new pants

new pants
Originally uploaded by septemberish

Finally, summer vacation! I've done som sewing, some sleeping and some cleaning. My paper is done, and I'm getting credit for my online class.
I can't wait to make another pair of the Amy Butler In Stitches pants. Super fun to wear, they are serious bell bottom pants.
I had another project accepted for Simply Handmade magazine - hooray! They have been really nice to work with.
It feels funny to post this, it's been soooooo long, I feel like I've abandoned it. But I have lots of pictures to share and some time to post them now.

three party

Someone in our house turned three and much celebrating was done.



Banners were made.

Cake was made; inspired by this masterpiece.

Gift bags were given.

It was a very fun day.

ten on friday

10. We have had a sick baby. It throws the whole schedule off kilter.

9. I have a severe crush on this quilt.

8. I'm wondering if I should plan a Very Hungry Caterpiller birthday party in June. Softies! Cupcakes! All kinds of crafts!

7. I can't believe it's May. It still snowed this week. It's crazy.

6. Great movies I've rented or bought recently: Slumdog Millionaire, The Reader and The Women.

5. My dad is recording No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency for me because we don't get HBO. It's sooo
good it's convinced me I need to start reading the books.

4. My taste for mineral water has come back. I haven't really had any to drink in years, but I'm very lonesome for Europe and am living vicariously through food and drink. Lots of bread and cheese are a being consumed as well.

3. I have four baby quilts on the go right now. How did that happen?

2. I fell off the wagon... the menu-planning wagon. I need some healthy inspiration and the last few issues of Everyday Food have been a disappointment.

1. I'm waiting impatiently to plant our tomato, lettuce and herb seedlings. In a few more weeks they will be huge!

some projects

Just a few things I've been working on:

green

green

sunday

grasshopper brownies























lots of snow























a new weather station, right in our backyard!























waiting for spring

impatiently waiting

and, last but not least, homemade pita bread.

This recipe is from a friend of a friend and it's pretty good. Especially when you consider it's hard for me to find fresh, yummy whole wheat pita bread. It's always disappointing to bite into something dry and cardboardy.

Pita Bread

1/2 tbps sugar
1 1/2 tbsp instant yeast
1 tbsp. salt
6 c. flour (I use 3 c. whole wheat)
3 c. lukewarm water

Combine sugar, yeast, salt and 3 c. flour in a large bowl. Stir in water and then remaining flour. Knead. Dough should be smooth and firm, but not stiff. Let rise 30 minutes. Punch down. Place top oven rack up as high as it will go to get it out of the way.
Preheat oven to 500 degrees.

Divide dough into twelve portions. Roll out each into a pancake about 1/4" thick (I roll them out on a silpat mat). Dust with flour, place on an ungreased cookie sheet and cover with a tea towel.
Bake two sheets of bread at a time on the bottom oven rack in its lowest position. The bread should begin to puff up in 3-5 minutes. As soon as they begin to brown, flip them over with oven mitts or tongs. Let them brown slightly on the other side.
Remove them from the oven an immediately place in a paper bag with a clean, dry tea towel. Close bag and let cool. Be careful not to squash them while they are hot - steam burns are not fun. Once they are cool, store in plastic bags.

the latest recipes

I've had some luck with these in the last week:

orange bran muffins

whole wheat oatmeal bread

Next on the list:

Ina's Italian wedding soup

Homemade pizza:

Stephanie's fabulous dough
1 1/2 cups warm water
1 teaspoon yeast
1 teaspoon salt
4 cups of flour
6 tablespoons of olive oil (the magic! :)what isn't good with olive oil?)

Dissolve the yeast in the warm water. Stir together with rest of ingredients. Let rest/rise for minimum of 45 minutes, overnight is ideal(like that ever happens).
Roll out (1 very large pizza or 2 medium). {I oil my hands and really get'into' it. I push it out with my hands on an oiled cookie sheet)
Use desired toppings (we put cheese on last to help with over-browning) I have trouble transferring it, so we put it on a cookie sheet. If you know how to transfer well you can use a pizza stone.
Bake on pizza stone or cookie sheet in 500 degree oven for 10 minutes or less (take out before toppings burn). ;)

Thanks for sharing Katy!

big boy quilt

big boy quilt
Originally uploaded by septemberish

better living in five minutes a day

Better living via suziebeezieland

Exhibit A: a dead plant sitting in front of the tv. With apologies for a freakly bright flash.

Exhibit B: a beautiful new pencil caddy.

ten on tuesday

10. Is it crazy to want to make your own crackers?

9. I am keen on trying to find an old printers type case for holding spices, found here.

8. Yes, I'm awake at 2:47am.

7. I have never been so busy at work as I am right now. I can hardly think straight.

6. life:beautiful magazine has the most beautiful photography I've ever seen in a magazine.

5. We saw Valkyrie on the weekend. How can a movie cause so much anxiety when you know how it ends?! I had also wanted to see The Reader, but thought it was probably too much for one weekend.

4. Our amarilyis is almost ready to bloom. It's the first bulb I've ever forced indoors and it's been exciting to watch it grow.

3. If I get motivated I would have time to read all the finalists in Canada Reads 2009. But really, it's not so much about the books. It's all about hearing what Avi Lewis has to say.

2. Tomorrow's forecast: high of +3, rain turning to snow in the afternoon. Fun times.

1. I'm going to try and go to sleep again, wish me luck.

cookie of the month

In 2008 Mindi had a year of cookies on her blog and she had some great recipes. Her photography is amazing too. But, it's inspired me to do some baking this year too. I realized that I bought this baking mat last June or July and I had never used it yet. Shame on me! It works like a charm, the cookies slide right off of it.

January's cookie - oatmeal raisin from the October/November 1998 issue of Mary Engelbreit's Home Companion.

Old-Fashioned Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

makes about 30

3 eggs, well beaten
1 cup raisins
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup butter, softened
1 1/3 cups brown sugar, packed
3/4 cup sugar
2 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cinnamon
2 tsp. baking soda
2 cups oatmeal, quick-cooking
3/4 cup pecans, chopped (optional)

1. Combine eggs, raisins and vanilla in a bowl and let stand, covered, for 1 hour.
2. Preheat oven to 350.
3. Cream together butter and sugars. Add flour, salt, cinnamon, and baking soda. Mix well.
4. Add raisin mixture, oatmeal and optional choppped nuts. Dough may seem a little dry; don't worry.
5.Drop by tablespoonfuls onto an ungreased cookie sheet about 2" apart.
6. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes until lightly browned. Cool on rack.

menus

We had great success with menu planning last week, so I'm going to give it another try. I know that I rely a lot on Everyday Food, but it's a perfect resource for me. It's especially good because it includes the nutritional information I'm looking for.

Sunday:
potluck bible study - greek salad and frozen appetizers (supposed to be spanikopita, but could only find samosas and cheese sticks at the store)

Monday:
pork stir fry

Tuesday:
slow cooker peppers

Wednesday:
pumpkin pancakes

Thursday:
chicken with herbed couscous

Friday:
chicken burgers

Saturday:
slow cooker pork ribs

think kindly

Tricia is sharing these lovely bookmarks and matching bookplates on her website. So sweet, they make me thing of spring. Found via One Pretty Thing.

for next year

Some ideas for christmas that I just never got around to doing this year. Maybe next year. Or there's always 2010.

salt dough ornaments and oragami wreaths

caramels

white paper decorations and garland

december daily album. seriously. need. to. do. this. next. year.

holiday :: village

nordic house ornaments

christmas tree softies



and as an aside:

did you see the "just add water" mini-paintings? too cute!!
all the little people in my life are getting these sometime soon!

sweet land

I got the movie Sweet Land for Christmas this year. It's wonderful. Being a sometimes fiesty german who doesn't seem to mesh with the norwegians around her, I could relate. It's very well done. I also recommend reading A Gravestone Made of Wheat, the story it's based on.

menus

Sunday
soy glazed salmon
spinach risotto

Monday
souvlaki
grilled peppers

Tuesday
carrot ginger soup (everday food jan/feb 2007)
baking powder biscuits

Wednesday
slow cooker rice and beans

Thursday
cheddar horseradish bugers
coleslaw

Friday
split pea soup

Saturday
pizza - maybe even going out?!

some christmas crafting

How can it be 2009 already? Poof, it seems like I just blinked and a whole year is gone. Everything was so delayed this year, I'm sure most people haven't received their chirstmas cards yet. But I'm ahead of the game for January birthdays :)

This is what I was up to in December:

several hot water bottle covers














a receiving blanket for a new baby














bottles of cheer, all prettied up



















jars of chunky chocolate cookie mix














lavendar bath fizzies



















coasters














some thank you notes














I missed pictures of monkey in a tree bread that we made. We actually found foil christmas tree pans at Superstore this year and it was fun to use them. Oh, and missed pictures of the homemade marshmallows. Very tasty and very fun to make. We just used vanilla, I think peppermint would be heavenly next time.

operation NICE

While I was familiar with Random Acts of Kindness, I had never heard of Operation NICE. Check it out.
2009 needs niceness!

geburtstagskalender

Last year I received this perpetual birthday calendar from my friend in Germany. The illustrations are by Silke Leffler and are quite enchanting. It sits all by itself on a wall that leads from the kitchen into the dining room. It needs to be moved to a more friendly corner where I can actually pay attention to it. I had no idea she was such a famous artist! Thanks for filling me in Suzanne!

danish paper hearts

My maternal grandfather came from Denmark (my great-great grandfather was a guard at the Danish royal palace). There are a few traditions that held on when they came to Canada, like the big christmas dinner being on Christmas Eve and the fact that my grandpa never makes a sandwich with two slices of bread (always open-faced!). When I was young my mom taught us how to make these heart baskets for the Christams tree. They had to be made with shiny, foil paper, and in any two colours. I wonder if that was more of a 50's/remembering the past king of thing than a danish thing though :).
Mine are gold and red right now, but I think I prefer red and white. These are made with wrapping paper, but it doesn't hold up very well. That said, very light paper is easiest to weave (make sure it's not too heavy). They can be quite a project, so you may want to take that into consideration.
And until I got married, I never knew it was strange to use hearts as a christmas ornament. I have tons of heart christmas ornaments, and maybe it's a danish thing, but I love them and don't think it's weird at all.
When I was in college, we had to do a presentation that taught people something. This was my project. I only got an A- on it, but I guess that's ok. Public speaking is not my thing. At all.





















If you would like to make the baskets, this is a GREAT video that shows you to weave them together really well, you'll just have to watch an ad first - sorry! Best instructions I've seen yet. And here's a link to make baskets here.