Sept Cross Stitch

Just a wee bit of stitching on some wee little designs.

This design is Snowy Night by Prairie Schooler, from 2008 Just Cross Stitch Ornament magazine. It was stitched over one on 25 ct off white fabric.  I had stitched the design before many years ago as a gift, but that one was on black fabric.  I was surprised how much of the white fabric shows through the stitches.  It's less noticeable in person because the actual design is so small.

This design is Sugar Plums  by Country Cottage, from 2009 Just Cross Stitch Ornament Magazine.  It is also stitched over one on cream 25 count fabric.  I changed the color of the pillow from bright white to a more muted cream.  The white just looked to garish against the antique-y feel of the fabric.  I also changed the lacey border from white to a greyish periwinkle blue.  I thought about changing it to the same cream that I used for the pillows but it didn't stand out enough for my liking.  Of course I didn't write the color down that I used because I was forgetful and lazy.

This last design is the top part of When Witches Go Riding by Prairie Schooler.  I have plans to make this into a bookmark some day.  I used: GAST espresso bean for the black, Crescent colors lobster claw for the orange, GAST Butternut squash for the yellow, and WDW Monkey Grass for the small "x"s in the border.  I used a scrap of 28 (I think) count linen that my lovely friend Julie gave me.  (I asked her if she had any leftover scraps from completed projects and she gave me this huge bag of stuff.  Jackpot!  Whoohoo!)

 That's it for the month.  Maybe I'll eventually get around to finishing these projects into ornaments and a bookmark in the not too distant future.

September Reads

1. Grave Mercy by Robin LaFevers
When I first started reading this book, I didn't realize it was by the same author of both Beastology and Thodosia Series.  The writing style is so different.  This book was written for a teen audience, while the others were written for middle elementary kids.  Grave Mercy is set in a slight alternate Medieval Brittany (France).  The old gods were incorporated into the Catholic Religion as saints, and some of the churches serve that god/saint.  Ismae was marked as a child to serve St. Mortain, the god of death, as an assassin.  Ismae is sent to find out who is plotting treason against the Duchess of Brittany, and eliminate them.  I enjoyed the intrigue, but even more so the character development.  The Assassin Nuns isn't too shabby of a plot point.  This is the first book in the "His Fair Assassin" Series.  I look forward to the sequels.

2. The Queen's Governess by Karen Harper
This is another work of historical fiction, although this book is based on the lives of real people. Katherine Ashley was the Governess to Queen Elizabeth I.   Not much was known about Katherine Ashley, so a good deal was left up to the author's imagination.  I liked how she was made to come from a poorer branch of her family, and by luck managed to make it into Anne Boleyn's household.  The story covers a large span of time, from before the birth of Elizabeth, to well into her reign.  I enjoyed the interaction between Kat and Elizabeth.  I liked that Kat became like a second mother to her.  Some of the reviews complain that the author writes like what she is saying is fact.  Huh?  Isn't that what you do when you write a book?  Make it sound realistic?  There is an afterward that discuses the historical in/accuracies.  What else do you want?  A big label on the cover.  People take themselves too seriously when reading books based on actual people.  Sometimes you just need to let go and enjoy the ride. ::: steps off soapbox:::

3. Museum of Theives by Lian Tanner (Book 1 in the Keepers Trilogy) - target audience: middle school.  In this story, the children of the city of Jewel are chained to their parents or guardians until the age of twelve.  (The world is just too unsafe for children to go about doing anything on their own.  Even dogs are outlawed.) Goldie is at the ceremony for her separation when a bomb goes off.  When the "Blessed Guardians" decide to revoke the separation, Goldie runs away.  She finds her way to this museum that shifts and moves like it is alive. The museum contains many horrible things like war and pestilence, which is what actually keeps the city safe.  Someone wants these evils set loose again. Goldie and the other residents of the museum work to calm the museum and save the town.  I thought that the concept of a museum that was "alive" was a neat one.  It's a good read for kids who like a bit of fantasy and a bit of dystopia.  Neither genre is overwhelming.  It's not so fantastical where magic is being slung all over the place, there are some unusual creatures, but not in excess.  It's also just dystopian where things are excessively restricted for kids, but it's not like kids have to kill each other like in The Hunger Games.

4. City of Lies by Lian Tanner (Book 2 in the Keepers Trilogy) - This book was about the neighboring town that the first book in this series was set in.  The sister of one of Goldie's friend, gets kidnapped.  She goes off to save her and gets tied up in the goings on during the Festival of Lies.  Goldie manages to discover how to use the magic of the festival to her advantage.  A fun quick read.  I'm looking forward to the finale of this trilogy.

Patchy Ruffle Pants Time...Again

Blockette is growing like a weed.  Most of her patched pants were too short, or beyond repair in the knees.  She had a few second hand jeans, and I bought her two new pairs when school started.  She did have one pair from last year that still fit her in the waist, but were several inches too short.  The knees were also quite threadbare, and in need of patching.

So I set myself to work and did this:

If you notice, the pants ruffles are from the magical, never-ending purple fabric.  The same stuff I used for her bird wings.

The star patches are actually from a too large pair of hand me down pants.  They had a few holes that seemed like they were too much work to repair.  The jeans did have this cool star applique running down the legs though.  So I just re-purposed the other pair of pants to mend this pair.

I did get lazy and didn't zig zag the edges of the patches.  I told myself that the frayed edges would look cool after a few washes.  We will see if they are indeed cool, or just falling apart.

Blockette calls these jeans her superstar pants.  She literally wants to wear them EVERY day.  I told her that she could only wear them every other day.  That way, we could pretend that someone washed them in between wearings. 

Oh come on!  I can't be the only mean mom who refuses to wash unstained jeans after every single wear!  Jeans are so much more comfy after multiple wears.  It's about HER comfort, not how lazy I am.

Thankful Thurs # 39

1. Helping out at church during the week.

2. Having some self control when I went shopping.  (I may have spent more than I wanted to, but it was all stuff that we needed, as opposed to just wanting.)

3. My nephew was diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy.  (This might sound weird to be thankful for this, but at least his parents know what they are facing and can move forward from there.)

4. Staying calm while Blockette had a meltdown over using the Dictionary.  (Amazing how long it takes to have a meltdown vs. how long it takes to look up a word in the Dictionary.)

5. Finally feeling productive during the day, and not just too pooped to do anything but take a nap before and after lunch.

6. Killing that monster spider on the wall in the bathroom without screaming.  (Not that the screaming would have mattered, Blockette was already not sleeping and screwing around in her room...the whole reason why I came upstairs in the first place.)

7. I didn't smash a hole in the wall when I smashed the above mentioned spider with my shoe.

8. Cool crisp mornings.

9. Realizing I was going to make a duplicate post about a recipe I already made, before I actually wrote the post.

10. Finding a replacement for dinner, without having to make a trip to the store, when I realized ALL the onions in the house were mushy and bad. (We were going to have crockpot apples and onions, but instead I made crockpot mulligatawny stew.)

Microwave Oatmeal Cookie

When I saw this recipe for a microwave cookie from Molly Alice Nests I was totally jazzed.  It was very low sugar, flourless and eggless.  It seemed like a match made in heaven.

If I loved eggless microwave cakes (see here, here, here and here), then I'd go ga-ga for a cookie, right?

Sadly, not so much, at least not on my first attempt, seen here:

First, the cookie never got that "cooked" look to it, at least no where near the picture on Molly Alice Nests' blog.  I didn't care too much about that though.  I like underbaked cookies, particularly ones without eggs. It's just always a bit of a disappointment when your finished product looks nothing like the original.

There was just something off about the taste. I couldn't quite put my finger on it.  The best way to describe it would a be sort of a salty metallic aftertaste.  Now, I did use blueberry yogurt instead of plain yogurt, but I don't think that was the culprit.  I have made a microwave cake before and used blueberry yogurt, many times.  None of those times resulted in this weird aftertaste.  I'm thought  perhaps it was just too salty.  The peanut butter already had salt in it, so maybe the extra salt was just too much.

If the odd taste wasn't from the salt, it might have been from the baking powder.  Sometimes that can give off a metallic taste.

So, I made a second cookie. This time I omitted the salt and baking powder.  I still only had blueberry yogurt, so I couldn't rule that out as the troublemaker.  I did have some blueberry flavored craisins that I thought would go nicely with the hint of blueberry from the yogurt.  I used those instead of mini chocolate chips as well.  I also microwaved this cookie for 50 seconds (instead of 35 seconds), and used a larger plate.

Here was the result:

The cookie still didn't have that same "done" look,  but the funky taste was gone.  The cookie was a bit more crumbly from the extra cooking, but still strangely moist.

Upon closer examination of the picture of the original cookie, it seems as if they used instant/quick cooking oats, instead of rolled oats like I had.  I bet that is why the texture of my cookie looked so different.

Over all, my second attempt at this recipe was pretty good.  I debated whether or not I preferred a microwave cookie to a mug cake.  My first instinct was to say mug cake.  I do like them best.  However, sometimes you just want a cookie...NOW.  This recipe gives you that instant gratification without even having to wait for the oven to preheat.

Below is the recipe I used for the second version of the cookie:

Microwave oatmeal cookie adapted from Molly Alice Nests
1/4 c old fashioned oats
1 T brown sugar
1 T creamy peanut butter
1 T blueberry yogurt
1 t cornstarch
1/4 t vanilla
1/4 t cinnamon
1 T blueberry craisins

In a small bowl, mix dry ingredients. Add wet ingredients and mix to form a thick dough. Fold in craisins. Line a microwave-safe plate with a small piece of parchment paper. Scoop the dough onto the paper and pat it into a 3-4″ disk. Microwave on high for 35-50 seconds, or until just cooked (don’t overcook, or it will be dry and crumbly). Let cool for a minute or two.

PB Oatmeal Compost Cookies

I was craving some cookies the other day and decided to make these Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies from Plain Chicken.

 Mmmmm!

Lookie at that Peanut butter oat-y goodness.

I thought that the cookies were really tasty, but my family is used to a bit more oomph in their cookie.  So halfway through I added craisins, chocolate chips, peanuts and pretzels. 

They were a big hit with Mrblocko and Blockette. 

Personally, I prefer the "plain" version.

This recipe makes a lot of cookies, even before you add any goodies.  I baked the whole batch and stuck them in the freezer. Let me tell you, they freeze great!  They do lose some of the softness that the fresh cookies had, but I like my peanut butter cookies to be on the crumbly side.

Even before I added the chips and bits and whatnot, I thought the dough was extremely moist and sticky. I added an additional cup of oats, and that seemed to firm things up a bit.  Plus then you get the added benefit of extra oatmeal. 

As we all know, extra oatmeal + cookie = healthy cookie.

One little side note.  I eyeballed the measurements for the add ins.  I was slightly less than halfway through the recipe when I decided to jazz things up.  I estimated what I used, and then doubled that amount for the recipe below.  Just use whatever you have!  Peanut butter chips, coconut, pecans, walnuts, butterscotch chips, banana chips, potato chips...go crazy!

PB Oatmeal compost cookies adapted from Plain chicken
1/2 cup shortening
1/2 cup margarine, softened
1 cup packed brown sugar
3/4 cup white sugar
1 cup peanut butter
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 cup quick-cooking oats
heaping 1/2 c chocolate chips, coarse chop (I used semi sweet)
heaping 1/2 c broken pretzels
heaping 1/2 c peanuts, coarse chop (I used honey roasted peanuts)
heaping 1/4c craisins

Preheat oven to 350. In a large bowl, cream shortening, margarine, sugars, and peanut butter until smooth. Beat in eggs one at a time. Combine flour, baking soda, and salt; stir into creamed mix. Mix in oats, chips, pretzels, peanuts and craisins . Drop by small scoop onto parchment lined cookie sheets. Flatten scoops to encourage spreading.  Bake 10 min  til light brown. Don't over-bake. Cool and store in an airtight container.

Chocolate Chili

There comes a time in every kids life when they have to learn a very valuable lesson in the kitchen:
 not all chocolate is created equal.

So I was making this chocolate chili from a recipe I found over at Our Best Bites, and the recipe calls for unsweetened chocolate.  Can you picture it?  I'm in the kitchen chopping up the little block of chocolate when Blockette spys what I am doing.

Her: "Ooooh!  Can I have some of that?"

Me: "No, honey.  You wouldn't like it.  It doesn't have any sugar in it."

Her:  "Pleeeeeease!  Just let me try it."

Me: "I'm not teasing. It's going to be gross."

 ::insert pitiful begging child face here:::

Then, I got this smirk.  It may or may not have been more like an evil grin.  I'm not telling.

Why not let her have some?  

So I did.

Child could not get enough water to get the horrible bitter taste out of her mouth.  She swore that she was NOT going to eat dinner, because if it had THAT chocolate in it...well...it HAD to be disgusting.

Then we had a discussion on how certain ingredients need to be paired with others.  On their own, they are gross, but with their food buddy,  they actually taste good.  I pointed out how I use the very same type of chocolate when I make daddy's favorite Christmas cookies. That logic did the trick, because she loves those cookies too!

Once the chili was prepared, I had her test a small spoonful.  What do you know?  It was really good!

We ate ours poured over a plate full of beer fries.  

The changes I made to the recipe, plus eating them in the style of chili cheese fries, has really made this recipe stretch!  The leftover chili freezes and reheats like a dream for those nights when I just don't feel like cooking.


Chipotle chocolate chili adapted from Our Best Bites
1 lb. lean ground turkey

3 medium sized onions, chopped

1/2 roasted red pepper, minced

2-3 cloves garlic, minced

2 15-oz. cans diced tomatoes (I had a mess of roma and cherry tomatoes from the garden. I eyeballed what I thought 2 cans would be.  I chopped the big ones up and mashed the small ones with a potato masher.)

1 c cooked kidney beans

2 c cooked black beans

1 c cooked quinoa

about 5 c turkey stock

3 Tbsp. brown sugar

2 Tbsp. chili powder

1 tsp. ground cumin

1 Tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder

1/2 tsp. freshly-ground black pepper

1/2 tsp. Kosher salt

one diced chipotle from a can

1/2 oz. unsweetened chocolate (1/2 unsweetened baking cube), chopped (optional; use to taste as needed; be careful, because too much will make your chili bitter)

3-4 Tbsp. red wine vinegar

Heat some olive oil in a large soup pot over medium heat. Saute onion, garlic, bell pepper, and ground turkey until meat is cooked through. Add salt, pepper, cumin, chili powder, brown sugar, unsweetened cocoa powder, tomatoes, beans, quinoa, chipotle and broth. Heat to boiling and then reduce to a simmer (uncovered), stirring occasionally, until thickened as desired (about 30-40 minutes).  (If you are using cherry tomatoes like I did, after 5-10 min of heat, smoosh the tomatoes with a potato masher.) Add 3 T red wine vinegar and a small amount of chopped chocolate at a time until desired richness is reached. If necessary, add more red wine vinegar to cut the sweetness of the chili. (I thought 1/2 oz unsweetened chocolate and 3 T vinegar were perfect.)