Catch Up, and Beet Soup

I've been feeling a little overwhelmed lately. Fall is a flurry of activity and events for my family, and all that, coupled with trying to get the house and yard winter ready, testing the waters for working part time again, and some family strife, I just haven't felt like blogging. Or even crafting much, for that matter. I also forgot to take photos of almost everything, so here are some of the highlights: * goodies for a play group Hallowe'en party -- 'mouldy' popcorn (idea from Purple Chocolat Home), bean bags with jack-o-lantern faces, and pumpkin pie scented playdough.

* finished second butterfly quilt. I free motion quilted it like the first one, but managed to get a fold in the backing. Not a big deal...still pretty. * took part in a vegetarian soup swap. I made beet soup, from this Canadian Living recipe, and really enjoyed it. I never cared for beets as a kid, but as an adult, there's something about the vibrancy of beet flesh that just screams health and vitality to me. * baby hats, knitted and sewn. My friend gave birth to a beautiful baby girl almost a month ago, and I knitted her a few simple baby hats and sewed a little bonnet as part of her baby gift. Love all that girly stuff! * Hallowe'en quilt -- I completed a couple rows of the quilt front, but this project is now officially on hold until next fall! * Handmade Gift & Bag swaps -- I haven't participated in many swaps, but t'is the season for me to procrastinate on making gifts for people I know, in exchange for making gifts for people I don't know. These projects are on the hush, so photos will come after mailing. And, um, completion. * Family gifts -- despite good intentions, I have very few Christmas gifts completed, and I foresee myself hitting the stores the week before Christmas. Yike. * Baking -- I've been doing a lot of baking lately. Cool weather response, I suppose. * And, the biggie, my youngest son decided it was time to stop using diapers. I'm so proud of him! I didn't 'potty train' either of my kids; rather, I put out a potty seat, told them what it was for, and waited. It probably took them longer than some kids (my youngest is almost three years, and my oldest was three years and a couple months), but the transition has been pretty accident free, even at night. That's it for now. I promise to be a better blogger the rest of November and December. It's not that I think anyone is sitting at home, pining away for me to post something. Rather, posting is a good way to motivate myself to get going on my projects, and a nice way to look back on all that I did manage to get done. Sounds silly, but I really am more productive when I think about blogging something. Have a great week!

Coconut Oatmeal Cookies…with cinnamon

With a nip in the air come evening that lasts until early morning, I’m starting to think more about baking. My boys asked for oatmeal for breakfast this morning, and, since I already had the old fashioned oats out of the pantry, I decided to make a batch of some of my very favourite cookies.

This recipe is one that I morphed out of several other recipes, and I love it. The cookies are sweet and hearty, and can be either tender or crisp, your choice!

Tanya’s Favourite Coconut Oatmeal Cookies
1 cup butter, softened (not in microwave)
1 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1/3 cup flaked coconut (sweetened and unsweetened both work fine)
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/4 cup whole wheat flour
1 1/2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
pinch of salt

Pre-heat oven to 375F. Combine flours, oats, cinnamon, salt, baking powder, and baking soda in a bowl and set aside. In larger bowl, cream butter and sugars. Beat in egg and vanilla, and the stir in coconut. Once coconut is spread throughout batter, stir in dry ingredients. Don’t overmix. Roll dough into 2-inch balls and set on cookie sheet (I line it with a silicone mat or parchment paper). Bake approximately 10 min. Remove from oven and let sit on baking sheet for 2 min. Carefully remove to cooling rack (they may be slightly underbaked and delicate – this ensures a tender cookie when cooled). If you prefer a crispier cookie, flatten the dough balls with a fork before baking. Oven time should be about the same, but add a minute or two if needed.

These are the chewy ones…see how they puff up in the oven? They flatten when cooled.

Slightly underbaked. Perfect! Sorry, no photos of crispy ones…I’m a soft cookie girl!

Better ‘Bisquick’

I might have mentioned before that my grandparents were bakers. Bakery bakers. So I blame my love of all carby things that come out of an oven squarely on them. Biscuits, for example.
As much as I enjoy biting into a hot, fresh biscuit, sometimes there just isn’t time to whip up a batch from scratch. Enter Bisquick. Nah, too many chemicals. Enter homemade Bisquick. Simple, delicious, and convenient.

Here’s how to make it:
Gather your ingredients: flour, salt, baking powder, sugar, and shortening (or butter!). See? Simple.

Whisk dry ingredients

Add shortening with a pastry blender. (I used a split of half butter and half shortening). Mmm, butter.

See the coarse crumb look to the mix? That’s what you want. Now you’re done! Easy peasy. Store in an airtight container until you’re ready to make biscuits. Since I added butter to the shortening, I’ll store mine in the fridge, but if you use just shortening, it can go in the pantry. Scoop out some mix and add milk to make biscuits, and milk and eggs to make pancakes.

These are amazing with butter. Or honey. Or butter and honey. My husband likes to dunk them in stew. And we’ve made cheesy versions, too, with sharp cheddar and herbs.
Homemade ‘Bisquick’
9 ¾ cups all purpose flour
1 tbsp salt
½ cup baking powder
¼ cup white sugar (can be omitted, but we like it)
2 cups shortening (can substitute butter, which tastes fantastic, but must be kept in fridge/freezer)
In very large bowl, whisk dry ingredients. Using a pastry blender (or two forks), cut in shortening until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Just like making pie crust! Store in airtight container.
You can use this mix just as you would store-bought Bisquick…for biscuits, pancakes, pot pie topping, dumplings, etc. Delicious!
Biscuits: 2 ¼ cups of mix plus ¾ cup milk or buttermilk. Roll about ½ inch thick, cut, and bake at 450F about 10 minutes. I’m actually a bit lazy with this part, and I just use my hands to roll 2-inch diameter balls of dough, and smooch them down a bit on the baking sheet.
Pancakes: 2 cups mix plus one cup milk plus 2 eggs. Mix and pour into heated pan. Flip pancake when it starts to show bubbles.

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Pumpkin and cranberry weekend muffins

Sewing hasn’t been working out for me lately. The past few days, I’ve had to rip out every single stitch I’ve made. So I’m giving myself a break and turning to the kitchen instead  (=

Here was yesterday’s offering, delicious pumpkin and cranberry muffins, perfect for nibbling on a Saturday morning. The recipe makes a lot of batter, but you can refrigerate the extras and bake up fresh muffins each morning. The baked muffins also freeze pretty well.

Here’s how you make them:

Pumpkin Cranberry Muffins

4 eggs
1 cup evaporated milk
1 1/2 tbsp white vinegar
3 cups frozen or canned pumpkin purée, thawed
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1/3 cup agave syrup (or 1/2 cup sugar)
1/2 lb. (16 Tbs.) unsalted butter, melted
3-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
2 Tbs. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
3 Tbs. ground cinnamon
3 Tbs. ground ginger
Pinch cloves
Pinch white pepper
1-1/2 cups dried cranberries (soaked 10 min in water)

---

Heat the oven to 350°F. Measure evaporated milk and stir in vinegar. Set aside 5 minutes. In a large bowl, whisk the eggs, evaporated milk mixture, pumpkin purée, brown sugar, agave syrup, and butter. In another bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and pepper. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet, stirring until just mixed. Gently fold in the (soaked and drained) cranberries. Line a muffin tin with liners. Scoop about 1/2 cup batter into each tin so that the curve of the batter is even with the rim of the cup. (Refrigerate any extra batter in an airtight container for up to a week.) Bake the muffins in the middle of the oven until firm to the touch and a toothpick inserted into them comes out clean, 30 min. 
(recipe adapted from Fine Cooking)

Try ‘em, they’re good!

Next up is our Valentine’s Day decorations.  Crayon/waxed paper hearts tied to the curtains of all our kitchen windows. Not too original, but along with our modified Christmas wreath, my Martha-esque pot holders, and baking some heart-shaped cookies, that’s all I’m up to doing.

Finally, just for kicks, here’s a pic of me, snapped by my 4 year old. He always misses the top of heads but seems to have caught on to that whole rule-of-thirds thing. We’re working on it  (=

With any luck, tonight I will remember how to sew a straight seam and maybe actually accomplish something.

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Getting ready for Christmas

With the calendar speeding toward Christmas, my family and I had to put aside our collective illness to get ready. There are still several gifts to make and mail (thank goodness for Express service!), but our semi-decorated tree is up, there are garlands hanging here and there, and the stockings are hung from a shelf -- they have to stay there, out of little boy reach, until they can be moved to the fireplace for Christmas morning. We've also been baking cookies, making ornaments and went out to the local Christmas Parade of Lights. In no particular order, here are some of the highlights:

Decorating the tree with toy hamsters and Hot Wheels

Snuggling in a pillow fort

Yummy decorated sugar cookies to eat and share

Pretty lights, blurry tree  (=

Not even 2 yrs old and master of the rolling pin!

Hot hubby & my 'baby' boy at the parade

I've been working to clear out my list of custom Christmas projects for others, so I haven't had much time for my own crafts. I did get another dino mat finished from the gift list, and also whipped up a couple of these pot holder-topped dishtowels. My kids are forever pulling the towels off the front of the stove, so this little design is perfect. I'm not sure of the original source of this idea, but a fellow mommy from my playgroup found it online somewhere, and it ended up becoming a group project for some of us trying to make homemade Christmas gifts. Seriously though, I'm keeping mine for myself!

I don't have work-in-progress photos (naptime is getting shorter and shorter), but these are so simple that I'm sure you can figure it out. Any questions, just ask!

1. Choose a cute kitchen towel and coordinating pot holder. I picked up these festive versions for $1 each at Walmart.

2. Fold towel in half the short way to find the middle.

3. Run a long, gathering stitch (5.0 stitch length on my machine) across the middle of the towel. Just leave the ends unsecured. No bartacking!

4. Pull on the bobbin thread (the lower one) to gather the towel until it is the width of your pot holder. 

5. With towel face up, and pot holder face down and centred over the gathering stitches, pin the pot holder in place and stitch it down to the towel. I didn't bother pinning -- this is pretty much a no-fail kind of project. Stitch slowly, and use a longer stitch length, since the layers will be fairly thick. Depending on if your pot holder's hanging loop is centred or on a corner, you may have to orient the pot holder diagonally, instead of horizontally as I did with mine in the photo below.

Hmm, button doesn't look so off-centre in real life. You can do it better!

6. If your gathering stitches are showing and that bothers you, use a seam ripper to pull them out.

7. Sew a cute matching button to the side of the pot holder opposite the loop. This is how you will attach the towel to your oven handle. You can do this by hand, but I was lazy and used the zig-zag function on my sewing machine for a super-quick result.

8. Hang your 5-minute masterpiece and enjoy. You're done!

Just for kicks, here's the most recent dino mat:

No cave on this one.

I'll probably be making the few remaining ones like this. The cave on my earlier mats was fun (I thought), but my three-year-old informed me it's better to have more ground for the dinosaurs to walk on, and that the embroidered pterodactyl is much cooler overall. Guess I should have consulted the expert before I started! The zippered back passed the pre-schooler test, so it stays  (=

I hope everyone is having a great time getting ready for Christmas. It's such a magical time of year, so enjoy!

P.S...For anyone interested, here is the recipe for the sugar cookies, from an amazing foodie blog called Moogie & Pap (I drool every time a new post hits my reader!):

No-Fail Sugar Cookies

Ingredients:
6 cups flour
2 teaspoons vanilla
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups sugar
2 cups butter (4 sticks)
2 eggs

Directions:
1. Cream sugar and butter until fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add eggs and flavoring. Mix dry ingredients in separate bowl and add to butter mixture. Mix well.

2. Put a handful of the freshly made dough onto a floured work service. Roll to desired thickness and cut out cookies. Repeat with the rest of the dough.

3. Bake at 350 degrees for 8 to 10 minutes. Let cool and decorate

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KCWC -- days 4,5, 6 & 7

I was determined to make more pants for my boys during the tail end of Elsie Marley's fall edition of the Kids' Clothing Week Challenge, but other projects took over. To my credit, I did purchase some denim and corduroy fabric to make pants, but it still has to be washed before I make anything with it.

The sewing that I did do was a mish mash of things that had to be done (like finishing altering a flower girl dress -- no photo), and fun projects, like a baby kimono (pattern courtesy of Amy @ Habitual -- great site if you haven't visited), some (ten!) superhero capes, and knitting part of a blanket for a soon-to-arrive baby. I know a blanket isn't technically clothing, and knitting isn't technically sewing, but  I still have a lot of work to do on it, and not enough time, so I'm counting it. Some pics:

Simple design - 25 50 stitch x 50 row blocks, alternating colours

These still need some cool lightening bolt appliques!

Not happy with the binding on this. Needs pressing.

On the kid craft front, the boys and I invited some little friends over and made slime this morning. There weren't any major casualties, but in the future, I'd reserve this as a group activity only when the adult-child ratio is 1:1. Regardless, my boys LOVED the slime. Yep, even hubby, who spent at least an hour playing with the sample slime I made last night in preparation for today's playdate. Great entertainment for the kids, but it does contain Borax, so best to supervise closely so that no one mistakes it for Jello. I recently saw this project on a blog (can't remember which one -- ergh), that linked to this YouTube video with the 'recipe'. We used clear glue instead of white, and next time, I'm going to add some glow-in-the-dark gel. Really hope that works!

And finally, I made a really, really yummy banana cake yesterday. The recipe is from Recipe Zaar, and it's no fail. Oh, and absolutely decandent. I reduced the icing sugar in the frosting to 2 cups (down from the called for 3.5 cups) so it wasn't too sweet for my boys, but it'd be awesome with the full amount, too! This one is a caloric nightmare, so don't even check the link if you're on a diet. It's bad, bad news, all wrapped up in a really tasty package. Again, no photo of the cake (just a gratuitous kid shot) -- I served it at this morning's playdate, and, well,  like I said, really tasty package  (=

This batter-covered face adds to my joy of baking!

Cheesecake Cookie Cups

My good friend Chantal invited me over for a girls' night in last night. To celebrate the event (yes, our lives have gotten so busy with kids that an evening of watching television in peace now qualifies as an event), she made yummy mini cheesecakes with a cookie base and cherry topping. Here's a photo she snapped before we started eating. So pretty, and easy to make, too!

She found the recipe on a site called Very Best Baking. Check it out here! This recipe is definitely going in my keeper file.

Feeling domestic

Today was a productive day. Cleaned up around the house, and decluttered a little more, including in my sewing room. I'm slowly accepting that decluttering will never be something I can check off my to-do list. It's going to have to be done over and over. Ugh.

Anyway, on to the good stuff! The fruits of my weekend labour:



I cut the pieces to make this top for myself out of a cute novelty knit I've had in my fabric stash for ages. I'm making View D, which is the top right version.



A knitted swiffer cloth for my Wet Jet. And some willing child labour (=

He's more interested in pressing the button to make the cleaner (I use water and dishsoap in a recycled bottle) come out than in actual cleaning, but I'll take whatever help I can get!





Some new pajama pants for my little helper. The flames are a nice match for his fiery personality.



And yes, more baking. Cherry cupcakes this time. My three year old helped ice them with a baggie. We counted it as craft time.

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Cake & strawberries

As I mentioned before, I can't stop baking lately. Part of the problem is that my grandparents both worked in a bakery and I learned a lot from them, so it's easy to whip up something yummy without even cracking a cookbook. The other part is the lure of fresh berries and fruit this time of year -- the perfect topper or addition to baked treats in my humble opinion.

On that note, here's the 'recipe' for my absolute most favourite strawberry sauce. The measurements are approximate, because I don't usually measure them. It's a really simple recipe, and I just tweak it according to taste. One of the older ladies at my grandmother's church used to make strawberry sauce for the youth group to serve as an alternative to maple syrup during our annual Shrove Tuesday pancake supper. I only tasted it once back then, and never forgot.



Strawberry Sauce

2-3 cups of fresh or frozen strawberries
1/4 cup of strawberry jam (I use homemade freezer jam, which is quite sweet)
1 tbsp pure vanilla extract
2 tsp cinnamon
a little water to loosen it up if you find it too thick

Puree really well in the blender and you're done! This sauce is amazing over ice cream, pancakes, angel food cake (pictured with sauce and whipped cream above), or even pound cake (like the one I have on my counter right now!).

I can't remember where I first saw the pound cake recipe below, but it's a fairly common recipe if you search online. What makes this version slightly different is the addition of almond extract. Makes it yummier. The woman who posted the recipe that I saw noted her southern grandmother used to make it with almond extract. Far be it from me to argue with that kind of experience.



Oh-So-Delish Cream Cheese Pound Cake

1 1/2 cups butter
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese
3 cups white sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon almond extract
6 eggs
3 cups cake flour

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Grease one 10 inch tube pan.

Cream together the butter, cream cheese, and sugar until light. Stir in the vanilla and the almond extracts. Add the flour and the eggs alternately, beginning and ending with the flour. Pour batter into the prepared pan.

Bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. My oven is convection, so it usually takes less time. This pound cake is dense and almost creamy tasting. In theory, it keeps well, but never gets a chance around our house. Go ahead and try it!



Okay, enough of the calorie-laden goodness! I was bouncing around some other blogs this morning and came across this neat Christmas in July linky party. I love love love giving and receiving homemade gifts, so linked up a couple projects and surfed for new ideas. Check it out!



I have more altering to do for others for the next few nights, so not sure when I'll get a chance to work on something fun again. Maybe the weekend. Or sooner if I'm able to convince my oldest son that colouring quietly while sitting on the floor of mommy's craft room is a fun thing to do while his little brother naps. I believe in miracles (=