Category : Blog

1717 posts

Sushi Saturday

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I decided to get brave and try making sushi at home after having been to a sushi party at a friend’s house.  I was able to get a lesson in making a roll as well as good advice on purchasing the fish and making the rice.

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I picked up the equipment I needed this week such as the bamboo mat for making rolls.

 

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The process definitely gets easier once you’ve made a couple rolls. I’m sure it’s like any skill. It must be practiced and honed to get it right.

 

Between the wasabi and the radish sprouts in this roll it was REALLY spicy. Clears out the sinuses, that’s for sure.

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Of course since I’ve never done this before I had no idea how much to make. Yeah…I definitely made way more than we could eat.

We called up the neighbor to help us eat some.  I’ll certainly try it again but will make much less and try some other ingredients for fillings.

 

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SNOW DAY!!

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The two best words when you are a kid.

I don’t mind getting a call at 5:45AM when it’s that kind of news. Always makes I heart skip a beat until I know what it is though.

We’ve been out and cleared round one of the snow but it’s coming down pretty fierce again.20130305_1483

I had to get out the heavy machinery.  I like using the snow blower, to be completely honest.  But there’s always cleaning up to be done with the shovels anyway. Good thing I had two helpers today. :)

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We tried to get Gracie to come explore in the snow but she wanted nothing to do with it after a few flakes hit the top of her head.

 

 

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Now it’s time for a cup of tea…and hey, it’s Tuesday!

Tea Tuesday…I haven’t been a part of that tradition in a long time.

And then French Toast for lunch. Yum…I love breakfast for lunch.

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Children’s Literature

Children’s books are so much fun.  charlottesweb

Silly stories, tales with a moral, social stories, nursery dairyofawormrhymes and so forth,  all have one idea in mind. To get kids reading or being read to by others.

I volunteer in our elementary school library once a week and love to see those certain titles that are being checked out time and time again. They are sometimes tattered and torn…what I like to call, well loved.

In my new altered book I’ll be highlighting some of my favorites. I’ve been throwing this idea around in my head for a while. Now I’ve finally gotten started.   veryhungrycaterpillar

Charlotte’s Web by E. B. White…a classic.  I remember my 4th grade teacher, Mrs. Clark, reading it to our class.

Diary of a Worm by Doreen Cronin is one of the funniest kids books I’ve read. I get a chuckle just sitting here thinking about it.

The Very Hungry Caterpillar is just one of many favorites by Eric Carle. Certainly the easiest to illustrate.

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Why I love Photoshop

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The slides I have been scanning aren’t in the best shape.

This one was from 1951. Many of them are this blue hue. I was afraid that I wouldn’t be able to salvage the color and that I’d just have to make them into B&W images.

Through the magic of Photoshop, I’ve been able to coax some of the original colors back. Now if I can just figure out how to tone down the brightness on my dad’s face without darkening the rest of the photo.

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Scrappy cards

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I made a few more cards from some scraps and photos laying around my workspace. I just love using those scraps! It’s like a challenge to me.

I can’t remember what these flowers were…something is making me think they are an herb that flowered. Hmmm.

 

 

 

 

 

The green scrap is from a very pretty card I saved from the recycle bin. It matched the pink and green of a thank you card perfectly.

Isn’t it great when things like that just work out.

 

 

 

 

 

 

A tag with a little bit of ribbon looks much better when mounted on little foam squares. It gives nice dimension.

 

 

 

And then there’s one of my favorite pictures…

My girl sharing the heart shaped inside of a black walnut shell. Pesky squirrels left me a present in the garden but it made for a fantastic photo op.

She’s even wearing her LOVE shirt.   <3

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In the kitchen

Monday was a “stay home” day for me knowing that the rest of my week was much busier. I made my list and got started as soon as everyone was out the door.

I spent more than half the day working in the kitchen. First was my dad’s recipe for Whole Pea Soup, so much better than split pea. Although finding dried whole peas is very difficult in the stores.

Next I started a batch of homemade bread, a recipe from my friend Sandy. I believe it was her grandma’s recipe.  I changed things a wee bit and the loaves still turned out really good.

While the bread was rising I stirred up a batch of pumpkin muffins from the Betty Crocker cookbook with some healthy substitutions. The recipes call for it to be in bread loaves but I just adjusted my time a bit. 20130225_1452

My last goodie before getting dinner prepped and in the oven was some Chewy, No Bake Granola Bars. They are so yummy! I put chocolate chips on half the bars since I’d rather have them plain. My photo was an afterthought as I was wrapping them up for individual servings.

They are so good!!!

I like domestic days…feels good to make things that are healthy and provide homemade, non-processed food for my family.

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Recycled T-shirt bags

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First of all, I have to admit that this is not my original idea. I’ve seen many versions of this on Pinterest.    box pleat

But after going through the kids clothes and coming up with 2+ garbage bags full to pass along to a friend, it inspired me to keep a couple school shirts for this project.

This project couldn’t be an easier. I turned the shirt inside out then stitched the bottom closed.  Next was the box pleat to create a flat bottom. Basically you sew perpendicular to the bottom seam at each corner. You end up with a triangle of fabric that is not usable bag space. Gosh, I think I’m making that more complicated than it really is!! Here’s a link that shows the process if I just confused you.

Anyway…then I turned the shirt back right side out and cut off the sleeves and made a scoop cut at the neckline. No pattern just start cutting. We all know what a plastic handle bag from the grocery or discount store looks like….that’s what you are going for in shape.

All in all, not too shabby for a few minutes work. It saved a couple of shirts from the rag pile since  they’d likely never be worn again.

Little J claimed the lime green one as soon as she returned home. It was her shirt to begin with so now it will continue to serve her in a different capacity.

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