Spaghetti Sauce

Evan and I shop at our local produce market at 7:30am, right when the grocers are pulling off the about-to-go produce and bagging it for quick sale. Today, I scored. For $6, I got about 12 pounds of beautiful, ripe tomatoes. Time to make some spaghetti sauce! I found a decent recipe and modified it (of course.) For dinner tonight, we had it over whole wheat spaghetti with a simple green salad. The rest I put in 3 cup increments in Ziplocs for freezing.

A Lot of Spaghetti Sauce
Makes about 16-18 cups of sauce. Cool and freeze the "leftovers" in dinner-portion-sized zipper freezer bags.

13 cups of fresh tomatoes, peeled & crushed (I used the Cuisinart)
7 6oz tins of tomato paste
3 large white onions, chopped
5 cloves garlic, crushed
2 Tbsp olive oil
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 Tbsp oregano
2 Tbsp basil
1-2 tsp sea salt, to taste
1 tsp black pepper

1. Prepare the tomatoes and pour into large stock pot. Note: you can remove seeds if you prefer, but I left them in.
2. Add tomato paste, olive oil, brown sugar, oregano, basil, salt and pepper to tomatoes and bring to a gentle boil on high.
3. Meanwhile, chop onions and garlic. Saute until translucent and add to sauce.
4. Simmer on low for 1-2 hours.
   

Sewing Saturday

My sewing machine is now unpacked. Here are some things I've made this week. Lots of curtains!

Basement curtains from Amy Butler "Nouveau Trees" fabric, scored for $4.70/yard. While the rings and the rod don't match, the rings were on sale, so for the basement, they'll work great. All I care is now we don't have to look at the shelves filled with clutter in that closet! I have leftover fabric, so I'll make some throw pillows for the couch.

Kitchen curtains in Amy Butler's "Fresh Poppies," also scored for $4.70/yard. Curtains are so easy to make. I measure the window, add 3 inches to length and multiply width by 1.5 for full length curtains or by 2 for a valence. I have a serger so no need for rolling and pressing hems. Curtains for my entire kitchen cost less than $20, using the existing hardware that was left by the previous owners.

Sitting on my windowsill is a fresh batch of jam. This morning I made blueberry jam with New Jersey blueberries. Very sweet! I tried a Ball Canning recipe for strawberry wine jelly; delicious, but it's not jelling. It may be one we have to keep in the fridge.

We were invited to the 2nd birthday party for the little girl who lives across the street, so for a gift I made her a crayon roll using this excellent tutorial. It's a fast and easy project. Using fabric and felt I had on hand, it took me about 45 minutes to make.

I bought 6 boxes of Crayola crayons last August when they were on sale for back-to-school for 25 cents a box. They make excellent party favors and stocking stuffers, too.

Exploring the Neighborhood

The rain finally let up today and Evan and I took the morning to check out our neighborhood. It's fabulous! I like that on a day like today when Jeff needs the car for work, we can walk to places and there is plenty nearby, in case we do want to get out of the house.

First we walked to our library. On the way, we went by the fire station, police station, baseball fields, a playground, about 5 pizza joints, an ice rink, a hockey shop, WaWa, a few hair places, a nice restaurant that serves organic and local foods and an Italian deli. Could we have picked a better neighborhood for us?

After walking about 8 blocks, we arrived at our library. It has an entire floor devoted to kids, with crafts, music, toys, toddler-height computers and books, of course. There were about 25 kids under age 4 running around, and Evan was in heaven. "Fourteen kids!" he exclaimed.

After the library, we stopped by the park for a bit, then at WaWa for some milk. It was a refreshing break from working on the house!

TNNA Yarn Show Recap

Last weekend I went to the big yarn trade show in Columbus, TNNA. TNNA has shows twice a year, in January and June. I have never been to this show, because it was too far to travel from Los Angeles; I always attended the January show in SoCal. This show was busier, and in this economy, that was encouraging. It's a little scary to be spending money in this climate, but in retail you have to spend money to make money...even if it's loaned bank money, sadly.

I did a lot of repeat ordering: Dream in Color Smooshy, Cascade 220 Superwash, Cascade Eco Wool and Eco Plus, Also, I added several new items.

• Berroco Comfort, a soft nylon/acrylic worsted weight yarn in 17 colors; great for kids' and baby items, and afghans - because it's machine washable and dryable. I will be making a sweater for Evan out of Comfort.
• I have 42 colors of Malabrigo Merino Worsted back in stock; they were very quick to send it! Also, I ordered about a dozen of Malabrigo's new yarn, Twist, a heavy worsted yarn, due in October; alas, a long time to wait, but with Malabrigo, it's always worth it.
• I will be stocking all Mission Falls yarns now, adding the DK weight 136 Merino to available offerings. I expect that in August.
• Some really cute patterns by Kalamazoo Knits will be in shortly: felted flip flops for adults/kids/baby, holiday ornaments shaped like light bulbs and flip flops and patterns for knitting over glass globe ornaments.
• New Stitch Diva Studios patterns, which I always order. While in Columbus, I had dinner & ice cream at Jeni's with Jennifer Hansen, the lady behind SDS. What a great gal she is!
• My big news is that Addi Turbo has finally decided to sell its needles to screened internet only retailers, so I will be carrying their needles! I am most excited to carry the greatly-coveted Click sets, which I won't get in until fall, but I am in the queue to get them. (Perhaps I should call my rep and add more to my order?)

If you're still reading, thank you! Here's a surprise gift: use code tenoff at SuperCrafty.com checkout to get 10% off any order of $20 or more. Now through 6/25 only!

Excuse me, but can the rain and the recession please go away?

Summer is not usually my best sales season, but business is so bad right now that June will undoubtedly be my worst sales month in my 5 years in business. I know a lot of yarn stores are struggling right now, and I'm feeling it, too. We're all holding on by 1 ply and hoping that come September, things will pick up again.

But that's all you'll hear from me on that topic today, because there is much to be happy about: new yarns are coming in! Chosen for its economic price and high rating on ravelry, seventeen colors of Berroco Comfort are in and I'm posting them online tonight and tomorrow. Twenty or so colors of Malabrigo Worsted should be here Tuesday, so I'm already looking forward to Fall for many reasons!

In between a little work and listing some things on eBay (Yes! I know! We moved them again and I didn't realize it!) I am keeping busy getting the house set up. June has been excessively rainy here, and so we have been working inside lately. We are almost unpacked and nearly have our "tier 1" priority renovations complete. There is just a small pile of 8 boxes sitting next to me here in the basement. Most of it is books and tools that we need to go through. Also, I need to set up my sewing table because it will soon be time to make all the curtains and seat cushions from my coveted Amy Butler fabric stash. So far the house looks so great!

In between all that, we have time for some fun. This is our flying game.

The Garden is Growing!

Over the weekend I was in Columbus for the TNNA trade show, a.k.a. "the big yarn show." While I did enjoy myself and the show was productive (updates on what I bought later,) I am glad to be back home. Our lovely housewarming gift from my parents came: this awesome 6' x 3' raised garden bed frame, plus dirt, vermiculite and peat moss to make the Square Foot Gardening Mix. It was the best gift!

I ripped up the grass under the bed and mixed the soil by hand. Then, I laid out the grid, using cotton yarn, which will probably disintegrate, but Mission Falls Cotton (color #207, in case you're interested) was more readily available than nylon twine.

Then, I mapped out where I wanted my plants to go, and put them in. This entire project took me about 6 hours. I am hoping it will pay for itself in bounty, but I know it will bring me many hours of pleasure, working in my little garden.

I have zucchini, cucumbers, scallions, peas, beans, lettuce, peppers and tomatoes. Amazingly, all my seedlings fit! Following the Square Foot Gardening basic rules really does allow you to pack an impressive number of plants into a very small space.

Peppers!

Lettuce! We are eating salad from the garden!

Using planters that were left and ones I had, I created a little herb garden just outside the kitchen door at the exit to the back yard. I have chives, two types of thyme, flat leaf and curly parsley, dill and oregano. I had so many basil seeds that I tossed them haphazardly into a container back at our old house, and they all sprouted. Now I have about 40 baby basil plants!I've divided up and transplanted the seedlings into a bunch of little pots to give to my neighbors and friends. Unintentionally, I have become an urban basil farmer!

I spent $125 on plants and landscaping. I think I may have to buy a few more bags of topsoil for the back yard beds, which aren't finished yet. At most, I estimate it should be about $20. Before we left, I dug up all the bulbs I planted at our rental house, so I will have daffodils for springtime. I am hoping to tap into a friend's garden for some more perrenials to go along the back yard fence. I have many basil plants to trade! So, I am overbudget, but still, I think I made out like a bandit.

Here is what's in the front garden...

• Window box: left by the previous owner and filled with 3 petunias ($9.) I'm taking my mom's advice in picking off dead blossoms daily, so they last all summer.
  
• Ruler planter: made by me and Jeff about 5 years ago from vintage rulers. We saved it for our first house. It's filled with an old rosemary plant and a mini rose bush we got for a housewarming gift.
• Pots: pansies from last year, bleeding heart dug up from the woods at our old house.*
  
• Bed in front: I have no idea what the ground cover is there, but I'm glad it's low maintenance, thriving and flowering cute little purple blossoms, so I'm leaving it! I put the two shrubs I got for buy-1-get-1-free in that bed ($18.)

• Planter: wildflowers grown from seeds by Evan (25 cents) in a planter I have had for ages.
• Front Bed: Free hostas from my friend, 2 day lilies ($10 total) and 3 Lemon Drop perennials ($1.40 each.)
• Side Bed: Free hostas from the woods and from my friend, 2 day lilies ($10 total.)
  

I'm very pleased with my first gardening adventure in our new house!

*Our former landlords are very nice in that they said I could take anything from outside the house. I'm happy to save these lovely plants from being bulldozed!

A Blank Slate

I have been so excited to have my own piece of land in which to garden! Our back yard is quite plain, and I have big plans for its transformation. I plan to dig a bed along the fence and plant what I can to cover up the chain link fence (and the view of our neighbor's garbage cans.) My raised bed vegetable garden will be along the right side of the barn. I have all the materials for that, thanks to my parents for a lovely housewarming gift: wood and dirt!

I have budgeted just $100 for initial landscaping and plants for both the front and back yards, which will not go very far if I am to purchase everything. Creativity in the plant acquisition department is key if I'm going to keep to budget. I have found that trading my seedlings for mature perennials with friends is a great way to fill the garden beds for almost nothing. I do have a lot of flower, herb and vegetable seedlings to trade, thanks to $25 start up costs for potting soil and seeds.

I mentioned my desire to trade to a few friends who have lovely gardens. A friend gave me about 20 hostas she was clearing out of a bed. Also, I have about 10 striped ones and two bleeding hearts that I dug up from the woods at our old house. I have been saving them in planters for our new house for months. I am transplanting a few huge ostrich ferns (also salvaged from the compost pile out back of our old house,) to go behind the barn next to the composter.

Plant bargains are at the stores, too, but it's always by chance that I find them. I scored 3 rose bushes at Aldi on clearance for 99 cents each. Roses aren't ideal with a toddler around, but at that price, I'll take them. They have been cut back, but are alive and hopefully will sprout and thrive, covering up the fence.

Our local, non-Big Orange garden store had a 50% off rhododendrons special and I got 2 beautiful, medium sized ones for $60. This was my splurge, but I think a good investment, since they are green year-round. Of course I had to swing by the garden department on one of my many trips to the Depot this week. I discovered that individual Big Orange stores have their own specials on surplus plants. I got Buy-1-Get-1-Free Crimson Pygmy Barberry shrubs for $18, and day lilies - about to bloom - at 2/$10. So at that, I've pretty much blown my budget. We'll see how far what I have goes, and if I can restrain myself from buying a hydrangea, my favorite plant. Who knows? Maybe I can find one for less than $10. In the fall, after we get our stimulus tax credit, I'd like to plant a tree in the right far corner.

Now if my seedling zinnias, asters and bachelor buttons would just hurry up and grow, I'll have lovely fillers for the beds!

Things I am Learning from Homeownership: Plumbing, Part I

1. Rain creates big plumbing problems. Especially the torrential downpour we had today.
2. Learning where the water shut-off valve is an important piece of information to know. It also helps if it is not leaking (a.k.a. broken.)
3. Drains in our basement are not as good as they should be.
4. The edge of our brand new carpet is wet. I am sad.
5. While I don't really like the aesthetics, I am glad we have those metal window awnings over our open windows on rainy days like today.
6. Plumbers are very, very expensive.
7. Having a good one is very important.
8. You can get a lot of good advice and tips just by having plumbers do estimates for projects.
9. Easy decision: using the composter for free vs. paying $400 for a garbage disposal to be installed. (I didn't even want to ask about the dishwasher.)
10. Easy decision: spending our $100 Lowe's gift card on a dehumidfier for the basement vs. a new medicine cabinet or cool tool box.

Evan in the UHaul

For a 2 1/2 year old, "driving" the truck is the best part of moving.

We are here, surrounded by boxes. We have a lot of stuff and so much of it is in the "oh-just-put-it-in-the-basement-closet" category, but we have internet and the kitchen set up, so we are good. Evan has slept very soundly in his new blue room. We are thrilled that the transition has been so easy for him!

The After Pics!

Jeff and I have been very busy this week. Thanks to my mom for helping with Evan, we painted our entire house (including all the wood trim!) except for the spare bedroom. Here's a little comparison on the before and after, sans stencils. We did everything ourselves, except the bathtub & surround resurfacing and the carpet install. In many cases we had to put 2 coats of primer and 2 coats of paint on the walls to cover the stencils. It took us (+ a few hours of a friend's help on 2 days) 4 days to complete the job.

Next up after the move: window treatments...once I get my sewing machine set up!

Evan's Blue Room

Dining Room & Basement

Living Room & Kitchen

Upstairs Bathroom
(The enamel is still drying, hence the paper still protecting the walls.)