Sunday, November 10, 2013

MY Fall Wreath




I know, it's not your normal Fall wreath.  I have had this particular striped pattern and color on my brain.  I love the charcoal and the blue together.  I love the blue and the orange together.  So, there you have it, I made this wreath.  I didn't make a tutorial.  There are plenty out there.  The 16" foam form is wrapped in yarn and hot glued on the back.  I used a total of 1 skein (they were 210 yard skeins), and 8- 8x10 felt pieces.  **By the way, I'm sure my mom would be prr...etty proud of me for using that word-skein.  Yep, pretty proud.**  I just made the flowers from all of the different tutorials I have viewed over the years.  There are a TON out there!  I did, however, find this great guide (http://www.papernstitchblog.com/2011/12/14/diy-felt-flowers-five-ways/), after making this wreath, and look-it pretty much looks like my wreath, only different colors.  Know that I did not copy her idea, I guess it just made sense. 

No matter what you do with the things you put on your wall or your door, they should make you absolutely happy, or you just shouldn't put them there.  This wreath, it makes me happy.


Wednesday, October 30, 2013

Creating a New Normal

Creating a New Normal


We recently moved a very long way from anywhere we consider home.  As I stood in my kitchen today, pondering how to redefine how it is that I exist in this new life, a sudden feeling of panic overwhelmed me.  I didn't want a new sense of normal.  I was fine with the old normal.  I was happy with the job that I had, the friends that I left, the distance to my family.  The friends I would normally go to to help me make everything ok are over 3,000 miles away and a phone call, text, or email are just not the same.  I am tired of redefining my sense of normalcy.  As all of these feelings washed over me and spilled over my lower lids I turned to something that is normal for me.  I found something to create there, in my kitchen.

So, here you go.  Here is my creation today.  I wanted some schmear from Einstein Bagels.  You know, the sundried tomato schmear.  It tastes like a pizza right there on my bagel.  I will go get bagels just to have this cream cheese spread in my fridge.  I put it on nearly anything I can.  Oh, and these beautiful sourdough crisps that Costco carries?  Forget about it!  I am pretty sure there is an Einstein's here in our city, but I certainly didn't have the energy to go find it.  I had ingredients to make something pretty close.  It satisfied me for the time being and focused my mind on something other than my woes.   

http://duncan-outoftheordinary.blogspot.com/p/food.html



Sunday, March 3, 2013

What's for Dinner?

I know my posting is sporadic...the thing is I have a cache of photos stored up on my hard drive waiting for me to get around to posting with recipes.  I have ideas, I have plans...then, other things just happen to take the top seat on the priority list.  The things that I enjoy just have to take a back seat sometimes.  However, when the snow on the ground is turning grey and it just doesn't seem to be going anywhere and I'm tired of the inversion and want to feel something akin to joy...I just stick up my chin and grin and say....oh, wait, wrong show.  Ha!  Anyway, I do something to make me happy, like adjust a recipe that looks really good.  So, I take a recipe I think will be good and I make it awesome (yes, yes, in my opinion, I make it awesome...you try it and let me know)!

Such is this Chicken Tortilla Soup.  I have longed for such a soup.  Rich, hardy, earthy, but smooth in texture.  Chunks of chicken float in this soup and a nice bite of spice lingers just long enough to make me say, that's a medium spice and my nose runs just ever so slightly.  Add in an extra spritz of lime, a finger full of shredded cheese, a dollop of sour cream and some crunchy tortilla chips, and you have a WINNER, folks!  Give it a try, I think you'll like it.