Martinis for Theresa

My grandmother passed away last month after a long life full of good times, good food and good martinis. In the middle of Hurricane Irene, we drank martinis in her honor. We drank them the way she liked them: bone dry with Beefeater gin. Ideally we would have chilled the gin in advance and used martini glasses, but the hurricane put a damper on our plans. Literally.

Here's how you make them (a skill all of Theresa's grandchildren had down to a T since we were kids):


1. Chill the glass by filling it with lots of ice and cold water

2. Once chilled, empty out the ice and water

3. Splash a small amount of vermouth in the glass and swirl it around

4. Toss the vermouth out

5. Fill the glass with Beefeater gin

6. Add your garnish... a twist of lemon or a stick of olives will do

7. Drink to Theresa

Whole Wheat ,Yogurt, Blueberry and Raspberry Pancakes

Wow- these are good pancakes. I don't usually like pancakes- too heavy and dense- but pancakes made from this recipe don't fall into that rut... they're super light and fluffy, and actually somewhat healthy since the recipe calls for yogurt and whole wheat flour. My only complaint would be that the recipe doesn't call for enough fruit- I almost doubled the amount of fruit in there.

It's the whole wheat pastry flour in the recipe that really makes these pancakes work. I know it's somewhat silly to buy a specialty flour just to make pancakes, but these might be worth it. Plus, I'm sure you could find some other uses for this great flour (check out the list at the bottom of this page for more whole wheat pastry flour ideas...).

One Hour Skirts!

A couple weeks ago I saw some blog posts about this new book, Sewing in a Straight Line, including this quick video on making a one hour skirt with a yard or so of fabric and some elastic. I was intrigued, so thought I'd give it a try, especially considering the fact that my sewing skills basically only consist of sewing in a straight line.
I had Chuck pick out a couple different fabrics- she chose a really cool floaty striped madras and a basic quilting cotton in a pretty purple flower print.The tutorial was super easy to follow and definitely very basic- it doesn't have any of those obscure sewing directions that you find in traditional patterns. Measure, fold, iron, sew... measure, fold, iron, sew. The only change I made was to make the skirt a little bit longer (25 inches of fabric, which ends up with a skirt that's about 21 inches long from the waist), and to add the elastic waistband in after I hemmed the skirt for ease of measurement.

The skirts came out generally pretty cute! We like the way the softer madras fabric hangs- not quite as stiff as the quilting fabric (which will hopefully get softer after some washings). In both cases, however, the skirt was a little full- you could probably make it less than twice your hip measurement and it would still be cute.

More Crochet Headbands...

Made some more crochet headbands... tried to make them a little less girly than the previous ones. I think I really like the one with the circles on it best.

Crochet Flower Headbands

I had random scraps of yarn from past projects hanging out at the house and I was looking for an easy way to use them up... thank you, Ravelry, for linking me to the crochet headband and flower. This might be the fastest (and therefore most satisfying) crochet project ever!

I made several in the span of one night of watching TV (Project Runway gets the creativity flowing)... a couple small ones for newborns (about 14" around) and a bigger toddler sized one (19-20"). Zoe, Baby Dahl and Lilah June, you've got headbands coming your way!

Made using Lily Sugar n' Cream in Violet Veil and Daisy.

**UPDATE** Cute baby seen wearing crochet headband! Baby Izzy rocks the flower:

Homemade Sausage and Spinach Ravioli with Chunky Vegetable Sauce

This weekend was Chuck's 28th birthday (look at her, she's so old!)... in honor of her, I made an attempt to recreate a favorite dish of hers that she frequently orders at Vapiano: ravioli con carne with fresh vegetables and a creamy tomato sauce.

My interpretation is very loose, of course. I did fresh homemade pasta with my Kitchenaid roller, and filled it with spinach and Italian sausage per this recipe (although I used half a bag of frozen spinach rather than fresh). Tim helped in the assembly line by making the filling and fork-pressing the edges of the ravioli (and he served as clean-up crew). Good work, Tim! I was proud that only one of 32 raviolis spewed its innards into the cooking water...

My sauce was a simple, chunky, and veggie-filled- chopped onion, minced garlic, cubed eggplant, carrot matchsticks, diced Roma tomato, a tablespoon of pesto, a splash of cream.

We following up the meal with a chocolate pudding cake as the birthday cake. Chuck threw it together while I finished the sauce. Yes, I forced her to make her own birthday cake, but at least it was the world's easiest birthday cake. It was delicious, just like last time. However, one cautionary note: do not attempt to insert birthday candles into a pudding cake recently retrieved from the oven. Waxy puddles will ensue. Not my sharpest moment.

Crochet Bunny Basket

Now that baby Zoe is here (yay!), I can now resume my bunny bombing campaign. I am imagining Zoe eventually using this at Easter, but also using it like a little toddler purse to carry around whatever toddlers feel they need.Made according to this free Lion Brand pattern using Red Heart Super Saver yarn, accented with some Lily Sugar n' Cream on the handle and face...

And yes, I did break an egg when staging this photo shoot.