Blankets and Burp Cloths

Some friends of ours are having their first baby in July.  They're expecting a little girl and next weekend I'm going to a shower for the mom-to-be.  So I spent the other day making some little goodies for her new little one.

I made a simple blanket.

Both sides are flannel.  One is solid pink and the other is white with green polka dots.  I used a yard and a half of each fabric and just made it as big as possible.  I believe it's 38" x 52".  I would have appliqued the baby's first initial onto one of the corners, but as of now they aren't sure how they're going to spell her name. 

Next I made some embellished burp cloths.

These are really easy to make.  I just measured the center section and added about 3/4" on each side.  The fabric started out at about 20" x 6".  Fat quarters would easily give you two or you could use scraps if you have large enough pieces.  Fold the edges under and sew the fabric in place.  I made two with each fabric. 

I threw in a little sundress and a book to complete the gifts.  I can't wait to celebrate this new little baby next weekend and meet her this summer.

Sewing for babies is so much fun and these projects were really easy.  It felt really good to sew again as I haven't done it since we moved seven months ago.  Now I want to keep going.

Ready Player One

I just finished Ready Player One by Ernest Cline yesterday before I went to work.  It's a story that takes place in the future where just about everyone spends their time inside a virtual reality called the OASIS.  When the creator of the OASIS died and leaves behind his fortune to the first person who can solve the clues he's left behind, the search is on.  The book is told from the point of view of Wade Watts, a young man who is one of the people trying to solve the puzzle. 

I loved this book.  It is filled with references to 80s music, games, movies, and television.  I'm sure some of them went over my head, but the ones that I did get were great.  While they add to the story for those who do get them, I don't think someone who was unfamiliar with them would feel like they were missing anything.  It's a very well-told story with interesting characters and lots of plot twists.  While some parts are a little predictable, I still thought it was a great book.  I only wish this weren't his first novel so there would be more to read. 

Star Trek Technology

This just made my day!  I was on Pinterest and I happened to find a link to this baby.  It's a real-life working tricorder.  It's still fairly basic.  It's not quite as fancy as the ones they had on Star Trek, but it's a start.  I love being able to see things from Star Trek come to life.  Technology is an amazing thing. 

I've had this conversation with a few other Trekkies about the technology that we use today largely being inspired by things that appeared on Star Trek back as far as the late 60s.  Some of the ideas that they had in the 80s and 90s are spot on with today's tech gadgets.  We have touch-pads, Kindles (and other e-reading devices), and USB drives.  These are all things that showed up in Star Trek long before they hit the stores.  As a huge fan, I love seeing that we're going in that direction. 

Now I just need to convince my husband that we need one of these. 

Gardening

We had a brief moment of spring here not too long ago.  It's back to raining (though, fortunately, not snowing anymore).  The seasons seem to be confused.  We had almost no weather for the entire season of winter.  Then two days before spring started we got a crazy snow storm and it has continued storming on and off since then.  Hopefully this weekend will be the last of it. 

Anyway, the husband and I got it into our heads to take care of our lawn, which led to me wanting to plant something colorful in the flowerbeds outside our front window.  So we went off to Lowe's to find a couple flowers.  Then we saw that the vegetable plants were in and we ended up walking out of there with an entire garden's worth of plants.  I got my colorful flowers.  We bought two different kinds of daisies and a bunch of ranunculus* for the window bed.  They look so bright and cheery on the front of our house.  I forgot to take pictures of them though and it's cold outside right now.  Google them if you want to see pretty pictures. 

We also plants tomatoes, cucumbers, zucchini, lettuce, and strawberries.  My husband planted a lemon tree that we desperately want to see grow.  Not only will it give us lemons, but it will block out that neighbor's view of our yard and it was much cheaper than raising that entire fence.  We also have a blueberry plant that is currently homeless in our yard.  If it ever stops raining we'll find it a nice home. 

Now I'm ready for summer and the ability to eat food from my own garden.  And there's only 5 more weeks until our farmer's market starts back up.  I love summer produce.


*Blogger's spell check doesn't recognize this word.  It wants it to be homunculus.  Seeing that made me laugh.  Reminds me of the Big Bang Theory.  Also, if your mom watches the show, don't call her a homunculus, even if she's only five feet tall.  She will not find it nearly as funny as you do. 

Balsamic and White Wine Pasta Sauce

Last summer my husband and I went out to eat at a local restaurant that has amazing food.  They always have a seasonal menu to go along with the regular one and they had a pasta dish with a bunch of veggies and chicken in it and a balsamic and white wine sauce.  It is amazing.  I seriously thought about it for weeks after we went there.  I tried to find something similar online and either I suck at searching (entirely possible) or there's nothing on the internet like that recipe (less likely). 

I tried to experiment.  I knew it had garlic and white wine and balsamic vinegar.  I substituted water for the wine (because I'm cheap and I'm not a big fan of white wine), but I could not figure it out to save my life.  I had two massive fails under my belt and just couldn't seem to find anything to help me.  Then we went back to the restaurant.  I asked for that meal even though it wasn't on the menu (which I've done before) and she said they couldn't do it.  So I asked for something similar (no balsamic vinegar).  It was good, but not quite the same.  I took my leftovers home and added some vinegar to it the next day.  Amazingly, it tasted almost exactly like it.  I figured out that the trick was adding the vinegar at the end and I was determined to make it work. 

So I spent Friday night looking at recipes for a white wine sauce and figured out the basics (like simmering the sauce to burn off the alcohol).  Saturday night I made it and it's actually a fairly close approximation.  It's close enough to keep me happy throughout the year. 

I didn't measure anything, so these are just estimates, but feel free to try it and make your own changes.

1 cup white wine
2-3 cups water
2 Tbsp of garlic
2 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
salt
pasta
whatever veggies you like

First, throw some EVOO and the garlic into a pan and saute it a bit.  Once it starts to smell really good add the white wine and water.  Add a touch of salt.  Cover and simmer for about 20 minutes.  Start boiling your pasta.  I used angel hair pasta.  Taste the sauce.  If you can still taste the alcohol, keep simmering it (I had to check mine twice-garlic wine is not a good flavor). 
At the very end when the white wine sauce is done, add the balsamic vinegar.  Add more if you like.  The sauce should be a light brown.  Throw in your veggies and pasta.  I used artichoke hearts and cherry tomatoes.  The restaurant also adds mushrooms and chicken.  Saute it all together for a few minutes and serve. 

Other than waiting for the sauce to simmer this recipe is really quick and simple.  Adding some chicken might add some time, but if you already have some cooked then it wouldn't take long at all. 

This is an delicious summertime dish when the veggies are fresh, but it's good all year round.

Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

I finished Douglas Adams' Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy yesterday before I left for work.  I'm not sure if it's because I was expecting so much more from such a well-known book or if I'm just one of those few people who don't fully appreciate it but I found it a little lackluster.  Some parts of it were certainly funny, but it seemed like so much of it was unnecessary filler and the ending is so blah.  Adams has a pretty funny sense of humor (he had Monty Python connections and it shows), but I just didn't feel connected to the characters at all.  I feel like I might still be comparing everything I read to the Tenebrea trilogy by Roxann Dawson because I read it recently and absolutely loved it.  I tend to do that with really great books.  Hopefully I'll find something to really pique my interest soon. 

Resistance is Futile

I tried to resist; I really did.  Everyone kept posting about Pinterest and I thought I didn't need another social networking thing.  I even checked it out and spent some time looking at stuff before I signed up and I didn't really get the whole point of it.  So I waited and occasionally went back and checked it out.  I watched my friends posting on Facebook that they had pinned something new.  Then I found a few interesting recipes and some funny pictures and I decided to join.  Now, this is exactly how I feel:



I even found this on Pinterest.  I borrowed this from here. 

So suffice it to say I have a new time suck and I plan on spending even more time there.  If you haven't checked it out I highly recommend it.  Unless, you know, you have things to do in which case I don't recommend it because those things will never get done.  Don't say I didn't warn you.