Make’n’Tell Day 7: Do You Fondue? I Fondue You!

Last night, Becky and I were on our own, as Zack and Kit were off to Zacky’s karate school awards banquet. The banquet’s big draw was a chocolate fountain, so I told Becky we would do chocolate fondue at home.

We used dark chocolate for the fondue (because that’s what we had on hand, because that’s what we usually eat), and Becky didn’t care for it, but has agreed to try it again with milk chocolate. She’s such a trooper, that one. She *did* try something entirely new for her, pound cake, which she quite liked (because, duh). Since she tries something new approximately once every 2.5 years, I’m calling it a win. Other dippers we had were marshmallows, animal crackers, toffee cookies, pretzels, and pop chips. My favorites were the marshmallows and animal crackers. I do not recommend the pop chips.

Make’n’Tell Day 6: Nothing to See Here

No, I didn’t make those. But remember I said there were a bunch of things I was working on that I can’t show you? Yesterday was one of those days. But, these leggings give hints to the color scheme of the deliciousness I’m currently working on…hopefully I’ll be able to show you soon.

On another note, Creativity Challenge Day 3 was “recharge your space”. Since my studio is still under construction, I sat down with a quickie design program (Floor Plan Creator) and tried out a few different configurations. Unfortunately, most of my furniture is in storage so I’m guesstimating sizes, but I think I have a pretty good idea of what will be going where. If only the weather would cooperate so we can get the walls painted and the floor put in! I’m super excited about getting into my own space and having lots of organization and work spaces. Day 4 is “Create Something Awesome” so I’m off to do that now.

Make’n’Tell Day 5: This Isn’t the Hook You’re Looking For

Yet Another Snow Day, so I asked the kids if there was anything they were itching to do, and both said “clay!” Since I’d been planning on making a TOTALLY AWESOME handle for one of my crochet hooks, this sounded perfect to me. Unfortunately, when we pulled out the bag of clay I had on hand, none of the colors I needed were there. So, I went ahead and made this other, totally awesome in a completely different way, handle.

I’ll make the other one later in the month. Just need a day not filled with snow and freezing rain to get to the craft store. Or possibly to place an Amazon order.

Make’n’Tell Day 4: A Little Something Different

As you might have guessed from the title, this post deviates slightly from the normal Make’n’Tell. Instead of something crafty or delicious, yesterday, my “make” was working on making myself a happier person. A while ago, I followed a bunch of links from Tara Swiger’s Starship blog (which I am totally going to do when I am in the right place to really launch my design business…I’m not there yet, but I will be!), and I found this amazing blog Effervescence: the art of liking yourself, full of caring and gentle and nurturing posts. If you know me, you know that I am SO not a self-help person. It’s just not my bag. I always feel preached at and judged and uncomfortable and like I’m doing it wrong, and this blog is sort of the complete opposite of that. It is a welcoming, comforting, peaceful place. I’ve been moved to tears more than once reading it, not even necessarily by the content, but because I feel so good when I am there.

So when Kylie (she runs the place) offered Unencumbered, a free week “that will teach you how to break free from self-loathing and live a fuller, more fulfilling life”, I jumped at it. Okay, that’s not entirely true. I hemmed and hawed and spent a lot of time reminding myself of all the times I signed up for something like this and didn’t follow through because I was too scared/anxious/whatever, and then I realized that, unlike most of those other times, I was actually trying to talk myself into this rather than out of it. So I signed up for it, and committed to it. Last night I spent doing the homework, which felt really good. So that was my make for the day.

It’s actually already paid off…this  happened last week, and I think a lot of the credit goes to the fact that I was already thinking about and excited about how I can take better care of me:

This is the second year Becky has done her school play, and the parents are required to volunteer for a committee. Last year, I was assigned to costumes, which was perfect for me. This year…well, I got an email Friday night that I had been assigned to be a room monitor. A wave of dread washed over me, and I could immediately feel a panic attack starting. See, I have social anxiety. I’m pretty good at covering it up and/or avoiding situations that would trigger it, but a room full of kids would be nearly impossible for me. Plus, even when I am successfully covering, my anxiety tends to come out as anger and irritation: not fun for me, and not fun for the kids. I really didn’t know what to do…just the thought of being in a room with 10 strange kids (maybe more!) was making my gut clench and head hurt…but on the other hand, it’s for Becky, so she can be in the play, and I never want my issues to get in the way of her doing things she wants to do.

And then it occurred to me to do something I’d never done with a stranger: just say, “I can’t do this, because I have severe social anxiety.” So I did. I wrote back, and said exactly that. I offered to do just about anything else, as long as it didn’t involved prolonged interactions with people. I waited to send it, because my one remaining fear was that the other moms would talk, and a kid would overhear, and then Becky would be the girl with the crazy mom. So I waited until she got up the next morning and explained the situation and my concerns to her, and she said I should definitely send the email. I heard back a couple of hours later from the committee chair, who thanked me for letting her know and put me on poster duty.

I suppose it’s still possible that there will be repercussions for Becky (and Zack), but right now, I’m feeling pretty good about speaking up for myself and my needs (and showing my kids that’s an okay thing to do!).

P.S. It’s not too late to sign up for Unencumbered, if this sounds like something that would be good for you. Also, free. Also also, very no pressure.

Make’n’Tell Day 3: Oh, the Things I Will Make!

Remember back in January I said I was doing this Creativity Challenge thing, and then I never said anything else about it? Well, I kept putting it off and putting it off and then it just didn’t get done. But I didn’t forget about it, and I did/do really want to do it, so I decided to go ahead and finish it up now. I had done Day 1, choosing my one word theme for the year: Make. As in, stop just thinking about it and make it!

So yesterday, I did Day 2: my Creative Dream List. A list of all the things I want to create this year. I stuck to the concrete, mostly, but I wrote down everything I could think of from very broad categories to very specific projects.

When my studio is done, this is going up on the wall. And there’s plenty of room to add more! Doing this exercise got me so excited about the coming year…I think this very well might become a yearly exercise for me.

Make’n’Tell Day 2: I Did It All For the Cookie

Zack’s getting into the make action, too!

Right before Christmas last year, I did that thing where you all of a sudden decide that you need to bake All Of the Cookies and you only have like two days to do it (that happens to everyone, right, it’s not just me?). I wanted to make all my old standbys, but also felt like trying some new recipes, so I consulted my extensive library of cookbooks watched some shows on the Food Network asked my friends and family for recommendations headed to Pinterest. I found a couple of things to try, and for the most part they were pretty successful, but Becky went absolutely gaga for these chocolate chip toffee cookie strips. She’s been nagging asking me to make more ever since, and I thought they’d be a great share for Make’n’Tell.

Not only are these cookies delicious, but I get to use my new favorite technique for rolling out the dough. Instead of putting it between two sheets of wax paper or whatever, you put it in a Ziploc and leave about 1/2″ open at the top for the rest of the air to escape. Then you just roll your dough out inside the bag, and cut the bag open when you’re done. No muss, no fuss.

Chocolate Chip Toffee Cookie Strips

No, I did not eat all of these after taking the picture. Not all at once, anyhow.

Ingredients:

• 1 c. butter, softened
• 2/3 c. packed brown sugar
• 1/2 c. granulated sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 egg yoke
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 c. flour
• 1/2 tsp baking bowder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 1/3 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 2/3 c. toffee chips

Preheat oven to 350°. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper.

Cream butter and sugars together in mixer.

Add eggs and vanilla.

Add flour, baking powder, and salt, mixing until thoroughly combined.

With a wooden spoon, stir in chocolate and toffee chips.

Take half of mixture and seal in a gallon size Ziploc bag, leaving about 1/2″ open. Roll dough flat (you’ll only be able to get it as flat as your chips are tall, so about 1/4″). Cut open bag and put dough on prepared cookie sheet. Repeat with 2nd half of dough.

Make’n’Tell Day 1: One Shark, No Laserbeams

I made the kid, too, but not today so she doesn’t count for Make’n’Tell.

So, here it is, day 2 of my big February Make’n’Tell, and here’s the post about Day 1 (yesterday, obvi)’s activity. So far, so good.Well, except that my big plan was to ring in this Make’n’Tell with some delicious chocolate chip toffee strips, and then I was tired and it just didn’t happen. So yesterday’s make was finally finishing my shark hat (modeled by Becky, because I was too tired for selfies, too):

Ack! There’s a shark eating that girl’s head!

To be fair, I also made two other hats that I can’t show you because they’re prototypes, and worked on a sweater that I can’t show you because the pattern’s due to be published by a 3rd party soon. Oh, and s’mores! We had fireplace s’mores yesterday, too (dammit! I totally should have taken pics of the s’mores! I was too busy shoving them down my gullet to think of it, I guess.). So I did do quite a bit of making yesterday, which is a good way to start off the month, I think.

(P.S. We made the cookies today, so you’ll get that recipe tomorrow. 🙂 )

So Fine They’ll Never See Ya Leavin’ By the Back Door

The first time I saw this house — and in fact, all the times I saw it before we moved in — I thought the kitchen wallpaper was a rather pretty, if dull, blue and tan pinstripe. After the previous owner moved out (thus removing all the tchochkes from the walls) I was a bit horrified to discover that the wallpaper had apparently originally been blue and white pinstriped. I was full-on grossed out when I found a roll of the wallpaper, dated a mere 7 years earlier. So, painting the kitchen was the third thing we did (changing the toilet seats was the first, painting the closets was the second — I can’t abide a used toilet seat or unfresh closet) after taking possession.

That was 12 years ago, and we decided last month that it was time for a new paint job. This time, I went all out and in addition to painting the walls a sunny yellow with white trim, I painted the dark wood cabinets white. Talk about transformation! Suddenly the kitchen is this cheerful, bright space. The only problem was, the old valances were off-white. Have you ever put off white curtains next to white paint? The curtains just look dirty. So, something new on the windows.

I was browsing Pinterest, like I do, when I came across this pin showing strips of fabric tied as a valance. I love the casualness of it  for the kitchen, and you can hardly beat the price if you’ve got strips of scrap fabric handy. Of course, all of my fabric is in storage, but a quick trip to the local Joann clearance section netted me several fat quarter packs in the right colors for less than $10 all told. With the yellow walls, white cabinets, and accents of red and blue, I decided to use fabrics of the same colors in various prints, with a little orange and green thrown in here and there.  I absolutely adore the way they came out!

I Like Cheesy Buns and I Cannot Lie

The backstory: Kit has had to go gluten free. Like, extremely gluten free. I like to call him a Gluten Freek. The tiniest eensiest little bit of gluteny goodness — even just from cross-contamination — will double him right over with stomach cramps. So, he’s been missing a lot of his favorite foods, especially stuff we typically get got in restaurants, like burgers and fries. A few months ago, we discovered that the kids’ favorite stop on the way up to Boston, Maggie McFly’s, has an extensive GF menu and a dedicated GF fryer. And for the “bun” on the burgers, instead of the regular GF buns like he’s been getting at the store, they have this amazing GF cheesy flatbread stuff. It’s so good I’ve started ordering my burgers with them, too.

I looked for a recipe for bread like this with no success, and then about a month ago, one came across my interwebs (I think on Twitter, but I’m honestly not sure). I tried it out last month and it came out pretty good, if a little greasy. This time, it’s pretty much perfect. The original recipe I found calls for tapioca flour, which it turns out I can’t use, as even the smell of it triggers my gag reflex (even just the little bit in GF all-purpose mixes). He talked a lot about the fine, silky texture of the tapioca flour, and I thought rice flour might substitute in nicely. Sure enough, it subs right in. Now, mine don’t look all pretty and puffy like in the pictures over at the original recipe, I assume because of the different flour. But, since we really want to use them for sandwiches, that actually works in my favor.

The hardest part about this dough is getting the texture right. It needs to be, once you’ve added everything in, moist enough to hold together but only just. Any moister, and you’re going to end up with the (admittedly delicious) greaseballs I had the first time. The key to this is the flour — the different flours seem to absorb moisture at different rates, even just different batches of the same type of flour. I used the exact same type and amount of flour this time as when I had the too-moist dough last time, and ended up having to remoisten the dough a little by adding more milk at the end.

Gluten Free Cheesy  Buns

Ingredients:

• 4 Tbsp butter
• 1 c. milk
• 1/4 c. vegetable oil
• 3 1/2 c. Rice Flour (-ish — due to variations in absorbency, you may need more or less flour)
• 2 eggs, slightly beaten
• 1 c. shredded mozzarella
• 1/4 c. shredded cheddar

Preheat oven to 350°. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a dutch oven or other large pot, melt butter. Allow butter to brown slightly but not burn.

Add milk and oil. Bring to  boil, stirring frequently.

As soon as the mixture boils, remove from heat.

Add flour, mixing well. Mixture should be fairly dry and crumbly at this point.

Stir in eggs and both cheeses.  Mixture should be smooth and slightly shiny.

If mixture is too dry, add additional milk in 2 Tbsp increments, stirring well after each addition, until mixture holds together. Do not over moisten.

Form dough into discs 3-4″ in diameter and about 1/2″ thick. Place on parchment lined baking sheet and bake for 20-25 minutes. Dough will lose its shininess and you may see errant pieces of cheese begin to brown.

Let cool before serving. These are best slightly warm but quite good at room temperature or even cold for a quick snack.

Wimpy

Y’all, I have been under the weather for a good(bad) week and a half now. Yay, sinusitis. I thought I finally had it licked, but  tonight it seems to be rearing its ugly head again and I just don’t have a Tasty post in me along with the submission I need to get sent out. BUT, tomorrow there will absolutely be one, for the delish GF cheesy rolls I mentioned last week. AND there will also be for sure a FIotIF (hint: it’s also something in my kitchen). In other words, to paraphrase Wimpy: I will gladly blog for you tomorrow, for a day of rest today.

PS: I am enjoying the Creativity Challenge I tweeted about last week, but I’m having a hard time really getting it in gear (which I’m also blaming on the sinusitis). So, I’m going to give myself permission to be a day behind (because I already am and trying to catch up will just make it  worse) and do Day 1 today.

Day 1’s challenge was to come up with a one-word theme for your creativity for the year. My one word is: Make. I have a really bad habit of coming up with ideas and even thinking through in detail how to get something done and then just never getting around to it. So my theme for this year is going to be the making itself, getting my creativity out of my head and  into the world in some tangible form. Now I just need to make the project for the challenge (see what I did there?).