A New Look

Check it out!  I have a new banner!  I hired my sister-in-law to make a new banner for my shop, one that reflects my change to selling only crochet patterns.  She designed my original banner, which I loved, but I think I like this one even better.  It's simpler, it sends a clear message about my shop's contents, and it has a kind of vintage look that pleases this old-fashioned girl.  Plus it retains the color scheme and font from the original, which keeps some continuity with my old logo.

While she was at it, she made a matching banner for my blog.  This has inspired me to revamp this place a little.  Still the same layout, and the color scheme hasn't really changed, I just changed up what color went where a little.  Do you like it?

Birthday Socks

{this moment} – A Friday ritual. A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. – soulemama

(feel free to add a link to your own ‘this moment’ in the comment section below)

Asparagus and Tofu Stir Fry

My hubby occasionally makes up recipes, and some of them turn out quite well.  Here's one we had this week :-)  We're not vegetarians, but we try to eat meatless dishes several times a week, as many of the health benefits of vegetarianism can be gained by simply eating less meat rather than cutting it out altogether.

Asparagus and Tofu Stir Fry

Ingredients:

4 tbsp. Sesame oil - divided

1 lb. Extra firm tofu - sliced 2" long and pencil thickness

1 bunch Asparagus - trimmed and sliced 1" long

6 cloves Garlic - minced

1 bunch Green onions - chopped

6  cups Fresh spinach - coarsely chopped

1/4 cup Lime juice

1/4 cup Hoisin sauce

1 tsp. Basil

3/4 tsp. Ginger

1/2 tsp. Crushed red chilies (optional)

1/2 tsp. Salt

1/2 tsp. Mint

1/2 cup Cashews (optional)

1 cup Rice - cooked according to package

Directions:

In a large skillet, sauté the well-drained tofu in a 2 tbsp. oil until golden brown.  Remove from skillet.  Add remaining oil and sauté garlic and asparagus for 1 minute.  Add the spinach and onions.  Saute until wilted.  Return tofu to pan.  Stir in juice, sauce, and spices.  Sprinkle with cashews and serve over rice.

The crushed red chilies are optional because our kids fuss if they chomp down on one, so we tend to leave those out these days.  But they add a nice kick if you don't have anyone who will howl about them.

I'd Like to Live in a Daffodil

Who wouldn't want to live in a daffodil?  They're so cheerful and friendly, always nodding their heads to whoever passes by them.  They're my second-favorite flower, after daisies.  Well, thanks to Lucinda Macy, the genius behind Etsy store Willodel, you can now find out what it's like to live in a daffodil!  Well, sort of.  She's created this amazing play set, complete with a little daffodil gnome (my daughter says it's a fairy instead) to live inside.

Willodel is chock full of other charming play sets and gnomes, all with a woodland theme, all great for imaginative play.  They're all wonderful, but this one is definitely my favorite :-)

No Accounting for Taste

How weird is this?  Last night, we tried out a new chili recipe that involved beer and chocolate.  When we were talking to my mom later that night, she asked us how it was.  I said it was okay, but mostly all I could taste was the beer.  My husband looked at me funny and said, "Really?  I mostly tasted chocolate -- I could hardly tell there was beer in it at all!"

I had leftovers of it for lunch today, and I still can't really taste the chocolate.  It's mostly beer, a little tomato.  And I am not a beer fan.  Neither is my husband, so we can't just assume that my taste buds are accustomed to chocolate and his to beer.

It makes me wonder what else I taste differently than other people.  When someone agrees with me that a particular food is tasty, are we really tasting the same things?  Or does watermelon, say, taste one way to me and another way to you, but we both agree it's tasty?  Kind of flips my lid a little every time I realize that I experience the world in a completely unique way, as does everyone else.

Okay, enough Deep Thoughts.  Time to get back to my crocheting while the girls nap and my son does some jigsaw puzzles.  I'm working up a new set of embellishments that are tickling my fancy quite a bit :-D

Craftsy, Here I Come!

For months, I've been seeing links to Craftsy, ads for Craftsy, people talking about how much they love Craftsy.  So I decided to check it out, and whaddaya know?  It's cool!  I think they had me hooked when I spotted the "Dipped, Dusted, and Rolled Handmade Chocolates" course.  A lot of the courses are too pricey for my budget -- and honestly, with my 3 little ones around, I don't have enough time for them -- but the workshops are definitely something I could get into.  And best of all, they have a pattern store that they are now allowing independent designers to add patterns to!

And guess what?  I'm an independent designer.  So my project for this long weekend is to get my patterns listed there.  Craftsy doesn't charge any fees for selling patterns through them, unlike Etsy and Ravelry (though I've yet to sell enough in a month on Ravelry to need to pay them).  And their interface is pretty easy for uploading and listing new things.

So if you haven't been to Craftsy yet, I recommend checking it out and seeing what you could learn.  And if you're already there, look me up :-)  Like everywhere else, you'll find me under the name Huggermugger.

Pumpkin Butter Twists

I made these for breakfast a couple weeks ago. They were delightful with my morning cup of coffee, and the kids liked them too. I got the recipe from the October 2011 issue of Taste of Home, but I've changed them up a bit, so I'm calling them "twists" instead of "pinwheels."

Pumpkin Butter Twists

Ingredients:

1 8-oz tube of crescent roll dough

3/4 cup pumpkin butter

1/2 cup pecans -- chopped (optional)

vanilla frosting (optional)

Directions:

Unroll the dough and form 4 rectangles by pinching the seams shut between two triangles, the long sides together. Spread liberally with pumpkin butter and sprinkle with chopped pecans, if desired. Roll up, starting with the short ends. Cut each roll in half. Slice halfway through each little roll. Twist each side one way or the other to form a sort of figure-eight. Bake at 375 for 12-15 minutes or until golden brown. Spread with vanilla frosting while still warm, if desired. Sprinkle with additional pecans if desired.

Makes 4 servings, two twists each.

Happy Valentine's Day!

An appropriate song from my favorite singer ever, Bobby Darin. Enjoy!

As Time Goes By

It's been almost a year since I blogged here last. I'm amazed anyone is still following here! Well, surprise, surprise -- I'm back!

The past year has been crazy busy. We bought a house and moved into it in August, about 6 months after our previous move. I'm still not unpacked. Why? Because I had a baby in December! The last time I blogged here, I didn't even know I was pregnant. Wow.

Due to the arrival of baby Abby, I considered closing my Etsy shop. Taking packages to the store with three kids in tow is daunting, for one thing. For another, I've been wanting to narrow the focus of my store for a while now. Or give it a focus for the first time, lol. A couple years ago, I mused in this post about whether or not having lots of different kinds of items in my shop was good or not. I've decided to try selling only my original crochet patterns. No journals, no canteens, no ready-made crocheted items. Just patterns. So far, it's been working well! I've added several new patterns recently, and am working on lots more. Stay tuned here for details, because I plan to keep this blog going once again :-)

To close, here's one of my new patterns, modeled by my new baby: