an appetite for pastry encrusted meat items

So. It's winter and the birthdays have passed. It must be time to break out the meat pies.

Ok, so maybe it's not a yearly tradition yet, but I'm deciding that it should be. I've made the steak pie from Apples for Jam twice now. I love that pie and plan to make it again this winter. But I've also really been admiring and wanting to try Granny Lawson's Lunch Dish for several years now. It's from Nigella Bites. Recently, I saw the recipe again whilst flipping through the book and decided this must be the year to try it, so finally made it this weekend. I thought it was delicious--a little different, with the hard boiled egg and sliced olives in there, but delicious.


I served it with a crisp green salad and some fruit.



I'm not ashamed to say (ok, maybe just a little embarrassed), that the very next night we had these little pigs in blankets (also from Nigella Bites). See? It must be a meat-in-pastry theme (actually, these also fit my snacks for dinner theme, another favorite). This was pretty random in its planning. I found a little package of mini-hot dogs at Trader Joe's and remembered this recipe from the book and just wanted to make them. They were delicious dipped in mustard.

Any other meat pie fans out there? I think we are a dying breed.

(More meat pies here).

an easy pillow tutorial

For those of you who were asking, I posted a little tutorial on flickr'. It was fun to do. I hope it is clear! Please feel free to ask questions as needed. The instructions are really basic. Probably the best way to learn this sort of thing is just to jump in, expect some trial and error, and remember to "keep it wonky."

To access the tutorial click here, then use the navigation ("next") button on the upper right hand corner above the photo to navigate through the steps.

I love these simple home projects. It's amazing to me how content I feel while sewing in my studio. Time and again I'm stricken by how much happier a thing it is to create rather than consume. That is a key to happiness, I think.

Faith commented a few days ago that she used to feel physically sick when the Pottery Barn Teen catalog would arrive -- she wanted everything and she knew she couldn't have it. I can certainly relate to that feeling as well--in the past. Now we've both found that we are so much happier putting together an original life, with our home sewn and thrifted stuff. It's been such a happy journey to this place.



This bird pillow joins the other pillows I made last week. As it turns out, I stopped by Joann again on Friday on my way home from work and the pillow forms were still on their 50% off sale. Hooray! I bought three more, so I still have two to make covers for. Then I will have officially checked off one task on my "must do" list.

ben's 18th birthday

We celebrated Ben's birthday over the weekend. He turned 18! Oh, how the years have flown. He was 7 when I met him. Now he is a wonderfully successful high school senior.



He chose his favorite meal: sausage linguine, salad and garlic bread. I love that he chooses the same meal almost every year. I find that very endearing.




(Not a birthday gift, but Ben opened his on his birthday. All the children received Ugg slippers from Make a Wish foundation--and they are loving them!)




Happy Birthday Ben! May 18 be a wonderful and exciting year!

a january stack

Around the turn of the new year, I had the idea to assemble a stack of books that I want to explore and re-visit in 2011.

I've been a little slow to follow through with it, but finally I made my selections.

These are not my new books I got for Christmas. These are books from my existing collection that I've been meaning to either re-visit or delve into further for inspiration, projects, and recipes. I like having a finite stack that I know I want to be working with for awhile. Having a focus like this helps me so much.



Here are my selections--

The Happiness Project--I loved this book so much when I read it a year ago. I was conscious at the time of rushing through it quickly because it was so compelling to me I just couldn't put it down. But there is so much stuff to think about in there, I knew I wanted to re-read it soon and really take it in more. I'm especially interested in revisiting her chapter on "Energy" because that is an area I want to delve into in my own life.

Heaven on Earth--this is my favorite parenting book. The author is so very gentle and reassuring. She promotes simplicity, rhythm, imagination, and observation of the seasons. Even though we are not a Waldorf family in any official kind of way, I'm very drawn to Waldorf and find this guide so helpful in inspiring my parenting.

Earthways--I wanted a "through the year" type project book in my stack. I chose this one because again, the tone is so gentle and comforting, and the projects are very doable and down to earth. I'm remembering just lately how quickly the early childhood years flew by with Jacob and Faith, and so I'm especially wanting to embrace these years with Dieter and Rainer. Doing these little projects with them is a way to enjoy this fleeting time.

Appetite--I've owned this book for a number of years but have only made a few recipes. I love to be inspired by the text and pictures, though, so moved it to the stack. I want to enjoy trying at least one or two more recipes in here and feel like I've really delved into the book, even if just a bit more. The tone is seasonal, practical, down to earth, and with lots of variations.

Feast--I'm a huge Nigella fan, and Feast is one of my favorites. I love the way she considers the word "feast" in all its variations. My favorite chapters? "Kiddie Feast" of course and "Breakfast" and "Kitchen Feast". I just tried the split pea soup from her New Year's chapter and it was wonderful. I've used this book in the past a fair amount but want to delve a little deeper this year, because there's a lot in there that intrigues me.

What new or old books are inspiring you right now?

cooking with faith

Faith was looking through my new cookbook, Time for Dinner, and saw the vegetable fritters. She asked if she could make them. Of course I said yes! I love her to cook. I feel she's building skills for when she goes out into the real world. She and I both love the book. It's so reader friendly, visually appealing, and very down to earth for working families. I'll do a thorough review later. It was fun working side by side with Faith. I made a warm salad while she worked on these.



I'm not sure what constitutes a real fritter. These are just veggies, chopped fine and sauteed, and added to pancake batter. Sounds weird, but I loved them. No one else seemed as thrilled as I was, but whatever. I like the variety.



This salad is totally delicious. Recipe here, found via Marvelous Kiddo. Do try it--it's fantastic and fun to make. (I see now I forgot to add the onions to this second batch, but it was delicious nonetheless).



Ken and I had picked up a few fried chicken pieces from the local market on the way home from our hike that night, so added that to the meal. Everything was delicious.

I've been thinking about how cooking at home and letting our children develop a taste for homemade food is one of the best things we can do in raising them--for their future health and economy both. I don't know if we're doing such a great job at that (we have our take out and pizza nights for sure), but at least we do a meal like this four nights a week, which is pretty good. I do what I can.

new pillows!

On Saturday during my studio time, I made two new pillows for the couch. I started with new pillow forms (they were 50% off, quite coincidentally, when I stopped at Joann on my way home from work Friday). The old Ikea pillows I've recovered in the past are just so bunchy and old now and they constantly leak feathers. I wanted to start fresh.

I had quite fun making the covers for these. Most often, a simple project is the most enjoyable for me. You may be wondering, "what's with all the the white, Mary Beth?" I know! I didn't overthink it. I just wanted to use existing Ikea prints from my stash. The real point of these is that I want to cover them simply and change them out often, as needed. So for now they're white. Later, they'll be bright most likely.



I love the back of the large pillow. I used green buttons from my gigantic collection of vintage and thrifted buttons.



I wrote notes for both pillows in my little sewing notebook. When it's time to make new covers I'll be reminded of exactly what I did (and what to change next time).

More studio views:


I worked with the door open. It was quite warm this weekend. It was actually quite lovely, not too hot.





Back to work in the morning. Oh, how I long for another 3 day weekend! Luckily, there are two coming up next month. Hooray!

a winter hike

Ken and I went on a hike today--just us. I decided that we really should take advantage of having a built-in babysitter in the house (Faith) before she goes off to college, and also I've been thinking about how hiking together is something we used to do and now we never do and how wonderful a date hiking is. I love the combination of movement, beauty, and conversation with Ken. It was really fun.









I really enjoyed seeing more greenery, mosses, and ferns than we would normally see. Usually it is so dry here, but we had a lot of much needed rain over the winter break and the ground was still quite moist from it.

The whole day was really quite wonderful--studio time in the morning, followed by a hike with my love, coffee out, and then making dinner with Faith, which was quite companionable (and delicious). Then the boys and I played gnome house and farm. Dieter hadn't played with the farm for ages, so I was really happy when he asked me to get it down for him. And later tonight we're watching Project Runway on DVD. I love that show. Plus, the boys had a wonderful time staying with Faith while we hiked. They made cookies, which we'll have tonight when we watch Project Runway. Hooray for Saturdays!

2011 must-do

{inspiration board at work}*

Hello 2011! I feel like I'm catching my breath (20 days in) and finally am ready to start thinking about my goals and direction for the year. Not that I have any new year's resolutions yet (when I do, they will all be aimed at gaining more energy. I think if I have more energy lots of other things will fall into place naturally). But I did start a list over the weekend of "must do" projects for this year. I was inspired when I was looking through my copy of Nigella Bites (to get her basic mashed potato formula) and noticed a recipe in there that I have always wanted to make and have never gotten around to. I immediately decided to make the recipe this year for sure and I was encouraged to make a list of other things I am always meaning to do and constantly put off.

Here's my list so far:

Must Do in 2011 List

:: make "Granny Lawson's Lunch Dish" from Nigella Bites and serve it with a crisp salad
:: find a homemade salad dressing we all like
:: print on fabric (using this book)
:: make new throw pillows for the living room!!! (The old ones need to be replaced badly).
:: mail in the Nikon D-40 for repair one final time (and this time if it breaks again, I just give up. I'll start saving for a Cannon).
:: go camping! (If Ken and the boys agree).

What's on your "must do" list for 2011?

*I decided to keep a little inspiration board on my window in my office at work. It adds so much beauty. I plan to change it out each month.

Editing to add: my banner/header has gone missing. I think Blogger is having "issues." I'll try to fix it tomorrow . . .

comforter cover--finally done!

Remember this little pile of fabric? It's from all the way back in September.



The boys helped me lay out the squares in a random design.

I sewed some of the rows and then it sat for several months, half done.



And now it is done! It felt great to slip the comforter into it and see it puff up. These are a selection of Ikea nature prints mixed with thrifted sheets and fabrics from my stash.



The back is entirely this thrifted sheet.

So glad this is finished! It really brightens up the bedroom.

a studio monday

{find a beautiful place and get lost}

It was wonderful having a studio day on Monday. I love to have the opportunity to get in there, clean up, putter around a bit (checking my craft books for inspiration, finding a pattern I finally want to get to, sorting through fabric) and finally settle down to some sewing. Hooray! It's a favorite way to spend time. I find it so grounding and yet exciting.

{Lotta Jansdotter books; inspiring stack of new fabric}

One of my goals for the new year is to finally get into my printing-on-fabric book and try at least one project. That will probably be a summer goal. I also have a stack of new fabrics I treated myself to for the new year. I'm loving just gazing at them at this point.

{inspiration board}

I updated the inspiration board just a bit. I erased the old list and put up a new "crafting wish list." These are not strict "to do's" but rather a list of things that have been percolating in my head. I'm finding it really useful to keep this posted where I can see it whenever I enter the studio.

{new print: abby try again}

I've been having tons of fun framing new prints for the studio. I'm in love with cheap black frames from Michael's. Everything looks good in one.

{photo of me and Faith in Maine--by Erin of Bluebirdbaby}

I made a quick bag one night of the break and appliqued on a scrap of Lotta Jansdotter fabric. Such a quick and satisfying project. I love making bags. There's a different of Lotta's print on the back.

{abby try again}

I decided to get the new Abby Try Again calendar. I found that the old one lives on as tear sheets for inspiration boards. I'm getting tons of use out of it. I even framed the sheet from February 2010.

{studio view with current project}

{books in my studio}

{more framed prints}

Tomorrow I'll post my finished project. Have a great day!

long weekend

{quinoa muffins on my new plate}

We had such a nice 3-day weekend. I felt much more myself. I made muffins for the first time in months, I think. It was glorious to have 3 days with not much planned. I really needed that. I'm not sure what the deal is, but my sensibilities must be really delicate. All the busyness of the holidays followed by the birthdays and going back to work left me tired. It feels like I should be hardier than that, but whatever. This weekend did me good.

{even the boys liked them}

About the quinoa muffins. I was inspired to make these when Angry Chicken posted the link. It's from an old Everyday Food magazine so I found my copy and tried it. This is my new favorite healthy muffin. They are dense and quinoa-y, but also sweet enough for the boys to eat. I added the pumpkin pie spice, as suggested by Amy, and also used frozen cranberries instead of raisins. I have a few tucked away into the freezer for quick before work breakfasts, and I am very happy about that.

{making scarves for the gnomes}

I had time to do some knitting on Saturday morning as well (I should post how my sweater is coming along--it's so exciting), and Dieter decided to finger knit scarves for the gnomes. He's only gotten to the first one so far, but how cute.

Jacob, when he was here over Christmas, showed me how to link to my flickr' photostream when I post to my blog. So now if you click on my photos it will take you directly to my flickr' page. I had always wanted to be able to do that. But unfortunately I don't know how to do it without Blogger cutting off the righthand side of the photo. So if you want to see the whole thing, click through. Hopefully I'll get it figured out at some date in the future.

ken's birthday

{birthday banner}

The January birthdays are coming fast and furious now. Tonight we celebrated Ken's birthday. The boys and I spent the day getting ready. We finally changed the banner to read "happy birthday." We had the "happy" part already but needed to paint and cut more letters to read "birthday." I'm really glad to have this because we'll use it over and over.

{kid art}

The boys both made paintings for Ken. I should have photographed these earlier in the day, in the light, but aren't these awesome? I'm so in love with Rainer's abstract paintings on the left. Something about them is really speaking to me right now. So, in addition to painting, we made a cheese ball, French Silk pie (Ken's request), and later I put together a dinner of steak, caramelized onions, mashed potatoes, and spinach souffle. All very yummy. He liked it. I enjoyed making the meal and having a small birthday with just us.

{cheeseball--something about this is so very comforting}

{the boys like to use two crackers, thus making a cheeseball sandwich}

{French Silk pie}

Happy birthday Ken! I love you!