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.

Arrr, Matey

So, this year I am going to be a pirate for Halloween! Usually, I try to keep my costume a secret, but I'm not as excited this year, so I thought I'd post as I go along.

I'm making a vest, pantaloons, blouse, and overcoat. Here is the pattern I'm using:









The first thing I made was the vest. I was pessimistic about it, not at all sure it would turn out like I hoped. Boy, was I wrong, it's even better than I imagined! Obviously, the exterior is a lovely russet and gold brocade, it's lined with muslin, and has a broadcloth interfacing. It's boned, and has 12 grommets for lacing. I was supposed to use single fold bias tape at the bottom to finish it off, but that would totally have cheapened the look of the vest, so I made my own bias tape out of leftover fabric, which I think really sets it off. However, I think I need better ribbon for the lacing ...


So, as I mentioned, I am also making a peasant blouse to wear underneath (it would be extremely risque otherwise!). Brett was concerned that the garment didn't lace completely together in the middle. It can be laced that tight (don't breathe!), but based on the pattern cover image, it's not intended to be worn that way, and thank goodness, because at first I thought I had made it too small.

Currently I am working on the pantaloons. They are not too exciting; I am constructing them from a soft brown suiting fabric that was on clearance. I will post photos of them when the are complete. They seem to be the simplest item of all to make, so hopefully I will be able to complete them tonight ... assuming my sewing machine cooperates with me. It's skipping stitches and bunching the thread again. So frustrating!

Hey, look what I made!

I made 2 tote bags and 2 cigar box purses over the weekend. I think they turned out super cute! They're for my cousin in PA. The cheetah tote and the zebra cigar box are my favorites. Oh, and the boxes are lined with the fabric from the tote bags - I'm nothing if not coordinated!