Rosemary Garlic Apples

During the last 48 hours, J has had a peanut butter sandwich, fish sticks, and chocolate chip cookie in her mouth. She's 8 months old.

After, a big sigh of relief that she didn't explode with some kind of deadly allergic reaction, I've taken this as a prompt to be a little more vigilant parent. With one very mobile baby, and a toddler who is very eager to help, I also have decided to try to fix more foods that are safe for both children to eat. I thought I had posted my favorite breakfast before, but can't seem to find it. But basically it's this:

Rosemary Garlic Apples (And Sausage)

Slice apples and saute them in a pan with minced garlic and rosemary (I used dried). When cooked, take them out and cook your sausage as usual (I prefer smoked, but you can use any kind) with a little apple juice. Once the meat is cooked, add your apples back to the pan, and heat through. Then serve hot. Or skip the sausage all together and just serve the apples.

This makes the best savory/sweet breakfast combo, yes, even better than chocolate meat. I made this for L and I recently, and decided to let J try the apples. She has been the most eager eater, and these apples are definitely her favorite. I've taken to fixing the apples alone, as a quick meal for the three of us.


I was recently asked somewhat incredulously, "You make all J baby food, don't you?" And it caught me a little off guard. It's a little odd to me that even though most people "make" most of their own food (by make, I mean prepare, of course), it's so unusual for someone to make baby food. So, let me just clarify. I don't slave away, pureeing lots of little jars of goo. At dinner time, I make sure I include something in our meal that J can eat. And when we sit down at the table, I take some lima beans out of our soup, or rice from our stir fry, or apples or carrots or whatever, and drop it in the little baby food mill, and voila.

This does mean, that she gets seasoned food, which is fine by me. I don't give her anything too spicy or salty, but the girl loves garlic. Of course, we are also big fans of those puffs that dissolve in your mouth - which is so convenient when you go out. I'm not opposed to pre-made baby foods, but I definitely think this simple little food mill is worth more than it's very low price. (Thanks, Tara!)

Lap Quilts

I'm a little late posting these pictures of the lap quilt project. Some friends from church and I made a bunch of quilt blocks, that we assembled into two lap quilts for ladies at our local nursing home. It was really fun for me to see all the different styles of blocks from all of the different women. We had a theme and color motif, so it's always exciting to see how people interpret an idea in many different ways. I think having a set of limitations can sometimes be one of the best creative prompts.

Besides having fun working with the women I knew, I also got to meet two very sweet ladies in town, who I'm looking forward to getting to know better.

Pate Choux

John gave me Mastering the Art of French Cooking for Christmas. I was inspired, as was half of the population, by Julie and Julia to give it a try. At first, I thought the book was a bit intimidating, but I think it's just because there are illustrations instead of photos. It makes it seem very scientific. Once you get going, it's actually really excellent because she tells you everything, so you can't go wrong.

I made the puff shells (pate choux) stuffed with cream of quail as well as these cheese puffs (pate fromage). I love popovers, and these are similar and very satisfying. I made them back in January, and am only getting around to posting it now, so I whatever profound thoughts I had, I've forgotten. How's this: these were really cool, but make sure someone is watching the kids while you're cooking!

I am eager to try them again filled with ice cream - perhaps that will be a fun summer treat!

Romanian Cheese and Ethiopian Coffee

The first year we were married I asked John what was the best thing he'd ever eaten. He told me that when he was in Romania many years ago he had some really wonderful fried goat cheese. Thanks a lot, I thought to myself. But after a little googling and a trip to Ada's, it turned out to be a simple recipe - now our Valentine favorite. The recipe is below.

But what is in my lovely Hazel Atlas mug? African Skies fair trade coffee from Just Love, a company that uses proceeds to help an Ethiopian orphanage and families adopting not just from Ethiopia, but from anywhere in the world. If you buy from this shop, you can support our friends in their Ethiopian adoption.

Romanian Fried Goat Cheese
11 to 12 oz Goat Cheese, chilled
1 tsp garlic
1/4 tsp rosemary
Salt and pepper
1/4 cup flour
1 large egg beaten
1/2 cup dry bread crumbs (I always use the cornflake kind)
1/4 cup olive oil

Our cheese comes in wedges which I sliced into about 8 or 9 thick slices. Mix the garlic, rosemary and salt and pepper. Put this in a bowl, and then put the flour, egg, and bread crumbs each in their own bowl. Dip the cheese in the garlic mixture, then the flour, then the egg, then the bread crumbs, coating evenly with each. Chill in the refrigerator.

Heat 1/4 cup olive oil in a skillet on medium high heat. When heated, cook the goat cheese about 2 minutes per side or until a pretty golden color. It's best to eat them hot, but they reheat pretty well, too.

Handmade Olympics

Neato! My super hero flip doll is in the running for handmade item that's fun (event 7). Please vote for me!

Snow Ice Cream

Hope all of you in the southern US are enjoying the snow. We're mostly enjoying it from the window since the little ones have the sniffy noses, although we did tromp around a bit.

If you still have any clean snow in your yard, you may want to try snow ice cream. My sister blogged about this during the Christmas blizzard, and I thought I would second that. My mom made this for us when we were kids, and as I am typing this I'm wondering how a person would learn such things before the internet.

But, I digress. I don't have a formal recipe, although I found one here. I worked it out through trial and error, so here's my best guess: Collect a medium size mixing bowl full of fresh, clean snow. Add 1/2 cup sugar, 1/2 TBSP of vanilla, and stir. Then add milk until you have the right consistency, about 1 cup. It's best to just eat it up right away, I think.



On a side note, my camera decided to only focus on things really close for awhile, which is why all the pictures are blurry. This happened during Christmas as well. After a time, and certainly not by my efforts, it just went back to normal. Anybody know why?

Sketch-wallet Pattern

I mentioned this sketchbook wallet last August (has it been that long?) and thought it would be a good-organizy-New-Year's pattern. So here I've put together a quick tutorial for this little sketch wallet. It's a simple little pattern I fit all on one page - isn't that tidy? Click the pattern image at the bottom of the post to download it.

I got these swell moleskine books to start the year fresh. They are a standard size (5.25 x 8.25 in.) and my wallet is intended to fit with this size. Although, it could be easily adapted for a different size.

Really, I only use this when I leave the house. At home I like to keep my book free of constraints. I've made a bunch of these organizers, and each version gets simpler. I don't want my book to be too laden with supplies - it makes it feel to complicated, you know? I think a sketch book should be easy and inviting. So hopefully, this wallet will keep you supplied without weighing you down.

In the Studio Again

January is traditionally time to organize my studio, so I've done it once again. No pictures of perfectly folded fabric for you this time, but a little fun nonetheless.

This year, I'm planning to slow down a bit and enjoy myself more. Once again my studio organizing is reflecting this shift, I think, because I'm shifting a little more towards painting again. Watercolors, not oils, because I still have little ones about.

In fact, the other day, after painting awhile I was tickled to see a big blob of cadmium dark on my shirt. Paint clothes! Granted, the paint spatter was from trying to paint with a baby on my hip, but it's been ages since I've had paint clothes, so I'll take what I can get.

Handmade Olympics

I'm about a week late learning about the Handmade Olympics sponsored by rikrak. What a fun idea! Check it out. Nominations are open now, voting will be in a few weeks.

Crayons

We wilsons have been fluey all week, which is kind of a bummer since John is still on vacation, But I have to admit, life is a little easier when the girls ask to go to bed and sleep extra long.

I've been doing a little playing with crayons for an upcoming spoonflower design challenge. This one requires you to use only crayons and not edit it digitally - I know it's hard to resist, but I made it work. This is on my desktop now. Check it out in repeat here or grab it and put it on your desktop. ;)