Care Package #13 - Two for one!

Last week I was feeling especially creative. Since this box was going to contain both Super Bowl and Valentine's Day goodies, I allowed myself to take a break from the uber-healthy goodies and make some just-plain-yummy treats!

These nut-cluster chocolate heart bars could kinda be considered healthy (nuts are good for you and so is dark chocolate...in moderation) but they came out much bigger than I planned! I just roasted some almonds and walnuts then used cookie cutters as molds to pour in the melted chocolate. Of course I had to test them and it turned out delicious!


My first experiment with gingerbread cookies was a smashing success! I had to wing it with cutting out the shape since I don't have a football shaped cookie cutter (and wasn't about to buy one...) and had a bit of trouble with the dough being too soft after I rolled it out, but I am so very happy with the way these football cookies turned out! I will try to remember to post the recipe soon.


I've been working on this little guy for weeks now, and I finally finally FINALLY finished it! I have to say I'm a little disappointed with the finished result: I thought it would be cuter. Don't get me wrong, he's still pretty darn cute. But it doesn't quite look as cute as the one in the book. I think I'll have to play around with different types of yarn or something...
You can't see it in these photos, but the bottom of the feet have the same fabric as the ears. I do like that touch, adds charm.

I'd like for the body to be a little more round; right now it looks like the same shape as the piggy. And I think the ears could use a little work. What do you think? Am I being too picky?

Care Package #12 - Take-A-Guess Pumpkin Bars

I've been wanting to make some home-made granola bars to send Brian, but didn't really like any of the recipes I found online. So I decided to just wing it and whip up my own recipe!

This could have been potentially devastating... I am used to eating super-healthy food that often tastes, shall we say, less than delicious. But how was Brian going to feel about these ultra-healthy, hardly-any-sweetener, very-strange-consistency snacks? I joked with one friend that these are so healthy that Brian just may be forced to break up with me! Luckily for me, he actually enjoyed them (or at least he said he did, which is good enough for me).

Take-A-Guess Pumpkin Bars

2 C homemade granola
1.5 C chopped dried fruit (raisins, apricots, cranberries, etc)
1 C canned pumpkin
1 egg
2 TBS honey
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp baking soda
.25 C whole wheat flour
Cinnamon

In a medium bowl, combine the granola, dried fruit, flour and cinnamon (as much or as little as you'd like). In another bowl, combine pumpkin, egg, honey, vanilla and baking soda. Mix wet ingredients together well and then slowly stir in the granola mixture until just blended. Press into a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, pressing down well to compact it. Bake at 350 for 30 - 40 minutes. Let cool completely then cut into bars.

I think the whole effect would have been greatly improved by just stirring in some chocolate chips, which I think I will try next time!

Who says I never get new clothes?

JoAnn Fabrics had a great sale last week, so I picked up some fabric to make a few skirts for work. I ended up having enough fabric left over to make a cute little shrug to go with the skirt. I'll be making one in gray striped suiting this weekend and possibly one in denim as well.

Total time spent: 3 hours.
Total money spent: $12.
Having a new outfit that actually fits: Priceless!

Care Package #11 - Oatmeal Cranberry "Cookies"

I know, I know: I'm supposed to be making "healthy" treats to send Brian. But cookies that have hardly any sugar but lots of oats and cranberries? That does not fall into my traditional definition of a cookie. In an effort to make this treat less cookie-like and more healthy-like, I actually baked half the batch in a pan to attempt Cranberry Bars. The result was good, but Brian still got the cookie form anyway and other friends benefited from the bars.

I used the recipe on the back of the bag of Craisins (which happens to be one of my favoritest snacks and is also super yummy in oatmeal). Here it is:

Oatmeal Cranberry White Chocolate Chunk Cookies

2/3 C softened butter

2/3 C brown sugar (see, hardly any sugar at all!)

2 large eggs

1.5 C old-fashioned oats

1.5 C flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 6-oz package Craisins

2/3 C white chocolate chips (FYI - "white" chocolate is not "really" chocolate, further removing this product from "cookie" status)

Preheat oven to 375. Using an electric mixer, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, mixing well. Combine oats, flour, baking soda and salt in a separate mixing bowl. Add the oats mixture to the butter mixture in several small additions, mixing well after each addition. Stir in Craisins and white chocolate chips. Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls onto an ungreased cookie sheet and bake for 10 - 12 minutes or until golden brown.

Clever, Frugal, and Inky

Earlier this month I came home from a quick overnight visit with Dad to find that my washing machine's agitator was not agitating. I realize the irony that a lack of agitation was, in turn, also a source of agitation. However, I didn't dwell on this because I seriously needed to do some laundry. So I popped the top off the agitator and saw that one of the cam dogs was broken, which prevented the other cam dogs from catching on the teeth inside the agitator. Did I mention that this was about 6:30 PM on a Sunday evening? Right. So there is no way that I'm going to call an appliance repair person, yet there is still laundry to be washed. So I poke around in my handy little toolbox and find two plastic screw anchors (circled in red below) that were just the right size to jam the un-broken cam dogs into position. This allowed me to do several loads of laundry and bought me some time to see how much a real repair job was going to cost.

Boy am I glad I did this! Ends up that a set of cam dogs only cost me $8 and I was able to switch them out myself! This saved me at least the $65 that a service call costs, and who knows how much they would have charged me for the infamous "parts and labor." All I need to do now is bolt the agitator back in place and I'm good to go!

On a totally separate subject, I'd like to share with you a little glimpse from my weekend. I haven't talked much about this up till now because, like stories I've heard about picking names for a child, everyone has an opinion and often share it without being asked. So, now that it is over and done, I'm happy to bring the topic up for discussion! I have been debating for a long, long time now about getting some more tattoo work done. When I say "a long, long time" I mean literally years. I got my first tattoo back in 2001 and have wanted more since then. But I have been actively considering my next tattoo for at least three years. I thought about getting one in 2009, but wasn't sure I was in quite the right frame of mind. For me, it's not just the piece or where it is on my body, but it is also a reminder of where I am emotional and mentally. After a bit more thought, and having made the "mistake" of flipping through a few tattoo mags earlier this month, I realized that I really was ready to take that leap. I brought Joy with me to the Island Tattoo Company in South Carolina (since Georgia doesn't license/regulate their tattoo shops). The folks there were really nice, friendly and helpful. Gavan was great in helping me brainstorm on what I was going to get, and Charles was super cool to chat with and did an amazing job!

I feel like I'm carrying around a secret: people see me at work or walking Harley in the park and they have no idea that I have this beautiful piece of art melding with my skin. I don't know when the novelty will wear off, but right now I'm totally basking in the joy of my new tattoo. I love that this is now a permanent piece of who I am. The trouble now will be not going back for more. Well, maybe just a little touch-up on the old tat...

Care Package #10: Going Healthy (and another craft project!)

I've been having a blast making all kinds of yummy treats to send Brian: cookies, brownies, candy. Although I've enjoyed it, there are two downsides: 1. I either have to give away any extras or risking gorging on them myself and 2. Brian has to either give away any excess or risk gorging on them himself! I guess you can have too much of a good thing...

So, in the interest of keeping us both from gorging on sweets, I have decided to honor Brian's request to send healthier goodies and reserve the sweets and treats for holidays. This isn't much of a concession for me because I'd really rather make healthy food.

For his first healthy package, I whipped up a new batch of granola, then added in some dried fruit and a few chocolate chips to make a delicious trail mix. Because even dried fruit can cause nuts and granola to get soft, I sent each ingredient in its own little baggie, leaving Brian the fun of mixing it all together according to his tastes.

Low-Fat Homemade Granola

4 Cups Old Fashioned Rolled Oats (don't skimp and go with Quick Oats)
1 Cup of as many of the following as you would like: raw sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, crushed walnuts, pecans, almonds, sweetened coconut, etc.
1 Cup Wheat Germ
1/2 Cup Flax Seeds
Sprinkle with Cinnamon according to your tastes
1/3 Cup Canola Oil
1/3 Cup Honey (or substitute Molasses or Maple Syrup)
1/3 Cup water

Pre-heat oven to 350. Add all the dry ingredients in one big bowl. In a jar with a tight lid, combine the oil, honey and water and shake until well mixed (if you use more than 3 choices of nuts/seeds, increase the oil and water to half a cup each). Slowly pour the liquid over the oats while stirring to make sure everything is well coated. Spread the mix out on a large, rimmed baking sheet and bake until dry (I stir it ever 20 minutes and it usually takes at least 45 minutes to bake. I heard you can make granola in a crock pot and will let you know how it works when I try it!).

I added raisins, dried cranberries, dried apricots (chopped up, since they're kinda big), toasted whole almonds, and a handful of chocolate chips to turn the granola into trail mix.

On a totally different subject, I finally made some curtains for my bedroom. I have been wanting to try out this idea since I saw it in a magazine years ago. I used small kitchen hooks, like you would hang a coffee cup from, to hang the curtains in my room. I am of the mind that this project did not cost me a penny, since I have had all the different pieces for at least 2 years.

I first attached the grosgrain ribbon with Stitch Witchery (a miracle invention!), then sewed the top and bottom edges of the ribbon, just to be thorough. I measured out the spacing for the hooks (I am slowly learning that the "measure before you cut/hammer/sew/etc" really does help prevent frustration) to make sure they were even, then used my grommet tool to put the eyelet through the ribbon.

I used some very, very old single-fold bias tape to secure the edges of the fabric. Since it is a sheer material, this was really important to keep it from fraying and to give the curtain a little bit of body. I am pretty sure that this bias tape came from the craft-stash of my great-grandmother, Ida. I have only ever worked with double-fold bias tape...and now I know why. Single-fold has its uses, I'm sure, but I certainly prefer the double-fold.

The butterfly fabric was a remnant that I picked up when I was in college and took a day-trip to Asheville, NC with my professor. I loved it enough to buy it, but never could decide what to do with it, especially since I rarely work with sheers. Having open, light-filled spaces is really important to me, so these curtains provide just enough coverage while still letting the sunlight flow in to my room.

I am SO HAPPY with the finished product! This is another case of it looking exactly how I imagined/hoped it would! Oh, and the whole project was started and finished in one day. Can't beat that!

Two more craft projects done!

I really enjoyed making a baby quilt using these rounded pieces. It was a new process for me, having only ever done straight seam quilts before. I liked it so much, that I made another! I even used some of the Jinny Beyer fabric from Mom's stash (she seemed to have bought a lot of it but never used it...). I'm really happy with the finished top, and I backed it with soft, purple/green/brown flannel plaid. Ahhhh, snuggly warmth!

I started this little piggy The Week of No Heat (as it has come to be known). I love how quick and easy it was to make, but didn't like that the pattern has you knitting in rows instead of knitting in the round (in an effort to break the bad habit of "winging it" on new patterns, I actually followed all the steps exactly). It took much longer than I would have liked to seam all the flat pieces. I can't tell if the author just doesn't do in-the-round knitting, or if she thought that knitting in rows would be easier for beginners. Either way, I think I'll be adapting the patterns to knitting in the round from here on out.

You can't see it very well from this picture, but this little piggy even has a curly little piggy tail! It's so darn cute I almost want to keep it for myself...

Still working on the elephants...may have them done by tomorrow though!