Pickles and Hats

I always forget how busy life gets in August. I have been busy making jam, picking and freezing quart after quart of raspberries, making pickles (over 50 quarts so far!)... Last week, Kevin's parents bought me a pressure cooker, which has me over the moon! Jerry, my father in law, picked me an entire grocery sack of green beans from his garden, and I canned 14 pints, including a bunch of hot dilly beans.

My friend Charity and I each bought half a bushel of pickling cucumbers from a local farm and spent a day making 44 quarts of dills. I have also been picking tons of cucumbers from my dad's gardens, and have so far made 9 quarts of hamburger dills and dill spears. I have a bag of 8 cukes sitting on my counter right now, meaning tomorrow I will make another batch.

Today I threw a baby shower for Liz, my sister in law, along with my sister Alyx and Liz's sister Cassie.

It's a girl!

Baby is due at the end of September, so I made her two hats:

The first one is the Norwegian Sweet Baby Cap. It's a nod to my dad and his Norwegian heritage. Plus it's so cute!

Here it is on Dana's baby, Dizzy. It will actually fit like a little pilot cap, framing New Baby's face, but Dizzy is the best model I could come up with. Since we know Baby is a girl, I did a yarn over rather than a make one because I thought the eyelets would look sweet, which they do. I also made the stripes 4 rounds tall rather than 2 rounds tall. I like the wider stripes.

Since our winters get pretty ugly, I also made a Meathead to keep her warm. It's 2 strands of Lorna's Laces Shepherd Bulky held together, so it will be really super cozy. The flower accent is just polar fleece from my stash. I sort of freehanded with my scissors, then found a suitable button in my button box.

Meathead and Cucumber

I have been busy with various knitting, sewing and gardening projects this summer. I have finished 3 hats and am working on a gift for my soon-to-be-born niece.

This is a very small version of the Meathead hat that I made as a first birthday gift. I added the optional pocket and filled it with crayons. It's nice and warm for our hideous winters.

The season's first cucumber. I have picked 2 more since, with another waiting on the vine. There are 2 tomatoes that I had planned to pick today, but it's been storming since I woke up. Not worth risking my life over. I've been harvesting 6-8 pounds of raspberries every other day at my parents' house. I have made jam and frozen a bunch. I totally missed out on strawberries this year, as they were ripe very early. I heard from friends that the crop left something to be desired, so my disappointment didn't last that long. I did buy strawberries and blackberries at the grocery store for a jam-making evening.

The project that has been keeping me busy for the past few weeks: curtains for the girls' room. I have been working on them a bit here and there, on days when the weather is bad and I don't feel guilty for being inside, and they are almost done. I'll share when I am done-they are pretty cute!

Apologies for the long absence. We've had out of town visitors, daily swimming lessons, daily sailing lessons, more visitors, etc. Summer's kept us hopping!

White Chocolate Lime Ice Cream: Recipe

I made ice cream.

A few nights ago, I woke up mid-dream when Dana climbed into our bed after a nightmare. I should probably not admit this on the world wide web, but I was dreaming about making lime ice cream with white chocolate.

And so I did. And it's really lovely. It's creamy and limey and sweet, and it's flecked with bright green bits of lime zest.

Both girls think it tastes like lime sherbet, and they are so right. I used white chocolate chips that I pulsed in the food processor, and I am not sure they add anything flavor-wise. In my dream, I was adding a stream of white chocolate syrup as the ice cream churned. In reality, I didn't want to completely mix in the white chocolate-I wanted bursts of it here and there. And I wasn't sure how to pull that off with syrup. Then again, it didn't really work with the chips either. Oh well. The ice cream is still pretty awesome.

White Chocolate Lime Ice Cream

1 3/4 cups sugar
1 cup heavy cream
1 1/4 cups milk (I had 1% in the fridge)
1 1/4 cups half and half
1/2 cup lime juice (juice of 3 limes)
zest of 2 limes
1 cup white chocolate chips, roughly chopped

Mix sugar, cream, milk and half and half in a bowl. Let it sit while you deal with the limes. This will give the sugar a chance to dissolve.

Remove the zest from 2 limes and mince it very finely. You should have about 2 teaspoons of zest. Add this to the cream and sugar mixture resting in the bowl.

Half the limes and juice them (I needed 3 limes to get 1/2 cup). You may use bottled lime juice if you prefer, but since you need the zest anyway, why not use fresh? Add the lime juice to the sugar and cream mixture and stir until all of the sugar is incorporated. Pour into your ice cream machine and process according to the directions.

Once my ice cream was done churning, I transferred it to a freezer-safe container and stirred in the white chocolate chips. Then I froze it overnight.

I like the idea of pink lemonade ice cream, so I may try that next, subbing lemon juice and zest for the lime, and adding strawberry puree. Sounds refreshing and summery. Yum!

New Purse

I made myself a new purse about a month ago. My old purse was beginning to fray all along the strap, and it bugged me to no end.

This is the perfect size for me, holding everything I need without allowing room to become unmanageable.

I went dark this time. I also used a cotton webbing strap.

I am not entirely sure about the solid black, but at least it won't show grime.

The pocket on the left side holds my cell phone. I sewed a snap in the middle of that pocket so my phone can't just slip out and get lost like it did with my old purse.

I also sewed a couple of mini tote bags for Sophie and Tommy, my friend Jessica's kids. But I forgot to take photos of them. Oops. I made those bags a bit wider than the other kid bags I've made, and I think that worked a lot better. I love the idea of a little tote made from fat quarters, but in practice, it's just not practical.

Sheep and Wool Hat

Way back in February, I brought Nora shopping for yarn. She selected two skeins of Mirasol Tupa in her favorite colors: turquoise and pink (well, magenta in this case). I had a pattern in mind and she found it agreeable, so I went to work.

She asked about it regularly for 3 months. She was so anxious to get her hat!

Well...Nora was at a birthday party this afternoon and I sat down and finished it. When she got home, I tried to put it on her sweet blond head, and it refused. This hat was way too small! My heart sank to the bottom of my stomach. The thing is, I KNOW I knit really tightly! But I did a gauge swatch and this was right on.

Nora is so sweet. She told me to give it to Dana, which I did. And Dana loves it. Loves it!

I don't know what's going on with the mouse.

The pattern is called Sheep and Wool Hat, but I cannot find it anywhere! I mean, I know I found it on Ravelry, but I can't find the blog where the pattern actually is. If you want the pattern, you can sure leave a comment and I will look harder. It's out there somewhere!

It's a great pattern with a lovely secret: it's double thickness around the ears! My whole goal was to knit a nice, cozy hat for our horrific winter weather. Nora's other hat is pretty, but it's not super warm and it sure doesn't cover her ears. She asked me to knit this hat again, only bigger, in the same colorways. And so I will. It was a simple pattern, easy to memorize, and the yarn is pretty swell to work with. So watch for another post of the exact same hat in about 3 months. That's the pace I work at nowadays.

Flannel in April

Today we had planned to go geocaching, but instead it was cold and windy. And so we stayed inside to play.

I got out my sewing machine and went to work on a couple of flannel nighties for my little ladies. They picked out their own fabric a couple of weeks ago. It's been sitting, cut out, ever since.

Let's keep in mind that the girls are fresh from the tub, so their hair is wet and possibly unruly.

Nora picked out really plush flannel by Valori Wells. Actually, Dana picked out the same fabric in a different color for her last mama-made nightie. It's pretty sweet fabric.

Dana picked out baby boy flannel. I don't know what to tell you. Nora and I can't figure out what made her fall for this stuff. It's sort of thin, and the pattern screams "baby boy!" But she thinks it is fantastic, and as long as she's happy, I'm happy.

I have fabric cut for 3 more sewing projects. I have yarn for 3 more knitting projects. And 3 of my closest girlfriends are pregnant. I need to finish up my 6 projects so I can get to work on some teeny tiny things.

Una Fiesta

Our friend Callie joined the Peace Corps. She's leaving for Guatemala in 9 days!

Callie hosts a Cinco de Mayo party every year (remember this post? or this one?). Since she will be gone this year (and next year, and I think the year after, too), she threw an early combo Cinco de Mayo/Adios party last night.

I sewed her a mini messenger bag as a going away present.

This the front, with the front flap closed.

And this is the front, including the strap. I used cotton webbing for the strap again. I think it will hold up better than quilting cotton.

The best side view I could get. The gusset is a dark orange background with magnolia blossoms.

The back view. There are pockets on the back (the magnolia fabric).

The front of the purse, with the flap open. There's a magnetic snap closure, and there are 2 pockets in front.

The inside. I am no photographer, that's for sure. There's an inside zipper pocket, perfect for securing small items. The pocket in my mini messenger holds lip balm and my Swiss Army card.

I made jalapeno poppers from The Pioneer Woman Cooks. I did a few modifications: the bacon is Morningstar Farms, not actual pork; I used neufchatel cheese instead of cream cheese and reduced fat sharp cheddar; and speaking of cheddar, I used a whole cup, not half a cup; and finally, I pressed little bits of pineapple into the filling. They were awesome, if I do say so myself. My friend Charity, who is 36 weeks pregnant, ate 5 of them. I love her so much right now! She also ate 4 pieces of cake at Dana's birthday party. She is so good for my self esteem.

Callie's pinata. She totally outdid herself. See all those mini pinatas hanging off of the branch? Those are miniatures of pinatas she has made for previous Cinco de Mayo celebrations. Is that not amazing? And this bird had actual feathers! And she stuffed it full of really clever treats, like peace sign necklaces since she's joining the Peace Corps, and balloons with globes printed on them. And chocolate.

Buena suerte, Callie!