Ham and Potato Soup

I got Mural of Flavor out of a Penzeys Spices gift box. It smelled wonderful and I really wanted to use it in a soup, so I made Ham and Potato Soup. 

• Two 1/2 inch slices of deli ham,  diced. 
• potatoes diced (~5)
• carrots cut up (~4)
• onion cut up (~1/4 of a large onion)
• chicken broth 
• salt
• pepper
• garlic
• mural of flavor
• milk
• sour cream

          Take 1/3 of the diced potatoes and put them into an old onion bag and tie off.*** Put the onion bag of potatoes and everything else into a crock pot and let cook until the potatoes are soft. Remove the bag of potatoes, puree them and mix into soup with milk and sour cream.

 ***I like to have a cream base, but still have potatoes chunks in the soup which is why I puree only 1/3 of the potatoes. For a thicker soup, puree more potatoes.

         The onion bag has become my best friend while cooking soup! My mom gave me that idea for cooking chicken soup. Put all the chicken in an onion (mesh) bag so it can be easily removed when the chicken is ready to be pulled off the bone. No bones in the soup and no hassle of straining the soup! It was super easy to just pull the potatoes out of the soup rather than fish them out with a ladle. 

Addicted

Pinterest. OH. MY. GOD. Since my discovery of Pinterest, life has never been the same. Although I have actually been making things from Pinterest I feel overwhelmed with all the ideas!!!! I have made my own laundry soap, household cleaners, and lotion. I have a recipe for soap but I can't find glycerin (any help with that is much appreciated.) I also just found a recipe for toothpaste tonight! Knowing about my addiction, my sister bought me a book for Christmas called Design Sponge. Clearly it is evident I am behind in the blog world (I mean come on, 13 posts since 2008. Not exactly the best blogger here.) so many of you have probably heard of this book since it started with someones blog. Anyway, I was looking through the book and saw the Spool Library Table and I fell hard. It is so difficult to find a well built bookshelf and I am a big fan of multi-purpose things. Table bookshelf will be mine! Craigslist yielded me no luck on a spool, so I sent an email to my brother since I figured he would be good at getting an item like a cable spool. Though I figured he would find me one, I didn't expect that 15 minutes later I would get an email back saying, "I have TONS of those! What size do you want?" SCORE!!!! So I have a 21 inch high 31 inch diameter cable spool coming my way! I am stoked. I am not a huge fan of painted wood, so I am hoping I can stain it. Hopefully I will get a picture of my finished product on here before the end of the year. Since it is only January I think I can do it! :)

Craft CRAZZY!

Fall of 2011 was the first semester I had not been in school. I went a little craft crazy with the assistance of Pinterest. I decided to start knitting again which quickly turned into making EVERYTHING, literally EVERYTHING, from scratch. First, I knit a hat for Patrick which I gave to him but then demanded it back since I was unsatisfied with the results. Knitting is so unforgiving. Second, I found a cool headband/neck warmer pattern on Pinterest. It seemed easy enough and it involved a button. (I LOVE looking at all the unique buttons at quilt shops, but I never have a use for them.) I also thought I could knit  these quickly and give them as Christmas presents. My finished product was alright, I am not in love with it and many people have said it looks Russian. (I really love the button though!)

I also knitted myself a pair of leg warmers. Again, the pattern called for 14 buttons, YESSSSS. I wish I wouldn't have been cheap and would have bought two skeins of yarn because I wish they were a bit longer. (Again, knitting is SO unforgiving) Although I don't really care for them as leg warmers, I wear them with my boots and I LOVE them! 

Back in August I started making a quilt for Patrick for Christmas. He told me about his frustration trying to find a blanket that he could actually wrap up with. My brother is about the same height and has expressed the same "blanket frustration" to me before. I was determined to make a manly quilt! I have made quilts for men before and it is always so difficult, but I have narrowed it down to two key things:

1. Find the right FABRIC: Usually when I make a quilt I start by finding a pattern I like and working off of that. Since there is not a wide selection of "manly looking" fabric I find the fabric I want first. For this quilt I knew I wanted to use flannel. I personally LOVE flannel and I knew Patrick would like it.

2. Find the right PATTERN: I have found most square or rectangle patterns work best for men because the pattern design isn't complicated so I can use mismatched fabric to create the design. For Patrick's quilt I decided on the Log Cabin pattern. I had never used that pattern and I thought it would work well with the flannel I bought. 

Different border options. I went with the orange.

Although I decide on fabric first I usually don't buy it until I know how much I need. NOT the case this time! I just started buying flannel. 1/3 of a yard of each. I found 25 different flannels and got to work. 

I didn't follow the actual Log Cabin pattern because I like quilts that look like they were formed from scraps. After making my Grandma's Flower Garden quilt, which I call "The Hexagon Quilt" I was shocked at how fast this came together. I used the same concept for both quilts, cut all the fabric up, arrange it, re-arrange it, start sewing, re-arrange more, sew more, re-arrange etc etc. Using this technique I have basically removed the dreaded SEAM RIPPER from my work. I try to not get stuck on how something should look and go with my mistakes because I FRIGGIN HATE THE SEAM RIPPER!!! A nice tip my mother told me when I was young was that "something homemade always has a flaw". SO TRUE! I started to realize that the flaws in my work were only noticeable to me and that I could easily disguise them. 

ANYWAY, I got the main blocks done and Mom saw them, a week later she had 7 different bolts of flannel at my house. Savin me BIG COIN Joodles! All the flannel except the main blocks was a generous donation from her. I really liked the orange plaid to join the blocks together, unfortunately I got it all cut up and found I was 8 pieces short! I thought I did the math right and that I would have enough fabric, but I now know not to trust my math after a few glasses of wine! Mom would be EXTREMELY unhappy if I cut up all that fabric and didn't use it. So I went with it. I re-arranged some pieces and realized I would just do a different fabric in all the corners. I chose a red and blue plaid for the corners which looked good, until I put the outside border on. I HATE the corner pieces, but this is another wonderful thing about making a quilt for a guy...THEY HAVE NO IDEA. 

AWFUL corner pieces! I'm over it. 

My mom's friend did the top stitching for me, I threw a binding on it and it was done! Patrick opened it on Christmas Day, stood up and wrapped it around himself and said, "It fits me!!!" He loves it! 

Finished!

dragon tat

I am finally reading The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. I have wanted to read this book for a while now, but I kept forgetting. Patrick and I saw the movie Moneyball in the theater and one of the previews was for the movie "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo".  Now I HAVE to read it. In any case, I would prefer to read the book before seeing the movie because let's face it, the book isn't as good after watching the movie. It has been good thus far, but I am only through Chapter 1. I hope it lives up to the hype!

saving big coin

In an effort to save money my boyfriend Patrick and I have stopped eating out for every meal. It is amazing how much money can be saved by preparing your own meals! Patrick is a really good cook and will usually tackle the main dish while I do the side dish(es). While cooking our own meals has been a success there are still a few flaws we have, such as portion control. Usually we end up eating the same thing for at least two days straight. I think we need to make better use of the freezer. Another problem is the size of the kitchen. I am working with a 6'2" Patrick in a kitchen that has no counter space, cupboards that I need a stool to get anything out of, a mini stove, and approximately a 3x5ft section of space to stand. Lucky for me Patrick's 3yr old daughter Riley has a small stool I borrow to get access to the cupboards. We went on vacation to Cabo in early October and it was so nice to cook together! The kitchen was big enough for us to both have space to cook.

Here is a lamb stir fry Patrick created:

He marinaded lamb in:

• honey 
• lemon juice 
• soy sauce
• red wine vinegar
• ginger root
• red pepper

He found a snow pea, carrot, broccoli, and cabbage combo for $5 at Whole Foods and cooked it with the lamb. Served with rice, it was fantastic!

Garden Planted

After two long years and 1118 hexagons my Grandma's Flower Garden quilt is done! It is getting quilted right now and I am anxiously awaiting its return.

Art vs. Craft ???

I am knitting alpaca hand warmers....and failing. I got the rib stitch for the cuff done but then I messed up the lace stitch by increasing for the thumb gusset to quickly. I have a feeling the alpaca warmers will have the same fate as most of my other knitting projects....stuffed in a bag hidden deep in a closet. :)