A tradition

My mother used to bake fresh bread for her family of eight every single day. Completely by hand. Not even a mixer to help out. Can you imagine? I've done this once or twice before and believe me, you've got to have a lot of love and a strong back to accomplish this feat.

Needless to say, with all this whole wheat bread (which she ground the wheat herself btw) surrounding my childhood, I grew up with a real love and appreciation for real bread. Not that cheap stuff you buy at the store. And here is my attempt at carrying on that tradition:I just have to laugh at myself. Once in my marriage I have finally made my husband homemade bread and you know how I did it? I borrowed my sister's bread machine, poured all the ingredients in, and watched it knead, rise, knead, rise some more, and bake itself for 4 hours. Ta Da! Not quite the same accomplishment, but still worth the effort. I love simple homemade bread.

Here's where I found the recipe.

Strawberry Freezer Jam

Get a bunch of strawberries and cut off their tops.
Mush them up nice and good and add a little sugar and pectin.Pour it all into cute little cups and...Viola!
Strawberry freezer jam. Lasts a year in the freezer and 3 months in the fridge. Although I don't think I'm quite going to need a year to finish off my spoils.

pasta salad

A friend of mine posted about making pasta salad on her blog and it looked soooo good. I immediately called my mom up to ask for her recipe which I know I love.

Cook tri-colored pasta
Add whatever you have or feel like eating:
I used cucumbers, grape tomatoes, green onions
(also try peppers, olives, red onions, chives, etc.)
Add lots of parmesan cheese
Add zesty italian dressing until it looks like you have a bit too much
Chill in the refrigerator for maybe a few hours
Add more dressing if dry

I know these direction may not seem too helpful, but really pasta salad is all about preference and taste so have at it!

apple cozy

Ok, this is a little silly I know. But when I saw this on ravelry I just thought it was the cutest thing ever. Plus I was able to finish it in the time I had waiting for Hubby to get out of class one day. Isn't it just adorable? Supposedly it will keep my apples from bruising when I throw them into my purse. Also a lot of people were making them as teacher appreciation gifts... which is so cute in my opinion. I need to come up with a reason to make these...

lavender "pears"

I've been seeing these around in the blogging world lately and really wanted to try them. The tutorial I found was less than clear (to me anyway), but I figured once I got into the project I'd figure a way to make it work. They're filled with rice and lots of dried lavender (from France no doubt, thanks to my sister!).They are each made out of three pieces. The first one is two orange pieces and one pattern piece. The second is two blue pieces and one pattern. I ended up completely changing the tops from having a stem and leaf to just having a ribbon loop. Zero headache involved in this revised version plus it probably shaved off 15 aggravated minutes for me. (I've noticed I lose patience quickly while sewing since becoming pregnant) Also they turned out smaller than I was imagining... I think I'd make them bigger next time. BUT they smell wonderful! and I think I love the finished product even though it isn't what I had initially intended. They are so cute.

Kitchen Chairs Redo

I bought these chairs second-hand for about $15 for the pair. They needed some wood glue for sturdiness and definitely some paint to cover the green marker left by the previous owners.We wanted to go a little unexpected with the color and why not? so we did. We went with a semi-gloss deepest aqua. Gotta love a trip to the paint store.I love how they turned out. Now all I need is a tablecloth to tie it all in ...

Patchwork Hots Pads

I've been wanting to try these for awhile, but have been a little scared to begin. You see... I've never tried patchwork, quilting, or used bias tape. Even though this is such a simple little project, it was the unknown that scared me.

Here's the fronts. And here's the backs.

And yes these came with many, many mistakes, but only because I didn't know what the heck I was doing. Oh well, handmade goods wouldn't be so special if they were perfect, right?

The beginings

I woke this morning to find our first little sprouts of the season. I can't believe it is happening so soon!I love spring.