Utah is playing a trick on all of us who live here. The weather is high 50’s, sunny, beautiful and the snow has almost all melted. It feels like Spring has arrived, but I will not be fooled. The forecast is already predicting snow and lots of it over the next couple of weeks so I will savor these warm golden days now and use them as inspiration to start planning our Easter celebration. Next week when we’re knee deep in the cold stuff it will be hard to think about tulips, Easter egg hunts, and fresh spring salads. So today I plan, next week I surrender!Continue Reading
Not only did I spend a lot of time in front of the TV knitting this holiday season, I also spent a lot of time cooking in the kitchen! Thankfully, sitting and knitting was the perfect respite from all that standing and cooking!
I made pear and vanilla bean jams; pear cranberry cardamom jams, apple butter; lavender, rose, apple, jalapeño, ginger and mint flavored simple syrups; chai, mint, floral, and fruity tea blends; chocolate walnut fudge, toffee, chocolate truffles, a spicy nut mix; and chai spice, floral, orange clove, and allspice fir needle scented candles.
I know… I sound insane… perhaps I am, but I had a blast doing it all and surprisingly none of it was terribly hard or time consuming! All of my recipes and instructions were found on Pinterest and then I tweaked a few things to make them my own.Continue Reading
Soooooo… Christmas is officially over and though I didn’t accomplish everything that I had hoped to in the handmade gift department, I did accomplish a lot and I’m pretty happy with how it all turned out.
I’m not gonna lie, I stressed myself out completely trying to finish everything at the 11th hour and breathed a huge sigh of relief when it was all over and done with! But hey, what’s Christmas without a little self induced, set my expectations way too high, kind of stress?! Despite the mad rush to get everything on my list done, I had a lot of fun with these gifts. I loved the creativity of making everything by hand and was incredibly proud of each finished project, flaws and all!
I wasn’t able to do five different crates as I had hoped (again the high expectation thing can be a bit of an issue for me!), but I did do the ones I was most excited about. The tea lovers crate, the mixologist crate, and the chocolate lovers crate. The rest of the crate ideas I can save for birthday gifts, hostess gifts, or even just an I’m thinking of you gift!
My next post will include all the recipes, patterns and shortcuts I used to create my gift crates, so if any of you are feeling inspired you can get cooking and crafting!Continue Reading
Do you ever play that game where you ask a friend or family member what they would want served for their last meal? Well, my answer to that question has consistently been Spaghetti Bolognese! It is my all time favorite comfort food and when I get the hankering for a big steaming bowl of it I break out the pots and pans and get to cooking. I always have the ingredients I need stocked up because I never know when the craving will hit and it’s one I simply can’t deny!
Over the years I’ve experimented with several different recipes and even been a bit creative on my own, as I try to find the exact right combination of ingredients that will blend together seamlessly in my version of the perfect meat sauce. Traditional Bolognese is incredibly simple, taking very little prep time and using only a handful of ingredients. I, however, like to get a little (very) creative with my sauce. Sorry in advance to all the Italians out there who might be horrified by my experimentations, but they do say that taste is subjective right?
I’ve borrowed ideas from different recipes I’ve tried and included some of my own, to create the heartiest, thickest, most savory version of my idea of the perfect bolognese sauce!Continue Reading
