Nana's Dishcloth

Wow! It's July!! Where the heck did March, April, May, and June go??? Sometimes time flies by faster than I ever thought possible. But I'm really happy that it's summer. Summer schedule gives me the time to do a lot of the things I love, like gardening, canning, and knitting. So look forward to posts about my veggies (which are doing fantastic in their new location!).

This week's forcast is over 100 degrees for seven days straight, so I think I'll be spending most of my time next to the pool watching my kids swim. Although I won't get a lot of housework done, I will be able to catch up on my blog and get ahead on my knitting. Maybe I'll even start some Christmas presents so I won't be cramming at the last minute.....Yeah, right.

So, in honor of summer, and to make up for four months of no blog posts, I am giving you my favorite knitted dishcloth pattern! Yes, it's very basic, but I've tried many different ones and continue to return to this one (that I got from my grandmother) as the best. It's probably the same pattern that they give you free with some yarns, but to me it will always be Nana's Dishcloth.

(Yes, my dishcloths look a little wonky... but as soon as I wash them, they will be nice and square).

Nana's Dishcloth
100% cotton yarn (like "Sugar'n Cream")
Size 7 or 8 knitting needles (I like to use 16" circular, but any type is fine)

(This pattern starts at one corner, increases to halfway, and then decreases to the opposite corner)

Cast on 3 stitches.
Knit across.
Knit 1, Yarn over, Knit to the end. (Increase row)
**Repeat increase row until you have about 46 stitches (or the dishcloth is the size you like).
Knit across one time.
Knit 2 together, Yarn over, Knit 2 together, Knit to the end. (Decrease row)
**Repeat decrease row until you have 3 stitches left.
Knit across.
Cut yarn with a 6 inch tail, and using a yarn needle thread yarn through all three stitches.
Fasten off (weave tail into cloth to secure stitching)


Happy Knitting!

Caraway Pork and Peppery Beef

I'm not a bad cook, but if I don't have a recipe, I'm totally lost!

My husband, on the other hand, is one of those people who can throw a bunch of ingredients together without using any recipe. And everything he cooks makes you think "Oh wow! This is the best thing I've ever tasted!" (My only complaint is that he makes a huge mess in the kitchen that I have to clean up, LOL!)

Unfortunately, my hubby has to work a gazillion hours and the job of daily cooking has fallen to my shoulders. Luckily I can call him up and he can tell me what to put together over the phone. He is especially talented at thinking up seasoning mixes and marinades. 

Here are a couple that we've made recently...... (sorry, I forgot to take pictures!)

Caraway Pork Loin
2 Tbsp caraway seeds, crushed
1 tsp salt
1 tsp mustard powder
1 tsp mustard seed
1/2 tsp thyme
1/2 tsp oregano
1 Tbsp vegetable oil

Mix the ingredients and then liberally coat a 1 1/2 lb pork loin (it really doesn't matter what size loin you use..... if your is bigger, just increase the amounts of the ingredients to make slightly more rub). 

I use a pan that I can use on the stove and then put directly in the oven (but you can transfer from pan to oven safe dish if you need to).

Over medium/high heat, seer the pork loin on all sides (about 3-4 minutes per side). There is already oil on the pork, so you don't need oil in your pan. Transfer to a 325 degree oven for about 25 minutes (I can't really tell you how long it will be because it will depend on how thick your loin is. Use a meat thermometer and remove the pork when the thermometer in the thickest part reaches about 170 degrees). Remove the pork from the oven, cover with foil, and let rest 5-10 minutes. 

We enjoy this pork with rice, quinoa, or a green salad.


Peppery Beef Tri-tip
5 garlic cloves, chopped finely
2 Tbsp rosemary, chopped
2 Tbsp thyme
2 Tbsp dijon mustard
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 Tbsp black pepper
1/4 C olive oil

I used this amount for a fairly large Tri-tip. It's alway better to have extra marinade, so if you think your Tri-tip is extra big, you can increase the amounts listed. 

Combine ingredients and rub liberally over all sides of the Tri-tip. Seal in a ziplock bag and let sit in the refrigerator up to 2 days (the longer the better!) 

This beef is best on the B-B-Q, so I called in my husband (a.k.a. "master griller") to do the job. Cook to just UNDER your preferred doneness. Remove from grill, cover with foil, and let rest 10 minutes. It will continue to cook after you remove it. (You should ALWAYS let meat rest before you cut into it or you will lose all of the yummy juices!)

Slice up the meat and enjoy with rice and sautéed (or barbecued) veggies. Yum!!

Please comment and let me know if you try either of these recipes. I would love to hear how you liked it!

Spice-Rubbed Pork With Quinoa

I just wanted to share this delicious recipe I cooked this week. Based on a recipe I found on the Food Network a few years ago....

Ingredients:
2 tsp paprika 
1/2 tsp chipotle powder
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
2 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp kosher salt

1 1/2 lb pork tenderloins, halved crosswise
1 Tbsp olive oil

1 cup quinoa, rinsed
2 cups water
pinch of kosher salt

1 cup frozen corn, thawed
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1/2 medium onion, sliced
fresh ground pepper

1 jar of salsa verde (I usually don't use canned salsa, but we had it, so I used it)
1 avocado

Directions:
Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Combine first 5 spices above in a shallow dish. Rub the pork with the olive oil. (I forgot to do this and it still turned out great. So you can omit the oil if you want). Roll the pork in the spice mixture to coat. Transfer pork to a baking dish and roast covered in the oven until thermometer interred into the thickest part of the meat registers 145 degrees F. About 25 minutes, but will depend on the thickness of your tenderloin. Remove roasted pork from oven and let rest at least 5 minutes before slicing.

Meanwhile, put the water with a pinch of salt and the quinoa into a saucepan and bring to a boil. Turn heat to low and simmer for 15 minutes, or until the quinoa is transparent. Drain any excess water and fluff with a fork. Let it cool for 10 minutes and then toss it with the corn, black beans, onion, and fresh pepper.

Slice the pork. Serve with quinoa and sliced avocado. Pour salsa verde over pork and quinoa (the quinoa salad is a little boring without the salsa....). ENJOY!!

Toy Hammock

I'm not sure why, but where there are kids, there is bound to be a stuffed animal (or 10) nearby. When you have a baby, people start buying them for you. And then your kids get older and they start ASKING for them on their birthdays and holidays.......leading to stuffed animal overload.

I have three kids. And that mean I have about a thousand stuffed animals in the house. (Ok, maybe not REALLY a thousand, but it sure feels that way).

I don't really mind that they want their little cuddly things, but I am SO tired of constantly picking them up and trying to find somewhere to keep them. If you put them in the toy box, you run out of room for actual TOYS in there. If you keep them on the bed, you have to move them every night and put them back every morning. Too much work for an already over worked mom, if you ask me. 

I know that there are those triangular netting-type things to hang in the corner of the room to store all the stuffed animals in......but if you ask me, they are kind of cheap looking and are bound to break in no time. Besides, they look kind of dorky. 

But I'm desperate. 

And also being frugal (Ok, cheap) I start thinking of how I could MAKE some hammocky-thingy to hang in their room that wouldn't look so bad. I must be able to use something I have already...... Fabric? Not stretchy enough. Oh, YARN! And thanks to the internet, a few clicks lead me to this forum which had a pattern in one of the responses. I added about 10 rows because I didn't feel like it was big enough, but otherwise made it according to the pattern listed.

All loaded up.... whoops! I was so excited to try it that I forgot to weave in the strings....

After loading up the hammock, I realized that one was not going to be enough to hold all of the cuddly animals. AND, now my son needs one for his room too. It's a good thing it's an easy pattern. Off I go to make another one.....

TOY HAMMOCK
7oz worsted weight yarn
size H crochet hook

ch 9, sl st in first st to make a circle. DO NOT TURN.
Row 1: ch 7, sc in circle, ch 5, dc in circle. TURN.
Row 2: ch 7, sc in first loop, ch 5, sc in next loop, ch 5, dc in same loop. TURN.
Row 3: ch 7, sc in first loop, ch 5, sc in next loop (repeat to end), ch 5, dc in last loop (this will be your second stitch in the last loop). TURN
REPEAT Row 3 for Rows 4-41 (or more if you would like to make your hammock bigger).
Last Row: ch 5, sc in first loop, ch 3, sc in next loop (repeat to end), ch 5, dc in last loop.
Fasten off and weave in ends.

Hang with hooks in the corner of the room at your desired height and load up with stuffies! Yay! No more teddy bears on the floor!

Bearded Beanies

Well, Pinterest hits again.....

I kept seeing bearded beanies (hats) show up on my page and I knew that I just HAD to make some for my family this year. I had a feeling that they would be funny. But I never dreamed that they would be such a hit! I managed to make them for my two nephews, my niece, my brother, and my daughter (though hers was a little different......see below).

I tried to match hair color and age of recipient so they would be as real looking as yarn beards could be.

Oh. My. Gosh. 

I still laugh when I look at the pictures!

My brother and nephew wearing their new beards.

While I was knitting and crocheting these gifts, my 4 year old daughter decided that she wanted one too. Now, Penelope is a very girly girl, so I was surprised to hear her request..... until she explained it more. It made perfect sense.

"Mom, can you make me one of those hats? But instead of a beard I want it to have pink lipgloss."   

DING, DING, DING! Great idea!!! I haven't seen any "lipgloss beanies" on Pinterest yet! I managed to tweak the beard pattern to be skin colored with lips. She was THRILLED! (Personally, I think it looks like she put too much lipstick on and went out of the lines....)

The kids with their "beards" (and my brother with his REAL beard). 

I think these were my favorite gift to give this year. I might just have to make some more..... 

(I will try to write out the instructions this week and add them here)

Clearing the Kitchen Sink Clog

As a person who likes to do everything myself, I never thought I would be doing plumbing. My husband is very good with all of the construction and maintenance of the house, and does most of it with me as a mere assistant to "hold the light here" and "get me a wrench" and "QUICK, turn off the water!" Needless to say, I haven't had to actually DO any plumbing myself. But I have watched him do a lot of different things. And that's a good thing, because now I know I CAN do basic plumbing if the need should arise. Again. 

Since we moved in our house (a year and a half ago) one of our kitchen sink drains (there are separate drains for each side of sink) has never drained well. I usually just try to avoid that side, but I finally got fed up with it. I decided to play plumber today and I took off the trap to see if there was a clog. The "trap" is the U-shaped pipe under your sink, for those of you who don't know). I cleaned out lots of gunk..... but not enough gunk to stop the water from flowing. So I decided to check the pipe that goes from the trap to the wall. OH. MY. GOSH!!!! I'm sure this thing has been clogged for YEARS. And let's just say it's a good thing I don't have a sensitive gag reflex! Seriously! That clog covered 95% of the pipe opening...... 

and this clog went ALL THE WAY TO THE WALL! More that 18 inches of solid blockage!!! How do you even CLOG a pipe like that??? One of the grossest things I have seen. Ever. (This picture doesn't do it justice... and it got even worse as I dug deeper and deeper into the pipe). But after a half an hour of digging and scraping with various tools (except for the actual pipe snake which I am afraid to use and will let my hubby do later) the pipe was as clear as it was going to get.

 I was trying to save Danny a job.... which I did. Sort of. While examining the pipe, I found that it is rusted almost all the way through and needs replacing (to avoid a WAY bigger disaster). So, add another job to HIS list, because I am not THAT savvy with the plumbing. LOL! But at least, for now, the water flows without pooling up in the sink..... Yay me! :-)

Turkey Crayon Holders

It's been a VERY long time since I've done a blog post. So, I'm sorry to those who have been waiting...... I have lots of ideas, and even some drafts, but I've been so busy with Halloween and working at the kids' schools that I just haven't had time to finish a post. With three kids, a business, and endless housework, there just isn't a lot of time left for other stuff. Add in the holidays and FORGET IT! 

So I told myself that this week, since the kids are out of school, I would find the time to finish a post. ANY post. Of course, just as I sat down at the computer, I realized that I really should be getting ready for the 22 people coming for dinner on Thursday, and that I still haven't done any fun Thanksgiving crafts with the kids! (BTW, I will be posting, in the near future, the recipes for my husband's Bleu Cheese Pear Vinaigrette and Red Bean Tasso Soup that we will be having for Thanksgiving dinner. YUM!)

So, back to the craft..... 

I have decide to put butcher paper and crayons on the kids' table this year so that they will have something to do during dinner. Of course, I can't just throw crayons on the table! I looked for little baskets or bowls or something, but couldn't find anything just right. Then I saw some little baby food jars that were just the right size. But really, really ugly! So, we decided to turn them into Turkeys! They are really easy, but I will give step by step instructions below. Here is one of them finished. Isn't he adorable?

My 6 year old said, while we were making them, "Mom, these are so cute! We should put this on Pinterest!" Haha! He knows me so well.

Here's what we did.

Step 1: Cut a strip of brown paper the height of your jar (we used a plain lunch bag because we were out of brown construction paper). Using hot glue, glue the strip around the jar as shown below.

 Step 2: Cut a circle shape out of brown paper for the head. Add eyes, a beak, and a waddle (the red dangly thing). Then hot glue the head to the jar.

Step 3: Glue feathers to the opposite side of the jar as the head. And voila! Cute Turkey Crayon Holders!