Olympic Knitting

In anticipation of spending many hours glued to my television this week with the Vancouver 2010 Olympics coming to a close I cast on a simple knit. In other words mindless knitting.

Thus the beginning of the "simple yet effective shawl" from Laura Chau. Her original pattern calls for chunky weight wool, but I wanted an all season wrap so I used a worsted. Details and pattern link here at my Ravelry page. And true to my prediction I have been stuck to my couch I'm so proud of all our Canadian athletes they've been doing such a wonderful job, but amazing efforts from all countries teams really. (see including everyone...thats the Canadian way) By the end of the weekend this soft, simple shawl should be off the needles. Oh and speaking of needles I'm really liking the new circulars i picked up by chiaogoo.

            Happy weekending to you all!

YUM!

We're having company over this coming weekend, and I was looking for something to drizzle over grilled fruit for dessert and I finally tried this little bit of liquid heaven. All I can say is YUM. This butterscotch sauce  will now and forever be my go to sauce. Five ingredients + five minutes= amazing goodness.

 Obviously I had to try it... for quality control purposes of course. And again YUM. As a side thought, lately I've really come to understand how much of our monthly budget was spent on things I was quite capable of doing/making  for myself and at less than half the price I would have paid for them. Now not only do I feel more confident in my own home and abilities our rainy day savings is actually starting to grow. Two very good things if you ask me.

Beautiful Bread

There's something wonderful and rythmic to making bread isn't there? I look forward to bread days, when  the pace slows around our home even for a little while when the only thing to worry about is my hands in the dough, a little haven of simplicity seems to surround us.
I hope your weekend has a little simplicity too, no matter how small it may be.

Soooo much knitting

Everywhere I turn there's knitting.....

Some thats just getting started...

Some just need finishing touches....

Some still need a mate...

Others have a long, long way to go...

And others have yet to even be spun.

One thing is for sure during these cold winter days (we're having a cold snap here) there's been lots of knitting going on cozied up next to the fire..bliss don't you think? Hope your all  keeping warm.

Planning Ahead

Trying to live a deliberate life usually involves a lot of planning. I like to plan our meals fairly carefully, I always try to make 2 meals at once. One for that night the other for another evening. Having frozen dinner components makes planning so much easier and quicker. Whether it's pulling meatballs or a jar of pesto out of the freezer having a well stocked home saves us money and time in the long run. Also we're not relying on food full of preservatives and salt and that makes me happy.

This is one of several batches headed to the freezer for dinner at a later date.

Farm Fresh Dinner

There's nothing like the taste of a fresh egg and I don't mean fresh off the supermarket shelf I mean straight from the source fresh...yeah. In our house when dinner inspiration is in short supply we always turn to our tried and true standby, omelets.

Piles of yummy chopped veggies loaded in and topped with grated handmade mozzarella from our local co-op cooked in a little homemade butter turned a gloomy winter's day a little more sunny.

Is there anything more beautiful then fresh local ingredients simply prepared?

Easy Peasy Valentine's Chocolate

In the search for Valentine's day gifts I decided to skip our local box store and make what I could in my kitchen. Besides whats better then homemade chocolate bark I ask you? Nothing. It's the perfect treat and one batch makes a lot of gifts.

I used a 250g block of Joe's milk chocolate and a 250g block of Joe's white chocolate, broke each into separate bowls and melted over a double boiler. Stirred until smooth and glossy and spooned the milk and white chocolate in a checker pattern onto a wax paper covered cookie sheet. To finish just swirl the two together with a knife and let cool and set. Once completely cooled break into pieces, wrap in pretty paper, tie with a ribbon and add a handwritten note. Done, easy!


When it comes to holidays and gift giving I always have the urge to "bend" our budget, but in the end I know I can still give lovely gifts no matter how simple or easy they are. A little handmade love can mean a lot.

Take care all.

Sweets Mat

These little mats are just as the name suggests sweet... and easy too! I wanted a cute little mat for coffee that wasn't a coaster and not as large as a place mat so of course I turned to a Japanese craft book, makers of all things sweet and cute. Perfect.

Not only are they adorable and practical they're ridiculously easy within a couple of hours I had a set of 4 completed and ready to use and that's including interruptions.

I love these books "Linen Wool Cotton" by Akiko Mano and "Patchwork Style" from Suzuko Koseki are Japanese style craft books written in English. Both books offer plenty of inspiration and the sweet factor.

I hope everyone had a lovely, crafty weekend.

Lemon butter and Hope

Hello chicks! It would seem in the crazy days of this past year I have lost my blogging way. But I am back and have plenty to share....including this gem lemon butter...who would have thought? This is so creamy and wonderful I could eat it with a spoon, okay I did but still sooooo good.

The recipe made 2 half pint mason jars we kept one here to enjoy and the other went to my father in-law with a batch of fresh scones for his birthday which I might add were very well received.

Things are starting to look up around here we've recently embarked on quite the adventure and my hope has been renewed for a miracle. I'll share as we get farther into the process I just needed to pass on some good energy. Anyways the sun is rising and I'm off to start breakfast for Hubby.