shop update

I used up all my blogging time today posting new items in the shop.  I've still got several more things to post, so be sure to stop in tomorrow as well to see it all.  

These new checkbook covers are ready just in the nick of time- I sold the last of the old ones last week.  I'm also working on a matching purse to go with them that will be ready in a couple weeks. 

I've sewed up a couple of new baby blankets for all those cold babies.  It's almost fall, you know. 

And the scarves.  Oh, the scarves.  Even though I almost got heat stroke hanging out in the yard with sweaters and scarves on for these pictures, I was still super excited to be wearing a scarf once again. 

Come on back tomorrow and I'll tell you about the long weekend!

normal as blueberry pie

I had a delicious slice of blueberry pie while we were in Maine and have been dreaming about making one ever since. 

We're hosting more house guests this weekend, which seemed like the perfect excuse.  (As if I need an excuse to make pie...)

I was a little short on blueberries (and wishing that Mom were here with a bag full of fresh picked ones from her patch), so I threw in some peaches for good measure. 

One of our current favorite CDs is "Normal as Blueberry Pie" by Nellie McKay.  It's a Doris Day tribute and makes me want to twirl around the house with a feather duster.  I caught myself humming snippets while I worked on the pie this morning. 

I recently learned this trick for covering the edges of the pie crust.  Normally I would just make a million little strips of foil and try to wrap them around the edges.  The other day I read that you can trace the bottom of the pie plate onto a piece of foil and then cut out the circle in the middle, making a perfect crust shield.  I love learning new things. 

Labor Day weekend is always so much fun!  We may even get the pool out on Monday for one last hurrah.  We're also planning to squeeze in a farmer's market trip, a visit to Steve's new office, and, of course, blueberry pie. 

Hope your weekend is long and happy!

how quickly we unravel

I found a little bit of fall this week and it made me smile.  Fall is my favorite season and September is one of my favorite months.  It's in the top three and I can never really decide on a favorite, so I just keep it at a three way tie.  And usually just end up calling whichever month it currently is "my favorite". 

But this post is not really about fall, or months, or nature, for that matter.  It's actually about this quote:

     "They say that every society is only three meals away from revolution. Deprive a culture of food  for three meals, and you'll have an anarchy. And it's true, isn't it? You haven't eaten for a couple of days, and you've turned into a barbarian."

There are mixed opinions on who first said these words, but Steve has mentioned this quote to me on several occasions.  And I never really gave it much thought, except to think, "Really?  Three meals?  I would like to think that I am civilized enough that it would take more than missing three meals to turn me into a barbarian."

But then last week our car died.  It's a very old car and no one can really blame it for dying, but it put us in a little bit of a bind. 

Not wanting to be a spoiled American who needs my own car, I was a little excited about the idea of sharing a car for a while. 

Three days in, this was our conversation over dinner:

L: I almost didn't have time to do the grocery shopping today.  I had so many other errands to run and appointments that I needed to get done today while I had the car, that I just didn't think I would fit it all in.  I considered walking to Food Lion tomorrow, while you have the car, and getting groceries there, but I wasn't sure how to get them all home.  If only we had a wagon or something. 

S: Or a wheelbarrow.  Maybe you could borrow a wheelbarrow.

L: Maybe.  I finally decided that I would just ask the store manager, real nicely, if I could please walk home with one of the shopping carts if I promised to bring it back soon. 

S: Good idea.  I was afraid you'd be running behind today and not be at the train station to pick me up on time, so I started looking around for a good place to nap while I waited for you. 

So here I've been, patting myself on the back for being so civilized, when in reality we are only ever three days away from stealing grocery carts and sleeping at the train station.  Pretty humbling. 

I think we are finding our new groove now though and I almost rather like the fact that there are days when I can't leave the house.  Except maybe to walk to Food Lion. 

Today I am doing some much-needed sewing and being thankful that I can get fabric delivered right to my front door. 

the frolf days of summer

Usually, when the boys come to town, they go off and do their boy things and we meet back up for meals at our place. 

This time, we tagged along for some of the frolfing fun. 

It has to be said- they've got some pretty sweet moves. 

Frisbee is not really my thing, so I was the team photographer.  Steve played right along with them and did not even mind that he came up at least 20 over par at each course.  He didn't lose a single disk. 

I haven't spent much time on Frisbee golf courses, so it was fun to see what a few of them were like.  I think I was unprepared for the amount of walking Frisbee golf involves.  As Corbin says, "it's like hiking, with discs." 

It was hot, but not unbearable.  And there was plenty of shade available. 

There was also plenty of tall grass and brush to walk through and I will consider the weekend a total victory if I don't end up with poison ivy. 

How many of you remember the Ivy of '03? 

It wasn't pretty. 

Steve and I were so exhausted after a weekend of trying to keep up with the college crowd.  I am still trying to decide if that makes us old. 

It was worth the exhaustion to spend some quality time with this guy before he heads off on his next big adventure. 

I could start reciting from "Oh, the Places You'll Go!", but I'll refrain. 

Today, I find myself on clean-up duty at the old homestead.  After the boys left yesterday, Steve and I surveyed the house and made the joint decision to go out to dinner and head to bed early.  We assumed the mess wouldn't go anywhere and- what do you know?- it was still here to greet me this morning, just as I suspected it would be. 

I love: the sound of the washer and dryer humming in the background while I clean other things.  It's like I'm getting double work done!

I love feeding a crowd

True to my word, here are some recipes:

Zucchini Bread with Crumb Topping
Bread Ingredients:
3 eggs
1 cup vegetable oil
2 cups white sugar
2 cups grated zucchini
2 tsp. vanilla
3 cups flour
3 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt

Crumb Topping Ingredients:
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup brown sugar
3 Tbsp. butter, cut into small pieces
1 tsp. cinnamon

1. Preheat oven to 325.  Grease and flour two 8x4 loaf pans.
2. Beat eggs until light and frothy.  Mix in oil and sugar.  Stir in zucchini and vanilla.  Combine flour, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder, and salt; stir into the egg mixture.  Divide batter into prepared pans.
3. Mix crumb topping ingredients together and sprinkle over each loaf.
4. Bake for 55-65 minutes.

Confetti Omelet Casserole, recipe found here. 

Spinach Artichoke dip, recipe found here. 

Yes, I made all this today and no, I do not always cook like this for the weekend.  But we are expecting some especially hungry house guests tonight and I like to be prepared for them. 

That's right, it's Nationals, again.  My brother and his buddies are coming down for one last weekend of fun before two of them move across the country.  As one of the two is my baby brother, I am trying not to think about that part yet.  Right now, I'm just thinking about how much fun they are and how much they eat. 

(I found this stowaway behind the oregano when I was out clipping herbs for the casserole.)

We're looking forward to a great weekend of Frisbee golf and other fun things and hope that the weather cooperates.  Next week I'll continue to share some glimpses of the new fall products that I'm working on.  They're set to debut in the shop right after Labor Day and I'm so excited, I can hardly wait! 

Happy weekend to you!



sympathy shakes and how to clean your oven

Yesterday our car broke down and I felt my first earthquake. 

Today my goal was for things to be a bit less... eventful. 

But before I move past the events of yesterday, I must tell you that I was talking to Natalie on the phone when the earthquake hit.  She said, "Our house is shaking.... what should I do when the house is shaking?"  After a few seconds of brainstorming the safest place in her house to go, I walked into my own living room and felt the floor shake and heard the walls creak.  And I thought to myself- "we have reached a new level of closeness- I'm having sympathy shakes." 

Natalie and I have a serious connection, much like twins that don't look alike, and it is not uncommon for one of us to feel something just because the other is feeling it.  But in this particular case, we were both feeling the same earthquake, which made the distance between us seem a lot smaller. 

Today I am doing regular things, like sewing.  I finished up a few orders and started cutting and assembling fall projects from my new fabric. 

I made a scarf, or three.  Then I imagined it being cool enough to actually wear a scarf.  These days, I'm dreaming all the time of fall.  It's my favorite season. 

I had both machines going all day long.  I'm thinking of getting an embroidery machine, but my biggest concern is where I'd put it.  The sewing table is rather crowded as is. 

Did you think I'd forgotten about the oven?  No, pumpkin, no. 

I consider myself a pretty good housekeeper, overall.  But I almost never clean the oven.  Probably not even yearly.  Instead, I just try really hard not to drip anything or to wipe up spills as they happen. 

But this week I decided that it was time.  I came to this conclusion after setting off the fire alarm while making dinner.  Twice. 

The last time I cleaned the oven (2008?  2009?), I used a standard oven cleaning spray foam and I can still remember the fumes.  And how our food tasted like orange scented chemicals for a week.  Ick. 

This time, I used baking soda and water and it was amazing.  As baking soda always is.  I took out the racks and scrubbed them with a baking soda/water paste and a green scrubber.  While I was doing this, I heated the oven to 250.  Then I made the paste a little runnier and poured it all over the bottom of the oven (I turned the oven off at this point).  Once I finished cleaning the racks, I used a sponge and wiped out the oven, scrubbing a little when needed. 

The whole process took less than an hour, including clean up.  Oven cleaning is one of those jobs that seems to daunting and huge to me.  I felt a bit ridiculous that it took so little time. 

Let's talk recipes later in the week, shall we?  We've got company coming this weekend and I'm already thinking up treats to make.  In my clean oven. 

a quick hello

Kayla and David's wedding was sweet and lovely. 

They both looked so happy the whole day. 

The photographers, Susan, and Kayla's sister, Ruth Anne, did a fantastic job and I just had to share some of their pictures. 

We got home, exhausted, and had a relaxing evening.  Sometimes we like to eat dinner on this little table for two.  Feels like we're at a restaurant, right in our family room.  But you can wear PJs. 

Today I've been busy getting orders ready to ship out and being SO thankful for my postal scale.  The joy of not standing in line at the post office anymore is almost indescribable.  I literally skip down the driveway to the mailbox every time. 

I am working hard on my new fall products and a couple other projects and hope to have something to show later in the week. 

Tonight we're having leftover Chicken Marsala Tetrazzini for dinner.  It is one meal that I really do think gets better with age.  I usually don't make it until fall, but I just couldn't wait!