work seems to be getting smaller and smaller. It's so fun to watch and I find all these pieces they create impossible to get rid of—so I keep them in a huge storage tub in the basement that I will have to spend months going through later when I am an old lady.

The fabulous small sketchbook is from Emily (available here) and is a favorite. For more handy sketchbooks, I also take sheets of paper, fold them in half short-wise, add a cardstock cover and sew a stitch down the middle with the sewing machine. Just like these. Super easy and cheap. I keep them in my bag with pens if we get stuck anywhere. They have saved me many times.

The most popular art supplies this past year have been:

• These skin tone colored pencils. We got this set as a gift. We also buy pastel colored pencils in skin tone colors here locally at Art Media, open stock. I buy the nicest ones I can. (Different brand than the set, but just as good.) They cover so well and since they are really into drawing people and really into skin tones and the variety of skin tones in sets is totally lacking in diversity—it's completely worth it. Dick Blick has open stock too.
• These pastels, which I buy by the 1/2 dozen, they are such a good price (I get the 12 color set for $1.90) they are perfect for heavy coverage.
• brush pens. Not cheap. We have had long talks about putting the caps back on. The brush tip makes for really interesting work, and they've been using them on colored paper, which makes a really cool effect.
• These triangular pencils from Stubby Pencil Studio.
• This outstanding pencil sharpener, which the girls can use by themselves. It's great at home and in my bag because it holds the shavings.

I let them pick out these items, it's a great way for them to spend a little money and if they pick out only 2-3 brush pens themselves, they seem more capable of putting the caps back on. In college I worked at an art store for a few years and became really picky and nerdy about art supplies—which has served me well. I miss it sometimes (well, I don't miss the weird dude who we found doing yoga in the restroom) or more precisely, I miss the fat employee discount.

bits of stuff

Blueberry picking at Columbia Farms a few weeks ago. We need to head back soon for blackberries.

Links and such-

• Abby is hosting a very cool event at her house this Saturday, Summer Social, featuring a ton of great local talent selling wonderful wares. I really want to go. It's on the schedule after we rip out the old nasty carpet in the outdoor playhouse we are fixing up with the girls' help. Who puts carpet in an outdoor play house?
• I am totally mad at bloglines. They are not picking up my Atom feed, so there appear to be no updates from Angry Chicken since June and my 4 e-mails have not been answered. You can sign up to my RSS feed on bloglines and be just fine; just the Atom feed is busted. I was complaining about this to a friend last night and she said, "Why are you even using Bloglines? Use Google reader." Word.
• I just received a lovely book, The Blue Heron Ranch Cookbook: Recipes and Stories from a Zen Retreat Center, by Nadia Natali and it's full of simple and healthy recipes and some really interesting writing about running a retreat center. It's really a good read if you like reading cookbooks, which I do. I also am enjoying Cooking Fun: 121 Simple Recipes to Make with Kids, by Rae Grant. This is a really nice book to give to grandparents while asking for babysitting, I have discovered.
• I really am hoping to see the new Harry Potty (sic) movie very soon. I am getting old, though. I just can't sit in a movie theater 2.5 hours. I get so fidgety. Maybe that's not getting old, maybe that's just me.
• I am so into this look right now It's #15. That red skirt needs to be sewn very soon.

a fruit-filled cookie-cake type of awesomeness

This is a teacake from this book I keep mentioning, Rustic Fruit Desserts, and it is noteworthy for many reasons. It's kind of like a cake, kind of like a cookie, the dough can be easily frozen, almost any fruit can be used, and it requires no rolling. You make the dough, press half into the bottom of the dish, add the fruit, and then add the remaining dough on top. That's it.

 

This is so insanely good because there is no sugar added to the fruit—the sweetness all comes from the dough, which isn't even that sweet, so you can eat it for a meal. Which I do. I like it hot, cold and room temp. You can add vanilla, or even a little almond extract to the dough. In the book I believe it's called Stone Fruit Teacake, but because I go to the Baker and Spice Bakery almost every week (yup) I know they make it with all kinds of fruit, right now it's raspberries—which is heavenly. The bottom crust browns to make a firm cookie base, oh man. I know I'm getting weird here, but really, it's so good. I'm going to stop now and just say I like it a whole lot—for both how easy it is to make and how good it tastes in my mouth.

nani all the time

This is a Nani Iro print I bought over a year ago. It's wasn't cheap and it's also quite narrow, especially when you wash/dry it. I had it ready to go for I don't even remember what and then just froze. It was too pretty to cut into and I just couldn't decide, so I shelved it. This bias binding is Nani Iro as well, and same thing—I couldn't use it, it was too pretty. Sarah just posted about the same issue and made this amazing blouse.

So, a bit back, while going through stacks of random plies in the sewing room, I just decided to make a dress out of it. Something easy. The fabric didn't seem as special and untouchable as it did a year ago—you know how it is. And now I am so happy I waited, because this is a really easy, very wearable, summer dress and it came together without a hitch. I really like my photo stylist.

 

I used McCalls 5042 (the same pattern I used 3 summers ago on this dress—but it looks to be out of print now.) I used a rolled-edge serger stitch on the hem. I didn't line the bodice, as it called for, just used the serger to finish the inside seams and the bias trim to finish the bodice edges. A long invisible zipper is in back.

I will say as much as I love this print and this designer—oh, that double gauze vexes me. I don't have a deep love for this fabric type. It's clingy as all get out. It's a cotton linen blend that feels like kleenex, has no drape at all. The double layers stick to themselves. It also sticks like crazy to my underwear but lining it would make it too warm for me, since it's already got two layers, so I wear a little slip under. However, I am so happy I finally was able to get over it and use this special fabric despite my kvetching just now about the weave. I really do love this dress.

more stuff in a jar-part II

We went to Jade Teahouse again a bit back and can I just say, again, how much I love this restaurant? I love it. Anyhoo, the Thai iced coffee was so very good and I have been craving it ever since. I made some at home and while it wasn't nearly as good, I haven't given up hope. I am still tinkering with the recipe. I am thrilled to be keeping it in a mason jar, so it's making friends with all my concentrated tea blends.

For this batch I added heavy cream to the super strong spiced coffee, but I need to try it with condensed milk next time. The spiced coffee is already sweetened by the time I add it to the jar and put it in the fridge, so I can't just add condensed milk to it now without having some sort of glycemic freak-out. I found some recipes but realized in researching there are many many ways to make this coffee. I think I need to add more sugar (I bet agave would work too) because it still doesn't taste right yet. The recipe I made is based on the first recipe I list below with a lot less sugar. But now I think it needs more sugar, so I am still tinkering with it.

• How to make Thai Iced Coffee
• Thai iced coffee from Recipe Source
• Thai iced coffee from RecipeZaar (this looks very good to me)
• Thai iced coffee from Epicurious (I'd use normal sugar, not Splenda.)

**update: After drinking this for about 2 weeks now, we have decided that using whole milk is better than the heavy cream or condensed milk. At least for this daily at home version. I like the richness of the cream once in awhile, but not everyday.

super fun stuff.

_{all photos from Yellow Owl Workshop}

I am giddy playing with these new items from Yellow Owl Workshop. These rubber stamps in the box are one of the most popular art supplies in our house. We have the other sets as well, and the girls like to mix them up—which makes for the real cool landscapes. They are brilliant. And I am totally digging the new old-timey hand-drawn correspondence set. I will admit these only recently have been shown to the kids—I needed to keep them pristine for a bit.

Other goodness:

• I saw this (via black*eiffel) and am in love with it. How can a to-do list look so happy? I must have it.
• I am smitten with these shoes. I can't decide on a style or color—I love them all. I need to try and find them here in town. Or at least online without VAT charges.
• We went blueberry picking (outstanding) and Pete and Sadie made these muffins and they were the best ever. For real. He added the big fancy sanding sugar on top and that was key. I am not really a blueberry muffin fan because I am too picky about them—but these were just perfect.
• The Ska/ Rock Steady station on Pandora is my summer music '09. It's completely awesome and never gets Pandora-weird.

summer sweater (that's really a t-shirt)

I was fussing about not having the right cardigan the other morning—one to wear when I am a bit cold, over my jammies, while making breakfast. It needed to be soft, very thin, fitted, with 3/4 sleeves. Something I could throw over dresses and then maybe sleep as well. That kind of thing. I have about 152 cardigans and found it hard to believe that I didn't have one that met all these requirements, but I didn't. Until now.

This is a long-sleeved t-shirt (this one is from j.crew in the tissue-weight jersey, which I love to hate) that I took a pair of scissors to—and it's perfect. It's my new favorite cardigan and now I have about 3 more (and 3 fewer long-sleeved shirts) and I love them to death.

No sewing is needed. There are no seams to finish here—the jersey doesn't unravel. I have done this with both v-necks and scoop necks. I didn't add anything, I just let them hang loose or tie in a knot. Done and done. Someone take away my scissors. I'm going to wonder where all my shirts are this Fall, but for now I am thrilled.

a very useful book brimming with goodness

I have been devouring this book, Make Your Place— Affordable, Sustainable Nesting Skills, by Raleigh Briggs for the last week or so. It's so flipping good. It's got recipes for all kinds of homemade goodness; cleaning products, bath and personal care items, general gardening info—just a ton of great stuff. She also includes bits about working with herbs and has another zine that's about assembling a herbal first aid kit, which I also love. I know I saw this book on a blog somewhere, but I don't remember where right now. It was a few months ago and only just recently remembered it.

The whole book is hand lettered and hand drawn. I there is about 100 levels of cool here. As someone who makes her own deodorant and underwear, I feel a urge to stalk this woman.

I got my copy, along with some other rad zines, over at Microcosm Publishing here in town. But in a fit of extreme lameness, I actually ordered it online rather than going to the shop, because dang with the 3 kids and nap times and all that, it just wasn't happening. You know how it goes. I actually was able to browse more and take my time online than I would have with the 3 lovelies in tow. So, I still need to actually go there, but the mail service was mighty fast anyway. You can also get a copy at buy olympia.

mildly related (herbs and stuff):

We are headed out to one or two of the farms taking part in the Oregon Lavender Festival this weekend. There are so many farms to choose from—any of you Portland peeps have recommendations? I am so excited.

totally unrelated:

I am super excited to have a Designer Profile over here the British site, Crafts Beautiful and have been featured (in very good company) over here in an AOL article about sewing.

new (old) ragdoll sewing pattern!

I am super excited to be offering this ragdoll sewing pattern** for sale as a PDF available right now. This originally appeared in mailorder #6, about 2 plus years ago, and sold out immediately and has been out of print since then. I had been getting lots of requests to make it available again, so here it is. It's a fun pattern—great for sewing boy or girl ragdolls, and you get sewing patterns for the clothes, too. It's perfect for using up fabrics from your stash and is a great sewing project for kids to try, with help, of course.

This is a PDF, so you can print it today! Remember to have your printer set to 100% and hit that "back to kingpod" button after you go through paypal to download the file. If you miss this step—no biggie, just shoot me an e-mail and we can figure it out. Enjoy!

**Just to clarify: this is just the ragdoll sewing pattern, not the full mailorder #6 issue.

quite patriotic

I made up the Collette Pattern that I had on the boards for a few weeks. I really sweated on the fabric choice here. I wanted a ton of pattern, which I knew would mean sacrificing the insanely cute pockets—just too much going on. But I also knew if I made made this in a solid color, it would show so many potential flubs, especially with the gathering. I found this outstanding silk at Mill Ends and had to buy it immediately.  Check out Melissa's version. It looks so awesome.

I realize now I probably needed to make it in a smaller size. This style of dress is not one I would normally make for myself, so I was a out of my element on the bust/ribcage/waist measurements. I also made quite a few changes to the pattern, so many it's confusing and too long to list—but in a nut shell, I lined the bodice instead of making a facing. So, this affected the gathers. I also ditched the button strap detail and made normal straps. I'm glad I lined the bodice, the silk would have been a bit thin on its own.

The pattern itself was a pleasure. The directions are clear, easy to follow, and the format of the pattern is really pleasing to use.  I think she has a great pattern line here and my only caveat is that I would not recommend this dress to beginning sewers. But for sewers up for more of a challenge, this is a really rewarding pattern to tackle. I can't wait try the skirt next.

Need any amazing pie recipes this weekend? The Tie One On Gallery is up (and the newest theme is set) and along with amazing homemade aprons you will find more than 40 pie recipes posted. You all are so rad—thank you!