Did I do anything this week?

I don’t think I did any Pinterest recipes this week. I got a stack of Everyday Food magazines for free, so I ended up raiding those for recipes.  Seriously, did I do anything this week, except try not to lose my mind? A normal day usually consists of breaking up a few twin fights, but throw a 9 year old boy into the mix and things can get interesting. I do enjoy seeing my nephew, but by Friday, the kids were getting a little used of each other so fighting was becoming more and more frequent. Throw my 35 year old somewhat excitable down syndrome sister into the mix, let’s just say I haven’t had a lot of time for extra curricular activities. Thanks goodness for weekends (nephew with his pops), naps/quiet time (twin A is asleep, twin B happily playing in play room), Harry Potter marathons (sis is happily watching) and VH1 top 100 songs of the 90’s (great background music for blogging)!

Here’s my nephew…asleep in a box.

I did clean up my craft room, if you’re lucky enough to have a crafting space all your own, you know how it’s in a constant state of mess. The severity of the mess is what is up for debate. After volunteering at my church garage sale, my craft room became the dumping grounds of any new treasure I found and anything that my husband didn’t know what to do with. It’s clean now and with my sewing machine in the shop for some sort of mysterious sickness (*sniff*), perhaps it will stay decent for a little while. I didn’t start any new projects this week, but I finished a few, which as you know can be a challenge!

I attached hardware on this vintage letterpress tray and hung it up for a new thread holder. I love it, much more room!

I did see this pin I found on Pinterest awhile ago. I was thought it was such a cute dress and then I realized I owned the pattern and had even cut out the dress, just didn’t sew it yet. Do you ever do that? Luckily I finished it this week.

I finally finished this dress for my friend’s daughter. I had cut extra fabric for a second bow for a matching headband. I still have to make the companion doll dress. Give me another year.

This is what my machine is doing. See how the straight stitch is wonky? That’s not going to work for me.

Hopefully they can fix the wonky stitch on the machine. I have a lot of projects coming up and I can’t really shell out the clams for a new machine. One of the projects I want to do is make a new carry on bag for our upcoming trip to California. I have several serviceable bags I could use, but what’s more fun staying up late, sweating, bleeding and swearing over an ambitious sewing project? Nothing, that’s right. I have thought about hitting a discount store and looking for a Pan Am like, weekender retro inspired bag. I love those things, you don’t even know, it’s probably the main reason I watched the show. Here are my two options. Let me know what you guys think! Bag A or Bag B? It will used to haul a bunch of snacks and entertaining items for the twins.

Bag A or Bag B?

I hope you all have a wonderful week! I’m hoping to have a garage sale next weekend with only 4 days to prep for it. Did I mention I’m a little crazy?

 

 

 

 

 

Weekly Pinterest Wrap Up, only one day late.

What a busy weekend and it’s only going to get busier this coming week! Last weekend I was finally able to tackle my dining room closet. Do you remember that episode of friends where Chandler breaks into Monica’s storage closet and finds a huge slobby mess? Yes, that’s me. Don’t judge me to harshly.

Ack!

Less than 24 hours later, demoed, spackled, painted and new system up!

Ahh! It’s not even full!

I’m volunteering at our annual church garage sale and I’m using the term garage sale loosely. It’s huge and it takes lots of help to get that thing put together. For me it lets me volunteer a bit for a good cause and it gets me out of the house, which is good for my sanity. Today was my first day and when I came home, I was treated with, “Hey mom, you’ve been gone all day so we’re going to concentrate the whole days emotions in a couple of  hours.” Ugh. The twins are finally in bed and asleep. My husband is on a man date with his brother, something he doesn’t get to do very often. The house is quiet, so enter the click clacking of my laptop keys.

Last week was a busy week for Pinterest inspired recipes. The first was my cauliflower pizza crust, detailed in my last post. Tuesday I took to girls to Mt Tabor park with the ladies and we enjoyed alfresco dining, wine and the Vagabond Opera. Everyone, brought a little something, my friend over at Lula Harp, brought an Israeli couscous salad. I have a history with Israeli couscous. Formally it was a delicious easy meal, then the twins decided it would be a good idea to stick some up there noses. Enter a late night urgent care visit with both girls, oh, and my husband was away on business. I was not pleased, Lula can’t stop laughing about it. I brought some chocolate cake and my pinterest recipe, taco cups. The first time I made the taco cups I misread the directions and made them in full size muffin cups, so they were a little flat. This time I made them in my Demarle mini muffin pan and they turned out wonderful! I topped them with avocado tossed with lime juice, sour cream and cilantro. They were perfect bite sized picnic snacks!

Yum in a cup!

Another Pinterest recipe wasn’t really a specific recipe as much as a lovely looking picture, this one to be exact.

How amazing does this look? (photo by Proud Italian Cook)

I picked up some Walla Walla sweet onions from the farmers market and grilled them then and doctored them up ala Proud Italian Cook with some basalmic, and Gorgonzola. Delicious!

The last recipe I got off Pinterst months ago and have changed it around to suit my needs. Last Wednesday we were greeted by a dreary gray day and I was struck with a yearning for Fall. I know, it’s not even August yet, but I’m so ready for pumpkins, colder weather, apples, cinnamon…

So I was inspired to whip up my Baked Potato soup. It’s so comforting and the whole family just slurps it up!

Top with your favorite baked potato fixings. I like cheddar cheese, green onions and turkey bacon.

Baked Potato Soup

•  6-8 gold potatoes varied sizes (peeled and cubed)
• 4 cups chicken stock
• 1 onion (chopped)
• 4 cloves of garlic (chopped)
• 2 cups milk
• 1 cup half and half
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 stick unsalted butter
• toppings of your choice

In a large stock pot or dutch oven, melt butter and cook onions and garlic until softened. Add potatoes and chicken stock, cover and simmer until potatoes are soft, about 30 minutes. Using an immersion blender, puree the soup to desired consistency. Pour in the milk and cream and mix to combine. Salt and pepper to taste, you can also add a dash of cayenne pepper if you like some heat! Heat through and serve with toppings of your choice!

An immersion blender makes this so easy. I also like to precook and cut all my toppings ahead of time and serve them in the storage dish for an informal dinner.

Hope you all have a wonderful week!