With a special guest appearance by Dawn's birthday flowers, thanks to Kirby.

We finally found a kitchen table!  There’s a secondhand furniture place near our house, and we drove by several times but it was always closed.  Well, one day last week it was finally not closed, so we popped in to see what they had.  This beautiful table, which can be made smaller by putting the end pieces under the larger center piece, was only $40.  There were chairs available for purchase as well, but they didn’t really match the table and we didn’t have another $40 anyway so we passed on those.  However, I have a graphing calculator for sale on eBay, and the bidding has gotten up to $76, so there may be chairs in our not-too-distant future!

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Throw on some homemade cream cheese icing and this cookie cake becomes an unstoppable force.

To make this, you’ll need:

First, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, and salt then set aside. This next part calls for an electric mixer with a paddle attachment, but if (like us) you don’t have one, a big bowl with a spatula works just fine.  Cream together  the butter and sugar until the mixture is light and fluffy–the original recipe says this should take about 2 minutes in an electric mixer, but I imagine it will take longer if mixing by hand. Add the egg and vanilla and mix until they’re fully incorporated. Pour in the flour mixture, and beat until just combined. Stir in chocolate chips.
Transfer the dough to your skillet (the recipe recommends a 10″ skillet) and press to flatten, covering bottom of pan. Bake until edges are brown and top is golden, 40 to 45 minutes. If you’re using a different-sized skillet then adjust the baking time to accommodate for the difference in thickness of the cookie.  Don’t overbake, because it will continue to cook a few minutes out of the oven. Cut with a pizza slicer and serve warm.  Both The Kitchn and Martha Stewart recommend topping this with vanilla ice cream.  I’m not the biggest ice cream fan, but I have a feeling that homemade cream cheese icing would make this cookie cake unstoppable.

(Via TheKitchn, Martha Stewart)

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I must be crazy for wanting to cover this stunning red velvet, right?

I picked this sweet red velvet chair up at the Salvation Army five or six years ago, while I was still living with my parents.  I loved it for its lovely curved back and the millions of buttons.  The chair languished upstairs in my old bedroom while I moved from place to place–first I was in a dorm room with no space to spare, and at my next two places I had a huge turquoise sectional that didn’t leave room for much else.  When my parents offered us their gently-used living room furniture, we gladly accepted it and got rid of that old, beat up sectional (it was older than I am, and and Chowder had really done a number on the arms).  I also brought along my red velvet chair in hope of finding room for it.  Luckily we were able to fit it in the living room alongside that gently-used furniture my parents gave us, which is a shade of light brown, and a dark brown leather chair of Kirby’s.

I had plans to eventually reupholster the chair myself, which I’m sure I could have done but with a lot of trial and error considering my lack of experience, but Kirby’s mother Ms. Dianne (who is a pro at both sewing and upholstery, among other things) was planning a visit anyway and offered to do it for me while she was here.  She offered me the option of making a slipcover instead of reupholstering the whole thing, since I picked a lighter fabric and we have so many animals and tend to eat and drink in the living room.  I’m not always the biggest fan of slipcovers because I’ve seen some awful ones.  Up until now, the slipcovers in my life have been ill-fitting, expensive, and available in very few colors and patterns.  This project has completely won me over, however, because when you make the slipcover yourself then not only do you get to choose whatever fabric you want, but it’s custom-made for that specific piece of furniture and it fits like a dream.  Plus, it’s removable and washable, I only spent about $20 on all the materials.  That’s a downright steal!

Lucy is making a guest appearance in this photo as well.

I bought five yards of a linen muslin at only $2.90 a yard, and it was just enough fabric to cover the chair.  We made a separate cover for the cushion, reusing the original cushion cover’s zipper.  The cushion itself was just a bunch of stuffing crammed down into the cover (I’m not sure what the stuffing is made of, but Ms. Dianne said it and the chair itself are very, very old), so I bought some polyester quilt batting and stitched it around the cushion so that it won’t come apart every time I take the cover off to wash it.

The act of making a slipcover was much simpler than I would have guessed.  After making the cover for the cushion, Dianne used the chair itself as a pattern, cutting and pinning pieces together on the chair itself.  She sewed them together as she went along, keeping everything wrong side out and putting all the pieces back on the chair.  By the time she was ready to sew the whole thing together, she had several smaller pieces–the seat back (made up of long vertical strips sewn together), the back of the chair (two separate pieces, with the velcro already attached), the bottom and front, the arms, etc.  Not until they were all joined and double-stitched did she turn the whole thing right side out.  I’ll be on the lookout

One downside to the slipcover is that all those beautiful buttons are covered up.  However, I think the vertical lines of the slipcover (they might be kind of hard to see in the picture, but they’re pretty pronounced in person) are much more casual, in keeping with the rest of the furniture in our living room, and a bit more modern as well.  Along those same lines, we didn’t bother making a skirt for the slipcover (notice the chair originally had a very fancy pleated one) because I think it looks better without one.

The back is secured with sew-on velcro, while the tie helps with tightening.

We discussed whether or not the velcro would provide enough hold, and finally decided that some ties might also help keep the slipcover taut.  On top of that, Dawn and I agree that the bow is downright cute.  Now we can comfortably seat seven in our living room, which means we should probably invite some people over soon.

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Maybe this flattering picture will make up for my lack of posting. This is our new house!

Nor have I been kidnapped, slipped into a coma, gone on a crazy meth binge, ect.  However, we are homeowners now! We’ve been in our new house just over a week and are working like crazy to get everything unpacked and in order before school starts next week. I’m so sorry for the lack of updates, but I’m trying hard to get back into a normal routine. Once that happens, I’ll be back to posting more regularly. We’re going to the local farmer’s market for the first time tomorrow, I’ve got tons of plants to get in the ground, and I’ve accumulated more than a few new house sewing projects on my to do list.  Expect lots of sweet stuff soon!

You can catch another peek of what’s going on around here over at Dawn’s blog, where she’s posted about the painting she just completed of Chowder and Maxine.  It’s hanging on the wall in our living room next to the one she did of their dogs Clem and Winston.

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they're really more like cookie sandwiches with jam in the middle

As I mentioned last week, I recently came into possession of a lot of figs.  We turned a lot of them in to jam and preserves, but I was still left with at least a gallon of fresh, beautiful figs.  They’re great to eat whole, but one of my favorite incarnations of figs has always been fig newtons.  I made a huge batch of these and within a couple of days they were gone, so I guess I’m not the only one who loves fig newtons!  This recipe is definitely going into my recipe book to be made again.

figs are the most beautiful fruit I can think of

For Filling:

• 5-6 C chopped figs, stems removed
• 1 C honey
• the juice of one lemon

For Dough:

• 1/2 C butter or shortening, softened
• 1 C sugar
• 3 large eggs–two for dough and one for egg wash
• 1 tsp milk
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 3 C all purpose flour
• 1.5 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt

Combine figs, honey, and lemon juice in a large saucepan.  Bring to a boil and cook over medium heat until the mixture has reduced
considerably, to the consistency of jam–about an hour.  (If you don’t plan on using the filling mixture right away, you can refrigerate it until you’re ready.)

While the filling cooks down, cream the butter and sugar in a large mixing bowl.  Add two of the eggs one at at time, mixing after each
addition.  Add the  milk, vanilla, and cinnamon and mix well.  Add the flour a cup at a time, adding the baking powder and salt with the
first cup.  Mix after each cup, until the dough is consistent and thick enough to roll out.  Divide the dough into three equal parts.
Working with one portion of dough at a time, roll the dough out between two sheets of waxed paper, making a rectangular strip about
1/8″ thick .  Cut the dough lengthwise into strips about 2 1/2″ wide. Make an egg wash with the extra egg and 2 tsp of water, and paint the edges of each strip with egg wash.  Spoon the fig filling down the center of the strip and fold the dough over to enclose the filling, making a seam in the middle where the two egg-washed sides meet.  Flip the tubes over and place them, seam side down, on a cookie sheet lined with waxed paper.  I also tried a method that was more like a sandwich (of which the top picture is a result), but I wasn’t as happy with the results.  They tasted fine, but were a little harder to pull off and a lot less pretty.

this is what they should look like as you put them in the oven--long fig tubes

Repeat this process for the remaining dough and filling.  Brush the tops of the tubes with egg wash and bake them about 15 minutes, until they’re light golden brown.  Let them cool completely (they taste much better that way, and are a lot less likely to fall apart), cut them into 1″ pieces and serve.  They should keep well in an airtight container on the counter for several days, if they last that long.

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Look at all those spikes!

I’ve had my eye on this spooky-looking plant in my parents’ front yard for a while. It finally bloomed!

This flower looks like it might be carnivorous.

These pears make me think of big ol' grapes.

The pear trees out front have been weighed down with these tiny, sweet pears for the last couple of weeks.  The limbs were almost at the breaking point when I finally got out there to pick them.

Have you ever had pear cake? If not, you're missing out.

These spotty little apples are some of the sweetest I've ever tasted.

Thanks to my Nana and our neighbor, Granny, I’ve recently come into a lot of apples.  There’s no way I could eat or bake them all into something, so I decided to can them.  Come October when the four of us are 500 miles away and getting homesick, maybe pie made with these apples from home will make us feel better?

We've also got lots of figs.

Our neighbors and family members (the ones with the cows that Chowder and Maxine love to watch) have a couple of fig trees covered in figs they aren’t going to use. We couldn’t live with ourselves if we let all those beautiful figs go to waste!

We're drowning in baby figs.

As well as big ass figs--this is not a pear.

We will more than likely be packing and moving next week, but hopefully I’ll still be able to share the sweet treats I’m making with all this beautiful fresh (and local, and free!)  fruit.

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Additionally, we’re drowning in fresh apples, pears, and figs right now.  The last thing I need is sweets (you know, in combination with the sleeping all day and watching television all night), but I can’t let all that beautiful fresh fruit go to waste either.  Consequently, I’ve been baking up a storm, and you can expect to see the fruits (har har) of all that labor very soon.

Another project that’s taking up a lot of my time right now is my sister Dawn‘s birthday present.  Due to the fact that she’s one of the only people who reads my blog regularly (and she lives with me and loves to spoil surprises, so I’m already working hard to keep this under wraps), I can’t go into too much detail about this, but I will say that it involves muslin.  As I was cutting away and piling up all the excess fabric this project is creating, my mind wandered to all the beautiful and inventive scrap fabric projects that I’ve filed away.  I’ve never been able to bring myself to throw away the smallest scrap of usable fabric, and after compiling this list of projects I’m thankful for that!

rag balls by maya*made

I love these  juggling rag balls by Maya of maya*made.  While I can’t think of too many practical ways in which I could use these (I am, after all, not having a circus-themed party any time soon), I still think they’re adorable and will probably make them just the same.  I can see Chowder and Maxine, strung out on catnip, chasing them around on our hardwood floors.

i've had this scarf by craftster's how_german bookmarked for well over three years

I love how this raggedy scrap scarf , by how_german of Craftster, is unique, visually interesting, totally cozy-looking, and made entirely of stuff that would normally be thrown away.  It’s great that even if I did have enough scraps to make two of these, they wouldn’t look anything alike.

i love this simple fabric scrap necklace by RubyEllen of cakies

This fabric scrap necklace by RubyEllen of Cakies is so sweet and simple.  There’s so much fun to be had with different pattern and color combinations; I can see these making great headbands without too much extra work.

another great necklace by cut out and keep's cat morley

I really love how the “beads” of this fabric ball necklace are, well, fabric balls.  Again, there are so many interesting possibilities based different combinations of color and pattern.

i love this fabric pom pom by Molly Chicken so much

I need this fabric pom pom to be hanging somewhere in our house right now–too bad we’re not living our my house right now, and it’s not technically our house yet.  I guess that means it will have to go somewhere on my (growing) to-do list.  Maybe I’ll sneak it to the top?  I hope my other projects don’t get jealous.

with Mademoiselle Chaos's tutorial for spinning fabric scraps into yarn, the possibilities are endless

Depending on the amount of scraps you have on hand, I imagine you can make just about anything by following Mademoiselle Chaos’s tutorial for spinning fabric scraps into yarn.  I can see a beautiful matching winter hat and mittens resulting from this tutorial.  Maybe for one of the babies or children in my life?  I’m not sure if I have enough coordinating scraps for a grown-up set.

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You can learn more about The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics by visiting their website.  From there you can read about the recently-introduced Safe Cosmetics Act of 2010 and send a letter to your representatives asking them to support the Safe Cosmetics Act.

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These colors make me think of Rocko's Modern Life.

(Side note:  the above picture was taken back in May, while we were still living in our crummy little apartment in Columbus.  I know it’s only been two months, but seeing this picture now makes my stomach hurt a little.)

To make these, you’ll need:

• Plain terra cotta pots in whatever size you prefer
• Acrylic paint and paintbrushes
• Tape measure
• A calculator if, like me, you can’t do simple math in your head

Start by picking out the two colors you, or the person you’re giving the planter to, like together.  For this container, I started off simple with black and white.  At this point you may cover the pot in an even coat of one of your two colors.  OR, if you’d prefer to have a mixture of exposed terra cotta and paint (like the turquoise and terra cotta planter above), skip this step.  If you aren’t sure, you can always go back and paint the terra cotta parts if you don’t like the way the combination of terra cotta and paint looks.

mine measured about 27.25"

Measure the circumference of the planter around the widest point, then divide that number by something that will come out close to even.  Mine was 27.25″, so I divided it by 6 and got something like 4.5″–rounding is key here, because paint will cover most of your mistakes and it’s way too much trouble to worry about getting everything exact.  The most important thing to remember is that you have to divide by an even number, otherwise the pattern won’t turn out right.  Around the widest point of your planter, make marks in intervals the length that you got when you divided.  You’ll have the same number of marks as the number you divided by.  Since I got 4.5″, I made a mark every 4.5 inches–six marks total.

i used my tape measure to help me draw a straight vertical line

Next, at every mark draw a straight vertical line from the top of the bottom of the planter.  This part is kind of tricky because the pots get smaller as they go down, but I was able to conform a tape measure to the pot and mine seemed to turn out straight enough.

i made marks at 2", 4", 6", and 8"

Measure one of your vertical lines and then divide it by a number that makes sense. My vertical lines were 8″, so I divided by 2 and got 4.  Starting at the top and going down the vertical lines, measure and mark intervals as far apart as the number you get  by dividing.  Again, you should have as many marks as you divided by–I ended up with 4 marks, each 2″ apart.

we had blue painters' tape left over from painting my parents' upstairs bathroom

Next, simply connect the marks you made on the vertical lines with tape.  You’ll be outlining one stripe and filling in the other–it’s hard to explain, but the above picture should make it pretty clear.  This blue painters’ tape worked really well, but I’ve used plain old masking tape with success too.

almost as easy as a coloring book

Just paint inside the lines; I used acrylic paint because that’s what I have on hand.  Terra cotta really sucks up some paint, and while it dries amazingly fast that means it’s really hard not to get streaks.  For these reasons, I imagine spraypaint would work like a dream for this project.

my sweet little catnip had really outgrown it's previous container

After taking off the tape I decided I wasn’t too crazy about the white and terra cotta, so I covered the exposed terra cotta with black acrylic paint.  After letting the pot dry, I transplanted a puny catnip plant from a small container it had outgrown and am really happy with the way it turned out .  I’ve found that a mother of millions looks great in these containers, too.  I love the combination of bold colors like these with plants whose flowers aren’t too showy–otherwise I feel like the plant and the container are competing for attention.

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photo courtesy of tiffanyday via Flickr

I’ve been canning a ton of tomatoes and a few jams and jellies with my grandmother this summer.  The benefits are many: spending time with my grandmother, learning a skill, and slicing a huge chunk out of my grocery bill–just to name a few.  But I hadn’t really considered that there could be any negative aspects until I read Grist.org’s Ask Umbra on the dangers of BPA in canning lids and canned food.  BPA, or Bisphenol A, is a compound found in plastics that’s hard to avoid because it’s just about everywhere (the Environmental Working Group estimates that six billion pounds are produced globally).  BPA has been linked to all sorts of serious health problems (if you want to find out more just click the link above; EWG is a great resource).  I’ve long been aware of these dangers, which is one of the reason I store my homemade deodorant and toothpaste in pimento jars.  I also knew that BPA could leech into the canned foods at the grocery store, since those metal cans are lined with BPA.

I had never thought about home-canned foods, though.  Apparently those single-use lids are also lined with BPA, and while they’re the only option available at the grocery store, Umbra points out a couple of safer choices.  Though I’m not going to throw away all those tomatoes we’ve worked hard to pick, wash, and can, come next summer I’ll be equipped with BPA-free lids–some of which are also reusable, which will save money in the end as well.  One of Umbra’s tips was to leave head space in the jars so that the food doesn’t actually touch the lid, which we did, and the jars themselves are made of glass (rather than BPA-lined metal, like the store bought variety), so I think we’ll still be better off than if we’d bought our canned goods from the grocery store.

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