Mar

08

My favorite snack ever. And my favorite pan ever. Le Creuset’s Soup Pot.

Kitchen Adventures / The Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery  Posted by / 8 comments

Where do I begin today’s blog post?

 If it was legal to marry a pan..

 

Snacking is why I’m chubby..

I love Friday’s..

 

Ok let’s start here:

In August Le Creuset sent me some amazing pans to try and review. Crazy right? I’m not a food blogger at all, I’m just a girl who loves to cook. A lot. And I like inspiring other people to cook, via instagram and by teaching them in classes.

I’m going to have a full week of pan/cookware reviews coming up soon but I can’t stop obsessing over this pan so I’ll share a smidge about it today. And popcorn. And dill.

One of my hugest pet peeves is when a company gives a person an item to review and then 24 hours later, they give this gushing, glowing review. What the what?! How can you form an opinion that quick?! I certainly can’t. Which is why I rarely accept things from manufacturers and why my blog is ad free. But this pan? I’ve lived with it. I’ve dropped it. I’ve had cooking successes and failures in it. It’s been abused. And hands down, without a doubt, if you asked me what my very favorite pan is, I’d say this one. If I was stuck on an island with one pan, this would be my choice. It’s my soulmate in pan form!

It’s real name is Le Creuset’s 4 1/4 Qt Soup Pot. The color I have is called Ocean and it’s quite possibly the most beautiful color. A few years ago Chop surprised me with the tea kettle in the same color and it’s dreamy. A perfect slate gray. And it’s DURABLE. I’ve brought it too and from cooking classes, friends houses, camping, etc. I had a rather memorable occasion  (read that as, I was horrified!) when I was juggling things out of our car and dropped it onto the pavement. No dings. No scratches. Relief for sure!

Our electric stove is quite possibly one of the worst. It’s ancient (no really!) and it has two settings: barely on and flaming hot. This pan distributes heat wonderfully. I can simmer soups successfully, I can create amazing jams and it goes from stove top to oven perfectly- ala my favorite curry recipe. 

Ok, so later on I’ll tell you more about this pan because I’m totally in fan girl mode right now and I’m rambling and I REALLY want to share with you my obsession with popcorn! And dill!

When I was little my mom, who’s an amazing cook, would make things like chicken & dumplings and I’d throw a hissy fit because I hated the green floating things (dill). Thankfully I’ve grown out of my hatred of dill (like, 3 months ago).

So now I eat dill like, daily. On eggs, mixed in yogurt cheese, in soups, on baked yams. Basically, dill 24/7. And now..dill popcorn.

I saw on pinterest a link to Soule Mama’s blog post about popcorn. And I thought it would be fun to take some photos of my favorite popcorn and share them with you!

I make my popcorn on the stove top using Simply Recipe’s method, which is super easy and always works out perfectly. Even if you have a horrid stove. You just need a good pan. ;)

Here’s what I do differently:

A heaping tablespoon of coconut oil instead of another neutral oil. I found this out accidentally, I don’t keep many oils in the house except for olive oil, which you shouldn’t use because it’ll burn. I had a heaping tablespoon of coconut oil left in a jar and gave it a try…perfect!

I use 1/4 cup of dill, a hearty shake (or 5) of Bragg’s Sprinkle, a melted tablespoon of butter, some smoked Alder salt (it sounds weird but it’s heavenly), some garlic powder and a healthy grating of romano cheese. That’s it. And it’s perfect for Friday’s! You can eat it out of the pan if you are lazy like me or share with your family.

You know what else is perfect for Friday’s?! Springtime Sampler. YES. It’s ready for pre-sale today and it has a chart to get you started! And theworkroom has floss bundles and fabric!

That’s a lot of info for one blog post huh? I’ll be back on Monday with some Springtime Sampler sneak peeks.

Have a good weekend!

Mar

05

Scarlet’s Quilt

Quilting & Sewing  Posted by / 13 comments

I have a very sweet friend named Tracey. She’s the first person I ever knew, in real life, through a complete duration of a pregnancy with lots of hang out time during it. I’ll never forget the anxiety I felt driving around Chico & Paradise with her when she was like, 3 months pregnant. I kept being terrified each bump would kill her. I have little (read that as zero) experience with pregnant women, babies, children, etc. If you look up “least maternal person” in an encyclopedia, you’ll see my face. For example when she told me she was pregnant at Costco one weekend, I gave her a high 5 and told her that was rad. Walking away I asked Chop if that was the appropriate response…turns out she didn’t mind and I’m thankful for that.

 Tracey was SO CUTE as a pregnant person (and obviously today she is just as cute!) she’s short and was very tan and always looked so healthy and happy. She told me all about pregnancy, her hopes for Scarlet’s birth & such. I’d touch her stomach when she’d kick and it was pretty neat. I got to hold Scarlet while she napped on me. She was very soft and incredibly warm. I was both incredibly excited to hang out with her but also terrified. I made sure Tracey tucked her into my arm and I didn’t.move.a.single.inch.

I knew I wanted to make her a baby quilt. If you look up in the same encyclopedia “most selfish crafter ever”, you’ll also see my face. I’m bad at making gifts for others, I worry that the person won’t like it or won’t appreciate it. Very, very, very few people in my life have things I’ve actually made them. I’m mean, I know. But Tracey I knew would USE a quilt and I thought it would be neat giving a quilting friend a quilt! And I wanted something special for the only baby I met!!!

So I dug through my fabrics and picked the most girly things I could ever find and went to town…a week after she was born. And Lindsay did a BEAUTIFUL job quilting it for me!

And then…it just sat. Waiting for me to sew the binding on. Which I did!!! In January. And Scarlet is one. Dictionary:Worst.Friend.EVERRRRR.

But now the quilt is at it’s new home, with an extremely adorable little girl, a cute older brother and Tracey & Jay! <3<3<3 Thanks for being patient with me!!!

Mar

04

Books I read in February + A new Kindle case

Quilting & Sewing / Random Thoughts  Posted by / 6 comments

February was a good reading month. I’m taking a knitting break and I’m too blind to cross stitch in the evenings so I spent quite a few nights tucked into a quilt on the couch reading.

I made a new case earlier in February, I had a little pile of scraps just begging to be made into SOMETHING.

The block is a 4 inch Sister’s Choice block. My previous case was super cute but too big for this kindle. The lining is a super pretty cursive fabric that Windham makes, I bought a half yard which is rare for me, I usually just buy fat quarters and I’ve used up every last bit of this print. I think when that happens I need to take note and buy a yard. The backing is this bizarre glitter wool that JoAnn’s had in their red tag section. It’s sturdy which I love. I had a few little bits of glitter floss laying around so I added a few french knots. I’m not sure why but lately I add a few hand stitches to everything I make, regardless if it needs it or not.

A few people asked which kindle I have and about the sticker. Chop got me a GelaSkin for it for Christmas, mine is called Enamored Owl! I really wanted a Lizzy House one because…um constellations on a kindle? YES PLEASE but they don’t offer her. Lame. But the quality of the skin is nice and it wasn’t hard to apply.

The kindle I have is called a Paperwhite. And it is the greatest thing on earth. This is the 4th kindle I’ve owned and I wholeheartedly love them. It drives me bonkers when people say “kindles are killing books”!!! No way! I have the bank statements to prove that I’m doing my part to keep the publishing industry in business. ;) I have the plain paperwhite, without 3G and with ads.  I actually like the ads, a lot of times I’ll find a new book that way. They are only on the screen saver and the bottom of the home screen, nothing while you are reading. The paperwhite has a built in light that I adore and you can adjust the brightness. I’ve also found the touchscreen on this is more responsive than my previous one.

OK. Let’s talk about books!

  • Golden Lily & The Indigo Spell. Oh how I wanted to *love* these but I ended up hating them. I was a huge fan of Vampire Academy but these..oi. There can’t possibly be a character I like less than Sydney. She’s made out to be perfect but she just comes across as neurotic. And dull. And practically with an eating disorder. And a martyr. Did I mention dull? By the end of Indigo Spell I was just ready to be DONE with it. I’m not going to bother with the next one.
  • The Covenant Series. I raced through these and enjoyed them. I know a lot of people call this a Vampire Academy rip off and I can partly understand, although it seems like it’s becoming a sub genre now, teens in mystical schools. The first one took me a little bit to get into but by the last book I was in love. Alex is similar in personality to Rose so reading this after Bloodlines was refreshing, I like girls with personality. ;)
  • House Rules. I love this series. I think of all vampire series, this is my very favorite. I find Merit to be awesome, I love the supporting characters and I find her relationship with Ethan to be pretty dang great. I do wish she’d held off on sharing something in this book a little longer. (I don’t want to spoil it!)
  • Sweet Evil. Not that great. I thought Anna was dull. I won’t read the sequel.
  • How to Flirt with a Naked Werewolf & How to Seduce a Naked Werewolf. Molly Harper is one of my favorites because her books are hillllllarious. I read Naked Werewolf and I listened to How to Seduce. Both are funny and a little less dark and more sweet than her Jane Jameson series. I listened to Driving Mr. Dead last month too and enjoyed it. Amanda Ronconi is so perfect for narrating her books!  (also, I just saw Driving Mr. Dead is only $1.99 right now on kindle!) I like to listen to books while I cross stitch or sew, it’s something different than music!
  • Rapture. I’m glad I finished this series, it wasn’t bad or amazing, just middle of the road!
  • Cinder and Scarlet. I read Cinder on a whim. I noticed all my goodreads friends (the 6 of them I have, lol!) read this and enjoyed it so I thought I’d give it a whirl. Good characters, neat world building. I finished it and liked it. Then I started the sequel, Scarlet and I LOVED IT. I devoured it. It was like her writing and story telling got kicked up a notch. I loved the additions of the new characters, their stories and how they inter-played with Cinder’s. I’m super excited for the 3rd in the series.
  • Kiss of Steel. Meh. Entertaining enough but not one of my favorites.
  • Fate Interrupted. Every once in a while I’ll try something everyone seems to loooove. I got lucky with Cinder (yay!) but failed miserably with this one. The premise sounds cute, girl opens a cupcake bar and is interested in a player. It’s sort of like a college girl wrote this for her creative writing class about her dream life gone wrong. Instalove (gag) but omg he’s a player (ugh) and noooo his past is coming back to hunt him (oh noes!)! Her sister is vile, imagine a locker room of 16 year old boys who just had their first coors light and you’ll get how the sister speaks. It’s so raunchy it’s completely unbelievable. And it’s not even GOOD raunchy that makes you blush, it’s the kind of raunchy that makes you feel gross and want a shower. I feel like this could have had potential but instead I felt like I wanted .99 back. Also: hugest pet peeve ever! Authors who turn novellas into two books. Don’t be lured in by the potential of cupcakes. ;)

 

This month Chop & I are doing a spending fast, we are extremely frugal right now but are curious how a complete freeze on our spending can help us by the end of the month. So no new books in March! Clockwork Princess comes out on March 19th so I’m most likely going to re-read the series, I pre-ordered the book back in August and I can’t WAITTTTT! I love this series a zillion times more than Mortal Instruments and I’m both excited and SAD that it’s coming to an end.

Also, I started reading two Kindle Serials, which auto update with new chapters. Have you guys seen these? They are pretty neat, I got two of them last month: Gooseberry Bluff Community College of Magic & Falling for Fredrick. I’m enjoying both, since you can only read a little bit at a time it makes me want to take my time and read sloooow.

And I also requested some books from the library so I have something to look forward too!

What did you read in February?

 

 

PS: You can see what I read in January here.

 

Mar

01

March Means…Marchy McMushroom!

The Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery / Tutorials & Patterns  Posted by / 1 comments

March 1st equals…NEW ADDITION TO THE WOODLAND SAMPLERRRRR!!!

Soooo many people were like OMG SO MUCH STITCHING IN FEBRUARY! I’m super glad when we designed the pattern that we put this little mushroom in for March! I think it’ll help people not become too discouraged. April is going to be super fun, it has a lot of details but not so many that it’ll be overwhelming.

Can you guess who named this guy? I did. ;) Haha! Each time we come up with a pattern, I send Ashleigh these goofy little emails with a story about the character. Because I think I’m actually a daydreaming 8 year old, doodling in a notebook and laying in the grass.

Here is this guys story in email form.

“hi mushroom, what’s your name?”

“my name is marchy mcmushroom! I live in a little glass terrarium in the study of a girl who loves kit kats!”::
Can you guess who recently discovered the joy of kit kats? ;) I told Porkchop yesterday my dream milkshake would involve kit kats and potato chips. Clearly I’m craving salty & sweet. But don’t worry, I didn’t actually make that milkshake.
Actually, speaking of strange food, one last thing before I go…have you guys seen the Lay’s new flavor chips? I got a bag of chicken & waffles and a bag of sriracha. I’ve had a few of the chicken & waffles, I’ve never actually had the pleasure of eating chicken & waffles together but I’m sort of obsessed with the idea. I love…salty & sweet (I know, I’m repetitive and predictable!). One of my favorite things is breakfast sausage with maple, when I make sausage from scratch I tend to go a teeny bit overboard on the maple extract. And I lust after making this recipe ALL THE TIME but you know…clearly not a health food. ANYWAYS, the chicken & waffle chips aren’t too shabby. I can’t eat more than a 4-5 at once because they are a little much but a good rare treat!
And, you can sign up for Woodland Sampler year round! There’s no deadline, you can join whenever you want! The workroom has floss in stock for it too! We do have another club coming up, SPRINGTIME SAMPLER! I’ve been sneaking in photos on instagram but I’ll take some photos today for the blog so you guys can see it too!
It’s supposed to be 72 degrees here today and I have spring fever xten.
Feb

27

February is always short.

Quilting & Sewing  Posted by / 7 comments

I always forget that February is a short month, it’s here one second and then gone the next.

I’m enjoying a bit of sunshine and binding today. I’m a real sucker for a quiet afternoon. Especially when there is sunshine involved.

<3

PS: 1. I can’t stop making quilts, I learned you can fit 15 quilts in two jumbo space bags. 2. I can’t stop reading books. Thank you for your suggestions! 3. I’m obsessed with a new pattern we are working on called Springtime Sampler. 4. I’m also learning garment sewing and I sewed sleeves. For real. I’m not quite sure where all this new found sewing confidence is coming from but I’m rolling with it. 5. If I wasn’t taking a knitting break, I’d cast on for this right away. I still might, even if it takes me a million years to make it. Size 6 needles are giant compared to 0′s & 1′s right?!  6. If you are a small business, I can’t stress enough how amazing it is to sit down with a small business counselor. Ashleigh & I did and it was eye opening. Check your area. We went here. 7.  I have enough here for like, a million blog posts. Maybe since March is long I’ll talk about all this stuff. ;)