This is the first official PR&P Project that I have done something for Heber. Although, you might recognize him from the fall 2012 season when he modeled for his cousin when she was sick. I think the Underwater Land themed top is more fitting, don't you?


So as I'm sure it did with most of you, my mind went in about a million directions when they announced the artistic inspired theme for the first week of this season's Project Run and Play. My first thought was overwhelmed. I mean art is incredible, but what is appropriate for children's clothing and also something I love? I was stumped. Originally I thought maybe I would run with the architecture side of art since that's my favorite. I was thinking of doing a remix of the Eiffel tower into a dress for Ty, but the difficulty, potential cost, and a teething, sick baby vetoed that idea. Hence we went easy this time around.


Next to architecture, my next favorite kind of art is black and white illustrations, more specifically Shel Silverstein. After looking at all of his illustrations I found a picture he did for the Underwater Land album. It was perfect for Heber's personality and nautical theme is pretty big right now.

I used my fabric budget for the other weeks of PR&P so I had to get creative this time around. I ended up going to Goodwill and finding a men's t-shirt that I decided to refashion into a shirt for Heber. I hand drafted some pattern pieces and cut away. The binding around the original neck of the shirt was seam ripped off re-sized to fit the neck line. Once I had put it all together besides the side seams, I got started on the image.


I took the image I found and opened it in Silhouette. I used the trace feature to get the general outline. I cleaned it up and made the image and the line the same color. After doing this you can make the line thickness as much as you desire to make your image bolder. Finally you can use the trace feature again over what you worked on to get a single cut line. And then your image is ready to go.


I cut it on freezer paper so that I could iron it onto the shirt I made. The plan was to use spray paint to get the image on. Unfortunately because some of the freezer paper pieces were so small, they wouldn't stick to the fabric when I tried to iron them on. I ended up still using the freezer paper that I had applied, but just used a sharpie marker to sketch out the little stuff instead of spray paint. Finally, I pulled off the freezer paper, heat set the image, and sewed the side seams from under the arm pit to the bottom of the shirt.


I'm really excited about this tee. Heber looks so handsome and he finally has a shirt that is easy to get over his big head and fit his long body. If you haven't seen it yet you should check out the incredible dress my sister Jo made this week.




Where we are linking up:

Okay so I have to apologize, this is an incredibly simple post, but what do you make in honor of St. Patrick's Day that is fitting? I've tried a few different things, but nothing quite worked like I wanted. Not only that, but this weekend our basement flooded and we are down two bedrooms. Let me tell you it is a fun adventure. I am putting my brave face on and hoping this is fixed before it really rains.

So first I took a box rainbow cake mixture (St. Patrick's Day --> Leprechaun --> Rainbows) and followed the instructions. Then I added food coloring until it was the right color. I put it in a square pan and baked it until it was done. After I pulled it out and let it cool, I popped it out of the pan and onto a paper plate.


This is where it gets fun! I got out some stiff paper and cut a heart shape out with the bottom of it missing. I took this shape and used it as a pattern to cut 2 more. Finally I used the scrap to make the stem. After that I took pins to anchor the papers down to the shape I wanted.

I used a fillet knife to trim the excess shape away (be sure not to cut frozen butter with one of these knives- you might loose a finger- anyone care to elaborate on this comment?). When that was done I used a little bit of store bought cream cheese frosting and put it in the microwave. This made it more glaze like and I added some more food coloring to make it green.

And wha-la the final result is simple St. Patrick's Day madness. If you don't have a ton of time or energy, this is a really great way to embrace the holidays.

Here's some random background to St. Patrick's Day. I learned as I did some reading about it in my handy-dandy holiday book. Did you know St. Patrick helped transform Ireland from a pagan country to a christian country? He baptized more than 120,000 people and founded over 300 churches (isn't that incredible). The shamrock is a symbol of this day because it is believed that he used it to teach about the trinity. Traditions like green and pinching is American.

Have a great St. Patrick's Day! I am hoping to spend that day in Chicago so I can see the river dyed green. What will you be doing?

I linked this up at:

Before we share our favorite comfort food recipes with you, we just wanted to remind you about our comfort food linky party. Please, share your favorite comfort food recipes, we don't care if you blogged about it yesterday or a few years ago! 

Al - Flap Jack Perfection
Wheat Buttermilk Pancakes- An Anytime Favorite from Al

Once upon a time I used to be satisfied by the Bisquick buttermilk pancake mix that you just add water too, but then about a year after I got married, Scary insisted that we try a from scratch pancake.  It only seemed fair to ditch the mix since we already made our waffles from scratch. When I got a wheat grinder for Christmas I ended up coming up with this recipe for wheat buttermilk pancakes. It took a while to figure out the perfect amount of sweetness, something that flipped easily, and that lasted to the end of the batter. This is the perfect recipe. You can switch it and use all white flour, all wheat flour, or 50/50. When I am less concerned about healthy, I go with 50/50. Well, here it is:

3 C wheat flour
6 T sugar
1 T baking powder
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
3/4 tsp. salt
3 C buttermilk
2 tsp. vanilla
2 T oil
4 eggs, separated
Mix together dry ingredients. Add buttermilk, vanilla, oil and egg yolks until it is smooth. Turn on skillet or griddle. Beat egg whites until stiff. Fold egg whites into the batter. Then make your pancakes. Flip them when they start to bubble through the other side. When they are done, top them with butter, whipped cream and sliced strawberries. Finally enjoy! Yield: 8-10 large pancakes.
*Note:  If you don't have any buttermilk, and you have milk and lemon juice or vinegar you can still make these pancakes; it is 1 T of  lemon juice or vinegar for just under 1 C of milk to make 1 C of buttermilk- keep in mind you need 3 cups. Let this mixture sit for 5 minutes and then it's ready to go.

One last funny tangent. About a week after we moved to Chicago, I was really missing Idaho, my sisters, and sunlight (remember I live in a basement without any windows) bad enough that I couldn't go without buttermilk pancakes as well. We had to go to four different grocery stores before we found any buttermilk. That is how much I love these pancakes. This is definitely my #1 favorite, comfort food!

Nae - Soup and Bread Lunch

Scary - BBQ Dinner at Home
I am glad that Al and Nae have shown you a healthy comfort food but mine is a true comfort and not healthy at all. But for us is more of a special occasion than an every day occurrence.

Slow Cooker Dry Rub Pulled Pork - One of Slim Jim's favorites and much more budget friendly than going to get pulled pork from a bbq joint.

You need one well marbled pork shoulder.
First mix together your dry rub. The recipe is written as a ratio and not exact about because the first time I made this recipe was for Bubba and Nae's wedding luncheon (because pulled pork is Bubba's favorite) which means we had 50 lbs of pork! For one roast I think it is better to do the parts in teaspoon amounts but if you do it in tablespoons than you will have enough to go around.

3 parts paprika, 1 part garlic powder, 1 part white sugar, 2 parts brown sugar, 1 part dry mustard, 3 parts course salt.

Salt the board with Dry Rub and then put pork roast on top of seasoning

Place roast into seasoned cutting board (look at how great the marbling is on this pork shoulder, look for that when you purchase your meat, because the fat is what melts to make the sauce)

Season second large section

Roll the sides in the dry rub and throw it in the crockpot, good and early! By the time dinner rolls around you will be drooling.

I put it in the slow cooker from 7:30 am to about 6 pm on low. Man it was so yummy! Do you want to see?

At the end of the day your pork should be falling apart.

Add your favorite sauce on top (ours is Sweet and Zesty from Famous Dave's)

Added a little shredded lettuce and yummy!

Cream Cheese and Corn Potatoes - Creation by my Mother-in-Law, loved by tons
These cream cheese potatoes are loved by all of Slim Jim's aunts and uncles! His aunts have tried to make it themselves but it never turns out quite right. I asked for the assistance of my mother-in-law so I could get these right. Your welcome, Aunt Nancy!

Ingredients
5 lbs of russet potatoes (the starchiness of russet is really the key to this dish so I wouldn't change it for a more waxy potatoes or the texture would be off)
1 1/2 packages (12 oz.) of cream cheese (or less fat cream cheese)
2 sticks of butter/margarine (1 cup)
1 can of corn
Salt and Pepper

Peal 5 lbs of russet potatoes. Rinse them while you bring 4 qts of water to a boil, salt the water until it tastes salty. Chop potatoes quarters and place in water. Boil until your fork sticks and pulls out without a lot of resistance.

Drain the water from the potatoes and immediately place back in the pan.

To it add 1 package of cream cheese and one stick of butter. I only had low fat cream cheese so that is what I put in (but it is not required), but thinking about the amount of "yumminess" we are talking a little less fat may not be a bad thing.

Mash potatoes with butter and cream cheese, and pepper

Add 2 palm full of salt (My mother-in-law has pretty small hands)  & a fair amount of pepper

Add another 4 oz of cream cheese and additional stick of butter, taste and then add one more handful of salt. Since my hands are pretty large I would probably add only 2, instead of 3. Remember, they should be flavorful if they aren't keep adding salt and pepper.  (I added a lot more pepper after this picture)

Drain 1 can of corn, and stir until combined.

Yummy in my tummy! Paired with BBQ it is perfection

Jo - Family Night Dessert
Chocolate Chip Cookies
When Hubbin and I first got married, he told me how much he loved Chocolate Chip Cookies.  He told me how his mom used to make them for him, and that his how he knew that she loved him.   Well, that was a shoe in for me.  If I made them all of the time, I knew that he would know how much I loved him.  I made them ALL of the time.  I made them so often, that I can do it with my eyes closed.  I can throw in extra ingredients, and know it will still turn out. 
Over the last 10 years, and literally thousands of batches later, I have adapted this recipe, to fit my taste.  I happen to think it is perfect!

Jo's Homemade Chocolate Chip Cookies
1 cup butter (not margarine!, not shortening!) Softened, not melted
1 and 1/2 cups of Brown Sugar (I love that deepness that the molassys gives to the flavor)
1TBS Vanilla
2 eggs
Cream this until it looks like whipped cream.  Maybe five minutes with the kitchen aide.  I usually load the dishwasher at this point.
Now add your flour, 3 cups.  1 tsp of salt. 1 tsp of baking soda.  and mix it until it gets that yummy cookie dough consistency.

Now if you're a Grandma, use 3 cups of chocolate chips.  If your a mom just add 2.  Some things are just reserved for Grandmas, sorry ladies.  My Grandma told me that!
You know the rest! Just put those cookies on the pan.  I put them in the timer for about 7 minutes on 350.  If they look like they need another minute, pull them out!  That means they are perfect!
My first pan full usually comes out a little funny, because this is the point that I remember to turn on the oven.  And for some reason the last panful always burns!  But, those in between pans disappear like nobodies business!  Sorry that I don't have any pictures up!  If you want to see Scary's cookies, they are here.

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I would like to entitle this mini series over the months to come: Me and my handy dandy cast iron skillet.

You see, when I made this move to Chicago, of my kitchen items, I only packed a few things. Those included: some of my cooking utensils and measuring spoons, 1 large mixing bowl, and an 10 inch diameter cast iron skillet. You might wonder why, but the explanation is simple. We were able to take only what would fit inside the van. I was more willing to pack my sewing machine, silhouette, and guitar than all my cooking dishes and tools. Don't get me wrong, I really enjoy cooking, but not as much as I enjoy creating something that is lasting. So the cast iron skillet was an obvious choice since I could use it on the stove and in the oven.

The only thing I didn't consider was that it is difficult to boil noodles, when you make pancakes they are a little black, and how do you make all the dishes you are used to without more than one pan. Let me tell you, it has been a learning curve, but also a fun adventure. Every time I talk to Jo and Scary I make them laugh with the funny stories I have to tell from it.

The biggest challenge thus far was when I made mac and cheese for dinner. I didn't have very much room for the boiling water and I had to make sure the noodles didn't stick to the bottom. In the end it worked out just fine, but I spent a lot more time in front of the stove keeping an eye on things.

Anyway, getting back to things. Almond Poppy Seed Bread is probably in my top 3 favorites for comfort food. While I am missing being close to Scary, Jo, and Nae I can't also be without this regardless of the pan situation.

Speaking of comfort food. If you are into it, you should be stopping by our blog the week of March 4th; we will be doing a mini feature and linkin party (click here for a schedule of the linkin parties and their themes for the next few months).


I will be using a recipe from Our Best Bites that I have modified for the right amount of batter and because I really like poppy seeds. Also I'm not as into the sweet as the savory so I don't make the orange glaze to go on top. And here it is:

#1
2 C flour
1 2/3 C sugar
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1 1/3 T poppy seeds
#2
3/4 C oil
2 eggs
1 C milk
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1 tsp. butter flavoring (McCormick brand- we've tried other brands and trust me they aren't quite as good)
1 tsp. almond extract


Prepare your pan by rubbing it with butter or Crisco then covering it with flour and dumping out the excess. Preheat oven to 330 degrees. 1. Add and mix dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl. 2. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients. Beat with electric mixer for 1 minute. Then use a spatula to scrape around the bottom and edges of the pan to get any last bits of flour off. Mix for 1-2 more minutes. Your batter should be smooth (minus the poppy seeds) and even. Pour into your prepared cast iron pan. Bake for 45 minutes to an hour or until done. Pull out of oven. Run knife around the edge of the pan. Flip onto cooling rack or plate and then flip it over so it's right side up. Finally slice and add a bit of butter. You are sure to love it.

If you happen to only have 1 cast iron pan for whatever reason, then this is sure to be a real pleaser.

I shared this at:

Hand quilting is something I have always wanted to do, but never really gotten a chance to do. Lucky for me, there is a fundraiser for the Young Women in my ward at church that has proved to be the perfect opportunity. They are having a service and goods auction with the ward to raise money to go to girls camp. Besides high contrast clothing, I don't know what is valued in Illinois, but something handcrafted is sure to do the trick. I have the time and they have the money, and wha-la magic.

Given limited resources (so much of my stuff is still in Idaho) and limited time (hand quilting definitely takes some), making a table runner was an easy choice.What do you think of the finished project?


I used a continuous quilting pattern that I had printed off nearly a year ago and had taped 3 sheets of the pattern together on standard printer paper. I don't remember exactly what website I got if from, but if you google continuous quilting pattern, you should find something of use.


In order to get the pattern pretty precise, I placed the backing fabric over the top of the printed pattern and traced it with a washable fabric marker until I had the flower and leaf design from end to end. Then I used pins to temporarily attach the top, batting, and backing together nicely. This would help it so it didn't shift too much as I was hand quilting. Once I had finished quilting this runner, the only thing left was to bind it.



Now it is finished and beautiful. Even though it will be hard to see it go, I'm sure this handcrafted piece will bring a little light and peace into another person's life.

So I'm not as talented at this html code thing as Scary, but Boston has an upset stomach and I need a challenge. So here I am and I am excited to highlight our favorites from the designers at Project Run and Play this last season. If you are wondering what we loved, here is each of our top five in no particular order.

We are featuring designs from these lovelies linked below.   We were sew inspired- get it ;) Sew Inspired!
CathGrace
Max California
The Crafty Cupboard
W3
La Inglesita
Little Kids Grow
LBG


Jo's Favorites:
Scary's Favorites:
My Favorites: