Sunday, March 25, 2012

Charlotte, the Scientist

As a scientist myself, and a hard-core supporter of the wonder that is Charlotte, it came as a great joy when Dr. Charlie-Pants was recognized for her key scientific contributions. While the experiments were completed many years ago, the results (and her fashion sense) continue to have a lingering impact.



The illustrious organization that bestowed this great honor is "Cat Scientists of the 60's", where Charlotte is profiled along with a number of her feline colleagues. A Nobel Prize is just around the corner!

Saturday, March 24, 2012

Strawberry Frozen Yogurt... A Little Hint of Summer!

Basically, like everyone else these days,  I've become completely addicted to Pinterest. I'm there under *(what else) yellowfish - come check me out, or leave me your name and I'll follow you.

One of the things I pinned recently was this awesome looking strawberry frozen yogurt I found on Pink Parsley



 


















Looks delicious, right?? And when you read the ingredients, it gets better- Greek yogurt, strawberries, lemon and sugar. Couldn't be easier!

Here's what you need:
2c Greek yogurt- I used regular plain, but I think you can also use low fat
1 lb fresh strawberries, diced
2/3c sugar (next time I'll use 1/2c)
juice of 1 lemon
zest of 1 lemon
2 tbsp alcohol (vodka, triplesec)


What to do:
Chop the strawberries up, squeeze the lemon in the bowl, zest the lemon and add to bowl. Let it sit for about half an hour while the juices release.

Put the strawberry mixture in the blender, add alcohol (I used triple sec because it has a citrus flavor- the reason it is in there is really not for flavor so much as to keep everything from becoming a block of ice in the freezer). Blend well, then add yogurt and blend everything together. Pour mixture into the chilled ice-cream maker. Then, let it go until it becomes firm, then put into freezer to chill further.


What is so great about this is, #1 the beautiful color :). But, in addition, with all the fruit, it's almost on the border between an ice-cream and a sorbet. The fruit flavor and the lemon really come through and it's really fresh and light and summery. Plus, with the Greek yogurt, there is protein and while it's not really guilt-free due to the sugar, it's definitely a better choice than ice cream. Plus, it's delicious- give it a try!

Monday, March 12, 2012

New Listings, Check it Out!

Recipes are forthcoming (I had the most delicious Thai turkey sliders for dinner, mmmm), but in the meantime, I've been busy! Check out some new listings over at yellowfish!

Tiny ladybug earrings... yes, green ladybugs! I love them.

I've been waiting to figure out what to do with these really pretty long wooden beads- I finally figured that simpler was better, and this is the result.

I also added a few to my wooden teardrop series- I think these cloisonné earrings are my favorite of the batch.

And finally, some necklaces... 
This one is just big and bright and shiny and fun, and I kind of wanted to keep it for myself

And this one is much simpler, and almost verging on a little steampunky with the chunky chain and wooden bead.






Friday, March 2, 2012

Only the World's Cutest Nephew Could Get Me to Make Another Quilt...

Well, posting around here has been a little slow, but that's not to say I haven't been busy! There is a backlog of recipes (partly handicapped by the inexplicable loss of my camera), but, first we'll get things back up and running with a little craftiness. So, since I lasted talked to you all, I have become a new Auntie (to the cutest snuggliest little nephew in the world). See?

So, I decided that this alone could get me to revisit my previous foray into quilting. Now, I still have my baby quilt and to this day use sometimes it as a couch blanket, so, without going into details about how ancient that means it is, lets just say it is very durable.

I decided for the new blanket, I'd stick with the very simple quilt tying approach. Now, at the time I started, we didn't know if this was going to be a niece or a nephew (forcing me to refer to him as my niecephew for months on end). So, I picked this super cute pink and blue retro looking animal print fabric, with some light green seersucker for the back and (since he came a little early I so knew what kind of baby he was before the blanket was finished) a blue satin blanket binding.

Basically, this was about a hundred times easier than blanket #1. I got crib sized quilt batting, which is usually 45x60, then washed the other fabrics on hot because they were so different they were sure to shrink at different rates. Then, I carefully, and very smoothly laid out the layers- seersucker, then batting, then flannel- getting it totally flat was definitely the hardest part. Then I measured, and cut, making a (mostly) rectangular 'quilt sandwich'.

Then, you have to put the yarn through. On my original blanket, the little ties were 5 inches apart, and alternated being on the front and on the back. Given the monumental durability of that system, I decided to stick with it. For this, you'll need a lot of yarn, and I don't see a way around wasting a lot, unfortunately. Go along the quilt and lightly mark in chalk or pencil a series of lines 5 inches apart. You'll need to make a mark every 10 inches, and make sure the marks are offset so that on each line, the mark you make is between two marks on the line above it (it makes more sense in the picture below). Then you take a pretty fat needle, thread a really really long strand of yarn, doubled over, and go along just making one stitch at each mark.

Then, flip it over, and do the same thing, except this time make the stitches along the same line, just in the empty areas (so that you have a grid, but on each side the stitches are in alternating locations). Then, you just snip the yarn and tie a square knot.


Then, it's time to bind it up!

Now, this part was hard, but not as hard as I'd feared. Get some perfectly matching thread, first of all, because the thread doesn't get folded under- you see it all. Now, some genius at the blanket binding company made this stuff so that one side of it is sliiiiiggghhhtly wider than the other. You want the slightly longer side on the underneath- basically, it's there because you can't see that side, and it gives you a little leeway when stitching it all together without accidentally driving the machine off the binding (which may or may not have happened anyways, but that wasn't their fault). The hardest part was the mitered corners. There are lots of people on the internet with video tutorials, which helped immensely. Now, I'm not going to lie, I was kind of freaking out about the corners- my mantra became "I do not love my blanket because it's perfect. I do not love my blanket because it's perfect..." But, after a few doings and undoings, and a LOT of pins, I finally got it! (although I think that kind of mantra is still important to keep in mind for this kind of thing.)

And.. that's it! Now the blanket is ready for some serious tummy time (photo cropped for privacy reasons,  but that's his Dad! and, I'm not going to post baby face pictures either, so you'll never get to verify his cutest-nephew status, but trust me, it's true. can't you just tell?)

I had extra flannel and not a lot of plans for it, so I bought a really little baby pillow and made a simple envelope case to cover it. Of course, the baby is too little to have a pillow right now, but I figure eventually he can use the pillow and blankie in the car, or for naps at other people's houses and things. Plus, it makes a cute little duo! 

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