After much anticipation, last week we began work on our school garden! Today I am thrilled to take you on a quick tour of our progress thus far. So strap on your garden boots, here we go…
We have a bit of structural work to complete this week because we are hosting a “School Garden Kick-Off Festival” on Sunday, where there will be garden tours, local farmers and a chef…oh my! We then hope to get the kids planting next week. I cannot wait!
At this moment I am…
~thrilled by the fact that our first plants of the year are peeking out from beneath the soil.
~snuggling with my kindergartener before she heads off to school for the day.
~loading my van with garden tools for another day of work in the school garden at Cathedral of St. Peter School. More on this later this week 🙂
~checking out a fabulous blog another mama passed along to me. It is amazing!
~attempting to craft a plan for tonight’s dinner, knowing I will be out of the house most of the day today.
~making breakfast smoothies for the gals of our house: oranges, kale, sprouts, apples, strawberries and blackberries…yum.
~trying to squeeze in some time to work on a family photo book. The last one I made was from the beginning of the school year, and now we have less than a month of school left. Yikes!
~counting down those last few days til school’s out for summer.
~wishing you a wonderful week!
Kairos—“a right, opportune, or supreme moment in which something special and unique happens”
If you are so inclined, share a link to your “Kairos Moment” in the comment section. I hope you all have a blessed weekend!
This May marks ten years since I graduated from The University of Illinois. (How is this possible I ask you? Oh my!) In honor of our decade since graduating, and the birth of the 15th baby born to my group of college girlfriends, we gathered in central Illinois for some food, fun and fabulous conversation.
And of course with every new birth, there must be presents. I had a bit more vintage fabric in my closet, so I decided to try my hand at a stuffed animal for the new baby, and why not a skirt to match for the big sister? I used the same variation on the Butterick pattern I mentioned in yesterday’s post for the Big Sis Skirt. And I played around a bit and came up with the following process for the stuffed owl. I hope you enjoy!
Step 1: I took a wool sweater I had already felted (I washed it in warm water, then let it dry. Repeat this step several times to shrink the stitching up a bit.), and using the edge of the sweater as my fold, I cut 2 4″ X 8″ strips.
Step 2: Placing right sides together, sew around 2 sides of the strip, leaving the top open. (I actually sewed two lines of stitching to strengthen the edge.)
Step 3: Turn right side out, and stuff the “legs.” Set aside.
Step 4: I then used the cuffs of the sweater and cut out two ovals. Then take remnant fabric and cut out two more ovals a bit smaller than the first two. Stitch the smaller oval on top of the larger, sew on a button and your eyes are done.
Step 5: Again using remnant fabric, cut out a triangle for the nose.
Step 6: Draw an owl pattern on a large sheet of paper. Take a large piece of fabric, fold it so the right sides are together, trace the owl pattern and cut out both pieces.
Step 7: Sew the eyes and nose to one of the owl cut outs.
Step 8: Place one owl-shaped piece down on a table (right side facing up). Pin each leg in place along the bottom of the owl.
Then place the second owl-shaped piece on top with the right side facing down.
Step 9: Sew around the outer edge of the owl, being sure to capture both legs in your stitching. (Again here, I also sewed two lines of stitching to strengthen the edge.) Be sure to leave about a 2″ opening so you can feed the fabric back through and stuff the owl.
Step 10: Feed the fabric and legs through the opening, and remove pins. Stuff the owl and then sew shut the opening.
I can feel it. Spring weather is on its way. It has surely been slow in coming, but I think it is just around the corner. For that reason, I tucked myself in behind my sewing machine to craft some Spring goodies for my girls. Using vintage fabric I found at a thrift store, I made a slightly adjusted version of Butterick B5757 for my oldest daughter.
And then I made a mini-verson of the maxi dress from this wonderful blog for my youngest. I kid you not, both of these pieces took under 30 minutes total time to sew. This mama has got to make a few more of these quick projects to finish off the girls’ spring wardrobes.
It has been some time since I have written in this space. The looming darkness of last week cast shadows that were difficult to see past. But after some time, light emerged, as it always does, from the darkness. And that I cling to today. Light always comes forth from the darkness. For “darkness cannot drive out darkness, only light can do that.” (Martin Luther King Jr.)
I hope you find yourself in the light of happiness and positive energy on this Monday morning!
It seems that this is going to be a recipe-type week here at Making of a Home. As we inch closer to the growing season, we have been eating lots of food from our larder, to make space for this year’s bounty. Last night I grabbed bell peppers, sweet corn and chicken stock from our deep freeze and came up with this recipe from those ingredients. This is a hearty soup that will put some meat on your bones during these damp, April-shower-filled days.
In a stock pot, heat 1/2 stick butter and 2 tablespoons flour over medium heat to make a roux. Stirring constantly, heat this mixture until it turns a rich caramel color.
Add 1 diced red pepper, 1 diced green pepper, and 1 diced yellow onion to the roux mixture. Cook the vegetables until the onions become translucent. Be sure to stir often, scraping all of the roux-goodness from the bottom of the pan while you stir.
While the veggies are cooking, cook 2 pounds ground sausage in a skillet. Once cooked, set aside.
Add 1 quart chicken stock, 2 cups whole milk, 1/2 cup cream, 1 tablespoon salt and 1/2 pepper to the vegetable mixture. Simmer, with the lid on, for 20 minutes.
Add the kernels from 4 ears of sweet corn, the cooked sausage from earlier, and 8 ounces shredded Monterey jack cheese. Simmer uncovered for 45 minutes to one hour.
Garnish the chowder with a dollop of sour cream if you desire. Enjoy!
*A note about all my recipes: I use all organic ingredients, local when available. I use non-homogenized milk, and all of the dairy we use is from animals raised on pasture. I also use oils that are non-GMO verified. All our meat is raised locally on organic feed, and our beef is grass-fed, grass-finished. All our spices and cane sugar are fair-trade certified and purchased through a cooperative.
I don’t know about you, but I can’t quite think of anything better on a Monday morning than cookies. So today, I bring you another of my Grandpa Dit’s recipes: Molasses Cookies.
(I just love showing pictures of my Grandpa’s recipe box…Doesn’t it just look like the type of recipe box a man would have…Made out of steel, splattered with rust marks? Love it 🙂 ) I played around a bit with his recipe, to sub out the shortening he called for, with a combination of butter and coconut oil. After some experimentation, and trial and error, I’ve come up with what I think is a really tasty molasses cookie that is bit different than the traditional molasses-filled treat.
Grandpa Dit’s Molasses Cookies
Step 1. Cream together the following with an electric mixer:
1/4 cup softened butter
1/3 cup coconut oil
1 cup sugar
Step 2. Once creamed, add:
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
Step 3. Continuing with the electric mixer, add:
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 cup molasses
Step 4. Using a wooden spoon, mix in:
2 cups all-purpuse flour
3/4 cups rolled oats
Step 5. Using a cookie scoop, drop the cookie dough on a greased cookie sheet. Then use the back of a tablespoon and make a depression in each dropped cookie. Sprinkle with sugar.
Step 6. Bake in a 375 degree oven for 10 minutes. Enjoy!
*A note about all my recipes: I use all organic ingredients, local when available. I use non-homogenized milk, and all of the dairy we use is from animals raised on pasture. I also use oils that are non-GMO verified. All our meat is raised locally on organic feed, and our beef is grass-fed, grass-finished. All our spices and cane sugar are fair-trade certified and purchased through a cooperative.
Kairos—“a right, opportune, or supreme moment in which something special and unique happens”
If you are so inclined, share a link to your “Kairos Moment” in the comment section. I hope you all have a blessed weekend!
Ever since our February trip to the Northwoods, and my visit to this fabulous antique mall, I have had some lovely vintage fabric sitting on my shelf, just begging to be fashioned into some type of lovely.
Inspired by the “Felt Pencil Roll” in The Creative Family by Amanda Blake Soule, I made some adjustments to the pattern and created a lovely crayon/colored pencil roll for a brand new “Big Sister” friend of ours.
Making of a Home 