Showing posts with label cooking. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cooking. Show all posts

Saturday, January 8, 2011

Doll Quilt

Our sweet little neighbor is the proud owner of one of the Black Apple dolls I made last year. She has named her Penny and she is well-loved. Penny is her best friend and bedtime pal.

Since we live in New England I thought it would be nice for Penny to have a little quilt of her own for those cold nights. Our neighbor loved it and immediately put it to use.

I enjoyed making this quilt because the top was made completely from scraps. It was a lot of fun going through my scrap basket for these prints. I've come to find scrap busting projects quite pleasing. I backed it with Michael Miller's Dick and Jane Phrases. I sewed it pillowcase style then edge stitched it closed and used rounded corners.



We rang in the first of the year having a few good friends over for dinner and delicious Kahlua trifle. Good food, good friends and adorable babies, it was a great way to ring in the start of 2011.



My only resolution is to be more productive, in all areas. Basically I've cranked my Super Mom meter to turbo. So far the cubs are happier, Papa Bear is happier and I feel a greater sense of accomplishment because everyone is having their needs met.

I've completed a few other projects but can not put them up until the recipients have received them (I believe they all follow my blog). I am very late on Christmas presents this year (tisk tisk). I will share them once it is safe.

Monday, December 20, 2010

A Bear Den Family Christmas

Christmas preparations are in full swing at our home. We've trimmed our tree. Our stockings and the mistletoe (which Big Sister Bear keeps calling a spider) are hung. Festive lights and various Santas bring holiday cheer to our living room. The cubs are totally on board with the whole Christmas concept. The more Christmas-y things we do, the more excited they get.




We made gingerbread cookies and they were so yummy. My secret??? Betty Crocker bag cookie mix and very simple confectioners sugar and milk frosting. That's it!



I've been staying positive and laughing at the silly things my Dad would do around the holidays. Like the way he would imitate the "No Dogs Allowed" from Snoopy, Come Home! during A Charlie Brown Christmas. Or the way he would laugh at Frosty when he came to life because he exclaims, "Happy Birthday!", instead of Merry Christmas.



We are also keeping with the tradition of making French doughnuts on Christmas morning like he would and I'll make some "munchkin" sized balls for the cubs just like Daddy would make me.



This weekend we went to a family holiday party of the season and the girls debuted their Music Box Jumpers. The next five days will most  likely bring frantic gift making since I have procrastinated and haven't made a thing except some felt donuts for Big Sister Bear.

Sunday, October 24, 2010

Not Your Mom's Jack-O-Lantern

Last night we had a pumpkin carving party with some of our friends. We each carved a pumpkin and then I roasted all our seeds. These roasted pumpkin seeds may have been the best ones I've made yet.

I find that roasting pumpkin seeds makes me feel nostalgic. They were one of my Dad's favorite things. This batch would've made him proud.


Our pumpkins didn't come out too shabby either.




I was impressed with the pumpkins our friends carved because it was the first time for one of them and the first time using an intricate stencil for the other. Our first timer even got brave enough to put her initials backwards on the back so the light shines through and her initials show on the wall.








Papa Bear and I are realizing that Sprout has taken over our lives. I'm coming to grips with the fact that I love Thomas as much as my cubs do.

Monday, October 4, 2010

I Love Carbs

I didn't do any sewing all week. Big Sister Bear was not feeling well and was permanently attached to me both day and night. It was the first time in a long time that she preferred Mama to Papa. This made me kind of sad because she was sick so I couldn't really take pleasure in her being so clingy and quiet.

Little Sister Bear was introduced to the sippy cup this week. She's been showing interest and taking the older cubs' cups. We took advantage of her interest since Big Sister Bear wasn't into them until she was fifteen months old.

It seems that the bigger cubs motivate Little Sister Bear. I feel as if she'll always be trying to keep up with them. This saddens me because it means that she'll grow up that much faster.


This weekend I used my bread machine for the first time. I've only had it for three years! When it was given to me I didn't have room for it in my teeny kitchen. Pepere Bear (my Dad) was a sucker for homemade bread so Memere Bear used it until we moved to a bigger apartment.

I used a boxed bread mix. I couldn't believe how easy it was. I especially liked that I didn't have to worry about timing the rising. The machine did it all. I put in the ingredients, pushed a few buttons and three hours later there was a fresh baked country white bread cooling on my table.

I can't wait to make one from scratch. I want to try honey wheat since that is my ultimate favorite. My hope is that there will be no need to buy bread at the store anymore. In our opinion REAL fresh baked bread is WAY better. I have a sneaking suspicion this machine will be running quite often.


In the photo above that pumpkin looking thing on the right is actually an ambercup squash. I didn't know what it was when I bought it, just that it was squash. And that it was grown at a local farm.

I cooked it the same way I cook other winter squashes. I cut it in half, scooped out the seeds and pierced the skin. Then I put it in a baking pan, flesh side down with about an inch of water. After baking it for forty-five minutes at 350 degrees it was nice and tender.

Ambercup squash tastes like a cross between a chestnut and a butternut squash. It has a consistency that is slightly creamier than a chestnut. I mashed it up with butter, brown sugar and nutmeg. It was delicious.

Sunday morning Big Sister Bear tested out her newest dress up item...a tutu. I made it last weekend and it hung in my kitchen all week while I waited for a nice day to take some pictures. I decided to just let her rock it and take some action shots.


I love how poufy it is. And I love that she thinks she's a princess when she wears it.


She was dancing around and fluffing it. I think it looks great with her jammies too.


She was ecstatic.


She also discovered that it is suitable attire for cooking.


It's the perfect thing to wear for teatime.


Nephew Bear was all about the tutu photo session.  He posed (willingly) for a photo shoot too.


He's such a handsome, happy little goober. He insisted on trying the tutu. We let him so that he could get it out of his system. I did not take pictures if him in the tutu because I don't want him to hate me when he's a teenager.

He looked like Ace Ventura in the scene when they visit the mental institution. All he was missing was the boots.


Little Sister Bear just hung out in her jumper observing my paparazzi behavior. She patiently waited until it was her turn.


I love how she has the fattest legs that end with itty bitty feet and ankles. She is the sweetest little thing.


I have a bunch of things waiting in the wings to be sewn up. I'm also waiting on a package that should have been here on the 2nd! What's more frustrating is that it was missent and I can't get an actual person on the telephone over at old reliable USPS. I've sent an email to them via their online customer service department. Keep an eye out for my next post about how the books I ordered from Barnes and Nobel toured the country.