Friday, March 30, 2012

Mum's Chocolate Chip Cookies

Y'all know I don't bake very often. So when I get the urge I gotta hop on it. This weekend I felt like baking cookies. And I just happened to have everything I needed on hand to make my Mum's Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies!

What You'll Need
1 cup shortening
2/3 cup brown sugar
2/3 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
2 cups chocolate chips
2 cups oatmeal

Cream shortening and sugars together



Add eggs and vanilla




Add all the dry ingredients except the oatmeal



Add chocolate chips and then the oatmeal




Bake at 350 F for about 8-10 minutes, depending on your oven


Yummy!


When my Mum makes them, they always turn out crispy (boo).  But I think I make my cookies bigger and they end up chewier.  I also roll my dough into balls and I think Mum just plops hers on with a spoon - maybe that's the difference.  If you bake these goodies, let me know how they work out for you!

button+FTF.jpg

Friday, March 23, 2012

Jill's Birthday

How much fun is it to celebrate a birthday with your family, let alone your only favourite sister!??!?  When Jill was visiting last week we got to celebrate together! So much fun. 


Decorations.  Had to wake up before Jill to set these up!


The first thing she saw as she walked downstairs!


Festive table!


FOOD!
Complete with Jill's fingers! 
French toast, breakfast sausages and a cheese plate!


Oh yeah, we're not related at all!


I may or may not have cried when I saw this in the store. 
Had to get it for Jilly.

Oh she's a cool kid.


Happy Birthday Jill.  It was a blast! 

Wednesday, March 21, 2012

Rubbed Potatoes

I don't eat potatoes very often.  Hardly ever.  The whole "carbs are evil" thing really sticks out to me when it comes to potatoes (pasta however has no carbs-right!?!?) Anywho, I was in need of a quick dinner fix the other day and decided on oven roasted potatoes.  But how to make them different and delicious? 
Use a rub!


What You'll Need
Potatoes
Olive Oil
Brown Sugar
Garlic Salt
Chili Powder
Fresh Ground Black Pepper

Wash your potatoes and cut them into dice sized pieces.  Throw them in a microwavable bowl and nook them for about 12 minutes, stirring half way through.  This is a trick my Dad taught me.  If you start cooking the potatoes in the microwave it makes dinner WAY faster!

Toss them with olive oil, and a combination of brown sugar, chili powder, garlic salt and pepper.  The quantities are up to you.  I would say about 2 tablespoons of sugar to 2 teaspoons of chili powder and garlic salt (each) and 1 teaspoon of pepper. 
But I'm guessing here.

Throw the potatoes on a baking sheet and set in the oven at about 350 F until they're golden brown, maybe 15 minutes? 

Enjoy!
They really are a savoury, flavourful way to serve up boring old potatoes!
It's a Keeper

Big Plans Fall Through

Ugh! You know when you have great big extravagant plans and then something truly out of your control comes along and wipes them out?!?!? Or is it just because I'm a huge control freak? Maybe a bit of both. Allow me to explain.

This past weekend my sister Jill, yes the same Jill of Envirocraftiness fame, came out to Vancouver to visit me. And boy did I have big plans.... And then three days into her trip she got a wicked stomach bug.... And then I got it 36 hours layer. Fun trip huh?

Needless to say we got almost nothing done. Ok that's not entirely true. We test baked a wedding cake (upcoming post), I bought my potential wedding shoes, and we picked up paper for our wedding menus and table numbers. Posts on all that jazz to come! Ooh and we celebrated Jill's bday, and I'll post about that too! As soon as I get off the couch!

Friday, March 16, 2012

Owl iPhone Cover

Woo Hoo! Another Pinterest project accomplished.  Granted this is the Beta/trial version.  I love this project SO MUCH that I have to make another one....and a special little cousin might be getting one for her birthday in April!

To follow the original pattern click here. 

First, create your owly pattern


Then trace your iPhone onto paper as a pattern.  In the original pattern Justine recommends cutting your pattern larger than your iPhone, and cutting larger again when you cut your felt.  This ended up too big for my iPhone.  Next time I won't cut my felt larger than my pattern.  I want my iPhone to fit snug-plus felt has some give.


I didn't have any lovely fabric like Justine had, so I made some.  I had some plain white cotton and I drew on with my Sharpies some paisleys and dots to dress it up a bit.


Then use your owly pattern to cut out different colours of felt for the wings, beak, eyes, etc


Then sew all your pieces onto the front with a blanket stitch..yeah yeah I know my stitching sucks, don't remind me.  You live and learn!

The back is probably my favourite


It's just too cute! 
Next time I'll try with some nicer felt and fabric. 

Fantabulous Friday!
button+FTF.jpg

Thursday, March 15, 2012

Jilly Bean is coming!

My lovely sissy is coming for a visit! And she arrives tonight!!!! I can't wait.  I've been looking forward to this trip for a while and even though I just saw her at Christmas time I'm feeling so overwhelmed that I really need some Jill time!
She's gonna kill me for using this picture-luckily we both look pretty awful! 

Not only is she here to visit, she'll be celebrating her birthday with us!  We'll also make a test wedding cake, maybe hang some wall paper, print my wedding invitations, work on our table numbers and seating chart....

Five days just won't be enough!
Stay tuned for some sisterly goodness!

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

It's a Keeper Thursday Linky Party!

It's a KeeperSo remember way back when, when I said I'd be hosting a linky party with the lovely Christina from "It's a Keeper"? It's a Keeper Thursday is a linky party Christina runs EVERY Thursday where you can show off your culinary skills.  I hang out there frequently. Anywho, Christina got sick and we rescheduled and I plum forgot until she sent me an email yesterday, reminding me that we rescheduled for today!  Eek!  I had big plans to blog about my first attempt making Beef Wellington (it really was an  adventure in cooking!)  But, since I'm posting this in the wee hours of the night (well for the East coast), I thought I'd do something a bit quicker!

 

Polenta Fries!
I can't rave enough about polenta fries.  I was out at a restaurant called the Cascade Room in Vancouver (BC Canada) about a month ago and ordered mussels (yum) and a side of polenta fries.  I had no idea what to expect, since I'd never ordered polenta anything before, but MAN was I blown away!  They were incredible.
 
So what did I do?  Headed out to my nearest grocery store and bought some polenta! I bought pre cooked/formed polenta.  Y'know, it looks kinda gross and it's in a tube?  Like this!
 
 
Then I cut the tube (ew) into half (or thirds) and cut little cubic fries.  Pop the fries on a baking sheet and sprinkle some fresh rosemary and parmesan cheese on them.  Stick 'em in the oven for 20 minutes, flipping them half way through! 
 


 
I highly recommend enjoying them with a side of curry mayo - which is exactly what you think it is, mayo or Miracle Whip with curry powder!  I just melt thinking about this meal.

 
Ok now onto the fun!  The par-tay! 
A couple of Christina's (and mine) ground rules.

* Follow It’s a Keeper and Try To Keep Up! 

* Your link should be a food or craft/project related item. Link up as many as you’d like!

* Add Christina's button to your sidebar or blog post – help spread the word!  I'd love it if you grabbed my buttong too.

* Be sure to check out some of the awesome posts that others have linked up! Let them know that It’s a Keeper (or Try To Keep Up!) sent you!  We all love getting comments, so spread a little love!

And how about a lovely round of applause for Christina, who pumps out It's A Keeper every Thursday.  If you're ever stuck for a meal idea Christina's blog is a great resource! 

PARTY LIKE A ROCKSTAR! 

     

    Tuesday, March 13, 2012

    Bestie Baby Blanket

    My best friend Rachel is having a baby. 

     It sort of terrifies me, to be totally honest, to be at that age when your friends start having babies.  AND she's not the only one!  But this baby is special.  This baby is going to be my Godchild.  I am so incredibly blessed and honoured to be an important part of this little girl's life.
     
    So as Fairy God Mother, I had to be the first to make her a baby blanket!  Bring out the crochet hook!
     
    I found this pattern on the Lion Brand Yarn Website.  I made a test version back in November (with help from Mum) and decided it wasn't really big enough to be a blanket. 
    So I tweaked the pattern a bit.
     
    For this blanket I used about 2 1/2 regular skeins of Bernat Baby Blanket Yarn in Baby Yellow. 
    And I used my 6.5mm hook (it's the largest I have).
     

    I followed the instructions for the head, to the letter. 
    This is what it looks like when it's all done!

     But Mum and I decided that the blanket wasn't really big enough.  So I added extra stitches to the blanket/body.
     
    In Row 1of the body I did 2 half double crochets in 9 stitches, ending with 18 stitches total, instead of the original 12 (adding 6 stitches).  This is the most important step.  If you continue to follow the pattern, you will end up with a larger blanket. 
    Just ignore the original total stitch counts, and remember that you added 6 stitches.
     


     
    Once the blanket starts to come together you'll see the pattern, it's easy.  And hey if I can figure out, I'm sure you can!
     


     
    These are the "hands" (above). 
     They are the widest part of the blanket.
     


     
    This  (above) is what you're going to want to look for as you start to decrease after the "hands".   These last 2 stitches is where you will half double crochet 2 together (hdc2tog).  This stitch will decrease  your blanket.  You will have more rows as you decrease than in the pattern-that's totally ok!  It creates a nice point at the bottom and adds to the legnth.  Just follow the pattern and your rows until you end with 2 hdc2tog.
     
    You should end up with something like this


     
    See how much bigger my blanket is than the test one (on right)?  So much better!
     
    Follow the pattern for the ears.  Stuff the head with fibre fill and sew closed with matching yarn.  To finish the blanket we're going to edge around with single crochet. This edging created a really nice finished look, so you don't have to be too picky about how precise you are with your stitches as you make the blanket.  If the edges aren't quite right, this edging will hide them!
     


    Here's my finished product!

    Since it was my shower gift (and I believe in getting something for mommy too) I added a little something I thought was funny...not to mention I'll be needing it when my time comes!


    LOL! I tucked it all together and gave it away!  I love when you can use the gift as the wrapping paper!


    I know I kinda breezed through this, so if you have any questions about how I changed the pattern or if you make one of your own, feel free to email me!
    westcoastleslie(at)gmail(dot)com
    NightOwlCrafting