I made that Butternut Squash Tomato Soup

2 tb olive oil

1 onion

3 garlic cloves, minced

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp black pepper 

2 1/2 cups cubed butternut squash

1 1/2 cups chopped peeled tomatoes 

4 cups chicken or vegetable stock 

1 sprig rosemary

I sprig basil

1/2 cup half and half

Cook onion in olive oil at medium heat until soft. Add garlic and cook another 2 minutes. 

Add salt, pepper, squash, tomatoes, stock, and herb sprigs. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer a cook until all vegetables are soft, about 45 minutes to an hour. 

Remove from heat and blend with stick blender. 

Add half and half and stir. 

Penguin Costume

I'm just posting this YouTube link here so I can pin it. 

http://youtu.be/P89YQ7uFf8g

Click this

Click this, Marianne.

Hungarian Apricot Bars

These are my mother's favorite of my Slovak/Hungarian/Ukrainian Christmas meal. And she's not even Eastern European. 

Apricot Filling:

12 oz dried apricots, coursely chopped
1 1/2 cups water
1/2 cup sugar

Combine ingredients in a heavy saucepan. Bring to a simmer on medium heat. Cook at a gentle simmer for about 30 minutes until fruit is soft and slightly thickened. Whisk through to break up fruit further. Pour into a bowl to cool. The filling can be made ahead up to 3 days and stored in the refrigerator, tightly covered. Do not cover until completely cool. Bring to room temp before using.

Cookie Base:

1 cup softened butter
1/2 cup sugar
zest of one lemon
2 egg yolks (you will use the whites in topping)
pinch of salt
1 cup flour
1/2 tsp baking powder

Prepare 9 x 13 pan by lining with foil. I butter the pan first. It helps the foil stick. Then butter the foil. Preheat oven to 350. Mix dry ingredients in a bowl and set aside. Beat butter, sugar, and zest until light and fluffy. Beat in yolks. Gradually add flour mixture. Beat just until well combined. Press into prepared pan with back of wooden spoon. Spread with room temperature apricot mixture. Set pan aside while you prepare topping.  

Almond meringue topping:

2 egg whites
pinch salt
1/2 cup baker's sugar/superfine sugar (if you don't have superfine sugar, just blitz regular sugar in the food processor)
1 cup finely chopped blanched almonds

Beat egg whites on medium speed until white and opaque and beginning to form peaks. Turn speed up to high and stream in sugar. Beat for 5 minutes until glossy and holding firm peaks. With wooden spoon, fold in almonds. Spread over apricot mixture.  


Bake for 45 minutes. Cool completely. Remove from pan by lifting foil sides. Loosen foil and remove. Cut with very sharp knife, cleaning it with hot water between cuts. Topping can be very sticky.  


Read more at BakeBakeBake: http://bakebakebake.livejournal.com/1637135.html#ixzz3MyHGMduo

A quiet book page is FINISHED!

I started a quiet book for my niece, Stella, two years ago. It was a SPECTACULAR failure. I tried the felt Mr. Potato Head. I don't know if you've seen that but it's really super cool. I'll totally try it again. But I didn't sew anything. I tried to put the book together with binder rings. Fail. They ripped. Oh, and I didn't really make a book. I made a page. And a cover. And I had this great idea that I'd make new pages all the time to add. I did not. 

Skip to now. Stella is about to turn four and now has a little brother, Harlow. Sitting still in church, at doctor's offices, etc. is even harder for her little brilliant 4 year old brain. Add in the "No that's mine!" arguments with Harlow and now they both need a quiet book. Aunt Amy has decided to try again and do it right this time. 

I went to JoAnn on Friday. As is usual for me, I was seduced by the many felt colors and my ADHD went nuts. I can make this and I can make this and I can make this... I had 40 kajillion sheets of felt in my cart in ten minutes. And let's not discuss rickrack. 

But I got it together and put things back. I realized I'd do best to get just enough to do a page or two at a time. So I stated out on Stella's first. First page is now complete!

I stitched a beehive and leaves onto a felt sheet with embroidery floss. The numbers on the flower centers I cut out free hand with teeny scissors and just glued on with fabric glue. Then I stitched them onto the background with the red flower shape behind them. The flower does not have the edges stitched down. 

With green three, I stitched a loop of green ribbon behind each flower. Then tied a cute bee button to a long ribbon and stitched the ribbon end down. The kiddo gets to lace the been through each flower and then bring it back to the hive. You may not be able to see it, but the hive has a little slit cut into it so the bee can go back into its home. 

I so enjoy actually finishing things. Next page is picking root vegetables. :)

Oatmeal Pancakes on a Sunday Morning

Oatmeal Pancakes

I made these for breakfast today. I really wanted oatmeal-y something for breakfast but all the oatmeal pancake recipes I was finding all require the oats to be processed into flour. I couldn't face getting out the food processor or all those dishes. 

Finally found this one in Taste of Home and modified it for my needs. And it's delicious. Perfect. Yum. 

1/2 cup old fashioned oats

1/4 cup all purpose flour 

1/4 cup whole wheat flour

2 tablespoons brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 egg

3/4 cup milk (I used almond milk)

3 tablespoons oil

1/2 t vinegar 

In a medium bowl, beat the egg with a fork or whisk. Add all the other stuff and stir until moistened. 

Pour by 1/2 cup fills for large pancakes or 1/4 capfuls for small pancakes onto a hot pan coated with oil or cooking spray. Cook until bubbles form. Flip and cook a minute more. 

I wanted to put bananas online but didn't have any. You should try that. 

I made that tricycle.

When I was a little girl I had a red radio flyer tricycle.  I loved it.  Let me say that again with all the emphasis that text can allow...  I LOVED that tricycle.  It was kind of sparkly.  Maybe it wasn't, but it is just sparkly in my memory.  It had the double deck back that neighbors of varying heights could ride on.  The seat was metal but was gently concave and cradled my little booty comfortably enough to ride as far as the end of the driveway and back all day long.  It was one sweet ride.

Fast forward to my 40th year of life.  I'm not a mommy, but I AM an auntie and a godmother.  This means I am officially allowed to spoil children without having to live with my mistakes.  Plus, my nieces and nephews and baby BFF are the cutest children in the WORLD  (please don't argue) and deserve it all.  So my niece, Stella, is almost three and really loves "bikes".  Anything with pedals and wheels is a bike, dontchaknow? So, in memory of my red radio flyer, I knew she needed a tricycle. And not just ANY tricycle.  She needed THE GREATEST TRICYCLE IN THE WORLD.  Funnily enough, they don't sell the greatest tricycle in the world at big box stores, so I had to make it myself.

By the way, I don't build tricycles from scrap metal.  So I bought an old rusty one from a person with older kids who don't ride tricycles anymore.  I was super excited to make it, so I forgot to take a picture of the trike before I started and took one after I'd already removed a good bit of rust, but this is pretty much what the trike looked like when I got it.  Add lots of rust in your mind.

So, I used rust remover and steel wool and got all the rust off I could.  Then I sprayed it down with Simple Green and hosed it off and let it dry in the sun.  Next came the primer.  I started off by removing the old rubber handle grips and wrapping the tires and pedals in aluminum foil.  Please note the aluminum foil for later.  

I used Rustoleum grey primer.  I sprayed everything.  As a result, it looked like a zombie trike.  The I used Rustoleum Painter's Touch on the decks, fender, seat, and pedals.  The Rustoleum Painter's Touch comes in a gajillion colors and bonds to plastic, which is why I was able to spray the pedals.  I also painted an old bicycle bell with the same paint color.  I used Berry Pink on the seat, pedals, and bell, and Grape on the decks and fender.  You can buy Rustoleum Painter's Touch at Home Depot.  I used several thin coats.  And by several I think I mean like maybe five.  I sprayed them maybe 10-20 minutes apart and let the whole thing dry for 24 hours.  It was pretty humid here, so, after the stink had died down and it was touchable, I brought it inside to the AC for a full dry.  Oh, and I also spray painted the spokes and inside of the wheels white with plain Rustoleum.  I realized that my aluminum foil idea was a bad one.  Paint had gotten all over the tires by seeping in.  A friend had a FABULOUS idea to use Glade Press and Seal on the tires and it worked beautifully.  I applied it to the tires and used an X-acto knife to cut around the edge of the tire.  Perfect.

I didn't worry about getting paint on the tubing because I knew that it wouldn't matter.  When it was completely dry, I decoupaged the piping.  I used acid free scrap book paper, but I imagine cloth would work great, too.  I also used clear acrylic gel medium because I have tons of that, but Outdoor Mod Podge would also work great.  A few tips for decoupaging paper on rounded items:  cut your paper into relatively small pieces, and, because of that, use a pattern that is small and busy; wear gloves; use the decoupage medium in three places before you apply the paper...on the pipeing, on the back of the paper and on the front of the paper; place the paper then use your brush and your gloved fingers to rube it into place.  If the paper wrinkles, thats cool, just make sure the wrinkles are all glues down.  The paper should have a good covering of medium OVER it after it is applied to the piping.  

Next it's time to clear coat it.  Keep the Press and Seal on the tires!!!!  I used automotive clear coat and I used five coats.  You have to be CERTAIN the decoupage medium is 100% dry before you use enamel over it, so I left it for over 24 hours in the house in the AC just to make sure.  

After the clear coat was totally dry, I added new pink rubber handle grips and white sparkle streamers, attached the bell (also clear coated), and put on pink spoke beads.  It truly was THE GREATEST TRICYCLE IN THE WORLD!!!!

And my niece agreed.  She was pretty thrilled with her new wheels.  Ride on, little lady!!!!!