saturday soup and sewing

November 21, 2009 by sparrowhopes

It has been far too long since I had a Saturday I could spend sewing and cooking, but a few weeks ago I had a Saturday that was wide open and I got to sew and cook to my heart’s content. (Unfortunately, I’m only now getting around to blogging about it!) It’s a little ridiculous how happy these types of days make me, but the weather outside is cool and blustery and I’m tucked in our warm little home with the fire going and plenty of time to let creativity roam. Perfection. Today’s project is a gift for my sweet grandma who is moving up to Boise in just a few weeks into the most adorable little bungalow. She’s just had the whole place remodeled and it looks amazing, all light and airy, there is even the neatest little atrium right in the middle of the house. It’s really unique and quite a special place.

Broccoli Cheese Soup

INGREDIENTS

2 cups organic chicken broth
4-5 cups fresh organic broccoli
1/4 cup chopped organic onion
1-2 cloves organic garlic
1 cup organic milk (I used 1%)
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour (I used organic quinoa flour and it worked great, that way the soup is gluten free)
1 cup shredded organic sharp white cheddar cheese (optional)
1/2 teaspoon dried organic oregano
salt and pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS

Bring broth to a boil. Add broccoli and onion. Cook for five minutes, or until broccoli is tender.
In a separate bowl, slowly add milk to flour, and mix until well blended.
Stir flour mixture into broth mixture. Cook, stirring constantly, until soup is thick and bubbly. Add cheese if desired; stir until melted. Add seasonings and serve.

Seat cushions, a table runner and some napkins to match!

The project for today was to help decorate my grandma’s new kitchen. She picked this adorable table out, and without even measuring the space new it would be prefect… and it is! I hope these little accents make her feel right at home.

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one year

November 18, 2009 by sparrowhopes

I can’t believe that today marks the one year point of this cozy little corner of the blogosphere I call my own. Thanks so much to all of you who have taken this journey with me – what a gift it has been to share some crafty fun, recipes, musings and anything else that has come to mind with you! So, today in order to celebrate I thought I’d share with you my very favorite cake, compliments of a dear friend from our time in Rochester, NY. It’s delicious and full of wonderful spices, baked apples, pecans and then topped off with a warm caramel sauce. A-mazing. Won’t you bake one up and light a candle to celebrate with me? You won’t be sorry, I promise!

Carrie’s Scrumptious Apple Goodness Cake

Ingredients

2 ½ cups all purpose organic flour
1 ¼ teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon nutmeg
1 cup vegetable oil
2 cups sugar
3 large free-range eggs
1 ½ teaspoons vanilla
3 tablespoons orange juice
3 Granny Smith Apples, peeled and cut into ½ inch chunks (3 ¼ c.). Really should be a sour apple- cuts the sweetness
1 cup pecans, chopped
1 tablespoon flour
½ cup unsalted organic butter
¼ cup organic whipping cream
1 cup light brown sugar, packed

Directions

CAKE:
1. Place rack in the center of the oven
2. Preheat to 350 (F)
3. Generously grease and flour bundt pan (can also be muffin tin, change time, obviously)
4. Sift together 2 ½ c. of flour spices, and baking soda and set aside
5. Put vegetable oil, sugar, eggs and vanilla in large mixer bowl, Beat until thick and smooth
6. Add sifted ingredients and orange juice to wet mixture; mix to combine
7. Toss apples and pecans with 1 T. flour, then stir into batter
8. Transfer to pan and flatten the top
9. Bake until toothpick comes out clean- about 1 hour and let cool.

…While cooling, prepare glaze

GLAZE:
1. Bring all glaze ingredients to a boil in small pan and cook for 3 minutes.
2. Watch VERY carefully, as the sugar will switch from perfect to burnt quickly.

Once the cake has cooled, drizzle a good amount of the caramel over the cake, but be sure to reserve some to spoon over individual slices as you pass them out… It is very rich, but oh so good. Enjoy!

Wait! There’s more!!!

Because no party is complete without presents I have a giveaway for you!!! All you need to do to win this lovely pouch filled with a tissue holder and reusable coffee cuff is to leave a comment on this post by Novemeber 30 sharing what type of birthday cake is your favorite (feel free to include a recipe if you’d like!). Then, I’ll randomly select an entry on December 1 and announce the winner on the blog.

Thanks again everyone for sharing in this journey with me. I hope it is as life giving for you as it is for me. And I’m so excited to see what the next year will hold!

Posted in give-away, musings, recipe | 11 Comments »

ah nature

October 12, 2009 by sparrowhopes

There is just something about this time of year that leaves me feeling inspired and all aglow with love for creation. Lucky for me PBS recently released an amazing series by Ken Burns documenting some of America’s most beautiful bits of creation called, “The National Parks, America’s Best Idea”. You can check it out here. It’s really an amazing documentary, and one of my favorite parts was the portion that highlighted John Muir. My fascination with John Muir started years ago in a sophomore geology course I took in college, but was recently rekindled during our trip to Scotland, (he was born just 30 miles from Edinburgh) and then quickly affirmed by the National Parks documentary that was released shortly after we got home. So, to honor this amazing naturalist, and continue my ongoing celebration of autumn I thought I’d share one of his poems with you all today. I hope you enjoy it and that any cares you have really will drift away like the autumn leaves.

Autumn days are here again!

In autumn when the trees are brown
The little leaves come tumbling down
They do not make the slightest sound
But lie so quietly on the ground
Until the wind comes puffing by
And blows them off towards the sky.

The winds will blow their own freshness into you,
and the storms their energy,
while cares will drop away from you
like the leaves of Autumn.

-John Muir

Posted in musings, poetry | 3 Comments »

everything in its place…

October 9, 2009 by sparrowhopes

One of the most unexpected gifts during my grandpa’s memorial was getting to reconnect with family I haven’t seen for years. This was especially true of my cousins as my sister and I both looked up to them so much when we were younger, but sadly as we got older we all lost touch. While I was visiting with them one of my cousins asked me to make a bed organizer for her daughter’s bunk bed. It was such a fun idea that I had to share the completed project and also link to some other tutorials with ideas for making your own bed organizer. There’s nothing I hate more at night than to be fumbling around in the dark looking for my water bottle or a book to wind down with. Hopefully with this cute little organizer that will no longer be a problem for my adorable second cousin E. My cousin requested that there be pockets for papers, pens/pencils, a spot for a water bottle, and a place to hold some lip balm. This organizer has all that and more with lots of fun pockets and places to stash all those necessities that you don’t want to have to get out of bed again (especially from the top bunk!) to find. Now I think I need to make one of these for J and me… but maybe with a little less pink!

Want to make your own bed organizer? Click here, here, here, or here for some fun ideas!

Posted in Crafty goodness, tutorial | 1 Comment »

happy fall

October 6, 2009 by sparrowhopes

Fall has long been my absolute favorite time of year, and in my opinion Boise in the fall is one of the best places you can be. Beautiful crisp mornings, tons of trees changing colors, and just warm enough that you can still be outside and enjoy all the beauty around you.

So, in honor of my most beloved season, I thought I’d share with you a quick fall craft that will bring all the great smells of the season into your home. All you need is a small pie pumpkin, apple corer, knife, spoon, tea light and some common household spices.

Ready? Good! Let’s make some pumpkin luminaries!

Step one: Cut off the pumpkin’s top and scrape out all the innards. (You can save the seeds for roasting, click here for some yummy recipes.)

Step two: Carve out holes all around the pumpkin with the apple corer.

Step three: Rub cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice and nutmeg onto the lid. You can also push whole cloves into the lid if you have them.

Step four: Place a tea light in the bottom of the pumpkin, light it, put on the lid and sit back and enjoy that lovely “pumpkin-pie-just-out-of-the-oven” scent for up to six hours. Preferably with a cup of warm apple cider in hand!