angry chicken

Anna Maria's new book-

I was thrilled to get an early review copy of Anna Maria Horner's newest book, Handmade Beginnings: 24 Sewing Projects to Welcome Baby which is available now.

There are some very lovely projects in here, not just for baby, but for the whole family. This Dad's bag rocks. I want one for myself. And how cute is that photo?

I love the intense colors and patterns in this quilt. The whole book is full of wonderful projects with more of a modern look, which really works for boys and girls. It's modern without being too cold. But it's also not too cute. It's a hard balance and this book hits it perfectly.

Super cute hoodie for baby

And a super sassy skirt for a pregnant mama. Of course I love the shoes. I haven't tried any of the projects yet, but I bet there will be a ton out there very soon.

sourdough pancakes

I have had sourdough pancakes only two times, both at a local pancake house, Pig N' Pancake in Newport, and they are incredibly good. I had to try a homemade version. They seemed like way more trouble than they are worth and are very cheap to buy, which often equals (to me) a really fun cooking project, like the lollipops.

I feel like I went about this a little backwards, making sourdough pancakes from homemade sourdough starter, not sourdough bread, but oh well. Now I have starter for bread, too. After a little research (there is so much out there about sourdough starter—I had to just stop) I decided to make a sourdough starter using only wheat flour and water. When it was ready, I then used this for the pancakes. There are many recipes out there for sourdough pancakes, and most of them use a starter made with commercial yeast, which you use to make a sponge, and then use for your pancakes. Like this recipe here. I want to try it as well, but I was so excited to make a sourdough starter, only using the flour and water, that I went down that road first

So, they were very good, but not quite sour enough for me. I made my sourdough starter only about 3 weeks ago, so I think I just need to wait more. I want to make sourdough bread next and then sourdough biscuits. Now that I have my starter, it will last in the fridge indefinitely, if I keep feeding it. I ended up using the sourdough starter recipe described in the King Arthur Whole Grain Baking book I have. Then I used this recipe to make the sourdough pancakes.

I also learned a ton from Amy's Bread regarding homemade starters—this book (the version I link to) was loaned to me about 3 years ago by my grandfather who was an avid bread baker, among many other things. He said it was THE book I needed (and he liked the title) and I glanced at it and thought it was amazing, if a bit over my head. Then it went on the bookshelf. When I needed sourdough starter info I looked in this book, and to my delight, found his handwriting and a turned down page marking which starter he had been making. I got a bit choked up—he passed away about a year ago. I love writing in my cookbooks—making notes and marking changes. I need to keep doing this. Having Grandpa's handwriting in there is priceless.

pucks of deodorant (not the best title in the world)

I needed a new batch of homemade deodorant (featured in the jammed packed issue of eMailorder #11 and a free copy of the recipe is here, but of course, if you buy it you will get so much more!) and it was a bit on the dry side. I found I wasn't using it as much because getting a pea-sized ball from the jar was proving to be difficult, and I was lazy—so I skipped days and started to stink. That's how it goes.

So, I decided to take action and re-melted the deodorant and poured it into mini-muffin tins (lightly oiled) and froze them and banged them out  the next morning. They work perfectly! I keep the extras in the refrigerator and keep one in the bathroom, on a little dish, and get it slightly damp with water before I use it and it's so much easier than digging in a jar. I think I added too much shea or cocoa butter this time—because it was just harder, but now I wonder if it would work better this way all the time.

When I first published this recipe many people asked if they could pour it into an empty deodorant container, with the dial. I had never tried this, but now I think it would work great. Especially if you slightly increase the butters, which make it more solid. I have been using this for so long I don't have any empty deodorant containers lying around. These pucks work great, but it looks like you can get empty containers online. Or these? But I think reusing an old one would be so much easier. 

At the Moon Pie Shop In Charleston

And, I have been rockin' some slightly 1940s vintage hair styles lately and need to report that the all natural hairspray that I have a recipe for, again, in the same issue, is up to the task. Three huge bonuses—It has no lemon juice (lemon juice is not so so good for dark hair) and doesn't need to go in the refrigerator and won't spoil. Outstanding! I might have to experiment more and see just how high my hair can go with this. If I do, I will report back for sure. With photos.

Unrelated: I have extended Alice Apron theme over on Tie One On—so, now you have until June 1st to get the aprons done. Yippee!

4 days in Savannah, Georgia

 

I had a long weekend in Savannah, Georgia visiting a dear friend and just got back earlier this week. Typepad has that handy way to schedule posts on a timer, which makes me feel like I have a clone—ha!

I say this like it was no big deal, like I travel all the time, but I don't, although I miss it so much. There's only been shorter road trips since having kids and I haven't flown anywhere since before 9/11. So, this was a BIG deal. Also, it was the longest I had ever been away from my family by about 3 days. Really big deal. We all did fine and it was wonderful for me to get away—eating crazy food, relaxing, walking, and sightseeing. Deep fried pickles were consumed, and while horribly executed, I have faith in this unholy dish and plan to research it with the help of  many of my Fry Daddy owning friends. I also plan to make a variety of homemade whoopie pies, without shortening. We ate some good ones. This is unrelated to Moon Pies, which were also eaten, regrettably. But, come on! I had to. I also am happy to report the mounted antlers I crammed into my suitcase came back intact. The glass plate negatives didn't fare so well, sadly.

It was so great getting away. I am with the kids all the time. I have such little time to quiet my brain. Even the flight there and back, just reading and looking out the plane window, was so amazing to me. Everything around me seemed so funny and light, because I wasn't worried about anyone having to pee, what they would eat, or you name it. I sort of remembered who I was before kids, and it was pretty cool. And in classic Amy fashion, I did almost miss my connecting flight, ran to 3 different concourses and was sweating horribly while sprinting in very non-athletic shoes. My workouts have paid off! It was awesome.

These are just right.

These small girl swim suits over at Little Fashion Gallery are so perfect! I want them so badly for my 3 girls—I'd be tempted to give them all matching bob haircuts to complete the 1920s bathing beauty look. Add some tin buckets for sand castles and a jaunty oversized red sun umbrella and we are set.

I think this might be the year I sew swimsuits for them. Yes, I can find them cheap in stores, but dang, they are really inappropriate. It's really hard to find girls' swimsuit that are sweet and just not creepy. Or really ugly. What the heck?

This one would be for the almost 3 year old. And one in my size, please. Actually, I'd wear any one of these in a heartbeat.

**update:

Here's a fine post about buying fabric for swimsuits over at True Up from a bit ago, and it's full of great information and links. Off to do more research. Click-click.

And here's a whole mess of new blogs to look at!

I am in really good company here among Top 50 Best Mom Food Bloggers. I just found out I was in this group and also in the Best Recipes and Healthiest Eating Mom blogs. Thanks to any of you who nominated me! This is awesome.

I had never heard of Babble. It's geared toward moms/parents and has links to more blogs than you can shake a stick at. The bios on the bloggers are really helpful and well done—it's not just a list of blogs. I have already found some great ones I never knew about. I especially like looking at the Mom Food Blog category, Most Fun to Read. And then there's the Most Controversial Mom blogs for when I am short on conversation topics when the ladies and I go out for dinner. Yowza!

some wanty items

This bag was in my favorites folder last year I think. I love it. I just thought of it again. It's from the Cambridge Satchel Company. They come in many colors and seem to be available only overseas I think and so that makes me want one even more. But what size and what color? The red is wonderful, too.

Also, I want these boots. I know these were all cool, like 2 years ago. I was sick of seeing them actually, but now I realize I really do need some boots for rain, mud, and sand. Our new house has much more dirt and mud to deal with. Also, these are very special green. Also, because they were so popular, maybe I can find them used? Maybe not this brand but I'm sure I can find some used boots, anyway, but for the daydreaming purposes, these are perfect.

I'm actually saving some shoe money for the perfect slippers, which, oh man, is such a huge ordeal, it's been like a 4 week thing and still is unresolved. I think I need to suck it up and just replace the pair that are officially worn out. Obviously there is a blog post in here waiting to be written. Or not. I mean, really, do I need to blog about my slipper search? I just might have to.

Anyhoo, since I like to have items in threes, here's a wonderful skirt that is just perfect. I'm not suggesting I would wear all of this together, but you never know. This is an eyelet fabric, it's hard to see here. And Talbot's? But they really work the vintage classic look in a very nice way. Is this a bit long maybe? But dang I am so sick of shorter skirts, I'm going to buck the trend and just sew longer skirts, dang it. My life style is just not set up for flashing the world every time I'm at the park helping a baby off the swing, you know? And this is crisp and elegant. And green, which I guess is the theme here, although I don't know why. You'd think I would have done this for St. Patrick's day, but no.

 

 

I feel strongly about leeks.

Leeks are very popular in this house. Not among the short people, unless it's potato leek soup, but the adults eat leeks all ways. Here they are sauteed and spread onto bread about to go under the broiler with some smoked Gouda cheese on top.

Cooked leeks are not the best photo subject, but oh well. I topped with the hard cooked egg after the broil (but without the cheese, cause that's just too rich for me) and all of it is drizzled with a grainy mustard vinaigrette from Pete's homemade mustard* which is amazing and has been a staple in our house for about 7 years now.

*Update. The mustard recipe is here, he's made all three and does a lot of customizing. You have to try making it, you won't go back to store bough, ever.

We call this the mouth cam. At this point during dinner baby was yelling "Take a picture of my mac and cheese!" Why not? And notice she was eating mac and cheese, not fancy leek toast. That's how we roll around here.

This was all concocted after having a similar dish (minus the bread) at a nice restaurant (Lovely's Fifty-Fifty) and then seeing similar recipes in an old Everyday Food. Here's the grainy mustard vinaigrette recipe and the leeks on toast is based on this recipe, but it's highly customizable, and to me—incredibly delicious, if you are a vinegar, mustard, leek type person, which I am.

a small book packed full of information

This book title has been coming out of my mouth lately. Or, more accurately, I have been linking to it a lot in reply e-mails to people. It answers pretty much every question a crafty person might have about starting a business, making some money, having a blog, marketing online, and so many other topics—I think I just need to add it as a reference on my FAQ. I'm talking about The Handmade Marketplace: How to Sell Your Crafts Locally, Globally, and On-Line, by Kari Chapin.

I am quoted in this book, I will fess up here, but really, even if I weren't (and even if the insanely rad cover illustrated by Emily Martin along with some really pleasing book design weren't reason enough to buy it) I would strongly recommend buying it—the writing is rock solid. It's so helpful in answering all the questions that arise about this huge topic, without having to learn it by yourself the hard way. What's not to like about that? Nothin'!

3 dresses for 3 girls

I sewed these three dresses, a bit back, for Spring Equinox. The wonderfully springlike fabric I used is from Sis Boom's new line, So St. Croix. I'm sure you can get in here locally in Portland in various shops, and online, I have seen it at Sew Mama Sew and the Fat Quarter Shop. Sis Boom also has quite a few sewing patterns that look really sweet. After admiring these prints I was lucky enough to receive fabric directly from Jennifer, herself—thank you so much!

Sewing x3 for the girls can be hard. I sew one or two things, usually leaving out baby, because it's not like we are short on girls' clothes around here. But then I feel bad. Also, I have so much fun with little details when I sew, I really don't like making the same thing over and over. So, I also get a little burnt-out and unmotivated when I feel the pressure to make three of the exact same thing. The girls are becoming more opinionated as they get older, about what they like and what feels like them, and I totally dig this, but trying to anticipate what they want, ask questions, double-guess, and all that can be kind of exhausting.

I ultimately did what I always do—I designed and made for them what I wanted to sew. I do keep their preferences in mind, of course, but I realize if I worry too much about it, I will lose my mind. Or worse, I won't want to sew as much for them as much, which would break my heart. I think of it this way: Pretty soon they will be able to sew/design their own clothes (if they want to) and then they can make whatever they want.

So, I just starting designing these on the fly (no commercial patterns used) which is my absolute favorite way to sew, and the most difficult to describe. I had been stalling because I felt I should know exactly how each dress should look before I cut them out, which was impossible for me to decide, and was really killing the fun for me. I knew I wanted Delia's to be the most formal, Sadie's a bit longer and casual, and Liddy's kind of sassy—but that was all I knew. I also had a limited amount of patterned fabric, which was perfect, because I love white muslin and love combining a print and a crisp white.

I cut out the three bodices using existing dresses they have as a guide. I cut them big, planning to use sashes to tie the dresses tight in back. Also this meant no closures, they can pull them over their heads, always a good thing. They are loose enough to wear over long sleeve shirts and coordinated bloomers underneath. They are all about the layers.

After the bodices were cut I then added the skirts (just gathered rectangles), added pockets, sleeves, trims, the sashes, some elastic to gather various areas along the back and neckline, and had them try them on. After they wore them for a day or two, I made more adjustments, and reinforced seams that were already getting stressed and watched them get stained and worn, loved, and used. It was awesome.

They love them and I love them and I realized all my questioning them about what they wanted was actually hard for them to navigate and decide on. They are thrilled with what I came up with and love the differences between the dresses and the fact they coordinate. The bloomers I sewed are in a tiny scale print that looks really cute peeking out below the dresses, but they are also worn as just cropped pants. Finding all the bloomers for this photo didn't quite happen, sorry.

The girls are getting bigger. I remember these three dresses from 2 winters ago. Next up I want to make three dresses from a basic nightgown pattern I have to serve as a sort of generic historical gown that we can match aprons and bonnets to.

Dave colored the baby yellow.

Here I am on live television (I was on April 1st, last week) showing a project from my book, Bend The Rules with Fabric—Painted Toile. I love being on this local morning talk show, AM Northwest. I grew up watching it, the hosts are funny as heck, and it is a really good time. Thanks guys! This clip is about 4 minutes long and Dave totally cracks me up, as usual.

the grahams

I made the graham crackers from King Arthur Whole Grain Baking. I thought the book/website used the same recipe I linked to last week, but it's totally different. (My bad. I mentioned this in the comments.)

I just saw a great looking recipe at bread & honey, and of course there's the smitten kitchen one here, but I have to say, these were so good I'm not sure if I want to try another recipe. These call for barley flour which is really tasty and gives them a nice snap. I had to increase the milk to make the dough wet enough to work with and I also increased the cooking time by almost 10 minutes and used only brown sugar. I do want to try the chocolate version. You can't see it very well, but there is heavy dusting of cinnamon-sugar on these.

Here's the recipe with my changes included:

• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/2 cup whole barley flour
• 1/2 cup white flour
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon cloves
• 1/2 cup chilled butter
• 1/3-1/2 cup milk (you might not use all of this)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and mix the dry ingredients. Cut in the butter (I use a Cuisinart) and then add the milk until a sticky dough forms. Then knead it smooth by hand. This is just like making a pie crust, so only add enough milk to make a dough, but make sure you can handle it and that it's not too dry to roll out. Chill for about an hour. Roll out about 1/16" thick and cut with a pizza cutter into squares (mine here are about 3" x 3") and prick with dots if you want to. Sprinkle with a bunch of cinnamon sugar. Transfer to a sheet and bake 15 minutes-25 minutes, depending on how thick you rolled them and how much milk you used. I actually decided mine weren't crisp enough about 6 hours later and popped then in an extra 5 minutes later in the day and they were perfect. They keep great in a air tight container.

Everyone in the house gives these a thumbs up—which was surprising because they are definitely more natural and less sweet tasting than the store bought kind. So, I am thrilled. They even suggested using them for s'mores. Little geniuses, I say. Another reason to bust out the homemade marshmallows. Twist my arm!