Eileen's Gift Wisdom

Recently, a friend of mine spent a lot of time and energy making the PERFECT gift...but the reception was very disappointing. (I'd name names, but then somebody's feelings would be hurt...)

We've all experienced the not-quite-right-gift-reaction....

To make my friend feel better -- I shared the wisdom of Eileen Roche.  Editor of Designs in Machine Embroidery magazine.  My friend Eileen is an experienced GIFT GIVER...and somehow, she has come to the perfect ZEN attitude about making gifts for people.  She has a very unique point of view...and I have completely adopted her philosophy.

AND, like all good advice -- if you will only TAKE IT -- it could change your life...

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Eileen says, 

"Here’s how I look at sewing gifts for other people. I pour my heart into it, pick the project and the materials with that specific person in mind and then I throw myself into it. I think about them the entire time. And when it’s complete, I am done – I mean, I could literally, throw it away because I know I already got what I wanted to get. I wanted to honor them with my time, talent and thoughts. I wanted to spend time focusing on them, kind of ‘spending time’ with them (although they’re not there). In my mind, the process is the gift. 

So don’t look at the time and energy that you spent as a waste, look at it as a gift to yourself. The gift of thinking, imagining, fantasizing about how much they will love your gift. The fact that they didn’t, well -- screw it. That’s their loss, just a total loss, it’s not your loss."

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That is some of the best advice I ever got....and I'm sharing it with you. Because, my guess is -- ONE DAY, YOU'RE GONNA NEED IT...

If you love machine embroidery, be sure to check out Eileen's Machine Embroidery blog

Mary Mulari Alert!!

It started off just like any other day. I was busy, and Lilly was amusing herself with her suitcase of buttons...

She LOVES to sort her buttons...

She used up all my cupcake papers...

We were planning to do some baking on this day -- but Lilly's apron tie was all knotted up (I washed it that way...ugh)...and getting it undone was nearly impossible.

The thing is -- at the age of five -- Lilly likes to do things BY HERSELF...which is why we often have to deal with impossible knots...

THEN IT HIT ME...the answer might be right there in Lillian's button collection.

Inspired, of course, by Mary Mulari's favorite sewing accessory -- THE PONYTAIL HOLDER..!!

I sewed on one big button, then brought ONE tie around her back, and sewed the elastic pony tail holder in the right spot.

This has proven to be WAY MORE CLEVER than I thought. Lilly can put this apron on ALL BY HERSELF, and she is so proud. We cook something just about every week, and she always says, "Oh oh...we can't forget our aprons, Grandma!" and she loves having her apron hanging on her own eye-level hook. I made several versions...the ponytail holder gives her enough flexibility...if the apron was too big, I'd tie a knot into the single apron tie (or maybe pin in a pleat?)

AND I'm gong to modify some aprons for ME -- FAT GRANDMA -- using a much larger elastic HEADBAND...because, wouldn't that be a lot easier than trying to tie a knot behind my back?? (and, who are we kidding, most of my vintage aprons do NOT have ties long enough to fit me -- much less tie a nice big bow...)

 yep...I'm loving it...

Ree Drummond Coffee Cake

The 2014 Porch Party Reveal started with breakfast inside the house (you've gotta eat those popovers the MINUTE they come out of the oven). Then -- we moved the party OUT TO THE PORCH. Of course, there should be dessert for this special occasion.

As I was planning the meal, I thought about my Mom's old-fashioned "coffee cake". When I looked it up recipes on the internet -- Ree Drummond (Pioneer Woman) came up - and I have had good success with her ideas and recipes. This one looked like exactly what I had planned....

Although I cheated and used a yellow cake mix -- the key is the TOPPING...and I'll put the recipe at the end of this post...

Because the trees have grown so big around the porch -- even on a very hot day -- there was a breeze and it was comfortable on the porch....

The hummingbirds were buzzing at all the feeders...and we all remembered the 60's with this coffee cake...

The topping kind of melts down, and the cake comes up around...it was DELICIOUS and moist...

The PERFECT ending to the PERFECT PORCH PARTY...please note Aunt Rozella's silver...

Here is the topping for this most delicious coffee cake:

1 1/2 sticks of butter (just do it)
1 1/2 cups of walnuts (Ree used pecans)
1 1/2 cups of brown sugar
3/4 cups of flour
2 tbl. cinnamon
Use a pastry blender to cut it all together...

I made a cake mix -- spread this topping on -- and baked according @350 for 40 minutes.  It looks like way too much...but I  needn't have worried.  It was perfect.  THANKS AGAIN, PIONEER WOMAN....

Lilly's New Storage

One of my summer projects this year was reorganizing Lilly's room. Obviously, I cause most of the problems with my thrift-store-shopping-addiction. The kid has WAY TOO many clothes. And, even though there are some deep shelves in her little closet -- by the time she digs through everything, there is a big pile of clothes on the floor. All the time. It's a mess. We needed a change...

So -- you remember the $4 shelf.....which we sanded and painted...

Linda put some decorative duct tape all along the edges...and Lilly painted one side blue...(yes, it is the same gallon of blue paint we used to paint the sofa porch...)

PERFECT.  It has five shelves...and she can almost see everything she puts there...but it is so lightweight, it would fall easily...

So, we asked Grandpa to screw it to the wall.  He found a couple of studs...

And it is solid as a rock.  Lilly used the shelves for:  short sleeve tops, long sleeve tops, shorts, pants, skirts...

We realized she has too many skirts -- and not enough short sleeve tops.

Even after we painted them, a couple of the shelves were still kinda rough. One day, we were shopping, and I said, "Oh, here's some contact paper...we should get this to put on your shelves." (thinking she had enjoyed the process so much -- this would be one final improvement). After a long pause, she said, "Wouldn't that mean I'd have to move all the clothes I just folded?"

Emergency Hot Fudge Sauce

First of all -- remember I live in Iowa...my house is surrounded by corn fields. It was late at night...I was jonesing for something chocolate...

After taking an inventory of my pantry -- I concluded that THERE WAS NOTHING CHOCOLATE TO EAT. Of course, that was no surprise. Chocolate cannot survive in my house. I mean -- I only buy it to eat it...right???

Chocolate is not going to last. It simply doesn't have the life expectancy of, say, a bar of soap or a bottle of ketchup...

So, in an emergency situation -- what can a girl do?  After doing an internet search -- many recipes for hot fudge sauce called for stuff I did not have. Hummm...I did find some Hershey's cocoa...???

Hell...it's worth a shot.  I put all this in a saucepan and cooked it until it was bubbly...

1 cup sugar
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1 cup Half and Half
2 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoons vanilla  (I added this at the end)

Hershey's has NEVER LET ME DOWN...

I kept whisking...it took about 6 minutes to come to a boil...

And it got nice and thick...(even more so after it cooled)

Oh, yes, this was a VERY GOOD IDEA...

I broke up some graham crackers in the bottom of the bowl. The ice cream was mediocre, but the hot fudge sauce was AMAZING...

Then, you hide the leftover fudge sauce in your refrigerator by putting it in a Jelly jar that has a "sugar free" label....nobody ever touches that crap....

Shrek The Musical

Here we are -- on a BEAUTIFUL SUMMER SUNDAY afternoon -- me and Lilly going to a play. Countryside Community Theater is putting on Shrek, The Musical. For 30 years, I've been attending CCT performances in Eldridge, Iowa. So, on the first Sunday of the performance, that's where we went. BUT, as I drove into the empty parking lot, I knew something was wrong...

Seems that auditorium is being renovated this summer -- so Shrek is happening 20 miles away -- at the Bettendorf HS auditorium. We couldn't get to the new location in time -- so it was a "Plan B" learning moment. Lilly was very disappointed, but I explained that sometimes, big plans don't work out the way you want....and it's important to be flexible. Lilly and I enjoyed a bonus FREE afternoon...

One week later -- here we are, setting out on our SECOND attempt to see Shrek. Lilly is taking in her booster seat from the car.

BHS has a BEAUTIFUL new auditorium....this was my first time there.

We had a few minutes before the show

Our seats were excellent. But Lilly needed the booster seat.

Photos of the show were not allowed. Too bad -- because THIS WAS AN EXCELLENT performance. The singing was top notch -- and I'd put our Fiona up against anybody on Broadway.

And the costumes were BRILLIANT. When you think of everything they had to make -- 40 Fairytale characters -- it was amazing. Cinderella, Tinkerbell, Peter Pan, Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum -- all of them had beautiful, bright costumes that looked rich and impressive...

And here's the silver lining to Plan B. BECAUSE this was the final show -- Lilly's ticket was free and I got the special senior rate. So -- the tickets were $0 and $7..(instead of $16 plus $7) --

You know what we call this, right???    yep.

RITALUCK

Steak and Shake

If you haven't been there lately -- today you need to have lunch at your local Steak and Shake.

THE FOOD IS AWESOME...

They have about twenty burger meals -- all for $4....Their hamburgers are terrific -- and their french fries are better than McDonald's (which I love, love, love -- remember, people -- do not judge me)...

They go to big effort for the kids at Steak and Shake.  This is Lillian, building her first little cardboard car...

She has a fleet of them now...

She gets a paper hat, and a placemat with games and mazes...

And -- AS IF ALL THAT ISN'T ENOUGH???? -- Every day, from 2 to 4 -- they have HALF PRICE SHAKES AND MALTS...

This incredible salted caramel malted milkshake only cost me $1.75...

So -- that's our new favorite place, people. Steak and Shake. The burgers are AWESOME...and Lilly and I can eat lunch for less than $10 for the two of us. WHAT A BARGAIN..!!