Pretty Darn Great

Wonky Bow = Success (Really)

So, my sewing machine and I have been getting to know eachother. I think we're both a little hesitant (I know I am) so to ease things along I signed up for an online sewing course through Red Velvet. The projects are all adorable and it promised to walk me through different skills at my own pace. Hurrah!

The first project? A bow with some topstitching.

(Above) The truly wonky but I think sweet result

This gave me a good opportunity to get comfortable with my machine and sewing in general - cutting patterns, forward and back-stitching, zigzag and decorative stitches, finishing items. Don't think I'll actually use the bow as anything but a measure of early success but it does make me smile.

 

Interested in trying your own hand at it?

Materials: Scrap fabric; Contrasting thread; Super-sharp scissors

Class Information:  D.I.Y Dress Up E-Course at http://shopredvelvet.com/collections/e-course/products/d-i-y-dress-up-e-course

Missing Mix Tape Song - "Friends Of Mine"

Know when you're putting together a mix or playlist and looking for a song that really nails a particular mood/concept/feeling/idea/situation, and after you finish it you find some brilliant song that you wish you could have added? Happens to me all the time, but doesn't need to happen to you.

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The specific situation: Good friends are getting married and you want to tell them how happy you are for them and how great you think they are together.

The song: "Friends of Mine" by the Zombies (1967)

Lyric that sums it up: "It feels so good to know two people so in love (so in love) are friends of mine"

Mix I wish I'd had it for: When two of my good friends got married last year, I made a wedding mix for them that they used at their rehearsal dinner. As they both like 60's music this song would have been a great song to include and a sweet way to let them know how happy the rest of us are that they're so happy together.

Hear it yourself at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2s1gOaTn65o

Oatmeal Peanut Butter Squares

Peanut butter are my favorite cookies and so a peanut butter snack bar intrigues me. Make it a recipe that uses ingredients already in my pantry and have the recipe throw in the added interest of oatmeal and it was irresistible.

(Above) Crumbly Peant Butter Close Up

Actually I didn't have all the ingredients on hand - was missing chocolate chips. As a result, while the bars were tasty they tasted decidedly healthy. Not bad and I may make it again (adding in chocolate chips and maybe nuts), but not really what my sweet tooth was aching for.

 

Interested in trying your own hand at it?

Recipe: Oatmeal Peanut Butter Squares from the How Sweet It Is (http://www.howsweeteats.com/2011/08/oatmeal-peanut-butter-snack-squares/) 

Notes: Definitely definitely don't leave out the chocolate chips.

Wild and Woolly Hot Coffee Cup Sleeve

My morning coffee wakes me up before I even take a sip. How? By the way my hand gets throughly seared  through the thin paper cups available at the cafeteria at work. The cardboard jackets they provide offer about 1 minute of relief but that still leaves switching hands and trying to find somewhere anywhere to set my coffee down well before the time I get back to my desk.

 One solution? A better coffee jacket. One like the one I knitted up last weekend from some pretty pretty wool tweed scraps I had on hand.

(Above) Red woolly hand protection

Used it today and was pleased - my hands got pleasantly toasty (but not hot) and despite the wool-ness of it it wasn't scratchy.

(Above) Clooooooooooose up on the stockinette stitch

Think I may make a couple more to have on hand, and I have some coffee loving friends who may get some as gifts for Christmas this year....

 

Interested in trying your own hand at it?

Materials: Each sleeve used up scraps of DK Weight wool tweed; Size 6 double-pointed knitting needles; Tape Measure

Patterns:  Reusable Hot Coffee-Cup Sleeve from More Last Minute Knitted Gifts (ISBN-13: 978-1584798606)

Warnings: Don't think it was strictly necessary but I supported the cup at the bottom, was a little worried that the sleeve would slip.

(Modified) West Texas Venison Chili

1) It's Fall. 2) On the weekend I really enjoy taking time to cook something fun.  3) By the time I get home from work the last thing I want to do is cook something from scratch.  What do those add up to (besides 6)? Me cooking up a batch of (Modified) West Texas Venison Chili from a recipe I got off of Garden and Gun.

Had no deer on hand but one cool Sunday morning I rustled up a few pounds of beef, along with the rest of ingredients. There was some beer.

(Above) Action shot of beer with blue manicure

And a half cup of chili powder.

(Above) That chili powder, almost actual size

Let me say that again. One. Half. Cup. Of. Chili. Powder. I am the kind of woman who has that much chili powder on hand but hot damn that's a lot of hot stuff. And we could certainly taste it. Not in the first part of the bite but at the end there was a strong kick at the end that had to be cut with some sour cream or a big glass of milk. Thankfully over the next few days the taste mellowed to a point where it was spicy like a campfire rather than inferno.

(Above) The end result, tastier than it is pretty

And the chili, in general?  Its a huge favorite in the house. There was plenty left over so we've eaten it for lunch and dinner several times, and I'm going to be sorry when its gone. And no doubt making another batch.

 

Interested in trying your own hand at it?

Recipe: West Texas Venison Chili from the Garden and Gun (http://gardenandgun.com/west-texas-venison-chili) 

Notes: Seriously, consider adding less chili powder; My super-carnivorous beau adored the three pounds of beef in this recipe