Kid's apron

After doing lots of baking with the wee one, I decided he is definitely due for a mommy-made apron. I searched around online and found these easy looking instructions here.

The blogger said that she'd make the apron wider next time to protect the child's pants, and I totally agree I'd do the same.

If you have lots and lots of free time...

Just saw this awesome idea over at Craft.

It is "wallpaper" made entirely out of tiny stickers!

For more info on the project, go here.

Seitan Bourguignon

Saw this dish prepared on Martha today. It looks seriously deelish, something that should probably wait until the weather is a bit cooler though. Bring on autumn!

Find the recipe here.

35th Birthday

We spent my birthday (35?!) at a beautiful vacation home in Calistoga.

It was truly lovely. The swimming pool, the wrap-around porch. Not to mention a hot tub. And we made a version of a salad my sister and I had in Paris years ago. Perfectly dressed greens, couscous, fingerling potatoes, carrots and tomatoes. The real Parisian salad had goat's cheese wrapped in a crepe, cooked in butter though. Mmmm.

We chose to nix the cheese in the salad because my sister made this cake, complete with goat's cheese frosting. And goat cheese on goat cheese, I don't know....too much of a good thing, perhaps.

Pretty cake tutorial

Isn't this rose cake just the purtiest? Find directions here

Kitchen sink quesadillas

This is a great recipe adapted from Real Simple. I've omitted many ingredients to make it a recipe I can make almost anytime from staple ingredients. If you swapped out the flour tortillas for whole wheat and used a lowfat (or polite amount of) cheese, it would be even healthier. But we like our flour tortillas and healthy amount of cheese over here.
Added bonus: It's a vegetarian dinner that my meat-eating husband loves.

Kitchen Sink Quesadillas
adapted from Real Simple

Ingredients:
flour tortillas
grated cheddar cheese
one 15 oz. can drained and rinsed black beans
one 11 oz. can corn
one cup salsa

Preparation:
Mix the beans, corn and salsa together in a bowl. Heat one side of the tortilla over medium heat in wide pan. When one side is hot, flip over and sprinkle the hot side with cheese. Top with 3 or 4 big spoonfuls of the bean and corn mixture. Top with more cheese and finally another tortilla. Let bottom tortilla get some color on it before gingerly flipping the entire thing over. Let other side brown, then slide off onto a cutting board and cut into quarters. Dip into more salsa, sour cream, or eat as is.

Handmade memory game

What a beautiful gift for a child this would be. If only I had an extra 100 hours...

Directions for making one of these memory games here

Summer terrarium

I love this idea for bringing nature indoors. Find complete directions (even for the hand-painted gnomes!) here.

And aren't these artichoke stems beautiful?

In other news, I made this sour cherry apple pie for an Irish friend visiting. I used up the sour cherries I picked from our trees last spring. I think I'm just going to stick with crumb topping for my pies, a double crust is so much work. And crumb topping is so yummy! You can find the recipe for the pie here, but I used Martha's recipe for the crumb topping. I accidentally used salted butter instead of unsalted and let me tell you, it was salty, so I ended up adding more flour and sugar to even it out. It worked in the long run, but I had lots of crumb topping left over. I just froze it and used it for an apple pie I made later during our friend's visit. It's nice having pie in the house, don't you think?

Handmade dinosaur and awesome coconut cake--apparently

After a few weeks of hand-sewing whenever I had the chance, Jack's little dinosaur is all done. I found the most awesome free pattern here. The details aren't filled in yet on this little guy, but I wanted to post it before I moved on to the next project. There's a confusing section in the pattern (I thought) so I took pictures of how I decided to sew up the tummy and feet. I ended up sewing the feet together last.

In other news, my sister turned thirty (!) and she requested this coconut cake that I made last year for a family get-together. I personally am not all that crazy about coconut cake, but people looove this one. It's pretty easy to whip up too-it uses boxed cake mix and just a few other ingredients.

We are enjoying the beautiful Spring out here in wine country. Hope everyone else is too.

This will come in handy this summer...

The Hunger Games

I am obsessed with these books. They are a trilogy, the first one being The Hunger Games. A review from Amazon describes the tale as "a gripping story set in a post-apocalyptic world where a replacement for the United States demands a tribute from each of its territories: two children to be used as gladiators in a televised fight to the death." I know, brutal.

At first, I wasn't sure that I could get into books with as much violence as these have got, but I quickly got over that. They are real page-turners and the plot gives you what you want. I found myself saying, I wish this would happen...and then a few chapters later, it would.  Books with short chapters are great too--they tell the stories in little nuggets, perfect for lunch breaks or nap times. And there are great cliffhanger endings for nearly each chapter. "His heart was no longer beating" or "And that is how a revolution dies." They are classified as young adult lit, but aren't as full of sappy, drawn-out conversations as say, the Twilight series (which I loved but ended up skimming over a lot of the romantic stuff.)

I'm on the last book now, Mockingjay. A friend who recommended these books found this one a bit slower than the others. I'm enjoying it so far. Anyone have ideas for good summertime reading?

I want this book

It looks like a nice collection of simple, natural, meatless dishes. Must remember to ask for it for upcoming birthday.

Leafy branch draft catcher

I saw this project first in this awesome book and then promtly forgot about it--until this winter when I noticed that the door in our new house is quite drafty and would really benefit from a draft catcher. I remembered this pretty leaf-covered branch project and just did my best to re-create it sans instructions.

First, I drew a branch nubby branch design on doubled up muslin. The branch should be about four inches wider than your door. I pinned the fabric together loosely to make it easier to cut out.

After cutting out the shapes, I ran it through the sewing machine but left the base of the branch open. Then I trimmed the excess fabric to about 1/4 inch and snipped the corners.

Turn it right side out, carefully turning out the nubs. You can iron it, but I didn't bother.

Then fill it with something like corn, buckwheat hulls, cat litter, sand, rice or beans and sew up the end. I used a funnel and this helped tremendously. I made one out of a plastic soda bottle.

I also used cat litter because that's the only thing I had enough of to fill the branch with. It's kind of dusty and a bit heavy, but it works in a pinch and is certainly a better choice then polyfill, which I think was a strange suggestion I saw online.

 Then I cut some leaves out of green and brown felt and sewed them onto the branch nubs.  It was a fun and quick project which will probably save us on some heating bills.

My favorite pancakes

I love pancakes. I mean, I really love them. This love has inspired me to try countless recipes, most of which I try and then move on because they aren't all I want them to be. But these ones are awesome. They have an almost skin-like texture. They aren't cake-y or fluffy, they are more like thick crepes. They are the pancakes I make when I am cooking for myself or maybe my sister, who loves them as well.

Can you see how dense and eggy they are? Yummmmmm

I've adapted the recipe from Smitten Kitchen, my go to site for recipes.

Edna Mae's Sour Cream Pancakes

1/2 cup all purpose flour
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/ 4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup nonfat plain yogurt
2 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract


Heat a griddle over medium-low heat.
Stir the flour, sugar, baking soda and salt together in the bottom of a medium bowl. Dump the sour cream in on top and stir it together very gently. Whisk the eggs and vanilla in a separate bowl and stir them into the sour cream mixture, being careful not to over-mix.
Spray the pan with cooking spray and pour the batter in, a scant 1/4 cup at a time. Cook for about 2 minutes on the first side, or until bubbles appear all over the surface, flipping them carefully and cooking for about a minute on the other side. Repeat with remaining batter.
Top with a pat of butter and maple syrup.

Makes enough for about 2 people.

Sick buddy

I made this lion for Jack while we were both sick. I'm always inspired to create something soft and cuddly for him when he's feeling unwell. I just cut two circles out of some fleece and then cut the edges into a fringe. I tied the fringe up in knots and stuffed it with fiberfill then appliqued and stitched the face details on.

He loves it and it seriously took all of two hours to make. Don't you love craft projects like that?

In other news, I found the ultimate carrot cake recipe. I took this to a family reunion and we gobbled it up. Seriously, I don't believe it can be improved upon. Find it here

Hope all is well out there for everyone!