angry chicken

a sort of cake-like cookie

I don't make frosted cookies very often. Except for the standard frosted sugar cookie for easter or Christmas, I usually don't think to make frosted ones, but why not? They are so over the top. I actually think they are better for you because they maximize the sugar-sick feeling so much, you eat less. How's that rationalization?

These are insanely good pumpkin spice cookies with a cream cheese frosting. With hot cider or coffee, they are the food of the gods. The girls chew off the top layer and leave the gross decapitated cookie hidden in cupboards around the house. At least they tell me this, so I can find them right away. The recipe is here and the frosting I used is pretty much the same glaze they list with the addition of cream cheese.

I can't believe Halloween is so soon, I feel very unprepared, except I spookified my banner. We only just got the Nightmare Before Christmas soundtrack out 2 days ago. We did see the spooky NW Children's Theater production of Hansel and Gretel Sunday and it was so good—nice and creepy, the girls really had a good time. They were too warm, so there was lots of lying down in the seats and removing of shoes and tights and all that.

I broke down and got this dress that I have been eyeing for about 2 months now. Here's the thing—I couldn't have sewn it, not with all the ruffles and details (zoom in please, it's really great) without going crazy. That's what I have told myself. And the seams are bound on the inside with such a lovely fabric. And it looks killer on. Photos soon.

cozy slippers for tiny feet

These absolutely wonderful felted wool slippers came to us from Satch & Sol a few weeks back. They are extremely popular with the smalls in our house and are so well made. Satch & Sol has a squeal worthy inventory— these sets are killing me.

Liddy likes them, too.

They are made in Mongolia by a fair trade artisan cooperative—so it's all good and they are so stinkin' cute! I thought these would also make wonderful handmade holiday gifts for when I want to give something handmade, but not made with my own hands. You know what I mean. Susan, the lovely owner living in Seattle, tells me if you sign up on their e-mail list, you will get a generous discount (hit the "sign up for savings" option.) Bonus.

I see London I see France

I didn't wake up planning to sew my own underwear.

It actually came about because I was trying to sew less. I think we actually will be moving soon, which is happy good news, but is stressful nonetheless. My art room is sort of dismantled, so I though I'd cut myself some slack and not sew until we are settled in our new house. I bought a few jersey dresses like this one and needed tights, pronto. It's been a while since I've worn dresses like these. I was excited to just throw these on, like a nightgown, over tights and top with bulky sweaters. Add some boots and I am done. Repeat the following day. I did just that, but realized right away I needed a slip.

The slips I had on hand were gross at best. They are mostly vintage and have been worn out completely Also, the full slip, which I have the most of, isn't the right style for these dresses. Tap pants are perfect, and I had none. A quick internet search made me realize that no tap pants are available anymore. Why? They are my ideal slip/underwear of choice. Another search made me realize what is available slip-wise is horrid, over priced, and made of terrible fabrics. So out came the packed away sewing machine. I bought some silk charmeuse (if I'm gonna sew tap pants, I'm going to make them with the best fabric, not some icky poly-nonsense) and made these.

These were so fast and easy, it was one of these head-slapping moments. Why had I not made these before? Or any of my slips? So, 2 half-slips and 4 pairs of tap pants later (the half slips are not silk, but a nice quality lining material) I felt an overwhelming urge to add even more to my undergarment collection in the near future. Full slips, camisoles, an impractical silk bed jacket, possibly a kimono ala 1920s—all that. I have one new sewing pattern that is vintage inspired I am quite pleased with it—has a great assortment of items, but I haven't used it yet. Of course, I am trolling for vintage patterns now and plan to copy what I have in my closet that is vintage—which is what I did for these pieces shown here. Not surprisingly, new sewing patterns for lovely undergarments are very hard to find. Here's a nice one, however.

There is a nice free pattern here at Burda Style for a similar pair of tap pants and a top that would be super sweet to sleep in. Its styling is different than these, it uses a casing for the waistband, but I am all about lingerie elastics and edging with lace.

I used an assortment of what I had on hand for trim and the like. I serged all the seams (with a wooly nylon thread on one spool) and then turned and edged with lace. Sometimes stretch lace, sometimes not. I primarily used lingerie elastic and a 3-stitch zig zag for the waistbands, but you can see I used a coral colored FOE waistband on the green tap pants and one of the half slips.

This was LOADS of fun. All the fabrics came from Fabric Depot. I thought for a millisecond about the appropriateness of showing this stuff, but come on. It's not terribly risque really, and hopefully won't come up in too many random google searches. In the last few posts I think "hot vampire sex" has been mentioned more than once in the comments, so it's hard for me to get all worried about the people who will end up here searching for "panties" Panties is a awesome/funny word, by the way. One of my faves.

shadow box

This black board box was going to be a halloween diorama, but I made this little theater instead. (Similar to this one I made 3 years ago, I am very predictable.) In finding the link for this product, I discovered the company site (cosmo cricket) which have some pretty cool items (wholesale only, dang it, I got my box here locally at Paper Zone.)

Unrelated, I am listening to this blind pilot album and love it immensely.

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!

knitting, books, and a horrible drink

The eggplant and I had a lovely time with the Mason Dixon gals on their whirlwind book signing tour. This disgusting drink was ordered by Mariko. It's a non-caffeinated barley drink that is served to Italian children (so we were told) it tastes like (fill in your favorite expletive here.) This lead us to a discussion of the merits of swearing on one's blog.

Here's my sweater, which was restarted—again. It was twisted—again. There are 128 sts to cast on and they got very squirrely. Also, I don't know what I am doing. So, I am now going to knit a few rows without joining and then join when I can see better. I looked this up—I can just leave a tail and seam up the part that I left open after I join.

I am reading Lonely Werewolf Girl and enjoying it so very much I am actually sort of geeking out.  I can't wait to read some other works by Martin Millar. I read Twilight a few weeks back and although I plan to read the rest of them, there is no compassion in my mind between the writing chops of these two authors. Both books are Young Adult fiction, which is such an odd book classification to me. I would have been a little worried about the 12-14 year old version of myself who would gotten a hold of Lonely Werewolf Girl, but it's brilliant.

So, Twilight. I didn't dislike it, but didn't love it. I feel like there might be a hidden teen agenda in this book. Not quite sure yet, I should do some more research on it, but I sense a strong pro teen abstinence undercurrent in it. But, it's hard to know, 'cause we all know for vampires, it's about sucking blood not taking your top off, so it maybe it's just my issue. Lestat never got naked either. Still, I enjoyed it and have a whole lot of love for vampires, werewolves, and teen angst (and throw a few zombies and fairies in there, too) so it's all good—and quite seasonally appropriate.

The Twilight movie was shot at the high school down the street from where we live, so this book/upcoming movie has been on my dull radar for awhile and there was much talk of the bed in the movie at Fabric Depot. Apparently the movie crew needed custom sheets made for Edward's huge bed and one of the Fabric Depot employees was sewing them. They required an insane amount of yardage. I can't tell you how awesome it was overhearing this conversation.

Here's a few funny/snarky posts about Twilight (the book and upcoming movie) which I found very amusing, but might annoy you if you are a die hard fan, just sayin'.

the original title sounded too naughty-

Shadow puppet love. These are perfect for the upcoming All Hallows Eve. They are from Orange Moon Toys. They have several different styles, I love them all. I also am busting out my beloved set from Owly Shadow Puppets which I have hidden away from the kids because I get so freaky about them. I think they are perfect to display for the holidays, not just to use as puppets, you know?

Here's some more shadow puppet findings:

-Some lovely ones here at Isabella's Art
-Awesome shadow puppet site with history, information and wonderful historical hand shadow puppet images
-From Make, a shadow puppet how-to

broiled fruit (that sounds weird)

These are from several weeks ago—back when there were peaches. It was a recipe I was super excited about. You take peaches (or nectarines) and half them, broil them, and add a honey balsamic vinegar glaze. Then top with a little creme fraiche, which I had on hand from my homemade experiment. I actually was looking for way to use up the creme fraiche which is why I made this. Okay, they were good, but I think the balsamic flavor was a bit too much for me. I had made this before broiling the peaches with butter and brown sugar, and I liked that better.

We are sort of in a holding pattern around here. No offers on the house yet, but lots of second showings. And lots of showing in general, like more than 2 a day and sometimes as many as 4, so we haven't been home much. Lots of cafes and parks. Not so much with the crafting/sewing/cooking. I have found time to buy clothes however, and I need to stop.

I want to sew a few skirts soon—in plaid for sure and maybe a something in a nubby wool. Everything in the shops right now seem to be lighter-weight and shorter than I want. I am feeling old, or least a bit grumpy about another 1980s fall/winter season. And can we stop with the scarves? Now I do sound like a grump, but come on. I don't mean the muffler style scarves, love those, but the big fringey/glittery ones. You know what I mean. And now I need some fall boots, boots—not shoes, I think. Like ankle boots? (Now who is a big hypocrite, that is pretty 1980s) maybe like these.

I have started knitting my sweater. 6 times. I have started it 6 times. Yes, I am awesome. In the round. (Don't twist the stitches!) And um, I forgot how to do some basic stitches, so I keep starting over. I hope to progress to a 3rd row this week with the help of the eggplant. Oh! I am seeing Kay and Ann this week (who I will show none of my knitting to, thank you very much) and you local folks can out and see them in person at Powell's this Monday night, as in tomorrow. I hope to be there causing a ruckus possibly waiving around twisted stitches.

writing machine for my brother

This was given to my brother for his birthday. I got it on ebay, found new ribbon and a reproduction of the original manual here, and cleaned it up. It works great.

The keys are a bit sticky but fortunately, I found this handy list here on how to do basic restorations/repairs on old machines, which is awesome because as much as I would love to buy a professionally restored machine, finding a vintage one and fixing it myself is more in my price range and way more fun. Portland being what it is, there are several places that restore/repair machines locally, listed here.

I need to back up and mention how I even thought to get this for my notoriously difficult-to-shop-for brother. I was spending many many hours over on the Collectors Weekly website, which to be honest, I knew nothing of until I was contacted by them, congratulating me on my Vintage Apron group, which they have named a Hall of Fame Collection—so flattering. When I checked the site, hours of my life were sucked up, it's that good. So many topics, articles, links, and resources about vintage items--I sort of had a freak out. This is what I saw when I went to research typewriters—see what I mean? Good gravy. Obviously, I need to start a vintage pencil collection.

I didn't keep these for myself.

I was trolling some vintage items in various etsy shops and found this set of four tea cups and saucers which I purchased for a dear friend's birthday—they are from Pony Party, a dangerous place for me.

I am so proud of myself for actually giving them to her, 'cause um—look at them. They are too good.

random bits:

-I am finally watching the last season of Slings and Arrows, which I have been avoiding for 6 months because I love it so much I don't want it to end, but I am trying to just enjoy it.

-I am strongly re-thinking my recent agave nectar enthusiasm. Not because I have had a bad baking experience with it, but because. . .not sure why. I'd almost just rather eat bad stuff, just not very often than feel possibly disappointed with a substitute, you know? And to be honest, sweets make me want more sweets regardless of the sugar source. The only way I feel 100% not gross is with fruit, so I'd rather go whole hog when I do eat sweets (just not very often) and then stick with berries and apples the rest of the time. Don't get me wrong, I love agave, and I also love maple syrup, molasses, and honey, but when I make a classic cake or something like that, I am not sure I'd be happy with substitutions. At least I am consistently indecisive, you can say that about me anyway.

-I am looking for fall shoes and am excited about this brand, Gentle Soles which is hella expensive, but intriguing. And yet, looking at them again, they might be a little too urban hobbit for me. Not sure. And if I'm going to spend a ton of money on a pair of shoes, why not something like this? God. Why, why are these Anthro shoes so expensive? I just don't understand, and I want to—really, I do.

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.

happy birthday magic child (and my brother)

Sadie and my brother share the same birthday today and some of the same character traits as well. Both first born, impressive negotiators, and obsessive readers. I am so lucky to have you both in my life. Happy birthday to you—my favorite Libras. (And Adam, if you get her a iphone you are in serious trouble.)