It's "Sew" FLUFFY!

I adore the movie Despicable Me. I love how Gru goes from this evil, hurting villain to a kind and doting father. I also love that it's about three sisters. The youngest, Agnes, cracks me up. I wonder why I can relate?! LOL My favorite scene is probably when Gru wins the big unicorn for Agnes at the amusement park. "It's so fluffy I'm gonna die!!!"

In all honesty, that is the expression is what I want to squeal when I make something uber-cute. Well, it may not be literally fluffy, but you get the point!

When I was growing up, the youngest of three little girls, we had good friends who lived just down the street and around the corner. So many of my childhood and school memories involve the Scott girls. We've kept in touch over the years, along with other girls that were in the girl scout troop my mom led for Karyn's class. While my sisters were having girls, the Scott girls were having boys. Then this past year, everything changed. Both of the Scott sisters had daughters and Karyn had a boy. No one saw that one coming!

One of the sisters had asked that if she had a girl, could I make a bonnet pattern I'd pinned on Pinterest. It was my joy to make matching bonnets for the girl cousins. My trusty sewing tutor was on hand to assist me. She and L had helped pick out the patterns/colors we used. They were feminine without being too cutesy. When we made them up, I almost shrilled with delight! So fluffy!!

Here's little Miss Rachel and her mama modeling one of the bonnets. I made her's a "3 to 6 month" size. I also made up some newborn sized bonnets on my own. So precious! Phat Cat was the unwilling model.

 And yes, even without the bonnet, he is quite "fluffy"...hee hee!

Life Sew Sweet

I absolutely couldn't wait to see my nieces and new nephew. So much was my anticipation that I took Thanksgiving week off of work and drove out to Arizona the Saturday before Thanksgiving. I told my sister not to tell E or A because I wanted to surprise them. And surprise them I did! What fun to see the shock on their faces. :0)

My oldest niece, E, loves crafts, just like so many other members of our family. She got her first sewing machine this year and has been eager to work on learning to make her own clothes.Though I've yet to sew more than a pillowcase dress, I know from experience how important it is to sew straight lines. So, I sent word that she should practice sewing on paper. It's what I did in Home Ec so many years ago. You don't use thread, you just sew along lines and get a feel for the process of sewing and the pressure needed to get a slow but steady speed going. And practice she did!

I absolutely couldn't wait to sew with her, though I knew we probably wouldn't get to any clothes sewing. I brought pieces for a simple bag (remember this?) that required straight lines. She did a fabulous job! The next day we were at Walmart and she spotted a pattern for another type of bag and I thought..why not give a try?! Truthfully, patterns still intimidate me! But I was up for the challenge and plus, the pattern was only .99 cents and fabric at Walmart is cheap. I found material for my bag for $1.50 a yard!

We studied the pattern, we pressed out wrinkles, we cut, we sewed...we made bags!

We had quite a "helper" during the whole process. Miss I couldn't resist seeing how she could contribute to the process. So interested and curious. We set very firm rules about what wasn't safe and then let her drag over her Elmo stool to watch and "help" us as only a two year old can. Sewing is thirsty work, so Miss I made sure we were well stocked for a tea party, too. (LOL)

We had plenty of other crafting that week (thread and yarn were in abundance!)...along with plenty of food and family time as we celebrated Thanksgiving together with my folks, other sister and other niece.

So much fun. So many handbags sewed! (Four completed plus we started a fifth!). Ahhh. So many memories made. Life can just be "sew" sweet when you share it with the ones you love. ;0)

Homework

My extended family is a heavy proponent of education. They probably starting talking to me about college around the time I hit jr. high. When I transferred out of state to work on my Bachelors, they gave me practical and thoughtful going away gifts. My grandma made me extra pillow cases and assembled a mini-sewing kit. It was complete with an old fashioned tomato shaped pincushion with an attached little strawberry. I still have the kit, though I've used up or lost a few pieces over the year.

When I was taking my a-mazing sewing class earlier this year, the teacher gave us some simple homework assignments.  Sew, at least ten hours a week. Visit a fabric store, for at least one hour a week. (It sounds so hard, isn't it?!) And, make a large pincushion. I can't say how much I LOVED these homework assignments. ;0)

I wanted to have a little fun and I thought back to my classic red pin cushion.. I saw a darling kitty print at Joann's and knew just what I wanted to do. The cushion itself was pretty basic. Just rectangles and some polyester stuffing. For a touch of whimsy, I used a mouse pattern from Spud & Chloe's Visit to the Farm and knitted one up in brown. Then sewed.it onto the pincushion.

So cute, if I do say so myself! It makes me smile every time I see it. Can you blame me?

Fat Cat Cooks...Hash Brown Scramble!

I've been on a cooking kick lately. 

I'm not a fan of cooking for just myself and getting tired of the same leftovers time and time again BUT it does save money to make your own meals. In the effort of making my own version of some of my regular meal out splurges, I've created a favorite "go to" meal-in-one-pan dish I refer to as Hash Brown Scramble. 

Originally I was trying to make a breakfast burrito but in all honesty, it doesn't need a tortilla. It's great just hot out of the pan. It's super easy and only takes a few ingredients.

A single serving consists of:

One small baked potato

Two strips of bacon (I use turkey bacon)

One egg

One tablespoon of milk

Shredded cheese 

Ketchup (optional)

Cut up the baked potato and the bacon into bite sized pieces. 

Fry in the pan, using the bacon grease to brown the potato.

When the bacon is close to being done, beat the egg and the milk and add mixture to pan.

When the egg is done cooking, turn off the heat and add cheese.

I add ketchup since I'm still not uber-crazy about the taste of egg. (::shrug::)

I'm hungry just looking at the picture. No really, it's dinner time and in all honesty, I think I'm going to go whip up a serving of Hash Brown Casserole! Yum!

Fat Cat Cooks...Pancakes!

In less than two weeks, my parents will celebrate 43 years of marriage! When they said, "for better and for worse, 'til death do us part," they meant it! My mom says she could make cookies and jello when she got married...and that was it. Yet, over time, she learned and she learned well. "Oma" has several recipes my family considers essential to life. The wedding gift of a waffle machine is beloved...you can't get any better, even at a restaurant, than my mom's waffles. The recipe book that came with the machine is a family heirloom. The basic recipe can make either waffles or pancakes and they are just SO GOOD.

I've always been apathetic about making pancakes. Maybe even a little intimidated. I mean, you grow up with perfection and how do you compete? LOL However, a post on Facebook about pumpkin pie french toast got me in the mood for breakfast and also started getting me interested in more breakfast recipes...including pancakes. There are so many variations. When it comes to regular pancakes, I only want my mom's. But thanks to Pinterest and Google, I found a recipe for...wait for it...whole wheat carrot pancakes. Whole wheat flour. Cinnamon. Applesauce instead of using oil. Maple syrup in lieu of sugar. Shredded carrots (when I get married, I will have a carrot cake wedding cake...seriously! Love me some carrots). Healthy-ish AND yummy sounding.

::insert Hallelujah Chorus::

Hello, breakfast! I tweaked the recipe a bit by using shredded carrot, zucchinni AND apple.. I also added some pumpkin pie spice and a dash of vanilla. When it came time to inhale, I mean, eat them, I used real maple syrup instead of pancake syrup. Not the sweet-ish pancakes on the block, but in all...yummy. And filling!

My pancake flipping skills need some work, that is for sure. I made the full recipe so I could freeze leftovers for the work week. Yum ya yum yum yum. I might just go into a food coma now. ;0)