Ruffled Apron

Here's the project I worked on last week! Ali posed himself for this cameo.

Homemade Cloth Baby Shoes

A couple of years ago, my mom gave me a sewing machine. I was thrilled at the idea of learning to sew and may have attempted an item or two. But, when I went overseas, the sewing machine went into the closet and out of my mind. When I moved back, I brought it to Atlanta with me, but was hesitant to adventure into new things.

But, the other day, I was re-inspired after browsing a few sewing blogs. My brother and sister in-law are going to have a baby girl next month, so why not have my first project be a gift to my new niece. I found a cute (and easy?) tutorial online for cloth baby shoes, and here's the final product.



I had to make a couple fabric store runs to get the right items and make a practice shoe, but all in all, it didn't take more than 3 or so hours to get them both done.

Hopefully I'll keep sewing more and more. I just keep telling myself it'll only get easier. That's the great part about beginning new things!

New Creations

A few weeks ago, Martha Stewart had "cupcake week," so I couldn't resist adventuring with them. They were plain old vanilla (for Jonathan, who still isn't impassioned by chocolate) that turned out to be yummier than expected. I made half with swiss meringue buttercream frosting, and the best chocolate buttercream frosting I've ever had in my life!


They were a lot of fun, though I had a hard time getting the wings to stand up in the swiss frosting.

Jonathan and I also got an ice cream make for the wedding, and have definitely put it to good use (at least twice a week). I haven't gotten too adventurous yet, but am going to try making blueberry yogurt this week.

And finally, a favorite from all guests (and family) is homemade granola. I never make the exact same recipe, but here's a general template so you can make your own creation. It's super affordable, and probably one of the healthiest breakfasts you can eat. I prefer it with soymilk or yogurt, but of course it's good with milk too. Because it's not processed and doesn't have tons of additives, don't expect to stick together in clumps like the boxed granola.

Preheat oven to 350

Mix together:
6 C. traditional oats
2 C. whole wheat flower
1-1/2 C. nuts (walnuts are the best when they're baked, and it's always nice to throw some peanuts in there as well)
1 C. seeds (sunflower, pumpkin, etc.)
1/2 C. flax seeds or wheat germ (for even more health!)

Mix together in a smaller bowl until well combined:
1 C. honey (some recipes call for melting some brown sugar as well, but I leave this out to to be extra healthy)
1/2 C. oil, ideally extra virgin olive
1/3 C. water
2 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. salt

Pour liquid mix over the dry mix and stir until everything is covered. Make a thin layer (about 1/2 of the batter) on a cookie sheet and cook for about 20 min, or until somewhat crisp (it will become crispier when it cools), stirring 3-4 times throughout the baking.

Once it's out of the oven, 2 C. dried fruit (raisins, crasins, mangoes, etc.).

Let me know how it goes!

Baking

Minus the daily injuries I accidentally inflict on Jonathan, my domestic ability is increasing. Perhaps it was my mom's visit last weekend so she could rub off on me a bit.

At the moment, my favorite domestic activity is making food taste good and look pretty. Though I search for recipes online, through cookbooks (More with Less being my fav), and via my mom, I do have one personal rule that no one will be surprised to hear: never follow the recipe exactly. If I follow the recipe exactly, it's not really me, is it? It's more of me putting together someone elses thing. I want to put my own personal creation together!!!

So, this is what I've done, and have planned in the next week:

Spinach and Artichoke Dip-Mix together some spinach, artichoke, and a lot of different kinds of cheese (I think we used cream cheese, Parmesan, and possibly something else too), and an extra amount of both crushed and powdered red pepper. Nuke it in the microwave and then broil it to melt the cheese you spread on top. We prefer it with the Tostitos Gold Tortilla Chips and carrots.

Homemade Whole Wheat Pizza with Mountain o' Veggies-Though I didn't quite get the yeast to come alive (or I murdered it), the crust was still good (courtesy of More with Less). We just called it "thin crust pizza." Then, I domestically used store bought pizza sauce, and in honor of pizza night with Yuliya loaded mounds of veggies on top. We cooked it on our new and super cool pizza stone and ended up with good pizza. Even though I am never a fan of delivery, homemade pizza is in a class of it's own!

Chocolate Layer Cake with Chocolate Frosting (from scratch)-Okay, this was so good!!!! Pretty darn dense, and if you're Jonathan and not really a fan of chocolate, I'm pretty sure you won't dig it. I thank Martha Stewart for the cake and Mrs. Mills for the frosting. Here's a partially eaten picture (because I forgot to take one prior to eating). Clearly, it's more for eating than for looks...



Using every ounce of willpower I had, I wrapped it up in foil for a couple of days and we'll take it to small group tonight.

Blueberry Breakfast Bars-When you see how much butter and sugar is in these guys, you'll realize there's nothing breakfasty or hearty about them (though I did reduce some sugar and butter, and use some whole wheat flour instead). They're still cooling so I haven't sampled them yet, but I'm sure they'll be enjoyed at our coffee tasting on Friday night.



Yellow Cake with Lemon Filling and Chocolate Frosting--I'm pretty excited about this one. It looks so pretty in the picture!!! This is my un-chocolaty attempt to use up the rest of the chocolate frosting. I'll go to work on it either tomorrow or Friday.

Uncooked Rice: The Beginning

I always though being domestic would come naturally to me. My mom has excelled in all those areas, and having been around it my whole life, I just assumed it would be as easy to me as it appears to be for her.

Ha, ha. What was I thinking? Though I have domestic aspirations, I am anything but domestic! Here's a smattering of what has happened over the last week we've been in our apartment together.

1. Laundry: I have yet to understand how the dryers work in our complex. I spent over 8 hours trying to do 4 loads of laundry earlier this week. (There are 6 washers and dryers, so it's not like I was waiting to put more loads in.) I also closed the dryer door with some clothes still sticking out on accident, and created the most massive knot of wet clothes I've ever seen in my life.
2. Sleeping: I always considered myself to be a good bed-sharer. But, since I've been married, I've managed to steal J.'s covers almost every night, and even drop my elbow directly into his eye socket in the middle of the night. J. just moaned and rolled over, but I, being incredibly amused about this at 4am, started laughing hysterically for the next 10 minutes, keeping both J and myself awake.
3. Personal Space: Not only do I injure J at night. I think I'm not used to being so close to someone all the time. Everyday at least once, I bonk, or run into, or step on J. Earlier this week we were standing next to each other and I was pointing something out directly in front of us. Unbeknownst to me, instead of pointing forward, my hand started pointing to the side, and I basically stabbed J in the cheek with my long, wedding-groomed fingernail, leaving a swoolen read stripe across his cheek. Another time, in effort to turn around, I came around with "the claw" and clawed him in the eye with my fingers. He's surprisingly good natured about all of the wounds inflicted on him.
4. The Kitchen: I'm good at baking, and can almost always make something good without much effort. But ever since I've become Mrs. Pascual, my kitchen skill seems to have gone out the window. Two nights ago, I tried to make homemade pizza dough. The yeast never rose, so we had hard, crunchy crust. My moment of glory, was when I tried to make the first casserole I've ever made (apparent southerners like casseroles). The recipe called for "3/4C. raw rice, cooked." But I, having some tendencies toward being unobservant only saw "3/4C. raw rice." So, I poured 3/4C raw rice on top of the chicken, broccoli, and cheese, hoping it would cook in the 1/2 hour it was in the oven (without any water). Needless to say, we had a crunchy meal. And Jonathan, having eaten rice his entire life, was definitely less than satisfied. He, as usual, was very understanding about it though.

Fortunately, I'm pretty good at cleaning, and REALLY good at having fun. It's all a great adventure that we're both loving so far!