Everything Boiled Over...

This post might be a little bit uber silly but if my sister hadn't passed this info along to me, my cooking experience the other night may have turned out a little less pleasant lol!

So the other night despite my best efforts to make a lovely supper for us, everything boiled over... every pot I had on my flat top ceramic cooktop stove boiled over making a terrible mess all over the top of the stove - it seriously looked like a war zone on that thing!  But thankfully I had back up.

When we moved into our house, I was skeptical about a flat top stove.  We had one in our first home, but I constantly fought with it trying to keep it nice and clean.  However, my sister told me that the best thing on the market for cleaning a flat top is the Vileda Scrunge and it was a must have for our kitchen.  She was not kidding... this is the best way to clean a flat top stove I have ever seen.   These "scrunges" are two sided: the "rough" side is to scrub away whatever is on the stove top and the "soft" side is to polish.  There are no chemicals you have to use, just moisten the scrunge and that's all you'll need.  Once the rough side is worn down, toss it and grab a new one.  My first one lasted me for a few months.

I picked mine up at Walmart but I'm sure you can find them almost anywhere!
Cleaning likely isn't what any of us like to do, but at least if you have some good back up when you do have to do it, it makes the boiling over a little less painful! :)

Therapy... Part 3

I think the worst part about being sick was that even though I was home, I didn't have the energy to pull out my sewing machine & quilt...  thank goodness I recovered before the end of the weekend - a long weekend is a terrible thing to waste on being sick!

So let me back track a bit here:
The last time I blogged about this quilt, I nearly had all three strips pieced together.  During last week I was able to get all three strips finished as well as sew in the solid pieces that would go in-between those strips, completing the majority of this project. All that was left was to sew the border fabric on and figure out how to attach a binding.  This was my progress at that point:

This bottom shot is me playing around with the fabrics I was considering for the border

Next came the process of actually deciding what fabrics would make up the border and the actually attaching them... it looked a little like this:

The final piece in the sewing part of the puzzle was to decide if I was just going to rag the edges or if I was going to attempt to put on a binding.  The more I looked at it, the more convinced I was that it needed to have a binding in order to have that "finished" look.  A friend of mine said she was more than willing to help me, but kept encouraging me that it wasn't as difficult as I was thinking and to give it a try.  So thanks to her, youtube and some great tutorials and a website that showed me how to hand stitch the binding onto the back, I have officially completed my first quilt binding... and it turned out pretty sweet if I do say so myself lol!

Getting the hang of hiding my binding seam with hand stitches

I guess the corners aren't as tough as I was making them out to be in my head lol!

The binding is complete!  Definitely made the right choice...

So now there's just one thing left!  Tonight I'm hoping to clip it all and wash it a few times to fluff up those fringes and then this piece will be ready to go to it's new home!  I'm SO pleased with how this has all come together....

A Valentine to Giggle About...

A week ago today we celebrated Valentine's Day... and I may have never laughed so hard... ever!

My wonderful husband happened to be off last Monday and when we were figuring out our lunch plans he said, Why don't we just find something at home?  Sounded good to me...
When I got home and walked into the kitchen, I saw a card leaned up against a small bag of flour... I was very excited to open my card - but puzzled at the bag of flour... As I read my card, it all made sense...

The card itself was a gem all of it's own, but what Justin had written almost made me wet my pants:

"A little birdie told me that your favorite flower is Robin Hood...I hope you like it"

He seriously has the best sense of humor ever!  And then a few moments later he came back into the kitchen with a wonderful bouquet of  the most beautiful red roses...

He's a keeper ;)  and I may never open this bag of "flower"...seeing it sit on the pantry shelf makes me giggle every time I look at it :)

Playing Catch Up...

Last week was one of those kinda wonky weeks that I'm sure we all have once in a while.

I'm very grateful to have been pretty healthy this winter, but last week I kinda got sidelined... which meant I wasn't doing much of anything including blogging.  But after a wonderful long weekend I'm feeling back to normal and actually had a very productive weekend : )   So here begins my efforts to get back on track!

Early on the morning of January 3rd, my phone buzzed with the news that Miss Amara Joy had been born just a few hours earlier!  I was SO excited for my dear friends Dwight & Marcy and Amara's sister Gabby... their story is nothing short of miraculous... Amara made her entrance a little earlier than they had expected, but God's timing is so much better than ours and her entrance really was right on time!

I had made Miss Gabby a quilt (hers was actually my very first quilt!) this fall and knew that I wanted Amara to have one too.  I figured since I don't live close by to snuggle these amazing girls that perhaps this could be my way to snuggle them!  I found the "sweet pea" material and instantly I knew that that had to be Amara's.  I found a few other fabrics to go along with this and got to work...

I had seen this pattern online several times and I'm so glad I decided to go with it...

Happy snuggling Miss Sweet Pea!

Miracles Still Happen...

Today is a monumental day...
Two and a half months ago, on a cold Friday morning much like today, my husband had ACL reconstructive knee surgery.  When the surgeon got into Justin's knee, he discovered that there was no ACL left to reconstruct so he had to take a graft from his hamstring... not quite your "typical" ACL surgery.  When he left work the Friday before surgery, he had planned to be off work until the end of February.  From everything we had read and researched, recovery for ACL was 5 - 7 months, and we were prepared for this to be a long process - with the reward being a trip to New York City at the end of August for him to play hockey in the World Police & Fire Games.

However, his anticipated recovery schedule hasn't exactly gone as planned :)
He has been working with a phenomenal physiotherapist...seriously a very gifted man...and instead of going back to work on light duties at the end of February, Justin walked into the office on January 10, no crutches, barely any kind of a limp.  And today, two weeks before we thought he would just be starting work, he will be back in full uniform, back to work at full duties.  He is back on the ice coaching, skating (yes he's being careful!) doing some of the drills with the guys...for the most part, you'd have a hard time believing he had major surgery only two and a half months ago...

We've talked several times this week about how amazing his recovery has been.  We feel so incredibly blessed that he hasn't encountered any complications and that the whole process has gone so much better than we ever dreamed...and we've said, we can't help but believe that a huge part of this has been all those who have been praying for him and for us... we can't say thank you enough...

God is still in the miracle business... my amazing husband is literally walking proof....

14 Random Things I Love About My Husband... on the 14th

This is the first Valentine's day I'm sharing with my husband... But if the truth be told, he is the only "Valentine" I've ever had. We shared our first Feb 14 two years ago and I was so over the top excited cause it was the very first time I had someone special to share the day with... I used to joke the I'd marry the guy I shared my first Valentine's day with... Little did I know that would become my wonderful reality :)

So in honor of the day, and because everyone knows I'm a little cheesy anyway, here's a few of the many things I love about my husband...

1. He has brought out an adventuresome side of me that had previously always lurked in the shadows...he encourages me to try the "different" and go beyond the confines of my "box".

2. He is a great provider for us... he works very hard and I greatly appreciate this fact

3. He likes my cooking and baking

4. He loves me unconditionally

5. He can read me better than anyone... I can't hide from him, he know exactly when something isn't right

6. He gives the most amazing hugs...my absolute favorite place in the whole world is standing anywhere with his arms around me...

7. His willingness to communicate with me... even on a bad day

8. He is a fabulous driver...I'm glad that I don't worry about anything on the road when he is behind the wheel... and that he does pretty much all the driving... I'm quite content to be a passenger :)

9. He wrestles with me... I always loose - badly - but he lets me pretend that I am winning before he puts me in a hold I can not escape from....

10. He encourages me to dream and peruse those dreams... and he encourages us to dream... together...

11. He has fostered an environment for us to enjoy each other's interests... he likes it when I am in the stands as he's coaching a hockey game (and actually pays attention if I spend a whole period texting lol!) and I like how he smiles at me when I'm proudly showing him something I've created

12. He openly talks about the family that we are believing God for one day...I'm grateful that he is anticipating that season of our lives with joy and excitement.

13. He gives the best cards...He knows that for the special days (birthdays, anniversaries) a "mushy card" means a ton to me and he always finds the best ones that totally make my day...

14. He makes me laugh... He has helped me to see a lighter side of life and reminds me to not take things quite so seriously...other people in my life notice this too, and appreciate him for it

I love you babe... today...and forever and always...

Therapy... Part 2

Contrary to last Thursday, Thursday this week was a pretty good day on all fronts... thank goodness.  I never want to repeat last Thursday... ever!  And this week my "therapy" was more of a treat rather than a stress release :)

My wonderful husband is a minor hockey coach and they had an unusual Thursday night game out of town last night.  I travel with him and the team for almost every game, but yesterday they were leaving before I got off work, so we decided that I'd just stay home this time.  So that meant that I had a whole evening home on my own... so of course I happily ignored pretty much everything that should have been done around the house and pulled out my sewing machine for a glorious evening... just me, my machine, a few stacks of fabric and of course my Thursday evening companions: Grey's and The Big Bang Theory (feel free to roll your eyes here lol!)

In my post last week I had just begun to piece this quilt.  Last night my machine just hummed along and the end result was pretty sweet!  This pattern has three long pieces of squares with a solid fabric in-between these strips.  The top left photo shows the top half of two of the three strips, and I just laid the solid fabric in-between to get a better idea of what the finished product will look like.

For now, I sew sitting on the couch with my machine on the coffee table (we do have plans for a craft room in our developing basement!) and even our pooch thought this was cozy enough to curl up beside for a little snooze :)

A New Find...

I love finding a great recipe online.  While I definitely have my "old faithfuls" in a few select cookbooks that are almost never fail, I love the nights when I feel adventurous enough to try something new!  And last night was one of those nights...

Not my picture lol!  I borrowed it from the recipe website!

I had the recipe for Crafty Crescent Lasagna delivered to my inbox yesterday afternoon and thought it looked like it might be worth trying!  I love lasagna but last night I was looking for something that required a little less work... and voila!

When it comes to cooking I tend to follow the recipe pretty closely, but this one was so easy to adapt to what I already had in the fridge.  My adaptations:
-I only used one can of crescent rolls and it was a little tight to wrap around the filling... maybe I should have gone a bit easier on the filling! :)

-Rather than make a whole new batch of meat sauce for the filling, I just used the left over meat sauce I already had in the fridge from our spaghetti dinner the night before.  It tasted awesome!  And it was a great way to use the left overs!

-I used ricotta cheese instead of cottage cheese only because that is what was already in my fridge :)  and didn't use quite as much as was called for here.  Unfortunately I discovered that while I love ricotta or cottage cheese in my lasagna,  my wonderful hubby doesn't so much... might make it half and half next time and make us both happy!

We both had a good sized piece and there is still enough for at least two more meals!  Would be great for a family!

(I'm including the recipe here for you, but if you'd like to jump over to the LifeMadeDelicious site, just click on the title and it will take you over there!)

Crafty Crescent Lasagna
Ingredients:

• 1 lb (500 g) lean ground beef
• 3/4 cup (175 mL) chopped onions
• 1 can (5.5 fl oz/156 mL) tomato paste
• 1 tbsp (15 mL) dried parsley flakes
• 1/2 tsp (2 mL) each dried basil and oregano leaves
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• dash pepper
• 1/4 cup (50 mL) grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 cup (250 mL) cottage cheese
• 1 egg
• 2 cans (each 235 g) Pillsbury* Crescents
• 1 cup (250 mL) shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1 tbsp (15 mL) milk
• 1 tbsp (15 mL) sesame seeds

Method:

• Heat oven to 375°F (190°C). In large  skillet, cook beef and onions until thoroughly cooked; drain.
• Stir in tomato paste, parsley, basil, oregano, garlic, and pepper. Cook 5 minutes or until heated through.
• Combine Parmesan cheese, cottage cheese and egg.
• Separate both cans of dough into 4 long rectangles. Place dough rectangles side by side on ungreased large baking sheet; seal perforations. Press to form 15x13-inch (38x33 cm) rectangle.
• Spoon half the meat filling in a 6-inch (15 cm) wide strip lengthwise down centre of dough to within 1-inch (2.5 cm) of short sides.
• Spoon cheese filling over meat filling; spoon remaining meat filling evenly over cheese filling.
• Sprinkle mozzarella cheese over top of meat filling. Fold short sides of dough 1-inch (2.5 cm) over filling
• Fold long sides of dough tightly over filling, overlapping edges in centre 1/4-inch (6 mm); firmly pinch centre seam and ends to seal. Brush with milk; sprinkle with sesame seeds.
• Bake 23 to 27 minutes or until deep golden brown.

Therapy...

After what I think was the single most rotten day of work in the past three years, I definitely needed an evening to just relax and do something that makes me smile.  So I pulled out my sewing machine and proceeded to indulge in some quilting therapy.

I'm very excited about this quilt for a few reasons:
1 - It's the first time I've used cotton for the front instead of flannel.  I absolutely love this fabric and so far so good!
2 - This is the first quilt that I've been commissioned to make!  It was fun to work through the process of finding patterns and colors that she liked and even more fun that it's actually coming together!  The option of selling my work is one I am looking forward to exploring!

This past Saturday, when I couldn't sleep late I left my hubby in dreamland and I began the mission of cutting all the pieces for this quilt.  And then last night I started actually putting it all together...  Here's a sneak peak of the fabric and the first square.  I can't wait to see the finished product! :)

Needless to say by the time I went to bed, me and my sewing machine had had a wonderful double date with Grey's Anatomy and The Big Bang Theory... and I went to bed with a smile!