robot•jumping•rope

so. very. hot.

we’ve been secluding ourselves in the subterranean portion of our home, enjoying the cooler air and larger amount of space for playing and crafting. Our circa-1958 basement rec room is big enough for the kids to ride bikes. and fast. it has a bar (naturally), a window constructed of see-through textured red plastic (think Pizza Hut) and a mirrored mural of a large sailing ship. it also has no inside entry, so to get there you must walk through the dirty stinky garage and down a spider-infested (I’m sure) stairway. We have plans to change this, but $$ is a precluding factor at the moment.

the backstory: on Saturday both the Artiste and I woke up on the grouchy side of the bed and there was no small amount of juvenile behavior, which was passed along to the children, which left us all in a foul, foul temper.

We decided it was the heat (it WAS the heat) and moved lock stock and barrel to the underbelly of the house. I moved my new Necchi and all of my craft and sewing stuff down to the carpeted apartment (yes, there’s a full apartment downstairs, AND a rec room. I’m telling you, these ranches never end) and we all sorted through the toys downstairs and threw away 3 bags of broken things. THREE BAGS of CRAP. Then we swept and mopped and rearranged and it felt so good that we went to Chipotle for lunch and I had soft tacos carnitas and i don’t care if they are a chain owned by McDs the carnitas are as good as anything i have ever had in mexico.

so with my new sewing station all set up, i decided to take apart my very first sew, cause the gathers have really been bothering me. redid them, took off the pocket and waist trim, added some strawberry appliques (a good opp to practice my lazy daisy and satin stitches) and some rickrack, and am turning it into a halter-style. Much improved.

picked up the rickrack at a lil’ old lady’s garage sale on Friday - an enormous bag of every color and size imagineable for a dime.

Oh, and this guy was a quarter - his outfit is one of my favorite color combos: aqua and red (’same as Hannah). ain’t he foxy?

he watches me sew, along with Boris.

we love creating with paper maché around here. LOVE it. this little piggy is so sweet (and happy to be outside, away from that dreadful Joy of Cooking), but I can’t decide what color he should be. he started out black w/pale pink edges, but i changed him to hot pink. now he kinda looks like shiny roast pig. i adore bbq, but it’s not really what i’m looking for in an objet d’art.

the Artiste says he looks positively Orwellian in this shade. sigh.

(here’s another maché project we finished while studying ancient Egypt. that was a fun 2 months - what 7 year old boy doesn’t love mummies and pyramids and cursed golden treasure??)

and of course, while i may have difficulty choosing colors, my daughter does not.

(4 fingers!)

and here’s my 2nd WIP:

it’s a dress now, made from an old piece of pre-smocked navy gingham i lifted from my sister’s fabric stash, but i may turn it into a top or even an apron (the smocking is kind of dead/loose at this stage in the game). we shall see.

Happy Weekending!

thanks for the feel better wishes. we do.

lots of this

helped me through the day. it’s sweet, of course - my mother is from New Orleans, after all…

but i must confess yesterday was one of those “why did we have kids?” days. am I the only one who has those terrible thoughts on occasion? my head was pounding and my patience had evaporated and everything they did seemed expressly created for the purpose of annoying the !@#$ out of me. afraid I didn’t handle it well.

maybe it’s just me. or maybe it’s just 3 kids, one of whom is entering the Age Of Terror That Shall Not Be Named.

anyway, moving on. so there’s a chance we might be planning a nice little trip to Chicago in September for our 10th anniversary. fingers crossed. there’s also a chance we may be sued for wrongful death (long, sad story) so if our pennies are wrapped up in that we won’t be going, of course.

we are homebodies who rarely leave the tri-state area but we LOVE chicago and we ADORE ikea (and H&M, and Trader Joe’s, and this great comics shop off the blue line that sells lots of french titles…) and a wonderful friend with a new baby boy lives there and I MUST see the new little man.

so it’s tentative.

here is a very short (seriously, it’s less than 500k) quicktime clip the Artiste shot of me the very first time I entered the Giant Blue Box of Swedish Goodness back in 2003. he’s hilarious, yes? love my slow-mo hair flip…

maiden voyage

o, and Amy, I’m jealous.

on to the food.

this is my standard company dish, so if you ever come to house for dinner, odds are this is what we will serve. it is so easy and so good, even though it’s those ubiquitous chicken pieces we all use ad nauseum. the secret is to pound the chicken to even thickness, and DO NOT OVERCOOK. it’s so pretty on a nice platter with the garnish sprinkled over. i serve with roasted red potatoes tossed with aioli and a green salad. and maybe an Aussie chard if I’ve been to Cost Plus. enjoy.

grilled lemon pepper chicken with gremolata

1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon coarsely ground black pepper
Salt
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
3-4 whole boneless skinless chicken breasts
For gremolata:
1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme leaves (or basil, or parsley, or rosemary)
2 large garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon freshly grated lemon zest

Garnish:
Lemon slices
Thyme sprigs

In a bowl whisk together lemon juice, garlic, pepper and salt to taste and add oil in a stream, whisking until marinade is emulsified. With a rolling pin or smooth side of a meat pounder flatten chicken 1/4-inch thick between sheets of plastic wrap. In a large resealable plastic bag marinate chicken in marinade, chilled, 30 minutes or up to 3 hours.

Prepare grill.

Make gremolata: In a small bowl stir together gremolata ingredients.

Grill chicken on an oiled rack until just cooked through, about 3-4 minutes on each side.

Serve chicken on platter sprinkled with gremolata and garnished with lemon and thyme or fresh herb of your choice.

edited to add that i adapted this recipe from a sara moulton/Gourmet article

obligatory photo of my children:

tacos for dinner last night. grace standing over a hot stove stirring sizzling ground beef probably breaks all the rules of safe parenting. someone call CPS. quick.

we are all sick. very sore throats and cranky feelings all ’round. i’m surfing and they’re watching t.v. and we don’t have energy for much else.

positively uninspired. Plah.

little of this, little of that.

yes, i made more rolls. shuttie!

finished the little swing top for my daughter from a vintage dress i’ve had for ages. (don’t tell anyone but i just took another a-line top she has and cut out a cardboard pattern. just to see if i could do it.) the new Necchi needs some cleaning/servicing but still works like a dream. love it.

the print is so cute. we cuffed some jeans, too, for an outfit. i’m not usually so matchy but it was good practice. of course my uberseamstress older sis came over for a looksee and pronounced my finishing techniques “in need of improvement.” harumph.

so few sales this weekend but did find a great book illustrated by Masha (one of my favorites) and am working on a Christmas card design. i know it’s July but holiday cards are so much fun to design. (warning, don’t google for Masha without the word illustrator unless you’re prepared to look at russian bunnies, and not the furry 2-legged kind ).

oh, and we worked on building/argued about the design of a new island base for the kitchen and it’s nearly done, just looking for the right old hardware - a trip to ReStore is in order, methinks?

hope everyone had a wonderful weekend, whatever you did or didn’t do.

edited to remove photos because my DSL is freaky today and nothing will load. argh.

got my camera back.

making a pillow from this fun garage sale piece. the Artiste is an Iowa boy, so it will be a sentimental pretty for my daughter’s bedroom.

i go absolutely nuts for handwork like this - someone took the time to do this and do it well. sigh. sometime I’ll post my sampler collection from the 30’s. they are what i will grab in a fire, after my kids and the cat. and my lipstick.

trying to decide on backing - the floral is a Liberty of London cotton I have plenty of, but still fear cutting…gulp.

closer look at the corner:

well, unbelievable weather today = painting for me.

ta ta!

my mom says the best time to bake bread is when it’s very hot and humid, for the dough will rise in half the time and be nice and light. I put her theory to the test yesterday (105 degrees!) - and she’s right (of course). We made her recipe for sweet yeast rolls and stuck them on the west-facing, feet-scorching deck for each rise, which cut the time from one hour to 20 minutes. and they were delicious. I’d forgotten just how good they are. They bake in 10-12 minutes, too, so the oven wasn’t on very long, thank heaven.

So we had an full-on starch-fest, eating rolls with honey and butter and strawberry preserves for our afternoon snack. and for dinner - shhhh! the Artiste left the camera at work yesterday so no photos of how pretty they were…

I realize not everyone wants a recipe for yeast rolls that have a stick of butter in them, but if you do, I’ll be happy to post it. My mom is a fantastic baker - her biscuits and rolls are praised far and wide, and the recipe is fairly simple (she had never written it down until i asked for it, and i was shocked at how easy it was).

some cooler weather and very welcome rain have arrived today (I hope everyone in the KC area and thereabouts got some of this good stuff), and my plants are looking quite happy. I’ve been playing around with my new Necchi all morning, working on a little top for my daughter. the Artiste is home today so we’re finishing some minor house projects, yada yada yada.

no photos from my baking yesterday, but here is one of my mom in the new kitchen at Christmastime. Isn’t she just the epitome of the little gray-haired granny with a topknot? she’s worn her hair in a chignon as long as i can remember. (the red metal table she’s working on was her mother’s and is from the 30’s. I’ve since replaced it with a marble slab I found at an estate sale, but it has been put to good use at my sister’s house in the potting shed.)

Happy Weekending!

edited to add:

Nell’s Rolls

• proof 2 pkts yeast in 1/2 c. warm water for 5 minutes or until nice and foamy
• meanwhile, beat 3 eggs in a LARGE bowl, add 1/2 c. sugar, 2 t. salt, 1 stick real butter, melted
• add 2 cups warmed milk
• add yeast to egg and milk mixture
• add flour (6-7 cups) until stiff enough
• put a little oil on top and on hands and work with hands just a little to shape into sort of a mound, cover and let rise until double (about an hour)
• flour hands, punch down dough and pull out onto floured table, shape and let rise again (makes about 2 pans (24) cloverleaf rolls - 3 balls dough in each greased muffin tin. any leftover dough can be put in a mini loaf pan.)
• bake at 425 for about 10-12 min. OR for electric oven (hotter) 400 for 12+ minutes - start to watch carefully at 9 minute mark for overbrowning!
• brush with melted butter and EAT IMMEDIATELY.

speaking of bonnets,

happened upon this today while I was digging through my fabric stash. no, I didn’t sew it, my sister did, for me, circa 1978. And yes, the back detaches! and my model still can’t sit entirely still and the tripod is at work with the Artiste so things aren’t as clear as I’d like but there you go.

I fancied myself Half-pint/Holly Hobbie’s big sis back in the day, and that’s my original Holly Hobbie, the only doll I’ve ever owned (besides the 1950’s Barbies my sisters let me sew outfits for - but I never played with them like I did with Holly).

here she is brand spanking new on Christmas morning:

did anyone else love her or am I hideously old?

on to the recipe (I doubt Ma Ingalls ever made this one), a wonderful and quite garlicky dressing I recently enjoyed over a salad of organic romaine, aside some NY KC strips and roasted fingerling potatoes. heaven.

creamy caesar dressing

chop fine and put in pint jar with lid

• 3-4 large garlic cloves

add

• 1 c olive oil
• 1 t worcestershire sauce
• 1.5 t lemon juice
• 1.5 t red wine vinegar
• 1/3 c hellman’s mayo/lite mayo
• 1/2 t salt
• cracked fresh pepper to taste

shake it baby!

from this great cookbook

gah, i’m turning into The Mom Who Posts Photos of Her Children Constantly. but seriously, he’s my last, and a fella only crosses the threshold of toddlerhood once.

sniff.

3-fingered fashion lady sez “Yay for donuts in my handbag!”

no time for much post goodness today, as there are a zillion things and a very messy house going on over here, but must say thanks for all the birthday wishes my little man received from y’all. he had a marvelous time yesterday going to Fritz’s in Crown Center (with all the little trains, ya know?) for dinner with the family, then home for a towering cake of Krispy Kreme goodness (my sister totally gave me the “lazy mom” hairy eyeball - right, like I’m turning on my oven in this heat). Plenty of sugar rush madness ensued, which is why my house is a trainwreck this morning.

Oh, and I almost got to meet another blogging mama who lives FIVE MINUTES AWAY from me and who has a great site I just sort of stumbled into. Wild. I smell a Kansas crafty blogger outing.

oh, and freakier still, we were going to the same city pool at the same time yesterday. My head was a’reelin’ I’m telling you now. Anyhow, my silly car had issues so we never made it. I was looking forward to trying to find you in the crowd, Alicia. Maybe today? I’ll be the tall pudgy mom with the large hat, reflective sunglasses and 3 disheveled blondes in tow…

in other news, we couldn’t resist a cart full of school supplies at Target yesterday (nevermind that they’re homeschooled, I followed the supply lists!), and my daughter has drawn 13 “fashion ladies” since then using her fresh “pointy” markers, crayons and colored pencils.

I share one with you now - please note the spikey blue heels and the flowing train. and fingers are a new addition to her drawings of late (3, not 5, but hey, they only had stumps before).

Happy Wednesday!

is a baby no more. toddlerhood has arrived, and mama is a little verklempt.

where does the time go?

happy 2nd birthday, my sweet Johnnycake.

we kept busy this weekend. well, as busy as is humanly possible when the heat index is ONE HUNDRED AND TEN FRIGGIN DEGREES. oh, and humidity of 85%. how you like them kansas apples? ugh.

anyhow, we made the best of it, the Artiste finishing the kids’ fort (replete with hidden swinging door!) and mama hitting a few estate sales, where I picked up a nice little Italian for $15. The daughter of the previous owner was there, and just positively tickled that someone purchased her mother’s beloved Necchi. She walked me through everything, showing me her mother’s many gorgeous home-sewn dresses (o, if they had fit me), making sure all the attachments were in tow, etc. People are SO nice, they really are.

Oh, and she gave me her mother’s elephant skin purse, which is beyond cool but the photos I’m taking aren’t doing justice to the texture. i’ll try again later in different light.

and speaking of photos, finally got a tripod this weekend - it really helps these shaking camera hands I’ve got. love it.

How was your weekend?

this really is so simple it doesn’t need a recipe, but I love it, so it’s in.

we’re having it tonight along with some thick cut pork chops on the grill. I didn’t hit the farmer’s market wednesday so alas, no fresh tomatoes, and I have no dill. No matter, it works with lots of different substitutions (except the feta - you must use the feta in all its salty goodness. and the olives, though green or black are great).

simple lemon orzo salad with feta

Cook in large pot salted boiling water, then drain and rinse with cold water

1 cup orzo pasta

When pasta has cooled, transfer to medium bowl and mix in

1/4 pitted green olives, chopped

3/4 c. feta cheese

3 T chopped fresh parsley

3 T chopped fresh dill

1 ripe tomato, seeded and chopped

In small bowl whisk together

1/4 c. virgin olive oil

1/8 c. lemon juice

s+p to taste

pour over pasta and mix well, chill before serving.

and speaking of dinner…

I’m pretty sure anyone who is, or has, or once was a 7 year old boy will not be shocked by this image (do note the dripping blood - an extra special touch he was quick to point out). He’s not into vampires or creepy things, really, he just loves nocturnal animals of any kind - there are now 6 of these little guys hanging from his ceiling, threaded with fishing line (sans butterflies and blood).

does beautiful portraits.

so here it is, my very first sew. I apologize for the shakin’ photos - my model would not sit still (and she refuses to part with the dress so it can be hemmed). It’s a little big (a 6 and she’s a small 5) so will be for next summer if i can ever get it off her body. The fabric was a dress made from an old cotton sheet, the trim, pocket and bodice lining are from one of my granny’s old aprons. I’ll shorten the ties, too - and don’t look closely at those gathers!

I think it turned out pretty well, and wasn’t that hard following the pattern. The toughest part was finding some trim, because lord knows i can’t leave anything unembellished. Luckily I came upon the apron in a box of fabric in the basement. I love that it was my gran’s.

at this time we were killing ourselves and arguing and ignoring our kids to turn this

into this

(my mom and I busily creating Christmas dinner)

I like it, no, i LOVE it, but it was the hardest thing we’ve ever done and I don’t know that I’d do it again.

golly it makes me tired just to think of it now.

(more photos on my flickr page)

so we (I and my 2 oldest) picked 6 lbs of blueberries Saturday morning at The Berry Patch. About a pound of them have already been scarfed down in pancakes, muffins and just by the big grabby handful. they’re not that big this year, but still have nice sweetness and I plan to enjoy them in a freeform tart (with raspberries) later today after i stock up on butter.

here they are, atop my FIND of the weekend, or more likely, my FIND of the year: a marble slab purchased for $25 at an estate sale.

a little background: my parents came out for the day Saturday, and per tradition when Mom visits, we hit every garage and estate sale and pile o’ junk in a 5 mile radius. At our very first stop, the ladies in charge were 10 minutes from closing up shop when my mother spied this slab atop a sewing machine base. It had been $50 the previous day, but everything had to go so we offered half and here it is (atop the table I found in the bulk trash pickup last summer). it is worn and stained and chipped and PERFECT and it makes me feel french and fancy and i love it.

I shall be rolling out my freeform pastry on it later, yes I shall.

Another find (don’t i sound materialistic? really, I’m not, I just love finding stuff for cheap - blame my mother) is this little number for $2. Faded pink and fantastic in the chalkboard corner of the kitchen. (aside: my son is getting so grown up it makes my heart hurt a little. he’s all legs and arms this summer, and so very sweet. sniffle.)

in other news, church was great and we finally got a decent soaking rain, so my rain barrel is happy, as are the roses.
Big day today, turning in our summer reading club forms and picking out a free book. Excitement all over the place!
((((and shhhhhh, don’t tell anyone but I started a dress for my daughter last night - the skirt is done! but I am being picky about the bodice fabric, so must go out and about to the thrifts today and search for sheets or other usables. !!))