Food Plans

Oh my word......I just googled grape pie, and there is such a thing!!! I know I must seem retarded, but I have been wondering why people didn't make it until I found out they do...just not as much as apple pie or blueberry pie. I am totally going to try it once I have time and the guts necessary to try making pastry from scratch. Cold hands...I keep hearing that's the trick. Take a look at this....YUM. I want I want I want! I have been in love with all things grape since birth...I used to imagine a tidal wave of grape candy flooding a huge city street...SKITTLES especially, and I would be happily swimming through it with my mouth open :) Still a wonderful fantasy, although now I'm imagining huge slices of grape pie!

Another dish I'm dying to make is pizza. Like from scratch, dough and all. So I've printed out the Williams Sonoma instructions for pizza dough, and a recipe for margherita pizza, and plan to give it a go this weekend. Seems doable... OH I am getting hungry. I can just taste the olive oily crust, all nice and free of trans fat. While you're at Williams Sonoma, take a look around - they have wonderful recipes, totally free. I've tried a fair number of them and they always turn out well...I trust them with my stomach. Let me know if you've ever tried pizza making and if you have any warnings...it is doubtful to reduce my zeal, but I will take it under advisement :)

Look what my baby gave me!

I love my baby. This was such a sweet, wonderful treat to receive before February even started! Plus, I love Dove chocolate. The shiny heart reminds me of care bears :) It's such a satisfying color, size & shape.

And here's the good stuff...yum. I'm surprised there is any left at all. We have been a bit sugared out these past few days, what with banana pudding, cookies, ice cream AND chocolate filled hearts. Gotta love Valentine's Day!

Birthday Present

To celebrate my mother-in-law's birthday this month, I sent her a couple of hand knit goodies. I have been completely enamoured with Last Minute Knitted Gifts by Joelle Hoverson, so I thought making this airy scarf would be just the thing.

Though I thought this was lovely on it's own, I tend to pile on when it comes to handmade gifts. Hopefully soon I can show you some pictures of the Christmas presents I gave my mother and sisters...I really went nuts sewing. My poor husband still hears the sewing machine in his nightmares :) I found a pattern for a beaded bracelet at Magknits, and couldn't resist trying it immediately. How fun to knit jewelry!

I modified the pattern to include just two rows of beads instead of three, and used embroidery floss instead of Anchor Pearl Cotton. I also used a gold clasp and ring instead of a snap. I am an efficiency freak. A non-waste, reduce/reuse/recycle kinda girl, so whenever I can take something otherwise useless and put it to work in a project, I get positively giddy. Especially when the results are so pretty! This little gold clasp was a decoration on a Jane Iredale Christmas package of liquid eyeshadow (fantastic makeup). It used to have a bunch of gold charms hanging from it, which I used as zipper pulls for Christmas presents. I was determined to use it for something so I had initially thrown it into my stitch marker bag. Until this little bracelet needed closure :) My husband tells me the bracelet looks kinda like snake skin...which I think is cool, but if anyone told that to his mother I don't think she'd wear it - she is deathly afraid of snakes and lizards. So anyway, I slipped the bracelet into a little organza bag I got from my sister, wrapped it up with the scarf in tissue paper and sent it out with a cute little card.

So far, she loves it. I hope she actually wears both items, and that she feels girly and pretty when she does. Lace and jewelry...not such a bad combo. Incidentally, this is the first time I've knitted a lace pattern with lacy yarn...I like it, but I really think I would prefer less fuzzy yarn and a more intricate lace pattern. I didn't make any modifications to the original pattern, so it really was a fantastically fast and simple project. I started and finished the scarf in about 2 days I guess (including blocking), and the bracelet also took about that long. I have another Jane Iredale dangly to play with, so maybe I'll make another bracelet soon....mmm, maybe with red beads?

Valentine's Day Prep

Hello all! My sister and I were discussing hand sewing, which got me thinking about how to incorporate it into Valentine's Day crafts. Molly's star ornaments at the purl bee would make great heart ornaments, which could be strung onto a garland like this, or hung from the bottom of one of Heather's paper globes. Oh the possibilities! I'm thinking it would be great to embroider each heart ornament with a name or letter AND bead it. I'm all excited now about valentines. How are you planning to celebrate?

Here's some pink eye-candy to get everyone in the mood for Valentine's Day:


These are the gorgeous cherry trees in central park. I snapped some pictures last year when I was considering doing a big painting full of pink blossoms. Oh, if only spring were here now! It won't be long now...

My First Posting!

Welcome to my blog! I am extremely excited to join the world of the bloggers. I hope everyone who finds their way here finds something to enjoy. More to come soon...