angry chicken

newly sewn vintage style dress

I was inspired to make this dress from one I had from about 1994 that I still wear. It wasn't a Betsy Johnson, but could have been. It's rayon and has a peter pan color and is black with a tiny floral pattern. I really love it. I found a pattern similar (McCalls 5753) and added the collar.

This dress you see here is the one I sewed and looks exactly like the one I copied. The sheer fabric is a rayon and the collar is a fine cotton (from an old bed sheet! I was too lazy to go to the store again) and I made a cotton gauze slip for underneath. You can see the one I am wearing here is too short—so that has been reciftied with the new longer one.

Drafting and adding the collar was really easy. Wendy discusses how to do this in her dresses book. I ended up taking out the zipper because it slips over just fine (with a slip) and the zipper was heavier than this sheer fabric and caused it to hang in a way that irritated me. So this actually has no closure.

The slip was a huge sucess and I need to write up a separate post about this because sewing this slip, on the bias, was so easy, it's criminal to buy them—I am serious. One caveat, you need to own one that fits perfect to copy.

Okay, I am outie for a bit—until after Labor Day. (September 5th) The aprons for Tie One On are due then and so when I get back I will get the gallery up.

Have a wonderful rest of the summer and be safe!

what I cook over and over again

This is just some lemon curd. Homemade and delicious. In a new Weck jar which was a special birthday gift from a sweetie.

I was thinking the other day, as I was spooning this homemade lemon curd on a waffle (left over from the kid's plate, eaten while standing and doing the dishes‚ for shame!) that in the last couple years the recipes I get the most pleasure from are really simple, everyday foods. Usually condiments. Or plain food. I enjoy making them but I think it's the frequency with which I consume them that makes me so happy. Several times a day I think how nice it is to have homemade yummy food-type items, not just a "hey, this crazy fancy dessert is so good" but more like, "oh, I love plain yogurt." I cook a lot. Like almost everything we eat is homemade, but certain foods I have always bought over the years and am now really enjoying making them from scratch.

Here's what I have being making frequently, we have been eating a lot of, and enjoying immensely. Some of these things I have been making for a few years now, others are newer additions to my simple cooking repertoire. This isn't a list of everything I make, but more a list of simple things that I am cooking now because I like and appreciate the homemade version so much more than store bought. I also hope that some of these recipes are ones the girls will be asking for when they get older, or better yet, will know how to make by heart.

I link to various posts where these are made, usually with recipes given, or links to them. It might not be super clear or obvious, but oh well. Let me know which simple foods you are making, too. I'd love to know.

bread wheat and white

bagels

yogurt

granola

mustard

lemon curd

caramel sauce

ganache/chocolate sauce

hot cocoa

all salad dressings

pancakes/waffle mix

croutons/breadcrumbs

 

 

old-timey food fun

A thoughtful blog reader sent me this book, The Little House Cookbook: Frontier Foods from Laura Ingalls Wilder's Classic Stories a few years ago and I refer to it often now that we are heavy into reading the Little House books. I never read them growing up. They just weren't on my radar. Grease and Zanadu were my scene. I never watched the television show either. Weird, I know, especially because I sell bonnet patterns now, for crying in the night.

Anyhoo, this book is fascinating to me on many levels. It was written in the 1970s which I find so comforting. It's got all the foods mentioned in the books with recipes—but it's the intro about food safety and the history of pioneer cooking and methods that are so interesting to me. I may not make a blackbird pie (yes, with real birds) but I just can't put it down. The girls are not super interested when I read a bit of it to them, but I do find it off the shelf and open a lot, so they must dig it.

They often play "Little House" and because we have 3 girls, Mary, Laura and Carrie are easy for them to act out. Pa usually is off killing bears (not downtown writing code) and I am making corn mush. Or churning. (Not working on the computer.)

Related:

• I found these moccasin boots for Sadie at a much better price than the ones we were loving at mini boden and a few other fancy kids clothing catalogs. I just finished up her fall coat (in deep purple velvet) inspired by this one. I will show it next month.

• I am now sewing a Little House dress, apron, bonnet and bloomers (from this pattern) at Delia's request and she wants old fashioned boots. Like lace up ones—ones like Addy's, she says. I have had a heck of a time finding boots like these, any suggestions? These from Olive Juice seem perfect, but yikes, the price. However, baby can wear them after Delia grows out of them. If I can't find any, we are going to be fine with just black old fashioned shoes with buckles (she says velcro is not old fashioned and I concur. ha!) All the shoes and clothes at Olive Juice are killing me right now.

 

the girls are making bread

Friday Girl, Snow White, and The Tomten bake bread.

I'm not sure why it took me 3 years (!?) maybe longer, to realize that the bread making method in this book is perfect for the girls learning how to make bread. It really could have been written for kids. I am slapping my forehead, here.

So, last week they made bread all by themselves, mixing the dough, letting it rise and shaping the loafs. Using a no-knead method means just that. They couldn't believe how simple it was. They were so proud and they loved it. This batch was all white flour and with salted butter and jam—it's heaven. They are begging to make it every week, and I say yes!

FYI: I used the full amount for the 3 loaves from the master recipe (it uses 6 1/2 cups flour). I plan to sneak in some white whole wheat flour next time.

a snappy-super-fast jumper

I sewed up this jumper in about 15 minutes the other night. I say that not to try and be cool, but because it was just that easy. Two pieces, and no closure, it just goes over her head. This is from a 1980s pattern, but there are a ton out there like it. Maybe one like Simplicity 4839? The fabric is left over from a fun project in my second book. It's a soft cotton. The pockets and ties are from a red jersey pair of leggings that sadie wore out.

And, you know, the stripes don't line up on the side there, and I just think that is fine. Come on! Let's keep sewing fun.

Sewing related—

• the newest issue of Fat Quarterly is out and has some great projects and an interview with Hillary and details about her new book! Very cool.

• Melissa's top is crazy cute.

 

moon!

We have been learning about the moon and space and summer star gazing in the last month or so, after reading Midnight on the Moon and the companion research guide. It's been super fun. We realized that the anniversary of the first walk on the moon was happening, so that day we made a moon cake—which is the amazing ice cream bombe you see here. The vanilla is the crust, the chocolate is the mantel, and the raspberry sorbet is the core. Sweet tarts make the craters.

Lots of fun projects and a few pretend planets were created— Lucia, with11 moons, and Gloria, which had 100 moons, but then changed to 49 after drawing 100 moons proved tedious. They are both jovian planets, in case you are wondering. The third pretend planet is called Baby Diaper. It is small, rocky, near the sun, and has no moons.

I have added a catagory for this homeschooling fun stuff over on the sidebar there, called Learning. You can see more there, too.

very small pencils

These mini colored pencils were picked up last winter, I think somewhere in Seattle, but who knows, so I am linking to where I know they have them online here at Giant Robot. I love them. I haven't sharpened them yet. That could be interesting. Anyone have these and know how to sharpen them?

More colored pencils:

• These from Muji are so enticing!

• The black pencils and watercolor pencils from Stubby Chalk Studio.

• This set of wood pencils from Jet Pens, not colored, but still awesome.

Random aside:

Thanks for all the support regarding the recent ER fiasco. Jeez! We are still tired around here, but getting back on track.

We are having some relaxing summer fun in the next few weeks—extended beach trips, and hopefully some camping or something equally fun and filthy, so I am going post a bunch of items I have been meaning to blog about this week and then take the rest of the month off and get heavy into some trashy reading and outside time.

Any summer reading suggestions are appreciated. I am off my werewolf kick for now, but still love any historical fiction, of course.  And I guess I should read The Girl with The Dragon Tattoo, right?

 

cupcakes make it better

So, loooooong week here at the house. We had a trip to the ER and then an overnight stay in the hospital for Papa. All is okay now, but the hospital experience and the ER craziness was pretty lame—lamer than normal, I'd say. It made for a very long day. This is the understatement of the year.

I have that horrible mind game I play when this kind of stuff happens—the thinking that yes, it could be so much worse. And yet, it still really does suck. I've come to believe, for me, denying (or minimizing) that something is really hard actually makes dealing with it even harder. So, I will say this, it was really hard to see him in so much pain and so frustrating being denied help right away. Oh, the ER insanity!

Okay then. Now we eating Get Better Papa Cupcakes. They are helping a ton. I used my chocolate cake recipe from the previously mentioned cheat sheet and a chocolate ganache for the glaze. The glaze recipe is in this post.

 

personal cherry almond buckles

I made these little personal buckles a few weeks back and thought they were delicious. I got the fancy paper liners here in town at Sweeet Wares. I love them. They are the same size I used for the cakes I baked for my booksigning/cakewalk last year.

I used the buckle recipe from my cheat sheet (the free PDF is here) and added 1/4 teaspoon almond extract and 5 cherries per cake. Many of the cherries still had pits because the kids helped using their favorite gadget, and didn't realize that the pits don't have anywhere to go if you don't empty it. So, these were a bit rustic. They were delicious, nonetheless. Several went in the freezer and kept beautifully. They are all unfrozen and eaten now. We have declared them the perfect breakfast cake.

eMailorder #7 re-issue available. A handy PDF.

I am so happy to be able to Re-Issue eMailorder Issue #7! I think it's a perfect fit for summer. Here's what you will get in this special PDF issue (It's exactly the same as the original, the only difference is that it's a PDF you print at home, so because there's no mailing, it's a bit less expensive. We love that!)

This issue's sewing project focuses on paper foundation piecing which, despite it's fancy look, is PERFECT for beginners. It's an easy and accurate way to make small patchwork blocks, without the tears, by sewing the fabric onto paper printed with the stitching lines to follow. So, if you can sew a straight line (I know you can) you can do this! No measuring!

Here's what you will receive in this jam packed $8 issue:

-The eMailorder Sewing Project: Learning to make foundation blocks with complete directions/patterns.   Included are 4 designs
-Illustrated ideas for potential projects with these blocks
-The delightful eMailorder Recipe Card—Rhubarb Blueberry Crumble
-The eMailorder paper project: Kitchen Friend Stick Puppets
-The eMailorder Merit Badge
-And the eMailorder Secret Word (which will award you a secret prize when found and entered onto kingpod)

The recipe card (this looks extra good if you have a color printer at home)

A sample of one of the blocks made from this issue #7 made by Sarah, of the Small Object

And look! She made hers into coasters! I love these to bits!

Please take a look at the Mailor group on flickr to see some of the amazing projects using these foundation patterns. They are stunning!

You can buy it right here and not to jump the gun, but this technique would be perfect for using on holiday gifts.

And this is a PDF you print at home, it's not sent to you, or even e-mailed to you—just hit "return to kingpod" after you pay for it via paypal and you will automatically get the download. If you forget or have problems just e-mail me. We will sort it out.