Monday, January 27, 2020

Firestarter

Hi,

have a good start into the new week!

After I made some inquiries about the birthday wishes of my two special birthday boys I know that I can take it slow as they just want chocolates :-) I will make them only shortly before the respective birthdays and they won't take as long as a knitting project or a quilt. Thus I am busy collecting jars and lids for my candle holders and am planning to start my high collar blouse soon.

Two weeks ago I baked some smaller spelt breads with which I had some plans:




I took them as soup(er) bowls for my cowboy beans! Usually I serve them as side dish for spare ribs but we already had the ribs during the girls' visit not so long ago and moreover I don't like to make them for only the two of us - it's just too much work. Although the cowboy beans are with bacon, lots of spices, a hint of brown sugar, beer, whiskey and Worcestershire sauce, they are a bit boring on their own, and therefore the bread bowl made it somehow interesting.

On Sunday we had Tuscany meatballs with an Italian spice mix (thanks to my sister!), tomato sauce and baked in the oven with Mozzarella cheese - not very spectacular and thus without picture. Saturday we (hubby and me) did some sports and hence made a light dinner with lots of veggies and a bit of chicken - I felt really fit afterwards, lol!



And then I have to draw your attention to a superyummy veggie dish with sweet potatoes. At first you have to cut the potatoes into thick slices, and then they have to bake in the oven with some sea salt and olive oil (on the pan are two sweet potatoes). 



In the original recipe it takes a topping of goat cream cheese and Ricotta cheese but I substituted the Ricotta with light cottage cheese. In addition it called for fresh oregano but I had fresh thyme from the garden which matched very good. Then top it off with some dried cranberries and a drizzle of honey and you have some perfect bites. 



In connection with lamb's lettuce a healthy and delicious lunch, it didn't take longher than other dishes and the portions were just right for two. 


We are slowly running out of firewood and I tried out these pressed wood briquettes. They are not as nice looking as logs but they are a good use for saw mill waste and they are supposed to burn longer - worth a try. But as they are a little reluctant when it comes to get them to burn, I thought this was the perfect opportunity to finally try my home made fire starters.

Therefore, I collected dryer lint (about a wine bottle tin full), then some kitchen paper rolls (the inner roll), some newspaper and some candles from my advent wreath.


First I melted the candles 
(and it took me only half the candles in the picture):


Then I cut the kitchen paper rolls into three pieces each 
and stuffed them with the dryer lint:


Afterwards I wrapped the rolls in newspaper, twisted one end and put that into the roll. Then I poured the liquid wax into the rolls so they burn as long as possible. 


This was the result:


Well, if I wanted to operate our fireplace solely with my homemade firestarters I might have to ask all my neighbors in Borkener street to collect their dryer lint for me because hubby always takes three fire starters at once. But in addition to store bought starters they are okay. And they burn like hell!

Have a blazing end of January :-)







Monday, January 20, 2020

Our little house on the prairie

Hi, y'all,

did you have a nice weekend?

I was very lazy last weekend. Since New Year, Hubby and I do some sports three times a week and we had to lick our wounds and soothe our aching muscles… 

On Friday I tried something new: Goat cheese tartelettes with cranberries and spring onions - was yummie!



I didn't have a ton of motivation for baking but some apples which had to be used. Therefore I made pancakes but in the oven (low-fat, you know). I already mixed the batter when I realized I was out of parchment paper. Well, no problem, I thought, let's take some remaining tinfoil instead - should work fine. In fact, it didn't and I had a hard time getting the pancake off the tinfoil. On the plate it looked a bit like roadkill but tasted pretty good.




Sunday afternoon I made a typical Swabian bread and apple pudding (again, low-fat). It is usually made of stale bread rolls (Swabians are famous for their thriftiness and frugality), apples and vanilla sauce baked in the oven.  Works fine with toast, we know that now :-)

I already announced that I wanted to sew a softshell jacket for a colleague's baby due in February - if I had enough material. Good news: I did! Second good news: It worked out! As I do not have a serger/overlocker I covered the seam between body and hood by hand in order to have it look neat and to avoid any irritation on the sensitive skin on the baby's neck (see picture no. 2). And it turned out like this:






I did without the cuffs because the sleeves were so small and as the material stretches only slightly it would only have ended in a mess. 

Last week I learned that a colleague from Berlin, who I thought was my age, gave birth on 9 January. I only heard rumors about her pregnancy but when I saw the mail with picture, name, size and weight I knew: Ernestine Victoria is real, no rumor :-) And for a little girl with such classic names I had to sew something similar classic. Quite spontaneously I thought of such a bonnet, the girls in the tv show "Our little house on the prairie" always had on. White cotton fabric and matching white yarn I had in my stash so I could even adorn the bonnet with some embroidery (which I wanted to try for some time now). Hope, little Ernie and her mama like it :-)



Besides this I was busy collecting pickles jars for the dry goods in my kitchen (my sustainable Tupperware alternative, if you will). Because they are stored in drawers I cannot see what's inside and thus am in need of some labelling. Right now I just take some sticky notes, but that is far from pretty. Then I thought of printing circular stickers but in this case you would still see the green rim of the jar lid and I would have to permanently re-print the stickers - not very sustainable… Then it hit me: I could paint the lids with black chalkboard paint and label them again and again with chalk - so easy and neat, I think. When I'm done I will show pictures.

Enjoy your week! 


Monday, January 13, 2020

Life's what happens when you're busy making plans...

Hi, y'all!

Hope your weekend was as relaxing as mine!

After the usual business of cleaning and groceries I recently started struggling with my dryer. Sometimes it has other plans than me and as a result I have to hang my clothes on the line to get them dry. Of course this is possible and sustainable and so on, but it takes longer to dry and especially towels tend to gain an integrated body scrub function, if you know what I mean...

But anyway, after that was done I did some baking - rolls for the Sunday breakfast and whole grain spelt bread. And I have special plans for the smaller round breads which don't look so small in the picture, I realize. Keep you posted...


We had only little cake because after the holidays we were somehow overfed with sweet stuff. And as I made a large portion of beef goulash on Saturday which is even better the next day, I had only some re-heating to do for Sunday dinner. Very convenient!

Due to the mixed weather during the weekend I had the opportunity to check my fabric stash for one topic of my to do list - the bibs for my colleague's little one. Unfortunately I had only few scraps of cotton which is not a good starting point, I would say. But I detected a recognizable pile of Softshell. I already used it for a hooded jacket for myself and a raincoat for Else and I hope, no drama llamas are still up to date.

And if the fabric parts are large enough I intend to sew a baby jacket. A matching separable zipper and black stretch fabric for the wristbands and a little hat I have on hand. But first I have to print the pattern and check if I have sufficient fabric. The material is ideal for such a jacket because it is rainproof on the outside and soft and cuddly on the inside. Thus you don't need hemming or lining. Meanwhile I learned that the fleece layer releases microplastics during washing but I didn't know that when I bought it in 2017 or so. Throwing it away would be silly, and there are very tight knitted nets you can use in the washing machine to prevent that. Moreover these Softshell jackets don't need washing very regularly - just buffing is fine :-)

On top I found a few jersey scraps, and instead of making bibs I sewed some stuffies - not as practical but at least as cute: a dino, an elephant and a crackling sun. All three very lightweight and adorned with small knickknacks little baby fingers can fiddle with.


Have a good start into the week!



Friday, January 10, 2020

Plans, Project and Ufos

Hi y'all!

While Heinrich and Else chill out on the couch I took some time to make a bucket list of things I want to try in 2020. 


One of these projects I already finished. After I undecorated all Christmas stuff and put it away in the basement, I realized that there was a gap on my sideboard which had to be filled. Wintery but not Christmasy and therefore, I took a sponge and dabbed some paint on an old bottle. Then I collected some twigs and made some pompoms in various sizes out of left-over yarn from the animal hats I knitted. Cute, right?


And here is the bucket list:

Let's begin with an UFO (unfinished object) which started with a pile of old jeans and the need for a new rug in the living room. Our old rug was unfortunately chosen only by optics not in light of practicality… It is still beautiful but I am afraid I will never get it clean again although I even cleaned it with such a professional carpet cleaning device. Fact is I need something I can throw in the washer regularly. Therefore, I began a jeans quilt and to match it with our couch I crocheted winered polka dots which I meticulously attached to the denim.



Much to my dismay the quilt was way too small, so I added some piping out of winered polkadot fabric and wanted to add a wide border afterwards. But somehow it didn't wow me and I then happened to find a rag rug online which was unbeatable pricewise. I couldn't manage to buy backing and batting for the price of that rug und so I ordered it. You might even see it on the picture with the doggies. I only saw these rag rugs multicolored which I didn't like that much. But in red it is simply perfect. And the special thing is that it is really made of fabric scraps. You can even detect some sequined ones - my inner diva is very pleased! And with this purchase in mind I will enlarge the denim quilt only slightly and back it with a fleece blanket. No batting and only a few seams for quilting both layers.

Furthermore there are two special birthdays on my agenda: my dad turns 75 and my Wolfi-in-Law turns 70 - two reasons for two special gifts. Either quilts, but I am not quite sure about that, or something knitted. I thought about Celtic cable cardigans. I guess I have to interview their better halves and then I have to hurry - May and August...

And in February a dear colleage will be welcoming his baby boy and I want to gift him something I made myself. What to you think about a nice, funny set of bibs?

Last year I purchased some light blue fabric for myself suitable for a blouse. And in the meantime I discovered a beautiful pattern with box pleats and a high collar. Might turn out pretty nice.

In our living room we have a faux leather pouf which is in some state of disintegration and I plan to make a cover instead of buying a complete new one. For starters I thought of a knitted cover but was afraid one might see through it. And then it came to my mind to use some felted fabric and sew it with exposed seams. I don't have to hem it, and a light grey might go well with the rest of the furniture style.

A few days ago a watched a video how to turn a pickle jar, a stick and a strap into a bird feeder. That came in pretty handy because I stashed some suitcase belts which are too wide to be used as bag handles. Time for a feast, my feathery friends!

I usually keep my fabric scraps and it sums up to a large pile which is excellent for fillings. I might turn it into a dog bed, either as an oval with a high brim or as a hexi-turtle-pillow, as little boat or as a puff quilt. At the moment I don't have an outer fabric yet, but as soon as I find some, this will determine the design of the bed.

On top my sister gave me some laundry detergent made out of chestnuts - I have, have, have to try this out. And I want to DIY more of my cleaning products - I realized you can get baking soda and vinegar in bulk :-) Oh, and I want to try my own deodorant - spray and cream. And because Sarah was so enthusiastic about it, I will try my own sourdough.

And last but not least I need some large candleholders for block candles - either from turned and carved chair legs - if you can get them separately at our hardware store - or from mason jars or jar lids.

Will keep you posted!