Missing Pieces

 The biggest thing missing in this new year has been my ability to focus. I literally could not remember anything, could not decide on anything, nor could I accomplish anything. I had big plans to start this year with a bang but when I woke up on January 1st I had forgotten where I put them.
Empty as this bowl was my mind.

Yikes!!!
I can't believe I just wrote that....ugh.
The kids were having a Star Wars marathon downstairs and it appears
Yoda took advantage of my mental vacancy and moved in.
The force is definitely not with me.

Luckily, my camera is full of images and since a picture is worth a thousand words I'll let them help me put some of the pieces together.
 

We did indeed head up to my parents house for Christmas.

Earlier this year my mom joined the doll club I belong to so she received one of the garlands I made for party favors at our holiday lunch earlier in December. I don't know about you but I think it looks much better hanging up on her mantle than it did on my picture. Remind me to ask for a fireplace from Santa next year because goodness knows I'll probably forget before it comes time to write a North Pole letter again.

 



By the afternoon of the 25th all secrets had been revealed. Here's the trivet/potholder I gave the little sneak peek of. It really was so much fun to make up. Project credit goes to Ayumi Takahashi and her amazing book Patchwork Please but the inspiration to actually put the book to use goes to  this post from "Hen House." Truly amazing work!

 

I gave it to my mom.....

 



.....along with one of the little bird ornaments I was making up and an old copy

of The Birds' Christmas Carol by Kate Douglas Wiggin.

 



She in turn gave me this book!

 



It was written by one R. H. Horne and details the yearlong adventures of a jointed wooden doll named Maria Poppet. Something of a British version of Hitty I'd guess you might say which is more than enough to guarantee an afternoon of delightful reading.

 



In my head I made it my book of the month for December but since my head was not communicating with my actions it failed to make it's reveal until now. I was at a loss coming up with a doll but I did manage to "borrow" this one from dear daughter's American Girl stash. Obviously it's not British. Neither is it handmade. It is wooden, however, and.....

 



.....has the sweetest little red shoes painted on her feet!

 



We were home again in time to host my dad's New Year's Eve birthday meal.

 



It was indeed a Polish feast. Dear Hubby made the Paprika Chicken from the old recipe book I found. This shot of it in the early stages of preparation seems to be the only photo I took....best not to get in hubby's way when he's cooking!

 



I made up all my dad's favorite sides including cucumber salad and noodles with cottage cheese.

 



The centerpiece of it all turned out to be the Bigos, an old fashioned hunting stew with pork, sausage, sauerkraut, and mushrooms as the main ingredients. Honestly I think this was the straw that broke the camel's back as far as the kids were concerned. After it was all said and done they told me the food was "just plain scary!" My dad on the other hand loved it.

 



A few of our gifted items turned out to be a bit "scary" for them as well and required a day of returns at none other than my favorite place...the mall. I did find this little pin during our outing which got me thinking about getting back to work on some crafty projects. Tiny stitches taken in stolen moments are a great source of joy for me and I wanted to get a needle back in my hands.

 



And so....not too many days after our mall adventure I skipped out for and afternoon of fabric shopping on my own. I came home with this bag of goodies and a plan.

 



It started out as good a plan as any. I'd have my theme for the year be that of the "Empty Bowl." I vaguely remembered reading somewhere about Zen monks carrying empty begging bowls in the practice of releasing control over worldly concerns and simply accepting what was given to them each day. I could practice a similar idea only have my empty bowl host the crafting supplies that came my way. I could take one picture of the supplies gathered in the bowl at the beginning of each month and then another picture of the bowl filled with the finished pieces I'd made up from the contents at the end of the month.

 

It could be fun.

It could be interesting.   

Or.....

 

it could be that I was totally abusing the concept of the empty bowl.

My focus very quickly went from accepting what came my way to planning fabric shopping sprees with projects already in mind. Kind of controlling and materialistic don't you think?

I also became a bit obsessed with bowls.

 

In addition to my now not so "empty bowl" I started an English paper piecing bowl and...

 



....a granny square crochet bowl!

I was beginning to feel like Goldilocks, only no matter how much I kept tasting from the bowls none of them were "just right." I imagine I'd have gone on making an entire collection of crafty bowls but I just so happened to stumble upon a post by Austin Kleon titled "Something Small, Every Day."

 



I have a tendency to want to fill BIG chunks of time (weeks, months, even years) with lots of LITTLE projects. Such endeavors tend to become overwhelming and list ridden. In Kleon's post, however, he recommends you forget about tracking time beyond the day you are in and by doing so BIG projects can be accomplished in LITTLE bits of time.

 

This I thought might be good for me. I have something BIG I've wanted to try for a while now but  never did because I couldn't justify spending extended periods of time devoted to it. If it were only 30 minutes a day on the other hand, that I could justify. The supplies in this case were minimal and on hand.....the 2014 calendar that came along with my latest issue of Mollie Makes, a bag of wooden mish mash dug out from the bottom of my stash closet, and an old notebook. I'm sure more items will be needed down the road but since I don't need them today I'm doing my best not to think about what they might be.

 



So far I've collected some thoughts and quite a few "x's" on the calendar, one for each day "something small" is attended to. Once I've got something to show for my work I'll do just that,

 but in the meantime....

 



.....I intend to keep my bowl empty as a reminder to let things come to be in their own time and not try to predetermine their outcome or timeline.

 

 

Day Eight - Visions of Sugar Plums

 Today I was cold, tired, and in no mood to step foot out of doors.

And so I didn't.

 

I had for myself instead quite the frumpy time of it, lazing on the couch, drowning myself in tea, and browsing cookbooks for visions of sweets and savories I might serve up for the holidays. I was most delighted with that little gem of a book up there on the left titled,

A World of Good Eating.

 

 

 I love that it is noted to be "tested in the kitchen of a New England Housewife."

She obviously was much more industrious than me.

 

 And how cute is that copyright!

 

 I did accomplish some menu making however and was especially excited to find the section on Poland full of potential dishes for my Dad's birthday dinner which happens to coincide with

New Years Eve.

 

Paprika Chicken should do the trick along with some Golabski (stuffed cabbage), cucumber salad, pierogi, and perhaps a poppy seed roll for dessert. Yum!

 



Made A Cook Off Out Of It

 Unfortunately the snow stopped and a beautiful sunny day was before us with no company, no commitments, and no conceivable way we could stall the inevitable for any longer.....we were headed for the mall. Returns and gift cards had been burning a hole in the kiddies pockets ever since the last gift was unwrapped on Christmas morning. Hours later we returned home with zero energy and even less enthusiasm for dinner preparation. Grilled sandwiches were grumpily agreed upon until a challenge rang out as to who could cook the ultimate version, hot and melted on the inside, crisp and golden on the out. And the winner was.....
 

.....Teen #2 who instead made himself a bowl of soup since his wisdom teeth were acting up.

Everyone else ate their burnt, lukewarm creations with an eye of envy on his bowl!

 



Made Something Yummy

Kale Soup and Roasted Garlic.....

a family favorite feast

reserved especially

for the fall!

 



Made Something Delicious

I recently happened upon The Sheer Stories-Everything by Julia Marek, a blog rich with inspiration, amazing photography, and good things to eat.

So inspired was I in fact, that I decided to try her recipe for Chocolate Cloud Cake (and to top it off with what appears to be a favorite of hers....pansies!)

It was more than delicious AND gluten free to boot so everyone in the family could partake!

During clean up I was about to toss the remnants when I luckily recalled Julia's delight in pressed flowers. I decided to follow suit once more and tuck away a few of the sweet pansy faces in  the pages of a favorite cookbook as a sweet reminder of her generous spirit.

 

Made What?!!!

  June....the month we start to toss some burgers on the grill, pick corn from the cob out of our teeth, and tickle our taste buds with watermelon. 

But do you know what I made for dinner tonight?

Chicken Pie!!!

And do you know why I made chicken pie?

Because it's so cold outside I needed to cook something in the oven in order to warm up the house.

 

 

 There was, however, a bit of excitement due to the event. Since we had to shift to a gluten free diet for several family members this year, pies of any sort had been deleted from our menu choices. Therefore, several weeks ago when I spied a gluten free pie crust mix at the grocery store I grabbed it thinking it would be a nice surprise. Considering the season I thought we'd be using it to contain some apple goodness on the 4th of July.....not savory chicken on the 4th of June. No matter, as far as the family was concerned pie crust would be a delight no matter what it housed......or so they thought. 

Me too, for all seemed well at first. The butter cut in as usual.

 

 

 The dough ball formed nicely.

 

 

 And after an hour in the fridge it even rolled out like velvet.

 

 

 But then, unfortunately, it's true gluten free qualities began to reveal themselves. Once touched by human hands the thing started to fall to pieces.  We've come to call it the "No Gluten/No Glue" law. Oh well I figured...most pie crusts have to be patched a bit here and there anyway....I'd just make do.

Wish I could tell you it tasted much better than it looked.

Ice cream and watermelon are suddenly sounding really good for July 4th.

#10 Made a Pot of Soup and Cornbread

Although the ground outside is STILL bare of snowflakes I was in the mood for some winter fare. The Mexican Chicken soup is an old standby,but the corn bread is my true accomplishment of the day.Made from scratch and gluten free I was expecting it to crumble at first touch of the knife.As you can see, however, it truly held its own.Tastes good too!

With a Sigh of Relief.....

. . . . . I have returned to let you know all's well, ends well. My portion of the program last Saturday went off without a hitch. The women at the doll club were so friendly and welcoming it felt more of a chat session than the school time oral presentation I was having nightmares over. The Lilies were well received and had an opportunity to meet up with some very exquisite Hitties at the tea party that followed. Such fun ensued that I stayed far longer than anticipated.

Upon my eventual return home that night I promised the kids I would not put a hand to needle, thread, keyboard, or mouse for the rest of the weekend. Instead a trip to the mall, a Mexican meal, and a movie marathon had been planned. In order to make a '"sweet" contribution to our family fun, I took to the baking cupboard. Having recently gone gluten-free this is not quite as simple as it once was. Our long standing favorites are greatly missed, especially Fanny Farmer's fabulous "Lazy Daisy Cake." Digging through the ingredients on hand, however, I found I had the makings for an "Easy French Apple Pie." I also found something else...look close...closer...do you see it?

My pen! I remember now this seemed a safe place to secretly stash it while I was putting away the few groceries I had also acquired during that outing. Seemed as if happy endings were abundant. . . . the Lilies were a success, I'd found my pen, and. . . .

. . . . .the apple pie was a success! So much so in fact, only a tiny sliver remained to accompany my tea time this afternoon.

Paired up with the task of preparing tags for some new listings I was able to stretch out the moments between spoonfuls, savoring each and every bite!

Finally, with prep work behind me and tummy content it was time to turn my attention to encouraging a few more happy endings. Lily June (seen back there with her knitting) was listed in the shop in hopes of finding her very own home sweet home. Hollie Belle will soon follow in her heals as she too looks for her happily ever after!

Winter Weather - a Taste of What's to Come!

The second nor'easter of the season paid a visit to our neighborhood yesterday. Several hours of snowflakes whipping every which way outside our windows was more exciting than anything to be found on the telly! By the early evening hours, however, all the white fluff was replaced with a bone chilling rain.

Luckily I was armed with my new dutch oven and a special recipe for french onion soup that had only just arrived by post. Believe it or not it was made by me, entirely from scratch and tasted as good as it looks! Bon Appetit!

Birthday Buffet

I don't know about you, but the stores around here have been gearing up for the Halloween season since the last weeks of August. Ever since his first glimpse of the orange and black display at Jo-Ann's, Jackson has been counting down the days until we can pick pumpkins and get the costumes ready. With the exception of stocking up on Halloween Oreos (which are generally sold out by September leaving you with a glass pumpkin cookie jar that is either empty or filled with the Christmas Oreos that have begun creeping onto the shelves) the wee lad has had to be very patient waiting for the ghoulish preparations to begin.

This week, with the arrival of the first of October, I figured it was time to start. First things first,however, I knew a bit of pre-decorating house "clearing" was in order. . . . . which leads me here to my pile of birthday gifts on display in the living room. Now considering more than two weeks have passed since my special day it was definitely time to relocate my goodies but not before I did a bit of show and tell.

A manicure coupon, a much loved CD, and some very friendly popsicle bookmarks from the kids. . . . .

and everything I need to become a French Chef from the hubby. Now you should know right up front that I cook about as well as he speaks french (did you notice his pink sticky notes?) Therefore, the chances of me going in the whole Julie and Julia direction are next to zero although I bet I could fit about ten cans of Campbell's French Onion Soup in that dutch oven and serve the whole family from one giant crock!

Almost every year, as a special birthday treat, I go to a doll show up in New Hampshire. This time while my mom searched for some tiny dolls to put in her Christmas dollhouse, Dale scoured every table for a doll that looked just like her, and I kept watch for any little wooden treasures to be had. As it turned out only the birthday girl had any luck on that day. A Raikes Hitty along with a companion book stuffed with an assortment of paper ephemera was found neglected amongst all the more glamorous Betsy McCalls and Madame Alexanders. Mass produced she may be, but how could I pass her up, especially with mom as a co-conspirator in the purchase.

As for the rest of the little wooden wonders pictured. . . . they were rescued from an "as is" junk box for a quarter a piece! One man's trash truly is another's treasure, and at a dollar for the lot my wallet still felt rich too.

And finally, from mom and dad. . . . .a whole stash of Hitty treats! My Gail Wilson kit as well as an extra wardrobe pattern had been stashed away since our visit to the Sunapee Fair. The braided rug and quit hoop were a completed surprise, however. They too started as Gail Wilson kits but my mom was sweet enough to complete them for me. Those along with a few little consignment finds added in have me thinking it won't be long before Hitty's going to need a house!

But first. . . it looks as if I've got my work cut out for me!