Spring is Coming!

Hard to believe, with the snow and all, but spring really is on the way.  But, I wanted to bring some spring into the house!  Of course, being in an apartment instead of an actual house means less space, and less willingness to completely go crazy with decorating.  But, I figured the throw pillows on the couch could definitely use some life.

Our couch is dark brown leather.  The pillows are red.  I love the color combo, but it's not very spring-like!  So, I went completely over-the-top cheesy.

Anywayyy, here is the pillow, with it's new pillowcase!

(NOTE: I don't know why the photos all rotated.  I rotated them again, and they still didn't upload correctly.  What the heck!  Sorry... )

Finished Pillow.  I went back and fixed the sides a bit, so it's not quite so loose looking anymore.

Close up.  Bunny and baby chick!

Back.

Overall, pretty fun.  I actually carefully measured and meticulously made sure things lined up.  And hey!  It mostly worked.  Imagine that!  Also, this was the first time I every tried applique, which I really enjoyed.  I always liked the look, and I think it turned out pretty OK considering it was my first try!

Now if only I could get the photos to upload in the right orientation...

All-purpose Noodles!

Ok.  I make these noodles about once a week, so it's high time I post about it since I fail at posting in general.

Growing up, my mom made these noodles for homemade chicken noodle soup.  In fact, it wasn't until I older until I realized there was chicken noodle soup that came in cans-- which still sounds pretty gross to me.  No, the wonderful homemade chicken noodle soup my mom made was one of my all-time favorite meals growing up.

A couple months ago, I decided I wanted to try making the soup for Allen.  I had asked my mom for the noodle recipe a while ago, and wanted to finally put it to good use.  Of course, my husband is crazy and not a big fan of soup in general, so he asked if instead, I would make the noodles but just  make chicken fettuccine alfredo.  I had never had the noodles in anything other than soup, but hey-- why not?!

The end result?  FANTASTIC.  Allen loves these noodles, and I'm happy to know that these noodles work for anything.  I know nothing about making pasta, but I do know these noodles are delicious!  I suppose they're egg noodles, since they ingredients are basically just egg and flour, but they sure are tasty in just about anything!  Nice and hearty, they have a much different texture than pre-made dried noodles, but are super tasty and easy to make!

Recipe (original, from my mom):

• 3 eggs, beaten
• 1/4 to 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 to 1/2 tsp salt
• Flour

1)  Mix eggs, baking power, salt and a little flour. 
2) Slowly add flour, until dough is stiff.

3) On a floured surface, roll dough to 1/4-inch thick.

4) Cut dough into strips.

5) Cook in boiling broth for 20+ minutes.


Now, my own notes:

1)  "A little flour" is just a spoonful or so-- nothing critical.
2)  When I make these for alfredo, I use 2 eggs, rather than 3 (which makes enough for dinner and lunch for one person), and it takes maybe 2 cups of flour?  I don't measure-- just keep slowly adding and mixing it until the dough is stiff enough to roll out well.
3)  When my mom makes these noodles for chicken noodle soup, she makes them thick-- cut about 1/2" wide.  When I make them for fettuccine, I cut them to be maybe 3/8" wide.  After cooking, the noodles will get a little bigger, and you want them to have some substance (I've made them too thin before, and they just aren't as good because you don't taste them as much)
4)  For chicken noodle soup, place the noodles in the boiling broth.  For fettuccine, I start boiling some water with olive oil and salt right as I start cutting up the noodles, and cook them in that.
5)  I've found that the fastest and easiest way to cut the dough is to use a pizza cutter-- a knife just doesn't cut it as well.
6)  Check after 20 minutes, but I usually seem to cook them for longer.  Just a matter of preference.

Ok, so maybe it look complicated, but it really isn't.  I want to try them with spaghetti sauce, sometime, or even to make ravioli.  Yum!

Whining

I whine a lot.  This is probably not something I should try to expand upon, and enrich my life with, but it's kind of true- I'm a complainer.

Here are a few things that I feel compelled to complain about lately.  I know you were wondering....

First of all, why is my photo always a big triangle with an exclamation mark in it, now?  This is very frustrating.  I tried googling it, and (ironically) the most I could find out was it somehow had to do with google+?  Anyway, I deleted my google+ account, since I literally have never used it and hadn't added anyone and generally it was confusing and redundant... and it still shows my icon as an exclamation mark.  Clearly, the internet is telling me how awesome I am!  (except it looks more like a warning/bad exclamation mark.  hmm..)

Next, I want to complain about pinterest.  Actually, not really, because I love it so much and I am a little addicted to it.  BUT!  It drives me crazy when people just post these "inspirational" photos and "slim down in 5 days!" and "get great arms by doing these two 20-second exercises that consist of lifting a 1lb jar over your head!"  Ok, so maybe I'm kinda a snob.. but it drives me CRAZY.

1. If you're going to work out, just do it.  Don't comment on peoples' photos saying "omg I WILL look like this someday!"  Granted, I know it's a handy way to gather information for yourself, but for some reason, this just really bothers me.
2. I can absolutely guarantee that that chick in that photo did NOT get that body by doing a 20 minute work-out twice a week.  If that was really a "thing," and actually worked, we would all look like models.  Why is the diet and fitness industry so successful?  Because there isn't some quick, fix-all method.  People in photos are fitness models.  It's their job, and only those people that are blessed with naturally athletic builds are going to have a shot at looking that perfect-- and only after hard work.  Now, there's nothing wrong with striving for it, but it drives me crazy when these little "routines" guarantee you'll look like the model.
3. It's just annoying.

I think I'm just full of myself.  And bitter.  Weight-lifting for 4.5 months and...well, I think my back is bigger.  My thighs are bigger.  I have super leg muscles, but mehhh.  I have great abs, but under this huge flab of fat, I just look fatter.  I can squat and deadlift and do rows at 45lbs on each side (so, 90lbs.. I only have dumbbells, so all my weights are "half" of what it would be if i were using ) but my arms looks like uncooked breadsticks.  Nasty.  HMPH!

(also, I'm fully aware the squats and deadlifts don't work your arms that much.  Those were just the top few things that popped in my head.  I think you get the picture, though)

I'm also kind of hating stomach aches.  I mean, come on!  When I was younger, I never got stomach aches.  Never ever.  In the past few months to a year, I've had more stomach aches than I can count!  Honestly, what changed! Come on body, why are you getting old?!

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Ok, I'm actually getting bored of complaining -- um, yes, what?!  That never happens!  As a consolation for having to read my complaining.. here!  A cute picture of Xyla when she was small and tiny!

Oh, one more thing...  We are doing STP this year!  (Seattle to Portland bike race, of course)  Registered yesterday.  I'm so excited!...and also terrified.  Allen and I are doing it, and so is my dad!  It should be fun.  Since we've only done one 10 mile quick ride in the last 4 months, I'm not feeling very good about it.  But, I guess I can do it, right?  Good thing it's not until mid July.  That's plenty of time to get ready.  Right?  Right.


In the meantime, I have lots of sewing and decorating and baking and ahhh!  I got some really fun spring-y fabrics..but don't know what to do with them.  Oh man.  All I want to do is create, but I have no ideas!  Help!

Placemats!

A friend of mine got married last August, and I finally got around to making a wedding gift.  Yes, I'm only 5 months late...


Anyway, I got the idea from this post.  Everyone can always use new placemats, right?  I liked the idea, having pops of color on a neutral background.


With this in mind, I set off to the fabric store and settled with a grey background, with blue details.

As I may have mentioned once or twice: I don't like following patterns.  I tend to make things up as I go.  I also detest measuring things, and cutting things over and over and over.  There was a lot of that, to make these placemats!   Oh well.

I'm sure it took longer than it should have.  Half of my time was spent working with the sewing machine-- I mostly have the tension issues worked out, but for some reason, my decorative stitches are still having problems.  I finally got the regular zig-zag stitch to work (mostly) well.  I'm stumped.  I've consulted the manual, the internet, I've played with it myself...  hmph!  The sewing machine I used growing up didn't have all these fancy stitches - or if it did, I didn't know - so it's frustrating that I can't use them, and can't figure them out!  I'll get there eventually.

A few problems, and a few things I would do differently next time (I think I might make more for Christmas gifts?):

• Press the seams differently: I realized my mistake about halfway through, but I pressed the seams both over to the same side for some things.  Next time, I'll do them flat, like a normal person.
• Either make the stripe of colors centered, or move them up/down more.  I meant to make them off-center, but they don't look off-center enough to be intentional-- so instead, it just kind of looks like it's accidentally off-center.
• Figure out those darn decorative stitches!

Since I don't like following instructions, I'm not about to provide instructions (also because I don't remember the exact dimensions I used).  So, without further ado:

Blue and grey placemats!

Ta-da!

(grr, why won't it rotate?)

At least I managed the zig zag...

So, there they are.  They came out alright, I think.  The grey fabric looks a little rough and industrial in the photos, but I think they look alright in real life.

I'm considering whipping up some quick, matching coasters.  We'll see.

Baby Blanket!

As previously mentioned, I've been working on a baby blanket for a friend.  Finished it last week, and now posting some photos!

I kinda just made it up as I went along-- didn't measure anything, etc etc.  Also got to know my new sewing machine better, when I somehow messed up the thread tension and had to try to get it right again.  Overall, ok for a first shot, but there is DEFINITE room for improvement!  I figure the kid won't mind, though, and the fabric is cute enough that maybe people will just focus on that instead of the mistakes.

One side

Other side

Close up

Close up

Of course, I had to make a card!  And since I had scraps, and the fabric is adorable, I just had to use it....

Card

Card

Like I said, lots of mistakes (which I conveniently did not take photos of).  For example, I never got to the bottom of the tension problem, because I kept getting knots in some places.  I also didn't really think about how big the blanket should be, and used fairly thick (normal) quilting batting, so on a small blanket, it makes it kind of thick and bulky (it's probably...  18" x 30" or so?).  So, it's more like a baby comforter.  But, oh well!  Fun way to kick off my new sewing addiction.

Friday Pizza

After making this dinner for Allen for the 5 billionth time, I figured I could write about it.  I even though of taking photos, but:

1) I'm not actually some fancy schmancy blogger that has exciting photos
2) It's not exactly the most incredibly beautiful food, either.

Nonetheless, here's how pizza night often goes down (if it isn't Papa Murphys..)

Folded Pizza

- 1 refrigerated tube of Pillsbury pizza crust
- 1 pre-portioned pack of Boboli pizza sauce (or any amount of any pizza sauce)
- Mozzarella cheese
- Pepperoni
- Pizza seasoning

• Preheat oven according to crust directions (I think it's 400F)
• Grease baking sheet, and unroll crust.  Pillsbury dough is conveniently in an almost-rectangle, so it's fairly easy to squash it out fully.  There's no need to be precise; you just want a general rectangle.  Alternatively, any pizza dough will work, of course.  We've found the Pillsbury is easy, and comes out with a nice texture (thin, doughy, soft) -- although it's entirely a matter of personal preference.
• Spread pizza sauce evenly over dough.
• Sprinkle mozzarealla.  With the rectangle arrange horizontally, sprinkle a thin layer on the top half, and a good base layer on the bottom half.  (the top half will get more later, don't worry!)
• Arrange pepperoni on bottom half.  I do a column of three, all the way accross.
• Sprinkle another thin layer of mozzarella on pepperoni.  If I remember, I sometimes add some grated parmesan, as well.
• Fun part!  Grab the top two corners, and fold over.  The middle will likely not fold over all the way, so stretch it over, as well.  You now have a folded pizza!
• Fold/pinch over edges.  Sometimes I try to make it nice and neat and pretty; sometimes I just squish it together and hope it stays.  As long as the dough is touching, it should bake together well.
• Sprinkle pizza seasoning (oregano, basil, etc..), and another thin sprinkling of mozzarella (or parmesan) if you wish.
• Bake ~12 minutes, or until crust is light golden brown.
• Slice into 3 squares (if you live with Allen!) and enjoy!

Seriously, it's the easiest, quickest dinner ever.  If I didn't use all the pre-packaged stuff, it'd probably be even cheaper, but it's totally worth it for the convenience.  It's also helpful that all these ingredients keep for a fairly long time, so I just make sure I always have everything on hand.  You never know when you need some quick pseudo-pizza!

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In other news, I am currently working on a baby blanket.  NO, NOT FOR MY (non-existant) KID.  Allen's best friend is having a kid, so I need to get it done and mailed off before the baby is born!

However, I'm finding I really don't like patterns.  They're boring to read, annoying to use (geez, who wants to measure things a million times and be all nicely organized?), and I feel like I'm not being very creative if I'm just copying something.  So, as always, I'm making it up as I go along.  I made both sides with some super-cute flannel (and a made up "quilt" pattern, which is basically just some sewn-together squares and rectangles), and was about to sew them together when I realized I should put that quilting stuff int he middle.  The kid is going to live in Alaska-- I think he wants to be warm!  So, I need to get that from the store before finishing.  I'm looking forward to taking nice photos of the finished product!  Stay tuned!

Break Recap!

Well, I fail miserably at regular updates-- unless, of course, it's regular monthly updates, in which case I'm doing awesome!

Anyway, here's a quick recap of our absolutely wonderful Christmas break!

KRISTIN!

Probably the highlight of break (heck, highlight of my LIFE) was Kristin visiting!  This is photographic evidence that Kristin still exists.  Good times.

So sleepy!

Xyla loved having Allen and I around so much!  There were countless catnaps on the couch, with her snuggling up with us.  What a sweet girl.

Allen got me a sewing machine for Christmas, and it's AMAZING!  Since moving away from home, I have been grieving my loss of access to a sewing machine.  I started this apron some time last year (2010..), and basically finished the bottom (ruffled) part.  However, I'm also the messiest baker ever, so I really needed to add a top portion!  I quickly stuck something on, added some ribbon, and... all done!  I think I'll actually add something to the top-- it's pretty plain and ugly.  But, at least it's officially "done"!

Next, I made Xyla a little fuzzy blanket.  Our cat has this strange obsession with fuzzy blankets, like fleece.  We recently changed the blankets on our bed, and there's no longer a softy fuzzy fleece for her to curl up on!  She has made her displeasure known by refusing to sleep on the bed at night.  So, I whipped this up for her!  Not very even, and some of the seams on the back are pretty terrible... but considering I didn't measure anything and sort of made it up as I went, I think it'll be fine for the cat!  Next time, I'll suck it up and use bias tape, instead of being stubborn about wanting to do everything on my own.  ;)

In other, happy news, I have a lead-free measuring tape on order!  I accidentally found out that many sewing measuring tapes are made with PVC, which usually use lead as a stabilizer.  I think that's dumb.  And since I have an irrational fear of lead, I couldn't possibly use my olde measuring tape!  But I found one that I think is fine, so in a few days it'll be here.......... I'm so weird.

Anyway, I have a feeling many more sewing-related projects to come!