First Birthday Smash Cake

My Little One will be turning one-year old soon.  I can't believe it's been a year and I can't believe how fast he's grown.  Even though it wasn't yet his birthday, I still wanted to give him a "smash cake" party. 

So, I made him a funfetti cake and baked it in a little tin can.  It came out just perfect and I frosted it with a cream cheese buttercream frosting.  You can get the recipe for the cake and the frosting here  (I made up the frosting as I went along).  I decorated the cake simply with just sprinkles and candles.

The party was also simple too, just him, his father, and me.  We'll have a bigger party for him, but we wanted to celebrate his first birthday with just the two of us.  When the cake was put in front of him, ee was tentative at first, not sure if he could grab at the cake.  Then he just played with the frosting.  and when he licked the frosting, he continued to lick the frosting.  His dad had to instruct him to dig into the cake.  Once he figured out that there's more than just frosting, he really dug in and began eating.

It was a joy to see my Little One eating his cake.  We both took pictures and videos of him digging into his cake and truly enjoying himself.  I still can't believe how grown he's become.  Where did all the time go?  It's really gone by too fast.

Happy early birthday, my Little One!  I love you so much!

MN State Fair Skyride

(This is really what the Skyride looks like.)

[Minnesota State Fair.  Taken September 4, 2016]

Pooh Blanket

About a weekend or two ago, I found at a thrift store, a fabric that had two Winnie the Pooh panels. The fabric was in great shape, it wasn't dirty, and the fabric was cut appropriately so that it didn't interfere with each panel.  For $3.99, I thought I could turn each panel into a baby blanket.

So, I bought the fabric, washed it, and purchased some additional items to finish the quilt (e.g. batting, fabric).  Since I have an upcoming baby shower, I knew this would make a great gift for the the new mom-to-be.  I don't know the sex of the baby, but I decided to make the blanket gender neutral and match the Winnie the Pooh panel with a green/white polka dotted fabric.

This was a really easy blanket to make.   I just sandwiched batting in between the Winnie the Pooh panel and the green/white polka dotted fabric.  I thought I was going to tie down the blanket with strings, but decided to quilt it.  It was my first time quilting a blanket with a sewing machine, so some of my lines didn't come out quite straight, but if you don't look too closely, you wouldn't notice.  The blanket measures 35" x 40", which makes it a nice size for a baby or toddler.  The only thing I have left to do is bind the quilt and then I'm done.

I'm really excited and happy to get this project done.  If I do, it's going to be one of the few sewing projects that I actually finish.

What do you think about this blanket?

Fleece Baby Blanket

I was productive today.  Between Mr. Man and me watching my son, I was able to sew a simple baby blanket in an afternoon.  I was first inspired by this blog post when I was pregnant with my Little One.  For some unknown reason, I didn't get around to it.  

After giving birth, I accumulated fabrics for projects (e.g. baby blankets) that didn't happen.  Then this Christmas, my sister gave me a printed blue flannel fabric (as seen above and below).  I think it may have been used by one of her sons, and even though it may be gently used, it's still in great shape.  I've been wanting to finish up projects and since I had a nice soft brown fleece fabric, I decided to pair it up with the printed blue flannel fabric.

This was a very simple project and the only tedious part of sewing the blanket together was pinning the two fabrics together before sewing (there were pins all over the fabrics) and taking all the pins out after the sewing was done.  Since both fabrics were  may have been a bit "slippery," it was important to pin the fabrics together.  If one or both fabrics were 100% quilting cotton, it wouldn't have been necessary to pin the two fabrics together in so many places.  Now, that the project is done, it's just a matter of seeing someone getting to use this 

 I think the blanket turned out great!  What do you think?

Grapefruit Marmalade

I had just come back from visiting family in California and brought back some homegrown, "organic," grapefruits.  Maybe the grapefruits weren't fully ripe, but they were still delicious.  I wanted to bring back more, but Mr. Man said that I would be going over the weight limit for our checked in bag, so I had to give away a couple to my sister.

I've been wanting to make marmalade for a very long time, but didn't have immediate access to fresh organic fruit.  I didn't want to use store bought citrus because the citrus rinds are covered in wax and the rinds are an essential ingredient in making marmalade.  So, when I spied these grapefruit beauties on a tree branch, which was hanging over in my sister's yard, I told her to pick me some.

I did a lot of research and just came up with the recipe below.  I wanted a marmalade that was sweet, sour, and had some bitterness to it.  Of course, I didn't want a marmalade that was too bitter, but it had to have the bitterness because that's what's often associated with marmalade (at least, to me).  I hope you enjoy the following recipe:

Grapefruits

1 C of sugar per 1 pound of fruit (add more or less, depending on taste)

Juice of  a lemon for every three pounds of grapefruit (optional)

1. Take the peel off from the fruit.  Cut and scrape as much of the pith (the white parts) off the peel.

2. Blanch the peels by putting the peels into a pan and cover with water, and put the pan on the stove.

3. Bring the water to a boil and turn off the stove.  You can either let the peels sit in the water for 2-4 hours OR you can can drain the water and blanch the peels again, and after the second blanch, let the peels sit in the water for about 2-4 hours.  The more you blanch and let the peels sit in the water, the more bitterness you will remove from the peel.  (The downside is that you will also remove a lot of grapefruit's essential oils.)

4. Juice the grapefruit into a pan.  (You can just cut up the grapefruit into pieces and cook it all in the jam, but the membrane - the thin lining that encases each segment of the fruit - is also bitter).  Add the juice of the lemon, if using.  Add the sugar and let it sit on the stove until the peels are ready.

5. Drain the peels.  Slice the peels as thin as possible and as long as you want.  (My peels were about two inches long and half the size of a matchstick.)  You can use all the peels or some of it.  (I used about 4/5 of the peels).  Put the thinly sliced peels into the pan with the grapefruit juice/pieces.

6. Cook on medium heat and stir constantly until desired consistency.

7.  If you were going to water bath can the marmalade, then check out this website.

Enjoy!

Books of 2016

With the new year just around the corner, I told myself that I had to post today.  Sorry that I've been missing from my blog.  To be quite honest, I miss my blog too.

So, this year, I didn't start reading until spring had sprung and most of the snow was gone.  I read until early summer, then stopped.  Not surprising, my reading time had to be built around my newborn and changes in home life.  Of course, there were times when I wasn't interested in reading at all.  Once autumn was coming to an end and it was November, I started to pick up steam again and made reading a part of my life.  I was afraid that I wasn't going to meet my minimum standard of twelve books, but I surprised myself by surpassing it.  So, the following are the books I read in 2016:

1.  A Little Love Story--Roland Merullo
2.  The Cherry Cola Cook Book--Ashton Lee
3.  The Coincidence of Coconut Cake--Amy Reichert
4.  Lost Lake--Sarah Addison Allen
5.  Mambo in Chinatown--Jean Kwok
6.  Me Before You--Jojo Moyes
7.  Harry Potter and the Cursed Child--J.K. Rowling, John Tiffany, and Jack Thorne
8.  The Diner--Herman Koch
9.  After You--Jojo Moyes
10.  The Girl on the Train--Paula Hawkins
11.  Nowhere But Home--Liza Palmer
12.  The Art of Crashing--Melissa DeCarlo
13.  The Things We Keep--Sally Hepworth
14.  The Roots of the Olive Tree--Courtney Miller Santo
15,  Vanity Fare--Megan Caldwell
16.  The Paper Magician--Charlie Holmberg
17.  The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend--Katrina Bivald

Of the books, I would highly recommend The Art of Crashing Sally Hepworth, which I found well written and a good read.  If you want a book about family drama, twists and turns, then this book is for you.  (I gifted this book to my friend and I hope she likes it too.)  I would also recommend The Paper Magician by Charlie Holmberg.  It reminds me of Harry Potter, but a little more of an adult version.  (My friend gifted this book to me this year.)  My last recommendation would be The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend by Katrina Bivald.  The book is well-paced and kept my attention.  The characters sprung to life, and if you're a book lover, you'll recognize many of the other books and characters referenced throughout (the main character loves reading and loves books).

Well, it's been another year.  I hope you've had a great year and made time for reading.  Please let me know if you have any recommendations.  

A Sunny Quilt

I know, I know.  It's like a running joke here in my blog and in my house.  Seriously, my Mister Man wonders when I'm going to actually finish a quilt because I keep on starting quilts, but never finishing.  Well, I hope to prove him wrong this fall.

I decided in September or October that I wanted to make a quick quilt  for someone special.  I purchased  a precut bundle known as a "jelly roll."  Then yesterday, I just sewed each piece together and the little quilt top quickly came together.  (Seriously, the more simple the quilt, the easier it is to get done!)  I would have progressed a lot faster, but a bulk of my time was also spent taking care of my son.  Now, all I need to do is get some backing fabric and sandwich my quilt.  Then I will have to decide if I'm going to quilt the whole blanket or just tie it together with strings.  Before I know it, I'll bind my quilt and finally be done.

I have a deadline and I know that I will be extremely busy with the upcoming year, so this quilt needs to be done soon.  I really do hope that I can share a finished quilt with you all in a couple of weeks or months. 

What have you been up to lately?

Monster Dash 2016

Last weekend, my co-workers and I participated in the annual Monster Dash.  This year, we decided to go as rock stars.  One went as Freddie Mercury, one was Cyndi Lauper, and I went as Jem from Jem and the Holograms.  I wore a bright pink dress, bought a fantastic blue and pink wig, and wore pink makeup (all over my eyes, lips, and cheeks).  I thought we all looked fabulous!  I think this is one of the better years where our costumes just rocked!

Image credit:  http://www.quirkbooks.com/post/books-jem-and-holograms-tour

If you are a child of the '80's you'll know that Gem and the Holograms is a cartoon that was wildly popular (my brother, born in 1990, didn't know who Gem was and my sister had to explain).  I think they tried to revive it in 2015 as a movie, with real live actors, but it wasn't successful.  Regardless, when we decided that we wanted to be rock stars this year, Jem immediately came to my mind (even if she wasn't a real person, she's still a rock star).

I loved my costume and I loved my wig (it was so luxurious).  I didn't even mind that I had to paint much of my face pink.  I think I might have to wear this costume again in the future.  (Seriously, I love my wig!).  Next year, we'll see what our theme will be.  So excited.

Happy Halloween

I love Halloween.  Even though this year is my son's first Halloween, he's too young to appreciate dressing up in a costume and trick-or-treating.  Even he can't eat all the goodies would've gotten had he trick-or-treated.  Oh well, there is always next year.

Hope you and yours have a safe and happy Halloween. :)

That Time Again

It's that time of the year again: planting garlic, tulips, and apple picking.  Today was such a productive day that I did all the above, with my son looking on.  (I had to keep a sharp eye on my little monkey because he kept putting leaves and dry grass into his mouth.)

Our autumn has been so nice and warm.  There's a crispness in the air, sometimes a strong chilly wind, but overall it's been warmer than usual.  I was afraid that this might be the last nice weekend to get any kind of gardening done, so today I was quite proactive in planting and picking.

It was hard work, considering how out of shape I am and the fact that I had to also keep my focus on Little One.  When it was all done, I was ready for a shower, and so was my son.  I'm sure I'll be sore tomorrow, but it was well worth the effort.  I can't wait until spring, when the garlic shoots peep through the wet cold soil and the tulips are in bloom.

Were you productive today?