Book Review: Last-Minute Patchwork + Quilted Gifts

Hey! It's me...I'm back. I know- it's been a (almost year) long hiatus. But here I am-  kick things off with a book review. Enjoy! 

I got the book, Last-Minute Patchwork + Quilted Gifts for Christmas last year. (Just before my last post.) I have made a few items in the book and right now I'm busy busy busy making these sweet little bird ornaments for some of the special peeps in my life. (pun-intended)

This book has some lovely projects and beautiful pictures but the instructions are challenging to follow as there are no images or diagrams of the construction of most of the projects. I'm working on making the stuffed elephant in the book and spent over an hour trying to figure out how to pin the pieces together. Thankfully- I am not alone AND  the authors of this book graciously allowed another blogger to post step-by-step pictures for piecing that little elephant together, available, here.

So if you are a visual learner- this may not be the book for you. Then again, I found these birds and the super-easy baby quilt to be, well, super-easy. So think carefully about what works for you as far as following patterns and instructions.

Johnny Jump-Up

I found this little hold-out in our yard last week. Despite several freezing nights it was still adding cheer to an otherwise dreary corner of the garden bed.

Make it Hot Hot Hot!!

Tony is heating things up tonight! He is cooking up some hot sauce as I type this. (I'm in the kitchen right now and my eyes are watering).  He also made a few shrubs-- one made with habañero peppers. He decided to use up our extra lemons and limes and made some citrus shrubs as well.

As far as cocktails,  he's thinking some sort of pineapple vodka combination with a splash of habañero shrub would be tasty. I'm excited to try the lemon shrub with whiskey and a twist. See my previous post on shrubs to get the detailed instructions. We're still using a ratio of one to one with these (one cup vinegar per cup of produce), but Tony used white balsamic, instead of apple cider vinegar, for the habañero.

Any ideas for the lime shrub?

Cooking for Baby: Butternut Squash

Iris had her first introduction to solid foods recently. We decided to start off with butternut squash and she was a big fan.  I've given a run-through of how we cooked, served, and stored the squash here for those of you that are interested.

To Prepare: Cut the butternut squash length-wise and scoop out the seeds. Set each half on a baking sheet, flesh-side up. Cook in the oven at 350 for about an hour and a half. Check at one hour as oven times vary. Run the squash through a food mill or other food processor until the squash is completely pureed. We have an OXO Good Grips Food Mill and it worked pretty well but does have several parts to clean.

To Serve: Add some milk to the squash. This helps to make it even more mushy (easier to eat) and more appetizing to the baby as it will have a more familiar taste. We first used our fingers to give her the food, as suggested in one of our baby books, but Iris was just as willing to open up for a baby spoon. You'll note in the pictures that we were using our regular dishes. I have since purchased some plastic (non-breakable) children's bowls and spoons. She was really grabbing at the dish.

To Store: Put the remaining mashed up squash into an ice-cube tray or specialized freezer tray.  We used the Green Sprouts silicone baby food freezer tray. There was exactly enough squash to fill all the spaces. After the squash is frozen pull out the cubes out and put them in a freezer ziploc for easy retrieval. The cubes should keep in the fridge for up to 6 months.

The Deck Continues: Part III (The end is in sight)

Here are some more pictures from this past month. Tony and I are both back at work now but thankfully we've had some dry weekend days and progress is being made. Today the second flight of stairs is going in...

Try This! Pumpkin Spice Waffles and Whiskey Pecans

We recently tried Trader Joe's pumpkin spice pancake and waffle mix and that stuff is AMAAAZING! We topped our waffles with some whipped cream, whiskey pecans, and maple syrup. The whiskey pecans recipe came from the October/November issue of Bust Magazine, which I purchased because Mindy Kaling was on the cover. We used the left over pecans on our salad the next night. They would probably be great on anything. I would highly recommend checking out the pumpkin spice mix...I think I'll be purchasing several boxes on my next trip as this is a seasonal item. If you try this out...omit the syrup-the Pecans and whipped cream have enough sugar on their own. 

Happy (four month) Birthday Iris!