Friday, November 19, 2010


{this moment}




A Friday ritual started by SouleMama. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

Thursday, November 11, 2010

Monday Supper?

I've got to be kidding, right? Two food posts in a row? I couldn't help it, though. I just had to show you what we did with all that beautiful leftover ciabatta from Sunday. Presenting, 

Garlic Bread Sandwhiches!

This is a pretty regular around here. It started with leftover garlic bread and took on a life of it's own. Once again, super simple. Usually we make it with french bread from the store. But we had some leftover ciabatta so we used that this week. You take at least one stick of soft butter and add a whole bunch of garlic. I have no idea how much. Neither of us has ever measured it. Spread the bread with the yummy garlic butter, layer with turkey, tomatoes slices and lettuce. Wrap it in foil and throw it in a 350 degree oven. Leave it in there for fifteen or twenty minutes. You just want to get them nice and warm. And that's it. Pull them out, unwrap them and enjoy. 

And then if that wasn't enough butter for you, you can do what we did. Make chocolate chip cookies!

We're pretty boring. We just use the recipe on the Toll House Package. Except...


We only add half the amount of semi-sweet chips and the rest of the chips are made up of 1/4 white chocolate and 1/4 butterscotch. You can not possibly imagine how amazing it is until you try it. And once you do there's no going back!


The other trick to amazing cookies is to pull them out when they're a little undercooked. That keeps the soft and chewy later. 

But really, our kitchen is pretty tiny. And there's not really enough room for us both to work on the cookies. So alot of times I end up playing paparazzi/art photographer. And you end up with shots like this...






I love them all but technically I probably should have been helping make the cookies. I'm glad my baby is a better cook than I am.

Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Sunday Supper

Supper on Sunday was super easy. Saturday we cooked a whole chicken in the crockpot. After taking the meat off we were left with chicken carcass. What better way to use it than to make chicken noodle soup?

It was super simple. We threw the bones, broth, an onion, three carrots and several celery sticks into a pot with about eight cups of water and stewed it for about two hours. You have to keep adding more water as it boils away. Next, we poured it through our strainer and into a large bowl to get out all the crunchy bits. From there it was a simple as dumping it back into the pan, adding some more carrots and onion and water, and putting in a bunch of the cooked chicken. Add the noodles about ten minutes before you want to eat and tada! Chicken Noodle Soup!


Heart shaped ciabatta. I use this recipe and it couldn't be more simple. I love it.


The bread comes out moist and dense. It's just a little bit hearty and it's amazing dunked into homemade soup. And best yet, Justin loves it. And he has very decided opinions about bread.

So there you have it. Homemade chicken noodle soup and bread. Pretty fancy if you ask me.

Yes, this is all I do lately. Why do you ask?

I have more bracelets to show you! I've been spending almost all of my free time making these. Well, that and cooking. I have some recipes to post later. But for now. Enjoy!

A bracelet for me. I used those same beautiful bronze variegated beads.


I also finished up my anklet. But it looks exactly like the last one so I figured I'd skip the picture. Here's hoping this one holds up better than the first.


I love this one. That shade of blue is to die for! The pattern actually came from a seller on etsy. I made a few changes but it's mostly the same. 


Unfortunately, I was constrained by the length of the pattern, so the bracelet is a bit smaller than I prefer. I can wear it but it is almost impossible to put on myself. That is something I'll have to correct. Or if I make it for someone with a larger wrist, it would be a simple enough fix. I just have such crazy small wrists.

That's all for now. I have more patterns in mind. I should be starting a new bracelet this weekend. I also have two more finished bracelets to photograph along with some pictures to post of what we've been eating. Expect to hear from me soon!

Sunday, November 7, 2010

Beading

I'm still here. Studying away and getting in my reading and beading whenever possible. Here's what I've been up to the past few weeks. I'll have more to share later. I have a few bracelets that I have yet to take pictures of. I'll try to post them later this week. Until then, enjoy!


A bracelet for Justin. He said he would only wear a beaded bracelet if it had dragons shooting fire on it.


Who could have passed up a challenge like that? Certainly not I!


A bracelet for Margo. Her favorite colors are hot pink and lime green with black. 


I couldn't find a good hot pink. But I think this one worked out well.


An anklet for me. A beautiful bronze variegated. Unfortunately it broke already. But I think I figured out what the problem was and there's a new one on my loom already :-)


Another one for me. Blue variegated. I love, love this one. I've worn it many days.


My very first commission. Cody is a huge Ohio State fan. 


He wanted a unique bracelet and ask me to make him one. I was happy to oblige. 


Purple variegated for Jennifer. These are some of the first beads I ever bought. They're one of my favorites.