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Happy Hollidays Everyone!

Lasagna Love!

Jill posted a recipe for crock pot lasagna on facebook a week or so ago and I thought...
Crock pot lasagna?
Really?
But I love lasagna and I have never ever made a good lasagna.
I made Pioneer Woman's lasagna once and it was so spicy it burned my tongue off, but usually it just turns out like lasagna soup or lasagna brick or just lasagna yuck which really makes me mad because everyone I know says oh I make the best lasagna ever and usually they're right they do.
I, on the other hand, do not.
So, Jill posts this recipe and I think to myself... Maybe?
It. Was. Amazing.
So easy, ready in four hours, and I think it's pretty much no fail.

Ingredients

• 1 pound (16 ounces) ground beef
• 1/2 cup diced white onion
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic
• 1 (24 ounce) jar spaghetti sauce
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 (15 ounce) container ricotta cheese
• 2 cups mozzarella cheese
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 whole egg
• 2 Tablespoons fresh parsley or 2 teaspoons dried parsley
• 6 uncooked lasagna noodles

Directions

1. 1In a large skillet brown beef and onion. Add garlic and cook for one minute. Drain.
2. 2Add spaghetti sauce and water and simmer for about 5 minutes.
3. 3Mix ricotta, 1 1/2 cups mozzarella, 2 Tablespoons Parmesan, egg and parsley.
4. 4Pour 1 cup of spaghetti meat sauce into a 4 to 6 quart sized slow cooker. Place half of the noodles and half of the ricotta mixture on top of the sauce. Cover with 2 cups meat sauce. Top with remaining noodles (If the noodles don't fit exactly break them to fit) and cheese mixture and meat sauce.
5. 5Cook on low for 4 to 5 hours or until noodles are soft. Sprinkle with 1/2 cup of mozzarella and remaining parmesan. Cover with the lid to melt the cheese and let it sit for 10 minutes before serving.
6. 6Do not overcook and don't try to speed up the process by cooking it on high.
7. 7*Works best with a 4 to 6 quart size slow cooker.

And here's the link with all the credit where credit is due
TABLESPOON


Here's a story that will amaze you.
My washing machine has been dying a long slow drawn out painful suffering death.
We have been supporting and encouraging it with kind words and swift kicks to try and just get that one last load out of it and mind you it has been a hard blow for us because the stupid thing is only five years old and I think it cost more than my first car.
Six has had it apart six ways to Sunday cleaning filters, counting bearings and checking hoses and he could usually get it to run for a day or two, but it would always end up sputtering and stopping with a barrel full of water and a tank full of suds, so finally, it was time.
I told him I couldn't take the madness any more, he knew what we had to do.

It was time to take the long walk to the shop and uncover the boss.
The thirty year old stand by.
The heavy.
The top loading faux wood grain shiny white Whirlpool.
We really had no other choice, we had to have a machine we could count on and albeit ugly and old, it was tried and true.

But... To my surprise, Six had one more trick up his sleeve.

With the boss on the patio and the broken bohemia looming large in the garage Six went for his tools one last time...
What he would emerge with would shock us all.
It was the water pump.
Packed with sand.
Like a sand castle bucket at the beach.
Gross.
Five years of door mats and towels, logging pants and dog beds, all there, packed in the water pump.
Six had won.
He cleaned the packed up pump and conquered the bohemia, and as he wheeled it back into it's place in the utility room I thought I saw him walk a little taller and he may have even slept a little sounder that night.
A wise man (Red Green) once said,
"If the women don't find you handsome, they should at least find you handy"
I'm pretty lucky to have both.
 ❤
Peas

Decisions...

I can tell that August is winding down because my crochet finger is getting very twitchy...
I can't stop looking at patterns of afghans, doilies, sweaters or scarves and each one seems to draw me in even more than the last.
So now the decision...
What to start with.

I am loving this afghan done in a warm rich fall colors.

http://www.lionbrand.com/patterns/L20072.html?noImages=

I really like this.

Maybe I'll start with it.

For sure.

I think.

But then I am also tempted by these little doilies...

And can easily see myself sitting down with a brightly colored stash of fingering weight yarn churning out doilies by the dozen...

But then there is also this...

http://www.patternfish.com/patterns/10434

What more is there to say about this scarf.

Really.

Crocheted with sock yarn so the look and feel would be out of this world.

You can see where my quandary lies.

Maybe I'll make some brownies instead.

Brownies are good and the decision making process is simple and straight to the point.

My only question about brownies...

If you eat the entire 9x13 in one sitting is it still considered just one piece?

I say that it is.

Peas.

Summer Wrap Up!

Ahhh, the blissful sounds of a late summer morning.
The company has all come and gone, the commotion of late nights is quickly turning into early to bed school night practice runs and it even seems like the livestock knows to take a que and quiet their early morning banter.

Without a doubt, this is my favorite time of the day.

So much has happened this summer I wouldn't know where to begin, but it was action packed and spring loaded!

Maddy came to visit the second week in July and brought with her a sewing machine and an itchy craft finger!
That kid has creativity coming out the WAZOO!

We made some fabulous strawberry freezer jam

Lots of cookies...

Some AMAZING crock pot teriyaki chicken

A purse from no pattern.

More earrings than you can shake sticks at

And of course there was lots of swimming and fun to be had at the pond!

All in all a fun time was had by all.

Of course the Texas Tornado breezed in for a late summer visit, but I must confess, it was pretty painless.

And we found long lost Cousin Zack and that was the BEST!!

Aliciaberry came to teach the bunny rabbits how to jump rope.

As we all know, a very useful skill only attainable from a little blonde cherub in a bright pink tutu.

The Summer Wedding Event Went Off Without A Hitch...

Well unless of course you throw in a new medication that makes menopause sweats look like a soft morning glow and you find yourself soaked to the bone with red stained skin having to do the the greet and squeeze and soak with family and friends.

Oh well. 

Here's how I look at it.

Every wedding needs that one guest with that one outlandish flaw, rather it's double dipping the clam dip, too much champagne or just a real bad case of the sweats.

Considering I didn't drink or have any dip I feel like I covered the awkward sweaty guest with limited style and grace and I intentionally never ever once went in for any big emotional embraces.

I chose two outfits and of course wish I would have gone with my first choice.

The second left me rather busty and feeling a little exposed, but it was from off the rack at Old Navy and I loved it at first sight and ran with it.

Again, if it was a little daring, it will just add to the flavor of the sweaty story.

The bride was beautiful.

Congratulations Mitchell and Sarah.

The Neighbor

What can I say...

He is perfectly perfect and the light of my life and every morning when I wake up knowing he is sleeping next door my heart beats with more love than I ever knew it could.

I will try and remember this feeling when he's two.

Here he is fishing with his Dad.

Craft Intervention

Somebody help me, I can't stop making these.

Is this the cutest pattern ever for little flower coasters???

The original pattern dates back to the 1800's.

I feel so securely vintage in my table top protection.

This concludes your summer briefing.

Peas.

The Story Of Astro

The cutest kitten you have ever seen...

With two colored eyes one blue and one green.

But soon he grew up, and he fell in love

With a black and white temptress known simply as Olive.

Things went to far as things often do and before he knew it along came the crew.

So Astro packed up and went on a trip, 

to see the vet about having a snip.

Now Astro is resting, all snug in his bed

While thoughts of revenge run through Olives head.

Peas.

Iced Coffee Anyone?

The Pioneer Woman posted a recipe for iced coffee about three months ago.
I was so excited because I have been trying to make a good iced coffee with the worst results and I could not for the life of me figure out what the trick was because there was obviously a trick.
Turns out there were lots of tricks.
I see instructions for iced coffee all over Pinterest now, so discovering the trick is a cake walk and all you need are a few basic ingredients.

Here we go...

One pound of ground coffee.
I see that every store now offers an iced coffee blend and I don't know if that means anything, but it's the same price so you might as well try it.

Pour the entire bag of coffee into a large bowl

Then add one gallon of water and gently combine.

Now you have a big bowl of black oogy coffee soupy slop.

Perfect.

Refrigerate overnight.

The next morning get some cheesecloth

and lay it in a strainer.

Put the strainer over a two quart pitcher

and strain the whole works into the pitcher.

Now...

Get a can of PET and a can of sweetened condensed milk 

and mix the two of them together in a shakeable something like this

Then pour the coffee and cream over a glass of ice like this!

This is the only picture that's mine, all the rest are Google pics.

Deelish.

Seriously.

Perfect.

Ok, that's all for now.

I've had so much iced coffee while putting this post together I think I need to go clean the pasture or put a new roof on the barn.

Peas.

Chicken Scratch

I'm getting out of the chicken business today.
Well, almost, we're keeping Millie and Frak, but all the rest are moving on to a new coop.

Frak

That's Millie in front

The problem is, we get more eggs than we could ever possibly eat, and living in the country, you can't sell eggs, and even the people living in town don't wan't them because everyone is a backyard farmer now and grows their own chickens and goats.

Add in the work of cleaning the coop, feeding, collecting and washing the eggs, I think I can live with runny pale hormone induced store bought eggs.
Millie and Frak will lay a few eggs here and there, but we are going to let them free range so who knows where they will lay, and...
We have fourteen baby ducks now who will lay eggs like they're going out of business.

Marry Ellen and her babies

This year we're keeping all the ducklings because the are the best pest patrol ever. They eat more flies than a fly trap traps, not to mention slugs, ants, spiders, and anything else creepy.
They're very friendly and don't tear things up like chickens do, so in my book, they're a-ok.
We will be putting the turkeys, Wills and Kate out in the barnyard soon and they will have the company of all the geese.

And hopefully Penny will be bringing down a new brood soon.
She has been up in the barn sitting for what seems like a few weeks at least.
I'm SO excited to see what she makes :)

Penny and Steve

That's about it, everything is okey-dokey, the weather is nice, the days are long...

And I have the best neighbor in the world!

Six months & sixteen pounds!

Peas!

Don't Throw It Away!

Been to busy to blog so today I'm sharing a little Old Farmers Almanac Wisdom!

Wait! Don’t Throw It Away!

by Farmers' Almanac Staff | Monday, May 21st, 2012 | From: Home and Garden

Reduce, reuse, recycle! If your community is like most, recycling is now part of your curbside pickup service. Many towns and cities are promoting recycling to residents as a way to reduce disposal costs or stretch the resources of local landfills. As recycling rates improve, however, there is a lost art our grandparents and great-grandparents once practiced that we could stand to learn from: reuse.

In these lean economic times, it only makes sense to make the most of our resources, finding second, and sometimes third, lives for items we would have once simply discarded. As the old adage says, “Waste not, want not.”

Here’s a quick primer on how to turn trash into treasure!

Empty Tin Cans 
• Wash them out thoroughly. Cut out both the top and bottom ends and use to protect young seedlings from critters.

• Paint and hang in trees to discourage birds from eating your ripening fruit.

• Punch them with designs and set candles in the middle of each. Use as lanterns to line sidewalks, steps, and gardens. (Do not cut out both ends. To punch, fill with water and freeze. Mark a pattern on the outside of each can, get a nail and a hammer, and hammer out the designs. Let the water thaw, then put tea lights in each for lanterns.)

Junk Mail 
• Instead of tossing coupons, letters, and envelopes from your mail, use them as scrap paper instead. They’re really great for notes, grocery lists, or drawing paper for kids.

• Newspapers can be used as mulch to keep weeds down. You’ll need to cover them with dirt or rocks or something to keep the papers from blowing away, but they will work well to keep weeds at bay and ultimately will dissolve into the soil.

FREE Box 
On trash days, try putting out a box filled with items that have value (but not to you) with a sign that says “FREE.” Sometimes your trash is another person’s treasure.

• Freecycle— check out freecycle.org. This online, nonprofit community is made of local groups that enable you to list and give away (and get) stuff for free in your own area. It’s all about reusing and keeping good stuff out of landfills.

Faded Curtains and Old Shirts 
•Unless they’re made from polyester, old shirts and curtains are probably compostable.

• They can be used for dust rags or cut down for something like a tarp or packing material, etc.

Brown Paper Bags 
•Use paper bags for wrapping paper. Turn them inside out if there’s writing on them, add colorful ribbons or have children color on them.

• Place hot cookies on brown paper bags. This helps soak up a little of the oil from the cookies.

Egg Cartons 
• Store your small pieces of jewelry in empty egg cartons.

• Take the lid off a carton and place the bottom in a drawer. It can hold and organize buttons, paper clips, small screws, and nails.

• Line the bottom part of an egg carton with small cupcake papers. You can place small homemade cookies or candies in each compartment. Wrap the whole with clear plastic. Top with a ribbon. Give as a gift.

• Use them to start seeds. If they are cardboard, the entire container can be planted when the seeds germinate.

• Use as a paint holder for children. When they are finished painting, the carton can be thrown away. (Styrofoam cartons can be washed out and reused.)

Coffee Cans 
• Coffee cans are really good to have in the shop. They hold all sizes of nails and screws. The sizes of the nails can be printed on the lids with a marker. Yogurt Containers Use old yogurt containers to store leftovers in or to pack lunches.

• Cut the bottom out of a yogurt container and place it around delicate plants to protect them in the spring from chilly weather.

• Make your own herb garden: put a hole in the bottom of a container, add a large rock, soil, and seed. Empty Thread Spools String spools together and separate by knots to use as part of a gentle wind chime strand.

• They really make cute miniature dried flower holders and wonderful take-home souvenirs with children’s names on them when used for seating at a party.

Shower Curtains 
• Clean and disinfect an old shower curtain by soaking it for a couple of hours in a bathtub filled with warm water and vinegar. Use it as a tablecloth for the picnic table.

• Use an old shower curtain as a drop cloth when you are painting, or as a ground sheet under your tent or sleeping bags.

• Make a windshield cover to prevent frost build-up. Cut a shower curtain to fit your windshield and hem magnets in along the edges to hold it on your vehicle.

• Use a shower curtain to make an apron for really messy jobs.

Motivating Reasons to Reduce Garbage 
According to data released by the United States Environmental Protection Agency in 2001 about plastic bag, sack, and wrap consumption, somewhere between 500 billion and a trillion plastic bags are consumed worldwide each year. While many bags are reused before being trashed, many find their way into landfills or are polluting areas around shopping centers. Once in the environment, it takes months to hundreds of years for plastic bags to break down. On average, according to 2001 statistics, each person in America generates 4.4 lbs of waste a day. According to the Dump and Run Web site (http://www.dumpandrun. org/garbage.htm)

• Americans’ total yearly waste would fill a convoy of garbage trucks long enough to wrap around the Earth six times or reach halfway to the moon. It is estimated that this year Americans will generate 222 million tons of waste.

• Since 1950, people in the United States have used more resources than any generation that lived before them. Each individual American uses up 20 tons of basic raw materials annually.

• At the consumption level of the average American, at least four additional planets worth of resources would be needed to support the planet’s six billion inhabitants.

• By comparison, the average North American consumes ten times as much as the average person living in China and thirty times as much as the average person living in India.

Angel Food & Daisies!

Another Monday already?
I really shouldn't say that because I don't have Mondays.
I'm just trying to fit in .
A poser of sorts.

Anywho...
I hope everyone had a great weekend!
I was able to finish the upstairs with the exception of painting and trust me, that may be the most important part, so I can't do my "Big Blog Reveal" until it's finished finished.
I think your grandchildren will really enjoy it and by then appriciate the retro feel of the space :)

During one of my procrationation periods well deserved cleaning breaks I found this blog, Tillie Tulip.
She does the most beautiful crochet, and I fell in love with this granny daisy.

Umm, hello, how great is that!
So on my next "break" I sat down and started stitching and thought that I wanted to go with something like this,

But then I changed my mind and decided I want to go with something bright and fun instead of plain old beige.

I tried a green one and that didn't do a thing for me and I tried a blue which I love, but I don't wan't to completley poach Tillie's daisy, just replicate it.

So I think I'll do a yellow center, white petals and brights on the outside bordered in white.

I'll take a picture once I get a few together.

Thanks Tillie for the inspiration :)

Kay the other thing I made on one of my many breaks was angel food cake in a jelly jar!!

I'm not even kidding you.

Wendy bought an angel food cake mix but didn't want to do the whole tube pan hanging on a bottle business so I told her I would make it for her.

Then, while immersed in doing some research on Pinterest I came across a recipe for jelly jar angel food cake!!!

All you do is follow the directions on the box and then fill 16 

(I think next time I'll do 15) 

well sprayed with non stick, 8oz jelly jars, 1/4 of the way full, place on a cookie sheet and bake about 20 minutes!

Tadaaa!!! 

Imagine these at a potluck or picnic with a bowl of fresh strawberries and whipped cream!

Thanks i am baker!

I have to go do the dishes now.

Happy Monday!

Peas.

What Not To Wear

My nephew is getting married in August and although I have seriously considered wearing the same dress to his wedding that I wore to my nieces wedding last summer I think that may be just a little to faux pas'ish even for me.
I never really go anyplace fancy so if I buy a dress to wear to one occasion that's the only time I'll ever wear it so I just figured I would wear that one fancy wedding guest dress to all the weddings I go to and then I would have sufficient bang for my fashion buck.

But I can't do it.

Maybe someday I'll be called to jury duty or be featured on the news for some kind of local scandal and get to wear my fancy dress again.

In the meantime, I'm on the lookout for something appropriate to wear to an evening wedding in downtown Seattle.

I was initially thinking something like this...

Casual and comfortable yet stylish with a current feel.

Yes I said current.

Have you seen Tori Spelling?

But then my nephew said he would prefer if nobody wore purple.

At least on our side of the family.

But ruling out purple also ruled out this...

And probably this too.

Ok so I need to go in a different direction.

Maybe something a little younger with a splash of color.

A romper maybe?

But that would mean shaving the top AND bottom of my legs, so that's out and so is this.

Plus, I didn't know if the black one was a little dress or a big bikini.

Back to the drawing room

I know you're never supposed to outshine the bride, but I can totally see myself in this.

Or maybe even this

Buuuut.... Since we're driving up and back the day of the ceremony that means a lot of time spent dolled up in a 97' Ford Escort with Wendy, Wyatt and the Neighbor and these dresses would probably encroach on someone else's leg room.

Scratch those two.

Then I thought, I'm pretty crafty, maybe I could whip up something myself.

Trailer park tie dye anyone?

Mmm... No.

How about a little Stevie Nicks?

Hides a multitude of hips.

Then again maybe no.

Since I ruled out a romper maybe a jumpsuit that doesn't require anything more than armpit shaving?

What do you think?

I'll tell you what I think...

I think I'm going to stick with an old stand by.

The little black dress.

Homemade.

Upcycled.

And maybe I'll have Wyatt put a new twist on the old favorite with a strip or two of duct tape.

Not just plain old silver of course, I was thinking purple pink or yellow.

I haven't commited to anything yet, so let me know what you think.

Peas.