Celtic Mommy

Happy Thanksgiving!

2011-11-23T14:30:00.000-08:00

From our family to yours...

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Much love,

Hettie, Rob, Em and Ro

In the speedy season

2011-11-19T12:25:00.001-08:00

Where have the weeks gone?! It literally seems like just yesterday that I was planning for Halloween and we are now less than a week until Thanksgiving, goodness me!

The shorter daylight hours seem to be speeding by with scheduled and unscheduled activities. Homemade batches of muffins and cookies fill air with their butter and spices... handmade drawings and kiddo-invention schematics fill the refrigerator doors... piles of books on every subject congregate on every desk, table, chair, bed and floor... music, from bluegrass to classical to trip hop wafts around the house at almost all hours of the day. It is a calm insanity if such a thing is possible!

Below is a quick photo of the breaking in of our new craft tablecloth-- the old one having finally ripped under the pressure of the weight of pounds of pumpkin innards. Cardstock leaves globbed with paint and smooshed together... perfect for the season! These will mostly be used by Em and Ro to write the names of our Thanksgiving guests on as seating cards. But, I think I will have to dangle a few in the kitchen window as well. If you remember from last year, we are big into trees so this adds to our autumnal nature theme.

I hope you are all having a lovely weekend!

A handmade Halloween

2011-10-30T15:28:00.001-07:00

I apologize for being MIA, but Halloween has sorta taken over our house!!

Here's a few quick pics of what we've been up to. I promise a fence tutorial among other things next week.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

How to make custom oval necklaces

2011-10-15T09:30:00.000-07:00

I was strolling through the pages of one of my favorite "Buy Handmade" sites a few months ago and came across these beautiful oval cabochon necklaces. I saw prices ranging from $8.00 up to $30.00. Thirty dollars!?! No, I'm not paying that when I am sure I can make them myself for less. These necklaces are customizeable with pretty much any image you can imagine and I am excited to be able to give you this tutorial complete with where to find all of the supplies to make them at home in an afternoon! While the tutorial highlights one particular shape and size, you will find that size and shape can also be chosen to suit your own taste.

Gathering your supplies

From Left to Right: Saran Wrap to protect your surface, JudiKins Diamond Glaze, E6000 adhesive, Sharp scissors, Finished necklaces, Glass Cabochons, Images printed on cardstock, Silver and Copper Metal Trays

Step One:
Cut your image so that it fits inside the metal tray. Depending on the person you purchase your images from, they could fit perfectly, or use some shaving off a bit. Take your time to get it right. Once it fits, carefully take it out and prepare to glue the glass cabochon on to the image. Make sure the glass is fingerprint free.

Apply a dime to nickle-sized amount of the JudiKins Diamond Glaze directly to the surface of the image. Don't worry about bubbles, they will move. Gently press and hold the glass onto the image, centering it exactly. Hold cabochon in place for about 30 seconds while the glaze sets. There will be glue on the sides squeezing out... that's okay. Leave alone for about 2 minutes.

Step Two:
Carefully flip the cabochon upside down and move to a clean part of the Saran Wrap. You can gently wipe the excess glue from the sides with a paper towel. Don't worry about any glue on the back. At this point, if you try to move your image, it will get ruined. Leave alone for another 2 minutes.

Step Three:
Place E6000 adhesive directly in metal tray, taking care not to get close to the edges of the tray. Once you press your cabochon/image in, the excess glue will seep out. You can use a warm damp (NOT WET) paper towel to get the excess glue off now. Or, you can wait an hour or so and it will be a bit hardened and peel-able Personally, I prefer to remove the glue while still wet but you need to be very careful not to let excess water from the damp paper towel seep underneath and ruin your image.
Press and hold the cabochon in place for at least 30 seconds and then let dry for one hour.

Step Four:

Wear with pride!! You could also make matching earrings with smaller ovals/images. The possibilities are limited only to your imagination.

Here is a list of everything I purchased including links to them all.

JudiKins Diamond Glaze, you can but it on Etsy and many other online craft sites. I purchased mine from the same seller as the cabochons, necklaces and metal trays to save on shipping.
E6000 Adhesive can be bought at Michael's, online, Lowe's and Home Depot.
The oval 30x40mm sized glass cabochons, metal necklace trays and ribbons were all purchased from CandyTiles2 on Etsy. Candy always seems to have the best prices and ships quickly. She will also do custom listings for you if you do not see what you want. (This is my personal opinion and I'm not paid to say it, FYI.)
The images I used were purchased from:
Vintage Halloween Images: Passion Fruits Images on Etsy
Cute Birdies & Flowers: Piddix on Etsy
Trees and Artwork Images: Kool Jewelry on Etsy
Japanese Patterns: Groovy Graphics on Etsy
French Patterns: Kitbiju on Etsy

After purchasing, I printed them at Kinko's on cardstock.

If you want to see how these look as magnets, please check out my other tutorial as well.

Happy Crafting!
Hettie

Lickety Split Potatoes are Terrific

2011-10-12T12:49:00.000-07:00

I had everything set for dinner... turkey meatloaf, baked potatoes and roasted carrots. Yummy.

Only one thing prevented me from actually making this dinner and that was the 98 degree temperature outside! So much for that! Scanning my food supplies, I spied a bag of Terrific Trio potatoes and changed up my menu so that we could still have a tasty dinner minus heating up the oven and the whole house. I nixed the roasted carrots for a cool salad, set my meatloaf in the BBQ and got started on the Lickety Split Potatoes. They're fast and tasty-- and terrific, just like their namesake promised they'd be!

Lickety Split Potato Recipe

Ingredients:
1 bag of Terrific Trio potatoes (available at Ralph's), 1.5 pounds
1/4 cup olive oil
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
1 tsp. dried basil (or fresh, chopped)
1 tsp. dried parsley (or fresh, chopped)
1 tbsp. dijon mustard

Since the potatoes come washed, this recipe works up super fast!
Cut the pretty red, yellow and blue potatoes in half and set aside.
In a large bowl, whisk together the olive oil, salt, pepper, basil, parsley and mustard until thoroughly blended, similar to a dressing.
Add potatoes and toss well to coat.
Place potatoes and marinade on the right side of a piece of tin foil, about 18 inches long. Fold left side of tin foil over and close securely. Cut two slits in top of tin foil and place on a medium-flamed BBQ.
BBQ for 30 minutes. Alternately, you can bake these in your oven for 30 minutes at 375 degrees.
Take tin foil pouch off of BBQ and let rest 5 minutes before opening and serving.

These potatoes BBQ beautifully, giving off a heady hickory aroma. Each potato still retains it personality despite being cooked together. The purple potatoes are sweet, smooth and aromatic. The red potatoes are a bit firmer to the bite but still smooth. The yellow ones with the wonderful thin skin are dense and meaty. Em and Ro gobbled these up and loved talking about the differences of each variety.

I've already been back to Ralph's Grocery Store for another bag of this Terrific Trio and also the Piccolo potatoes from The Little Potato Company. I hope you enjoy making and eating them as much as we do!

Spideriffic Welcome Banner

2011-10-08T10:22:00.000-07:00

While wandering around Michael's a few weeks ago, I came across some cute, thin wood spiders. I thought they would be perfect for making a little welcome sign to put on the front door. And, at $ .20 a spider, it's economical too! So, here's how I did it in an afternoon.

I took the wood spiders and painted both sides with a flat black acrylic paint I had on hand and let them dry for about 30 minutes. The thin wood soaked the paint up quickly.

Using a green paint I also had in the house, I started to paint the letters on, but it looked a little boring. Glitter to the rescue! While the paint was still wet, I applied the glitter directly on top and let the spiders dry.

Once all the letters were done, I lined them up on a piece of plastic wrap and glued each spider to a long strip of ribbon. Since the spiders are so light, I put a little rock on top of each spider to weight it down while the glue dried. Once dry, I looped the top section of ribbon so I could hang it on a nail. An hour later, it was on my front door! A fun and fast decoration for the cost of just the seven spiders: $1.40!! Everything else I had on hand. We also bought a bunch of wooden pumpkins, ghosties and witches hats, but that's a craft for another day.

I hope you are having a wonderful weekend!
Hettie

Crafty Work in Progress

2011-09-13T15:31:00.000-07:00

Utterly not ready... but still, it is a craft in progress.

I always try to have many tests of many kinds before I put a tutorial up, so I thought I would show you one of our first mom & kiddo attempts. We all learn and improve from our trials and errors, right? Right!

So, what is it? Right now, it's just an idea stemming from another idea I saw about using glue to create raised surfaces. The materials used are recycled USPS boxes (see the fold edges?), glue, acrylic paint and shoe polish. When I am done and the tutorial is up, I will probably have omitted the shoe polish for glitter or luster dust. While the shoe polish is effective, it is pretty smelly! We'll see...

Not much for today as I going back and forth between an unhappy sick kiddo, the kitchen and the computer. More tomorrow I hope.

Happy Tuesday,
Hettie

Untitled

2011-09-11T11:34:00.000-07:00

Today, I wish you peace..

I remember, as so many of us so vividly remember that day. September 11, 2001

I had just got out of the shower and sat down on the couch to comb out my hair. Turning on the TV and not completely awake, I think that I am looking at a scene from a new movie (I am in L.A., home of Hollywood) and then it registers to me that the tower that is burning is not a set, it is the World Trade Center. I turn up the volume but I don't even hear what the newscaster is saying. I lean in... I'm still hoping this is special effects and not really real. It can't be real! The second plane hits the second tower... and it just seems to disappear in such slow slow motion. My living room fades away and it is just me and my TV screen. And I watch and watch.

I don't remember how long later, but I am in contact with my family in three different states on the East Coast. Not everyone is accounted for. I am garbled and disconnected and busy signaled. It is horrible to feel helpless and so far away.

The television is turned up high. Loud. I am hard of hearing, so the closed captioning is on too. I know I will always remember, but some things I wish I could forget. The ringing and bells and sirens and shouted orders... the unexplained explosive sounds that they try not to mention until a cameraman or reporter asks about them. I hear and read what they are. I did not know one human being could have so many tears at the ready.

And then, they fall and another deafening sound takes over, the rumbling and panting of those running and trying to escape the wave of ash and smoke and debris and... The shock. It looks like the most horrible snowy... I don't know. Even now I can't describe it.

I realize my hair has dried uncombed. I am still in a towel, still on the couch with the comb by my side where I set it down hours ago. I sit there from dawn to dark, horribly glued to the scenes unfolding at the Pentagon, in Pennsylvania and in New York. I fall asleep that way, mourning for so many beings directly and indirectly affected by the day.

In the weeks and months and years that pass, I still remember. I honor those lost on and since 9/11 and I will not forget. Today, I wish you peace...

Halloween Fences in Progess

2011-09-10T16:33:00.000-07:00

Happy Saturday!!

Did you know that Halloween is only 50 days away?! I know... don't laugh too hard!

We've been working on our Halloween craft to-do list for the past week or so and plan to have a new tutorial up soon on our latest cemetery addition. Fences!

Here's a photo sneak peek of what the fences look like in progress. A full tutorial will be up sometime this coming week.

Lightweight and cheap with great effect... what more could we ask for?!

Kid lunches made environmentally friendlier

2011-09-08T17:08:00.000-07:00

Several things stuck in my head this summer as we were preparing for the start of school.

Zero trash vs. single serve ease
Keeping strawberries and sandwiches from squishing is soft lunch saks
Cloth vs. Paper napkins
Plastic vs. Metal vs. Fabric containers
Blue goo cooling paks vs. ????

There are many mind boggling choices available to parents now who opt for making lunches for their children. Having the summer to think about these things, we bought several new products to test out over the summer to see which would make it into Em and Ro's backpacks. The following things made it and I'll tell you why they've made it, not only easier, but more economical.

#1- Goodbyn Classic Lunch Boxes. These are giant fun compartmental containers that Em and Ro each customized with the included nifty stickers. I love them for their ease of use, washing and recycling and the fact that they do not have the BPAs and phthalates that many parents are becoming more aware of and avoiding. (Google on BPAs Google on phthalates) And, they each come with an 8 ounce bottle for drinks... so much better for the environment than throwaway juice boxes! The initial purchase is a bit, but buying juice in large containers is cheaper... and no more sandwich baggies chucked in the trash bin... yay environment!

#2- Flexible and cut-able ice paks. Made with saline water, these ice packs are made to fit anywhere you need them. There are many companies that are now making these non-toxic, non-goo chilling options for all different uses. You can purchase them at Target and online at various places. (See photo below, I cut one 4x10 cube pak up into 10 strips to use in tight spaces wherever I need them.) Just one 4x10 cube pak comes in at a reasonable $4.00

#3- Cloth napkins. I know... this one may be harder for many who do not sew or craft but I found it silly that we use cloth napkins at home for our meals but was purchasing paper napkins for their lunches. See the little tree/sheep fabric in the Goodbyn, that's a kid-sized napkin. I made sets for each of my kids that can be used either in their lunches or at home. Yes, I do have to check to make sure they are in their lunch boxes when they come home, but Em and Ro are already used to using cloth, so the transition will, I hope, not be difficult.

#4- For keeping drinks cool, I bought a 3-pak of water bottle shaped ice cube trays. If our pediatrician and dentist had their ways, Em and Ro would only be drinking milk and water, not fruit juice. At home, we always water down our juice to cut the sugar intake anyway, so adding ice cubes to their lunch drinks is another continuation of what we do at home. 3 of these trays were $4.00 at Bed, Bath & Beyond

So there we go! We tested out everything over the summer on our supplemental homeschool field trips so that Em and Ro could get used to using the new items. The lunch boxes passed the falling off the car roof test (while full!) and the being sat on test, so I think we're good to go.

Now, on to keeping what goes inside their lunches interesting. But that's a topic that needs its' own blog posting I think!

What products could you not live without? Please feel free to share your ideas!
-Hettie

23 days and counting

2011-09-07T13:25:00.000-07:00

This is me a few years ago at Camp GetAway... I think I slept half the time I was there! They didn't mind as the whole point of the weekend is to get away.

To Get Away from being a busy woman who often burns the candle at both ends.
To Get Away from loved and loving family members and take in some fresh air and spare some love for me without guilt.
To Get Away from alarm clocks and makeup and meetings!

Now that my babies are back in school (they started back just 3.5 hours ago), I can concentrate on some other things that have been patiently awaiting my attention. You know, laundry, filing, dusting.... haha! I honestly have not done one single thing yet and I think it's okay. My home and family survived the summer, right? So, today I am prepping for my Camp GetAway weekend!

This will be my, ummm, fifth time I think up to the sweet smelling air of the San Bernardino mountains to attend Camp GetAway. I teach the Saturday craft at camp and love being able to craft and chat with a bunch of new friends. I also love seeing the faces of friends I've already met there... sisters and moms and grandmas and women from all walks to life who also just want to breathe and be and not care about doing dishes or running a staff meeting. I love the lake, the pine cones, the hot tea and gooey s'mores ... and yes, even the hot shower, uninterrupted by my boys! Ooooh, and the massages! You can melt into a puddle of relaxation with a mani/pedi, a massage or a facial... it's a one stop beauty shoppe in the middle of the nature!

So, ladies, if you're looking for a quick pickmeup, I'd love to see you there! I believe Patti, the owner of Camp GetAway has a few spots left for some lucky women! Did you click the link yet? If 23 days is just too close, sign up for her email list for Camp GetAway info... she's like a big sister/hostess with the mostest who gently reminds you that you've got to take care of you in order to take care of everyone else.

(By the way... Patti does not pay me to write this... it's like all other things I name and link to on CelticMommy. I like spreading the word. We need to lift each other up sometimes to find all these sweet secrets!)

I think we're ready for school

2011-09-06T21:35:00.000-07:00

Throughout the day, the last day of summer, these are the things Em and Ro talked about:

"Mom, I'll wear this tomorrow, okay? I LOVE this shirt so I'mna wear it. EM! Whadder you wearing?!"

"Where's my backpack? I want to put it by the door. Are my pencils in there Mom? Can we sharpen them so I'm ready?"

"Mommy, are you making me tuna for tomorrow? And grape juices please okay? Thanks Mommy!"

"OOoh yea, good choice, I want tuna too Mom!!"

"Do we hafta read the book again Mommy? I am ready I promise!"

Kindergarten prep books read and discussed and pondered. Friend-making scenarios discussed and nervous giggly questions answered with love and honesty. Excitement has replaced the nervousness for now.

Supplies sorted and packed. Backpacks at the ready. Outfits ironed and laid out with care. By Em and Ro, not me... they're ready for school.

Ro reading and stickering his "The Night Before Kindergarten" book.

Am I ready?

Looking back, looking forward

2011-09-05T19:24:00.000-07:00

Em and Ro will be starting 2nd and Kindergarten on Wednesday and it has made me reflect, as I am sure many parents do, on the past few years.

I remember Em's first day of Kinder. I remember what he wore and even what I packed him for lunch. Having never been in preschool, this would be his first experience out there in the world. I worried of course, but I was excited for him, for the new things he would learn and the new friends he would make.

Now it is Ro's turn for Kinder and I am still worried and nervous. Ro has been in preschool, but none of his friends will be at his new school. I am excited more now I think than I was with Em. With both munchkins at the same school, my volunteer hours will increase greatly and I will be able to share in their public education more than I ever have.

I also will to continue to enrich our lives via the supplemental homeschooling we already do. Back in 2009, I had planned to stop CelticMommy altogether-- I was worried about all the time commitments of public school volunteering, supplemental homeschool teaching, bringing up a toddler and maintaining a bevvy of crafting/blogging/baking/home keeping projects. This year, looking ahead, I do not have any such notions of quitting blogging. It means too much to me!

So, I'm ready to walk through this new door and ready to experience whatever comes on my path. I hope you will share it with me.

-Hettie

Crafting the weekend away

2011-09-04T15:47:00.000-07:00

We are one of those families who go bonkers for holiday decorating...

We do it

A little bit more

Each year

... this year, our Halloween craft to-do list is a bit large. New cemetery fences,

new interior banners and decorations.

So, this lovely, long, Labor day weekend is being devoted to Halloween and all the fun it brings to us... we love to share the day! (Plus... um, did you see the name of the blog--CelticMommy. Our families are descended from one of the originating celebrators of the holiday.)

We hope you are enjoying your Labor Day Weekend doing what you love as well!

Returning to the indoor kitchen

2011-09-03T20:06:00.000-07:00

With my industrial-strength exhaust fan at the ready, I returned to my kitchen today for an all-indoor-made meal. My cheeks are still pink from the heat of pots and pans... and technically it is nowhere near cool enough to have made such a meal, but made it I did.

Living in the hot San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles, most of our June - September meals are made partially or wholly outside on the grill. In addition to the grill, I have one burner, 3 square feet of prep space and no running water out there... not to mention the 100 degree heat, but cooking outside keeps the heat out there rather than in our house. Cool salads and raw fruits & veggies take many center stages in these summer months-- I almost stop baking altogether as well unless I bake in the early early hours before Em and Ro are awake.

Well today, the urge to cook inside could not be ignored. I gave my pork a pounding and an afternoon buttermilk bath and prepped away. Hot pasta, hot tomato sauce, warming oven... oof, and pork parmesan! I'm still dehydrated from the heat. But I'm smiling. Tomorrow we will return to the outdoor grill (for pizzas!) but tonight, I cooked indoors.

Wearing Teal Today for Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month

2011-09-02T09:30:00.000-07:00

Men: I know there are men out there who read my blog. Please don't just gloss over this! Do you have a wife? A sister, a mother, an aunt, a friend... cancer does not discriminate!

Today, I am wearing T.E.A.L.

I will be sporting a teal top and teal toes today to show my support for and raise awareness of National Ovarian Cancer Awareness month. It's not much, but for me, it is a show of love for my sister, who celebrated her 2 year cancerversary this past May. She's young... too young to have gone through so much already! But, she is strong and she is an active and she is a survivor. And now, I am taking action too!

The signs and symptoms of ovarian cancer are soooo easy to overlook:
"Research suggests that the four symptoms of bloating, pelvic or abdominal pain, difficulty eating or feeling full quickly and urinary urgency or frequency may be associated with ovarian cancer. Ovarian cancer symptoms can also include: a feeling of fullness in pelvic or abdominal region, gas, nausea, indigestion, constipation, diarrhea, menstrual disorders, pain during intercourse, fatigue and backaches" -from OvarianCancerAwareness.org

What can you do:
Talk to your doctor! If you have experienced these symptoms for more than two weeks, you must talk to your doctor! I have read blogs and personal stories other than my sisters about women who suffer for years. Some think "I'm too young... That's not me... It's embarassing..." Really?! There are some simple tests out there to help diagnose early stages of ovarian cancer. A quick trip to the doctor's office will get you going in the right direction. Remember the T.E.A.L. acronym above? Take Early Action and Live!

What else can you do:
Do you have a friend or family member who has mentioned any of the symptoms above? Talk to them! There are printable pamphlets, websites (NOCC and OCAwareness to name two) and medical professionals trained to help. I would rather talk to a friend and be wrong than have kept my mouth shut and find out later that they had been diagnosed too late.

So today, when I visit my husband at work and someone mentions my toes or my outfit, I will be talking T.E.A.L. to help raise awareness of Ovarian Cancer. It may save I know and love. What will you do?

For you N.D.L. with much love always!

A month of postings!

2011-09-01T09:36:00.000-07:00

September 1st: The first post of thirty I am planning to write this month. I don't have them all planned out, but I intend to write every day. For several years now, I have heard of this thing called NaBloPoMo and have wanted to do it. I am not waiting any longer, I'm doing it this month. :-)

National

Blog

Posting

Month

It is utterly inconvenient to be doing this now, this month. But, I honestly never seem to have a convenient time so I'm not waiting and I'm kinda nervous and excited and and nervous again. This will give me a chance to get in the habit of daily writing again, a habit I have greatly missed!

So, this month, here is what to expect from me. A paragraph, a story, a photograph, a something every single day. I'll write about all my usual things and expand a bit more when inspiration arises from either my own mind, or from the helpful writing prompts that NaBloPoMo does on a daily basis. I hope you'll join me, either in cheering and commenting here, or by participating in the month on your own blog as well.

The theme for September is: RETURN

I don't want to talk too much about the theme yet as I'm thinking of different ways to interpret it. And, I don't want to overthink it, so we'll just leave it out there.

For today, we are prepping for the return of the school schedule. We've been experimenting with lunch contents and before/during/after school activities for everyone.

Right now, I'm finishing off a bit of Strawberry Yogurt Bundt Cake (we can pretend it's a morning bread thing... yea?) with some tasty mint tea in one of my favorite cups-- and I'm planning these last few days of summer with my boys at home before returning to that other hectic life schedule. This moment, photographed above shows my little bit of calm before the day takes off.

Are you planning to post during NaBloPoMo? Do you feel the need to RETURN to writing like I do? I hope to see you again in this space.

-Hettie

Still Summering

2011-08-24T08:08:00.000-07:00

I've been a quiet blogger this summer, I know. With both Em and Ro out of school for three months, we've been field tripping and crafting our way through the days. Recently, while cleaning in the craft room (code for frantically searching for something), I came across this list.

Em started the list with Ro chiming in every once in a while while running back and forth from Lego creating. It's such a sweet list (with more on the back) that he wrote out the weekend that their summer vacation began. We've ticked off quite a bit of the list but not everything... and not everything I had hoped to do. So, sweet readers, I hope you understand when I say "back soon, we are still summering". As soon as Em and Ro are done in the bathtub, we will be off on another adventure. I have just two weeks of summer left to savor with my sweeties! So, back soon!
Love,
Hettie

Such is life, yes, but sometimes it stinks!

2011-08-16T15:39:00.000-07:00

Last week, I was sitting outside watching the boys zoom up and down the street on their bikes and scooters. Rob was practicing banjo in the cooling down evening and I was trying to capture my boys in don't-want-them-to-be blurry photographs. Trying and failing! Rushing rushing back and forth on the sidewalk, we enjoyed their laughter and "look... look at me mommy" antics.

From the corner of my eye, I spotted slow movement. Hmm... my neighbor was making her way up the street with something big and green in her hand. As she got closer, I realized it was a large branch off of her avocado tree. A big branch with a teeny tiny nest. I mean tiny! It turns out a hummingbird momma had abandoned her nest and my neighbor didn't know what to do about the nest. She thought Em and Ro would get a kick out of seeing the wee nest before tossing it in the trash bin.

We kept the nest. The egg you see in the above photo is iddy biddy-- like the size of my pinkie nail maybe at most. We kept it in the hot/warm garage and covered the nest with cotton balls while researching what to do. Sadly, so sadly, the branch fell a few days later and the egg cracked. It was a sad moment... while in all reality, the egg probably would not have hatched, it still upset us-- things like this happen every day and such are the ways of nature, but it happened here, to us, not on the National Geographic channel. Something so little affected us so much.

We try to imagine that the hummingbird momma has made another nest and is sitting on a new pair of eggs... we wish her well.

In the kitchen with children

2011-08-11T09:19:00.000-07:00

During the week, meal preparation in our family can be rather hectic. Utter lunacy comes to mind on some occasions during Em and Ro's toddler years! I knew they were curious about what we are having for dinner, but I found myself often shooing them out of the kitchen while I peeled, chopped and sauteed.

As they have gotten older and continued to express an interest in the culinary happenings of the house, I've begun to bring them in and teach them a few things here and there. These little tidbits below have helped me greatly to have successful sessions in the kitchen with my children and I hope they will help you too.

Don't take it all too seriously. Of course, observe hygienic practices, but spillage and "oops" will happen very often!

Everything does not have to be exact. A lopsided meatball? Okay. Wobbly bits falling on the floor? Okay. Tasks taking 20 minutes instead of 10? Okay.

Enjoy the one on one time with your child. For our family, mealtimes are a great time to communicate about the day. To come together and laugh-- to just be together and recenter. As Em and Ro continue to help out in the kitchen, meal preparation is becoming the same thing.

And of course, complimenting your child on their job well done will have them simply beaming! I remember my grandmother admiring my breakfast preparation of weak coffee, unwashed fruit and buttered bread. Showing them that you love their effort and not the mistakes will go a long way. In the photo below, Ro is pointing to one of "his" skewers of kefta that he made. My husband is off camera, and I can hear him even now in my head giving Ro a compliment that kept a mile wide smile on his face throughout the meal!

If you love spending time cooking or baking in the kitchen and notice that your children have an interest in there too, grab a step stool and bring them in with you. Your meal may not be picture perfect or exactly on time, but it will be a 5 star meal nonetheless!

An inch at a time

2011-08-07T13:03:00.000-07:00

My summer days are often spent in a whirlwind of kid things. Prepping meals for bottomless stomach boys, board games, reading in the tree house, field trips to museums and parks, crafting and cleaning up from crafting, photo-taking amidst giggly silly faces, more food prep and a load of laundry here and there.

My summer nights are much the same. Bike riding and walks in the cool evening, ice cream drips and impromptu obstacle course making... more photos, more giggly silly faces, more of life. So, with that in mind, my mind cannot keep complex crochet patterns memorized. Enter the granny stripe project!

I found this pattern from Lucy of Attic24 last year and thought "one day I'll have patience for that". It's not hard, just time consuming and sometimes boring if you sit and sit and sit at it. My lack of time makes it perfect! It is easy to set up and easy to pick up/put down whenever I want to. I took every color of Cotton-Ease in my stash and made a pattern of not having a pattern and off my hook went. I'm trying to do one stripe a day-- two rows at about an inch or so. By the time school starts, I should be mostly done with it.

Inch by inch it keeps me crafting during hectic days and nights with Em and Ro and Rob. It's what I have time for right now and that's enough for me.

Another thing that is going by, one at a time is the Circle of Moms Top 25 Southern California Mom Blogs. Your votes, one by one have put me in seventh place. If you have 5 quick seconds to pop on over, could you vote once more for me?

Thank you!

Travel Town Field Trip

2011-08-03T08:43:00.000-07:00

When my brother and I were little, one of our favorite places to go was Travel Town. I've written about it before here on my blog as it has become a favorite place for Em and Ro to visit as well.

This trip to Travel Town was pretty wonderful. A play date with friends who live far away... meeting in the middle of our freeway distances, Travel Town was the place to go. Snacks and sunscreen packed, we piled in and off we went!

Just off the 134 Freeway, Travel Town is a fabulous and free way to spend a summer afternoon with your kiddos, or with any railway buff! For Em and Ro, climbing on the steam engines and letting their imaginations take them wherever they felt like going, was an excellent way to spend time with friends.

Allllll aboard!!!

Another family reader and his books

2011-07-31T06:43:00.000-07:00

With summer in full swing, my boys have had plenty of time to relax and rearrange (and rearrange again) the things in their rooms. As Em's reading skills increase, he asks for more new books and gives more of his old books away to his brother... not that Em will never see or use the books again, as we always have them in various stages of reading all over the place! The hustle and bustle of books in between brothers has created a commotion in Ro's book collection, namely book crowding.

Above you see a partial collection of Ro's books. Notice the bulges in the crates. There actually are more books than this, but this is what fit in the space he had and the other books were rotated in. Not easy for my munchkin to peruse at all... Ro was ready for a better way!

Ikea bookshelves and Daddy to the rescue! Now, the books are in order-- woo hoo! Now, the books are much easier for Ro to find himself and put back whenever he is done with them. Being able to come to and say "Mommy! My room is allll clean and the books are alllll put away!" has been very rewarding for Ro.

I still have a shelf of books to bring in from the living room library, but this is a fabulous start for the newest reader of the house.

BBQ'd Hasselback Potatoes Recipe

2011-07-29T07:53:00.000-07:00

This is the second quick and easy way to enjoy a baked potato during these hot summer months, when heating up, and spending time in the kitchen is not your top priority. The first one, the BBQ Baked Potato in the post below this one, gives you a simply tasty and easy side dish for those evenings when you crave fluffy potato goodness. Today's recipe will yield a melt-in-your-mouth buttery potato with a smoothly melted cheese topping.

BBQ'd Hasselback Potato

I originally learned about Hasselback potatoes while at Camp Blogaway earlier this year. The Idaho Potato Commission presented a hands-on talk on how these potatoes were sliced, dressed and baked with heavenly results. You can see the original recipe here on their website. My version is very similar with the BBQ and cheese twist.

Ingredients and Supplies:
One 8-9 ounce Idaho Baking Potato per person
Cold, unsalted butter
2 oz. Old Amsterdam Gouda per potato
Salt and Pepper
Two cutting boards of the same thickness -or- chopsticks
Tin foil

Directions:

Preheat your BBQ to medium
Scrub potatoes clean and let dry
Place potato on counter. Put cutting boards along length-size of potato
With a sharp knife, cut almost all the way through the potato. The cutting boards should ensure that you don't cut all the way through, but take extra care on the ends. (I've lopped off many ends!) Continue cutting thin slices as you see in the photo above until finished.
Place potato on piece of tin foil large enough to cook potato in. Carefully spreading the potato, sprinkle with salt and pepper.
Thinly slice about 1 to 1 1/2 tablespoons butter and place along top of potato.
Cover potato completely and tightly. Repeat for the rest of the potatoes.
Place in BBQ and set timer for 45 minutes.
Remove potatoes and carefully peel top of tin foil away as seen in photo below. Do not take out yet.

Using a vegetable peeler, thinly slice Old Amsterdam Gouda. Place pieces of Gouda carefully in between several slices of potato and on top. Put potatoes uncovered but still on tin foil back on BBQ for 5 more minutes. The Gouda will melt inside the potato and also crisp up nicely on top of the potato as you see in the top photo.
Remove potatoes from BBQ and transfer to plates, discarding extra butter in tin foil.
Serve immediately!

I hope you enjoy these two BBQ'd Potatoes and find other fun ways to use your BBQ to beat the heat in the kitchen. Have a great weekend!

BBQ Baked Potato Recipe

2011-07-27T09:11:00.000-07:00

Today and tomorrow I will give you two quick ways to enjoy a baked potato during these hot summer months without heating up your kitchen. The first one is fast and straightforward, requires very little prep and just a bit of attention. The second one requires a bit of prep and very little attention. The backyard BBQ comes to the rescue of baked potato lovers!

Potato #1- Easy Peasy Lemon Squeezy!!

The BBQ'd Baked Potato

This potato may look familiar as it was featured on the plate with my Yogurt Marinated Chicken last week.

Ingredients and Supplies:
One 8-9 ounce Idaho Baking Potato per person
Olive Oil
Salt
Fork
Tongs
Timer

Directions:
Preheat your BBQ to medium
Scrub potatoes clean and let dry completely
With a fork, poke potato about 4 times each on all sides
Coat potato in olive oil and sprinkle with salt on all sides
Place potatoes on BBQ, close lid, set timer for 25 minutes
At 25 minute mark, turn potatoes over. Set timer for 20 more minutes. (Right about now is when you probably would start making anything else you plan to eat.)
When the second timer goes off, remove potato and gently check for doneness. Larger potatoes may need a few more minutes.
You will notice in the above photo that the outside is nearly black and crispy, that's fine. The flavor and texture will be similar to potato skins at your local restaurant.
Add tasty toppings and serve! The potato will be fluffy light and heavenly. Enjoy!

Tomorrow, is BBQ'd potato #2 - A BBQ'd Hasselback with slivers of Old Amsterdam Gouda!

Living room dance-a-thon

2011-07-25T14:42:00.000-07:00

Pink Floyd Morcheeba Beastie Boys Dan Zanes Cake

The Black Crowes Jack Johnson Tom Petty & the Hearbreakers

Living room furniture move, making way
for dancing
for running in circles
for giggling
for chasing after his brother!!

Songs spinning, kids spinning, camera spinning

Still in jammies, beating the heat in our own living room dance-a-thon!

My berry cup runneth over with tomatoes

2011-07-24T11:23:00.000-07:00

Another weekend spent in the garden, bent over tomato plant after tomato plant trying to get to all the ripe tomatoes... we've had an abundance of grape and cherry tomatoes this season. I had to cut back one of the plants as it was invading my raspberry climbing wires! As I wrote earlier today on the CelticMommy Facebook page (have you been there to "like" it yet?), I love being out in garden each morning, barefooted and bumbling about. Sadly this morning, a large cherry tomato was in my path and got squished! Is tomato juice a good foot exfoliant?

Anyway, after distributing about 250 of these beauties to surrounding neighbors and relatives, I wanted to get a quick pic of some of the rest of them in my beautiful new berry bowl made by Melissa of the Bridgman Pottery blog and Etsy. I love that this bowl was made for me by Melissa and that the bowl has its' own uniqueness that typifies her wabi sabi creative spark! Like Melissa, I too believe that the beautiful things we collect should be used and not sitting and collecting dust.

To add to that sentiment, I will soon be working on a new crochet project with some beautiful yarn that has been sitting in my stash. Catrina of Because Mommy Said So created this sweet hat (Ravelry Link) that looks both warm and stylish! As soon as I am done with my current seekrit project, my own pattern to be coming soon, I'll be crocheting the Nottinghamshire hat for my noggin.

I hope your cup runneth over today with all good things!

Napkins to be

2011-07-21T14:38:00.000-07:00

After three days of steam ironing in between our summer crafting and field trips, I've finally finished prepping yards of awesome fabric!! Linen, Cotton, Cotton/Linen blend ... all washed, dried and ironed. Woo hoo!

Now on to napkin making! My last sets of napkins have lasted three years and I think they need to be replaced. Plus, with Em and Ro attending a school that strives for "a zero percent trash lunch", I wanted to make some little napkins to go in their lunches.

I found the tan linen/cotton fabric underneath at Ikea in the clearance section... $1.00 a yard! And, it is pretty nice fabric I must say. This will be for embroidered napkins for everyday home use. The super cool three fabrics on the top layer were a wonderful surprise gift for the boys from their Tutu Karen. Notice how Ro is laying on the dining room table behind the fabric? Yep, the car fabric he proclaimed to be his before I could even unfold it! Em loves the super cute wolf and sheep fabric to the left so his school napkins will be made with that and I'm still pondering that wee awesome piece of robot fabric in the center. (Click the photo for a larger view.)

Hopefully I will have pics up of the finished napkins next week... well, some of them anyway!

Yogurt Marinated Chicken Recipe

2011-07-19T20:06:00.000-07:00

Many months ago, I bought the wrong yogurt (plain instead of vanilla) for Em and Ro's breakfast. Since I had purchased a large container, I used most of it for baking and had a bit left to experiment with. This yogurt marinade recipe is probably the most tested and retested recipe I've ever done... trying to get it "just right" and so I hope you love it as much as we do.

A note on the ingredients, well, one ingredient specifically. Everything in the ingredient list can be purchased at your local grocery store except for the Penzey's Sate Seasoning. I found this spice mix quite some time ago and find it to be much much easier for quick mid-week dinners than using all the spices individually. Penzey's is my own personal choice and I'm not paid or endorsed by them (oh how I wish!) and I feel having this in your kitchen will prove to be worth it. Just my two cents.

Yogurt Marinated Chicken

Ingredients:

2 Pounds Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts
1 1/2 cups plain yogurt
1/2 large red onion, chopped
3 tbsp. (1/4 cup) Penzey's Sate Seasoning
3 tbsp. crushed garlic
2 tbsp. olive oil
1 tsp. salt plus 1 more tsp. salt set aside
scant 1 tsp. white pepper

Directions:

Combine yogurt, onion, Sate, garlic, olive oil, 1 tsp. of the salt & pepper in the smallest dish that will hold the chicken breasts. Preserve 1/2 cup of marinade in a bowl, cover and refrigerate for basting later.
Coat chicken breasts in remaining marinade, cover and refrigerate for a minimum of 4 hours. 6 would be better.
When ready to grill, take chicken and remaining marinade out of fridge to come to room temperature while your BBQ is warming up. Set BBQ to medium.
The chicken will be thickly coated with the yogurt marinade and that is fine. Place on BBQ and set your timer for 7 minutes.
Turn chicken and baste with 1/2 reserve marinade and 1/2 remaining salt. Set your timer for 7 more minutes.
Turn chicken final time, baste with marinade and salt. On average, the chicken will only need about 2-3 more minutes of time. Transfer to a plate and let sit, covered for 5 minutes.
Your chicken should be juicy, tasty and perfectly cooked! Serve with BBQ'd potatoes, a sweet bowl of cut melon and a simple salad.
If you have any chicken remaining, refrigerate pieces whole. The flavor will be enhanced overnight and is a perfect cool accompaniment to a salad or warm Naan bread.

That's it! Again, I hope you love it as much as we do. And if not, feel free to change up the ingredients and concoct a marinade of your own! :-) Happy Grilling!

Garden Stages

2011-07-05T14:36:00.000-07:00

Psst... Yes little tomatoes I see you there, hanging down beyond your fence!

Welcome to our home sweet onions, I have a dinner date planned with you in mind.

Hello pretty berries! You are looking rather yummy today.

I'm talking to my garden. The days are long and dry and hot and this makes the garden talk back to us. We have more tomatoes than I expected, onions harvesting quicker than expected, more berries than expected and a few plants unexpectedly returning for another season. It may be a small garden, but it gives away its goodies in stages, making them last.

The sleepy quietness here at CelticMommy is coming to a close. I have much to share with you and a moving date coming up soon! Recipes, crafts, links and more all showing up ahead. :-)

Dirt under my fingernails

2011-06-13T11:13:00.000-07:00

I've spent the last 10 minutes attempting to get the dirt out from under my fingernails and I think I am giving up for now... but that's okay. For the past hour, Ro and I have been in our wee garden spreading some TLC and thinking about things.

Weighing Options: What am I going to do with this many grape tomatoes!?
Wondering: How did that lone carrot survive? And, in the middle of the blackberry bushes at that!
Watering: Our little onions and garlic are not so little anymore... my hubby planted such nice rows that I feel bad harvesting. But not bad enough not to harvest!
Watching, Waiting, Mouth Watering: Ahhh, the blackberry crop is looking quite nice we think. Quite nice indeed.

Our garden is not big at all, but it brings great smiles and satisfaction to our family. So, the remnants of dirt under my fingernails will stay there for now as a reminder throughout the day of time spent bringing smiles to our family.

Happy Monday!
Hettie

Transforming fruit and veggies

2011-06-11T16:07:00.000-07:00

Aaah, end-of-school-year insanity! I'm sorry I have not been around much as both Em and Ro are nearly done with school. I've been working on teacher appreciation gifties, prepping summer activities and having fun in the kitchen both with and without the boys. I promise to be back soon, but I wanted to post two quick pics of food transformations going on at our house this weekend.

Pickles... can't have too many of them. The fast recipe is here on CelticMommy. In this big batch, I added extra peppercorns and extra fresh garlic and onions. I can't wait to taste them!!

Fruit Leather. Last weekend, we took Em and Ro to a local farm and bought a flat of strawberries. Even with our berry-loving consumption, we had some left, so I followed this recipe (only slightly modified) from Simply Recipes to make a batch of strawberry fruit leather. My kitchen smells just heavenly right now and I think these are going to be another fun homemade goodie we'll make again and again.

The last quick thing I wanted to bring up is that CelticMommy now has a Facebook page. I have been posting extra pictures, tidbits, fun crafts and other things over there... if you'd like to see a bit of that fun, please head on over and LIKE it.

I hope you are all having a wonderful weekend!!
Hettie

What's in Your Fridge??

2011-06-02T13:52:00.000-07:00

Warning: Silly amateur video ahead... zero lighting style, shaking camera and high-pitched improv babbling.... yep, that's me talking!

Honestly though, my fellow blogger friend Jennifer from Savor the Thyme recently made a video of the contents of her fridge and asked us to do the same.

So, here are the contents of my fridge!

I must admit, I'm happy about the zero lighting style as it hides all the kid smudges!

What's in your fridge? If you post a video on YouTube or on your own blog, please feel free to link it in your comments.

A hands-on weekend

2011-05-29T15:32:00.000-07:00

We are spending time together as a family and enjoying some hands-on activities.

Cooking with Em and Ro

Crocheting a new hat (pattern available for free from Rheatheylia)

Coconutting up my original marshmallow recipe that I hope to have up next week

I hope everyone is having a wonderful Memorial Day weekend!

Seeing what you eat

2011-05-26T10:56:00.000-07:00

I remember many date nights with my now-hubby, being at restaurants where french fries were served.

One particular night, I noticed Rob watching me look at each french fry I picked up-- I like choosing my fries. He laughed and thought it was a funny quirk. Years later, I still do this with fries, salads and anything where you pick one bite over another.

This morning, my wee one was eating a bowl of blueberries. He was very mindful of which berry he picked out of his bowl. I saw him pick up certain berries, look at them, and then put them back in the bowl. When he was finished, he came to me:

"Mom! You need to put this blueberry back in the refrigerator... I want to show it to Dad, okay?"
He held out his little hand to reveal a very big blueberry. "This Mommy, this blueberry is perfeckt! (yes, that's how he says it) I wanna show Daddy before I eat it."

Funny quirk passed on!

Tweaking a new recipe

2011-05-25T07:24:00.000-07:00

Aaahhh, the heady aroma of vanilla beans!

Happy Wednesday Friends! I have been working on a new recipe-- one that Em and Ro love taste testing and offering opinions and suggestions on. A new ice cream recipe! In the past, all my homemade ice creams contained unpasteurized eggs that had to be cooked to avoid that nasty bacteria known as Salmonella. While it was nice not to worry about my children getting sick, it meant my custard bases always had to chill for hours in the fridge before becoming a cool confection.

At Camp Blogaway a few weeks ago, my eyes were opened to the U.S.'s only pasteurized eggs, Davidson's Safest Choice Eggs. These eggs can be eaten completely raw without fear of becoming ill which is spiffy for impatient ice cream eaters! So, I've been working and reworking a fast and easy ice cream base that is perfect alone and even better with add-ins!! Hopefully, I will have this recipe up in the next day or so after one or two more batch tests. :-)

What is your favorite ice cream?

Birthday Crafting

2011-05-13T14:18:00.000-07:00

What to make for Daddy they wondered...
What's in the house to make with they asked...
A cuppa salt, a cuppa warm water and two cups of flour...
Simple dough to sit with a sibling and shape and share and celebrate...
Bake at 225 'til firm... Is it ready yet Mommy?
Giggle and paint. Laugh and paint. Fingers and paint.

Happy Birthday Daddy, we love you!

Avocado Face Mask

2011-05-02T10:42:00.000-07:00

I spent this past weekend at Camp Blogaway in the beautiful San Bernardino Mountains connecting with some pretty fabulous bloggers (which I will highlight in the coming weeks), and left Camp with some amazing new food knowledge and many new food-loving friends. It was great!! But, and of course it's a small but, my skin was not great. The dusty trails and higher elevation left my skin dry and in need of moisture. Since I have sensitive skin to begin with, I am loathe to try chemical-laden products and prefer looking to mother nature instead.

California Avocados to the rescue!! Did you know that California Avocados are rich in vitamin E, a vitamin that does wonders for your skin? Instead of heading to a local drugstore for a moisturizing mask, I went to my kitchen instead and grabbed an avocado. Here's the fast way to make an avocado face mask to perk your skin up!

Grab a ripe avocado from the fridge and bring to room temperature.
While the avocado is warming up, warm up your face by placing a warm, wet washcloth on your face for a few minutes. Take care not to scrub your skin-- we just want to open up the pores.
Cut avocado in half. Peel half and place in a bowl, preserving other half for later. Mash for a few minutes. Optionally, at this point you may add 1 tablespoon of ground oatmeal for more of an exfoliant effect (see Calming Bath Soak for more info).
Smooth avocado on face (and neck and upper chest if you want) avoiding the skin surrounding your eyes. The mashed avocado is also great for the tops of dry hands.

Sit and relax, trying not to lick your face for 10 minutes while the avocado does its' magic.
Gently wipe clean with a warm, wet washcloth and you're set!!

The whole time I've been typing this post, I keep touching my skin to feel how soft and smooth it is-- mother nature magic!

Celebrate your rejuvenated skin with the other half of the avocado and slice for your favorite sandwich, salad or omelet.

Lemonade Cookies!!

2011-04-25T16:48:00.000-07:00

We are quite partial to lemon everything in this family and I had not yet posted a recipe for lemon cookies. I actually have another one in the works, but these were requested first. I call them lemonade cookies because to me, that is what they taste like. A bit tart and tangy and a bit sweet in each bite and I hope you like them.

Lemonade Cookies

Ingredients:

2 tbsp. grated fresh lemon zest (or 1 1/2 tsp. Penzey's Powdered Lemon Peel)
1 cup unsalted butter at room temperature (I use Trader Joe's Organic)
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar PLUS 1 cup in a bowl for rolling cookies in
1/4 to 1/3 lemon juice, fresh (about 1 lemon worth)
1 tbsp. Vanilla Extract
1 tsp. Lemon Extract (If you do not have this on hand, omit. Penzey's is fine. If using Boyajian, reduce to 1/2 tsp.)
4 egg yolks at room temperature
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour (I use King Arthur)
1 cup cake flour (King Arthur or Bob's Red Mill)
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. Cream of Tartar

Separately for glazing:

2 cups powdered sugar
2 tbsp. milk at room temperature
1 tsp. Lemon Extract

Directions:

In a large bowl, sift flours, salt, baking soda and Cream of Tartar, set aside.
In a stand mixer, combine lemon zest, 1 1/2 cups sugar and butter until creamy. Scrape sides if needed.
Add lemon juice and mix. Add vanilla and lemon extracts and mix.
Add egg yolks, one at a time and mix until just combined.
Add flour mixture in two parts to avoid flour/dust cloud and mix until just combined.
Scrape sides down, cover bowl and let dough chill for 1-2 hours or overnight.
When dough is chilled, transfer to a floured surface.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare baking sheets with either parchment paper or Silpats.
Make 1 inch round balls and roll in 1 cup granulated sugar in a bowl or on a plate.
Place balls 3 inches apart on cookie sheet.
Smoosh balls to 1/4 inch thick disks.
Bake for 7 minutes, turn cookie sheets and bake for an additional 7-8 minutes. The edges will brown slightly.
Transfer to a wire cooling rack and repeat until all cookies are made.
In a bowl, mix powdered sugar, milk and lemon extract with a fork.
Use fork to drizzle glaze onto cookies. Let the glaze set for about 15 minutes before serving.

Makes about 30 cookies.

Lemonade Cookies Coming Tomorrow

2011-04-24T10:05:00.000-07:00

I am happily, finally back after longer than I planned and I will bring some sunshine to the CelticMommy blog tomorrow!

A teaser photo of what is coming...

Happy Sunday/Easter/April to you!

Unplanned Downtime

2011-04-14T18:05:00.000-07:00

Wow! Since 2011, I have not gone this long of a stretch without posting. I'd like to say I've been off touring Ireland or something, but I've just been touring the confines of my house!

Last year I got sick. As pretty much any parent will tell you, I didn't have time to be sick-- kid pickup/dropoff/homework/homeschool, PTA duties, home duties, etc. etc. kept me going from early to late. Usually the colds lingered and then decided to leave. But not that time... nope! Pneumonia/hospital/incapacitated/NaNa helping/breathing treatments/Hubby staying home to help take care of mommy-and-munchkins pneumonia! I don't remember much of February or March of '10.

So this year... I made it all the way to April with hardly a sniffle. Ppsh... until this new cold hits. Two kids birthdays to plan and a vacation to prepare for among other things. *shaking head* EVERYTHING went by the wayside. All I've been doing is sleeping in between waking up for liquids and small small things for the family. Both Em and Ro remember last year and they've been pretty good about it. And of course my hubby and mom have been helpful and gently stern with me and my resting. I feel very laaaaazzzzyyy!

But, I can breathe! With any luck, the medications and rest will convince my doctor to let me to go Sequoia next week for Spring Break. Up there, all I plan to do is rest with my family, take photos, watch snowball fights, crochet in the lodge and snuggle with the hubby.

Right now, you can find me crocheting outside for the first time in two weeks. It's lovely to be in the warm sun!

Back soon! -Hettie

A Sunny Spring Day

2011-03-29T17:51:00.000-07:00

SPF slathered on Em and Ro to protect pale winter skin while riding bikes, tumbling, skipping, ... in shorts for the first time in a while.

Barefooted crocheting - quickly abandoned for giggling and photographing wee ones silly antics!

Sleepy arms raised from the grass to call out the shapes of the clouds and following the flight of bees on newly blooming trees and shrubs.

A great Spring Tuesday!

A rainy Sunday

2011-03-20T10:30:00.000-07:00

It's raining!

The rain arrived sometime last night and has been steadily coming down all morning. Right after breakfast, Em and Ro bundled up and went outside. There are puddles to splash in, the tree house to play in (to observe the rain and watch the birds and... and...) and they are having a blast. When the get cold, they'll come in for hot chocolate and a towel. Soon I think. Maybe in a bit we can head out for an observation walk as well.

I hope you enjoy your Sunday!

Chalk improvisation

2011-03-16T18:27:00.000-07:00

Em and Ro's fish Oscar died and we needed to have some cheerful moments after the fishie funeral this afternoon. By some weird chance, I ran out of sidewalk and forgot to pick some up. The boys reeeeallllyyy wanted to make a car obstacle course on the concrete outside, so we improvised.

I grabbed the large roll of painting paper and taped it down on the concrete and took out the other chalk (that stains sidewalks) and let them have at it. Each embellished their course with rainbows and lava and zombie chickens crossing the road ( ? ) and grassy hills and the races were on! Two hours later they are still at it.

A nice ending to a sad afternoon I must say.

Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies With a Kick

2011-03-14T10:44:00.000-07:00

So, my latest order from King Arthur Flour arrived last week and I finally got to put one of my new ingredients to good use. I've had my Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe for forever... they are a staple in our house. But, everyone has their own version of chocolate chip cookies, so I never posted mine.

This weekend, I made them again, with a bit of a new ingredient and wowie were they yummy! As you can see from the decadent photos, the cookies are big and perfect for ice cream cookie sammies. I hope you like them as much as we do!

Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies With a Kick!

Note: This is a BIG batch of cookies to match my large KitchenAid mixer. I typically bake half of the dough and freeze the rest for later to avoid having stale cookies. Or, you can halve the recipe if you prefer.

Makes about 6 1/2 dozen 3 inch cookies

Ingredients:

1 pound (4 sticks) of unsalted butter, room temperature
2 cups packed light or dark brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
2 Tbsp. plus 1 Tsp. Vanilla Extract (yeah, it's a lot!)
4 Large Eggs
4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
Heaping 1 tsp. King Arthur Flour's Espresso Powder
2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. baking soda
3 cups chocolate chips
1 cup toasted pecans, chopped (optional - but if you do not use, do not increase choc. chips)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
In a large bowl, sift flour, espresso powder, salt and baking soda and set aside.
In stand mixer, combine butter and sugars until fluffy.
Add vanilla and combine. Add eggs and combine.
Add flour mixture in two parts to avoid flour/dust cloud and combine.
Add chocolate chips and pecans until just combined.
Take heaping tablespoons and plop on cookie sheets about 3 inches apart.
If immediately making ice cream sammies (which is pretty darn tasty I must say), take out ice cream.
Place cookies in the oven for 6 minutes, turn cookie sheets and bake 5 additional minutes.
Let cookies cool 1-2 minutes. (If not continuing on, place cookies on cooling rack and repeat steps 1-10)
Choose two similarly sized cookies to make ice cream sandwiches. Place cookie face-side down, add ice cream, add 2nd cookie face-side up taking care not to break cookie. Listen to the oooh's and aaah's of your dessert loving recipients and enjoy!

Spring is on the way

2011-03-13T16:05:00.000-07:00

I hope everyone is adjusting to the "Spring Forward" that most Americans are experiencing today. We've been prepping for Spring both inside and outside this weekend. A bit of cleaning... well, a lot of cleaning, a bunch of garden planting, breathing in the wonderful air, freshly perfumed from blooming trees.

I have much coming up soon so I hope these fun pics will suffice for now.
Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

A donut kind of morning

2011-03-06T09:09:00.000-08:00

Most weekend mornings, I am the first one up and a warm coffee cake is already baking before Rob and the boys are out of bed. Some mornings, my brain hits the snooze button and I sleep in 'til 7:30! This morning was one of those mornings... perfect for a run to our local donut shoppe!

Fresh apples and blueberries all around with gobs of cakey, sugary donuts. Coffee for Rob, tea for me.

I hope you are having a wonderful weekend!

Blogs in the works:

The new grilled chicken recipe I continue to tweak should be up this week
Remember my marshmallow recipe? Well, coconut loving Em and Ro have modified it!
A new crochet pattern
A new sewing pattern or two
A blog about soap... Soap is this months project topic on Unplug Your Kids. You should check it out!

100 Ways to Praise Your Child

2011-02-25T09:46:00.000-08:00

I found this wonderful list on Melissa and Shelley's website Stockpiling Moms and felt it must be shared! I decided to make the list into a 8.5 x 11" printable page so you could print it out and post it on your fridge or other easy-to-view spot in your home. Simply click on the "photo" and save it to your desktop to print.

Have a great weekend everyone!

A San Fernando Valley Winter Day

2011-02-22T08:49:00.000-08:00

Good Tuesday morning all! The promise of rain is later in the week... for now we have gorgeously clear blue skies and some amazing Winter light! These photos were taken by my amazing hubby at Balboa Lake in Van Nuys, California.

Wishing you all a wonderful day.

Yum Yum Crouton Recipe

2011-02-18T08:04:00.000-08:00

I am slightly, slightly addicted to the croutons and crisps sold at Trader Joe's. Sourdough bread, oven toasted with garlic and Parmesan cheese... the simplest of yum yum yummyness! So, what's a gal to do when the craving for these hits when home with two sleeping munchkins? Make my own of course!

While I am sure there are plenty of recipes both in my library and on the internet that I could follow, I felt this was something I could pop together quickly, so here is what I came up with.

Ingredients:

Sourdough bread, cut or torn into 3/4 inch squares-- about 2 cups
3/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Garlic, smashed, lots of it
Olive oil
Salt & Pepper to taste

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees
On a cookie sheet with a Silpat or parchment paper, spread out bread
Drizzle olive oil over bread and toss with hands to coat
Spread out garlic and Parmesan and toss again
Bake for 7 minutes, take out and toss
Bake for 7 more minutes, take out and test crispiness. If needed, bake 2 or so additional minutes.
Season to taste with salt and pepper
Try to let the croutons cool long enough to make it onto your salad!

On a silly but important side note: Since Em and Ro were sleeping while I was having fun in the kitchen, I took at least 35 photos of the steps I took to make the croutons. I'm practicing my food photography techniques and find that I am seriously lacking. Horribly seriously. ;-)

My desire to improve this and other topics on the CelticMommy blog have landed me as an upcoming camper to Camp Blogaway... a boot camp for food and recipe bloggers. I have not added many recipes on here because the photos for my food are just not as pretty as I would like... so, "Camera Mastery: settings, white balance" is one topic I will be sure to be early for at camp. Admittedly, I am also excited to meet my fellow foodies who obsess over their own recipes and ingredients. Soon, I will have figured out how to style my food like a model is styled for their photo shoot! Well, Camp Blogaway is in two months, so I should say pretty soon. There is a pretty green logo on the right sidebar if you are curious about Camp. And if you're attending already and reading this... could you please leave a little "Hello" note for me?

I hope you have a great weekend!

Convalescing

2011-02-17T10:56:00.000-08:00

Em is home sick... cranky and coughing. So we convalesce and we craft. Warm cherry tea with honey and a popsicle stick creation for him. Cake baking and crocheting for me.

Back tomorrow!

These rainy days

2011-02-16T11:13:00.000-08:00

It is a gorgeous, rainy, wintry day here in Los Angeles! Our whole family loves experiencing the rain and I can count the seconds, literally, from when Em and Ro see the rain outside, to the question of "Is it time for our rainy day observation walk Mommy?" This type of nature walk never seems to get boring.

Em, 2005, Waiting to go out and play in the rain.

We watch for the rain. We look at the cloud types and ponder when the rain will strike. Will there be enough rain for listening? For tasting? Can I stomp in puddles yet? Are the streams of run-off enough to conduct races between twigs and leaves?

Ro, 2011, Waiting to go out in the rain!

The sun is peeping through the clouds right now... I hope it takes a break and the rain comes back soon! We've been taking these walks since before this blog began and probably will continue through our lifetimes. This makes us happy. What makes you happy?

Chocolate Math

2011-02-14T08:58:00.000-08:00

Happy Valentine's Day!

Having lots of Hershey's Kisses in the house has brought fun learning activities for both my 4 year old and my 6 year old!

For the four year old:
Patterns made with the kisses, which color comes next?
Grouping kisses by color, estimating kiss count, counting kisses
Single digit addition and subtraction... obviously, subtraction was a very popular aspect!

For the six year old:
More complex pattern making of kisses
Counting kisses by 2's, 4's, 5's and 10's
Double digit addition and subtraction
Group estimation

We love fun little games like this to keep them thinking. This is, in part, what we call Supplemental Schooling. Both Em and Ro attend school outside the home, but we supplement their education at home with extras that we want to share and expand on. It's not exactly homeschooling or unschooling so, we use the term "supplemental schooling" to fit the bill.

I hope everyone has a sweet Valentine's Day!

Valentine Magnets - Photo Tutorial

2011-02-13T13:59:00.000-08:00

I don't know if I would call it a tutorial... but there we go. The heart stamp was homemade with supplies from Dick Blick and hubby's wine cork! Everything else is from Michael's. Nearly all kid-made! (Mommy made the stamp, printed the labels and cut the scrapbook paper into squares.)

Paint wooden disks

Watercolor paint Avery labels and let dry. Leave under heavy books after dry to stay flat overnight.

Glue magnets and let dry overnight

Print something cute on Avery labels and punch out to use as seals for each Valentine.

Heart stamp, or whatever you choose on magnet faces... this was easy for Em and Ro to make many at a time without having to hand painting hearts on.

Truly the most awesome tip... the magents on a cookie sheet STAY STILL for little ones to stamp without having to touch them! Less boo boos this way.

Cut 12x12 scrapbook papers into 4 6x6 squares. This was inspired by Unplug Your Kids February topic "Page". Used this Google Image Search to inspire the boys to make their own envelopes.

When magnets are dry, put in center of envelopes and re-fold.

All sealed up and ready to give out!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Free crochet pattern: Rib wrapped cap for children

2011-02-12T10:31:00.000-08:00

Rib-wrapped toddler and kid cap

Designed by: Heather Schott (CelticMommy on Ravelry. Ravelry pattern link)
http://celticmommy.blogspot.com/

I originally made this as a hat for preemies, newborns and babies but have gotten such a wonderful response on it, that I modified the pattern and edge trim for toddlers and children.

This hat is a bit stretchy and fits nice and snug for a warm layer in the chilly months.

As with my other free patterns I have offered, this is free for personal use only. The pattern can be made for gifts, charities, etc., but not for sold items!

Materials Needed:
• For a toddler hat: About 75 yards worsted weight washable yarn and a 5mm (size H) hook. (Fits 2-4 year olds) You could also make it with a DK weight yarn, same hook for a smaller hat.
• For a child sized hat: (Fits 4-12 year olds) About 85 yards worsted weight washable yarn and a 5.5mm (size I) hook.
• Needle to weave in ends

The hat shown in the pattern was made with Blue Sky Alpacas Organic Cotton, the Mediterranean colorway.

Pattern:
Chain 3
Round 1: In first chain, crochet 13DC. Join with a ss to top of the chain 3 (makes 14 sts total)
Round 2: Chain 2. fpdc then dc in each stitch. Repeat all the way around. Join with a ss to top of chain 2. (28 sts)
Round 3: Chain 2. fpdc in each fpdc, dc in each dc. Repeat all the way around. Join with a ss to top of chain 2. (28 sts)
Round 4: Chain 2. *fpdc in fpdc. 2dc in each dc* Repeat all the way around. Join with a ss to top of chain 2. (42 sts)
Round 5: Chain 2. *fpdc in fpdc. dc in top of same fpdc. dc in each dc* Repeat all the way around. Join with a ss to top of chain 2 (56 sts) SEE PHOTO below for more info on this round.

Round 6: Chain 2. *fpdc in fpdc. dc in each dc* Repeat all the way around. Join with a ss to top of chain 2. (56 sts)
Rounds 7-14 for toddler, 7-15 for child: Repeat round 6
Round 15-17 for toddler, 16-18 for child: Ribbing. SEE PHOTO below for finished detail. Chain 2. *fpdc in fpdc. bpdc in dc. fpdc in dc. bpdc in dc.* Repeat from * to * all the way around. Join with ss at end of row. Weave in ends.

Please let me know if you have any questions, comments or spot any errors. I can be reached at: hmschott AT gmail DOT com

If you make this cute cap, I would appreciate a link back to the pattern either here on the blog or on Ravelry so others can use it as well. Happy Crocheting!

Calming Bath Soak Tutorial

2011-02-09T13:37:00.000-08:00

For the past week, I've been conducting a poll over on my sidebar on how many baths my readers take and apparently, we take a lot of baths! For Em and Ro, evening bath time is fun but also a time to calm down and prepare for bed. This calming bath soak recipe and tutorial is not just meant for children, but it is so easy, a four year old can make it!

Ingredients and Supplies:
3 cups Epsom salts
1 cup dried chamomile flowers
1 cup dried lavender flowers
1 cup rolled oats
Food Processor
(optional) Reusable Large Cotton Muslin Bags

The muslin bags, chamomile and lavender, I purchased from Mountain Rose Herbs. The oats are Bob's Red Mill. As my munchkins and I have sensitive skin, I opted for all organic ingredients. If you have a Whole Food's, a Henry's or other bulk store in your area, you can purchase there if you choose to.

How to make the bath soak:
1- Dump all ingredients into a food processor

2- Process ingredients for about 1-2 minutes. If you have a little one wanting to help out with this project, they can use the PULSE option on the processor... it makes mine giggle and he also feels like he is really helping out.

3- Pour contents into a container with a tight seal.

Using the bath soak:

This blend is pretty potent, so you only need about 1/2 cup for children (who use less water) or 1 cup for adults. If you do not want your bath time experience to be like floating in a cup of chamomile tea, I would suggest using the optional reusable muslin bags.

When your bath is done you or your little ones will be nice and calm and ready to rest.

Happy Bath time!

Relaxin'

2011-02-06T12:20:00.000-08:00

The wind seems to have kicked up ticklish dry coughs and sniffles in the household... today is meant for relaxin'!

The dining room table has been taken over with pencils and tape and paper and books and yarn and glue and... and... all that good stuff.

I'm reworking and resizing my Rib-wrapped baby cap pattern into toddler and kiddo sizes. That should be up as another free pattern in a week I hope. :-)

For those who will be sports watching today, I hope you have fun!

Home for the weekend

2011-02-05T12:18:00.000-08:00

This seems to be a common theme of late... extra family closeness and relaxation is the number one priority each weekend. The hustle and bustle of weekday work, art lessons, schooling, supplemental schooling (have I explained this yet?) and the like, keep us from connecting as much as we want to.

Very early on as parents, Rob and I decided that family dinners together at the dinner table mattered greatly to us as this was one of just a few waking hours we could all spend enjoying and sharing with one another. Family nighttime reading is another one and one I should touch on more often in this blog.

But now, let's talk about weekends. Family bike rides, backyard playtime, extra giggles and extra extra hugs-- extra meals all at one table, we love it! This weekend seems to be destined for more home fun. Turning the dirt in the garden, banjo practice, drawing, crocheting, singing and fort building, baking and laughing. Simple family time and memories in the making.

I hope you are all having a wonderful weekend as well.
Love, Hettie

Grilled Chicken Experiment - Take One

2011-02-04T08:16:00.000-08:00

So yesterday, I prepared the marinade for the upcoming Grilled Chicken recipe that I spoke about in the blog before this one. In the hurry of the day, I didn't get to complete the cucumber salad that was supposed to accompany the meal... ah well. If it's good (I think to myself) then I'll photograph the salad tomorrow. The chicken grills up beautifully, the jasmine rice is nice, the naan bread I had to shortcut and purchase, but still, not too bad, not too bad for a mid-week meal.

The table was set, the critics came to the table. My oh-so-sweet hubby tells Em and Ro: "We need to let Mommy know if the chicken is good so she can make it again, okay?"

This has been a long-standing request of mine for Rob... if it stinks, tell me so! If you don't say anything, I will never improve.

Em proclaims is very tasty and eats every bite! Rob, takes his time, really tasting the chicken and murmuring slight adjustments I could make. I quickly notice a lack of salt and know the blog with the recipe will not be going up as fast as I'd hoped.

The clincher came with Ro... we asked him what was his favorite thing on the plate... He looks at me, he looks at the plate. He looks at Rob, he looks at the plate. He chooses!

He chose the Naan bread... the bread I did not make! Back to the culinary drawing board to tweak the recipe to, hopefully be up next week.

The dinner wasn't so bad, but the after was much nicer. Footsies by the fire!

Happy Friday everyone!

For those wishing for Winter to withdraw

2011-02-03T07:05:00.000-08:00

Being a Southern California resident, I am not experiencing snowdrifts above my windows and temperatures in the 0's, 10's and 20's ... I hope these lovely pictures of the Huntington Gardens soothe those who would like to see a little sunshine in the sky. These were taken in early May last year.

Coming soon on CelticMommy:

A tutorial and pattern for a sewn stuffie -- it can be made with or without the help of a wee one (mine will be with 4 year old input!) and can also be made with soothing scented herbs and flowers inside.
Calming bath soaks-- did you participate in the poll on the top right of the blog?
Tasty indoor grilled chicken!

How to make Glass Tile Magnets

2011-02-01T11:49:00.000-08:00

Crafty fun and free tutorial.

How to make Glass Tile Magnets!

This craft is a great afternoon project to do with children or friends. You will need a bit of space and the tiles will need to stay put while drying, so I suggest setting up somewhere that can be left alone for awhile... otherwise your dining room table will not be used for dinner! :-)

Supplies needed:

This supply list is based on 1 inch glass tiles, however you are only limited by your imagination! These glass tiles come in various sizes and shapes like squares, ovals, circles, scrabble tiles, rectangles, etc.

Links to all supplies used are at the end of this tutorial.

1 inch artwork, printed on cardstock. I chose to have all my images printed at Kinko's for the better quality than I could print at home. New photographs could also be used.
Square paper punch or a steady hand, X-acto knife and self-healing mat
Weldbond glue
E6000 glue
Glass tiles
Magnets
Paper towels
Q-tips
Plastic wrap or parchment paper (to keep your work surface from getting dirty)

Directions:

Make sure your glass tiles are clean and free of nicks. Some glass tiles have two smooth sides, some have one side that is a bit rough. Make sure to use the rough side facing down if you have this kind.

Choose your artwork for a set of tile magnets... you can easily make a set of 10 magnets at a time if you choose to. You can find tons of pre-made artwork on Etsy, you can make your own, you can use photographs or kid artwork, etc. etc.

Cut each tile with the square paper punch or X-acto knife and place on parchment paper or plastic wrap, about 3 inches apart from each other.

Place a nickle-sized amount of the Weldbond glue on the front of the image.

Holding the side of the tile, smoosh the glass tile onto the image, the glue will seep out the sides and that's fine-- we'll be cleaning that up later. Be sure to look for air bubbles and gently press them out otherwise you will see them when the tiles are dry as you see in this next photo.

Repeat process until all glass tiles have been put onto images.

Go have a snack! It's best to wait about 4 hours for the next step. You can leave the tiles for up to about 12 hours if necessary.

Lightly peel the tiles off of your plastic or parchment. The glue that has oozed out of the sides will be slightly set and starting to clear... this is the perfect time to cut the excess off and clean up the edges.

With your X-acto knife, lightly saw left to right to cut off the excess glue. If the glue has not set enough, the image may move when you do this, so go ssslllloooooowwwllllyyy until you are comfortable with this step.

Repeat on all sides and all tiles until you are happy. The tiles may still appear a bit cloudy and can take up to 24 hours to clear completely.

Apply a teeny bit of E6000 glue to the center of each tile, taking care not to get any glue on you. Set the magnet in the center and use Q-tips if needed to lightly press the magnet into place. Let dry for 4 hours.

Find your most precious photos and use the magnets!

Supply List: Where did I get ....?

For the glass tiles, the teeny, ultra powerful magnets and E6000 glue: Candy Tiles on Etsy

For the Weldbond glue, X-acto knife and the square paper punch: DickBlick Art Supplies
For the collage sheets, I purchased from:
Tragic Pixels
Aenota
Designs by Linda Nee
Magpie Mine (The Fruit/Vegetable Labels are from here!)

And last, but certainly not least, the "You are my Sunshine" card that I am utterly in love with in that last photo... the very talented Brandi from SweetHarvey made that! I had a few people email me about it, so I thought I should add her in as well. She's also a foodie and has a cute blog to boot!

I have more crafts to showcase using glass tiles, but this should get everyone started.
:-) Happy Crafting!

Tutorial Coming Tomorrow

2011-01-31T12:34:00.000-08:00

Tile Magnets! A fun and addictive craft for ages 6 to 106!

I have been going glass tile magnet crazy this weekend reworking the tutorial that I taught last fall at Camp GetAway. The tutorial along with links to all the supplies I used will be up tomorrow... so just a few teaser photos for today to get you ready.

Happy Monday!

Weekending

2011-01-29T09:13:00.000-08:00

Saturday and Sunday with the hubby, Em and Ro... nothing big planned happily.

A little menu planning for the week.

A little goofing off.

Some yarn winding with my new swift. (!!! yay !!!)

A bike ride and afternoon picnic.

I hope your weekend is wonderfully uneventful as well!

Have yarn-- Will crochet

2011-01-27T17:45:00.000-08:00

He holds the skeins of yarn in his hands gently... looking at the beautiful blues with a little grin on his face. He knows these skeins are earmarked for him and this fact excites him... he keeps jumping up and down with them as if they were a new set of Hot Wheels cars.

I plug in my yarn parameters and project preferences on Ravelry and let him sit down at the desk to begin the selection process. This wee one who rarely uses a computer happily looks through several patterns ... he goes back and forth with little comments about buttons and zippers and pockets and hoods. Many minutes go by. Many questions are asked and answered. Finally, he points:

"This one Mamma... make me this one, can you? Please? I like it the BEST!" Ro declares with a chortle and a sweet babyface grin.

And so begins my very first sweater! I'll be using Spud & Chloë Sweater in Lake and Malabrigo Rios in Azules. You can see a bit of it just off to the right in the above photo. The pattern looks like it should be pretty straightforward - The Just Right Sweater. I'm off to finish dinner and wind some yarn. :-)

Contemplation and Camaraderie

2011-01-20T16:44:00.000-08:00

Awhile back I bought these 3 skeins of Malabrigo Silky Merino in gorgeous Cape Cod Gray... a beautiful neutral color I hoped to add to my wardrobe.

The very next day I spotted Annette Petavy's intricate looking but unfussy Violet Points Scarf and knew the two were meant to be together! I wanted to crochet the scarf with two skeins and make a nice matching pair of fingerless mitts or perhaps a hat with the remaining skein.

After the hustle and bustle of the holidays, kid vacations and house painting died down, I was able to start on the scarf. The pattern is quick to memorize and really very pretty. I'm excited about it... but... I've been crocheting this very pretty maybe shawl/maybe scarf for about a week now and I'm stuck in contemplation about it. At two skeins in, I'm thinking I will use this more as a shawl rather than a scarf. Unblocked, it is ten inches wide and 37 inches long. I know it will not get too much wider but I was really hoping for a bit more length. Ah the joys of yarn substitution.

So, I've been talking with two fellow crocheters on Ravelry about my dilemma and I thought I should mention them. I have never met either lady, but both have been so sweet to encourage my project and they have been leaving me sweet comments and private PM's about it. For those of you who do not use Ravelry, it is a free online website to connect with like-minded crafters-- mostly of the crocheting or knitting variety. Spinners, weavers, dyers and more are also on there.

The camaraderie I get from these people is quite wonderful to say the least. I'd say about 1/3 of my followers on this blog are from there! Supportive, opinionated and loving, these men and women find one another in all sorts of groups, like "Yarn Hoars", "At Home Moms", "Crochet Liberation Front" and more. If you have a love of Harry Potter or the color green... there's a group of people to share the love with!

Anyway, back to my scarf/shawl... I still am contemplating. Should I use the 3rd skein to add 9 inches on each side or should I just finish up the borders? I think I'm going to block it and see where it's at.

To be continued...

No scurvy in this house!

2011-01-18T16:40:00.000-08:00

I am standing on top of small step stool, picking perfectly ripened California Navel oranges... some for me, some for my Mom, some for my in-laws, some to barter with my neighbors, some for... you get the point. While on the step stool, I can peep over my neighbors fences and easily spot Meyer lemon, Tahitian lime, Clementine tangerine and Pummelo grapefruit trees... the joy of living in a post-WW2 era San Fernando Valley neighborhood! It's a beautiful, sunny mid-January day and I can't wait to get down from here and peel my first orange of the year from our own backyard!

In the photo above, the citrus all hails from backyards in "the Valley". They are all homegrown organic and vibrantly colored. Most of the oranges and tangerines will be devoured within the week. Almost all of those beautiful yellow lemons will be juiced tomorrow and used for drinking, cooking, baking and frozen for later use. I think tomorrow or Thursday will be perfect for BBQing Lemon Chicken Skewers and some tart little lime and cream cheese cookies! Wonderful doses of Vitamin C at the height of the cold and flu season.

Do you have an abundance of fruit or veggies from your local garden or backyard? What do you do with it?

On Perfection

2011-01-17T12:33:00.000-08:00

Monday Morning: 7:00 a.m.
Dirty dishes in the sink and on the counter as well
Laundry, dried yesterday, still in the dryer waiting to be folded
Books and toys shoved towards the walls (in case of midnight wanderings-- we don't want those footsies harmed!)

In the past month, I have had several friends and family say the following things to me:
"You're peerrrrrrfect, jeez! I can't compete with all this!"
"You are what I want to be like when I grow up-- you do it all!"
"Really now... when did you have time to make that! When do you sleep?!"
"You truly are a Martha Stewart Heather!"

The first time this happened, I laughed it off, but admittedly, inside I felt a little proud. The second time this happened, I protested that no, I'm not like that, not really perfect at all! The third time, I remember thinking "Are you kidding me?! The dirty laundry pile is toddler-high, I'm wearing the same pants I had on yesterday and it's now 1:30 in the afternoon and I've yet to brush my teeth!!"

So, here I am with my slightly TMI list of normalities to tell you that I am sooooo not perfect!

Now, some of my friends and family who have seen my messy home are probably rolling on the floor laughing in agreement about my imperfection, and that's fine. I know I do a lot of things... more than others but less than others also. I have good days and bad days just like everyone else... the pictures that I take to use on this blog don't show piles of laundry and sinks of dishes because, frankly, I don't want to post them. But they're there! Gobs of unfiled paperwork too.

I'm not perfect and I'm perfectly okay with that.

New Library

2011-01-15T15:36:00.000-08:00

Looking back at several posts, I've talked often about us being a very reading oriented family. I have always been a big reader, often reading novels in one sitting. I remember many many a bleary morning in high school having spent half of my supposed-to-be-sleeping hours cuddled up with Stephen King's latest tome. I remember my local public library and the elation when my mom would finally let me walk there by myself. I remember when my friend Sheri got a job at the local bookstore and pumping her for discounts and borrowing advanced copies of soon to be released fiction and non-fiction works.

When I moved out on my own for the first time, I packed too many books in each box and realized that stacks of books were heavy! And, where was I going to put my collection?

Years and years and bookshelves later, our library finally has an all-in-one-place home! I have culled the collection down to the must-haves, the cherished historical, the willed by family, the daily inspirers, the kiddo educational and crafty ... the subject list goes on, but you know what I mean.
Once my hubby attached the bookcases to the wall, I began the task of sorting and re-sorting. This was not easy primarily because I kept opening the books and wanting to read them rather than shelve them! I quickly realized that my sons' books would need to stay in their rooms as I was running out of space. By the end of several hours, I was mostly happy with the arrangement.

So, now the aftermath. The library has been in place for a week today and the family and I are deep into the lovey dovey honeymoon phase with it. Every day I re-find a new book to peruse. Em and Ro and even Rob have stopped to look and think and pull a book out.

"Mom, can we make this? I think I want to make this." Em says one afternoon while looking at a kids crafting book.

"Momma, I like this, who... where is this from?" Ro says after finding Rob's collection of comic strip books.

" " Silence from Rob as he picks up a historical photography book and stares at something intently.

"Where is that... ah...!" Me as I find exactly what I was looking for-- no longer having to search my old shelves in several locations around the house. Shelves that had books behind the books that were hard to get to and sadly rarely looked at.

Loving the new library!

Oh, and if you want to know what is where... my organized in my brain shelving system is noted over on Flickr.

Mushy gushy post for my hubby

2011-01-13T19:09:00.000-08:00

Rob with beanie and banjo

I have asked my hubby many times if there was anything he would like me to crochet for him... scarf, sweater, hat, anything! This sweetly easygoing man does not want much. "Just a beanie would be fine... fitting close to my head. Can you make that?"

So, I made him one. I used the Simple Skateboarder Beanie by Chie O'Briant with Noro Kureyon. He wore it! He wore it often. And then what happened? It wasn't accidentally washed and felted... at least that would still have been in the house... I lost it at Disneyland. Me, my fault. :-( Sad face.

So, when I realized this, I went to my yarn stash to find another hubby worthy yarn. I wanted a color uniquely him and also warm and soft. (Noro may be pretty but soft it ain't!) Enter the gorgeous Madelinetosh Tosh DK yarn in Charcoal. It's washable for one and hand dyed in small batches for the pretty semi solid look I was wanting.

Since the pattern by Chie was written for a thicker yarn, I had to modify the pattern just slightly (notes in my projects on Ravelry) to compensate. The end result you see above. I love it and I think Rob does too. Now, we just need our winters to be 30 degrees cooler so that I can make him a sweater!

Mmm Marshmallows

2011-01-03T16:36:00.000-08:00

At long last, here is the recipe for marshmallows!!! Finally!

I took the pictures of the steps for making marshmallows quite a bit ago and could not find them! This past week, I was determined to figure out where my OCD sorting brain thought they should go.

Here we go!

Ingredients:

3 packages gelatin, unflavored

1/2 cup cold water

2/3 cup light corn syrup

2 cups granulated sugar

1/4 cup water

1/4 tsp. sea salt

1 tablespoon vanilla (I used Penzey's Double Strength Vanilla Extract)

Additionally you will need:

PAM cooking spray

Saran Wrap

9x9 inch square pan

KitchenAid stand mixer with whisk

2 quart saucepan

Plastic spatula

Sharp sharp sharp knife

Cutting board

1 cup confectioners sugar -OR- Ghirardelli Sweet Ground Chocolate and Cocoa for coating marshmallows

Honestly, these are super simple to make but messy. But messy in a fun way. Make sure you understand the prep work before beginning to avoid frustration mid way through your candy-making.

Directions:

1- Coat square pan with PAM cooking spray and line pan on bottom and all four sides leaving plastic overhanging. Spray plastic again with PAM. Set aside.

2- In your stand mixing bowl, add 1/2 cup cold water. Add gelatin and set aside.

3- In saucepan, add corn syrup, sugar and 1/4 cup water. Stir to combine. Heat sugar mixture on medium until it comes to a boil. Do not stir! Turn heat to high and let boil for an additional minute. Turn off heat and add sea salt. Do not stir.

4- Turn stand mixer with whisk on medium. Being careful not to burn yourself, slowly add hot sugar mixture along the side of the bowl. Once combined, set mixer on high and mix 10 minutes.

5- Add vanilla along the side of the bowl and mix additional 3 minutes.

6- (OPTIONAL) If you want to color your marshmallows, add colorings now. Marshmallows will turn out pastel colored unless you add a ton of coloring, but this can also effect the texture of the marshmallow so I wouldn't recommend it. Additionally, you can substitute Vanilla for other flavorings such as lemon, orange, peppermint or chocolate extract. Use same 1 tablespoon measurement for peppermint or chocolate. Use 2 tsp. of lemon or orange extracts.

7- Spread marshmallows into prepared pan. Use spatula coated with PAM to scrape bowl.

8- Use plastic overhanging covered with PAM to cover marshmallows. If not completely covered, spray another sheet of Saran Wrap and cover (face down).

9- Let marshmallows set up for 2-3 hours or overnight.

10- When marshmallows have set, prepare to cut and coat them. Pour confectioners sugar or cocoa in a shallow bowl. Sprinkle more confectioners sugar or cocoa onto cutting board so marshmallows won't stick.

11- Take Saran Wrap off the top of marshmallows and sides. Invert as you would a cake and the marshmallow brick should pop right out. Take off the rest of the plastic wrapping. Sprinkle confectioners sugar or cocoa on top of marshmallow brick.

12- With a sharp knife, cut long strips of marshmallow. I usually do 3/4 to 1 inch strips. Cut these into squares, coat lightly with sugar or cocoa and set on a plate.

13- Continue until you are done! 3/4 inch squares will yield about 144 marshmallows give or take. 1 inch squares will yield about 81... that is, if they all make it to the plate!

Happy Candy making!

Welcome 2011

2011-01-01T14:56:00.000-08:00

Warm New Year's Greetings to Everyone!

We've been doing quite a bit of hibernating and pondering and practicing and cuddling and whatnot here in the CelticMommy family and have been mostly quiet online.

But preparations for good things are underway!

The 11's in 11 are coming for me and soon! Not "resolutions" per se, but goals for the year.

For now, quick pics of how we've been spending our time in Southern California.

We hope your January is off to a wonderful start!
Wow, January already!

Chocolate Peppermint Cookies

2010-12-19T21:29:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago, I stopped at Panera for the first time and I tried one of their Mint Crinkle cookies. Mmmm, chocolate with a hint of mint! This seemed like it would be a great addition to my cookie recipes so I decided to try to make one of my own. This recipe is my attempt at a smaller version of the cookie.

Chocolate Peppermint Cookies

Ingredients:

8 ounces of semisweet chocolate, chopped (I used Ghiradelli's semi-sweet baking bar)
1 cup unsalted butter at room temperature (I use Trader Joe's Organic)
2 1/2 tsp. Peppermint extract
2 cups all purpose flour (I use King Arthur)
1 cup Cocoa powder - now I have to go off on a tangent and say, that, in my own unpaid opinion, Penzey's Natural High Fat Cocoa is the best I have ever found. Dagoba's Organic Baking Cacao isn't bad either, but really... Penzey's rocks! Okay, tangent over.
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
4 eggs
3 cups granulated sugar
8 ounces chocolate chips or chocolate chunks

You will also need a double boiler (or a bowl to put over simmering water in a pot) and all the other usual baking supplies.

Directions:
Do not turn oven on yet.
Combine chopped chocolate and butter in double boiler and stir until melted. Add peppermint extract and stir to combine. Set aside.
In another bowl, combine flour, cocoa, salt and baking soda. Set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, combine eggs and sugar. Mix on medium-low until thoroughly combined.

Add in chocolate/butter/peppermint and mix until just combined.

Add half of flour/cocoa mixture until just combined. Scrape down sides of bowl and add remaining flour/cocoa.
Add in chocolate chips and combine. Let sit for a few minutes while oven heats.
Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
Prepare baking sheets with either parchment paper or Silpats.
The dough should be a bit firm. Make 1 inch round balls and place about 2-3 inches apart on cookie sheet.
For slightly chewy cookies, bake for 14 minutes, turning cookie sheets at halfway.
For crunchier cookies, bake for 16 minutes, turning cookie sheets at halfway.
Let cool on cookie sheet for 5-10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. This also gives the cookie sheet a chance to cool before the next batch.

Makes about 5 dozen cookies.
Happy Baking!

Thanksgiving and being thankful

2010-11-25T11:59:00.000-08:00

These past weeks have all been centered around what we are thankful for...

Foam leaves and trunk cut out by the boys and I and then glued to a simply painted poster.

Thinking of things to be thankful for brings up more things and still more. It is a wonderful cycle! :-)

Happy Thanksgiving!

Is it ready yet Mommy?

2010-11-13T08:13:00.000-08:00

My sweet wee one patiently watching and waiting for the Coffee Cake to be ready... his first big attempt in the kitchen, helping Mommy from sifting flour to setting the timer!

Lots of changes coming soon for CelticMommy!

Happy Weekend Everyone!

So long Tumbleweed Street

2010-10-09T08:37:00.000-07:00

When I was a kid, I remember my Gramma driving along Topham Street from our home in Encino allllllll the way to Topanga Plaza, the local mall. The 7 mile drive seemed like an adventure! Topham had small dips that made you sink and then bounce a bit in your seat if Gramma was driving fast enough-- and, it ran right alongside a railroad track. Sometimes you would actually see a train, but mostly I would look out the window at the different walls and fences of the backyards just past the tracks.

In the Fall, when the hot Santa Ana winds came, I would look out and watch the tumbleweeds tumbling along the barren railroad tracks and wonder where they ended up. Being in part of the desert known as Los Angeles, I had seen stray tumbleweeds turned into a "snowman" for someones front yard holiday decorations every so often, but where did the rest go? I always wondered about it.

As time marched on, my fascination with tumbleweeds diminished. The train that ran along Topham Street stopped. Years passed and I moved to another part of the city. I married, had munchkins, blah blah blah... and the railroad property has since been turned into a Metrolink bus line. My fascination cannot be taken up by my children since this stretch of land is now blacktop.

Fast forward 25+ years and I'm in the middle of suburbia with my curious boys in the back seat. Topham is a distant memory for me. Driving towards a play date, what do I see??

Tumbleweeds!

For those of you who are San Fernando Valley readers, this is Canoga Avenue, just South of Nordhoff where the same train tracks used to run. I pull over, whip out my camera and snap the above pic. My sons ask about it and we spend the next half hour talking about tumbleweeds and that there is a song about tumbleweeds and where do tumbleweeds grow and how do they tumble and on and on...

The same Metrolink link line is taking over this area. Soon. So, this will be the last time I can locally show my children the fun tumbling of the tumbleweeds. I never thought I would look forward to those Santa Ana winds, but I do this season just to relive a fun moment of my life with my boys.

The littlest tombstone

2010-10-08T12:16:00.000-07:00

I have thought often about writing this blog. I did not write about it when "it" happened but felt that, as part of our lives, it might be a good thing to talk about.

This summer, our sweet Petey, our 14 year old rescue dog, died quite quickly. We were shocked at how fast he went from being an energetic and happy dog, to the dog he was the day he passed... it was a matter of mere weeks and it left our family deeply saddened.

Our children are 6 and 4. The oldest "gets" what death and dying are to some degree. The youngest has a different but equally valid understanding.

So, a couple of weeks ago, when I began on the Beelzebub tombstone, Em, the oldest, asked if he could make a tombstone for Petey. He had a piece of wood and had an idea of what he wanted it to look like. At first, I thought it was a morbid thing-- none of our tombstones are about people or animals we know, so this would be a first. Then my son says to me, "It will be like when we visit Gramma E at her cemetery... I know she is not there either, but it is nice to visit, right Mommy?"

So we sat, side by side, me with my paintbrushes, him with his. And we painted and talked about Petey and about death. About Petey and squirrels. About Petey.

So, it is with a less sad heart that I show you the littlest tombstone that will grace our graveyard this year. It glows in the dark "because that way Petey can see we love him Momma and made this just for him."

I hope this does not upset anyone. I try very often to be positive and lighthearted here on CelticMommy. But this blog is also about our lives and I felt that writing about it would bring a bit of a smile through my tears, the love of my child for his first pet.

97 cent soda can lights!

2010-10-06T09:25:00.000-07:00

First off: I cannot take credit for this super cool project... my sweet hubby came up with this genius idea.

Okay, here is the tutorial for individually lighting up your tombstones or other creepy crawlies for Halloween!

You will need:

A cheap can of flat black spray paint. We purchased ours at Home Depot for $0.97! This covered about 36 soda cans.
Clear holiday lights, size C9... they are usually a set of 25 lights per strand placed 1 foot apart.
Clean soda cans, at least one per tombstone or whatever you want to highlight.
A utility knife
A unibit (this one is similar to ours) for your drill, we used a 3/16 to 7/8" to be able to get the socket of the lights to fit.

What to do:

Drill the circle out of the bottom of the soda cans
Cut the soda cans on the top with your utility knife, right where they are beginning to taper-- the edges will be sharp so lightly bend them inward if you wish.
Spray the soda cans with the flat black paint and wait 1-2 hours to dry completely.
Check that your strand of holiday lights works.
If the things you would like to highlight are already set up, take the lights and the soda cans out to your display and figure out proper spacing.
Do not plug in the light set yet.
Take the bulbs out of the sockets you will not be using and set aside.
Take the bulbs off the sockets you will be using. Place the soda can over the socket and replace the bulb. The size of the hole is such that the metal of the soda can will not touch any metal on the lights.
Position lights and test.
Wait for dark and enjoy the fruits of your labor! :-)

I would love to hear if you use this for your own Halloween setup! Please feel free to drop me a note with a link to your photos.

Only 25 days left until Halloween... do you know what you're going as??!?

Happy Crafting!

97 cents

2010-10-05T06:56:00.000-07:00

There is something, actually several somethings in this photo, that only cost us $0.97 to significantly change the look of our graveyard...

The tutorial for "it" will be up later today!

Saturday Night

2010-09-25T20:10:00.000-07:00

I am currently voiceless due to a silly cold and require an evening of not talking... since my hubby can't hear me anyway! Ha ha!

So, my Saturday night consists of wood, paint, brushes and flames.

A new tombstone in the making.

Happy Weekend All!

Countdown: 43 days 'til Halloween!

2010-09-18T13:21:00.000-07:00

Since I have recently received a few questions and requests about our Halloween preparations and plans, I thought I would give a few clues about the 2010 Cemetery.

My most wonderful hubby has been working on designs for a few new tombstones. Our graveyard, I feel is almost complete... almost! I think this year I will re-finish a few of the older tombstones as well. The theme has not yet been finalized, but I believe that the *ahem* current spider infestation, might play well into it.

Rob has been drawing, researching and creating tombstones for our newly deceased. I only hope I can do his ideas justice when it come to bringing them to life!

On the food front, arachnids will play their part! The hand-shaped turkey meatloaf may make another appearance this year... traditional loaf shaped recipe available as well! Spiders nests, an acromantula cake and a venom juice concoction perhaps?

That's about all I can say for now... I hear the pest control man at the front door.
Happy Weekend!

This is what happens when you blink...

2010-09-09T14:46:00.000-07:00

... in the blink of an eye, my early-to-arrive, youngest child woke up
he gave a specific opinion about his breakfast
he chose his outfit, brushed his teeth and put on his shoes
he grabbed his lunch sak and headed to the car
he put his seat belt on ("I can do it myself Mommy, I don't need help.") and waited patiently for his brother
he talked animatedly about his upcoming day
he got out of the car and held my hand without being asked
he let me snap 1 2 3 photos before running to his classroom
pre-Kindergarten!

He signed in with the help of Miss G, one of his teachers, and showed me his name.
We walked around the classroom. I was waiting for him to fuss about me leaving.
He kissed me and said "ByeMommyLoveYou" quickly before turning to play with a friend.

Wow.

Upon picking him up, I got a firm, tight hug and an "IMissedYouMommy,Hi!".
One day, probably sooner than I will be ready for it, he won't hug me so tightly.

How did the time fly? I mean really?

Beginning ripples

2010-09-08T09:10:00.000-07:00

This is a dilly of a project... Ro's ripple blanket! I love the things that Lucy of Attic24 makes and finally decided to make two ripples of my own for Em and Ro. Each blanket will fit their beds and I am hoping I have enough yarn!!

Fanfare and drumroll please for my "work in progress" photograph!

Yes, that's it... 5 rows! I am using Biscuits and Jam's super cool random stripe generator for the changing of the colors, crocheting 2 rows of each color. I have 7 colors of mostly blues for Ro and Em's will be mostly yellows.

This cool weather we are having in So. Cal has given me the urge to make warm bowls of Corn Chowder. I think I'll change the recipe up a bit as I am often prone to and if it comes out well, I'll post my modified version in the coming days.

Also coming up, I have a few new crafts for kids and adults alike. A glass tile pendant which I will be teaching at Camp GetAway next month and a set of magnets made from children's artwork.

More soon...

Fall is on the way

2010-09-03T15:01:00.000-07:00

Longer and longer the shadows become as we take our evening stroll. The boys' bicycle wheels, mostly silent on the pavement, greet us with the occasional crunch of a dry leaf as we go by. Golden green and red pears in the neighbor's yard and an almost cool breeze remind me as I walk that the seasons are finally about to change. I can almost smell the pear bread in the oven already!

It is time to take out the fireplace screen and clean it off. It is time to re-organize autumnal crafting supplies and get the garden ready for cooler months. It is almost time for Halloween and preparations are underway already.

I'm smiling! This is our favorite time of year!

Fall is on the way!

This moment

2010-08-31T15:25:00.000-07:00

I've been doing a lot of thinking and rearranging of things in my head. Crafting priorities have shifted and my workspace needed a shift too. For the one day it is immaculate, I took a photo to show you all!

My sewing machine is temporarily put away as I am focusing more on writing, photography and crocheting... well, those three mostly anyway. Here's a sneak peek. If you click on the photo, it will blow up larger.

This is my corner of the craft room at this moment.

Way in the back

2010-08-17T16:12:00.000-07:00

In the back of the garden by the corner of the shed,

he spotted a wee striped green ball and turned his head.

He ran running and yelling at the top of his lungs!

The fruit we've been waiting for had finally sprung!

I came with him quickly, little brother in tow.

We three bent down close to oooh and aah and say hello!

Grow grow wee watermelon, we've been hoping you'd show!

Crafting for the holidays

2010-08-16T18:38:00.000-07:00

Please don't shoot me or send mental hate darts my way when reading the title... I've actually been holiday crafting for the past month or so whenever I have a spare moment. I usually don't post completed items so that my family members are surprised, but I'm quite chuffed with this project.

Pattern and Yarn Info: This is a free pattern called the Elise Shawl by Evan Plevinski. The yarn is Madelinetosh Tosh Sock in the Lichen colorway. Can you say yummy? I LOVE this yarn!

Since I have set the ambitious goal of (current known queued items) 2 sweaters, 2 afghans, 2 shawls, wee sewn project bags, 2 hat/cowl sets and some handmade stamps and necklaces, I have to keep up the pace! Handmade holidays are a labor of love and completely worth it for me personally.

Is anyone else crafting yet?

Imagining

2010-08-14T06:51:00.000-07:00

A blue, kind of bowl-ish container... what can it be?

Mom look! I can spin myself dizzy! This is a spinning yourself silly ride Mom! SPIN SPIN SPIN!!!

I'm a turtle. This is my shell Momma, watch me!

Big giggles and goofy remarks about a blue-shelled turtle ensue!

I'm a robot! (makes beep bop boop noises)

Zooming around the lawn with special effects... his brother laughing and following closely behind.

Watch me! See! Look! Look what I can do!

We've had our Bilibo for forever it seems. A sorting container. A tunnel for trains. It is nothing and everything. It is whatever you want it to be.

I want it to be a fun and relaxing summer afternoon thing. And it's that too.

Happy Weekend.

It's been a bit of a week...

2010-08-05T08:18:00.000-07:00

I know it's been quiet here, but I thought I'd pop in with a few photos. We have been having a great crafty, skills learning, library-going, mud-making, music listening summer. A few things from the past week include...

Crocheting

Legoing

Candy-making

I hope to get this marshmallow recipe up this weekend. I've been prepping for Camp GetAway and the fabulous s'mores making that goes on while on a relaxing retreat such as theirs. These marshmallows and a soon-to-be-posted graham cracker recipe are helping me to prepare to get away at camp! :-) My kids LOVE this kind of baking and candy-making "research" and are always there to lend a helping hand!

Lemon Jells

2010-07-16T13:14:00.000-07:00

I was finalizing a care package for a friend of mine and wanted to add some lemon flavored candies in the package. These tasty jells were just the ticket, though I won't be making these again in the middle of a heat wave! With a sweet inside and an optional puckery outside... you could probably also make them with limes or grapefruits if you chose.

Lemon Jells (makes 64-81 jells)

You will need:

A candy thermometer

A heavy, non-reactive, 2 quart saucepan

8 or 9 inch square baking pan

Ingredients:

4 envelopes unflavored gelatin
2 cups of granulated sugar
1 cup of superfine sugar (for coating)
Up to 1 tablespoon citric acid (optional for puckery coating)
1 cup cold water
3/4 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice
1 teaspoon fresh grated lemon rind (or 1/4 tsp. Penzey's powdered lemon peel)
Optional 1-2 drops yellow food coloring

Directions:

Spray baking pan with non-stick cooking spray. Set aside.
Put 1/2 cup of the cold water into a bowl. Add gelatin to soften. Do not stir. Set aside.
In saucepan, add remaining water and 2 cups granulated sugar. Set on medium-high heat to dissolve sugar, stirring often. When it comes to a boil, set candy thermometer on side of pan. Do not stir!
Let sugar mixture cook until it reaches the hard ball, 260 degree setting on the thermometer. Remove from heat.
Add gelatin. Mixture will foam up. Stir until combined (about 30 seconds). Add in food coloring if using and lemon juice and rind. Stir until combined.
Pour mixture into square baking pan.
Leave pan on the counter for 3-4 hours until the jell is set. Do not refrigerate.
Combine superfine sugar and citric acid if using in a small cereal bowl. Lightly sprinkle jell square so it is easier to handle. Gently flip pan and remove jell with a flexible spatula. It should plop right onto your cutting board.
Cut jells into 8 or 9 1 inch columns (depending on your pan) and cut those into 8 or 9 pieces each.
Now comes the messy and fun part. Coat each jell with the sugar/citric acid mixture. Your hands will get sticky.
Place pieces in a container with a bit of sugar in the bottom. If stacking, add wax paper in between each layer and add a bit more sugar to the bottom of the new layer. If your area is hot or humid, the sugar/citric acid will soak into the jells and might need to be reapplied if you prefer.

Enjoy! Oh, and here is a reaction from Em... despite the massive puckery faces he made, he kept coming back for more! Have a great weekend everyone!

La Brea Tar Pits Exploration!

2010-07-06T20:17:00.000-07:00

Em and Ro at the top of the hill at the Page Museum - La Brea Tar Pits

The joy of the summer school break is the ability to take the boys on day excursions in the middle of the week. Another great joy for families on a budget are free days at said day excursions! Free first Tuesdays at the Page Museum - La Brea Tar Pits are awesome and are not just about the museum! About 2/3 of our visit was spent outdoors rolling down the hills (the museum is kinda pyramid shaped with grassy angled sides) and taking in the views of the city. A picnic lunch, a resting moment in the shade of the trees and that's your day.

Of course, going inside the museum to learn about one of the world's largest active fossil research sites is fun too. Skeletons of long extinct dinosaurs, sloths, saber-tooth tigers... and wee things too such as shells, plants, bugs can be viewed. One of our favorite stops is always "the fish bowl" where you can watch scientists at work. The meticulous patience of these men and women is very fun to watch!

Ro and Em wandering down the hill to sit under the shady trees for a bit.

Of course, all days must come to an end and we decided to leave before the insanity of L.A. traffic truly hit. We'll be going back again soon... at least once more before school starts.

Homemade pickles

2010-07-03T16:36:00.000-07:00

With our garden producing pickling cucumbers at a rate of 2-3 per day, I had to come up with a way to keep them! This fast recipe does not require any special canning supplies and will make one full pint (or two half pints as seen above) of pickles that will keep in the refrigerator for about a month.

Ingredients and Supplies

1 clean pint, or 2 clean half pint Ball or Kerr jars... or a very very clean glass salsa or spaghetti sauce jar will work.
Fresh pickling cucumbers, washed, about 5 or 6
1 cup of granulated sugar
1 medium onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, smashed
1 teaspoon dried dill or several sprigs of fresh dill
2 teaspoons kosher salt
2 teaspoons pickling spice (I use Penzey's)
1 1/4 cups white vinegar

Directions

Slice cucumbers about 1/4" thick, set aside
Combine sugar, onion, garlic, dill, salt, picking spice and vinegar. Make sure sugar is dissolved.
Put cucumbers in jar (jars) packing lightly
Fill jar with vinegar mixture to top. If you are splitting into two half pint jars, you might need about 2-4 tablespoons of water
Cap tightly and place in refrigerator

The pickles will be ready pretty quickly... about 2-3 days. I have already gone through one jar and put new cucumber slices in the vinegar mix. The pickles are sweetly tangy and still give some crunch. Yum!

Enjoy!

On the hook

2010-07-02T21:37:00.000-07:00

Just a quick update on a beautiful scarf/cowl giftie I have been working on. The pattern is called Seduction from Chicken Betty (a.k.a. Sara @WEBS Yarnstore) and is easy to memorize. Well... it was easy once I had the 10 minutes it took to concentrate on memorizing the pattern (as in, being a mommy means 10 minutes uninterrupted = a miracle), the project has been able to move along swiftly!

This yarn is so scrumptious! I am using Manos del Uruguay Silk Blend in white that I bought from the one and only decent yarn shop within 15 miles of my house! I haven't decided on the trim color yet, so you'll have to be surprised by that when I show off the final product.

Happy Crocheting everyone!

California Science Center Fun

2010-07-01T07:38:00.000-07:00

Up up up the escalator with NaNa!

The boys and I went with NaNa to the California Science Center yesterday... the first of many trips this summer to be sure! One of my favorite things about the science center are many the hands-on exhibits that are perfectly suited for kids and their curious nature! Starting when I was a child and now in adulthood, I have found that learning by doing and experiencing rather than watching and listening works very well for me. This type of approach seems to work for Em and Ro as well.

Ro checking out the structural integrity of his building at the California Science Center.
Apparently, this creation would not withstand an earthquake!

After learning about ways to help the environment, we moved on to the structures section to build archways using keystones and wooden frames. We checked out soil compositions and how liquefaction can be activated in an earthquake. We learned about common types of fault lines (remember, this is Southern California) and plate tectonics... all slightly above the head of my 4 year old. But, the mini shake table was what truly helped Ro grasp all the previous exhibit sections. I think we stayed at this table for about 45 minutes! Em and Ro built and rebuilt structures (using the pieces you see above in the photos) to see which construction of the structure would hold out the longest in an earthquake. Each time the structures fell, the looked at it as an opportunity to try again and figure out what worked the best.

There are many other sections to the California Science Center that we visited, but this section was where we spent the bulk of our time. And since, the science center is free, we prefer to hunker down in one or two areas rather than try to mad dash our way through everything. On our next visit in a week or two, we plan to spend the day in the recently opened Ecosystems gallery.

Turkey Meatloaf

2010-06-30T08:57:00.000-07:00

Nummy Nummy Turkey Meatloaf!

We switched over to ground turkey as a staple over ground beef quite some time ago. I have continued to tinker with my meatloaf recipe and think it's juuuust about right for us now. The lower temperature and longer baking time keep the meat nice and moist. I hope you enjoy it!

Ingredients

1 package Ground Turkey, about 1.5 lbs.

1 large egg, lightly beaten

1/2 cup seasoned breadcrumbs

1/4 cup milk

2-3 tablespoons sun dried tomatoes in olive oil, minced fine

1 1/2 teaspoons dried basil, or 2 tablespoons fresh, chopped fine

1 1/2 teaspoons dried parsley, or 2 tablespoons fresh, chopped fine

1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

1 small onion, chopped

2-3 garlic cloves, minced

1 tablespoon butter

1 tablespoon olive oil

1/2 cup ketchup to top meatloaf if preferred (Trader Joe's organic ketchup rocks and it keeps the top from drying out.)

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Coat 4x12 inch loaf pan with non-stick spray. If you do not have this size pan, a regular loaf pan will work, just increase oven baking time as listed.
Combine first 9 ingredients in a medium bowl and set aside.
To a warm skillet, add olive oil and butter. Brown onions and garlic until soft.
Add onion/garlic mixture to turkey mixture. Combine and place in the loaf pan, patting into all corners.
Cover with ketchup if preferred.
Bake for 65 minutes. For the smaller pan, bake for 80 minutes.
Take out and let site for 5 minutes before slicing.

If you make this, I'd love to hear what you thought of the recipe!

Enjoy. :-)

Crafting and Crocheting

2010-06-29T18:54:00.000-07:00

I know I haven't been posting much, but a lot of blogs are in the works and nearly done! The end of the school year and preparations for summer activities have kept the CelticMommy family rather busy!

First, I bring you a few quick photos and, tomorrow morning, a recipe for some tasty turkey meatloaf. But tonight, pretty pictures! The boys have been having fun crafting. I swear, customizing shirts with freezer paper stencils never gets old! Here are Em and Ro's latest creations. This summer, we plan to cover a few other shirts with fabric cut-outs. I'll make a quick tutorial for that soon.

On the crocheting front, I've finished a bunch of hats and mitts for Stitches from the Heart.

Combined with my fellow knitters and crocheters, these items are being taken to Stitches in Santa Monica on Thursday and will hopefully adorn a preemie or newborn child's head soon after! There are oodles of free knitted and crocheted patterns out there if you would like to donate some stitches from your heart.

Favorite free hat pattern #1.

Favorite free hat pattern #2.

Favorite free mitts pattern.

Last photo of the day is a new bathmat for Em and Ro's bathroom. I used the crumpled griddle stitch pattern for the center from The Ultimate Sourcebook of Knitting and Crochet Stitches and a simple SC border. By crocheting with two strands of cotton, the bathmat went super quick and it is plush enough to soak up the water. Oh, and it's machine washable! BONUS!

Tomorrow's blog with be about turkey meatloaf. Yummy! 'Nite all!

Anticipation

2010-06-26T14:01:00.000-07:00

*With thanks to my children who waited to eat the cantaloupe so mommy could take another photo!*

One of my earliest and fondest memories from my childhood is of sitting on a bench in my apartment building. My great gramma had handed me a slice of cantaloupe with the rind on. I think it took me at least fifteen minutes to eat it.

By the time I was done, my face was covered in sweet cantaloupe juice... even my bangs and braids were sticky! My shirt was a mess and my whole upper body needed to be washed pretty much... which was a bonus as that meant it was now pool time. I think, because of this memory, I have always loved and always will love cantaloupe over honeydew and watermelon.

Flash forward to now, to my own children who also love all melon types. It just dawned on me about 15 minutes ago that they have never had melon with the rind on it... eaten the way I did. I look out into my garden at the spreading watermelon plants and it makes me smile to think that, one day in the not-too-distant future, I will be able to offer them our own, homegrown melon.

I will plunk them outside on a lawn chair with a juicy slice.
I will smile and watch them eat their melon alllll the way down to the very very end.
I will laugh as I turn the sprinklers on to wash the juice from their faces!

-- to be continued --

Summer Begins

2010-06-15T11:18:00.000-07:00

Reorganizing the craft supplies for water coloring and other seasonal summer activities. Baskets of books for Em and Ro scattered in every bright spot.

Where did those water balloons go? Finding a new box of sidewalk chalk... pitchers of ice water at-the-ready. Cucumbers on the vine and watermelons on the way! How many berries on the bush, how many tomatoes are juuuust about there?! Let's check! Let's look Momma... I see one to pick... can we pick it?

School and homeschool are almost to an end... summer is beginning!

By Leaps and Bounds!

2010-06-01T13:45:00.001-07:00

At first, you think it is going to be an ordinary week...

Then, a first tooth loss for Em and a note to the tooth fairy asking to keep the tooth! Asking about how she knows he lost the tooth. Asking do I have any of my old teeth. Asking... asking... asking...

A revelation for Ro that he has my ears and Daddy's toes. Peering in the mirror he wonders about those gorgeous eyes of his (they are my birthmothers' eyes) and why he has dots (freckles) on his skin... are they Mommy's dots or Daddy's? And what about...

Okay, a big Monday of discovery!

Today I am greeted with facts about our garden, "Momma, the cewmumbers are growing from the flowers... do you see!?"

And a reading four year old.

And a making-connections six year old. "Mom, when you married Daddy, you didn't have the same name right? You had a different name... that is how families grow you know. What was NaNa's old name?"
-and- "Mom, you have to balance the plane so that it won't tip over. See how the two sides are almost the same... it stays up that way."

Some days are just wonderful days. Others a growth by leaps and bounds!
I try not to blink and miss it.

P.S. Just as I am about to hit publish, in they walk with a bug specimen... "I want to take it to school! What do I feed it?"

The Window Bag

2010-05-23T11:08:00.000-07:00

Woo Hoo!! The bag I first started working on on our Sequoia trip last year is finally done!

The pattern was fast and easy and perfect for the many hours drive up and back to Sequoia. Felting came and went lickety split... but, I got stuck on finding the right material for the blanket stitching that goes around the handles and the windows (those cute circles)!

Then, I kept hedging on actually sewing in the fabric... this pretty pretty stuff from Superbuzzy that I couldn't bring myself to cut into.

This past week, I was preparing for another bag project and realized this UFO needed to be finished. About 1/2 an hour later, it was done! Yay!!!

I have already started and finished another project out of this book that I need to blog about, but here is the info on this one.

Pattern Info: The Window Bag by Julie Armstrong Holetz in the book Uncommon Crochet
Yarn Info: Cascade 220 in Irelande, available at The Loopy Ewe

Mother's Day in the mountains

2010-05-19T08:17:00.001-07:00

Crisp clean air and a dusting of snow

A mug of hot chocolate by my side

Crocheting by the fireplace with socked feet tucked under

Children running through the lodge with boundless energy

Husband photographing the beauty of the evening

Mother's Day in the Mountains