Christmas Baking

The holiday season, aka the season of eating LOTS of junk food and gaining LOTS of weight. We don't have any family close by, sometimes we are with family for Christmas (which requires a lot of travel for at least one family) and sometimes we are on our own. Either way, I always bake all of our favorite cookies, candies, bars, etc since there is no one else really to do it.

How to STOP eating everything?

Well, I don't really know. BUT, I do have a few strategies that at least help.
1. Give half of everything to other friends or the teachers at school. If my butt is going to get bigger, everyone else's will as well. :)
2. I then freeze half of what is left to save for Christmas. The remainder can be eaten immediately.
3. Don't keep everything out in plain sight - use containers. I tend to eat less if it is out of sight.

I will be making posts of all the treats I have been making - so I don't have to search for my recipes anymore. Since we moved (in January) I have yet to find my recipe box. So, I will be cataloging all of our family favorites here.  If you are trying to avoid sugar - you may want to skip the next several posts.

I tried a new cut out cookie and ginger cookie recipe. Both turned out fine, but I will cut back a little on the flour next time, I like mine a little softer. But, I measure flour all wrong, so the amount may be accurate. I need to cut back on the scoop, shack, and dump method - it's just soooo much easier (as long as I adjust accordingly, things usually turn out just fine).

You will notice a few themes emerge.
1. I like chocolate.
2. The majority of my Christmas baking, doesn't actually involve baking.
3. I am all about minimizing effort and mess and therefore combine efforts whenever possible. I do all dipping at one time. Any leftovers are used to coat or top other bars.
4. On the lines of minimizing the mess, I always line my 9x13 pans with foil. Seriously makes cutting MUCH easier and leaves the pans easy to wash. YEAH!

And, once done with all these goodies, I will have some major exercising to do.

How do you manage all the holiday goodies?

Thread Sketching Love

I am totally in love with thread sketching. I guess I am a few years behind the times, but I don't really care. I saw this tutorial on Pinterest and thought - I MUST try this! So I did. These are the 3 pillows I have made to date, with several more planned. I have also done a few kitchen towels and napkins. Ohhh the possibilities. I have started a Pinterest board for thread sketching ideas. There will be MANY more pins over the next few months.

Most of my sketching is simply done with straight forward stitching and a TON of fabric turning. I have JUST started to try true free motion for this technique. Let's just say it is a learning process. I think it works well for some designs and not so well for others. But really, free motion has a large learning curve, so I won't know until I have a LOT more practice.

For me, this has been a great way to express my artistic side through sewing. It may really just show I am not that artistic. :) Oh well, I don't care. I like it and I plan to continue doing it. So, if you happen to receive one of these projects as a gift, please humor me and tell me you like it.

Have you ever tried thread sketching? What do you think?

Peaches!!

I LOVE peaches! This summer I did a bit of canning and have a few jars of peaches just waiting to be used. Most will be used right out of the jar - because really, there just isn't much better than a simple peach. When canning, I used very little sugar so they taste pretty fresh. And, they will have fewer calories. YEAH!

I love having a little bit of summer in the winter - don't you?

Peach jam was also made - low sugar of course. Peaches are sweat enough on their own, my jam didn't need much sugar. It tastes more like fresh peaches. Add it to some toast or biscuits - YUM!
I simply used the Ball website and followed their recipes/directions using their low-sugar pectin. I used about 1/4c sugar in my version.

I have found that I like peach crisp. I never really did, as I haven't like the taste of cooked peaches. Apparently my tastes have changed, because I like them now. One great use for those canned peaches. For the crisp topping, I use oatmeal and whole wheat flour to help offset the butter and sugar. I consider this one of my semi-healthy desserts. I simply took my favorite crisp recipe and substituted the oatmeal and whole wheat flour in place of the white flour. The amounts of each don't really matter (mine varies based on what I have on hand) - so long as the overall amount is the same as the original recipe.

I added a LITTLE ice cream here, but you can skip that. Portion control is key here - make sure to share with lots of friends so you don't eat it all.

So there you have it. A little summer brightness in the middle of a gloomy winter. Do you love a little of summer freshness during the winter as much as I do?

Later gators...

Crochet projects 2013

It is getting cold again - a time I usually start turning to my yarn for projects. There is not much better than curling up on the couch with some yarn, hot chocolate, a fire burning, and the TV on chick flicks!! Seriously, one of my favorite ways to spend an evening. Now, if we could just get our fireplace converted back to wood burning, I would be set!

Last night, I was able to whip up this hat and scarf for my youngest. She picked out the hot pink at one of the big box stores. I usually don't buy that kind of yarn - it is rough and hard on the hands. But that is what she really wanted. I combined it with a lovely grey SOFT fuzzy yarn I picked up on sale at Twisted Knitter - the local yarn shop. The button was also from Twisted Knitter. Seriously, they have some AMAZING buttons. Again - the 4 year old picked this one out. It doesn't exactly match, but she loves it so we are all happy - even if she likes to show off her pouty face.

We took a few pics this morning - and yes those are her pajama pants. I at least was able to convince her the jean jacket would work better than her red sweatshirt. Your eyes can thank me now. :)

I hope to get through several more projects over Thanksgiving.

Happy yarning!

My Name is Paul - red carpet premier

One of the very fun projects I have been working on lately - a red carpet dress! I had so much fun working on this dress. Yes, a few moments of wanting to tear my hair out too. But that is usually true when working on a larger project.

Our dear friend Abigail Cornell was in the movie My Name is Paul. She and I designed the dress together - and in 3 weeks, we had the final product. I used a turquoise crepe backed satin with matching lining from Hancock Fabrics and found the lace overlay at MaryJo's (in Charlotte).

Thank you Jennifer Robertson Photography for the photo. 

It is hard to tell from the photos, but the bottom turquoise is a fitted mermaid style. I love the way it moved under the lace. A little surprise when she is moving.

I am super happy with how it turned out - although it wasn't exactly what I had in my head. I am still fairly new to dress design/making. And I RARELY do things so formal. Typically sun dresses and work clothes are what I tackle. I am super happy I did this and look forward to more opportunities to work on formal clothes.

Congratulations Abbey on another movie premier! Can't wait to see the movie.

Later Gators...