Some Stitching

Has been accomplished this week but no pics because the middle son has drained all the energy out of the batteries in both digital cameras. What in the world could the boy be taking so many pictures of? Himself, also videos of him doing skateboard tricks for his My Space page. I had no idea this kid was so narcissistic. I should have had a clue when he came out of the bathroom the other night telling me how much he loved his hair. Heaven help me!

For those that asked, the youngest boy wasn't in school a few days last week so he could hang with his cousins. When you only see family a few times a year a little hookey is ok. They haven't been doing much of anything at school the last week or so anyway as we only have one more day left, HEAVEN HELP ME! August 2nd can't get here fast enough!

Crafty Pursuits

In my crafty world I still have to sew together the afghan I made for my mother. I'm having trouble finding a yarn needle large enough. I need to make a trip to the store who shall not be named and see if I can find one with an eye big enough for the Homespun yarn. The one I've been trying to use just seems to shred the yarn.

I think I can safely say I'm at the halfway mark on House #2 of Houses of Hawk Run Hollow. The stitching on this is going slow, no way I'll have the whole design completed by June 1. Maybe by the end of June but I'm no longer a goal setter. Goals just suck the fun out of any project, at least for me.

I've also been working here and there on a longtime WIP, Liberty Sampler , by Hester's Needle.

I also want to gather some supplies together to try to make a log cabin afghan from the
Mason-Dixon Knitting : The Curious Knitters' Guide: Stories, Patte book. I also want to make a couple of warshrags. Their spelling not mine! Although I say "warsh" instead of "wash". What can I say, I'm Southern!

Baking Fun

The middle son and I were at the mall the other day and I treated the two of us to pretzels and drinks to the price of $9.50! I decided then and there to give pretzel making a try. Yesterday I made my first batch and they weren't bad. This is the recipe I used:

Mall Pretzels - All Recipes - Bread I need to practice my rolling out technique and my pretzel shaping skills but the recipe itself was good. I made two batches and could never get the same texture as the pretzels at the mall but they were much better than the frozen pretzels I sometimes buy. I had one for breakfast this morning and it tasted better after sitting a night. Will definitely be good dipped in some cheese dip.

Today's recipe will be:

Buttery Soft Pretzels - All Recipes - Bread I'll let ya know how that works out.

The last recipe I'm going to attempt is:

Baked Pretzels - All Recipes - Bread

The first recipe I adapted for my bread machine and the one I'm trying today I worked out to fit in my bread machine, but the last one is already written for the bread machine so I'm interested to see if it ends up being better than the other two just because I tweaked those recipes.

I've also been reading reviews of various Moosewood Cookbooks. I have Mollie Katzen's original version of The Moosewood Cookbook and it's been a favorite for a long time. I have her Enchanted Broccoli Forest and never cared for it as much as Moosewood. I'm considering investing in Moosewood Cooks At Home right now. I also have Sundays at Moosewood. I'd like to get back to more whole foods, more things cooked at home. I just really hate cooking. Then again when I read my Laurell's Kitchen Cookbook, I start to get all spiritual about the food thing. How it nourishes us and the beauty of the colors. Then I think, oh shut up and cook! But there has to be some kind of balance between cooking good food and making it fast and healthy. I can't seem to find my Cooking Through Quilt Country cookbook and am worried I loaned it out and can't remember who. That is one of my all time favorite cookbooks.