Fly.

As you may know, I have three kids.  You probably also know that kids like to be entertained.  So it follows, then, that I spend a lot of my time trying to keep my kids entertained.  Here's one of my party-tricks, let's call it.  I wouldn't exactly say it's the gateway to being a super-cool-mom-to-kids (especially boys).  But if you did, I wouldn't argue. 

I am talking about paper airplanes. 

A bit ago, we received a kit from my fabo Uncle and Aunt.  It came with fun printed papers and a cool book of directions on how to fold different types of airplanes.  Many designs are very involved, requiring me to do the folding, as the boys hang on my elbows. 

But for our every day planes (yes, every day, at least in the winter) I use these instructions--it makes one of our favorite styles and is pretty durable if you reinforce it with tape.  If you memorize it, I can assure you, your fan-base will go nuts.  Don't do it at large playgroups, though...unless that's all you want to do.

Sandra

Stew.

As the temperature dips--and if I'm sitting still on the couch for whatever reason--I likely will be wearing a sweatshirt over two shirts as I huddle under a blanket.  It's not as if we keep the thermostat at an unreasonable temperature.  I just get cold easily.  I'm like a lizard.

And because I spend all winter trying to raise my core temperature, it is not surprising that I learned to make stew years ago.  My view on stews is this:  recipes are for when you're entertaining or feeling adventurous or feeding a crowd.  But for the everyday pot, I keep it simple.  Very simple, actually, because no one in my house likes beef stew but me.  So, when I have a date with a steamy bowl of stew and my blankets (yes, plural, because it's usually two if we're talking throw blankets), I am not about to go hunting and rummaging about the fridge and pantry for ingredients all, you know, exposed to the elements.

Here is how I make beef stew.  Think of it as a map rather than directions.  Maps are always better--directions might get you stranded without a clue.  But you're all set if you have a map.  Besides, I'm not writing and editing this into a recipe because for all I know, I really might be the only one who likes beef stew!

Ingredients:  stew beef (about 1.5 lbs); red wine, if using; beef broth (2 cans); diced tomato (1 can); flour; olive oil; carrots (about 3); onion (1 large--but I like onions); a few potatoes cut into large chunks, thyme.

Cube up some beef that's good for stew (I typically use about 1.5 lbs of chuck roast), place in a ziploc with about 1/4 cup of flour, and toss to coat.  Using a heavy Dutch oven, heat a couple tablespoons of olive oil over medium high heat (oil should ripple but not smoke). 

Add beef in one layer--do not crowd to avoid steaming the meat--you want a good sear.  Leave it be for a couple of minutes, then flip and sear the other side.  After the meat is browned, add in 1 cup of liquid to deglaze the pot--I like to use red wine, but beef broth is good too. 

Scrape up the yummy bits and let the liquid heat up, about another minute.  Add in your chopped veggies (I like red potatoes, carrots, and onions--keep things fairly chunky if you are going to let things cook low and slow but cut up smaller if you're dishing this up anytime soon).  Add in 2 cups of beef broth (or one can) and 1 can of diced tomatoes (these can be flavored if you like).  I also like to throw in about a 1/2 tsp of dried thyme and a couple of bay leaves. 

Let everything come to a boil then reduce to a simmer.  Depending on the cut of meat you use, the stew could be ready in as soon as an hour.  But I usually start mine in the afternoon, let it simmer for about 3 hours, adding water if necessary, then tuck it away in the fridge for my lunch throughout the week. 

I like to salt and pepper to taste before eating.  Some other things to add in before serving if you'd like to add some zip are:  a glug of worcestershire sauce, a tablespoon of Dijon mustard, a glug of vinegar.  I almost always add the worcestershire and vinegar as I find it brightens everything.  But the beauty of this basic method is you can do what you want.  Especially if it's all for you...stay warm!

Sandra

Happy accident.

This weekend, we happily headed to my dear friend's annual holiday cookie decorating party.  Her family does an amazing job each year, opening up their home to a ton of children armed with sprinkles. 

I was trying to think of a small thank you gift and landed on Starbucks--the hostess is not a huge coffee drinker, but is a fan of some of their seasonal drinks.  I also wanted to try to knit a little something as she is a new knitter herself.  A Starbucks gift card wrapped with a handknit coffee cup cozie seemed perfect.

I used this pattern, found on Ravelry, but added ribbing at the top and bottom because I wanted it to look like a little sweater.  I also knitted 5 fewer rows in the middle cable section to shorten it a bit.  It was a quick knit, but after all that pattern tinkering--wouldn't you know it--it did not fit a Starbuck's grande coffee cup. 

Soooooo...

It is now a vase cozie.  Turns out, the knitted sleeve perfectly fits a little glass jam jar that I tucked away long ago because I liked the quirky square shape. 

I will certainly knit more vase cozies like these.  And next time, maybe on purpose.

Sandra

p.s.  tomorrow I hope to sew some items on my to-gift list--very excited!

Knitting lesson (not the good kind).

I cast on for Leo's hat on Sunday--another earflap hat by the same designer, tiennie knits--pattern is here, though I changed the design motif.  I am on the last few rounds of the Fair Isle--and I just noticed a hiccup in my stitches, causing subsequent rows to be off by one stitch. 

This photo does not highlight the error--but trust me, it's there. 

I am not ripping and correcting because even though I care very, very much--Leo doesn't.  And he wants his hat!  He is so sweet, helping me when I started by asking if he could be in charge of keeping the strands untwisted.  In truth, he mostly got everything tangled.  But it's a small price to pay to have him sit next to me for a bit, chatting away. 

I will post more pictures when it's completed.  I'm not sure I can bring myself to showcase the error.  But then again, maybe it's a good lesson for me:  Fair Isle at night, in the dim light, while watching tv--not there yet.

Sandra

Thanksgiving, 2010.

Well, well, well.  It appears I can only get ahead with my holiday prep agenda if certain things fall by the wayside.  Usually it's feeding the children.  Okay, not really really--unless you count how many Trader Joe's entrees they've had lately.  I actually don't feel that awful about it because I really adore Trader Joe's.  It's the budget Whole Foods as far as I'm concerned.

In any case, it's pretty obvious that blogging took a backseat these past couple of weeks, as did most crafting.  And like everyone else, it's just because I've been busy--my volunteer schedule was double my norm!  But I did manage to get our Christmas card ordered...before Thanksgiving.  That's incredibly early for us.  I'll post it after we've sent them off. 

We used Scrapblog again, like last year.  I really like the design freedom they offer.  None of the preset templates worked for the colors in our photos but it wasn't a problem because I was able to design our own--love that.

I also finished knitting Will's hat.  I plan to top it with a pom-pom even though Charlie asked "why on earth would you do that?"  But I think it'll be darling--especially because I went super simple on it, just stripes in colors that match his winter coat. 

I'll post more pics with details soon...the most exciting thing about this hat, for me, is that I think I've settled on a jogless join technique for stripes.  And I truly don't care if it seems silly to be excited about such a thing because I really, really am.  That said, I do freely admit that it is pretty silly to be as vexed as I can be about teensy jogs in knitting stripes--especially since I didn't even know what they were a few months ago.

I also made some turkey cake balls for Will's Thanksgiving feast at his preschool.   

They were gobbled right up.  Sorry, I just can't pass up a pun, ask anyone...

 

   

We had several left over, so we took them to our neighbor's house for Thanksgiving, where we had a delicious meal and a fantastic time.  For the record, I did bring more than just leftover cake balls, but not much! 

Hope you had a wonderful holiday weekend, too. 

Sandra                

Bucilla stocking, no. 2.

At the end of last holiday season, I wrote about Max's Christmas stocking.  It is from a Bucilla kit. 

It has a lot of detail, which is why I love it so much.  It's also why it took a very, very long time to finish. 

Yesterday, I pulled out Leo's stocking kit.  His is pretty fancy, too.  There seems to be an equal amount of hand embroidery--with the added challenge of beaded sequins.  I should have started in October to have a shred of hope of finishing it.  Actually, earlier because as far as I can tell, October lasted about two days.

I know this will not be ready to hang on the mantel the day after Thanksgiving, which is when I start decorating the house for Christmas.  But maybe...maybe...I'll get it done in time for Santa to stuff.  Though I'm not going to lie.  I'm worried, considering this is how it currently looks.

 

Yup.  Exactly how it looked last season.  Sheesh. 

Sandra

Winter hat 2 of 5 (again) and 3 of 5.

I reknit my hat that my mom swiped.  Same Malabrigo, same pattern, same happy knitting experience.  Here it is blocking for the second time.  I'm afraid I'm not getting as much slouch as my first one, pout, so I might have to block it a third time, more aggressively.

I also cast on for Max's hat.  I used another free pattern on Ravelry called the Norwegian Star Earflap Hat by Tiennie.

It was a quick knit, my very short notes are here.  I started Saturday night during a movie and finished it Sunday morning.  So if you're like me and trying to churn out hats lickety-split, this might work for you, too.  

I used the two-handed fair isle technique from here.  It definitely took some concentration but I'm getting there with my colorwork.  Here is a picture of the hat, unblocked.  I lightly steam blocked it and that took care of the bumpies; I just haven't taken pictures yet. 

There is a good chance I'll line it with fleece to make it extra snuggly. 

Leo would like an earflap hat, too, so I plan to use the same pattern, or Thorpe.  But for William, I think he's young enough for me to knit up something obnoxious--big pom pom? animal ears?  Poor child. 

Sandra

2010 Halloween Recap, part II.

We skipped town last weekend and headed to a lovely cabin in the Shenandoah mountains.  It was really a great way to kick off the season...a little respite before the crazies set in.  I will post more pictures soon; it was a great setting to play with the camera and my newish lenses.

I wanted to mention that I'm using Giver's Log's Handmade Holiday Organizer as a template for my own holiday ambitions.  I didn't start nearly as early as she (drats!) but I do think it will be helpful to prioritize creative tasks.  We're talking all my addictions here: baking, cooking, entertaining, sewing, knitting, paper crafting.  I may even be constructing a little something, good grief, because nothing makes you feel as optimistic as an adorable and blank to-do template.

But first, I wanted to tidy up my Halloween recap for future reference.  I'm sure you've moved on so this is really just for future me.

I made cake balls (like cake pops, but just not on a stick) for the annual pumpkin carving party.  It is hosted each year by the same generous family.  They let the entire neighborhood make a royal mess of every inch of their home--they are saints!  For the cake balls, I made ghosts, eyeballs, jack o'lanterns, and one-eyed-purple-people eaters.  My attempt at decorating them was sad.  Not starting until two hours before the party began was not the brightest idea, I'm afraid.  But they were still gobbled up...       

My favorite part of the party is playing the Mummy Mommy Wrap, pretty self-explanatory when you see the pictures, I think... 

We did not win.

This mummy did.

But my goodness do my boys love wrapping me up.  They said we could practice for next year using rope.  Hmmm.

Sandra  

2010 Halloween recap.

It seems strange to discuss Halloween at this point.  It feels as if it were ages ago, not days.  But this time of year is always a blur to me.  So I've decided to really, really try to confront my odd mix of ambitious/slacker ways--I have high hopes of actually planning a realistic to-do list and getting those things done ahead of time. 

I am fully aware that I have friends who, upon reading that proclamation, just spewed coffee.  And to you I say with fingers in my ears:  I can't hear you....

Why?  Because I have a certain memory fresh in my mind of last-minute crafting.  And it is something I don't care to repeat anytime soon.  I am speaking, of course, of the older boys' Halloween costumes.  An experience that had me quoting my second favorite procrastinator saying:  "the sooner you fall behind, the longer you have to catch up"--my favorite procrastinator slogan is discussed here.

Max and Leo asked to be Clone Troopers.  Actually, they first asked to be Jedis.  Specifically, Jedi Masters (not merely Jedi Knights).  They changed their minds, predictably, after I bought the supplies and yes they are getting Jedi robes for Christmas.  They started asking if I could make Clone Trooper armor.  Because evidently, since I am the crafty type, I should be able to make my children's Halloween wishes come true no matter what--and molding armor should be within my capabilities.  Nicely played, boys.  Nicely played.

For the uninitiated like me, Clone Troopers are not Storm Troopers.  I recommend never confusing the two, else you will be on the receiving end of a glare/stare that smacks of a certain questioning-your-intelligence vibe.

I actually toyed with the idea of not making their costumes and took a look at the ready-to-wear offerings.  Unfortunately, I quickly dismissed the option because not only were they pricey--the armor didn't look very good.  And it didn't even cover the back of the costume. 

As luck would have it, the week of Halloween, I found two Clone Trooper costumes (non armor, just jumpsuits) in the right sizes on Craigs List.  The nice seller gave me both for $20, which included masks.  The new plan was to doctor these up.  Enter Charlie, our hero. 

Much like his gladiator costume, Charlie cut out armor from plastic garbage cans.  I drafted a pattern for him of all the pieces to make it a bit easier.  We spray painted everything white and tied the armor together with elastic.   We also spray painted black a couple of water guns to serve as Clone Trooper blasters.

A self-serving note about these pictures.  I was a very sad photog last week and weekend.  For about ten days, I suffered a freak neck injury (pinched nerve?  neck spasm?  doctors are unsure) that kept me stiff and moving about unnaturally.  And so, almost every shot I took was blurry.  I tried to make them look a little better with some free effects in Picnik.  I plan to ask the boys to fully dress up again so I can take better pictures.  But first I need to properly prime and paint the armor with plastic spray paint as the paint we used is chipping like crazy. 

In the end, it was worth it.  The boys had a blast and received a ton of attention.  And William was over-the-moon to be their Master Yoda and haul home his first full trick-or-treat bag of candy.  

I am packing up all of the Halloween decorations this week and moving on to Thanksgiving.  I can't believe it.

Sandra

Happy Halloween!

We spent yesterday coming up with adult costumes for our neighbor's party.  Not the most original, but we had fun creating them:  Gladiator and Greek Goddess. 

Charlie fashioned his armor from a plastic trash can.  He tied the pieces together with twine and painted everything matte black.  I made him a simple tunic to wear beneath his armor.

My costume was a yard and a half of the cheapest white satin I could find, draped and tied at my waist with braided clothesline.  There was very little sewing--just hemming the satin.  I painted a ton of plastic leaves silver to add some details and used them to cover an old strapless bra (that I also spray painted silver).

The toga covered most of the bra so I still felt appropriately modest, but it gave the costume much-needed oomph.  You can see it a little better in this shot, taken by our baby sitter as I was heading out the door. 

The party was a lot of fun.  Lots of Lady Gaga costumes, as you can imagine.  There was also a Shamwow guy that was pretty funny.  The boys are getting excited for tonight--I'll post pictures of their costumes soon.

Happy Halloween!

Sandra