Baby Food, Baby!

I have begun making the Wee Baby O’s baby food. Now that she’s six months old and eating solids, I decided to give it a shot. Turns out, it’s fast, it’s easy, it’s inexpensive, and I know exactly what’s in it. I started with a butternut squash. I roasted it, scraped it out, added just a tiny bit of filtered water to thin it out, mashed it and put it in ice cube trays.

Once frozen, I popped it out and put it in baggies, and Viola! homemade baby food. I have also made her some baked sweet potatoes and steamed carrots.

She seems to love it…

...and now I am wondering what to move on to next. Not sure what comes after orange vegetables…

This is Halloween

I had big plans. I was going to make the Wee Baby O her first Halloween costume! I bought a simple pattern (and I mean simple) and some inexpensive fabric, and I developed a plan. And then time slipped away from me ... I knitted her a hat. I knitted her some mittens. I didn't make her a costume.

And then Brett says, "You know, Halloween is Monday." And I went, OH NO. But, I thought, "No Problem! This is a simple pattern. I can make it in a couple of hours."

So I cut it out. All 4 pieces. (I told you - simple.) I sewed it together, including the zipper. It was looking weird, but I thought it would straighten itself out once I started on the finishing. And then I realized: I was sewing it upside down. I put the sleeves on the legs. The zipper was from the bottom up. What a mess! And not a seam ripper in site. Gah.

So I put it aside. I made the costume head. I didn't have a pattern for it, I just cut out some pieces and sewed them together. It turned out just fine. In the meantime, I procured a seam ripper (thanks, Mom!), and made a tutu.

Took the costume apart. Re-sewed it, reinforcing the zipper this time because I had sewn it correctly, after all. But ... it wasn't going together like it should. What the heck? Turns out, I had sewed the wrong pieces together and put the zipper in the wrong place. At least it wasn't upside down. Halloween was the next day. I decided I was done. Lost cause. Couldn't bring myself to do it one more time. A hippo in a tutu was not in our future.

So she wore a monster romper that was not intended to be a costume. Cute, isn't she? Next year, I will not be in such a hurry. I will allow myself more than a couple of days to make the costume. All will be fine, I am sure!

Next project: Make a Christmas dress. Surely it will go better ... Right??



Windy auditions for the role of O's understudy, wearing her monster hat in the car seat.

Shoo Vampire!

It's cold and rainy and almost Halloween ... and for his birthday Brett has requested a remedy to all of that: Shoo Vampire Soup! I make it every year, and every year I have to google it because I don't have it written down. And when I do find it online, it seems that the posters always scale the garlic waaaaaaaay back - and I wonder: how can it keep the vampires away with those little amounts of garlic? Here is the one and only, with correct amounts of garlic, from Martha Stewart Living.

Shoo Vampire Soup
serves 8 to 10

5 heads of garlic (that is an entire bulb, not just one teeny tiny clove!)
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
4 leeks, white and pale green parts only, thinly sliced, well washed
8 sprigs fresh thyme
8 springs fresh flat leaf parsley
1 tablespoon whole black peppercorns
1 dried bay leaf
2 pounds Yukon gold potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-ince dice
4 fourteen-and-a-half-ounce cans low sodium chicken stock or 7 cups homemade chicken stock
1/4 cup Marsala wine
1 cup heavy cream
2 teaspoons coarse salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
8 to 10 slices pumpernickel bread
3/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Snipped chives, for garnish

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Wrap 3 heads of garlic in aluminum foil; roast for 45 minutes. Let cool, halve crosswise, and squeeze garlic from cloves. Reserve garlic puree, discarding papery skins. Peel remaining 2 heads of garlic.
2.
In a 6-quart stockpot, melt butter over medium-low heat. Add leeks and garlic cloves; stirring frequently cook until translucent but not browned, 20 to 25 minutes. Wrap thyme, parsley, peppercorns, and bay leaf in a piece of cheesecloth; tie with kitchen twine. Add to pot along with potatoes, stock, and garlic puree. Raise heat to medium; simmer until potatoes are tender, 25 to 30 minutes. Discard cheesecloth bundle. Pass soup through a food mill fitted with a fine disk. Discard solids; return soup to pot. Add wine; simmer over medium-low heat, about 15 minutes. Stir in cream; season with salt, pepper, and nutmeg.
3. Cut bread with cat-shaped cookie cutter. Place on baking sheet; toast in over, 3 to 4 minutes. Serve soup in bowls; garnish with Parmesan, chives, and black-cat toasts.

Opal is ready for the beach!

Opal just wanted to let you know that she's very excited to see you, Aunt Tammy!

Nursery, per Mom's Request - nay, Mom's DEMAND

The walls of the nursery are blue, and all of the furniture is white. I wanted to bring in some pink to make it girlier, of course, so I selected the candy pink dandelion fabric to make the crib quilt. It will be backed with the damask. I am also going to make the crib skirt, just using a plain white broadcloth and use the damask in the peek-a-boo pleat... unless someone convinces me that it should be done entirely in the damask. I may or may not need window treatments, depending on how the interior shutters look once they are installed. I also plan to make a throw pillow or 2 for the glider, using some complimentary fabric from the same collection as the quilt. The mirrors and lamp are from my Target registry, and I am currently campaigning for that Ikea lamp - how perfectly it matches the blanket! Now I just have to convince Brett... We also already have the pictures, and I like the idea of using ribbon to hang them, similar to the mirrors.

Dress Set for my Baby Shower!

I just had to do a polyvore set. Love that site.

My mom thinks the booties are too clunky, but I think they're very fashionable. ;)

I said it once and I'll say it again - I like the juicy orange with that aubergine. Yummy!

(That's my actual baby shower invitation there in the background!)

I am a bad bad blogger. Plus, baby things!

So I see I haven't blogged since ... 2008. That's a mighty long time! Maybe with the baby coming I will be a better blogger so I can post pictures. Or a worse blogger because I am trying to survive with a newborn ... we shall see!

I am really excited today - the fabric I ordered for the baby's room just arrived. I am going to make a baby blanket with it - the dandelions on the front, and the damask on the back. I am so happy with this fabric - I was worried about buying it online and not seeing the colors as they are in real life, but I love it. It's like a strawberry pink and white. I am going to attempt to make a quilt with a self facing. Fingers crossed it turns out as fabulous as it looks in my head.



I currently am in the process of making myself a dress for my baby shower. I am using Butterick pattern B454, and hopefully modifying it enough to accommodate my perfectly round basketball sized bump.



Cute, right? It's in a solid dark aubergine knit - I think it should turn out well, especially since it's a wrap dress - very forgiving. Pair it with black tights and I really think I need these booties to go with it, don't you? Smashing! I might have to make myself a polyvore set for future reference... stay tuned.