Yay! It's Over!

Last night my baby sister became a wife! I am so happy for them both, but I am also so glad it's over.

We have spent the last few months planning and waiting and stressing and getting ready for this event - and I wasn't even terribly involved! I was actually more stressed about the wedding than I was about having the baby.

It was an absolutely beautiful wedding! I didn't get to visit (or eat) much since I was running around like a chicken with my head cut off. Every time I tried to talk to someone I was being called somewhere else. (Still totally bummed that I didn't get to visit the dessert table, but Dad-in-love saved me a chocolate covered strawberry. :D)

It's so very weird watching her grow up and become a wife. Remembering myself walking down that aisle just six years ago, and now here she is starting the next part of her life. I am so proud of her, who she has become, and the man she chose. He fits in with us so well, and I love all of her new family as well. I think they will be wonderful together.

And now, it's over! Now we can all breathe and resume life ... just a bit differently.

Happy Sunday,
Meg

A Post About Food

The book that has been expanding my waistline...

It seems my life has been chock full of food lately, so I figured I would share it all with you.

~ I made some Giant Molasses Cookies last week from the Taste of Home Cookie magazine and they are really good. They came out crunchy though. I'm not a big crunchy cookie fan - I like mine chewy. But they are still good and are even better dipped in coffee. ;) (I wanted to link you the recipe, but apparently it's a member exclusive. So go get the book!)

~ Ben gave me permission to try red sauce enchiladas, and I found a really, stupidly simple recipe for Enchilada sauce.

Easy Enchilada Sauce
1/4 C vegetable oil (I used lard)
2 Tbs flour
1/4 C chili powder
1 (8 oz) can tomato sauce
1 1/2 C water
1/4 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp onion powder
Salt to taste

Heat the oil in a skillet and add the flour and chili powder. Cook over medium heat until lightly browned, stirring constantly (we're making a roux).

Slowly stir in the water, tomato sauce, and spices. Continue cooking approximately 10 minutes, or until thickened slightly. Adjust salt to taste.

I stuffed mine with some leftover pork and monterey jack and they tasted just like restaurant enchiladas. Delicious. (Oh and he said I could make them again. :D)

~ I have found the best way to make crisp oven fries. Coat them in flour! After years of trying to get decent fries I finally decided to try making them similar to the recipe I have been using for "Crispy Potato Cubes". I just cut them up into fry shapes, toss them in flour, then pour some oil onto the baking sheet and toss the flour-covered potatoes in the oil. Bake at 475 degrees for 20 minutes, stir them up and bake another 20 minutes or until desired crispy-ness. Toss with seasoned salt. So good!

~ My baby sister's wedding is this Saturday and she asked if I could make some caramels to go on the dessert table. Sure! Shouldn't be a problem at all!

Until I tried to actually make them and the little man woke up half way through and started getting really, really mad. Candy making is not something you can just walk away from, so I tried to rush it and didn't *quite* get it up to the right temperature. Well, rushing isn't something you can do with candy either. I wound up with a really nice caramel sauce, but it wouldn't harden past that.

So, in effort to save it, I made these Caramel Butter-Pecan Bars. They turned out great! And I'm so glad I was able to do something and avoid a total loss (and try yet another recipe from The Book).  They will be going to the church kitchen tonight to get them ready for the wedding.

~ That cookie book is dangerous. ;)

What have you been cooking lately?
Meg

Finished Knit: Chemo Beanie

One of Ben's co-workers has a sister that is going through chemo. Because of that, she's lost all her hair. And she lives in Ohio (which is still cold, apparently).  She's been needing some elemental protection and cover up.

So his co-worker ordered a beanie to keep her head warm. Apparently she had been looking for just a regular pink beanie (the color of the breast cancer ribbon) and had not been able to find one. He asked for the white band just to break it up a bit, and if I could line it with something to keep her ears warm.

I went to Beverly's and picked up some fleece in a light pink, found a really good tutorial about lining ribbed hats, and have got half of it sewn in. It took all of Serenity (the movie) to get it in, but now all I have to do is the other side of the fabric.

I tried it on after getting the lining tacked down and it is so warm and comfy. I hope this keeps her head super warm while she's going through chemo.

My favorite pieces to knit are the ones with stories of love attached to them. 

Pattern: None

Yarn: Knit Picks Stroll Sport in "Rouge" and Comfy Sport in White - 66 grams/181 yards & 4 grams/11 yards respectively

Needles: US 3/3.25 mm Addi Turno Circs and Harmony wood DPNs

Knitline: April 11th - April 22nd

YTD Mileage: 1.37 miles

Happy Knitting,
Meg

No One Teaches Manners Anymore?

Last year's artichoke

Rant Incoming.

When I was growing up there were a few general rules about being outside your own home.

You don't walk on other people's grass.

You don't go up on other people's porches and mess with their stuff.

You don't go running around in people's flower beds.

And stay out of the street so you don't get hit by a car.

Things like that.

That's how I was raised and so was my husband. That's just the way it's supposed to be, right? Breaking those rules is rude. It's bad manners.

Well.

That's apparently NOT how kids are raised now.

In the past few weeks we've watched kids run over our grass and come up on our porch doing who knows what. We've watched not one, but TWO kids nearly get nailed by a car because they're friggin stupid and are running around in the street.

The day before Easter I see some of the neighbor kids TROMPING THROUGH OUR FLOWER BED "hiding eggs". 

And just now, as we're eating dinner, we hear wind chimes. For some strange reason it sounds like OUR wind chimes. The one next to our office window. A look outside shows yet another neighborhood kid BANGING OUR WIND CHIMES AROUND.

Oh and look. There on the side walk are flowers from OUR AZALEA BUSH. You know, the one RIGHT NEXT TO THE HOUSE, UNDER THE FRONT WINDOW.

I'm sorry, but what the hell?

It's now OK for kids to just destroy property? Parents are really letting them do this?

Oh wait.

The parents don't care. The parents don't watch their kids. The parents aren't around when their kid almost gets run over by a truck because they didn't bloody look when they went running into the street. And the parents sure as hell aren't teaching them manners. (Like don't rip up people's azalea bushes!).

When I was that age (we're talking 6-10 year olds here), my mom was usually out front with me, watching.

And I wouldn't have been running around on people's yards messing with their things.

No, it's not really the fact that my grass got stepped on that's the problem. And the flower will grow back. It's the fact that these kids have absolutely no respect for anyone or their property. But I'm not sure which ticks me off more - the kids or their parent's lack of involvement. 

I am about to become "that neighbor". You know the one.

Mean Old Lady Hollar. The one that yells at you because you stepped on her grass.

Except hearing the way these kids talk, it wouldn't be the word "lady".

About to get out the garden hose and sit in wait,
Meg

P.S. We got our garden planted Sunday. Yay!

Good and Rainy

The sky looks like this

The garden looks like this

Ben is home.

All of my men are sleeping.

The house is quiet.

I'm knitting and reading the latest issue of Countryside.

I was going to make pizza for dinner, but now I'm thinking soup.

Tomorrow is our third Saturday-off-work in a row.

This weekend is supposed to be sunny and warm, perfect for planting the garden!

Life doesn't get much better. :)

Happy Friday!
Meg

Easter Weekend - In Pictures

A trip to the nursery for 4 blueberry bushes and an apple tree, Easter egg hunts, a lovely Easter dinner, and a relaxing weekend on the whole.

How was your Easter?
Meg

Well Hello There

Happy Flowers!

Long time no post.

I've been trying to post something for a week and it just hasn't happened. It's really hard to type out a whole post with one hand.

And really, all I have to talk about is random gibberish stuffs. How about some crafty things?

I did finish that apron. Sorry for the crap picture. I still need to put the pocket it on it, though. I think it turned out ok, but it's not my favorite apron. I like the design of it, I think it's just the colors I'm not wild about (I'm not really a pink kinda girl). The top, I love. The bottom... I'll be adjusting it on the next one. It flares out a little too much. But I have the material washed and ready to go, just need to find the time to get it cut out...

I won't even bother showing you the knitting since it hasn't changed much since last week. Just two more rows of beads which look just about the same. It's really hard to bead with one hand too. ;)

I have spent the last week slowly spending my Christmas money. It's hard for me to spend money on frivolous stuff. But after a crazed cookie baking fest on Friday in which I had to make creative use of my one cooling rack... I went a little nuts on Amazon and bought some goodies.

I ordered myself some stacking cooling racks (perfect for my severe lack of counter space), a bundt pan, a mini muffin pan, and a jumbo muffin pan (not pictured). Then the next day I ordered myself a copy of Nourishing Traditions which just got here. And then I went super girly and bought myself an eyeshadow palette and brush kit. That is so out of the norm for me but I got it this morning and tried it out and I think I found something new to waste my time on. (Ha!)

Boysenberries in bloom

An artichoke cometh

The boysenberry picture is just the very, very tip of the iceberg. There are so many more blooms than that. We shall be swimming in berries pretty soon. I hope extended family members *cough* Rachel *cough* like all things boysenberry...

My baby sister's bridal shower was last Saturday and it was my job to make cookies (thus the bake fest of Friday). And it just so happened that I got that Taste of Home Cookie book the day before my mom told me what to bring... I might have gone a wee bit overboard.

Like over 15 dozen cookies overboard.

There were so many I wanted to try! Here's what I made

5 1/2 dozen Peanut Butter Sandwich Cookies (just the cookies, no filling. They're good by themselves)
5 dozen Mocha Crackle Cookies
4 dozen Cinnamon Oatmeal Cookies
And 3 1/2 dozen chocolate chip cookies from the freezer

They're all really good but I've heard people raving about the Mocha ones. Ben took a whole tray of leftovers to work and he said they disappeared first.

Jack also wanted me to make these cookies, which I did and they were pretty stinkin' good too.

And now, I have 3 weeks to fit nicely into a bridesmaid dress... So I started (sort of) serious exercise yesterday and am limiting my goodie intake. But I have to keep my calorie intake up since I'm feeding the little guy. So we'll see how this turns out.

Happy Easter!
Meg