Pickles

So Saturday, the day before we had our entire family over for a BBQ when i had six million other thing to do and a 10 month old to entertain, i decided to make pickles. Earlier in the week i had happen to catch a few minutes of the Martha Stewart show, where she had the "pickle guy" on showing how to make pickles. I was surprised by how easy it seemed. I don't think i had ever really thought about the process of making pickles before, but the next day at the farmers market they had great looking Kirby cucumbers perfect for pickle making. So i came home with a bag full and bought a 10 pack of mason jars the next day at Wegmans.I used some form of the recipe from the show: http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/spears-of-influence?rsc=also_try.  So here are my first attempt at dill pickles i will let you know in 2-4 weeks how they turned out.

I'm Back...

So after a brief hiatus, okay it was a little more then brief, I am back and i have some big plans!!!! With the end of the school year comes many weeks of home time with lots of things for me to try. I begin last night with making my own veggie burgers using a recipe from last months Real Simple: http://www.realsimple.com/food-recipes/browse-all-recipes/veggie-burgers-00000000014283/. The outcome, they were delicious, even my carnivore husband cleaned his plate. I am hoping to make more for this Sundays Father's Day BBQ. More to come soon.

Onsie for baby Kubat-Painter

Finally finished and ready for their May 2nd shower is the onesie i made for Mark and Claire's baby. The idea for this came from the last issue of Wondertime magazine (http://wondertime.go.com/create-and-play/crafts/science-project.html) To make the circles i started by using an old t-shirt and putting a cup inside the shirt. I then wrapped a rubber band around the width of the cup, so that it created a taught circle. I then drew a design on the shirt using sharpie marker. For the circle pattern i drew a series of concentric circles, but i also made some neat designs just using dots. I then let the circles dry, run them in the dryer on high heat for 20 minutes. After that i sewed them onto a onesie.

Felt Ball Success ... Woohoo!

I finally figured out how to successfully make felt balls and it was actually as easy as they said it was. Why is it that when you figure out how to do something it all of the sudden seems so easy. I now feel a little embarrassed that it took me so long to figure it out. So here is what i learned:
- i had more success just using roving (although the balls i made using wool yarn turned out well and i plan to use them for another project)
- You have to wrap the roving around itself, just like you were wrapping a ball of yarn.
- Roll the ball of roving between your hands (like rolling a ball of clay) gently at first then gradually pressing harder.
- Add a little warm water and soap as you roll the ball between you hands.
And there you go, it is that easy. I would still like to try it in the washing machine and see if i will have more success using my new technique. My plan is to take the felt balls i made today and make them into a necklace.

Finished Mittens

I am great at starting things, getting half way through them and then never finishing. I have a house full of half done things and having a child has only made this worse. Now i not only have half done projects but i also have half done chores, i.e. laundry that never makes it to the dryer. I am hoping that this blog forces me to be a little better about finishing things. However, in the past week i have started three new projects and not finished anything. So last night, in an attempt to finish something, i cut out my other mitten, needle felted on the pattern and then sewed both mittens. Success, i have a great pair of finished needle felted mittens. All Todd could say was "that used to be my sweater." Inspired by the success of my finished mittens i then went and started a pair of baby mittens, which are now sitting on my table half done...

Needle Felting Mittens

My second go at the felt balls was not much more successful then my first. I am still not sure what i am doing wrong and it didn't help that when i googled felt balls looking for help i came across two sites named "Felt Balls Are So Easy." So i guess i will keep trying... I did however have great success tonight with needle felting. Thanks to Julie's wonderful workshop I was a needle felting pro in no time. I started by taking an old sweater of Todd's and felting it in the washing machine. I then traced around my hand and cut out the mitten shape. For the circle pattern i used both roving and wool yarn which i attached using both the 5 needle and single needle tool. To my complete surprise and delight it worked wonderfully. Next i am goign to sew the two parts of the mitten together and make the mitten for the other hand.

Felted Balls

As a result of having a sick child, who took an extra long nap, i was very productive today. I decided to start on my attempts at felting. Felting is something i have wanted to try for a while. I know very little about felting, just what i have learned from watching others and reading about it. So i decided to start with simple, felt balls. For my first attempt, i tried three different techniques that i had read about. 1) using only roving(carded wool fibers before they are spun into yarn) 2) using only wool yarn 3) using yarn covered in an outside layer of roving. I then put all the balls into a sock separated by rubber bands and washed the sock on the hot/cold cycle of the dishwasher.

Outcome:
- The all roving felt ball worked well.
- Some of the yarn balls with roving on the top felted and some did not.
- Overall 1 out of the 6 was a success.

What to try next time:
- Place felt balls in a stocking.
- Use less roving on the outside and wrap roving all the way around yarn ball.

The good news is that in addition to felting the balls i also felted three old sweaters for my next attempt, felted mittens...

Fish: It's whats for dinner

Inspired by the success of last night's steak dinner, i decided to really be crazy and make fish. I have never made fish and i have never eaten fish. So i decided to start the easy way. Tilapia, a frozen fillet of Tilapia to be exact. Fortunately, Reesa was here to suggest i bake it and give me a little moral support. I seasoned the fish with garlic, salt, pepper and a little olive oil and baked it for 10 minutes in a 400 degree oven. Too my complete and utter surprise it was a success. Todd loved it. Now i need another fish recipe, how else can you prepare fish? What other kinds of fish are good?

Steak: it's what's for dinner

For my first "try it" I started with something that i have already been working on for a few weeks... making steak. This sounds like an easy enough task but there are two factors to consider. 1) i don't just want to make a steak. I want to make a good steak, a great steak. 2) i am a vegetarian. I do not currently eat steak nor have i eaten steak since i was a little kid. I therefore have to rely on Todd's taste buds.

How i made my steak:
I bought a Cab Eye Round Steak, poked holes in it with a fork, added a little olive oil and Montreal steak seasoning. I then put the steak in a hot pan for 1 1/2 minutes on each side. Next i put a pat of butter in the pan and basted the steak for another minute or two.

Outcome: (according to Todd's Palate)
- Steak was good
- Slightly overdone
- Seasoning was good

Overall the steak turned out well. Although it was a little too overdone. I may in the future cook it for less time on each side or try another cut of meat. Any suggestions?