My Husband's Favorite Website

Today's blog is in honor of my husband who is very mechanically minded.  He's always trying to figure out how things work.  He's been known to take things apart like dirt bikes, jet skis, cars, toasters, coffee makers, irons.......just to see how they work.  I should also say that he puts them back in working order - most of the time!  

He doesn't read novels but he does read how-to manuals and service manuals and magazines with handy man tips and energy saving ideas.  He also does a lot of research on the internet and I thought I'd share his favorite website.  He checks on it daily.  He enjoys watching video after video of Eric the Car Guy at www.ericthecarguy.com.  I've even been known to take in a few videos.  Today, I learned how a clutch works.  I think it's important to be somewhat knowledgeable on how a car works.  I don't want to be the helpless female stranded on the side of the road!

The videos give practical advice on fixing cars as well as insight into how different parts of the car work.   When my oldest son, who is 16 years old and very much like his dad, was trying to figure out how to remove the front axles from his car, he found what he needed to know from an Eric the Car Guy video.  The videos are elementary but not simple.  Funny but not silly.  Informative but not boring.    

I'm not suggesting that these videos will turn you into a mechanic but they may help you in diagnosing a car problem.  It doesn't hurt to be able to speak with some authority when it comes to getting service on your car.

"Stay dirty!"  -Eric the Car Guy

Yummy Beef Stew

I knew my boys were going to go snowboarding today right after school so I thought I'd have something simmering in the oven for them to eat before they left.  Both are meat and potato guys so I picked beef stew as their pre-snowboarding meal.  Here is the recipe.

Brown approximately 3 pounds of round steak.

Once brown, add one package of dry onion soup mix and 1/2 a can of beer.  Let simmer for about 20 minutes.

Add 1/2 of a bottle of steak sauce.  I use an off brand of Heinz 57 Sauce.

Stir in 3 cups of potatoes (I use Yukon Gold), 1 cup of celery, 1 cup of carrots, a can of cream of mushroom soup, a can of cream of celery soup and a can of cream of chicken soup.

Mix well.

Cover and put in a 350 degree oven for about 1 hour.  Add a 28 oz. can of stewed tomatoes, drained.   Cover and put it back into the over for another hour or until the vegetables are fork tender.

The snowboarders in my house love it!

"Three meals plus bedtime make four sure blessings a day."  -Mason Cooley

Tuesday

"Most of all the other beautiful things come by twos and threes by dozens and by hundreds.  Plenty of roses, stars, sunsets, rainbows, brothers and sisters, aunts and cousins, but only one mother in the whole world."  -Kate Douglas Wiggin

I am thankful that my one and only mother came through her surgery with a smile on her face and an excellent prognosis.  Now that I am back home, and while everyone else is in bed, I am sitting alone in the dark, reflecting on the day. 

When looking back for those positive moments of the day, I found an abundance........I would highly recommend:

*the Sandford Health Facilities in Sioux Falls, SD as a place to take those you love the most who need special health care;

*traveling for 7 hours in a car in one day with your (or I should say MY) sister....I could've done it for 17, or 27, or 37 hours;

*listening to the Gophers beat No. 1 Indiana on the radio while driving - I am not ashamed to say that I sang the Gopher Fight Song more than once - out loud;

*talking with your dad about your favorite books and historical icons - I now think I need to find out more about Alexander Hamilton;

*brother in laws who know you will be starving and so have dinner ready the second you walk through the door - bless you Mike;

*eldest sons who stay up late to help you set up your new i-phone and not once get impatient with you when you ask multiple times how exactly do you reply to emails;

*daughters who meet you at your car door the second you pull into the garage with hugs and kisses and treat you like you've been gone a month - not just over night;

*middle sons who want to know all the technical details about Grandma's surgery then stop you mid-sentence and just want to know, "is Grandma going to be all right";

*husbands who get the kiddos ready for school, do the dishes, put laundry away, go grocery shopping, take a daughter to dance, fix the water softener, help with homework, solve a car problem;

*moms who are moms even after they've gone through major surgery and tell the nurse, "these are my girls".

Twice Baked Potatoes

My middle son's favorite thing to eat is bacon.  He'd eat bacon on everything.  I only have to call him once to the table when these twice baked potatoes are on the menu.

Here's the middle child pleasing recipe:

Put 5 large russet potatoes (washed and poked with a fork a few times) in a 400 degree oven for about an hour or until soft when squeezed.  Remove from the oven and slice in half.  Remove the flesh of the potatoes and put in a bowl - keeping the skin of the potato in tact.  Add 2 tablespoons butter, 1 cup of shredded cheddar, 3/4 cup of sour cream, salt and pepper to taste to the potatoes.  Mix well.  Use the potato mixture to fill the potato shells.  Sprinkle with more shredded cheddar cheese.

Put parchment paper on a cookie sheet.  Place strips of bacon on the parchment paper.  Bake in a 400 degree oven until crisp.  Remove bacon and place on a plate covered with paper towels to drain off fat. Crumble the bacon.

Sprinkle crumbled bacon on top of the potato filled shells.  Bake uncovered in a 400 degree oven until cheese melts.  Serve immediately.

"In America, a parent puts food in front of a child and says, 'Eat, it's good for you.'  In Europe the parent says, 'Eat it. It's good!'"  -John Levee

Pumpkin Muffins

My favorite thing to do on a Sunday afternoon is bake.....much to my family's delight!  Today I decided to bake pumpkin muffins.  I have a recipe I usually use but decided to develop my own recipe.  This makes about 2 1/2 dozen muffins.  I think I came up with a tasty recipe is as evident by what's left only a couple hours after making them!

Here are the ingredients you'll need:  baking soda, baking powder, sugar, flour, salt, oil, 15 oz. can  pumpkin, milk chocolate chips, cinnamon, nutmeg, ground cloves, 2 eggs and water.

Put 1 1/2 cups of sugar in a large bowl and add 1/2 teaspoon salt.

Mix in two eggs and the can of pumpkin.

Add 1/2 cup of canola oil and 1/2 cup of water.

To this mixture, add 1/2 teaspoon soda, 1/2 teaspoon baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg and 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves.

Add 1 2/3 cups of flour.  Stir well to combine.

At this point, you can add nuts and or chocolate chips.  I only add chocolate chips - about half a bag.

Fill muffin cups about 2/3 full and bake in a 375 degree oven for approximately 20 minutes or until tops are firm when pressed.

Cool on a wire rack.  Enjoy!

"When baking, follow directions.  When cooking, go by your own taste."  -Laiko Bahrs

Knit Little Monsters

My daughter begged and begged for me to get this knitting book for her.

At first I was skeptical but she convinced me that these would make great gifts for all of her friends and I was thinking how awesome that she loves knitting enough to branch out and try new/harder projects.  We bought the book and a few days later, this is how I found it.

The one marked and starred she insisted we start right now!  So today while she was at a friend's house,   I went to All About Yarn in Coon Rapids, MN and surprised her with some luscious feeling yarn.  This is now my most favorite yarn!  It is so soft and it's washable.

So with some size 9 needles, the new book and yarn, we were set to go!

The instructions in this book are so simple and the there are pictures to go along with each step.  It is turning out to be a great way to introduce my daughter to knitting with double pointed needles.  She looks pretty comfortable already and she has only done a few rows.

I picked out a monster to make too under the guise that I'm making it for a friend's child.

I plan on  keeping it for my self.  Even adults need little "snugglies"!

"I collect stuffed animals and toys stores make me happy."  -Grace Slick

Gifts of.......stuff and time?

I had thought that embroidery was a dying art and that I was one of the only ones around, besides my mom, who still liked this handicraft.  I found out how wrong I was when speaking with one of my neighbors.

She could only talk for a moment as she was on her way to buy a birthday gift for a niece about my daughter's age, 10.  She said at Christmas, she had taught her niece how to embroider.  She said her niece just loved it and so for her niece's birthday, she wanted to buy her embroidery supplies of her own.  I thought that was a fantastic idea!  Every time my daughter and I go out to buy a birthday gift for one of her friends, I'm reminded of this conversation.  It got me thinking about gifts and the nature of our gifts.  Do we give "stuff" or something of ourselves?  How about we do both?!

So for you other crafty friends.......when buying gifts for little girls (boys too - both my boys know how to knit), think handicrafts.  Share your talents.  Give her/him something that is "unplugged" or as my friends would say "without a screen".  Give your time with the gift.

Give yarn and needles and an hours' worth of knitting lessons.
Give embroidery tools and an afternoon of sewing together.
Give a Cuddlebug and spend a few hours making a supply of birthday cards for all of her friends, and your friends too.
Take her to a bead store and let her pick out all of the supplies to make a bracelet, then take it home and help her put it together.
Give him all of the supplies to make a bird house and spend the day, measuring, cutting, hammering, painting......the birds will thank you!  
Help him paint a clay pot and then take him to a garden center to pick out the perfect cactus to plant in it.
Go to the local fabric store and let him pick out fabric for a BBQ apron - every chef needs a good apron.  Help him cut it out and sew it.  You'd be surprised at this......my 13 & 16 year old sons are fascinated with the sewing machine and sewing with it.  Anything with a motor!!!!

These are just a few examples but I'm sure you can think of so many others.  I think it's so important to spend time with each other and converse with each other and learn from one another - children and adults alike.  I'm hoping for my next birthday, my mom gives me the time to teach me how to embroider like she does!  Here is an example of her artistry.  To me, it looks like it was painted.  Once I learn how, maybe I'll have another mother daughter party - an embroidery party!

 

"Talent is always conscious of its own abundance, and does not object to sharing."  -Alexander Solzhenitsyn

Easy Long Cowl

Today was a really busy day at work but I did manage to find time to start a new knitting project.  This project would be a great first project for those beginning knitters who want to learn to knit in the round.

The yarn I used was light weight alpaca.  My mom, I mean, Santa, gave me a skein of it in my stocking.  It's a special skein as it came from alpaca that a high school classmate raises.  I wanted a pattern that showcased the yarn.  I thought a cowl I could wrap a few times around my neck or would wear long would be perfect.  So this is the pattern I used.

Using a size 8, 24 inch circular needle, cast on 200 stitches.  When casting on such a large number of stitches, use place markers after casting on 50 stitches, 100 stitches and 150 stitches.  Use the place markers so you don't have to count and recount so many stitches.  Row 1, purl all stitches without joining.  This foundation row helps keep the yarn from twisting when you join in the round.  Row 2, knit all stitches but this time join in the round.  Row 3, purl all stitches.  Row 4, knit all stitches.  Repeat this pattern until you have a few yards of yarn left.  Cast off.  Block and then it's ready to wear.

I didn't get very far today but I thought I'd share what it looks like.

"No, I was merely reading the Muggle magazines.  I do love knitting patterns."  -Albus Dumbledore, Harry Potter

Button Pins

I had fun browsing around Bead Basics (www.bead-basics.com) today.  I was looking for beads to use with the buttons I bought yesterday.  I was going to make buttons out of two big buttons.  Here are the buttons and the beads I chose.

Along with a pin backing and some wire.......

I set to work turning my purchases into jewelry.  I started on the red button.  I thread a red crystal bead onto some gold wire then bent the wire down on both sides of the bead and gave the wire a twist.

Then I slid a bigger crystal bead on both ends of the wire and pushed it to the red bead.

Next I added a flower shaped bead.

I put the ends of the wire through the button holes and pulled the beads tight to the button.

Thread the pin backing through the wire and hold it against the back of the button while twisting the wire.

 Cut the ends of the wire and bend the twisted wire flat against the pin backing.

For the turquoise button, I used little turquoise crystal beads.  I put them on brushed gold wire and added them to the special jewelry piece I found.

Then I put a brushed gold bead onto the gold wire and bent the ends around the bead.  I thread the bead through the jewelry piece and then through the button.

I pulled the beads tight against the button.

I added the pin backing as I did for the red button.

Here are the completed pins!  I think they turned out great!!!!!

"The chief enemy of creativity is good sense."  -Pablo Picasso