This is one of my favorite things to make--ever. Freshly made house granola is so much goodness in a bowl--especially when combined with good vanilla yogurt and fresh berries. This recipe makes a generous amount so you need not hoard it all for yourself, as some may be inclined to do. Sometimes I even make a double recipe and freeze half because it does freeze exceptionally well and then you can continue to enjoy your granola for months on end (unless you eat it every second of every day and then you might run out sooner, but perhaps you should consider pacing yourself, my friend...)Get our house granola recipe here:
DOWNLOAD HOUSE GRANOLA RECIPE
Oh yes, more napkins for you. Well, actually, not really for you, but for your perusal. I decided to applique on a little message for these and I am digging the red letters on white linen (a Red Cross sort of effect--which appeals, at least for me).
I know you have all been positively sitting on pins and needles, awaiting my update on the latest napkins I have created as part of my ongoing 
I made four of these pretty, ruffled yellow linen napkins. First time I've ever made a ruffle, if you must know. It was simple--provided you do not yank aggressively on the ends of your thread as you gather the strip of ruffle fabric into ruffles, because then the thread breaks and you have to cuss for a bit and go back to your sewing machine and once again sew that thread down the middle of your strip...speaking from experience, of course.
And then I also made 6 more napkins from some more fat quarters I purchased at 
It could have been much worse...like what many of our neighbors sustained as damage. We live in an old neighborhood where most of the homes date back to the 1920's, so most of the trees are old, very large, and beautiful. After today's tornado, many streets had every single tree either ripped from the ground by the roots, or they were simply split right in half--unfortunately, many of those uprooted trees ended up going through roofs, smashing cars, and flattening garages. 
Recently we had a little camping trip on the north shore of Lake Superior. And while it is an amazing body of water, what we really spent most of the time admiring and fawning over were rocks. Yes, that's right-- rocks. We literally spent whole afternoons looking at rocks, climbing rocks, sorting rocks and playing with them. I know--it sounds like an exceedingly boring time, but I guess we are easily amused or something. 
(perusing the stones in the lake)
(this is what Beeper did while we sat fireside and drank wine in the early evening--climbed the hill of rock behind our camp site--over and over and over again--all while maintaing some sort of dialogue with himself about rescuing innocent people from the Joker and Venom or something)
(an assortment of rocks collected from the shallows of the lake) 
(as close to "beach" as Lake Superior's shore seams to get)
These little plushie duckies are 
Before this summer, I had never, ever made 
We are fortunate enough to have pretty large raspberry patch(and wildly unchecked--sorry neighbors whose property our patch encroaches upon more and more each year--but I guess that is why all manner of people in our neighborhood feel free to come over and gather raspberries of their own accord and use them to make vats of raspberry margaritas for their drunken friends)--so this is, naturally, the fruit with which I launched my experiments given the 
JAM LESSON NUMBER #1: Jam making is not all art. Whoa no. There is a good dose of science that goes into making jam and for those of us who tend to do most everything in the kitchen in an improvisational manner--well, your jam may or may not like that. While its not like your jam will explode in your face and burn out your eyes if you mess with the recipe too much, but it will have this annoying habit of not jelling and just sitting all runny-like in your nicely sealed jam jars, taunting you as you tilt it on its side and 
So, I am here to share my tried and VIABLE jam recipes. If you can follow the recipe, I 
But what can you do with all that raspberry or raspberry jalapeno jam?, you ask. Well, let me just suggest a few ideas (depending upon if you are in the mood for a little sweet and savory heat in your food or not, you can use the jams interchangeably in the suggestions below): 
Still smitten. I had to ask the lilies in to stay the night--and they have actually been here most of the week now. Funny how that happens. But with them here to keep me company, they make all the time spent in the red chair so much better. I am no longer alone with the lilies there (not that I ever was-- what with a 5 year old wearing a superman cape leaping cirque-du-soleil style from the sofa to the floor and back again one is never, EVER alone).
Of course, I made some modifications--knee socks and a bib detail I added to her dress. But then I also decided she should have some accoutrement--because shouldn't all dolls have a little accoutrement? So, I made the capelet, beret and little mary jane shoes. 
And then I thought, well, why shouldn't I share these simple little patterns with you to either embellish your own Black Apple doll, or that you could use for your own doll design? These little pieces take like an hour to whip up and add so much je ne sais quoi to your doll (not to mention how much adoration you may inspire in any small children who would be so lucky as to receive a doll with said accoutrement). So, go ahead, find my simple, easy-peasy pattern with instructions here:
And so the doll was dropped on behalf of the 
Posts
