Some sewing, some cooking Redux

new bag:

The Multitasker Tote by Anna Maria Horner

Well, it seems that I am up to my old tricks, naming this post almost the same as this one, cooking and sewing in between working and studying and all that. The cooking and sewing looks better on film though.

Sometimes I like to cook with sugar, you know white, refined, and much like cocaine (in terms of how bad it is for your body).

Other times, I like to cook without. And lately, we are also doing wheat-free baking for one family member who is less itchy without it. Here are some sweet potato muffins, Jonas's favorite.

JONAS'S Favorite and Mostly Healthy Muffins

• Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
• Grease your muffin cups or use liners.
• Into the bowl of a standing mixer, put in:

1 c. cooked sweet potato

1/3 c. vegetable oil

1 egg (if you are going for vegan, just substitute a couple of tablespoons of flax meal)

1/2 c. maple syrup (or other liquid sweetener like honey or agave nectar or whatever you have)

1/8-1/4 c. molasses

• Mix this up.
• In another small bowl, or if you are a cheater who doesn't like a bunch of dishes, just use your measuring cup:

2 c. flour (wheat or gluten-free or spelt, whatever)

1 t. baking powder

3/4 t. salt

1-2 t. cinnamon (we like it spicy!)

grated nutmeg (as much as you can stand to grate. I usually tire
of it after about 1/4 t., but I am a fan, so do more if you can)

allspice or cloves (a tiny pinch)

• Add your dry ingredients to your wet in 3 additions or so until
  

there are no obvious lumps of flour.

• Throw in a handful of chocolate chips, or raisins if you are
  

feeling virtuous. Mix.

• Plop in muffin cups and put in the oven for 20 minutes or so.

Here's my new spring/summer tote! Laminate fabric on the exterior for easy cleaning, nice roomy interior for all the stuff that goes along with me to the beach.

looking inward, from above

These four little exterior pockets, which I am loving, are perfect for your sunglasses and keys, ie. those things that are frequently hard to find in your voluminous pouch.

The little owls on the interior pockets, leftover from the Letter Pouch. I have to say that I really love the Anna Maria Horner pattern because it's written well and easy to understand. I will definitely look for more AMH patterns out there. There were some quirky steps in this bag, but I felt confident because the pattern was so well done. And I am really happy with how it turned out. In fact, last week I was able to go to work with just TWO bags in hand (a record), instead of the usual three.

As you probably already guessed, I had a really nice visit to Alewives Fabrics lately to redeem my Christmas gift certificate! (Can you believe it lasted so long?) So nice to see the lovely ladies there, as always. Rhea, the owner, is wonderful, and she seems to have a knack for hiring helpers who are equally so. This linen with the birds on it is a Japanese fabric and will be a new summer Barcelona skirt; A-line, not tiered this time. Can you tell I am looking ahead to summer sewing projects when I am not in school?

And some more of that owl fabric, to be a new pair of PJs for my very long-legged boy, Jonas. Notice those sweet Matryoshkas? Also a Japanese fabric, it's so so so soft that it is screaming (ever-sweetly) to be a new hankie. I am pondering a giveaway of hankies soon (a Matryoshka one will definitely be in the mix!), just as a thank you for reading gift, so keep checking in.

When she perches up here,

she usually thinks about flying down for some time,

and clucks very loudly while she contemplates

Finally, how is our friend Puffkin doing? The ongoing saga of our sweet hen continues. In the warmer weather, I removed the Chicken Cozy Neckwarmer and upcycled a tee-shirt sleeve (men's) to be a little protective covering that fits under her wings and over her healing parts. She lives in this little box in our woodshed and in the nicer weather we let her free range in the yard. The other chickens are securely in their chicken yard now, since my husby fixed their fence! So no danger of Puffkins being bullied or treated poorly by her feathered colleagues. For now, she seems content to go it alone, and when she's ready, we'll reintroduce her to the flock.

The Favorite Holiday

One more shot of my new favorite hankie,
already on the clothesline!
First day of hanging out the laundry!

A couple of years ago, Jonas told me (in utter disappointment on the actual day) that Easter was his most favorite holiday, and why had we not planned a party?!
Too late that year, but this year, Mama is on top of it. I think it's the excess that he appreciates, and thanks to Jenny, who has personally stuffed 72 eggs with a combination of candy, coins, and Easter jokes, I think he'll be all set. We will be having some brunch with a couple of families here at our house, and hopefully, an outdoor egg-hunt. One of our favorite 2 year-olds will be here, in some sort of festive adorableness, and my biggest fear is (not the testosterone-plagued 6-7 year-olds on SUGAR but) that Miss Z. will trip and come in personal contact with chicken poop.
This is always my biggest fear about anyone who comes to our house.

Tiny felted eggs in a hand-made basket by Ravenhill's Mom.

Above is the little package that I sent off to Miesmama for the Swap--CHOO; I am showing it to you because she told me it has arrived. Here's what she sent me. I chose the poem Litany by Billy Collins, one of my favorites. There was an ATC in there too, but it's hiding.
And finally, these amazing cookies from the latest issue of Cooks Illustrated, which really ARE worth the 400 times they spent trying to perfect the idea of chocolate chip cookie. The key: browned butter. Since receiving the new issue, I have already made these lovelies twice. Perfectly decadent, with that lovely toffee flavor of browned butter. And as Hannah says, why don't we use browned butter in everything, it is just SO great. I did make them smaller than Cooks told me to, because dang, they wanted them HUGE and they are just too rich for that size. I laughed out loud when I saw that Annie made these recently also and was raving about them on her blog!

Books and hankies will never go out of style

In library school we are always compelled to have the discussion about whether, in this digital age of Kindles and online books, real print books will become obsolete. Let me say right now that I have never used a Kindle and would happily try it with an open mind (I already know the reasons why people think they're cool and convenient) if someone tossed one my way, as a tool that has a specific purpose.
But my argument is always something like this: The more time we spend at our computers for work and play, will we really want more screen time at the end of the day, as we curl up in bed? Do we even know how screen-reading impacts our eyes, long-term? (The answer is no, we are the guinea pigs.) And finally, reading is forever a tactile experience that includes smell, texture, sound, and the physical weight of a book in our hands.
The thrill of holding this copy of Peter Pan in my hands, from 1911, with its thick pages, spotty brown in places, with broken spine and worn cover, is not even in the same universe as a digitized book.

Photoplay images? Come on, this is pre-talking in movies!

The Swap--CHOO update...Is that my hankie is almost ready to send off to my partner, and I know just which poem I will send her! I like to think about 16 ladies, as near as two miles away and as far as Norway and Italy, who are making rolled-hem hankies for an unknown person somewhere else in the world. Check out our Flickr group to see what's been posted.

Jonas drawing a dragon.
Wow.

Jonas spent the other afternoon after school copying a dragon from a book. Not tracing, mind you (which is also OK), but actually using his eyes to copy the image he was seeing. I love it that the art instruction at his school is integrated with everything, not just a class that comes once or twice a week. And what is at first implied (in grade one) and later (middle school) directly taught, is how to see something in the world and translate it mentally onto your page. That's what I learned in art school, much later than first grade.

Getting Our Craft On

Thanks to Skip the Chips I have embraced yet another Grandma craft, yes, now I can say I have made a rolled-hem hankie by hand just like my Aunt Stella used to. She posted a link to a lovely tutorial from Purl SOHO, if you want to get your Grandma Craft on.
It's so fussy and super detail oriented that I have not made it start-to-finish through one hankie...I usually take a few stitches, then move on to something else. As it happens there are a couple birthday girls who needed presents. Would they have chosen this pattern of fabric? Probably not, but I figured why NOT have something bright and happy to blow your nose on?
You may remember the fabric from the Tiny Purse project that started this whole sewing thing.
One of Sylvan's very dear friends, Miss S. is turning 4 on Tuesday! As I am pretty sure she is not reading this blog, I feel confident to show you the interior of her birthday card. She will be getting a special gift of the very last Tiny Purse in stock and a doll.
This is Sylvan displaying his 3rd place ribbon that he got from his VERY FIRST skiing race, in icy and fast conditions, at yesterday's Family Fun Race hosted by the Ragged Mountain Ski and Snowboard Club! He was so excited to be wearing that bib, displaying his race number (#57). The ribbon has his NAME on it, on the back---he wants me to tell you---and they announced his NAME and NUMBER and TIME on the loudspeaker. Although there was initially some totally slapstick humor style misses on the mountain...Sylvan had no helmet, Dad had the helmet on the mountain somewhere, Sylvan waited for him, then decided to go up and find him, Dad came down (repeat this a few times)...all ended well and they finally reunited.
And I had to repeat last week's cinnamon rolls. This time I made extra for our friend Ed who plows our driveway at no charge, a significant gift, as plow prices are steep and this winter is such a doozy. They are saying 8-12" of snow for tomorrow?!?! Come on. So when I get the chance, I like to make Ed some goodies. I froze his rolls unbaked so that he could have the aromatherapy for his house also.