Frying up Goodness

A while back this happened at our house....

it was just like being at the bakery at 3am...only it wasn't...cause we are sometimes just going to bed at 3am and cause well...we don't live at the bakery!

Here is proof that it was a while ago...Lane has brown hair! And it is kinda long for her!

It's always more fun to cook with friends, and, I think you are a little bit braver, more willing to try things that might scare you a bit - like making donuts!

There was donut shaping involved and we just used what ever was handy to make the donut holes...see the little plastic cup in the top pic?  It worked just fine.

There was rising involved...

There was frying involved...here's what I mean about being braver (or is it more brave?) with friends...that candy thermometer almost never comes out at my house...way too scary!

And...you can bet there was some eating involved!  Here you can see the assembly line...those beautifully risen donuts ready for frying, the golden donuts ready for sugaring or glazing and the glazed donuts ready for...that's right eating!!!

Just to let you know...we were very popular at ballet that night!

Oh my, now I am soooooo hungry for donuts...I wonder, if I hurry, and the kitchen is nice and warm and the dough rises fast...could I make donuts right now?

So, go and make some donuts...it's really not that hard...with some friends of course!


xoxo       Elizabeth

For the Bride

Some one we know is getting married...and so there was a shower...and so we wanted to give a gift...we love giving gifts!  The person getting married lives far away...and it was suggested that she may not want to haul lots of things on the plane home with her.  This, I think, was a good suggestion - they probably frown on bride-to-bes getting on the plane laden down with teapots and mixing bowls and cookbooks and the like.

I put my brain to work to come up with a tiny gift that would be useful and easy to take home...

I made a pattern...

did some cutting...

added some embellishments...

and this is what I came up with!

A tiny little wedding purse that can fit in a pocket on a plane and no one is the wiser!

I had so much fun designing and making this...just the right size for some boo hoo tissues (for the good kind of tears of course!), a lipstick and a candy or two....ok... that is what I would put in my wedding purse - there might be a choice other than candy for this lovely bride.

You know the saying:

Something old
Something new
Something borrowed
Something blue...
and a sixpence for her shoe

This could be the something new...well there is the gown...and the veil...and the shoes...well one of the something news then.

Best wishes to our bride and groom....and if you need it I know where you can get a sixpence!

xoxo       Elizabeth

etsy favorites in March

It's been a month already and time for another etsy favorites!  It has been brought to my attention...that men and women like to look at different things!  So this month I am going to see if I can find a little something for everyone!  Here goes...(as you are browsing don't forget...just click on the highlighted words to visit the shops)

How about some organic heirloom seeds from The Little Ragamuffin?  This etsy shop has handmade soap, seeds, dried herbs and various vintage items.  Jenny also shares the adventures of her family home, The Kirk Estate, located in Altamont, New York on her blog.

I think this idea is so fun...personalized knitting needles!  This particular pair is waiting for me to buy them for my knitting pal, Stacy!!! Take a look and see if there are any that you would like.

Everybody reads and this is something that I find hysterical and so clever...all the way from Kiev in the Ukraine...Olena makes these wonderful bookmarks.

I just recently came across a wonderful shop, I Want My Hobo, with people who sew like I do...but in such a different and fascinating way.  I am totally smitten with these!

These little birds fly to us all the way from Europe and they need to hang with the paper mache bluebirds of happiness that are in my living room! Plamena has many other wonderful things in her etsy store.

So there it is!  A little something for everyone?  I hope so and I have to admit that it wasn't easy for me to find those couple of things that I thought would - maybe - appeal to the men in our lives!

Go to etsy...explore...poke around the shops...find some things you love...and maybe even buy something!


xoxo       Elizabeth

A Confession

Well here it is...a confession...and also a sort of record being set...

at my house....as you can see...it is still Christmas!!!!!!!!!

Hard to believe I know, but the flamingo tree is still up...

the Santa Mouse is still hanging around...

the Christmas Angel is still watching over us...

Prince Charming is still perched on the shelf awaiting his Princess...

and even the Nativity is still out (accompanied as you can see by Brian's steering wheel!)...

I have beaten my own record...Christmas decorations still out in March!  I may even make it to St. Patrick's Day...because I don't see any time in the near future that I will be putting them away!  The boxes are in the house...ready and waiting for me to start the process...but I am busy - sewing, doing the chores, thinking up new schemes to sell my wares, making gifts, having good talks with the girlies....so much to do and none of it includes putting away the Christmas.  Oh well - it is what it is!  That's a new mantra that I am working on with a special friend of mine.  We are trying it out to keep ourselves calm and collected when things don't go just as we planned.

So for now I am calm and collected...Christmas will get put away at some point - just not sure what that point will be!

I am waiting for a box of Spring goodies to come in from a shop in China...maybe when they arrive it will spur me on to finally put Christmas back in the boxes!

xoxo      Elizabeth

Holly and the Dance Bag

There is this wonderful place that we go when our pointe-y shoes wear out....The Dance Bag!

The Dance Bag has everything we need for our dancing and one very special extra thing that no other dancing store has....Holly! I will call her mysterious Holly for now as she will never ever let us take her photo!

Mysterious Holly fixes The Dance Bag up with such cleverness....

It is always fun to see what she will have up her sleeve next....

but, even more important than those clever store decorations mysterious Holly knows just exactly what a ballet dancer's feet might need.

She pulls out every pair of shoes that just might work, she thinks and thinks about each pair of feet that are needing those pointe-y shoes...she puts a shoe on, asks some questions, analyzes the fit and works and works until the perfect satiny shoe is found. 

We are so thankful for mysterious Holly....we have some pretty difficult feet in our family...and she never gives up!  We have even heard sounds coming from the back of the store that are strangely reminiscent of a cobbler's shop!

So, if you need anything ballet (or jazz, or tap, or any dance-y thing) and if you want the best pointe-y fitter ever....and if you want to see all the cute displays....then go see our mysterious Holly at The Dance Bag in Modesto!

Thank you Holly for all your loving care!


xoxo        Elizabeth