A little more comfort

for my little man.

To start I pulled out my handy-dandy sewing machine.

Can I just tell you this was THE deal of 2009. Well, actually I did score quite a few deals but this one is pretty awesome!! I got a sewing machine soon after we were married for those little projects that needed to be done here and there but was never happy with it. I just thought I hated sewing. That was that. My mom has had a Sears Kenmore sewing machine for as long as I can remember. Probably as long as I've been alive:) And it still sews like a dream to this day (after MUCH MUCH use).

So when I saw this beauty at a garage sale last summer for $10 I knew I had stumbled upon something great. And to make it even better the lady who was selling it said she used it ONCE and has had it in storage ever since. So people this machine was BRAND NEW!

Yeah yeah it's older than me, well it's actually older than James who is 7 years older than me:) But these machines have a reputation for lasting forever, and this one has not let me down! The first thing I made with it was curtains for Evan's room and I was so impressed. I actually enjoyed sewing for the first time in my life! So having a good machine really does make a difference:)

Well on to what I pulled the machine out for yesterday... Poor little Evan did not enjoy his pack and play for sleeping very much. Can't say that I can blame him after feeling how hard the mat was on the bottom!! So I decided to add a little bit more padding for the little guy.

I used a piece of foam core from Joann's and found this cute flannel fabric to make a cover for it.

I haven't done button holes yet, (they scare me) so I made it like a pillow sham so it can be removed and washed, because well, after my spitty uppy baby sleeps on it it's gonna need it!:) I was trying to figure out how I was gonna do this simply and James suggested the pillow sham idea. Brilliant! And simple. I'm all about simple, quick, functional and attractive:)

While at Joann's wandering through the fabrics I was thinking that the play-pen had monkey graphics on it. Hmm, my brain cells must have decreased, you know having a baby and all, because there are no monkeys. Only giraffes, hippos & elephants. Oh well, the monkeys are cute too:)

And here is my comfy little monkey:) No more hard uncomfortable base to sleep on, just a soft comfy "mattress".

More baking!!! (Part 2)

Part 2 will be about my Valentine's Day cookies. I'm not much of a Valentine's Day fan, especially not decorating my house and such for the occasion. This may change as my kids grow up:) But for now I'm happy not going to any bother for it. I'm happy if I receive a card from my honey, if there's flowers, not even neccesarily roses, I'm really happy:)

But if there's an excuse to make my favorite cut-out cookies then I'm all for it. And Valentine's Day calls for pretty pink heart shaped cookies:)

Now it just so happened that the cookies from this post are now all gone in our tummys and it was time to bake again, otherwise Valentine's Day cookies may have been skipped this year. *gasp* But instead of going with the next cookie recipe in line from this book I chose an old faithful from it. It is my absolute favorite cut-out recipe I have ever found. The dough is such a dream to work with and they have a wonderful buttery taste!! And they always turn out looking so nice. Here is a link to the recipe.

See how nice and smooth this dough is?? So not like my biscuits from earlier in the day, I'm glad I did those first and had this to look forward to:)

And the finished product...

They really are as good as they look:)

More baking!!! (Part 1)

So baking day fell on Wednesday this week...

Ah... must start off with a cup of tea...

So I started off with the next recipe in line in the Martha Stewart Baking Handbook. So let's just say that this started out with me thinking that this recipe was going to be a complete and utter disaster!! I made the Cream Cheese and Chive biscuits.

Here is the recipe:

Cream Cheese and Chive Biscuits (Martha Stewart)

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1/4 cup finely chopped fresh chives *I used about a TBL dried*
1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, cold, cut into small pieces
4 ounces cream cheese, cold, cut into small pieces
1 1/4 cup buttermilk

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper; set aside. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, sugar, and chives. Using a pastry blender, cut in the butter and cream cheese until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs with a few larger clumps remaining.

Pour in the buttermilk; using a fork, mix in buttermilk until incorporated and the dough just comes together. The dough will be slightly sticky; do not overmix.

Turn dough out onto a lightly floured work surface. With floured fingers, gently knead about four times, until all the crumbs are incorporated and the dough is smooth. With a lightly floured rolling pin, gently roll the dough to a 8-b-11-inch rectangle, about 1 inch thick. Using a bench scraper or long offset spatula to lift the ends of the dough, fold the rectangle into thirds (like a business letter). Give the dough a quarter turn. Roll out the dough again (to the same dimensions), and repeat the folding process. Wrap in plastic, and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Return the dough to the work surface. Roll out as before, and repeat the folding process. Give the dough another quarter turn; roll out dough one more time, again into a rectangle about 1 inch thick. Using a sharp knife, divide the rectangle into 12 equal squares or rectangles. Place on prepared sheet about 1 1/2 inches apart. Refrigerate for 1 hour. (at this point you could also freeze the biscuits…to cook, simply put the frozen biscuits on a parchment lined sheet and proceed with baking)

Preheat the oven to 424° F. Bake, rotating the sheet halfway through, until the biscuits are golden and flecked with brown spots, 15 to 18 minutes. Transfer the bicuits to a wire rack to cool.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ok so I followed the recipe exactly (except for the dried chives) and as soon as I added the buttermilk I knew I was in trouble. The dough was a wet (slightly sticky is a joke!!), goopy mushy mess!!! There was no way on earth this dough was going to be ROLLED out. But I was determined this was going to work somehow! Let me just insert here to say when I started this I was not even in the mood to make these because of all the steps involved... So I "turned out the dough" onto a VERY floured surface and kneaded in probably about a cup (A CUP!!) more flour just to make it slightly manageable.

Notice all the flour mounded up and the rolling pin and spatula covered in goo... I looked for a link to this recipe and couldn't find one anywhere, even on the Martha Stewart website, just so you could see in there pictures how this dough is "supposed" to look like. So not how this turned out!!

So I continued on with the recipe as directed hoping that somewhere along the way it would get better. Ha. No such luck. Even after refrigerating it was still very unmanageable. But I managed to get them rolled out and folded as best I could and into squares and in the fridge.

In the meantime I worked on my valentine's cookies, which thankfully turned out marvelously!!:)

So after refrigerating the dough for the second time I just couldn't wait till James got home for supper to try these biscuits, I just knew they would be rubbery and unedible and I was going to be sooo disappointed. Well... MUCH to my surprise, as they baked they started looking a little bit better!!!

By the time they were done baking they smelled really good!! So I cracked open a hot biscuit fresh from the oven and imagine my surprise when I took the first bite. They were edible!! And not only that they were actually quite tasty!!!  Yum!

So I will definitely be trying these again. But, with a few modifications... The notes written in my cookbook say, "Increase flour, decrease liquid" I'll let ya know if I ever come up with the perfect combo...

All this biscuit madness, add a baby on the crowded counter top and you have a mess!! This pic cracks me up because it looks like he is totally mocking my sad hunk of biscuit dough:) And no he was not exactly a happy camper up there watching me make such a mess...

The finished, and surprisingly yummy product!

Mmmm...

I only baked 5 of these and froze the rest on a tray and then put them in a freezer bag to be baked fresh later. Maybe more for supper tonight!:)

Come back for part 2 where I will show you my much more successful Valentine's Day cookies:)

A new hat:)

So I finished up the second knitted hat. This one was for Evan, of course. He is the most fun one to knit for at the moment:) But next I think James and I will be on the list for new hats. (The first one I made is not so much something I wanna wear around town, it's just a practice piece:)

So diligent in playing with his blocks:)  He's getting so good at sitting up all by himself!

"MOM! I love my new hat:)"  Haha, I'm sure that's what he'll be thinking in about 10 years from now when I want to knit him stuff:)

                          

All ready to bye-bye in his carseat with his new hat!

I am loving learning to knit! And the internet is an incredible source of info and instructions on how to go about it. Although with this hat I was so not happy with how the seams turned out but figured oh well, with practice it'll get better. Well as I was searching for new patterns for the next project I came across an article on how to stitch up a seam! Who knew!?!? There's actually a "technique" for it... Ok so as you can tell I truly am clueless about knitting!!:) But it is something I have an interest in and I want to learn, and the best way for me to learn is just to jump into it. Sooo.... Here I go:)

THANK YOU!!:)

Thanks to all of you for your wonderful suggestions about what to do with my cards and magazines. You all had some great ideas and I now have a little plan brewing as far as what to do with them all:)

MY LITTLE "HELPER"

Hmm... Not sure if licking a clean whisk is helping tho.



Mom, you have cool toys!!

Mmm... tasty too!

This one makes me smile:) I love his tongue!

Let's get as much of it in the mouth as possible!

Eh, who needs a whisk when you can have a spatula? And lets just dump the whole utensil holder while we're at it.

I can tell... once this little guy is on the move there will not be a moment's peace! Maybe I should invest in some cupboard locks...