We’ve been experiencing a good kind of problem all week: too many parties. And we’re pooped. We love people, but I think we all crave some alone time now.
I have something really fun that I want to share tomorrow, but right now…
I’m going to read while my babies sleep. Happy Friday.
Last night was quite frightening here in Tulsa. What began as a lovely storm to help one fall asleep evolved into more hail than I’ve ever seen in my life, waking me around 3:30 and sending me into a panic about going into labor. Obviously, I did not go into labor, but I was worried that my anxiety might cause contractions. And then how would I get to the hospital in the middle of a hail storm? (Ridiculous, I know.) So I calmed myself by looking at pretty blogs and thinking of new projects.
The storm is over, but it’s damp and chilly today. I can think of no better excuse for my favorite hot cocoa. If you’ve never tried homemade cocoa, you need to right now. Before the summer hits. We have some Green & Black’s Cocoa Powder that we used in a bread recipe, and on the side of the canister is the simplest recipe ever: “To make one cup: Mix up one teaspoon of Green & Black’s organic cocoa with cold milk to make a smooth paste. Add hot milk, stirring well. Sweeten to taste.” That’s not much harder than adding hot water to a packet of Swiss Miss.
I like to add some heavy cream to the mix and sweeten with two spoonfuls of raw sugar. I typically fill my mug with milk, pour most of it into a pot to heat (But don’t boil.). While the milk is heating, I add a couple teaspoons of cocoa powder and sugar to the cold milk left in my mug, and then I make the paste. Add cream and hot milk. Stir. Enjoy!
It’s so perfect that you want to savor it slowly and, yet, can’t help but gulp it down all at once. So perfect.
It was a wonderful and tiring weekend in which I squeezed in as many naps as possible! But I must say that I have some of the best friends anyone could ask for. All the fanciness of my baby shower was entirely their doing, and it was just lovely.
To top it all off, Mindy, Zuri, and Jaime went in together to get me what I believe is the coolest rocking chair I have ever seen. Really, it couldn’t be a smidge more perfect!
I made a couple of hostess gifts before the shower and humbly thanked them.
Lately that’s what I’ve been doing: making piles of stuff. Piles of laundry, piles of hand-me-downs, piles for Goodwill, piles of toys to clean, piles of baby supplies, and piles of these:
And more of these:
Of course, the cookies and brooches are for Saturday, but I’ve also spent time making stuff for No Particular Reason. Thus this:
And this:
Honestly. How kitsch is that? And not even in a truly hip way. It’s kitsch in a late-1980s-blue-and-mauve-country way. But I still might hang it in the kitchen window. At least for a spell.
Really though, what’s the harm? I found this little guy in my $4 Quality Thrift goody bag. The paint was nearly dried up (one color was), and the plastic paint wells were so brittle that–you might notice–the latches on most of them broke when I tried to open them.
This is such a funny “hobby” to me. There’s not much to it. It’s easier than paint-by-number since you can’t accidentally bleed into the wrong area with the paint. There are walls separating each section, and the “paint” is really supposed to be a thin stain that more or less spreads itself out. And then, when you’re all done, that satisfied feeling of accomplishment is rather diminished by the pitiful look of the project. No matter how hard you try, it will never look like real stained glass.
I say all this, and yet I spent at least an hour filling in those little spaces with the cruddy old paint and cheap, limp paintbrush. It’s a compulsion, I tell ya.
Here for your vicarious enjoyment are the Cream Cheese Mints that have life-changing properties. How do they change your life? Depends on how many you eat!
Aren’t they pretty? I think anything coated in that much sparkling sugar is a sight to behold. Of course, they need a pretty little dish to hang out on. I just pulled them out of the freezer and snapped a picture. But now you can see how perfect these are for dainty little parties. Add some chocolate concoction and glazed nuts, and you’re good to go.
As it turns out, the tension rod in the kitchen is too long for the little nook in the bathroom. I think I’ll just take my time and ponder the possibilities of my new fabric before I jump in. I always have that initial excitement that makes me a bit irrational with new crafting supplies. But if I sit on my ideas and materials for too long, I don’t do anything. Hopefully blogging about all this will help me be both productive and rational all at once…
Speaking of productivity, while Evan had a Super Smash Bros. Wii party last night, I entertained the girls and finished a WIP. These little blossoms are from Pretty Knits by Susan Cropper (another great library find!).
The pattern is for a brooch, but I used larger needles than called for (#6) and made a bouquet instead.
These are intended as decoration for my upcoming baby shower (hence my silly rhyming title). Though some friends are throwing it for me, I can’t let go of the opportunity to make lots and lots of stuff. I’m now obsessing over favors, but I must keep those a secret.
I will tell you that I’m making Cream Cheese Mints to freeze for the party. With only 4 ingredients (2 of which are sugar…), they are delicious and addictive. Thanks to my dear friend Page, who introduced me to these years ago. If I remember correctly, the recipe goes like this:
1 bag powdered sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
1 8 oz. block cream cheese
several drops oil of peppermint (to taste)
food coloring (optional)*You’ll also need a candy mold, though you could just smoosh the mints between your fingers if you don’t have one. I found my mold at Michaels, where I also found oil of peppermint in a set with other candy flavorings.
Combine powdered sugar and cream cheese. This gets tough, but you just have to get your hands dirty. Then add mint to your liking. Don’t overdo it though! And, as Page always said, you must use oil of peppermint and not mint extract! Just keep tasting it until you know it’s right. At this stage, you can also add a drop or two of food coloring.
The next part is time-consuming, and you should probably enlist the help of a friend or two. With cream cheese concoction thoroughly mixed and a bowl of granulated sugar, pinch off quarter-sized bits of mixture, roll in your hands, coat in sugar, and then press into candy mold. The granulated sugar should help in removing the mints from the mold. If you have trouble releasing them, try sprinkling sugar into the mold before pressing mints into it.
Set mints out on a paper towel or plate to dry for an hour or two. Once dried to your liking, you can freeze them for your upcoming party where they’re sure to be a hit! Just try not to eat them all in the meantime.
OK, Page, did I get all that right? I hope so, since I’ll be making some quite soon!
It stormed yesterday. Then it snowed. Then it stopped. Then it snowed more last night. Now the sun is out and the temperature’s mild. Since I never got around to cutting out snowflakes this year, I decided to try out this pattern from Martha. Mind you, my snowflake hasn’t been meticulously starched, so it looks a little more like a shabby doily right now. By the time I finished it yesterday, the snow was all gone.
But it was still quite cold. To ward off the draft from our windows, I warmed myself up with this bowl (one of my recent thrifting finds!) of baby lima beans drizzled with hot sauce and cheese.
The cheese is what really made it extra yummy. We get it from the Swan Bros. Dairy. It’s the only place in Oklahoma that can legally sell raw milk for human consumption. (Technically, other dairies can sell a limited amount of raw milk each month, but I don’t know how regulated it is.) They also sell several different cheeses, both raw and natural. Evan has more or less organized a co-op with some of our friends, and now we have fresh, raw milk all the time. And it is good.
By the way, this is really inspiring me right now. See the little crocheted cape & hood? Oh my word.
And a few extra pounds via these yummy peanut butter twists. Evan and I (but mostly Evan) made these for… no particular reason. That’s 2 1/4 cups of powdered sugar and a far lesser amount of peanut butter. I’m thinking misnomer? So I ate like 4 today. Whew. A few extra pregnancy pounds are OK, right? In my guilt, I made it my mission to deliver at least a few of them to a neighbor.
Today was so beautiful here that Emily and I finally went Outside. Or “siiide,” as she calls it. The first neighbor we encountered was the lucky recipient of a baggy full of peanut butter goodness.
I hoped to accomplish something extra on this extra day, but it seemed that all I really did was take a few pictures and play with Em. It was great. Oh, and I ate too much.
I think the finale airs tonight, but I sure couldn’t figure it out from Bravo’s website. So I’m about to go turn on the TV and just wait for a commercial that clarifies this mystery. In the meantime, I have my own little fashion creation to share:
What a great little model Miss Emily is! Even when Mama puts her in something this chunky and unflattering to her bulbous figure, she still smiles and poses for me.
I’m hoping that it will look much sweeter with a super-simple dress. The flowers on her shirt today and the ribbon on her pants were just too much with the chunky bolero. Emily’s tummy really does bulge a bit. Since the bottom of the sweater hit her right above her midsection, it just didn’t work well over a shirt. But it might be OK with a summer dress… ? I may try again in another color and make it longer.
For now, it’s time to sit down to a bit of this:
This being Evan’s homemade, San Francisco-style sourdough bread, some berries, and a splash of kefir. Yum.
After a long hiatus from the blogging world (and a lot of lurking…sounds creepy, huh?), I decided to follow in Amanda Soule’s footsteps and list 10 things that make February lovely right now. So here goes.
For bonus points, I’m inspired right now by the idea of starting afresh with thimbly things. I’ve intended to do this for months now but was afraid that I wouldn’t fully commit. What a silly, paralyzing thought! So here I am, and I’m just gonna do it already!
