Working on a little something...

Hopefully I'll be wrapping it all up by week's end!
-Cut

~Weekending~

These past few days have really felt like we are transitioning into deep fall. The wood's behind my house is a riot of color... which seems to have been dialed up to max these past few days. The rains for our region have finally returned. The PNW was experiencing a bit of a drought this fall (for us) but in the last week we've managed to completely wipe all record of said drought from the books. I think it can be seen as both a blessing and a curse. I feel so lucky to live somewhere that can sustain me and provide a lush backdrop of green year round. But it was really nice to feel dry for a couple months... the wet just seeps into your bones this time of year and makes you perpetually cold and damp.


Anyways, I digress. With the return of the heavier rains it truly feels like a transistion is taking place away from the active time period of early fall when it's still warm enough for a t-shirt in the afternoon and a lot of time is still spent outdoors... to the more hibernating days of book reading, tea drinking and hand and feet warming.
With this being said why not spend a lovely Friday evening in with a good friend, warming up the kitchen with bubbling cider as you wait for it to boil down into a beautifully rich, cinnamony syrup to then make caramels with?

I know many of you follow the beautifully written and photographed blog Smitten Kitchen...well, this talented lady recently also became a cookbook author and both Carlie and I are super excited to meet here on her upcoming book tour. To hold us over until we have said cookbook in our own hands we decided to make these beautiful little caramels with a smack of apple that Deb so graciously shared last week. Please run right out and purchase all the supplies to make these caramels up immediately!!! You will not be disappointed!

Happy Weekend to you all,
Cut and Shoot

The Anthropologie Inspired Pillow

I'm sure many of you by now have seen the Orimono Pillow floating around pinterest and various sewing blogs. So many people are talking about their love for this pillow! And it's understandable, what's not to love about it? It's a very modern take on patchwork design, the photo of the pillow shows an arrangement of lovingly picked and placed fabrics (though it sounds like that isn't always the case when you read the reviews for this guy on Anthro) and it's a neat conversation piece wherever you decide to place it in your house.

And it's $88.00 dollars.

In this household, spending...wait no, thinking about spending $88.00 on a pillow is crazy talk. It's not that I couldn't scrape together $88.00 if I needed to. But wow come on! Wouldn't you rather spend that on awesome clothes (note the plural-ness of that word) or on an epic night out or ... really on just about anything. This pillow is a beautiful piece of art, but I'd almost rather frame $88.00 and lean that frame up against my sofa then spend it all on one pillow.

That being said, I totally looked at this thing and thought the thought I've had about a billion times in my adult life already. "I could make this" and with a smirk I added the second part to that thought that immediately follows: "...and it probably wouldn't cost me a thing!"

Deal sealed. I was making this pillow.

(Please note that at this point... all that conversation prior to this line was said before starting thus pillow and therefore complete and total reality has now set in concerning this creation.)

Now, this isn't really a tutorial on how to make this pillow. It's been on just about everyone's sewing board that I browse and their are many, many wonderful tutorials out there about how to make this thing already. This is more a bit of eye candy with a word of advice. So here goes: Give yourself time... don't rush this thing. It is one of those projects that loves to be picked up during a movie... or casual conversation with friends. It has it's sticky points... like when your creating a pattern for the tiny pieces that aren't meant to fit together perfectly. There were times I wanted to throw this thing against the wall. (Totally unsatisfying to throw fabric at the wall by the way). So heed my advice: give yourself time.

I walked away from this project for about 2 weeks ahem, 4 months... then I picked it back up and am attempting to finish it. (See where that monthly sewing basket challenge has made a difference?!) I love my pillow, and I love my total cost of $0.00 spent on the project. But I would charge way more the $88.00 dollars if I was making this for a client. Way more.

So here is to my almost finished project. Yippee!

Hoping to show you guys this thing in it's amazing whole-ness soon.  And I guess I am also encouraging all those out there like me who procrastinate on projects, who have a timeline of 2 weeks that gets blown out to 2 months or longer, who have the best intentions to keep plodding along but are easily swayed by shiny new projects they just can't wait to start... to keep on keeping on. You'll be so happy you did in the end.

Love,
Cut

Lemon-spiked Hummus

As the days are finally starting to grow warmer... and we start settling into a summertime routine that involves more outside then inside, more play then work, more family communal meals or meals on the go then the sit down variety we are so used to, I've found it immensely helpful to have a bowl of this made up and ready to go in the fridge each week.



This hummus is the perfect bridge between meals and I often eat it as lunch itself with a liberal helping of fresh cut veggies as dippers. (Cucumber spears and bell peppers are my favorite).
It's also incredibly portable and I've already taken it to several family barbecues and picnics in the last month... and only see that trend continuing.

If your like me in any way... you like your dips super flavorful... and this one does not disappoint! I like a good dose of lemon in my hummus... because I think it compliments the warm notes in the olive oil and chick peas while giving the whole dish a jolt of much needed flavor.

Hummus however is forever adaptable and this would serve as a good base to something:
~spicier (cayenne-roasted bells-chili flakes)
~earthier (good olive or other oil of your choice-toasted pine nuts-fresh oregano)
~or even playing around with your bean blend. I've already made a lentil/chick pea blend that I love as a sandwich spread.

Play around with it and see what goes over best in your household.

Lemon-spiked Hummus

Ingredients:

1 can (14 ounces) chick peas/garbanzo beans, drained
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/2 cup lemon juice (I only like fresh lemon juice and usually use the juice of 1-2 lemons)
1 large garlic clove
1 teaspoon tahini butter
2-3 good glugs of olive oil

Blend all ingredients together either with a food processor, blender or directly in the bowl with your immersion blender. Consistency should be solid, not runny... but not super thick like mashed potatoes either. Serve with a variety of vegetables, pita chips or wherever else you need a little extra flavor. Best served chilled.

The One Hour Project: Dish Towel Apron

I think that sometimes I get caught up in these epic projects that take weeks upon weeks to finish... and every once in awhile it would be good medicine to just complete a project in an afternoon... (or evening, once my little one has fallen asleep).

The other day I picked up a couple of bright dish towels from the *secret goodwill* (a local goodwill that never fails to present treasures for me to buy... and the location of which I've been sworn to secrecy by my sister and fellow bargain hunter) that were just dying to be made into an apron. They are cotton and the perfect amount of worn down with faded blooms and soft patches...

So I put together this quick tutorial for you all to make your own dish towel apron if the inspiration hits. Now something that should be noted about this particular dish towel apron: I hate the tutorials that use one towel... it is absolutely not enough fabric for me to use in a pratical way.

I don't know about how you all cook... but I am constantly using the sides of my hips to dust flour from my hands or quickly dry them after a dunk in soapy water. Thus being said I made sure the towels were just that: plural. That way they would span not only the front of my waist but wrap nicely around the hips a bit.

Please also take note that while it's totally possibly to only use fabric from the towels themselves, I like my aprons to hit just at the knee, so I also used a fat quarter scrap from my stash for the waistband. Any scrap in this case will do and you'll see in the tutorial below that really you just need something that runs the length of the top (waist) of your apron. Okay, on to the tutorial!

Dish Towel Apron

1. Lay out your towels on a flat surface and cut two sides of the hem from each. They must be two sides that are next to each other because these raw edges will become your center front of the apron and your waistband.

*Please note* that my print is not directional. Meaning it doesn't matter if I cut it and then flip one of the pieces "upside down" when moving on to my next step of placing right sides together. IF your fabric is directional make sure you cut the top and left side of one towel, and the top and right side of the other towel.










2. Place right sides together, making sure the raw edges are on top of each other.

3. Stitch together one of the raw edges starting from the hem and moving up to the other raw edge. Starting from the hem is very important in case your two pieces don't finish at the same time. If this happens at the waist you can compensate when applying the waistband... if this happens at the bottom hem, you need to re-hem the apron. No thanks.

4. Take your seam you just sewed and press it open with a hot iron. Once the seam is pressed open, I went back over the seam placing a staystitch 1/4" from the original seam on both sides on the right side of the fabric.

You could also finish your seam by serging it or binding it with some pretty scrap fabric from your stash. I was looking for speed more then attention to detail, but I've bound my apron seams before and liked the outcome.

5. Next we are going to slightly gather the top of the apron. I started by sewing a basting stitch line (basically the biggest stitches your machine will make) along the top of the apron. I then pulled on one of the threads while gently gathering the fabric along the top until it was the desired width for me. Once you have this figured out tie a knot with the thread so it will hold your gathers while you work on other parts of your apron.

6. Now grab your pieces that you cut from the towels in step one. There should be four of them. We are going to sew two of them together, creating two nice long ties for your apron.

Start by making the shape of an "L" with the two ties and place the foot on your sewing machine down so that you sew diagonally across the square the "L" will create.

Next open up the seam and press, and sew along the outside of the square in order to anchor down your seam allowance "flaps". Do this to the second set of cut hems and set both ties aside.


7. Now it's time to create your waistband. I literally grabbed a fat quarter piece from my stash (though anything with the correct length will do), measured along the top of my apron, added an inch (for seam allowance) and decided how high I wanted it to be (2" finished, which is then doubled and an inch of seam allowance is added to this as well, bringing the rectangle of fabric I cut out 21" by 5".) Because this is being sewn like a binding, you could cut your waistband on the bias, however I didn't.

8. Apply this to the body of the apron like you would a binding. Burdastyle has a wonderful tutorial on how to do this if your not quite sure.

9. To finish the edges of the waistband I poked them in on themselves, tucked in an apron tie on both ends and stitched down both sides of the waistband and ran a topstitch along the top of the waistband.


This was just a super fun, super easy project that left me feeling very accomplished for the day in regards to sewing. (And you know you are all super jealous of my "prime" in-front-of-the-garage-doors picture taking spot...)

If you decide to go forward with making one feel free to snap a photo and send it with a link to your blog if you have one. I love to see what other people are working on and the little things they add to a project to truly make it their own.

Enjoy and happy sewing!
Love,
Cut

On the eve of something wonderful

Tomorrow my little one turns 2! Or do-oo, as he likes to say, while holding up all five fingers.

So tonight finds me working on some birthday surprises for him. I think our overall plan to "make" his day tomorrow is to eat pancakes in the morning and then go hunting for airplanes. Hopefully the sunshine sticks around!

Hope you all have a wonderful Friday!

Tomato and Roasted Red/Orange/Yellow Pepper Soup

This was a soup born out of two separate needs: a) I desperately needed to use up some vegetables in the fridge TODAY and b) I really needed dinner to be hands off so I could attend to the towering pile of dishes that always seems to greet me by mid afternoon.

Tomato and Roasted Red/Orange/Yellow Pepper Soup

Ingredient List:

1 Parsnip, cut into chunks

2 Carrots, cut into chunks

Bag of Sweet Peppers (about 8 or 9)

4-5 Tomatos, quartered

1 Garlic Clove, top cut off

2 Tablespoons of Olive Oil

Pinch of Salt, Pepper and Thyme

Toss vegetables in oil and sprinkle with herbs and seasonings. Roast for 1 hour at 350 degrees.

1/2 Yellow Onion, large dice

2 cans (14 ounces) diced tomatoes

3-4 cups of water

A small squeeze of tomato paste

Salt and Pepper to taste

I started by chucking the whole lot of expiring veg onto a cookie sheet and roasting them in the oven for about an hour. I started it at 350 and bumped it up to 400 for the last 15 minutes or so. My advice is just keep an eye on it. Roasting vegetables can be finicky business.

Not quite knowing what this experiment was going to be yet, I browned some large chunks of onion in a heavy pot, and threw in the roasted garlic after a couple minutes. I then dumped the entire pan of vegetables into the pot, stirring it for just a few seconds before adding 2 cans of diced tomatoes with their juice. I then stirred the whole thing up, and let my immersion blender do the work of blending everything super smooth. From here you could go a couple different routes. I chose to make soup by adding 3 or 4 cups of water to the mixture until it was the right thinness. You could however cook up a quick pot of noodles and ladle a spoonful of sauce over it for some super tasty spaghetti. I like a lot of basil in my homemade sauces because I think it gives it that extra special flavor... and having neither fresh nor dried on hand I decided to go the soup route.

Regardless what route you decide to take, I think you'll find this dinner to be extra rewarding due to it giving you the time to wipe up the counters and set the dishwasher into motion while it roasts and simmers away.

Enjoy!
Cut

My Daily Camera

I don't know about you, but I don't always have time to pull out my camera and fix all the settings to capture my daily activities (I know...photographer faux pas), nor do I necessarily want to lug my camera around with me everywhere. This is partly because I don't necessarily want to become the photographer of the evening, just because I pull my camera out to take a picture. It is also because I honestly love my iPhone and all of the cool apps that can make daily photography fun!

So.....

...here are some of my app recommendations to make photo documentation of your life super fun!

HIPSTAMATIC - Read super fun "lenses" and "films" that you can use to become the ultimate hipster (if you like) of your friends. Only $1.99 to purchase and well worth it! You can buy different paks too!

INSTAGRAM - I love this app! First...it is FREEEEE. Score. 

Also, it reminds me of Tumblr meets Facebook, but less time wasted. There are a variety of different effects you can use and one in particular that I like is the bokeh(ish) effect you can do to your pictures. Once you finish a picture it goes into a feed where your Instagram friends can comment or like or be amazed at your camera phone abilities and decide to buy you a soy latte. Boom.

CAMERA + - This is my latest purchase and it is so fun! Whereas in Hipstamatic you have to change the settings to take the picture you want, Camera + allows you to apply the effects after you take or upload a picture (like Instagram). I love all of the choices! I especially love that the borders allow you to write text on them. There is a polaroid-looking one that I really like to use.

DIPTIC - Ever wonder how people do the photo collages with their phones? This is the app! I love using this! There are some days where I take a million pictures and want to condense them for FB or blogging purposes and this is the tool to do that. Only $.99!






I am sure you may have heard of some or all of these apps, but if not, you are welcome! Have fun!

Love,
Shoot

~Weekending~

I was so excited for this weekend to start!

It just feels like the last three (3!) weeks have been sooooooooo long and the weekends soooooooo short. Not that this one should or will feel any different... but excited about this two day span of time none the less.

I've been meaning to capture a "weekending" post down in words for awhile now... as a way to preserve some of the short moments in each day that one gets to linger. It may only be for a second, or it may be for thirty minutes. The emphasis being on lingering part. Here is what we've been enjoying as of late.
    

~popcorn fridays
~story time for two (and three when that man of mine is home... story time for three is my very favorite)
~sunny weather!
~knitting in the wild
~messy art projects
~flowers from my love
~dinner with good friends and the kids running, running, running like mad...

Hope your weekend was filled with moments to linger and luxuriate in as well.
Love,
Cut

Pondering's from a week gone by to fast

It's been cold around here.  Snowing.  In March.

People have been lamenting the weather, saying they've never known it to snow in the early spring like this but I've noticed a little pattern over the past few years since I've started gardening.
We always have an early spring snow. Always.

So to combat mother nature so to speak, we've been eating a lot of belly filling soups around these parts

and knitting up scarves to keep ourselves warm.

And while it's true these newest hand knits may spend more time a drawer then draped around our necks, I'm knitting them up just the same... Because I have an inkling they'll be put to good use when we put in the garden this year. Me, the boy and our hand knits to keep us warm.

Despite the blustery, snow filled weekend... it seems spring has definitely sprung. My garden is starting to show signs of the ground warming up and all of my early spring plants have started to peek their heads above ground. And I have a whole army of "volunteer plant life" that has reared up as well.

It was such a busy weekend and now here it is Wednesday night already and I feel like my to do list has only gotten longer.

There is so much I've wanted to accomplish this week, some of it time sensitive. I've been thinking a lot about planting a sustainable vegetable garden this year. One that I can harvest a substantial amount from. Then preserve/can whatever is possible in order to supplement our food budget into next winter. I think this is truly one of the only ways we can eat for a low low cost and still eat well. For instance, I can freeze pesto for a fraction of the price it costs to buy it... and those are the little ingredients that make sharing a meal so special. Leif and I have been talking about it for a few weeks now... does anyone do this already? I'd love to hear what your growing, how your preserving... and likewise how it works for you and your family's food budget.

So still to do: plot garden and order seed. I also have wanted to finish up my March's sewing basket challenge, knit a few inches into this beautiful herringbone cowl, and of course there is still the lovely Tova pattern calling to me from across the room on my sewing table. Whew.

What has your week been like?

Nature at its' Washingtonist

Rainy days make the beauty all around us even brighter! I took just a moment tonight when I got home from work to capture my surroundings.

Love,

Shoot

Vegan Delights - SW Tofu Scramble

As a recent convert to mostly veganism and a person who enjoys a savory breakfast that does not include oatmeal (no thanks), I missed having eggs in the morning. There are a lot of awesome tofu scramble recipes out there, but none that I found that I loved. So, I decided to try my own tofu scramble. It is incredibly good and satisfying!

Finished Product

Southwest Tofu Scramble
1/4 bell pepper, diced (red, yellow, orange, or green - I like green best)
1/4 cup of black beans
1/4 cup of corn
1/4 of a package of extra firm tofu
1 tablespoon cumin
1/4 cup of salsa (love Trader Joe's Salsa Especial)
salt and pepper to taste


Rinse Tofu and press out water. Crumble into frying pan (non-stick), so that it looks like scramble eggs. Add diced bell pepper, corn, black beans, cumin, salsa, salt, and pepper and cook on medium heat for about 15 minutes or until all moisture is gone and tofu is slightly browned. Put in bowl and say "YUM"!

"Souped Up" Broccoli/Cheddar Soup

I was putting together this week's menu plan for my family this weekend when I came up with a revelation. This is not necessarily going to be a revelation to all of you... but to me, lightbulbs came on.

Anyways, I had this revelation that I should make a double batch of two meals during the week... and instead of freezing them (because I freeze with good intentions, but rarely use it) I would make a new meal out of the leftovers. I searched around the internet to see if there was any ideas other people have had concerning this leftover business but I didn't come across a whole lot. SO, I think I'm going to make this a ongoing subject here in this space.



I should also mention the reason I found this idea so ground breaking is because I am a horrible coupon shopper and tend to cook what I'm craving... so that makes it harder for me to grab great deals at the supermarket. By adding a slight spin to yesterdays dinner I'm hoping to cut down on our families grocery bill, still be able to make what I want to for dinner... and eat up the leftovers that tend to get no love the next day. Revelation.

This soup is a perfect way to start the week off because I made a big ol' batch of it and will now be able to eat it for lunch a few times this week.



I was looking for a way to up the vegetable content in a soup that I adore but is normally pretty heavy and unhealthy. When I'm planning the menu for the week I tend to flip through my cookbook's for idea's so as I was doing this and I came across a golden cheddar soup in the Moosewood Collective: Moosewood Restaurant Cook's at Home that blended potatoes, squash and carrots into the soup. Bingo! My Broccoli/ Cheddar soup has been saved.

I wouldn't call this healthy.... it's still got that yummy whole milk and cheddar cheese broth. But it is a lot more nutritious, and that is good enough for me. This recipe should feed you for a week of lunches + one family dinner. I would halve it if you are needing just a little less leftovers.

"Souped up" Broccoli/Cheddar Soup
Adapted from The Moosewood Restaurant Cook's at Home Golden Cheddar Soup

2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 cup yellow onion, diced
1 small yellow summer squash, grated
2 carrots, grated
2 small potatoes, grated
1 tablespoon dried thyme
4 cups of water
2 cups of whole milk
1 cup of cheddar cheese, grated
1 cup of sharp cheddar cheese, grated
3-4 heads of broccoli, cut into small florets
salt and pepper to taste

In a large heavy pot heat the olive oil over medium heat. When oil is warm add the diced onion and turn heat down to medium-low. Cook until onions are soft but not colored, about 5 minutes. Add in the grated squash, carrots, potatoes and thyme. Cook for one more minute and then add 4 cups of water and simmer for 20-25 minutes with the lid off.

After vegetables are cooked through either use your immersion blender and blend ingredients together or pour batches of the soup into your blender and blend until smooth. If you used a blender, return soup to pot and wait a few minutes for the soup to reheat.

Add in the whole milk and cook for one more minute (allowing soup to heat back up). If the soup seems too thick at this point for your taste add a little more water. Once the soup is hot again, fold in both the cheddar and sharp cheddar cheeses.  Finally add the broccoli to the soup and give it a good stir.

Cover the pot with a lid and cook until broccoli is finished to your liking (I like mine a little crunchy so I only cooked it an additional 2-3 minutes). Add salt and pepper to taste and ladle into bowls.

I served mine up with some crusty sourdough bread and called it good.

For future endeavors with this recipe I might try adding a hit of cayenne for some heat. I also might swap out the potatoes for parsnips because I really like the fresh flavor they add to soups. Finally, I would definitely look into adding maybe an aged cheddar cheese to this recipe. I found that you really couldn't taste the cheese in a 2 cup ratio as much as I desired in this recipe. I think a stronger tasting cheese would solve this problem.

Hope you enjoy and I hope you all have as much help with the dishes as I did afterwards! Thanks!

New Years Resolution: The Sewing Basket Challenge

I've never been much of a resolution maker. I do an alright job evaluating from time to time what projects I want to finish up and what new things I want to try. However looking back, I find that as I've grown older I'm totally inspiration driven, which means~ not so great for the long haul when that inspiration wanes. 

Therefore I've decided this will be the year I finish up all those unfinished projects I have laying around, and boy do I have a lot of them! I am totally guilty of working on a project until I run into a problem... and then I just lay it to the side... maybe to sew a zipper in 6 months later... and then lay aside again. It’s a habit I'm a little ashamed of and I have decided this year will be the year I clear up my slate! 


Which is why The Sewing Basket Challenge was born. I thought the easiest schedule for me to follow would be a monthly one where I take a few projects and try to finish them up within that month. I figured this just might work for a couple of reasons: A) There's a looming deadline and B) One month includes at least 4 weekends. Besides all that I would be rewarded at the end of the month by a finished project and a "change of pace" so to speak when I started my next project. Completely doable. Which is why it's March and I am still working on January's two projects I have these great projects for March to share with you. Ahem. 
Here’s a break down of March's Sewing Basket:

The Anthropologie inspired pillow

Full post to follow about how after making this pillow I now know why it's $88.00 at your local Anthropologie store! This thing took forever......... and ever.

Zebra Chair Cushions

I'll be showing how I developed a cushion pattern since there was no existing cushion to go off of and how I sewed a basic box cushion for this goodwill find. If your wondering why this was shot outside, besides the light being better there, it's because this was also happening: 

This is Ezekiel. He is my main project.. and one that fills me with pride and joy. In April he will be 2! I'm hoping to have the "household projects" wrapped up this month and start work on some super secret birthday inspired sewing for him soon. Wish me luck!