Yarn Along (Oh Where Has This Summer Gone!?!)

Happily joining in with Ginny at Small Things for today's yarn along. It has been a few weeks since I have done a yarn along post. I think it is mostly because I have been a bit scatter-brained and have been starting lots of things, but not finishing many. Call it startitis if you will.... however, in this case, the startitis is not just referring to my knitting, but to my life in general.
Anyways, since my last yarn along post I finished a few baby hats as gifts for friends (no pictures before I sent them out..oops!) as well as a super cute hat for Phoebe (shown below), all of which were knit from scrap yarn. I am sure P will be getting tons of use out of that wool hat in August, eh? Actually, we are going to bring it camping with us this weekend... we'll see if it gets cold enough! Right now I am knitting a wee surprise for a dear friend, and have been thinking of all of the other knitting projects I want to start, but not letting myself start anything new in this realm of my life. At least my startitis has not yet spread to my knitting!!
What am I reading? Well, what aren't I reading would be a better way to put it. I am currently loving Running the Rift, a fiction book about the Rwandan genocide. I am also (still) working my way through The End of Nature, The Shock Doctrine, and The Hobbit. The End of Nature and The Shock Doctrine are both non-fiction, and although both are interesting, they just don't seem to be capturing my attention. I am plodding through them s-l-o-w-l-y.  I have also been delving into some hiking books, parenting books, relationship books, and craft books... too many to mention. Like, I said, I am not focused, and I seem to be starting lots of new things but not finishing up the old.
This week's goal? To finish at least one of those books up! Wish me luck!
What are you reading and knitting?

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Our Summer Menu (Or Recipes Galore!)

For me, summer is a time of indulgence. A time for lots of fresh fruits and veggies. A time for fancy drinks served on ice. A lot of what we have been eating this summer is our tried and true, but I have also been quite inspired by pinterest! Here is a sneak peak into our menu for the past few weeks:

* Lavender lemonade (You can find my recipe here) with lavender ice cubes (just to be fancy!):

* Kettle Corn Cookies. I got this idea from Trader Joe's. They sell crunchy butter cookies with kettle corn pieces inside. They were good, but I imagined that a chewy cookie would make them so much better. So, I made my regular chocolate chip cookie dough, hold the chips, and added a couple of cups of kettle corn and mixed well. They were divine.  Sweet and Salty... yum! Next time though, I wouldn't be shy with the kettle corn. I think I should have even added more!

* Fruit pops! To make these yummy (and healthy treats) I blend up frozen fruit with unsweetened coconut milk. To my kids, they are as good as popsicles, but with a lot less sugar.

* Blueberry zucchini muffins

* Grilled Salmon with cucumber-radish relish.
To make the relish mix together:

• 1/4 cup duced radish
• 1/4 cup diced cucumber
• 2 Tbl freshly grated horseradish root (or to your taste)
• 2 sliced scallions
• 1 Tbl olive oil
• Salt, pepper, and chili powder to taste

Serve over grilled salmon. I served with dill-roasted red potatoes and swiss chard sauteed with shallots.

* Mexican Salad. Delish!
To make the salad, toss together:

• Mixed greens
• diced pepper
• black beans
• sliced scallion
• diced tomato
• diced radish
• a few crumbled corn chips
• feta cheese crumbles

To make the dressing, puree the following in a food processor:

• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1/4 cup fresh squeezed lime juice
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1/2 jalepeno, seeded
• 2 Tbl honey
• 1/2 cup cilantro

* Saw these blueberry pies in a jar on pinterest and couldn't wait to try them. I made them only half full to leave room for ice cream or whipped cream on top. They were so lovely served with homemade whipped cream!

* I also found these Salted Caramel Shortbread Bars on pinterest (yes, I am slightly addicted). I realize mine don't look nearly as lovely as the ones I copied.... but I decided to half the recipe, but didn't use the correct size pan, and well... it was a mini-disaster. But, even though they are lacking a little in the looks department, they taste divine!

* Pasta with green beans and potatoes in a basil pesto. A summer staple at our house.
To make the pesto, blend the following in a food processor:

• parmesean cheese
• fresh basil
• garlic
• olive oil
• salt and pepper

I have a nut allergy, so we do nut-free pesto. Add pine nuts, or other nuts if you like. And the proportions of each don't really matter.. if you like cheese, put more in. If you are not a garlic fan, leave it out. Easy peasy.
Saute the green beans and potatoes until tender, add to cook pasta and top with the cold pesto. As you stir the pesto in, the warm pasta will warm it perfectly.

* Grapefruit Margs. Yum! This recipe is one that my friend found on pinterest, and told me I had to try. They were so refreshing. If I was making them again, I would probably add (a lot) more tequila, but these weren't too strong so I could actually drink a couple.

What have you been eating during these days of summer?


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Learn An Herb: Yarrow

I started my learn-an-herb series in the summer of 2010, as a way for me to learn more of the uses for the herbs I found in my garden and my neighborhood. I haven't done an learn-an-herb post since last summer, so I think I am long overdue!
Today's herb is Yarrow (Achillea millefolium). Yarrow has beautiful flowers and feathery leaves. It is cold hardy, low-maintence, perennial, and blooms for long periods of time. It spreads via root growth as well as re-seeding, so it has been occasionally known to take over large areas and become somewhat invasive. Despite this, yarrow is a plant native to Portland, and we have some planted in our garden.
All of the above ground parts (leaves, flowers and stem) are used for medicinal purposes. Harvetsing should be done while the flowers are in bloom. Yarrow is most famous for its ability to help stop bleeding. It has blood-clotting as well as anti-microbial properties and can be applied directly to a cut or burn, or used in a salve.
When taken internally, as a tea, it has been known to help with colds and fevers, urinary tract infections, digestion, hypertension, and as a liver tonic. It can also be added to a bath to help with hemorrhoids (I am totally going to try this!).
I added some to this year's salve oil. Have you ever used yarrow medicinally?

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These Moments: Exploring Physics

{this moment} - A Friday ritual.  A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. Inspired by Soulemama.

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The Homemade Home: A Review

Sania Pell's The Homemade Home is a sweet and inspirational book full of thrifty ways to perk up your home. From creative curtains to embroidered pillows, decorated pots to easy artwork, there is something in this book for just about everyone. Although some of the ideas are very easy, requiring nothing more than tape and scissors, many of the projects do require that you have a sewing machine and know how to do some basic sewing.
Our home is very tiny, and there is not room for anymore pillows, lamps, pots, or most of the fabulous ideas in this book, so there are many great projects that I don't think I will be trying anytime too soon. But I fell in love with her embellished curtains (pockets and all) and hope to re-vamp the curtains in the kids room sometime soon. She also has great easy ideas for bath salts, lavender pillows, and covered notebooks... I think I may know what my family is getting for Christmas this year!
This book is definitely worth a peek. She also has a homemade home for kids that I am hoping to get my hands on. Our library doesn't have a copy, so I think I may have to put that one on my birthday list!

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A Natural Dye Experiment: Hands on Chemistry

Some hand-me-downs and other clothes that were too stained to wear

Recently, I was given a pile of hand-me-downs for Phoebe (I LOVE hand-me downs!) and several of the items were pretty badly stained. I figured they may be OK for outside play, but a couple of them were really sweet sweaters, and I wanted Phoebe to get more use out of them. I also had a few items of the kids clothing that had gotten wrecked in the wash.... somehow, a few things that were white now had these big yellow burn-looking spots on them. No clue where they came from, but my normal stain-removal techniques did not get them out. So, I figured all of these things were destined for fabric scraps.. unless I could maybe dye them and cover the stains?? Sounded like a plan!
I was wavering between using natural dyes (which I have not had good luck with in the past) or just getting a package of RIT. RIT dye is terrible for the environment, and I hated the thought of using it. But, I also had quite a few garments to be dyed, so I thought I could probably justify it.... in the name of salvaging all of that clothing. But then I went out for a drink with a friend who was excited about natural dyes, and she inspired me to try to dye the clothes with turmeric.
I had used turmeric before to dye eggs, and I have inadvertently dyed my own clothes with it while eating. So, I knew the color would stick, but wasn't sure how easy it would be.
Turns out that it was super easy. Pre-soak the clothes to be dyed in cool water with a little bit of vinegar (to help the turmeric stick), boil turmeric in a pot of water for about 20 minutes, add the clothes and simmer for about 20-30 minutes depending on how dark you want them. Rinse, dry, and you are done.

Clothes simmering on the stove..... or a really terrible dinner.

The clothes came out great... I did one sweater a bit lighter, and it ended up a lovely shade of yellow, and I left everything else in until it was a vibrant orange. Then I washed them in the washing machine... and they all turned a beet-red color! After some internet research, I found out that anything basic, like basking soda, or laundry powders, reacts with the turmeric and turns it red. Crap. Now I had a bunch of red-ish clothes that I wasn't in love with. Then I started wondering if vinegar, which is an acid would turn the clothes back to the yellow/oranges colors. I tested a spot and low and behold, it did! It was like magic! Laundry detergent made red spots, vinegar removed them. Cool, right?

Turmeric dyed shirt with spots from the laundry soap.

Well, not really cool.... because apparently I have a lot of bases around my house. Between soaps and baking soda for cleaning and cooking, every time Phoebe wears one of these dyes pieces, she ends up with red splotches on them. I have looked online for something to set the dye, but to no avail... and why don't more people have problems with this? I have to keep squirting my cleaning solution (white vinegar mixed with water) on the red splotches to get them to disappear. Cool chemistry experiment, but not so great for daily wear (at least not at my house!).  I'm bummed because they look great and I love that I didn't harm the environment dying them... they just aren't very practical. Does anybody have a solution to this? Maybe embrace it as a science-on-the-go tutorial? Ha ha. I would love to explore more natural fabric dying, so if anyone has any experiences that they would like to share, I would love to learn more!!

The finished garments, hanging to dry

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A Crazy (And Amazing) Hike

Sunday afternoon, my friend Heidi and I headed out towards Multnomah Falls to hike the Oneanta Gorge. This infamous hike is a short hike through a slot canyon, so in Oregon, where the rain is a-plenty, that means you are getting wet. So, Heidi and I left the kids at home with our husbands, and enjoyed a mama's afternoon in nature.
The hike starts out by climbing over a  huge log jam. Honestly, my pictures don't do it justice. After making it over the first rock, and looking down at the 30 foot drop onto the rocks below, Heidi and I almost turned back. Sure, it's not that hard to walk over fallen logs, but if you slip in the wrong place, well,... let's just say it would probably not turn out so well. So, we took about 15 minutes to get past the log jam: crotching logs and hanging on for dear life as young, tan guys basically ran past us. We panicked a few times, but we made it over, and I must say that we were feeling pretty proud of ourselves!
The hike continues into a magnificent narrow gorge, with chilly water that would have felt nicer if it had been hot out. But, with the log jam behind us, we were enjoying the scenery and having fun. Until we got to the part where you had to either walk in water up to your neck (and we both had cameras) or boulder along the side of a cliff. After many minutes of indecision, we decided on rock climbing. Which neither of us were in shape for. But, surprisingly, we did it, and we made it to the waterfall... the gift for those who make it to the end.
We enjoyed the falls and the specks of sunlight that were falling into the canyon. And we dreaded the trip back to the car, which required yet another bouldering attempt as well as going back through the log jam. But, with our confidence up, and energized from an amazing waterfall, we made it back without a hitch (unless you count the time that I almost fell, camera and all, off of the cliff and into the water!).
It was amazing. We felt empowered, and a bit reckless. And, if you think we went on some very dangerous hike, I might add that there were hundreds of people there, may of them kids. So, no, we are no super-hikers or incredibly gutsy, but for two mamas who mainly stick to the trail, it was quite an adventure!

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