Too many irons in the fire? Why not add some pumpkin pie
Can you believe it is October already?! My dad always says time passes more quickly as you get older. Boy, is he ever right! I'm sure having a million things going all the time also contributes.
I don't have much to show for crafts this week; my life is being consumed by another large project. However, I did start and finish a pair of mittens and made some progress on a project I haven't touched in a long time: my sweater spin. I am enamored with that project, but so many things keep me from it. The mitten project has been a lot of fun as well. What little kid doesn't want to wear mittens made from their very own sheep?
Handspun, hand-dyed and knit for a young girl
from the fleece of her very own sheep.
Sweater spin: one single down, many more to go.
On the fitness side, I finished Country Heat, which was a great program. I really enjoyed. Over thirty days, I lost five pounds, which I credit mostly to being disciplined with clean eating. I got a little off course food-wise before starting, so I made a concerted effort to get it right, which I did, for the most part. What I like most about Country Heat is how approachable it is; my kids can do it with me. It is a great introductory program for someone who wants something effective but not so challenging they become discouraged. In the big Facebook group with Autumn Calabrese people kept remarking on how happy they felt after the workouts. That's what dancing does for you! In addition to being great exercise, it lifts your spirits.
With that in mind, there is still time to join our Dance Off challenge group. A couple people have told me they're in for Team Cize; it would be fun to add to the Team Heat roster. If you're interested, please let me know. A good place to get in touch with me is my Facebook page, www.facebook.com/dahlhousegym
With everything else going on, I had some pumpkins start to get a little squishy on me. One was baked into a pie. The other will most likely become a cheese cake. The kids each brought home a pie pumpkin from a fall festival, so I see more baking adventures on the horizon.
Ingredients: dates, cherries, pecans, almonds
cinnamon, nutmeg, dark chocolate
In addition to baking, Ainsleigh and I whipped up a fun little snack food. Lärabar is snack bar made with clean, whole ingredients. They're really good, and pretty easy to make at home. There were some tasty looking recipes on this site, http://leitesculinaria.com/88638/recipes-homemade-larabars.html, which we used as a jumping off point for creating our own. We used dates and dried cherries — together equaling about a cup, and pecans and almonds, which together also equaled about a cup. I didn't measure anything out, just used roughly equal amounts of fruit and nuts. The fruit was soaked in hot water while we chopped the nuts with cinnamon and a pinch of nutmeg. The fruit was added to the processor and we chopped some more. The idea is to chop up the fruit enough so the bar sticks together. Ours could have used a bit more chopping, but it was fine. At the end we added a couple teaspoons of shaved dark chocolate and pressed them into a small pan. After they firmed up in the refrigerator, I cut and wrapped them. I see more of these on the horizon as well!
This is a chart I've been meaning to get to for a while. The Christmas before last, I was making a whole bunch of Christmas ornament gift toppers . I wanted each to be unique, so some of the miniature sweaters were adorned with duplicate stitch in traditional knit motifs. I hit a snag with the tree. A row of perfect triangle trees is cute. A single triangle tree is not so cute. A chart for a small tree is not hard to find. One which is not symmetrical is. Enter the sketch pad. My goal was a scraggly tree, which was small, but was still recognizable as a tree. This is the result. As a matter of personal preference, I think this looks best when the chart is turned upside down and is used on a piece being worked from the top. That way, the top of the tree comes to a nice point.
As snow settles in, I find joy in the small things that make life a little bit more cozy and sweet, two of which I'd like to share. The first is a recipe for an almost instant brownie. Spoiler alert: I knit these stocking ornaments as gift toppers this year. But even if you weren't on my gift list, you won't be left out. The pattern is now available for all, free on ravelry. I used to keep my cupboard stocked with microwavable, mini brownie bowls, for emergencies, but lately they've been hard to find. There was a packet of instant hot chocolate on the counter which gave me an idea. What if I could just make a brownie with that? A quick google search revealed several recipes for almost-instant, single serving brownies. All were basically the same: flour, sugar, cocoa, salt, oil, water and vanilla; all with similar proportions of each. I figured instant hot chocolate was basically the sugar and cocoa pre-mixed. Another quick google search proved my hypothesis p...
My favorite columnist, Mark Steyn , has a bit of advice proffered when speaking to classes of aspiring writers. He tells them, in addition to becoming writers, they should aspire to do something else as well. What doesn't really matter, as long as they do something. It's been a while since I've read the column, but the gist is, it's a more fulfilling and useful life when one is capable of actually doing something beyond thinking about how to write about things being done. I would agree, capability is a wonderful thing. I've been surrounded by capable people my entire life. Need something built? The boards are in the shed; nails or screws? Need to replace a faulty light switch? I know a guy. Need something turned on a lathe? I know a guy — or three. Have a craving for handcrafted candy? Well, there is a secret family recipe for that. Just stand at the stove for a few hours, stirring to soft-ball stage. Being surrounded by so many people better at everything can b...
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