Using fabric scraps: tea wallets (and fabric holders for other items)

First of all, thank you to all of you who commented on the subject of tea, and entered the drawing for this small giveaway. You probably aren't aware how much joy I receive when I open up my blog page and see that someone is interested enough to add a comment. It's for that joy that you give to me that I enjoyed sewing this tea wallet for one of you.

And now, drum roll, the winner of this tea wallet and assortment of tea, is Kris! Kris, please email me (lili.mounce@gmail.com) with your address and I'll post this out to you!

And for anyone who'd find making a tea wallet a fun endeavor, here's how I made this one.

So you know that I've been going through my stacks of fabric in my sewing closet this winter. I'm afraid I haven't made much of a dent this year, and will have to be more aggressive in my sewing. But I did find a wonderful use for smaller scraps (which is what I seem to have in abundance). This tea wallet (and many more to come, done similarly), used 4 pieces of 5 X 7 inch fabric. 1 rectangle of a decorator fabric (the heavy weight means I don't have to add an interfacing) and 3 rectangles of lighter-weight cotton. Perfect, as I have a lot of pieces about this size.

To make one tea wallet, cut 4 rectangles of fabric 5 by 7 inches. Use 1 heavier weight fabric for the exterior of the wallet, and 3 pieces of lightweight fabric for the pockets and interior. If you have found the perfect exterior fabric that is lightweight, iron on a piece of 5 X 7 inch fusible interfacing to this one piece. This will give the exterior some substance and prevent wrinkling. You will also need 1 button and about 4 inches of ribbon, cording or elastic for the closure.

Iron all pieces of fabric.

Fold the 2 pocket pieces in half, lengthwise, right side out. Top stitch along the folded edge, to give a finished look.

Place one pocket piece on the right side of the lining piece of fabric, 1 inch above the bottom edge. This will form the two top pockets. Pin along the bottom edge.

Sew this pocket piece to the lining fabric along bottom edge of pocket, about 1/4 inch from edge.

Pin remaining pocket piece on top of sewn pocket, lining up the lower edge with the lower edge of the lining fabric.

Sew along this lower edge, just under 1/4 inch from edge.

Fold the lining and pockets in half, and press with iron.

This will make a crease for you to sew along. 

Machine sew the crease, from the bottom edge up to the top of the top pocket. This creates 4 pockets, total. Also, sew along the lower edge, just under 1/4 inch from edge of fabric.

Fold a piece of ribbon or cord in half to make a loop. Play with the length you need to reach the button that you will sew on the front, eye-balling the placement. Pin the ribbon to the pocket/lining, on the right-hand side, just above the top of the lower pocket. Stitch in place, just under 1/4 inch from edge.

Place exterior fabric piece, right sides together, on top of lining and pockets. Pin all the way around. Stitch interior to exterior, 1/4 inch from edge, almost all the way around, leaving an opening, about 2 inches across, along the bottom edge, on the side of the wallet that the ribbon loop is attached.

Clip the corners just a bit, to minimize the bulkiness of the corners once turned right side out.

Through the opening, turn the wallet right side out, using a chopstick or other item with a dull point, to poke the corners,

then use a pin to pull out the remaining portion of each corner.

Press wallet, turning the opening edge under to match the rest of the lower edge.

Slip stitch this opening closed. You can top stitch all around the perimeter of the wallet, if you wish. But my top-stitching is not so neat, so I chose not to.

Sew the button in place, being careful not to sew through one of the pocket pieces. Fill with tea, and you're done.

These instructions make this sound much more complicated than it really is. I think, in total, making mistakes, unpicking, etc, I spent about 1  1/2 hours. When I make more, I should be able to get these down to about 30 minutes each, start to finish.

This idea can be sized for other objects one might carry with them, or want to keep all together, such as a small notepad and pen, some packets of handi-wipes, sunscreen and/or bug repellent, a small mirror and stick of lip gloss/balm, or a stack of home made note cards and envelopes.

Some possibilities for gifting fabric wallets (tea or otherwise) would include bridal or baby shower favors, end-of-the-year teacher appreciation gifts, Mother's Day gifts, and I'm thinking way ahead here, Christmas stocking stuffers for the tea drinkers in your circle. I plan on using another fabric to make a wallet for a purse-sized notepad and small pen for my step mom as part of a basket of gifts for Mother's Day this spring (US Mother's Day is in May -- happy belated Mother's Day to all you moms in the UK who celebrated this past weekend!).

Other things I'm considering making with my heap of small fabric scraps include, pin cushions, sachets, covered hangers, and covered cardboard boxes. Any other suggestions for using up small scraps would surely be appreciated!

Making Shamrock cookies: you don't "need" a special cookie cutter

Just a reminder, there's a giveaway still going on through Sunday, midnight PST, right over here. It's open to everyone, no restrictions. So hop on over and enter!

I also want to just say a big thanks to everyone who gave me ideas on how to dress myself properly on Tuesday's post. I really appreciate your suggestions. While I can't guarantee that I won't ever slip back into my holey sweats and frayed tee shirts, I am giving more thought to how I dress myself for around the house. This could take me a while -- baby steps!

So, onward and upward, right?!

Being March, with St. Patrick's Day nearly upon us, and having 2 Irish lasses of our own under our roof (my twin daughters' birthday is March 17, so we say they are honorary Irish), just what kind of cookies could I possibly make? Shamrock cookies, of course!

Many people think that gingerbread cookies are just for Christmas. But in our home, gingerbread is an any month sort of cookie. Not too sweet or rich, it's one of my favorites with a hot cup of either tea or coffee. And it's well suited to cutting into fancy shapes. I happen to have a shamrock cookie cutter. But you can make shamrocks or any other shape you desire, without a special cutter.

A few years ago, we were housesitting for my sister in So. California  (I know, rough job in winter, but we like to do our share to help someone out). It was just before Christmas and I wanted to leave her family a treat for their return. I thought to make gingerbread men, but couldn't find a gingerbread man cookie cutter in her kitchen. What to do! What to do! Then I remembered reading Tasha Tudor's Christmas book and how she talked about making gingerbread cookies free-hand. She cut these beautiful animals of all sorts, from her gingerbread dough, using nothing more than a paring knife.

outline of a shamrock -- you can enlarge, as needed,
 and print out to cut and use as a template

I didn't quite trust my free-hand abilities, so I did what I considered the next best thing. I drew and cut out a simple gingerbread man shape from a brown paper shopping bag. This would be my template. I laid this pattern on lightly floured, rolled-out dough (the light dusting of flour keeps the pattern from sticking to the dough). I used a paring knife to cut around the pattern. And voila! Gingerbread men cut-outs ready to bake.

cutting with a small knife is a little slower than using cutters,
but can be a fun activity with the family

So, if you're in the mood to make shamrock (or any other shaped) sugar or gingerbread cookies (any rolled out dough will work as non-perfectly perfect as can be), you can make a template, instead of using a cutter.

I find it easier to cut all my cookies, remove the remaining dough
 that surrounds them, and then lift the cookies

Simply draw or find a picture of a shamrock (enlarge if needed). Cut this out, and use as a template for cutting your cookies. I'll include a photo of our shamrock outline in this post, in case you just want to enlarge and print it out, and use as your template.

I trim any imperfections with a knife and I'm good to go

Older kids could help with the cutting. You could have a couple of templates in use at a time, to speed this up. Younger kids could help with buttering a baking sheet, or lifting cut shamrocks from the counter and onto the baking sheet.

So there you go. Next time you want to make some cookies in a shape that you haven't a cutter for, just draw and cut a template. It's the no-clutter cutter.

My cup runneth over. . .and now yours can, too! *a giveaway*

tea wallet giveaway -- cup definitely not included, sorry, it's one of my favs

Okay, so no offense to any men out there, but you know when the guy in your life gives you one of something, one year, and you exclaim how much you love it, that this practically guarantees that he will give you not one, but dozens of said item with the next occasion?

When you have a large pile of something,
don't you just want to scoop them up in your hands over and over?

My husband, bless his heart, discovered how much I loved his gift to me last year, of 2 small boxes of my favorite bagged tea. So, this year, just what do you think popped into his mind to gift me with? A large box filled with 100 sachets of my favorite bagged tea. It is definitely very good tea, and I appreciate his efforts to get me what he knows I will enjoy. I had thought about hoarding all this tea to myself. I could likely make it last a year (I don't drink tea every day, but several times per week). Or . . . I thought, why not share my good fortune with you?!

Let me tell you about this tea, so you can decide if you'd like some. It's double bergamot Earl Grey black tea. The bergamot is a citrus fruit, but instead of tasting citrusy, it tastes a lot like lavender, to me. I like the double bergamot, as it's highly flavorful, and can stand up to the milk I add to my tea. I have tried many versions of the extra bergamot Earl Grey, and this one is, IMO, the best. It could only be improved upon if it were a double bergamot, cream of Earl Grey.

And to sweeten this deal, I'm including one hand-sewn (by moi) tea wallet, that holds 4 sachets of tea, so that you'll never be without your favorite blend.

inside of tea wallet, when folded it's about 3 X 4 1/2 inches

This tea wallet has pockets inside for 4 tea bags, but also could be used to carry packets of your sweetener of choice where ever you go ( I like stevia for iced teas, and sugar in the raw for coffee, and rarely find them in coffee shops, restaurants or friends' homes).

This can be yours, you lucky thing --
imagine the boiling water frenzy in your own home!

I'm including 15 tea sachets with this tea wallet in this giveaway.  As I am aware, probably not everyone in this world shares my passion for a very bergamot-y tea, only 5 of the sachets will be the Double Bergamot Earl Grey. The other 10 sachets included are from my second and third favorite bagged teas, Decaf Chai Spice Black Tea, and Wild Blueberry with Acai Herb Tea.

The Decaf Chai Spice I enjoy when it's past my caffeine cut-off for the day, but want a treat of hot tea and milk. And the Wild Blueberry with Acai is my favorite diet treat. It tastes sweet, just as it is, and is great hot or iced.

So, this giveaway, absolutely free, no strings attached, includes the hand-made tea wallet, and 15 sachets of flavorful bagged tea. I know, it's not exactly fantabulous, but I just thought I'd share, as my cup was running over!

If you'd like to enter this giveaway, simply leave a comment below on your favorite tea. This is open to anyone on planet Earth (sorry, I can't ship to Mars, Venus or Saturn, due to planetary delivery complications). Tea sachets are lightweight, so shipping shouldn't be a concern for me, in case you're out of the country (USA) and worried on my behalf for expense (thank you, I do appreciate such kindness and consideration, but really, this is my treat, where ever you live!)

This giveaway will remain open until Sunday, midnight PDT (hey, we change our clocks this weekend!), March 10, 2013. I'll announce the lucky tea drinker on Tuesday, March 12, 2013, so do check back then. One entry per person, please. (But multiple people sharing one address can enter. I know of at least one mother/daughter who read here occasionally. And a shout out to my face-to-face friends who read here, you can enter, too. Don't think that because you know me outside of this blog that you are automatically excluded, 'kay? Good!)

And just an FYI, there WILL be a regular post on Saturday, as usual.

Help! I'm a grown woman and I can't seem to dress myself!

If your doorbell rang right now, would you want to answer the door in what you're wearing? If your child's school called, telling you your child is sick and needs an immediate pick-up, how comfortable would you be running into the classroom in your outfit du jour?

Somewhere along the road, I got used to seeing myself in sweats and tee-shirts everyday. The sweats often were holey, and tees were a bit frayed at the neckline and cuffs. I was just so glad to not have baby spit up down the front, or peanut butter in my hair, to really notice that my appearance had slid so far down the hill.

I used to be able to dress myself. Even as a university student, I always looked decent. I had nice, comfortable clothes for after hours, no holes, torn seams or mystery stains.

Now, my most favored at-home pants are sweat pants. They're comfortable and warm. I love the stretchy waist. But they do look sloppy after a time. My current two pairs have holes in the seat. Not pin holes, but a few big gaping holes. I do have a couple of pairs of jeans, but even with spandex in them, they just don't reach the same level of comfort (and warmth) as sweats.

So, where am I going with all this?

You know the day I'm about to describe. I'm deep in a project, check the clock, and realize that I'm 15 minutes late to leave to pick up my girls from school. I grab my purse and head to their school. In the drive down, I check myself in the mirror, look down at my shoes (gotta make sure they both match), and discover my hair is sticking out every which way, I've no make-up on (did I remember to wash my face this morning, I wonder), my shirt has a glop of wood glue right front and center, and for pants, I'm wearing my holiest of sweats. "Ugh!" I say out loud to a non-existent audience in the car, "well, I'll just park at the far end of the lot and wait for the girls to come out. We'll hightail it out of the parking lot, be back home in no time, and no one will see what a wreck I am today."

Wouldn't you know it, this is the one day that daughter no. 1 comes out to my car window and tells me, "Mr so-and-so wants to talk to you. Can you come in right now?"  I have a few seconds of scrambling for excuses why I can't come in today, then give up, straighten the loose ends of my hair, and hope I can get in and out of the classroom with gaping holes in the back side of my pants unseen by any and all passers-by. (Fortunately, these sweat pants are so baggy and stretched out, that the holes tend to get lost in the folds of fabric.)  I am beyond the "Fashion Don'ts" page of well-known fashion magazines!

So, it's clear to me now, I really don't know how to dress myself properly. I need some Garanimals (kids' clothing from the 70s, each piece having an identifiable animal on a tag with it, so a child could choose pants and top with same animal and know the outfit went together) in my closet, so that I can reach in and grab two pieces that are designed to go together.

But I need an at-home wardrobe suited to my DIY, crafting, gardening-in-the-mud, and baking-from-scratch, lifestyle. So, my constraints are the clothes need to be comfy, stretch to move with me as I move, be stylish enough to be seen by people outside my family, be easy wash and dry items, and be cheap enough that if I get another glob of wood glue on myself, it's not a big deal.

I've been hitting the thrift shops with my daughters for the past couple of years. (Those two love the thrift shops. They say that there is much more to choose from in a thrift.) I have found a couple of tee shirts, and one sweater and that's about it. I'm picky about fit. Clothing has to fit well and be flattering. I want it to have a certain amount of style, as well.  Later this week, I'm going to a locally-owned consignment shop and hoping for more of what I'm looking for. But I really don't even know what I'm looking for. And perhaps that's been part of my problem.

My questions for you, when you are at home, how do you dress? I know some of you will tell me that you dress in nice slacks, a blouse and cute shoes. But surely, there are others out there who lost their ability to dress themselves, with the onset of motherhood, too. Have you ever had a day when you were caught completely off-guard with your wardrobe?

How have you built an affordable and presentable wardrobe that is also super comfy? What should I look for, style-wise, so that as a middle-aged (gulp) woman, I neither look totally ridiculous in overly trendy stuff, nor like a granny ready for the rocker? How can I incorporate comfortable pants with stylish tops (my current style top is a long-sleeved tee in winter, short-sleeve in summer, not exactly a hallmark of style)?

If you had to choose just a couple of basic at-home clothing items, that aren't made of fleecy sweatshirt material, that looked pulled together, but you could definitely wear while mopping the kitchen floor, what would those pieces look like?

I'll continue my search through the thrift shops, but also am hoping a consignment shop might offer something suitable, stylish, comfortable, and at an affordable price.

Any and all help and advice are welcome here, as well as a comforting tale or two of your own clothing mishaps (so I don't feel like such a bag lady).

My garden notebook

the Italian prune tree, set in an oval hedge of dwarf boxwood, in the backyard

When are you supposed to start tomato seeds? When the oak leaf is as big as a squirrel's ear? Or is it when the crocus have bloomed and faded? Or perhaps when the weeping willow drops 17 twigs per hour? Oh I don't know, and I can't remember when I started my seeds last year.

And that's why I started this gardening notebook! I could never remember when I started certain seeds, and then when to begin the transplant process.

This is just a leftover plastic binder, from a conference my husband attended many years ago, that I've made pretty with some fabric. As nice as it looks from the outside, it's what's inside that keeps my gardening organized.

These "special features" are just binder odds and ends. Several years ago, our garden club put together garden notebooks. We each brought our own binders, then shared packets of notebook organizing pages, purchased from Office Depot.

The 4-section photograph holder page is perfect for keeping notecards with special how-to info, such as making hypertufa, using herbs and blossoms in bath bombs and salts, and making hosta leaves with concrete.

The multi-section business card holder is where I keep info like the guy who grinds stumps for us, and the service that takes out or trims trees, the contact info for a stone mason, and stone supply, etc.

I have a couple of large sheet protectors for full pages of information,

and photos and sketches of gardens that I love.

There's a pocket page for catalogs, tree tags and other items that wouldn't otherwise fit into other pages. I do save old fruit tree and vegetable seeds catalogs, for their valuable information on care and disease/pest prevention with our trees, and seed planting info that goes beyond what may be on the back of a packet of seeds.

And, of course, there's that sheet of when I am supposed to start certain seeds indoors, when I should transplant seedlings to the garden, and by what date do I start seeds for the fall garden. All important stuff.

To prettify my plastic notebook, I wrapped fabric around the exterior of the notebook, and adhered with a rubber cement-type adhesive.

I could cover the inside ends with sheets of scrapbook paper. Maybe I'll get to that soon. For now, I'm happy with how it looks and works.

February grocery money journal (and how I got started with my shopping at several stores each week)

As you read my Grocery Money Journal, you will likely notice that I shop at several different stores. I take advantage of the different and exceptional deals (loss-leaders and specialties) at each store, and stock up to fill my pantry and freezer.

nothing to do with this post --
the forsythia I forced indoors 2 weeks ago tomorrow

How I got started shopping several different stores and what I think of this shopping technique now

In 1988, we were a family of 3, myself, my husband and our 1 year old son. We were spending about $70 per week on groceries, and this seemed to be a reasonable amount for us.

Growing up, my mom shopped once per week, buying all the food she needed for that one week, and all at one store. She did clip coupons, and watch for sales. But that's as far as she went with trying to be prudent with her grocery spending.

When I married, I shopped the same way. I even shopped at what was known as the "budget" grocery store in our town. Every week, my husband, little boy and I went to the grocery store and bought enough food to get us through a week.

One day, while standing in line at the grocery store check out, I picked up a magazine and began reading. There was an article about a family who shopped at several stores per week, buying stock-up quantities of sale items. Each week, when they received the store ads, they gathered around the kitchen table and studied the ads for all the stores within a 15-20 minute drive of their home. They made lists for the different stores, for the items that were priced especially low for those products. Then they split up, husband and 1 child went to half of the stores, and wife and 2 other children went to the other stores.

the flowering currant forced indoors --
a bright spot in late February

If you were to look into their bags when they got home, you'd think there's no way they can make meals for their family on what's in there! Then you take a look in their pantry, fridge and freezer, and you instantly understand how they make meals. They stock up on great deals, in quantities to last a few months. This family bought more of the snack foods than I would buy, such as soda pop, chips, packaged cookies and cold cereal. But I could see that this technique would work for me, as well.

We changed the way we shopped for groceries, overnight, and cut our grocery spending from $70 per week to $30 per week. Overnight! We went from spending 30% of our take-home income on groceries, to spending 13% of our take-home income. Our take-home at the time was a mere $1000 per month. An extra $173 per month was very valuable.

The grocery store ads for our town came in the Sunday paper. Monday mornings, I would spread the papers out on the table and study the good deals, and spend about 1 hour, making my lists. I selected only the very best buys for each store, for the week, focusing on produce, dairy, grains, and meats. I had 3 stores that were conveniently located for me to shop. In the afternoon, I packed my little boy up and the two of us hit those stores.

One thing I discovered, shopping 3 stores, with list in hand, and only picking up multiples of specific items, was that this sort of shopping did not take up as much time as I had thought it would. Going to 3 stores, within a 15-20 minute drive from my apartment, took about 2 hours per week. My previous way of shopping, at just one store, would typically take longer than an hour and a half, as we seemed to linger over our choices.

The first few weeks left me with a slightly less-balanced pantry and freezer selection, but I was still able to provide nutritious meals for our family. I bought a lot of dried beans and grains in that first week to round out the selection of bargain meat that I found. And I think we may have eaten carrots, cabbage, squash and onions for several meals. But this was just the first week. By the second week, I had a larger variety in stock. 

I spent just $30 for that very first week, and every week to come for many years (until a combination of inflation and a growing family deemed an increase to *gasp* $41 per week, and today we now spend about $48 per week for the 5 of us).

Within a month, the vast majority of foods that we consumed regularly had been featured on sale, and I was able to stock up in quantities to last us several months. Those items that I couldn't find on sale, I picked up at the area "budget" grocery store as I needed.

So, that's how I began with this whole shopping around thing.

Why do I continue with this shopping? 

I still save a bundle of money, and I have found that I can tailor the items I buy to the different stores, according to each stores specialties. 

The Cash and Carry restaurant supply is fantastic for bulk-buying baking ingredients, as I do bake a lot, and large bags of dried beans and brown rice for our vegetarian meals. QFC is the more upscale grocery store near us, and has some of the best meat in the area, that is, for a chain grocery. Trader Joe's is my go-to place for organics, like tofu and soymilk, as well as very fresh dried fruit (sounds funny, I know, but the kind of dried fruit that isn't hard little pebbles, but chewy and flavorful), and naturals like peanut butter. Country Farms is my favorite produce stand. The produce is fresh and well-priced. I don't mind if I have to wash off more dirt than supermarket produce. It just reminds me that what I'm about to eat was grown in or on the ground. I stop by Dollar Tree every couple of weeks and find some real bargains on crackers and other treat items. And I throw in Safeway and Albertsons for rounding out the shopping.

I have found that by shopping several stores, I buy better food overall. And that is perhaps as big a motivator as saving money for our family, these days.

Now for my February grocery money journal

I didn't post a mid-month grocery journal for February, as its a short month, we took a week out for a vacation, and I'm now just posting 3 days per week (and I have other things I'd like to share with you) so I just left this all as one full month's journal.

Feb. 1. I knew we were in for it. This would be the month that I restock quite a bit. And the month is off to a roaring good start. I stopped by Cash and Carry wholesaler in the afternoon, and bought 8 lbs peanut butter (really great price $1.73 lb, it's been so expensive for a year now, couldn't resist this price), gallon sized can of tomatoes, gallon sized can of tomato paste, 3 quarts soymilk, 5 lbs. carrots, 5 lbs. frozen mixed vegetables, 1 head red cabbage, 1 package tofu, and 50 lbs of flour.

I have told myself that I would try and plan ahead better this month, and only stop into both the Cash and Carry and Trader Joe's once each, for the month. This will save me time in the end. I'm just not very good at planning so far in advance. A week or two I'm okay with, but a whole month was a bit hard for me. We shall see how this works out. Total spent today -- $49.06

Feb. 4. At Dollar Tree, found seeds for 4/$1. I count vegetable seeds and growing supplies into the grocery budget. Also bought crackers, cocoa packets and some chips for upcoming trip. spent $11.57

Also, stopped in TOP Foods, for cheese, cider mix for son's Valentine's gift and pills I need to eat dairy (also I take out of grocery). Spent $11.42   total for month so far -- $72.05

Feb. 6. We needed 1 gallon of milk to get the guys through the days that the girls and I will be gone. Also found mushrooms (for tonight's stew) and bananas (tomorrow's lunches) on clearance. Total spent $4.63. Total month to date -- $76.68

Feb. 7. Pre-trip stock up at Trader Joe's. Bought raisins, sunflower seeds, almonds, bananas and soy milk. Spent $17.23. Total month to date -- $93.91

Feb. 8-14. I'll take $45 out of the grocery budget to offset some of the dining costs while away. I came to this number by dividing the monthly budget by days in the month, then multiplying by the number of days away. The rest of the money spent on dining while on vacation will come from the vacation budget.

Total spent for the month -- $138.91

Feb. 15. Post-trip restock. Stopped at Cash and Carry. Bought 10 lbs potatoes, 25 lbs. onions, 5 lbs. carrots, 1 head red cabbage, 1 #10 can ketchup, 1 small can salmon, 2 small cans pineapple juice concentrate, about 4 lbs of bananas. total spent -- $28.77

Also stopped in at QFC for chicken on sale for 88c lb. Bought 3 whole chickens. Found whole and skim milk on mark down for $1.09/half gallon. Bought all 8 half gallons that they had left. Total spent here -- $21.87

Total spent month to date -- $189.55

Feb. 20. I've been slightly under the weather for a couple of days -- no appetite, and no desire to set foot in a grocery store. Now that helps the grocery budget, doesn't it?!!! The silver lining -- get a stomach bug, and save on grocery impulse buys!!

Feb. 26. Needed some things from the dollar store, also picked up a container of oregano (I'm out of my garden oregano from last summer's garden) and 3 bags of foil-wrapped chocolate pieces (Valentine's clearance, 25 cents/bag), to use in s'mores and chopped up for cookies. Total spent $1.75. 

Total spent for February on groceries $191.30, under budget by $18.70. This will roll over into the grocery surplus for next month.

Supplies in the pantry, freezer and garden

My freezer still has blackberries, plums, rhubarb, blueberries and strawberries from last summer. Also, there are 2 whole chickens, 1 whole turkey and a small beef roast. My pantry is looking leaner, but not too lean. The vegetable garden is coming back. I have watercress, sorrel, broccoli, kale, turnip and mustard greens from the fall garden making their comeback for about a month before bolting. I'll need to do a good deal of restocking this next month.

Deals to look for at the grocery store in March

• with St. Patrick's Day, cabbage will be a loss leader item at most grocery stores the week leading up to St. Patrick's Day. Cabbage keeps for a couple of months in the refrigerator. I buy a few heads of cabbage and use in stir-fries, soup, braised cabbage, bubble and squeak, and cole slaw both as a salad and to add to sandwiches. Also, corned beef is often a loss-leader. It can be cooked, sliced thin and frozen in packets for sandwiches later on.
• seasonal produce No. Hemisphere -- winter into spring produce: broccoli, cauliflower, kale, collards, celery, carrots continue from previous winter months, but towards the middle-end of the month, expect to find artichokes, asparagus, leeks, spinach, strawberries, green onions and radish all at good prices.
• seasonal produce So. Hemisphere -- end of summer produce: apples, pears, grapes, tomatoes, eggplant, peppers, winter and summer squash, beans and onions.  

My thotful spot

Where is your thotful spot, that place where you go to find your own thoughts? Winnie the Pooh's thotful spot was in the 100 Aker Wood. Mine is at the beach.

When I've had a stressful few days, I book time with myself to spend an hour at the beach. We have 4 Puget Sound beaches within 5 to 15 minutes, by car, from my home. In summer, I walk down the hill to the long stretch of Sound beach closest to our home. My kids like the activity of the busy downtown Edmonds beach, with ferries, scuba divers and harbor seals to watch. I prefer the mostly quiet, but beautifully designed Mukilteo beach, a 12-15 minute drive from my home.

Yesterday morning, I needed some time with my thoughts. I brought my camera along, so that I could show you a bit of where I live.

For a little geography, the Puget Sound is the large body of water that connects the Seattle area to the Pacific Ocean. Going west, there's us, the Puget Sound (filled with islands), the Olympic Peninsula, and then the Pacific Ocean.

Yesterday, I went to my favorite beach, Mukilteo beach. There's quite a lot to see at this beach. There's the lighthouse. It's open for tours many month of the year. Lighthouse keeping is an interesting subject. I like to think of the families, who lived here, quite isolated from much of the population. They were a self-sufficient lot, going months between deliveries of goods, and a bit of the big city news.

The ferry terminal is just to the north of the public beach. In the Seattle area, the ferries are just an extension of the highway system, criss-crossing the Sound to islands and the Olympic Peninsula. This past summer, my kids and I took a ferry over to the Peninsula to the Scandinavian town of Poulsbo. In November, the whole family took a different ferry to San Juan Island, to roam the waterfront town of Friday Harbor. Yesterday, I just sat and watched the ferries come and go from Whidbey Island, the island just across the Sound from us.

I always enjoy my encounters with the wildlife here. The gulls hung around for handouts from my snack.

A blue heron languished by the edge of the water. And I had a friendly chat with a harbor seal.

He was quite close to the shoreline, and apparently very interested in my presence. I was the only human on the beach, and he seemed to want someone to play with. He barked at me for several minutes before diving back down. Only to pop back up a few feet away.

There's a very long stretch of this beach, perfect for "thotful" walking.

I looked for sea glass, beautiful rocks, and the perfect shell as I tread over the coarse sand.

In a rocky area,

I searched for crabs, one occasionally washing out of his hiding place with the incoming waves.

There are several man-made features here.

And a wedding circle, very busy on summer afternoons. Yesterday, it was just me, on a bench, enjoying the view.

Spending time at the beach doesn't solve any of my problems or worries. But I always come away relaxed and ready to handle whatever crisis may come next.

Weekend breakfast pastry: Toffee Schnecken

Toffee Schnecken -- gooey, chocolate-y and warm from the oven

Do you have a sweet tooth? I sure do!

Friday morning I begin to think about Saturday breakfast treats. (Okay, I'm stretching it a bit to say Friday morning. This week I was thinking about Saturday's treat on Thursday evening. Yep! I've got a sweet tooth!)

Many weekends it's whole wheat cinnamon buns. A fresh-from-the-oven cinnamon bun with coffee, now that's my idea of a Saturday breakfast that is tempting enough to get the troops out of bed in a hurry!

This week, I was in the mood for something a little different. I perused several cooking sites, then I remembered my mom's recipe for Toffee Schnecken. I hadn't made this in a while, so it seemed the perfect treat-y item. (Treat-y -- is that even a word? We'll just say it is!)

Scnecken (or schnecke), by the way, is German for snail, often used to refer to sticky buns made in the rolled up and sliced fashion. Toffee Schnecken is a rolled and sliced sticky bun pastry, filled with toffee bits, chocolate pieces and nuts. It's baked in muffin tins, so the bun grows up, instead of expanding sideways, and looks a bit like a snail, but in a good way!

As luck would have it, I still had a package of toffee bits in the pantry. I bought these on sale, and never got around to using them. I like my Toffee Schnecken with chocolate pieces added. But they're entirely optional. My mom's recipe did not call for the addition of chocolate. So, it's up to you -- chocolate, yes, or chocolate, no.

Toffee Schnecken

2 packages active dry yeast, or 5  1/2 teaspoons (27.5 mL)
1/2 cup (120 mL) lukewarm water
1 cup (240 mL) lukewarm milk
1/2 cup (120 g) butter or margarine (I used margarine)
1/4 cup (50 g) granulated sugar
2  1/2 teaspoons (12.5 mL) salt
1 large egg, beaten
4  3/4 (570 g) to 5  1/4 cups (630 g) flour (I used about 3  3/4 cups white flour and 1 cup whole wheat -- so that it's healthy-like, ya know?)
1/3 cup (80 g) butter, softened (nothing but the real thing here in the filling, the flavor matters most here, but you could use margarine)
1/4 cup (50 g) granulated sugar
1  1/4 cups (185 g) toffee candy bits (sold in the baking section, often next to the chocolate chips, otherwise, you could take a few Heath Toffee bars, and smash them up)
1/2 cup (84 g) chocolate chips (optional, but oh, so yummy!)
1/2 cup (75 g) chopped pecans, walnuts or almonds (optional, when I'm out of nuts, I don't sweat it, they're quite good without the nuts, even)
corn syrup

The dough:

• In a large bowl, dissolve the yeast in the water. Add milk, 1/2 cup butter or margarine, 1/4 cup sugar, salt, egg and 2 cups of flour. Beat well.
• Mix in enough flour to form a stiff dough. Turn out onto a floured surface, add more flour as needed, and knead until smooth and satiny (about 7-8 minutes).

• Cover with plastic and a towel. Allow to rest on the counter for 20 minutes.

• Butter well,  2  12-count muffin tins. Spoon 1 teaspoon (5 mL) of corn syrup into each muffin tin section (this forms a gooey underside to each pastry).
• Punch down the dough, divide into 2 portions, and make your filling.
• On a floured surface, roll each portion of dough out to 12 X 9 inch rectangles.

• Spread half of the filling onto one rectangle. Roll up, jelly roll style, beginning at the wide end of the rectangle. Slice the roll into 12 pieces, and place into prepared muffin tins.
• Repeat with the other portion of the dough.

The filling:

• Cream the butter and 1/4 cup sugar together. 
• Stir in the toffee bits, chocolate chips and nuts.

Cover the filled muffin tins with plastic, and refrigerate for 2 to 24 hours. These can be prepared the day before baking, up to this point, for a fresh schnecken in the morning, if desired. They don't require additional rising time -- just set on the counter for 10 minutes and bake.

Just before baking, remove from the refrigerator, uncover and allow to stand at room temperature, while the oven preheats to 350 degrees F (176 C).

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes. 

Quickly turn the pastries out of the pan, immediately after baking, onto a rack to cool briefly before serving. If any stick to the pan, slide a table knife around the edges. As the syrupy bottom of the schnecken cools, it will harden. The last couple of pastries may need to be popped back into a warm oven, to remove them from the pan. Makes 24 pastries. 

I freeze half of the pastries, for grab-and-go breakfasts during the work week. I just do a double wrap in plastic, and I am good to go.

Grabbing a cup of coffee and pastry at Starbucks can become an expensive habit, over $4 just for one person. I make pastries at home, as a way to treat my family to something special, in an affordable way. This recipe (made without nuts -- I was out of nuts), cost me about $4 for the batch of 24 pastries, or 17 cents per pastry. A home-brewed cup of coffee and 2 Toffee Schnecken will run about 50 cents. Not bad at all for a Saturday morning treat!

An easy sewing project: pj bottoms

two pairs of pajama bottoms, all tied up in ribbon for gifting

I hope your week is going well. In our house, we call Thursday, "Friday Eve". So, happy Friday Eve!

I had some serious sourdough bread cravings earlier this week. I got my sourdough starter fired up again, after a lot of neglect this winter. I left the sourdough sponge on the counter overnight, hoping to achieve a really good tang. It still turned out rather mild. I'll keep working on that tang that I crave.

one of two loaves of sourdough bread -- it goes fast around these parts

For now, though, I thought I'd share my adventures in sewing pj bottoms for my two daughters. For anyone interested in learning to sew, I wanted to show the process, so that you could determine for yourself if this was a project you would want to undertake.

Remember, I was making these as my Valentine's gift for my two girls. (from the post The Valentine Dog)

I have a short attention span for these sort of projects. I don't like to unnecessarily frustrate myself with a long stretch of sewing or other needlework. So, I limited myself to about 45 minutes to 1 hour at a stretch on these. It took 4 days of work to complete both pairs. If I was one who could tolerate doing it all in one stretch, I could have made these two pairs in about 3 hours (but I would not have been a happy camper at the end of it all -- hence breaking my work up into chunks).

I worked on the 2 pairs simultaneously. I pinned and cut out both pairs together. I sewed seams one pair right after the other. I hemmed and put in elastic waists, one pair followed by the second. This seemed to be the most efficient use of my time. My only wish is that I'd done a third pair, one for me!!!


Day 1: I sized down the pattern that I had for my own pajamas, from a Women's size 6-8 to a Junior's size 3-5. It was all guess work, as these were to be a gift, so done in secret. I used white tissue wrapping paper to transfer my pattern to. It's not as transparent as pattern paper, but it worked fine.

First, I laid out the old pattern on the table, traced the cutting lines for my size onto the white tissue paper. Then, I re-drew the cutting lines about an inch in on the straight side seams, and took up the hem by several inches. That was it for Day 1. It took about 45 minutes (a lot of time spent wondering if I was on the mark, size-wise).

Day 2: I pinned the new, white tissue pattern pieces to the fabric, and cut out. Again, for both pairs, this took about 45 minutes.

Day 3: I pinned my seams to be sewn,

then, sewed the two front halves together, two back halves together, the inner leg seam, and the side seam.

I trimmed and reinforced all seams with a zig zag edge, very close to the straight stitching.

This took me longer than previous days' work, about 1 hour 15 minutes.

Day 4: I made the casing for the elastic waist, hemmed the legs, ran the elastic through the casing (using a safety pin to help thread the elastic), and sewed the little flower trim to the center front. I was done in about 45 minutes.

And both pairs were complete.

Pj bottoms are a fairly simple project for a beginner. If you take your time and break the work up into several sessions, a beginner could definitely do these. (Although, I would not recommend sizing down a pattern for a beginner. I'm just cheap frugal and didn't want to buy a new pattern.)

• For winter wear, I used flannel. Summer pj bottoms could be made from a woven cotton. I'd like a seersucker pair myself for wearing around the house on lazy summer days.
• Pj shorts would be even quicker to whip up, with shorter seams.
• If you have several kids to make pj bottoms for, (and you'd like them all to be of the same fabric -- some families do this at Christmas), you can use flannel sheets for the fabric, and save some money on the project.

You can see how they turned out. I was surprisingly close to accurate in my guesses on their size. I had left a tiny bit of stitching undone on the waistband casing, so that I could adjust the waist if necessary. After they tried them on, I closed up that small gap, and now I can hardly get my daughters out of their pjs on the weekends.

I'm beginning a small sewing project, using the scraps from this pillow that I made for the family room. More on that project another day.

Thank you for visiting today. It's been good to have you here.
I hope that you found inspiration, ideas, or just moral support, for your next project. 
May your day be full of cheer!