So a co-worker took me to Olive Garden for the lunch a few weeks ago and I’m not ashamed to admit that I was looking forward to eating my body weight in bread sticks. When the soup and salad lunch came though, I was obsessed with this soup. It was...
My husband’s favorite gift to receive are hand knit socks. I try to make them for our anniversary and his birthday each year with maybe a bonus thrown in on Valentine’s Day or Christmas. I thought I had gotten the basic pattern from one of the hundreds of knitting books...
I don’t know what it is about little girls and tutus, but they are just cute. Fortunately, they are pretty easy to make as well. (Dogs could really do without them, but I needed a model.) What You’ll Need: 3/4 inch wide no-roll elastic (2 inches shorter than waist measurement)...
In all my crafty years, I have never been seduced by cross stitching. It just didn’t look like fun to me and it seemed like it wouldn’t be very relaxing. That was until I saw some of the really cool patterns out there and I decided to give it a...
This is a wonderful concept. This is hands down, the most convenient way to eat local, organic food. Greenling has come to my hometown and I couldn’t be happier. I was so geeked-out, happy that I took pictures of my first delivery (the surprise 50% off my delivery didn’t hurt either.) Way to surprise and...
Everything is better with bacon. A favorite local restaurant of our makes bacon pepper jelly that I just can’t get enough and that began my search for how to make it at home. This recipe isn’t the same as the restaurant, but I love it just the same. Bacon Jam adapted from Martha Stewart 1lb...
I had a mini pie-a-palooza over the last couple of weeks and this seems to be the winner of them all. This pie is most famous for belonging to In Jennie’s Kitchen. If you haven’t heard the story of Jennie and her husband Mikey, then you should go to her blog. In this season of...
Quilting is big business and if you have any doubts about that, you should go to the International Quilt Festival in Houston on the first weekend in November. Sewing machines going for $30K or more and prizes worth $10K prove that this craft is serious. The craftsmanship and the creativity of the quilts on exhibit...
It’s fall and the holiday season is right around the corner which means I start to go into hyper drive with cooking and crafting. I was inspired to make this brittle from the Spiced Pumpkin Seed Brittle post on Craftzine. I have a brittle recipe I love though, so I add some spices and pumpkin...
I love fall. It is my favorite time of year and it is also the start of decorating for the holidays! No offense to Memorial Day, Fourth of July and Labor Day, but there is only so much decorating you can do for those. Halloween is coming and here is an easy way to get...
Be sure to check out your local PBS stations this month for the documentary film Stitched that follows some well known quilters through their journey to Houston’s International Quilt Show. These people are truly artists – and some are just a little weird.
This blog is quickly becoming the Distracted Chef. I’m certainly on a cooking kick lately and this following recipe is something I mixed up a few weeks ago and is something I swear I could eat every day. I was inspired by The Pioneer Woman’s Spicy Dr. Pepper Shredded Pork, but I had to put...
It is like 1,000,000,000 degrees outside still and the only thing I can think about is ice cream. I’ve been churning out ice cream, sorbets and popsicles for months now. This one is my favorite and is pretty trendy right now. It’s just delicious. Salted Caramel Ice Cream Recipe 1 1/4 cups sugar, divided 1...
Pincushions are pretty popular these days and with so many people starting to sew again, they make great gifts. Fortunately, there are some options beyond the orange tomatoes. I took a stab at making one based on a pattern by Heather Bailey. I was originally inspired by Patty the Snug Bug who has a tutorial...
I was inspired for this craft by the Etsy store SeptemberHouse who makes embroidered magnets that show off different stitches. While I love the stitch idea, I wanted to to try something a little different so I made one that says Joy and another that is a bouquet of flowers. What You’ll Need: Fabric button covers...
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