My Recent Creations

So much activity going on recently! Despite our (hopefully) impending move in the next year we have been taking a hard look around and seeing everything we will have to move with. Or, if you're me you're looking at what cargo you can 'throw overboard' or use haha. One such item - liquor. Drinks all around (for everyone but me haha) between David's birthday party, his graduation party and any other occasion we can use as an excuse to use the stuff we are trying to minimize what we move with for sure. Other items include my craft stuff. They might not be heavy, but I sure have accumulated a lot in the three years I've been here. I've got pieces of all kinds of fabrics in my attempt to improve my sewing skills (it hasn't really worked if you are curious).

However, I recently decided to get crafty and at least try to create some items for near future entertainment for a wee one. With all the soft and colorful fleece pieces I have on hand I started searching online for ideas since I don't know what small children, or children in general, find fun to play with. Some really cute ideas came up - I love Pinterest by the way - one of the tutorials were these "Jelly Fish" stuffed animals which fit perfectly into my skill range. I could stumble through it and end up with something nearly resembling a jelly fish I thought to myself. Well, after a lot of doing, and several "May-Day" moments, I ended up with a creation that I might not call a jelly fish, but it's definitely some kind of creature (perhaps not earthly though). I suppose it's good that the kid won't be able to ask questions about any toys that I create that they'll be playing with this young.

 

Yes my friends, that is one 'Jelly Fish' that has faces on two sides. This specific species you won't find swimming around just anywhere in the ocean - but maybe near the coast of Australia, I hear they just discovered a new type of dolphin. Haha I hope my kid(s) appreciate my effort and don't judge me by the end result.

 

Another use of these craft fabrics I'm using up I've started soft blocks. Which may be the harder craft of the two. Sewing together the block sides wasn't too bad, but the hand sewing of the little adornments nearly had me throwing it out for a bit haha. Again, not sure what kids like or find fascinating, but I felt like you can't go wrong with the A B C's. 

 

And now since I've got one block that has A B C and D on it I just have four more of these devilishly difficult blocks to make. I told David these had better last through ALL kids we have because I'm not making these again haha. Of course we could always buy them, but I would still have all these craft things lying around which doesn't help our cause . . .

 

I've also tried my hand at some spiffy kicks that I found a nice tutorial for. This is what I have discovered about myself while working on this project - I am not and never was a cobbler in a past life, so that's a no on trying to channel a previous lifetimes experience to help me through this project. I am relatively certain that these will never be able to actually go onto a humans foot, no matter how small a baby they are, but by God I was going to finish the project if it killed me (it nearly did). In the beginning I was trying to make them fancy and things started off well, I had some nice dark leather scraps I cut soles out for, I had no problem following the tutorials instructions for cutting out the soft sole liner for the inside or the shoe tops. All was good in the world until they expected me to be able to put them together. That's when the tears and crying out to the heavens and shaking my fists at the sky came into play. I was quite a scene, and as Sara would say: "It. Was. Dreadful." As David has said, I am entirely too stubborn for my own good. But in my defense let's be real - I would have entirely no street cred if I let an infant's shoe project break my spirit. I had to at least finish, even if they would never be worn, used, or displayed in any way haha.

 

 

Even if they aren't functional, I sure love the look of those leather soles :D

 

Right now we are much closer to having less random bits and pieces of my craft stuff to move with, but still a box full of kid stuff. I guess at least I will have these things made when I don't have the energy to walk to the other room anymore... :D More fun projects on the way!

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs - that can knock you out!!

It's been dreary and overcast here in Pittsburgh the last few days and I'm not going to sugar coat it, it's just depressing after a point. But food is always a pick-me-up for both David and myself :D which is when David suggested we have meatballs for dinner. A nice comforting food that makes us feel happy and satisfied. However, you haven't seen these meatballs. May be it's just me, but I have a certain fear respect for a ball o' meat that's big enough to knock me out if someone took a fancy of lobbing one at me. Who would lob a meatball at my head you ask? Flint Lockwood? No, probably David - he is always itching to toss a snowball at me so I figure it's the same. I digress (but I will watch my back in the kitchen now...)

So, in order to prevent a terrible hailstorm of meatballs in the 'burg's vengeful gods, David and I set out to make these giants. I won't lie, I laugh everytime I make them because there just isn't a mixing bowl big enough for them (outside of a restaurant's kitchen. Or, either of our mothers lol), so a pot it is! After we mixed everything together the ridiculous perfect amount of mixings were then formed and placed in our huge roasting pan, except when filled with these monsters our pan looks tiny : / 

How big are they, you ask. I would say they are a Pittsburgh unit, give or take, and if you don't know how big that is - let me assure you it's an intimidating amount of meat to be presented in any sitting at the table. It. Is. Big. 

I tried to take pictures to give you scale, but I had few ideas and I was too lazy concerned about their structural integrity, so I opted not to remove them from the pan to show you properly. Don't judge me. I was tired haha. Thus, our matchstick idea David so brilliantly suggested.

Speaking of that, This free programming is made possible by Chey, who without her ingenious idea and gift of Crocs my feet wouldn't have been able to stand long enough to make these balls. *Applause* Brilliant! They really do make standing in the kitchen cooking that much more of a pleasant experience. And yes, I really did just include a random picture of my feet in this post :D

 

This was our beautiful end result after an hour of baking. 13 beauties baked to perfection and just begging to be eaten. So, just go find a horde of hungry teenage boys, or a small army, and enjoy the feast!

 

 

Meatballs - the size of a softball! Recipe

 

Makes: about 10-13 servings

Cook time: 1 hour to 1 hour 10 minutes

 

*As a warning, do NOT cook these in sauce, unless of course your goal is to make a tasty meat sauce. They are too delicate to get stirred in a sauce.

 

• 1 medium onion diced
• 5 c fresh bread crumbs (5 slices bread food processed to crumbliness)
• 2 c Parmesan cheese
• 1 c freshly chopped basil leaves, or substitute chopped arugula and 1/4 c dried basil
• 1 c fresh chopped parsley, or substitute in 1/4 c dried parsley
• 1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
• 1 tbsp kosher or sea salt
• 1 tbsp fresh ground black pepper
• 4 eggs
• 1 c whole milk
• 4 tbsp EVOO
• 1 head garlic, cloves smashed and finely chopped
• 5 lbs ground beef, or substitute a 1:1 ratio of ground beef and pork
• 1 c warm water

1. In a large bowl, mix the bread  crumbs, cheese, basil, onion, eggs, milk, EVOO, garlic, meat, water, parsley, red pepper, salt and pepper. Mix well with your hands. The mixture should be loose, but able to maintain its form.
2. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.
3. Form the meatballs into balls between the size of a softball and a baseball (about 8-10 oz portions)
4. Place them into a pan at least 2" deep, our roasting pan was perfect, making sure they don't touch each other to ensure they evenly cook.
5. Bake until all the meatballs reach an internal temperature of 165 degrees F, about 1 hour to 1 hour and 10 minutes.
6. Transfer to a serving platter and serve hot or let cool, place in container and refrigerate, OR let cool and put into a freezer safe container and freeze for use within 6 months.

 

 

 

San Diego

My vacation destination for this year was San Diego, CA because my mom's soccer tournament was taking place in Escondido, CA. So, Sara, myself, and my mother flew out there for a week. My mom was definitely focused on her soccer, whereas Sara and I had a week to do as many misadventures adventures as we could! One thing we tried to do was visit Escondido's pedestrian bridge while we had some time to burn - which did NOT work out for us. Oh goodness we drove around everywhere looking for that stupid bridge. what did we find instead? Eventually a lake. Don't get me wrong, it was a pretty lake, but not what we had just spent the better part of an hour searching for. However, this took a more humorous/frightening route when we decided to use the areas facilities before getting back in the car and was this sign:

Makes you think twice before sitting, doesn't it.

Between dropping my mom off and picking her up from games, Sara and I actually got a lot of sightseeing in.We visited Old Town, which was great Mexican food, but I did feel cheated when we went to "America's most haunted place". Why did I feel cheated? Let me tell you why - upon entering the building I did not feel a single cold spot, no one played with my hair, no mysterious shadows or laughter, nothing. In a word - disappointing. The only demonic thing I saw in this building was in this picture

And I am pretty sure those are just the reflection of the wall sconces. But I was placated because we left this "haunted" building and went for lunch at a cantina down the street and it was delicious enough to nearly make up for that disappointment.

Oh so sauve Sara!

We also did a 3 hour sailing tour from the harbor out to the open ocean! I would like to say that we learned how to personally sail the seven seas, but we did the more lazy version of sailing. Which means that we sat on the sail boat drinking wine and enjoying the wind in our hair and sitting on a cool boat while the captain did all the work. It was probably safer that way. Sara and I felt so prepared and excited for this trip, we got there early, got to enjoy pretty views/flowers, and sprayed our faces, arms and back with sunscreen so we wouldn't get burned, but you want to know a secret we overlooked? Spray your legs with sunscreen. We didn't think we would need it, "Oh we'll be up and about on the boat, plenty of shade, yadda yadda yadda" - don't be foolish. You will ALWAYS need sunscreen if you have our complexion on ANY area exposed. *Sigh* when will we learn?

It was great to be on the water, the captain even let me take the helm and take us out to the open water and this is of course where I learned that I am a natural pirate. I don't just think it - it was reaffirmed by the captain haha. Or, he was "fishing" for better tips (haha I'm hilarious). My money is on the latter, but it's fun to believe the former. I am proud to say I didn't make anyone seasick, unlike the guy who took over for me. It was a fantastic experience and we came away happy, until about 10 minutes from dock where we realized our legs had been BAKING in the sun for 3 hours with no protection. Imagine fire engine red and you begin to form the correct picture... we did everything we could think of to help ourselves (except to avoid it by just using sunscreen). However, the next morning we woke up and headed down to La Jolla for our snorkel/kayak excursion we had scheduled.

 

La Jolla was beautiful and we did our snorkel/kayak excursion there. We got to swim with the sharks! Big man eating great whites!! ... OK not really great whites per se, but that does make it a better story :) Although, even the 'small' sharks make you very nervous in the water, haha. Other than the sharks, we saw a lot of bright fish in the murky water and sea lions. Lot's of barking was going on in the area. Kayaking was actually the most difficult part,w e had the head wind against us the entire way out (and I swear even coming back in it was against us). Our excursion was supposed to take an hour and a half, but with this wind it was a 3 hour tour. My favorite part may have been the overweight guy who kept capsizing his kayak. After 3 tries he gave up and was escorted back to shore. In the end Sara and I learned a few things: 1) wet suits are not flattering, 2) putting a wet suit over top a sun burn sucks, and 3) putting a wet suit over top a sun burn sucks. HAHA we were in the changing rooms and I could hear Sara in the next one over making the same whimpering sounds as I was when I was trying to slip on the suit over my burns. Not fun.

We ate a lot of good food on this trip I have to say. We stopped for breakfast one morning in Carlsbad at this adorable place called the Daily News Cafe. By time we were done eating we wanted to move there. Then another morning we dined in the Gaslamp Quarter at the Broken Yolk because it was highly recommended, Sara was even able to get gluten free pancakes there! We tried an In N' Out and found it to be pretty good for fast food burger and fries. I tried mine 'animal style' as the worker called it, and it was as tasty as he promised. We ate at the zoo (which was nice) and we got to eat next to the waterfall even. At the harbor we went to a nice seafood restaurant on the water and it was amazing. Here's one of our desserts . . . we ate our meals before thinking to take a picture (haha) sorry!

We crammed in SO many things and drove so much during the trip (well Sara mostly drove, I navigated) that by time we got home we were ready to just be HOME. I came to Pittsburgh and told David we needed to move to San Diego haha. We not only vacationed, we vacationed HARD. In fact, I think I'm still recovering . . .

Engagement!

This has been such an exciting summer! I want to tell everyone how excited I am for my brother and his fiance :)
My whole family traveled out to Michigan for the engagement ceremony  and to celebrate! They live in a beautiful area and her family and friends were so sweet and welcoming. The ceremony was a neat experience and the food was delicious, plus all the good company - how can it not be a great time? I have to share some photos so just bare with me on this :D

Everyone looks wonderful and so happy, it was a beautiful day for a perfect couple :) David and I were so happy we could come and share in this happy ocassion, and we cannot wait to celebrate the wedding with them.

Our Farm Share

In the past couple years we have had friends who have participated in local CSA's (Community Supported Agriculture), and on weeks that they were out of town we would pick it up for them so it didn't go to waste. It always seemed like something we wanted to do, one of those eat-more-greens-and-be-healthier ideas we wanted to get into, but this year we finally took the plunge.

We joined Penn's Corner Farm Alliance for the 24 week share, so we will get fresh produce from local farms until mid-November! Consider this our great cooking challenge haha. It is fabulous to get every week, however, neither of us have ever eaten SO many greens...sometimes it feels like the kale or chard will never end. One of the things that we hoped it would do (challenge us to cook different dishes or use different vegetables) it has certainly accomplished, however at this point I'm not sure if we're happy or not about it haha. We are getting items that I've never seen before, much less cooked with so it's forcing us to get creative in the kitchen, and we've had some great successes, but others........not so much.

Although, we definitely get high quality ripe produce so that is awesome. Many times at our local grocery store the produce is picked too early to be ripe when you buy it and it ends in disappointment and tears. Well maybe only for me. One thing that we have found to be neat that we didn't expect was the cheeses and random items we get in our share. I assume we get them when they don't have enough ripe or different produce items to go into the shares so they supplement with other items they have like cheeses or maple syrup. Overall it's been a blast, and if our only complaint is we're getting too many greens - in the scheme of things that may not be a bad thing. We are bravely looking forward to the next ten weeks we have coming our way!

The Kindle!

As a big supporter of bound books, I must make a confession (which will have David saying, "I knew it!") Before I go on, understand that I love the feel of a book in my hands, the way the pages rustle, the heft of a nice hardcover, the feeling of the written word just sitting in my lap - I love it. Having said that it will probably not come as a surprise that for years now I have scoffed at the use of e-readers, preferring to cart around my books with me when I traveled to visit family and friends. Years of resistance I have put up (my stubborness knows no bounds apparently haha), until this year when my loving family members came together for my birthday and all contributed to get me my kindle paper white. Such a nice thought, so I of course felt I needed to give it a fair shake.

Holy kindle! I love it, I love it, I LOVE IT. I'm not so proud that I can't admit that it is a wonderful idea after all. The ease of use, convenience in travel, and instant access to SO many types of books makes it unrivaled. Don't get me mwrong, I still love my paper books, but when I'm lazy and don't want to walk to the library (which is a lot depending on the weather), wait for a book to be transported to my branch, or just to save some space in my suitcase - this is the route to take :) I have been tearing through books on it, making the rate of which I am reading books before look like I didn't know how to read before. I cannot believe how much I love this thing, so THANK YOU to all who went in on this gift for me!

..... and yes David, this does mean that you were right haha :D

The Chaos that is My Life

It's been a while, yes it has. However, in that time I have been very busy! All kinds of floral cards have been made, a wedding, bridal showers, an engagement, vacation, and so much more! Yep - this is the chaos that I call my life right now (and I love it hehe). So, now I am going to take a moment and slow down to document some of my projects.

 

Yeah, so you can tell I have had some time on my hands (haha). Hey, I had to do something while David was working nights, right? I'm not going to lie, some of the designs I wasn't sure I was going to be able to pull off, like the red orchid above. but somehow with enough fiddling and glue it came out pretty decent. Everyone that I've given them to seems to have favorites, like David's dad liked the bird of paradise one the most, I think. I feel like I've had the most fun using differently made roses the most on the cards. They are one type of flower I have been able to reproduce in multiple methods and I like each method's look in the end. But anyhow, those are some of the cards I have been making :)

 

My brother recently has gotten engaged (YAY!) and they asked me to make them something special, with love, but also personalized for their engagement. They asked for a guestbook since they don't have many peoples physical addresses or phone numbers, so I was tasked with the mission to come up with a personalized guestbook that represented both of them within it, made with love and care, and as many colors as I could. And of course I like "shiny's" so I thought - why not bedazzle it?! Do I got out my glue gun and gems (not really, but the image is close to what really happened) and got my craft on :D

I have to admit, this wasn't a solo work - I did phone a friend and brought in a talented local artist hehe who helped me draw out the cover art. Then I took over on the bedazzling end and personalizing it for my brother and his fiance. I am pretty happy with what came out of this effort - I only hope they like it. AND since I don't think any of my family really reads this blog (haha :P ) I feel safe in including a picture here at this time.

 

 

Shiny, right?

 

And of course with our recent heat wave I had to bake something, as if it wasn't hot enough haha. Yes, that's me. That crazy lady who bakes when it's 90 some degrees outside and her air conditioner doesn't really cool anything off. That's me. It's cool - I'm also that lady with BAMF pizza rolls too. In my mind, if I put up with some heat to get in the end some pizza rolls when I have been craving a good pizza - then it's a no brainer. David on the other hand doesn't always agree with me. Poor him. But don't feel too bad for him, he happily scarfs down the pizza rolls. Don't let him fool you!

 

I decided to try and make them two different ways to see which would work out better. So one sheet pan got them all rolled up, and the other pan got to hold the pizza 'buns'.

In the end both were just as messy as each other, so that experiment was an epic fail in that regard. However, in flavor I achieved a big success! We ate through many of them that night haha. Only a few made it to the freezer for later. Speaking of . . . I think I need to get a snack about now haha! Now I am hoping that it doesn't take me another 3 months to post again...