garden goodness

Does anyone else have a few of these hanging around?  

I have always saved my wine corks.  Inspiration hit years ago when I saw my first wine cork bulletin board.  Always wanting to make one, but still have not.    

Anyhow, we were looking for something fun to mark our goods in the garden.  

 How about a wine cork on a stick?  Or a popsicle stick?  Or a tongue depressor?  Now we're talkin'!

 After a few were made and stuck into the soft earth, we decided they were too hard to read with the name written on the side.  So we decided to write the name on the top.

Just something little that is making me happy these days.

And pumpkins?  The most exciting thing for me to watch grow!

sew red

{Out my living room window.  So red.}

The random number generator chose #23 All stitched up  and #59 Kathy to win the book Sew Red.  Please email me with your address and you will be sewing in no time.

Happy weekend!

homemade nutter butter's

Okay, guys.  Go to your refrigerator, take out 2 cups of butter (I know!  That's a  lot of butter!) and get it to start the softening process.   Your gonna want to make these... quickly.  

My kids all used the exact same adjective.  At different times.  "Amazing."  I thought that was pretty much amazing, too.  

If you can dare to not taste the dough... all the power to you.  Just beware that once you DO taste it, you won't be able to stop with one spoon full.

They were a little more time consuming than my most baked cookie.  But, SO worth every minute.  

The recipe makes quite a bit.  So I popped half into the freezer for a later date.  

I also played around with the size.  The size I was happiest with was making the balls about the size of a small brussel sprout.  

You need to overemphasize the shaping part.  Really get in there and squeeze your peanut together.  

And get ready to have a batch of truly amazing cookies, that won't last long.  

Recipe here.  I only made half of the icing since I froze half of the dough.

I'll be back tomorrow with the winner of Sew Red.

xx

happy mother's day!

Love this quote.  Thanks for sharing Carol.

sew red

I know some of my friends I like to knit with are also friends I like to sew with. Unfortunately, my sewing machine has a little dust covering it.

I would love to change that this summer.  Dust it off and dive into a fun project.  Maybe a project out of Sew Red.  The same beautiful idea as Knit Red.  With equally amazing stories and lovely projects.  I marked a few of my favorites:

Hop! Skip! Jump!  A quilt where you don't have to cut straight lines.  That's the charm about this beauty.

Paneled Maxi Skirt.  A strip skirt with a simple elastic waist.  Who doesn't love that.

Parson Gray Ditty Bag.  A useful drawstring bag that is great for travel, home or gift bags.  Easy to make and you can use your leftover scraps.

Drawstring dress.  A drawstring neckline, with shoulder slits and elastic cuffs.  Make it long or tunic length to wear with leggings.

Petal Dress.  This sweet dress is young, fun and versatile.

Mobius Cowl Wrap.  A perfect project for a beginner sewer.  Use your scraps for this fun project, too.

Sonoma Purse.  Made from just three fat quarters. Easy to sew and fun to wear.

There are many more projects with inspirational stories in this beautiful book.
Thanks to the awesome peeps over at Jimmy Beans Wool,  I have two to give away.   If interested, please leave a comment between now and May 14, 5:00pm EST and I will have the random number generator choose a couple of numbers/names.

Have a beautiful weekend!

scenes from sunday

I just downloaded about 10 days worth of photos and decided to post these to remember how great the weekend was.  You know, cause sometimes Monday's can be a bit challenging. 

Remembering all the great things in life makes e v e r y t h i n g better. 

There was work at a beautiful shop with loads of great energy and happy people.  A derby gathering.  Mint Juleps and the choosing of horses.  (He chose Orb, I chose Golden Soul. She chose Charming Kitten, he chose Frac Daddy.)  There was the caving of the delicious gluten full pasta craving.   

Sleeping in.  Coffee and knitting.  A jeep ride.  A trip to the nursery where the vegetables were carefully selected.  

A small Cinco de Mayo celebration with chunky avocado salsa and a gluten Corona light.  The planting of the lettuce, peppers, broccoli and herbs.  A video Libby shared with me that she found cool and inspiring.  I teared up. (Grab your tissues. Remember, you are more beautiful than you think!)  A lovely Sunday night dinner with the first corn we've had since last summer.

Yep,  those challenging Mondays are put to rest.  Grateful for so much.

lemon ginger sand dollar cookies

I'm craving a trip to the beach.  The east coast shoreline.  Where we used to find sand dollars and shake the doves around.  I would love if my children were to experiment that.  I'm not actually sure it is even still legal to collect them.  

When I spotted these cookies in the Summertime Anytime Cookbook, I knew I had to give them a whirl.  The shape and flavors caught my eye.  Problem is, I have been on a gluten-free diet since April 1st to try to clear my eczema issues.  Yep, that darn skin issue that I was able to keep under control with  a magic steroid cream that a doctor, in San Mateo, California, developed and the attached Pharmacy created.  Problem was, the doctor passed away and the compounding pharmacy went out of business.  I called the office and begged and pleaded to get the name of pharmacist.  Offering monetary gifts and even place mats for her kids, and all the kids she knew, if she could just share his information.  I'm surprised she didn't have me arrested.  I'm sure she thought I was cRaZy.  I just HAD to have the cream and I couldn't find another Pharmacy that could duplicate it. (I swear he never gave his whole formula.)  I was a total addict of this magic cream. Anyhow, that was a couple of years ago.  I googled causes of eczema and one was gluten.  And, because I have had it all my life, decided to try the gluten free thing.  I did it for a few months and low and behold my eczema started to go away.  But then, I started to crave cookies and the good pasta and breads and it returned.  So, here I am at it again.  And in the end, clearing something the natural way is a much better way to go.  

This recipe was not gluten-free, however, i just used the gluten free flour and viola!  Gluten-free cookies!

I made them on the crunchy side, but if you prefer your cookies chewy, reduce the baking time by 3 minutes.  Here is the real recipe.  My substitution is in ( ).

::Lemon-Ginger Cookies::

1 stick unsalted butter
1 cup packed golden brown sugar
1 large egg
1/4 cup sour cream
1 tsp lemon extract
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp grated lemon zest
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour (I used 1 3/4 cup gluten free flour with 1/2 tsp zanthan gum)
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cream of tarter
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp ground ginger
3 TBLS minced candied ginger

::Preheat oven to 350˚.  Cream together the butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy.  Add the egg, sour cream, extracts and zest.  In a large bowl sift together the flour, baking soda, cream of tarter, salt and ground ginger.  Add to the butter mixture along with the candied ginger and mix until thoroughly blended.  Roll into balls and flatten them down slightly with the palm of your hand.  (They spread, so leave some space.) Bake 12-15 min.  Carve sand dollar-like slits into the cookies with the tip of a knife before they cool::

Dream you're on the beach with eczema free hands.

devotion

Well, I finally finished a sweater.  And boy, did it feel good.  Just looking for the time to knit has been my problem lately. I still have plenty of desire, trust me.  It's just all. about. time.  

I love how this turned out.  And to tell you the truth, i think it's the perfect little sweater. Great for spring.  Or fall.  Or winter if you are on the warmer side.  A lot of stockinette.  Seed stitch edging.  A little cable detail.  Sleeves that end just as soon as you cast on.  Perfect!

Pattern:  Devotion
Yarn:  Mountaintop Vista by Classic Elite, 7 hanks
Needles:  US 6
Size:  36 1/2

I have a few mitts on the needles.  However,  I'm on the hunt for a new sweater pattern.  Anyone have a favorite?  I'd love if you shared it with us.

t o g

When in Beaver Creek we had lunch at Zach's cabin where I was served an awesome meal. The menu referred to it as zucchini pasta with a smoked sun dried tomato pesto.

I have been craving it ever since we came home and had to try to duplicate it.  

Not the smokey part.  Just the rest.  The yummy sun dried tomatoes, the basil and parmesan from the pesto.  

We thought they probably used the little, baby zucchini.   

That way, you could use the peeler to slice down the entire length of the zucchini, while managing to keep the width in tact.  

I thought about sauteing the zucchini, but decided to just steam it instead by placing the slices in a colander and steaming them over a pot of boiling water.  

It really was one of the most delicious little combinations, I just had to share.  

It's so good, I can seriously eat it with a spoon.

AND... after much consideration decided to name it "t o g".  Because, hey, this is my knitting blog after all.  And, there isn't anyone I would rather share this with than my knitting friends.
{tog:: knitting or purling stitches (ingredients) together.}

t o g (paste, spread, chutney, pesto, topping...)
Ingredients::
1 cup sun dried tomatoes packed in oil (do you have any canned from last summer?)
3/4 cup pesto (mine was from the garden last summer, hanging out in the freezer.)
1 sweet onion
1 tsp red pepper flakes
Directions::
Saute the onion in the oil from the sun dried tomatoes until tender.  Combine all ingredients in a food processor or blender until blended.  Toss with steamed zucchini.  Sprinkle fresh parmesan (and fresh parsley or basil if you have any around).

You can use this with just about anything, really.  Use over grilled chicken or fish.  Spread on toast or a bagel with cream cheese.  Spread over crackers.  Toss with pasta.  The possibilities are endless!

one + one : hats

{I bought pansies!}

That fun random number generator chose #31, istuke.
Please email me with your address and the book will be on the way!