Something Blue

 I finished my "something blue" for the wedding.  Granted we still haven't set a date but hopefully that will all be squared away next week.  I have a feeling there are going to be quite a few "something blue" items!  ;)  It has always been my favorite color.  I also want to be like Queen Elizabeth and have a purse over my wrist at all times on the day.  I thumbed through a bead purse book I bought years ago in London and found my inspiration in one of the pictures.  This is what I came up with and they really aren't as fussy as they seem.

This was knit on size 0000 needles and size 5 DMC variegated pearl cotton thread.   It is beautiful thread but is kind of expensive at almost $3/skein.  My old apartment was very close to Hobby Lobby and I was in there at least once a week looking for clearance sales.  I had stockpiled quite a few skeins of this in different colors when it was reduced to 52 cents/skein.  I also had almost 10 packs of size 10 color-lined blue seed beads that I had snapped up on clearance.  My hoard also contains a number of sew in metal purse frames just waiting to be filled.  And yes, you guessed it, they were all purchased at ridiculous clearance prices from Hobby Lobby.  All the frames I bought were from BagLady, Inc.  The frame on this purse is nickel plate.

Kitchen Fun

 Once again I was suckered into ordering from King Arthur Flour with free shipping but it is always worth it!  I treated myself to a jar of Nielsen-Massey vanilla paste this time.  This is a batch of kringla dough and you can see the flecks of vanilla seeds.

We had Dave's parents over for supper last week and I made stuffed mushrooms for one of the side dishes.  The recipe is Julia Child's and was so good!  They were nice because they could be combined and stuffed ahead of time and then roasted just before serving.  I was amazed at how simple ingredients become such a complex dish.  These are stuffed with sauteed onions, breadcrumbs, Swiss and Parmesan cheese, salt and pepper and a tiny bit of tarragon and I already had all the ingredients in my pantry.

 I am in love with quinoa and found this recipe for small quinoa cakes.  They were a little time consuming but totally worth the effort.  I made up the batch and can heat up a few at a time with meals.  I'd eat kale like this any day!

And while we're on the subject of kitchen things, these are the flour sack towels I embroidered for Dave's niece as a wedding gift.  I hadn't made any of these in a while and had forgotten how fun they are.  They're kind of like coloring books for grown ups!

Babies and Big Boys

 We are having an extended family all-purpose get together this weekend!  My sister's family will be introducing their newest baby to the extended family, cousin Anna will be there with her new husband and in full pregnant bloom, my other three cousins have relatively new spouses, and I will be introducing my fiance to the bunch.  That is a lot of family activity!

 Part of the get together will be baby shower business.  It seems lately I've been working on baby things like crazy.  People I know have been popping like corks recently!  Lisa gave me the idea for 'binky clips' a long time ago and I finally got around to making them.  Kids these days have it so easy.  When I was a kid, we picked our pacifiers up off the filthy ground and put them back in our mouths.  Just kidding.

 These were made with simple grosgrain ribbon and suspender clips.  I got the clips at the fabric store and the ribbon I already had hoarded--would you believe that?  ;)  I cut a 12" strip of ribbon for each clip and turned under the edges.  I debated weather or not to actually sew the clip into the ribbon, but I worried about washing them and the clips rusting, etc.  This way they can be re-used easily for different things.  I cut a 1/2" piece of Velcro for each end of the ribbon and sewed the halves about an inch away from each other.  Then you fold the ends over and seal the Velcro--one end holds the clip and the other end holds the pacifier.

 No new baby around here can go without a baby sweater.  This was my second attempt at The Baby Surprise Jacket and I didn't swear nearly as much knitting this one.  This is such a clever pattern but it really takes a lot of faith because the original instructions can seem somewhat vague.  This was knit with a different colorway of the same cotton Boku yarn I used for Lisa's Surprise Jacket and I finished it with shell buttons.  Anna is having a boy in June so he should be able to wear this during the coming winter.

 I also knit him a star lace hat and booties out of some Kroy sock yarn.  I just love these patterns! 

 Did someone say booties?!?  Here is a whole PILE of blue booties!  I made a double batch of cream cheese mints last night.  Num num!!

 Does anyone else know what these are?  I was describing these at work and no one knew what I was talking about.  These were quite a big deal when I was growing up.  At any proper baptism, graduation, bridal or baby shower, wedding reception, confirmation, and sometimes just at fancy church luncheons--you had to have color coordinated cream cheese mints.  They're so simple to make.  It is just cream cheese, powdered sugar and flavoring/food coloring.  You whir these together in a food processor until very stiff.  Then you pinch off small bits, roll them into small balls, roll the balls into granulated sugar, press into rubber molds and then pop them out.  Freeze them until ready to serve.  My cousin is hosting the get together and if she made mints already, we will eat these the following day at my nephew's birthday party.

I can remember my mother had a whole bag of different shaped molds in the small cupboard above the stove.  As kids, we'd play with the cookie cutters, cookie press and her mint molds with play-dough!  I now have quite a collection of molds myself.  You can also use these to make shaped pats of butter but that might be too fussy even for me!  In our family we have always used almond flavoring vs. mint.  With the grit of the sugar, mint mints make me think of toothpaste.  And of course I made a double batch because I've already raided the freezer twice to sample them.  I think when my sister got married, we made mints two or even three times because we couldn't leave them alone.  When my mother was still engaged to my dad, she was driving home to southern Minnesota from Fargo with an entire Tupperware full of mints painstakingly made by her future aunt-in-law.  She famously ate the entire container during the drive.  And I don't think we've ever had a family wedding where someone didn't eat too many and got sick to their stomach.  They are worth it though!

 My little nephew Erik will be a big two year old boy this weekend and my sister is having a party for him.  One of the gifts I am giving him is a sewn Amy Butler Ditty Bag.  This is another favorite pattern and I've made quite a few of these.  There is no way to take a decent picture of this but it has a drawstring top closure, is fully lined, and has 4 pockets on the exterior.  It is a nice size to carry laundry, pack clothes, pack a lunch, or toys and books.  I got this Eric Carle fabric a while ago with Erik in mind.  The book Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? has been a favorite in our house for a long time.