angry chicken

donut holes.

Details are here and hope you can come by!

(I have a new fall banner and new links up, too.)

make your own sewing patterns!

I received a copy of this new sewing book, Design-It-Yourself Clothes: Pattern making Simplified, by Cal Patch (cool name!) and am really impressed. I often recommend Wendy's sewing books for basic garment sewing know-how, but haven't been able to recommend a sewing book that fully covers pattern making. This is that book. Cal explains thoroughly how to draft, alter, and sew garments that will really fit you. She also how teaches how to grade patterns which is what you need to know if you want to make items in multiple sizes.

There are quite a few designs in the book, complete with sewing directions. But, to clarify, this book contains no actual patterns—because you draft them yourself! This book is full of wonderful tips on creating patterns in many different styles—but the look of all the designs (for the most part) is pretty casual and loose. Not a vintage-tailored look, but more a casual-cool look. This makes the fitting issues easier, but also means the overall style of these pieces are sweeter and simpler than your favorite dress on Mad Men.

I have not actually tried any of these designs yet, have any of you? I bet some people are making some dang cool clothes out of this book.

book siging coming up this thursday!!

This Thursday I will be at Bolt for a book signing! I will show examples from my book—with tips, hints and humorous stories, and then we can all chat, hang out, and one of you will win this tote full of Bend The Rules Love! It contains supplies, a copy of my book, fabric from Bolt, the Bend The Rules Gift Labels—how cool!

Please come on out, I'd love to see you!

Thursday, November 5th at Bolt (Bolt has a cool blog, too, just so you know.)

2136 NE Alberta St · Portland, OR 97211 · 503.287.bolt

7PM

Woot!

**I will be in Seattle on December 3rd at The Quilting Loft for a book signing, too.

soup report

Many soups have been made in the last month. The recipes made from Love Soup are as follows:

• Green Soup with Ginger (very good, my favorite so far)
• Green Soup with Sweet Potato and Sage (quite good, but I like the first one better)
• Black Bean and Squash (amazing!! even better the next day.)
• Corn and Cheese Chowder (also amazing!)
• 3-Grain Bread (good. The girls think it's lame, but I love it as toast.)

Relating to food making—a bit back I posted about my favorite kitchen gadgets. One of them was a LamsonSharp Turner.  Several weeks ago the fine people over at LamsonSharp sent me this mini-masher as a thank-you and how I ever lived without it, I know not. I use this new mini-masher for making banana bread, guacamole, potatoes and sweet potatoes in soups—I even use it to partially mash beans sometimes. It's small, fits perfectly in my hand (it's shorter than a wooden spoon) and crazy strong, you can really work it. I never busted out my old masher because it was just too big and a fork, well, kind of sucks when you really need to mash something. It would have been prefect for baby food. So, I am thrilled to have this, needless to say.

Scones and a van.

These were made last week and I thought about baking only 4, then freezing the other 4. But, I didn't. So 8 were eaten in one day. Some were taken by Pete to work, but many were not. They must be eaten the day they are baked, I think. It's a recipe I altered years ago from this little scone book, Simply Scones that I think I actually got when I was still in high school. It's not really a book anymore—but pages falling out of a cover. I think I have made every scone in this book.

Hazelnut Chocolate Chip Scones (altered slightly by me)

Pre-heat oven to 400ºF

• 2 cups flour
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 4 Tablespoons butter (chilled)
• 1/2 cup plain yogurt
• 1 egg
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1 cup chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup toasted chopped hazelnuts

In a bowl, mix the dry ingredients and add the butter in small chunks. Cut in the butter using your favorite method, I like a pastry cutter. Add the liquids and stir just a bit. Add the chocolate chips and the nuts and stir more. It will make a mess with little shape. Dump onto a cookie sheet and pat into 2 circles—these should be thick, about 1/2 high. Cut the circles into quarters and separate, making 8 scones. Brush with milk or an egg wash if you want to and fancy sugar if you are feeling extra special. Bake 17-19 minutes and then let them cool at least 10 minutes (this will be hard to do).

Heaven, I tell you. I love Oregon hazelnuts with a passion. Worth every penny. They are the first item I get at the farmers market.

Unrelated but extremely important:

I have a huge soft spot in my heart for Portland's own zine shop, Reading Frenzy. They have been around forever, have a great shop, support local artists and writers, and their existence just makes me happy about the world. Chloe, the owner, needs some help converting a van to make it wheelchair accessible for her son Henry and there are many things we can do to help.

1. Here's info about Wheels for Henry and a bit about Reading Frenzy.
2. There is a 2 week online craft bazaar where a percentage of proceeds will go to Wheels for Henry. You can sign up to participate as a vendor. Here's a list of participating vendors so far.
3. Please shop at this event! To shop, click on a vendor listed here, look around the sites and buy something. For convenience you can also sign up for the Wheels for Henry RSS feed. This event runs from Sunday, October 18 - Saturday, October 31.      
4. You can donate directly. There's a Paypal button at Wheels for Henry.
5. Here's the blog and facebook page.

screenprinting on fabric made easy (really!)

So, back when I was researching different screen printing methods for Bend the Rules with Fabric, I stumbled upon a product made by EZScreenPrint. I was looking for something that worked like a bigger, better Print Gocco, and wasn't sure anything out there existed, but then I found it. This method of screen printing on fabric requires no photo emulsion, no wooden frame, the screens are easily cleaned and very durable and the screen is burned by sunlight. That's about 100 reasons to celebrate as far as I'm concerned. The fabric here, which is also featured in my book when I describe how to use this cool product, was printed using this method.

I am not affiliated with EZScreenPrint, so was thrilled when they contacted me to offer my book readers a discount on their screens and printing supplies. It's quite affordable already—but every bit helps. This discount is for a minimum order of $50. You might want to go in on this with a friend so you can split the cost and have fun trying this together. You can get your discount code right here.

There are some examples of using this screen printing product in the Bend the Rules with Fabric flickr group, like this cute one from Hillary. Please add yours to the group if you try this!

More about my book and book type stuff-

• I have a 2nd book signing and little lecture, Q&A, what-all, coming up at Bolt,—Thursday, November 5th at 7:00. I will write about this again, but I just wanted to mention it now. Hopefully you all can come out for that.

• I am 99% sure I will also have a booksigning in Seattle in December, just finalizing some details on that one. I really hope my Seattle friends will be able to hang!

• There is a project from the book complete with directions and all that on The Storque How-Tuesday— and it's one of my favorites. Take a peek and try it if you can. It's an easy reusable lunch bag. Quite handy!

• (Unrelated) I have a new banner up (spooky!) and I saw Zombieland last night and found it very entertaining.

that soup cookbook I was talking about—

This book hasn't left my hands in the last 48 hours. It's that cookbook I was writing about a bit back, Love Soup, by Anna Thomas—and it's better than I had even hoped for. They have a stack at Powell's, for you Portland folks. That's where I bought my copy.

It's got 160 soup recipes (almost half are vegan) and then the added bonus— there are chapters with wonderful breads and rolls, seasonal side salads, and lovely desserts in the back. It's organized by season, which I love. No photos—but really, soups aren't the most photogenic of foods. She also puts together a few sample menus (all the recipes are in the book, with the page numbers, which is so handy). Here's one that looks very tasty to me right now:

• black bean and squash soup
• oatmeal molasses bread
• red cabbage and apple salad
• greek yogurt with honey and walnuts
• roasted persimmons

Yum and yum and yum. My girls probably won't eat any of this. Well, the baby might. I don't really cook for them. I cook for Pete and I. I try to serve them what we eat first and then deal with whatever happens. I figure that's the only way they will ever try new stuff—and then I don't freak out about making grilled cheese and mac & cheese for every meal.

Unrelated:

The Tie One On apron gallery is up—Mad about Plaid! Please take a gander. And the new theme is set. It's due the beginning of December, for those of you who want to play along. I feel like I have about 100 other things to mention and link to—but they are all slipping out of my brain and I can't catch them. I am very excited to see Whip it. I know that.

Why I will knit this fall. I'm serious this time.

I have been looking at this book, Men's Knits: 20 New Classics, by Erika Knight for a few weeks now and have much enthusiasm to start a new knitting project.

I really love the knitted styles and the look of the guys in this book—

and the austere backgrounds. 

I have not tried any of the projects yet. I need to do a little more research and see what people are making. Here's a free v-neck sleeveless sweater pattern from this book. Found via Ravelry.

Okay, whenever I go to Ravelry I get lost for 45 minutes. Lost in a very good way. Here's a lovely men's hat pattern (free!) by Jared Flood. Now I want to start this, too.

And I am writing about this to get my hiney in gear to finish the sweater I started last year. I have never knitted a sweater. I tend to knit small items—hats, lots of baby booties, that type of thing. So, I need to just get in the groove here. I wish I could knit standing. I sure many of you can. I might take al this as a sign to slow down/do less so I can sit a knit for a little bit? That, or I need to tie up my baby.

book signing this sunday!

Okay, I will be at Powells this sunday for a book-signing. I'm pretty excited. There will be a question and answer portion (Questions don't have to be limited to this new book of mine, by the way, they can be from my first book too, or whatever you want to ask, actually, as long as it's not really hard questions about science or something.) I also will have the real life projects from the book to look at and discuss and I will also be hosting several cakewalks. Fun! They are small cakes, but still big enough to feel very special as long as you don't share, which I wouldn't.

The details:

• Book signing—Powell's, September 20th Sunday 7:30-9 PM, downtown location.
• Cakewalk*—to enter in the cakewalk (of which there will be many, like more than 10) you must either bring my new book or buy one. I know, kind of tricky, but hey.
• I will also be giving away 2 boxes of Bend the Rules Labels to anyone who brings a project made from my newest book. If there are several of you, I will have my daughters choose—you can take it up with them.

*Cheating is encouraged, if you can figure out a way to cheat in a cake walk, more power to you. That doesn't mean not buying my book, yeah, I'm on to you. Mariko, our cakewalk DJ, is accepting bribes. I suggest you bring sour candy and/or colorful mechanical pencils and pens.

homemade envelopes and a book

 

The girls have gotten really into writing letters lately and mailing letters to family and friends and we ran out of envelopes very fast. I couldn't face buying more and realized I could just make them. So I did—and now the girls make them too. So, this is so easy and simple I feel silly even writing about it, but just in case, I made a video tutorial of how we make them. No templates to trace, no scissors needed—just some paper and tape. They have been very well received. Even though Delia's envelopes often only contain a cotton ball and a band aid. She's more into the stuffing and less into the writing.

I am super happy to announce the new book by the masterminds at Photojojo, Photojojo!: Insanely Great Photo Projects and DIY Ideas. This book is jam packed with really creative ideas. I was flattered to be asked to contribute a project to this book (and I did.) Congrats Amit and Kelly!

The envelope project above here is not in the book, but it being made from a photo in a magazine and all, I thought thematically it worked with the post. Over think things much, you say? Yup!

point & shoot

 

I gave these ridiculously cool ceramic Ghost Cameras to my photographers as thank-you gifts for collaborating with me on my book. (The mighty talented Matt Wong and Alexandra Grablewski.) I now am kicking myself for not getting one for myself. They are designed by Yellow Owl Workshop and made here locally in Portland by Mudshark Studios. I just noticed they also have the cameras at Urban Outfitters, which is awesome, but buying them directly from the artists is even awesomer.

Unrelated:

• We saw It Might Get Loud last week and it was so good. I realize that the 14 year-old boy really comes out in me when I am watching Jimmy Page play air guitar. (Yes, this really happens in the movie) There's much to discuss in this film, and it's not a perfect documentary by any means, but I really really liked it, and if you have ever liked Zeppelin, U2, or Jack White—it's worth seeing for that alone.
• Glee. Thank god for Hulu because we don't have television. I wanted to quote something from it, but how to choose?
• Just got word of a new blog Portland Loves: Local which is all out Portland shops, events and all that. Nice! Perfect resource for out of town visitors, too.

and the winning quotes are—

"Burn like a screaming eagle."

From Kelly who says: No, seriously. Giovanni Ribisi signed an autograph for me (that a friend begged him for) with that one. I have no idea what it means, but I can see it in a yearbook for sure.

"Dude! I will never 4get that night at the pits. And dinners at Moxies or lunch at Wendy's. U rock!" 

From Cheryl who writes: Sad, but so true. How did we ever think we were intelligent?

From Jen who says: Okay I must have been hanging out with a very immature crowd compared to everyone else commenting.... in the crease of the binding of almost ALL of my yearbooks is written:

"I AM WRITING IN YOUR CRACK. DOES IT TICKLE? HAGS!" (Have a good summer.)

Pete (the judge) says:

There were several "crack" quotes (disturbingly.) This one was randomly chosen within that group of quotes.

Runner Up:

Ivy said...

"The blacksmith and the artist, reflect it in their art. They forge their creativity, closer to the heart."
-- Rush

And Honorable mention:

Jeannine said...

Lickin' a Lobster for luck-KITH
See you round like a donut.

*************************************************************************************************************************

Okay— these were so fippin' funny we were dying reading them!!! Thank you all so much! And thanks to husband who took his job very seriously, it was a lot of quotes to read. It was pretty much all we talked about since Tuesday.

Stay tuned for another giveaway at the end of next week. Have a hot weekend, but stay kool. Later Vader!

(I'm now trying to work in yearbook quotes in daily life—surely annoying to all around me.)

my new book, a surprise, & a giveaway!!

I am pretty much ecstatic to announce that my new book, Bend the Rules with Fabric: Fun Sewing Projects with Stencils, Stamps, Dye, Photo Transfers, Silk Screening, and More is now available. I haven't been out to see if it's in the shops yet, but I know the ship date is today, so if you pre-ordered, you will get it soon. It will also be in all the big chain bookstores (Borders, Powells, Barnes and Noble) very soon, if not already, and hopefully your local independent bookshop will have it as well. If not, please ask them to order one for you!

 

I am also thrilled to tell you that in about 5 days (on September 1st, to be exact) these Bend the Rules Gift Labels will be available from Potter Style. These have the copy I used years ago for the holiday labels I made as a PDF. I am thrilled to have them professionally designed and published by this fabulous imprint. They are printed on thick label paper and come in the nicest sturdy box. The packaging is really impressive. They say things like, This seemed like a good idea at the time, but now I'm not so sure. And, I totally want to get get one of these for myself, so let me know if you don't want it.  I'm going to show and tell about these more in the next week or so, but I thought it would be really lame to wait until September 1st to tell you about them. If any of you want to buy both the labels and my new book right now at the same time—the combined shipping would save you a little dough. Just sayin'. I will give away 3 boxes of labels when I get them—so stayed tuned for that.

And speaking of giveaways:

You all are amazing and there is no way I would have ever been able to write my two sewing books and do what I do without all of you reading, commenting, and giving me support. BIG thanks to you all. I want to give away 3 signed copies of the new book here on the blog and I feel very strongly about personally inscribing a cheesy quote in the front. So, please leave a comment with your quote of choice (I'm thinking yearbook style—like a quote from a movie or from your favorite heavy metal song) and if your quote is chosen, you will get a free book with your ridiculous quote written in the front. Awesome! The only rule is no Pink Floyd lyrics—that's way too easy.

I am going to let my husband choose from the quotes, so you all can send any complaints to him later. This is a 24 hour thing, so by this time tomorrow I will close comments and get out my sharpie.

Thanks you guys!!!

*************************************************************************************************************************

Okay, I have closed comments, thank you so much! Pete has his work cut out for him. These are so good, I love the year book jargon! I will report the 3 winning quotes very soon. Thanks for all the new book and new label love!

more coloring & various announcements

I bought several packs of these blank business cards from paper source (which I realize would be super easy to cut myself, but I couldn't resist buying the small packs with matching envelopes) and I gave them to the girls and let them have at it with my fancy mommy-only stinky markers. They came up with the coolest series of drawings. The cards were light pink to begin with and they fully saturated them with the markers while allowing some of the pink show though. They look like watercolors. I love it when I remember to put out colored paper for them to work on—it really changes the way they use color and mix the layers.

I know I sound a little like a stoner analyzing their artwork so much, but I really am excited and struck by what they come up with and how they use their art tools. The way they see the world and how they express that into drawings and symbols—I can't get enough of it.

• I am hearing rumblings that my new book, Bend the Rules with Fabric: Fun Sewing Projects with Stencils, Stamps, Dye, Photo Transfers, Silk Screening, and More is already shipping out to the people who pre-ordered. Excited!!! The actually release date is August 25th. A big post about all that will be coming soon, but just to let you know, I already set up a flickr group for all of you who are ready to get crazy with your fabric, have questions, or want to show and tell from the book projects and techniques. Woot!

• Portland sewers, Bolt is having a sale this weekend, 20% off. And they carry Liberty. They have a shop blog now too and I am very excited to see they are caring new pattern lines and sewing mags which I find thrilling.

• Boomerang (after reading about it on wisecraft) is now in our house—it's an audio program for kids, mostly narrated by kids. "In each hour-long episode, the Boomerang! kids present stories about big ideas: science, current events, history, economics, poetry, geography, jokes, mysteries and more. . ." The shows are for kids ages 6-12, and you can buy single episodes. They are pretty swell, wonderful on road trips in the car, and great to give on a cd to grandparents when begging for babysitting. Pretty dang cool.

happy handmade home

I'm so excited that Amanda's second book is out, Handmade Home: Simple Ways to Repurpose Old Materials into New Family Treasures. It's packed full of great ideas, projects, and activities.

This sketchbook project is one of my favorites. This book is wonderful— all the ideas in it involve using stuff you already have lying around the house. It's awesome.

The girls can't put this down and are already marking the projects they want to try. I think this art tray (and the bird drawings) are next. It's so great to see kids in the act of making these projects—so many craft books don't show children actually making stuff (more just posing with the finished product) it really resonates with my kids and makes them so excited to try these activities. Congrats Amanda!

books about colors

I had Pete and the girls pick up extra paint samples at the paint store a few weeks back. They have free donuts there at the paint shop, so it's quite popular with our family.

I made 3 of these super simple books after reading about a similar project in this stellar book I highly recommend, How to Be an Explorer of the World: Portable Life Museum, by Keri Smith. Just having some of the ideas in my head while running around with the kids is wonderful. I see the projects as loose ideas, 'cause the best ideas come after the girls get involved and then change it all up.

So, The idea here was to glue in the paint chips and find items outside that matched, and glue/tape/adhere them in too. But Delia did her own thing with a hole punch, and Sadie was interested in re-writing the color names on the paint chips—which lead to a lengthy vocabulary discussion about what all these words meant and how they were used to describe colors and why—like Windmill Wings and Blue Lapis.

Digression—Who has to come up with all these color names? And how do they not run out of ideas? Mine would get so surreal/dumb after awhile, like Muddy Stick and Volcano Sunset. I got really into reading all the color names and tried to figure out which ones were made up when that person was obviously burnt out. I realized next time I want to start a prog-rock band I know where to look for both my band name and the name of my concept album. I'm leaning towards Emerald Isle recording the album White Heaven. There will be strings, of course.

An envelope was glued in the back for extra paint chip storage. Very pleasing.

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.

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.

kefir & quark

I got this wonderful book, The Home Creamery, last week and it's pretty awesome. It's very simple and clear. There are no photos inside, but I don't mind that in the least in cookbooks. At different times, I have made creme fraiche, yogurt, sour cream, butter, buttermilk, yogurt cheese, and paneer, all from recipes I found online and in various cookbooks, and loved them all. But it's so nice having them collected in one book. Also, the trouble-shooting guide is helpful, detailed, and offers alternate methods. I want to try the mascapone, farmer's cheese, kefir, cream cheese, goat cheese, ricotta, and mozzarella next. The bonus in this book comes after all the cheese-making recipes. You also get recipes, savory and sweet, using all these dairy items--and they look so flippin' good and there are over 70. Seriously, I counted.

Here's some sour cream sitting next to some buttermilk. Labeling is so important, as I discovered, 'cause all this stuff is white, man. (The labels are from here, and I love them dearly.)

I use either Noris or Strauss whole milk or cream, I haven't  tried any of this with raw milk. I don't have a source right now. I've heard making dairy products with raw milk is much less predictable, and the book confirms this--so of course I feel compelled to try it. I'd like to get a source for raw goat milk, too.

I love the idea of all these homemade dairy products, but in reality I find that we really eat only the homemade yogurt and butter on a regular basis. The rest is more for special occasions. The yogurt I make about every 5 days. I'm convinced my family is made of yogurt. There are worse things to be made of.

 

possibly my favorite type of food.

I bought a signed copy of Rustic Fruit Desserts: Crumbles, Buckles, Cobblers, Pandowdies, and More, by Cory Schreiber and Julie Richardson over at Sweet Wares here in Portland last week (they sell it for 20% off the cover price) and have been reading it like it was a summer novel. I have so many recipes like these already, but not in one book and not with the utter perfection of these combination of flavors. I am basing this on the fact that I frequent Baker & Spice quite often and have tried just about every dessert they have and they are all outstanding—and quite a few of them are in this book. The desserts are organized by season, which is brilliant, and there are so many good tips in here for this style of down-to-earth, homey baking. The authors suggest freezing a lot. Both before you bake and after—which is key for me when I want to make something but don't want to eat the entire dessert in 2 days. Better to bake and freeze half, or make 2 smaller ones and only bake one—freezing the other for later. For that unexpected brunch party I am known for throwing together. (heh.)

Here's the Rhubarb Buckle with Ginger Crumb Pete made for Mother's Day. Good lord.

Some other desserts in this book: Fresh Strawberry Ricotta Tart, Rhubarb and Bing Cherry Brown Betty, Double Crusted Plucot Crisp, Stone Fruit Slump, Quince and Apple Brown Butter Tart, Pear Cobbler with Shingled Hazelnut Biscuits, Caramelized Pear Bread Pudding, and an Apple Pandowdy.

Better than a birthday cake! (Which I should be receive in about 2 weeks). Can I ask for a birthday pandowdy instead?

books I am reading and a link—

Hall of Best Knowledge, by Ray Fenwick is amazing. Not really a comic, but not fiction either. It's hard to describe. It's all hand lettered prose and opinions that has a formal absurdity that makes me so happy I could do cartwheels. Here's a bit more about him and what he is up to right now.

Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell: A Novel, by Susanna Clarke is on my nightstand. All 800 pages of it. I love it so far (I'm on page 279.) I went to this after realizing I just couldn't finish the Outlander series. I will give that another shot sometime. I bought the first two, so they are waiting when the time is right. I need some real summer trash soon, though.

Unrelated:
I am so excited by these dresses and wonderful flower collar tutorial over on Katie Did. Very cool.

happy may day!

 

May Day was always one of my favorite holidays when I was little. I really did gather posies and leave them on our neighbor's steps and ring the bell—and run off, just like I read about in old timey story books. I am remembering now I always picked the flowers from not my garden, but from theirs. Oops. They were nice enough not to mention that to me later.

The girls are pretty into flowers right now, too. They love going to nurseries and picking out flowers and planting them at home in little pots. Then we read the care cards and memorize the names of the flowers and learn more. It's really sweet. Sadie loves marigolds, Delia likes impatiens, and Liddy likes the dirt (and she's partial to tulips.)

I was telling them about floriography, the meaning of flowers, and got all excited about researching this more. I found a few books online and then, after trying to find a copy of this book here locally I— had a copy already, tucked away, given to me from a friend over 12 years ago. I love that kind of stuff. Also, I didn't realize there are flowers associated with one's actual birthday, not just a flower for a birth month. Very cool.

So, now we are all into flower crafts around here. Perfect timing for May Day. And I was super excited to learn that there will be a may pole at the fairy festival which is tomorrow and boy are we excited! I'm wondering if I should also dress up. I may, not sure. I mean, I think I should just embrace my inner costume nerd and go for it. But then, do I have to make adult sized wings? Oh—so much to consider and so little time.

Sort of related-Sweet Wares, (the excellent bakery supply shop from the owners of Baker and Spice) is having an opening event this weekend, Saturday and Sunday. They sure are nice and they have a great selection of fancy decorations (in bulk!) perfect for fairy sized cupcakes which beg to be adorned in colored sugar sprinkles.

And, since it's May 1st, a new theme is set over at Tie One On.

it's coming soon! (sorta)

I am jumping-up-and-down excited to let you all know that my second book, Bend the Rules with Fabric: Fun Sewing Projects with Stencils, Stamps, Dye, Photo Transfers, Silk Screening, and More (Potter Craft Summer 2009) is now available for pre-order!

Here's a sneak peek inside. I was able to work with the same ridiculously talented team on this book as my first (photography by Alexandra Grablewski and design by Amy Sly) which means this book looks amazing, is clearly organized, and puts a big smile on my face.

This book is all about altering fabric—and not all the projects require a sewing machine, so it's great for sewers, and non-sewers alike. Woot! Here's a painted toile artwork project shown with an inexplicably creepy mask.

Here's how to make t-shirts for your family band. These say It's not my bedtime. You will freak out when you try this technique—it's silk screening without photo emulsion or drawing fluid or Gocco. Life changing, I tell you.

And the Uncle Pete and Aunt Sarah dolls make an appearance, of course.

There are plenty of sewing projects with patterns as well, and they all come with ideas, techniques, and tips on altering fabric to make it your own. I really think you guys will dig it (I hope so!) Please pre-order it, how's that for a hard sell?

It's available for pre-order at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and your local book shop (I didn't see it yet at Powell's) and it will be out in the world, for real, the end of August. I already have a book signing/party set up at Powell's here in Portland the end of September (and I will have one at Bolt, too) and I just want to say two words. Cake walk. I'm serious.

 

I need to start a new quilt project

Material Obsession: Modern Quilts with Traditional Roots, by Kathy Doughty and Sarah Fielke, is on the table right now and I am so happy looking through it. The quilt projects are really unexpected in a very cool way, with refreshing color combinations which bridge the gap between modern/simple and vintage/complicated. I made some horrible scans of the inside pages (what's my problem?) that aren't worthy to show, but here's some nice interior shots and a much more thorough review of this book at CraftyPod.

button-y

Button It Up: 80 Amazing Vintage Button Projects for Necklaces, Bracelets, Embellishments, Housewares & More, by Susan Beal is out and I am thrilled to have a project in this lovely book.

You all know Susan from Super Crafty and Bead Simple fame—she is a crafting star and a wonderful person as well. This  book is full of clever projects and ideas for how to use your button stash, making me want to collect even more. Come see Susan at one of her upcoming events, all of which are listed her on her cool button it up blog, along with PDF's, extra projects, and other fun stuff. She's going to have a button-y gathering this Friday, March 20th at 7:30 at Powell's. Congrats, Susan!

occultus in a libri

Revisiting my old bookbinding interests, I have become preoccupied with making these hollowed-out books. After I made this one I did a quick search online and found that these are all over etsy. I especially like these French vintage ones made from childrens books here. Not quite a hollowed-out book, more like a book-box. Very cool, and the prices seem crazy low. (Um, okay, everything in this etsy shop, lilimandrill is pretty outstanding. Please take a moment to look at all her items. A hand-carved eraser of Amy Winehouse's, head? come on!)

I also found some handy how-tos for making hollowed-out books here and here. It would have been helpful to read before I started this one, but it was pretty easy nonetheless. 

So, that freaky baby in there is porcelain. Her name is Porcelie and she is very very important in the house. She has been repaired with glue 4 times now—the last being for a fatal head injury that has left her with a hole in the back of her crown. If its small, creepy, and old, you know my middle child will be obsessed with it, which is what has happened, even though it was the eldest who insisted on bringing her home with us months ago from the antique mall. Now she is tucked away in this book, on our bookshelf, probably to be forgotten about for a few weeks. Losing her and then finding her again is the most fun, right?

a big thank you and a few items-

I am moving slow this week. We are all so tired—but it's that tired that makes it hard to actually sleep, you know? It's like I am too tired to rest. Hopefully I can soon.

I am really stunned and deeply touched by the comments about Gramps passing away. Condolences are hard to express—as is writing about a family member leaving this world. Thank you all so much for your heart-felt sympathies and your warmth. It means the world to me and to my family. BIG hugs. Seriously, big. Thank you.

A few items I want to mention:

This book, A Homemade Life: Stories and Recipes from My Kitchen Table, by Molly Wizenburg is out and is not in my hands yet—but will be soon, hopefully to give to Miss Orangette herself, to sign. She will be at Powell's this Friday, March 6th at 7:30 and I can't wait to stalk her. Hopefully I get some rest because I'd be really bummed to miss seeing her in person.

I am interviewed by Jean Van't Hul in the newest issue of Mothering Magazine and was so happy to be included with the fine company of the mothers she talked to. It's a great piece— thanks, Jean. And yes, the shirt I am wearing in one of the photos of the magazine was recently made into underwear. I never thought I'd type that sentence.

wonderfully lugubrious

I spontaneously grabbed this book, The Willoughbys, off the bookstore shelf a bit back, brought it home, and read it over a few nights. I really really liked it. The cover is what attracted me, of course, but I absolutely loved the story as well. It's a wonderful gloomy-child-tragedy ala Roald Dahl. Funny and sad—in that macabre humor way. I haven't read the Lemony Snicket's books, but I'd guess they are similar. Abandoned babies in baskets, spinster nannies, unloving parents, orphans—that kind of stuff. I laughed out loud several times and the glossary in the back (along with a very funny bibliography) is worth owning the book alone. Sadie hasn't heard it yet, but we went over the glossary together and is now using the term odious.

some books-

Recently Read:

I know I posted about this book, Lonely Werewolf Girl a bit back, but I have to give it another shout-out since I finished it and so badly want to read it again. If werewolves, punk bands, Scottish highlands, court intrigue, high fashion, joan jett, drug abuse, a little cross-dressing with a lot of witty humor sound good to you—please read this book.

Still Reading:

I got this book, The Best American Non-required Reading 2008 for Christmas and I love it. It's edited by Dave Eggers, among others, and there's a section in front that lists awesome things like "Best American Things for Sale That This Man on the Internet Will Sell You" and "Best American Facebook Groups" which is laugh-out-loud funny. The introduction Judy Blume is fascinating.

 

Still Reading:

This book, Outlander I discovered while combing through Goodreads one night and found myself in a genre I never knew existed—Time Travel Romance/Historical Fiction, or something similar. Who knew? So random and so RAD. I found this title and realized later that when it was written it was on the best seller list for like, ever. So, there you go. So far, it's great. And there's 6 more, (or at least 5 more, I don't remember) so if I really love them, I can have them with me for a bit before experiencing the heartbreak that comes from finishing an amazing book series.

The Tomten—for real

The Tomten outfit Sadie and I made for Delia for Winter Solstice was a huge hit. HUGE. Two nights ago, when Delia wore it all to bed (the whole outfit) she woke up twice, hysterical, because her beard had come off. Here's a drawing of all the pieces. I have not found suitable keys yet, but they appear in the book below, and they look cute in the illustration, so I added them in. This outfit is based on the book combined with the ornament in this post. I got smart and made sure the whole costume worked over the red nightgown I was sewing for her gift anyway.

Some specs:

• The hat is soft fleece. I didn't finish the seams or anything, just made a wide cone and stitched it up. The pattern came with the nightgown pattern below, which was so convenient.
• The smock is felt and made from an enlargement of the smock pattern in my book. To make it look like a pine cone, I cut out strips of scallops and stitched them on (actually Sadie did.) It just ties in the back.
• The beard is one layer of cotton quilt batting with elastic sewn on.
• The keys don't exist, but should, so I am looking.
• The slippers are the classic ballet leather ones.
• The red nightgown is a simple pull over in red mini-corduroy made from McCall's 5510. I love this very versatile pattern. It's great for dresses, nightgowns, and costumes—super easy and fast.

The Tomten says in character all day. She is quite solemn and a bit gruff, and it's all very very funny. She knows this, but won't crack a smile.

We got this surprise in the mail—The Tomten and the Fox book with no note or message. It was quite thrilling. We now know who sent it (thank you!) and love it so much. This whole Tomten business is so wonderful. I love the woodsy, natural, bearded little troll gig. There is a lot of princess love in this house and this is such a nice balance—you know what I mean.

 

peanuts, still funny. sort of.

Sadie is reading Peanuts.

I got this beautiful new edition of a Peanuts book a bit back. Actually it was for Delia, but Sadie (the reader) took it, and it's now squirreled away in her top bunk. I found this 1964 edition at Powell's over the weekend and the cover graphics just kill me. So cool. We can hear her laughing, hard, every night at these strips— which warms my heart because I loved Peanuts so much growing up. Nothing like that sad/funny combo. She thinks Lucy's yelling is so funny, which it is, but is kind of depressing too, since I think I read Lucy is modeled after Charles Schulz's first wife or something like that.

I love this cover. Charlie Brown is the only one happy, for a change.

the sticky orange stuff

I found myself inundated with oranges in the last few weeks (a good problem to have) so I was thrilled to see the orange themed January Martha on the stands and boldly tried the marmalade recipe. I have never made marmalade before. I like marmalade, I don't love it, but I like it a lot. One recipe called for a split vanilla bean and so I made that one, and now I do love it. A lot. Okay, can I just say I got a ridiculous thrill out of making this stuff? The 8 oranges made a ton of marmalade. More than I know what to do with. I have about 8 jars in the freezer. I gave some to mom and great grandpa, both of whom like marmalade, but not a lot of people do, so I think I will have a lot extra. Even my one good Canadian friend didn't help me out by taking a jar. Bad.

There's the vanilla bean—the sticks in there. So, you use the whole orange to make this, peel, rind and all— you just cook it with some sugar for a bit. That's it. I mean, read the recipe in the magazine, but that's really all there is to it. Amazing and so wonderfully frugal. Celebratory scones are in order.

I liked marmalade as a kid, at least I think I did, we never had it much in the house. My first introduction to marmalade was from the Paddington Bear books, which I haven't read since I was little. I need to revisit these, I have no copies in the house. I remember really liking them, but that's all.

And why are there no shops locally that carry the coolest canning jars ever, Weck jars? I am trying to get a great new baking shop to carry them here in town and I think I may have convinced them—I will report back.

the tomten

I love this ornament. I think it came from Macy's last year, part of the Martha line, I think. Pete got it for me, so I don't know much. It's become very important to Delia, who calls it The Tomten, which is her night time alter ego.

This book is behind it all. It's The Tomten, one of our all time family favorites. It's a thin paperback copy, I'd love to find a hardbound version. It's a quiet story about a little bearded troll type man who walks the farm after midnight. Delia is our night owl, like her father, so she becomes the Tomten late at night. A Tomten costume is what she has requested from Sadie as her handmade solstice gift—which is so sweet and mildly stressful for me. Didn't we just do Halloween? But, I have to help with this, because she wants a white beard. For real. I saw this and am in awe. Now I have to start the pine cone smock. Wow.

sweet potato goodness

I got my seasonal sweet potato fries last week at Burgerville and they were so good but made me feel not so good. As I get older, I realize (with horror) that fried foods don't agree with me. Fried dough of any kind is so close to my heart, so this has been hard to accept, but I have learned my lesson. Fried vegetables? I figured I was still safe—but not so much.

So, after receiving a copy of Ina's new book, which is really great, and seeing a recipe for baked sweet potato wedges—I made these homemade baked sweet potato fries, with homemade blue cheese dressing. (The dressing wasn't in this book, but she has a great recipe here.) The blue cheese dressing is the real key in enjoying these, for me anyway. Since they are not fried, I have to get sick somehow.

One large potato made enough for 2 servings, which I had for lunch and then dinner. No shortage of beta carotene in my body now. Once again, the blue cheese dressing is kill, please make it or at least buy a good one, 'cause these just aren't the same with out it.

I have Ina's first 3 books and they are household favorites. I skipped the next 2, but this newest one, Barefoot Contessa Back to Basics: Fabulous Flavor from Simple Ingredients, is really great. Simple and straight forward. Like many good cookbooks, she reminds me of things to cook, not just supplying a ton of hard recipes with too much text. And her whole gig is about little prep in the kitchen, but with stellar ingredients, so that's great. I will say, some of her dishes are so over-the-top rich, (this is true in all her cookbooks) they seem almost criminal—but it's pretty easy to cut the fat/salt/sugar from many of her dishes. Usually her super rich recipes are reserved for parties around here anyway, so it's fine to go whole hog. This new book is already at Grammie's in time for Thanksgiving.

Unrelated, thanks for the new banner love! The scene is heavily borrowed from a wonderful illustration in this book.

why is toast so good?

I had a craving for homemade toast last week. I was at one of my favorite coffee shops (Ristretto in Beaumont) and asked when their new location was opening. They said it was already open. Awesome, I thought. I asked if they were going to serve more than just a few pastry items— and they said yes, actually, they are serving toast.

Toast.

That was it. I didn't question further, partly because I found it so amusing they felt this statement was enough and partly because I didn't want anymore information about it. It was too perfect and too random. So off I went, with the 3 girls in tow, to get my lovely 6 oz. double cappuccino and toast at the new location—and man was it good. Thick-cut white bread, toasted—served with butter and jam. The girls got homemade rice krispy treats. It's Portland, so you have to mix high-brow with trash around here, it a regional hip-food rule. The cappuccino was amazing. The bread was not white sandwich bread really, but it wasn't a fancy french bread either. More like a country white? Anyway, I made 2 loafs at home and have recreated the toast here, but sadly, have no fancy coffee drink to go with it. The french press provides a good second best, however.

The recipe I used is here and although white flour is bad and all that, I did make this with 100% white flour and dang. I know you know how good it was.I have been using the recipes from the bread book for so long, I wanted to try a different method and I'm glad I did. It was fun doing the double rise again and the loaf did taste different, which was a nice change.

And the previous comments about the teen books are so great, another reason I love blogs. I was remembering what I was reading (and all the other girls were reading) in middle school—V.C. Andrews. Which makes these other books seem like they are full of white fluffly clouds, rainbows, and unicorns. Amazing. But then, I think the average teenage girl has a unsacaiable appitie for gothic drama that has nothing to do with pop culture. I am thinking of Weauthering Heights here, talk about a stalker novel. I love that book. It broke up my book group years ago, have I mentioned that before? I should re-read some V.C. Andrews, but I am almost afraid too. There was also a very disturbing trend of all the 8th grade girls reading Sybil. Ha! So not funny!

they're at it again-

Kay and Ann are back with their second book, Mason-Dixon Knitting Outside the Lines: Patterns, Stories, Pictures, True Confessions, Tricky Bits, Whole New Worlds, and Familiar Ones, Too and it is stellar. I need to preface this rave review with 3 things; I love them both and think they are geniuses, they are friends of mine, and we also share the same publisher. So, you can see I am totally unbiased.

Regardless, I urge to check out this book for the sage knitting wisdom, the many many laugh out loud moments in the text, the wonderful patterns, and my personal favorite—a illustrated history of misguided outfits they have worn through the decades.

You two are amazing, and because of you both, I just have bought yarn to attempt my first sweater. No more hats, booties, and scarves for me. So, watch out.

I know I don't need to link to their blog that started it all, Mason Dixon Knitting, but I will anyway. And I will also link to a country westren video they just made about knitting which defines description, you just have to watch it. Yes, they are that cool.

I think I like it more than sadie (does)

This amazing book, The Girl in the Castle Inside the Museum was given to Sadie from Grammie for her birthday yesterday. I love it so much it hurts. The illustrations are so otherworldly—I just can't stop looking at them.

We had a lovely little birthday celebration and started a new tradition this year. We are having the girls' party on the actual day and that's it. No additional weekend thing, no additional family-only thing, just a party the day of, even if it's during the week. We partied like rock stars for the day and are done. I am so relieved. Now, in 6 weeks we have Delia's big 4 b-day and are going to do the same thing. This is huge for me, I am so happy I made this change in our b-day celebrations. I feel so less stressed. It's sort of like the day I deiced (years ago when Sadie was about 2) I would never again worry about the girls wearing matching socks or even the right sized socks—ever. It's awesome and I have never looked back. I do draw the line at my own socks however. Or I just go sockless.

a ripe tomato will clean the hands after paring fruit.

Innocently cruising around the computer machine just now, when I should be asleep, I stumbled onto this site, Feeding America, which is a project from Michigan State University Library and the MSU Museum. It looks like it has been around awhile, but is totally new to me. They have digitized 75 vintage American cookbooks form their very large collection, available to view or download as PDFs. This site is like some sort of evil drug for me.

Sigh. This almost hurts. It's not just the recipes that kill me, it's the book titles, writing style, and eclectic homemaking subjects. Throw in the old-timey layouts and beautiful fonts—I have a neck cramp and eye strain from staring at the screen too long.

These images are all from this amazing site, where you too can learn to make a mock turtle soup, if you have four pounds of meat, and a calf's head. Also, don't miss in medicinal tips, you can make a bacon bandage for a sore throat. And did you know old wallpaper may be cleaned by rubbing with a loaf of stale bread?

Come on! How rad is this?? I am at a loss for words.

*tip—When using your precious time looking at these books (if you don't want to download the very big PDFs), you can type in the exact page number you want to view in the URL line, (at the very end of the address) so you don't have to click through every page of the book. Look at the book's table of contents to give you a sense of where to skip to.

terribly excited.

This book, Hansel and Gretel, illustrated by the amazing Jen Corace, and written by Cynthia Rylant, is going to be available very very soon. I am so excited to give it to Sadie for her 6th b-day coming up along with tickets to see the play, which the NW Children's Theater is doing a production of in October. I love it when all these things line up. And what a freaky story Hansel and Gretel is. We have a couple versions and I stopped trying to edit it long ago. Now the almost 4-year-old gets super excited at the idea of a witch eating a kid. It's the Dad leaving the kids to starve in the forest that gets me—anyhoo, nothing like a good story to read the kids before bed! I wonder if this modern version will be all creepy too? I hope so. I loved being scared when I was little.

Thanks for all the amazing real-food-not-boxed-cereal breakfast suggestions. I need to bookmark the comments so I can reference all the great ideas. I'm gonna make these soon, 'cause dang. Unrelated, there is a new Bend-The-Rules Sewing Swap happening, organized again by the lovely Clicky the Moose, this time it's the Easy Lap Quilt—so head on over to sign up by the 14th of September. Unrelated still, I will have homemade crème fraîche, sour cream, and buttermilk reports soon. They have all been made and eaten. I should probably run about 20 miles now.

jane's book and golden syrup

I have had the pleasure of reading Jane Broket's book,The Gentle Art of Domesticity: Stitching, Baking, Nature, Art & the Comforts of Home the last few days and can't come up with a better description than it makes me feel comforted. Comforted that such pleasure can be derived from the simple things in life and comforted that I know she wouldn't think it's odd I photograph my dinner before I serve it to my family.

We know Jane from her superb blog, yarnstorm. This book came out last year, but it was only in the UK and now we have the new US edition—with a different cover, cooking conversions, and a few anglo-references footnoted, which is funny and enlightening. Jane's style of writing is so appealing to me. I love this book—it's not a craft book, or a cooking book, but a mixture of the two, with reading recommendations, favorite movies, art history (seriously) and thoughts about creativity and color and texture thrown in. I've been enjoying yarnstorm for a long time now, so it is all warm and familiar. I am totally biased, but I can't recommend this book enough.

So, last night in a fit of Anglophile coziness, I bought some golden syrup (easily purchased locally at New Seasons and maybe Cost Plus?) and made the golden flapjacks from her book today. The golden syrup, (not in a tin, but in a jar—at least stateside) is so tasty. I am waiting for them to cool now. It's like making a toffee with oatmeal added, so I really can't rush the cooling process. I know because I just burnt my fingers. Jane is giving away 5 copies of her lovely hardbound book on her blog, so check it out. Congrats, Jane!

Bend-The-Rules Sewing turns 1! (A few weeks ago.)

Like I need an excuse to make another cake—Bend-the-Rules Sewing turned 1! Last month actually, but the book had my 3rd child's b-day to compete with and that is one tough baby. Here's just a smattering of some recent projects from the BTR flickr group. Completely awesome. I get giddy every time I am over there looking at all the amazing projects. Please click on this mosaic to get to see the photos individually.

So here's some book pimpin': The flickr group is now up to a whopping 1700 members with over 3400 images of items made from the book. There are discussion questions galore and great vibes—thank you so much for participating and making this such a cool group. The book went into it's 4th printing in June and is now (or soon) will be carried at your local Michael's, which is thrilling!

And the second book is almost done. Here's a sneak peek that I shouldn't be showing. I have about 2 weeks before it's all due—so I am crazy, which is why I am doing things like making my own deodorant. I am super excited by the huge range of projects in the next book, including this hand printed fabric using a technique I wanted to call "Look Ma, it's an easy silk screen method with no photo emulsion!" but that's kind of a mouthful.

living in a sea of crayons and glue sticks

Things are nutty around here. That baby is 10 months old now and into everything. The girls had to move their entire paper doll stash from the floor, to the small table, to the big table all in about 10 minutes yesterday after the baby doggy was tearing them to shreds. We moved onto other activities, this one being a favorite—it's called Shopping List.

Here's the 3.5 year old version. It involves the morning newspaper paper, glue sticks, scissors and paper. What's awesome is they take these with us when we go grocery shopping. I had all these big plans this week to try some projects from this lovely new book you surely are all familiar with—

The Creative Family: How to Encourage Imagination and Nurture Family Connections, by Amanda Blake Soule, but life got the better of us. But, I have been able to put Amanda's wonderful ideas into good use around here in the form of making it easier for all of us to make a mess. This means changing around tables, making it easier for the girls to get out their own supplies and facilitating a quicker clean-up, which is the real clincher. We live in a small house and there is a lot of bumping and tripping on chairs, crayons, and papers, and it can make me crazy. My parenting style is following the path of least resistance, so if it's hard for me to set up the girls to get crafty—things need to be organized differently. If I'm thinking "if I trip over that flippin chair one more time, I'm gonna chuck it outside"—yeah, that's a clue it's time to rearrange the furniture.

Amanda has this brilliant setup in her book with this huge table next to an armoire with all her family's craft supplies tucked inside, and it has doors. Thank god for doors. Two of the projects/ideas I want to try first in her book are the henna tattoos and providing photo albums for the girls and letting them have at it with the camera. I can't believe they don't have their very own photo albums yet, I think this is such a great idea. This book is full of ideas like these— very, very cool.

In my constant attempt to keep the girls involved in decisions about their creative areas, I did have them help me rearrange the coloring station and put their names on boxes so there are fewer coloring book infringements (middle child running amok) and because they helped with it, they seem more interested in taking care of the area. They also insisted that the boxes have not only their names, but princess stickers adoring them, of the Disney variety. Not my first choice on the lovely unfinished wood Ikea boxes, but hey, whatever works, man.

Congrats Amanda! I wish I could bring you a cake. No, make that pie!! Your book is wonderful.

new cookbook excitment

I have had this book, The Splendid Table's How to Eat Supper: Recipes, Stories, and Opinions from Public Radio's Award-Winning Food Show for about 2 weeks now and I keep talking about it to anyone who will listen. This usually means Pete.

me: Honey, try this rice, really you have to. . .(me putting a wooden spoon in his face of very hot brown rice while he has other non-compatible food in his mouth) I cooked it a whole new way!

husband: (Taking a very small nibble) Um, okay. . . .it's good?

me: Yes! And, you know what the key is to everything?

husband: Money?

me: No, Fish sauce! Umami!

husband: In the rice?

me: No, salad dressing!

husband: Um, what? Hmmmm. . .wow. (Not listening, feeding the baby.)

me: I seriously can't believe this rice cooking method they talk about. This has changed my life, you know? Amazing! Oh! we need to get the little mesh sink drains at the Asian market, that would change ours lives too. They mention that in the book.

husband: Which book?

me: That new Splendid Table Book, you know, from the radio show?

husband: Right.

later that week-

me: In that book, it has a master salad dressing recipe and then 10 variations! And they also crush garlic with a rock! That is so great.

husband: Which book?

me: That How to Eat Supper Book. And we can now make our own pho!

husband: hmmm

the next day-

me: I think Sadie is a super-taster. They have a test you can do to see if you are, but we need to go to an office supple store to get something for the test. I don't think she'll put it on her tongue, either.

husband: What? Um. . . .what? Did you say super-taster?

me: Yeah, from that new cook book.

husband: Which book?

me: That Lynne Rossetto Kasper book.

Not that he doesn't like food or talking about food—to give him credit, I do have conversations in my head and forget how much I have said out loud, so there is confusion sometimes. Add two loud kids and one crazy baby and the fact that I can never refer to anything, like a cookbook, by the same title. It's a gift of mine.

I will try to describe it-

It's a book for home cooks, even beginners, but it's not too basic. There's a wonderful equipment list, book recommendations, quotes from other chiefs, amazing recipes, advice on navigating ethnic markets, the list goes on—tons and tons of tips, shortcuts, and cool things I had never heard of. It somehow melds Italian, Asian, Indian, & Mexican recipes without it being the kitchen sink. It also has a list of favorite vegetarian cook books, and hooray, most of them are not vegetarian, you know what I mean? My favorite cookbooks save one, are not vegetarian.

I have learned so much from this book already, like a whole new way to cook rice (Seriously!) umami, (So cool!) and I am now using way more raw red onion. (With tips to make it less raw red onion-y.)

It's an intuitive cooking book. That's the deal, and that's how I cook. It describes basic preparations but then suggests many variations. The dishes sound amazing, but honestly, there's so much to read (without it being too text heavy, somehow) I haven't made many recipes from it yet. But I will report back on that.

It's by Lynne Rossetto Kasper from NPR's The Splendid Table, along with her producer Sally Swift (who, after reading this book, am convinced is my cooking doppleganger) and I think this is why the book is so pleasant—it's like their laid back food loving radio show in book form, minus the caller asking how to cook tongue or cow brains. Very nice. I read cookbooks in bed, I'm one on these people, and this is perfect bedtime reading. It's right next to Anna Karenina, a good balance right now.

Actually that's an interesting idea—to read a cookbook along with fiction, especially if it relates somehow. I need to remember this.

Great new craft book-

I have in my hands Susan Beal's new book, Bead Simple: Essential Techniques for Making Jewelry Just the Way You Want It, and it's awesome. The projects are wonderful, the how-tos are clear and well written, and the tips and resources are extensive—the whole book is a much needed resource for me. There's a handy icon guide which quickly shows you if a project is hard, easy, time consuming or super quick, and the technique illustrations masterfully drawn by Alexis Hartman are very easy to follow.

My own jewelry/beading experience is pretty hodge-podge. I started beading in middle school and high school on a bead loom, with seed beads, to wrap crystals. Come on! It was the 1980s, you know. Then I did a bit in college with vintage beads and chain, but always knew I was missing critical things, like learning to wire wrap. I wanted to learn knotting and pretty much everything else too, but all the books/magazines out there were so not my scene. I then took some jewelry classes and learned to solder and designed our wedding rings, but the basics, like using the right clasp, connecting pieces—I just had some major holes in my know-how. This is the book I needed.

I have to mention that not only is Susan a great writer and author she is one of the friendliest and most supportive people I have met in the craft scene. Along with learning some great beading skills, you should get this book for the good karma of supporting such a wonderful person. I wish I had it years ago, and I am so happy I have it now. My 9 month old baby can't wait to pull more earrings out of my ears and break more necklaces. At least now I can fix them.

So, here's some info:

Susan's personal blog, West Coast Crafty

Bead Simple Website

And Meet Susan here in Portland!

Bead Simple event at Powell's
1005 W. Burnside St, Portland
(in the Basil Hayward Gallery upstairs)
Monday, April 7 at 7:30

I'm going for sure. And unrelated, please buy an oven thermometer. Man, mine is 35° too hot!! I knew my oven ran hot, but I didn't know it was that off. . .jeez!

 

I need to dust off my needles

photo by Michael Crouser

Portland's own Larissa and Martin John Brown have a new knitting book out, Knitalong: Celebrating the Tradition of Knitting Together and there are some mighty fine projects in this lovely book. This one above is designed by Adrian Bizilia of Hello Yarn fame. I am a stalker of hers, so I am delighted she has not 1, but 2 (!) projects in this book.

Super cute cover, huh? Time to get my needles out. After I sew that outfit. The list is growing. . .

brownies from a new book

I just received this new book, Martha Stewart's Cookies: The Very Best Treats to Bake and to Share, and the timing is difficult with me limiting my sugar and all, but for research purposes, I had to try out a recipe. Notice I have switched to limiting my sugar, not cutting it out all together—cause, well. . .that's not going to happen. But I am thrilled to report that smaller sized pants were purchased last week! Moving on—

These are coconut brownies that actually have very little coconut swirled in. I am not a huge coconut fan but wanted to make something different and not completely tempting. They were immediately frozen to send to a friend with an upcoming birthday and the rest went to Pete's work, where I hear they were well received. I did try half of one and it was amazing. This was with coffee before 8:00 am when I think all chocolate should be consumed.

The book is very pleasing. It's a soft back and includes this great visual index which is so handy. The inside photos are mostly full bleeds, sparse and well done, and the text layout is really minimal. Lots of white space on the pages. Of course the recipes look wonderful as well. I have a feeling I will use it often. Hopefully not too often, if you know what I mean.

oh the drama.

Okay, I haven't read this book but it's on my list and I am very excited for the movie as well. . .

I was fascinated by the Tudors series over the summer (or was it spring?) but I had to take a break and my viewing was sporadic, using my mom's HBO and all. I recently read The Secret Diary of Anne Boleyn and also have been reading about the Tudors over at Grammie's (she kept all her college texts—dang that woman underlined a lot.) and can't get enough.

Sounds like, from the description of the The Other Boleyn Girl novel here, this portrait of Anne is not so flattering. But, in The Secret Diary of Anne Boleyn, she is portrayed very sympathetically. There are so many differences in the historical facts—they seem like completely different stories. Hmmm. At any rate, I love this stuff, so tragic and horrible and interesting—all in great clothes. And, what I want to know is, does Natalie Portman have a 6th finger!? Come on!! Cause Anne did, I'm just saying.

Speaking of highbrow entertainment, we finally watched Superbad last night after having the DVD from netflix for probably 2 months. I don't know what was funnier, watching it or watching Pete laugh at it. I think at one point he almost fell off the sofa.

 

happy monkey day to you

We have another flurry of small people birthdays coming up and I can't seem to hand-make anything right now, it's just too crazy around here—but I love giving books. These are my 2 new (old) favorites to give. If I were smart I'd buy 3 copies of each, because it seems this one above is out of print (?) but that would involve too much planning ahead. They are I'll Be You and You Be Me and A Hole is to Dig, both by Ruth Krauss, illustrated by Marice Sendak. It's hard to describe how magical and amazing these books are.

We first read them from the library last summer by accident. They ended up in my bag and I don't even know who found them and put the them in there. The drawings are diminutive and charming—in a detailed black and white, pen and ink style that I love. The text is written the way children really speak to each other—nonsensical yet sweetly formal, which is how my kids talk. They are just so heartwarming to read. Ruth Krauss has many more books too, but these are my favorite. I think she actually just quoted kids directly for the text in these books.

    
I could barely read these at first, I was too distracted by the drawings and all the small details. The illustrations are grouped in a very unique way, often with little hand drawn borders and lots of white space. The clothes the kids wear in these pages are classic—the books are from the 1950s and I love this style of dressing.

Here's some info about Ruth Krauss and her husband, Crockett Johnson (best name ever?) of Harold and the Purple Crayon fame. I am sure many of you already know about these books and love them as well, but just in case. . .they are golden. (Here's Powell's, too.)

books I have been reading-

I love that Nick Hornby column in The Believer about books he is reading (or has bought and hasn't read)  and in this last issue he even admitted to starting but not finishing a book. And he never plans on finishing it. I didn't start doing this until a few years ago (Have I already blogged about this??) I decided that if a book is getting on my nerves and I feel like I have given it a fair shake, then I'm done with it. It's so liberating. Almost as crazy as the cereal graveyard. This works best with books from the library, obviously. I put about 5 on hold at a time, pick them up, and usually end up reading 3 or 4 from the bunch. So, here's some random ones. A lot of guilty pleasures here, sorry. My literary tastes have slid lately. I just need my books to be NOT real, you know? I feel like an escape is what I need, not some very intense and emotional tragedy. So, having said that, I did not finish The Kite Runner two summers ago. I know, the horror. I suck. But it was so heavy handed and so. . . well, you know what I mean.

To the Tower Born. I liked this a whole lot. Um, these reviews are going to suck, by the way. It's either a thumbs up or down. This is a big thumbs up. I heart historical fiction a lot.

The Subtle Knife, which is the second in the His Dark Materials series. I loved this. I enjoyed it more than the first, which I also loved. I am scared for the movie of the first one. How can it be good? or as good as the books? They are so brutal. . . I can't imagine the movies capturing the pain in these novels. (boy, I make is sound like a fun read, huh, but they are so good!) Big thumbs up.

The Debutante Divorcee. Okay, this is so fun and so silly and just the best beach read ever. I read it right after I had Liddy when I was tired and so out of it and loved every second of it. Bug thumbs up. (Mildly embarrassed, but why?)

There's more, but I need to save them for this posting everyday thing.