Ponchos are pretty fabulous. I have one I knit before Iz was born (of course it’s in a box somewhere! argh!). Iz is totally experiencing poncho love right now. We found a really cute one at a consignment shop that she’s been wearing constantly, even in the rain, and the other day she asked me to make her another one! Who am I to refuse a request like that? Off we went to the fabric store and she picked this out, it’s the cutest farm print. On yellow. I think I’ll be making many, many more of these. I made this in a jiffy, less than an hour to cut and sew, and Iz was running around in it in no time.
This morning, she got to choose which poncho she wanted to wear. Picture this: Me holding up two ponchos, Iz lying on the bed, hands under her head, ankles crossed saying, “Mom, back up, more, back up more Mom. Ok, one step that way, can you turn the pink one around? Ok, I’ll wear the yellow one today. Good job Mommy.”
Ok, get your mind out of the gutter! Puhleaze…. I’m talking about cooking here, nothing else… seriously…
It is squash season, and I don’t think I’ve ever met a squash I haven’t fallen head-over-heals in love with. I’ve got a bunch in the kitchen, some acorn, some delicata, a spaghetti squash and a few butternut. I love them all for different reasons.
We are trying a bit of gluten-free and dairy-free at our house these days, I really wanted to make a gluten-free zucchini bread, but the zucchini didn’t look so good at the grocery store, and I couldn’t make it to the farmers market, so I decided to use the butternut squash. I like that it’s sweet, and I thought the kids would just love it.
And they did, the above picture is of the last bite. It went so fast and is so delicious I can’t even begin to tell you how good that makes me feel! I don’t consider my self and “expert” baker/cook. It’s something I love to do, but I feel that I just don’t know enough about the science of cooking to really, fully experiment successfully. HA! I did it. I totally came up with the recipe, and it worked!
You should make it too. If you don’t want to do gluten-free, you could totally use wheat flour, it would be yummy!
Butternut Squash Bread (Gluten-Free)
1-1/2 cups Butternut Squash shredded (I cut my squash in half, put face down in a casserole dish, fill with about a 1/4″ of water and put in the oven at 450ºF for about 20 minutes. This softens it so you can peel it then run it through the shredder easily)
1 egg
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1-1/2 cup gluten-free baking mix*
1-1/2 tsp xantham gum*
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp ground cinnamon
Zest from 1 lemon
In one bowl, combine squash, vegetable oil, sugar and egg, mix until blended.
In another bowl sift together, flour, xantham gum, salt, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon and lemon zest. Mix well.
Pour flour mixture into squash mixture, and stir together until well mixed and moist.
Pour mixture into greased loaf pan.
Cook at 325ºF for about 45-50 minutes until golden brown and fork comes out clean. (Make sure you check your time based on your pan. This is not my forté, so stay close to the oven if you are not sure, burnt squash bread would be such a bummer! – in fact if anyone has a guide for cooking times based on pan sizes, i.e. – how to cook muffins instead of a loaf, please share!)
* You could totally use whole wheat flour for this as well, just eliminate the xantham gum.
I think what makes this bread is the lemon. I’ll be making it with other veggies, but the lemon will always remain.
I had a bunch of shredded butternut squash left over, I made .
OH MY GOODNESS! These were so delicious! Another fabulous gluten-free recipe where you could sub in so many different veggies and get incredible results. These absolutely melted in our mouths, went so quickly I couldn’t even get a shot on the plate! We were eating them as they came off the stove. This dish is so perfect for fall (any season actually), and we could eat them for breakfast, lunch and dinner. The mix of onion and squash was ideal, and we liked the cispier ones with burnt edges. We ate them with apple sauce. I’m thinking that this is the dish I’ll be making for the holiday family gatherings coming up, 1 little squash makes a lot of food.
I love those “paint it yourself” pottery places. They are not the cheapest thing to do on a rainy day, but they sure are fun. This one in Poulsbo, had glaze samples velcro’ed to a tile, and I couldn’t take my eyes off them. I played with the little tiles over and over, and as I look at this photo longer, I want to make a quilt out of it.
Then it I get lost in quilt land. I’ve always loved quilts. Madly. I loved making Iz’s quilt and the little scrap quilt for her doll. Grandma Ruby quilts and belongs to a quilt club which keeps her busy. I love the . When we were working on our Eco Quilts at , We read about the , and I couldn’t stop pouring over the images of each quilt.
I have dreams about making another quilt (jeez, among other things, my list keeps getting longer!), and with , I’m thinking the quilt idea is going to have to wait until the new year. Which is ok, day dreaming about quilts, looking at fabric, working in the notebook is all fun too.
I’m also really interested in. I don’t think I could stick with following a pattern and cutting tons of squares, triangles, etc. But I could make it all up as I go along. I like what happens when you wing it (sounds crazy doesn’t it, coming from a control freak!), but I find I’m most creative then. I guess you could look at it like playing with fabric and stitches and just letting it all happen. (I am so talking myself into this!)
You could think of this post as part of my plan. More lists later…
It was a wonderful weekend. We spent it with cousins and we stitched it up (among other creative things). While visiting , we stopped in at Heirloom Quilts. The girls each picked fabric for their skirts. It was so much fun. If Iz could have, she would have taken a cut from every single bolt. She’s a girl after my own heart.
I had promised my cousin that I would teach her to sew, and making one of these is so perfect. She learned how to measure herself, how to rip fabric (so we didn’t worry about cutting straight lines), how to iron, wind a bobbin, thread the machine and sew in straight lines. It’s the perfect skirt, because it’s ok if you can’t sew a straight line, you won’t see it! You can totally design them with the right fabrics and band placement.
photo by Iz
Iz loves the sewing machine. If the table were lower, she could certainly step on the pedal herself.
Sarah did such a great job. Her skirt was AWESOME! The prints she picked were adorable and a total reflection of her personality. It was great for me, I’ve been missing . I keep thinking that I’ll just start teaching again. soon. really soon!
PS – Want to make your own Twirly? Here’s a really, really wonderful tute from .
I think the last time I wore purple or some shade there of, I was in the 8th grade and had a purple coat. Now, I am totally drawn to it. (and yes, I did have purple hair at one point, but no longer). I love the idea of a for fall. Or a yummy from . Oh purple, I think you need a spot in my closet.
ps. I think I’m in love. reminds me of my spark books, but virtual. Oh, man, I looooove the internet.
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