Happy Thanksgiving!

If you're still trying to find one last minute Thanksgiving dish, here's a WONDERFUL last minute, easy-and-quick-to-make harvest slaw for your turkey table. Theresa made this up and it was SO good I made it last week for our weekend dinner and added my own little twist. You can add other special twists like nuts or dried fruit. Enjoy!

Harvest Slaw

2 yams, raw

1 apple, raw

1-3 carrots (the bigger the fewer), raw

~1 tsp. sugar

twist of lemon

Use a food processor (or the medium holes of a grater) to mince raw yams, apple, and carrots. Mix in a bowl with sugar and lemon juice. Add more sugar or lemon juice to taste. Serve room temperature or store in fridge for up to two days.

If you add your own special ingredients please share them in the comments!

Happy Cooking & Baking!

Cerise : )

First Day of Snow

It snowed tonight! It doesn't usually snow a lot in the Willamette Valley but we got a good dose of it last night and it stuck! I danced around outside, Theresa was hurrying her outdoor plants inside, my dog was running nuttily around the yard, and the cat was second guessing her evening excursion. And though I LOVE the snow, the garden looked quite dead and sad in the dark, covered in a light, downy blanket of snow. I began to reminisce our short summer, when the garden was more lively and striving to be lush.

This was year one for the garden and it didn't do that great. We did reap a ton of tomatoes and quite a pack of peppers that, yes, we did pickle. Theresa and I spent two whole days picking jalapeño peppers and making green tomato relish. The sun all but deserted us by late June so we had quite a few green tomatoes limply clinging to the vine. The chopping was a lot of work but the picking turned out quite well. We had a few jars break in the bath but all sealed properly. We winged the pickled pepper recipe a bit and the tomato recipe was derived from a few online. We ended up with so many jars that Theresa and I still had a full shelf each of canned goods even after dividing up the stash and giving away a few jars. Though we didn't get too much else besides peppers, tomatoes, and carrots, we definitely got quite enough pickled goods to last us through the winter. I think I will be hording my peppers and eating nachos alone!

Happy Harvest!

Cerise : )

Inspire Me to Draw

I used to love to doodle and draw but somewhere along the way I started getting really insecure about drawing and began to hate it. Once in a while I would doodle in my notebook during class or be forced to draw scientific illustrations in my paleontology class. But I stopped drawing on my own. I realized I really miss drawing but I usually couldn't think of what draw when I sat down with pencil and paper. A couple days ago my store got a GREAT book in called 642 Things to Draw. All the pages are blank save prompt words to get you drawing. This is my idea of a drawing book! I've already done two drawings, though I think the first one is kind of lame. I will try to figure out my scanner and post some of my not-so-lame drawings in the future. In the mean time, if you like to doodle, get this book!

Happy Doodling,

Cerise : )

Making Due

I am not very good at making circles. I have a protractor, but it only gets so big. So when I needed a large circle to make my zafu pattern, I simply used a dinner plate. For my yoga mat bags, I used a small plate. I'd like to think that there is some thought into form and function and exact size for the product. But sometimes it just comes down to the size of plate I have in my cupboard.
Theresa, OmMama

Sewing Injuries to Avoid

There is the obvious: sharp quilting pins poking into your finger and burning yourself on your iron. Recently I have caught my finger under the foot pedal, burned my forehead on the light bulb as I peered too close to thread a needle. The worst injury ever was "pinking" my finger with my pinking shears. I got a nice jagged cut that took forever to heal. One of my friends once cut off the tip of her finger with a rotary cutter. A true sewer, she was more concerned about the fabric she ruined than her finger. Luckily she healed well.

My older sister will never forgive me for stabbing her with a seam ripper. I think she may have been questioning my sewing skills (I was making an apron my second year in 4-H). Anyway, it wasn't very nice and perhaps I am paying for it still. Each time I get a sewing injury I think it might be payback for that seam ripper incident.

Be careful out there!

Sequins, Ribbon, and Felt, Oh my!

My Crafty neighbor friend, Nicole, and I started a new crafty Christmas project last week. We are both big fans of Anthropologie and decided to make some little "babushka" dolls similar to ones in a recent catalog. We compiled our felt, sequins, glitter, beads, ribbon, embroidery floss, and anything else we could find and got to work.

We were very skeptical about the little ladies at first but after starting our first ones we really go into constructing our miniature winter dolls. I was so excited about them that I couldn't wait to get back out to the craft hut and start another doll. Then the December issue of Martha Stewart came. While doing my initial flip-through of the pictures, I noticed a story on some adorable vintage elves. I couldn't find a picture from the article but here are some great examples!) I ran out to the hut with the magazine in hand and started making an elf, complete with lantern and woodland scene. I went back and forth between the ladies and some elves with a fervor.

So far, Nicole and I have spent two nights on our little people and are anxiously awaiting an order of more little wooden doll bodies to continue our new and exciting craft project. So stay tuned for more pictures of our wee women and elves!

Happy Crafting!

Cerise : )

Knitting is FUN

I am still working on my winter scarf (my first knitting project.) I promised myself I'd finish it this weekend. I was watching a movie (seen it before, my husband forgot he saw it) so figured I'd knit. I did two rows, got up to refresh my beverage, and when I came back I swear there were two little loops just sitting there not belonging that weren't there before. I tried moving them to the other needle, studied them from all angles and concluded that I do not know how to fix them. Help Cerise! **sigh**
I decided to give away the washcloth I made (only project #2 of my knitting career) as part of a new baby gift. It actually came out okay. I am not sure if I will make another. I really want to get onto something bigger like a sweater, but am very fearful. Maybe another scarf...
Theresa, Ommama

Thar be PIRATES!

Cerise made this cool pirate outfit for the Portland Pirate Festival this weekend!! I was amazed as what she could do in one day. I made our blouses from a Simplicity pattern and bought my corset top from Damsel in this Dress. I am yelling "yar" which is why my mouth is open. Aren't we a couple of classy wenches? We all look forward to further accessorizing for next year's fest. Meanwhile, practice yer pirate speak.
Theresa, OmMama

Modal

I recently bought a yummy, soft silver-gray dress. It was on sale 1/2 price so I snatched it up. I assumed it was a cotton blend and didn't look at the content label until I got it home. It is 100% Modal. Having seen this material more recently but being unfamiliar I looked it up. Turns out modal is a fabric much like rayon (often considered a type of rayon) only it is made exclusively from beech tree cellulose. It is bio-based as it comes from natural materials, however the drawback is that modal is heavily processed using chemicals so it is not considered a natural fabric.

Modal, like my yummy dress, is soft and silky, drapes well and takes dyes nicely. It also has less shrinkage than other rayon and cotton. Who knew trees gave us so much. I love my dress but feel a little guilty that a tree was the cost of looking good.
Theresa, OmMama

DIY face cleansing pads

I get tired of wasting money and resources on all the little things I use everyday. One of those is cotton cleansing pads for facial cleansing. I got the idea of using some scraps of fabric that weren't big enough for anything else. I used cotton flannel with organic cotton batting for the inside, sewed some squares and now have washable reusable cleansing pads. I am still working on the ideal bag for the pads so that they can be washed in their own little mesh bag.
Theresa, OmMama