My First Amigurumi - Angry Pear

I've always wanted to learn to knit, but never could get it quite right. The piece always looked like I ran it through the garbage disposal after I finished. With my expensive taste in yarn, this is not a good thing, so I decided to give crochet a go. After all, the size of my yarn stash is pretty darn embarrassing when you consider it is just sitting there.

Since picking up a hook, I've managed to do a couple of scarfs, one large wrap (that I'll never repeat) and a baby blanket. I decided it was time to branch out a bit and found a course on Craftsy that piqued my interest. (If you haven't been to Craftsy, you must check it out today! There are lots of great patterns and videos available. It's like attending a class but at your own pace and for a fraction of the price.)

Anywho . . . I found this course on how to design your own amigurumi. Since I like to sew all the critters for Children's, this was right up my alley. As much as I love doing those, the multi-step process and the hand whip-stitching at the end gets a bit tedious. I figured I'd give it a go.

You know what? I'm in love!

Below is my very first amigurmui - an Angry Pear. Total crochet time was 3 hours tops, but keep in mine I'm EXTREMELY slow right now. A more experienced hooker could probably knock this out in an hour. Yeah, I can sew faster than that, but I didn't have to drag out my machine, fabric stash, cutting board, rotary cutter, blah blah blah.

I'd change a couple of things if I make this again (like moving the eyes closer so they touch, and trying to get them more round so they bug out more), but overall I'm satisfied with how DISsatisfied this guy looks.

With friendship,

Care'

Jake's Quilt

I've been working on a quilt for my oldest for a while now and finally managed to finish it up. It actually went together pretty fast - I just tool REALLY long breaks between cutting, piecing and quilting. I love the way it turned out!

Now, time to start work on the next one. I'd like to see if I can actually beat my one-quilt-per-year pace and knock out TWO (or maybe three?) this year!

With friendhsip,

Care'

Back to Soaping

After taking a rather extended break from creating new soaps, I decided it was time to get back to it. Besides, all this cooking like Paula Deen is NOT good for my figure. At least with soaping I get to "feel" like I'm baking - without the calories!

Here is my latest soap. It's made from goat's milk and scented with sweet pea. My husband took one look at it and called it "Celebration." I think it's fun!

With friendship,

Care'

The Care-Paula Experiment-Dish #9: Sweet Black Cherry Crisp

My husband LOVES cherry pie. I personally am not a fan as I find it too sweet. I also tend to like fresh fruit over canned, so when I saw this recipe (http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/paula-deen/sweet-black-cherry-crisp-recipe/index.html) I knew I had to give it a go.

Not only was this one of the easiest recipes I've ever made, it tasted wonderful. Hubby loved it and I did too because it wasn't too sweet. We highly recommend!

With friendship,

Care'

The Care-Paula Experiment-Dish #8: Brussels Sprouts

I don't like brussels sprouts. I've even tried them steamed, which usually does great things for veggies. To me, they taste like dirt.

My husband LOVES them. He goes on and on about how his mom use to make them for him growing up and how he devoured them.

What kind of weird kid eats brussels sprouts?

Well, after making this version (http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/paula-deen/melissas-brussels-sprouts-recipe/index.html) my kids are weird too.

I have always subscribed to the "bacon makes everything better" theory, and am a recent convert to the "butter makes everything better" concept - thanks to Paula. This recipe calls for bacon AND butter. After you drop those little sprouts in butter and bacon, they taste mighty fine.

Mighty, mighty fine.

I always have left over veggies when we make them. Not this time. I think I saw hubby's eyes roll in the back of his head one time . .

With friendship,

Care'

The Care-Paula Experiment-Dish #7: Lemon and Garlic Roast Chicken

I took a bit of a departure and decided to try out an Ina Garten recipe, something I NEVER would have tried before I started this journey. I will tell you that having never dealt with a full chicken before, there were times I wanted to call it quits and get hubby out of bed to deal with it. But, I managed to survive the experience.

The recipe is here: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/lemon-and-garlic-roast-chicken-recipe/index.html

The chicken turned out beautifully and was very moist. The only thing I didn't like was the gravy, so we just left it off. I did learn some important things on this one, such as the need to over-season before cooking. While it was very tasty, I could have been a little more heavy-handed with the salt and pepper.

Overall, it was a winner and will be on the menu again. And, I'm over my fear of cooking a full chicken now. Who knows, maybe I'll make the turkey at Thanksgiving this year!

With friendship,

Care'

The Care-Paula Experiment-Dish #6 - English Toffee

Is a simple, one word post of "YUM" sufficient?

No?

Okay, a bit more detail then. . .

SUPER-YUM!

Not only was this easy to make, it was well worth the wait for it to set up. That was the hardest part - waiting to break off a chunk and devour it. Okay, okay . . . I confess that I did get into it a bit early and left chocolate fingerprints on the counter, but it was so hard to resist.

You can find the recipe here:

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/paula-deen/english-toffee-recipe/index.html

Paula has a few more receipes that call for toffee bits. I plan to use this recipe to make the bits instead of using store-bought.

Drool over my pictures . . .

With friendship,

Care'