Odds and sods

I have a few more items that I have neglected to post.  This post will be a round-up of those items.

First, I did this in the beginning of January.  I took a class at Collage in Portland.  It was for feather-earring making.  I made these two in class and I have supplies to make another pair, which I haven't gotten around to yet.

They're quite sturdy, sturdier than any feather earrings I have ever bought.  I've yanked on them by accident and they've been fine.

I also did a bit of baking.  I'm really getting into baking lately.  I made some cornmeal muffins, which I neglected to photograph before we scarfed them down.  I also made these cheese biscuits.

I baked a dozen of these and this was all that was left by the time I remembered to photograph them.  I'd also like to do cookies and cupcakes, with icing, but I'm supposed to avoid having too many sweets and I know I won't be able to resist the temptation.  Somehow, I have aversions to healthy things but never to sweets.

Speaking of aversions, they've made eating a bit difficult.  I can't deal with a lot of protein foods right now, including dark meat of poultry, cottage cheese, eggs, or tuna, basically anything a poor person can afford.  I can have peanuts, nuts and seeds, peanut butter, ground beef, and the white meat of poultry.  Also, I can't have tomato sauce or ramen noodles.  I made this pasta dish to eat around my aversions:

This dish is a pesto-cream sauce with chicken breast and roasted acorn squash on top of spaghetti.  I did not make the pesto myself, as it's hard to financially justify making your own pesto unless you grow your own basil and have access to a cheap supply of pine nuts and good parmesan (it's not hard to justify it based on taste, however.)  Also, I don't have a pasta machine or I would have made fettucini. I did make the sauce myself, which was technically a bechemel rather than a cream sauce but the taste is similar.

Jason is really getting into brewing.  Baking and preserving are my domains (we share cooking) but he is all about the brewing.  The only help he needed making the last batch of ginger beer was in sterilizing the jars.  Otherwise I declare him our household brewmaster!

Valentine's Day

We didn't have big plans for Valentine's Day because we were so focused on the baby that we kind of forgot about ourselves.  We did have a big romantic day however, even if a bit baby-centric.

First, we made pancakes for breakfast.  I was clever and figured out how to make the pancakes heart-shaped by slowly pouring in the batter with a spoon.

There they are in the pan, and here they are all finished:

They were so yummy.

In the afternoon we met with the midwives (of course I want to do birth myself, right?)  It was a good meeting and they shared our values and our vision of birth, so it was great.

For dinner, I made salisbury steak with onion gravy, mashed potatoes, and broccoli with cheese.

The gravy actually came with a mix, as hamburger meat doesn't really give enough drippings to make gravy with.  Although I should try it sometime and see if it's actually true.  I added the onions myself though.

We ate the dinner picnic-style on the floor.  We wanted a picnic outside but it was raining, as it is wont to do in the Pacific Northwest this time of year.

Also, being the romantic wife that I am, I got my husband a beer-making kit.  We are planning on trying it out this weekend.  He will tell me what it's like.

Babythings for my babything

I have an announcement to those who haven't heard:  I'm pregnant!  We're super-excited and looking forward to this baby sooooo much.  I can't even express how happy we both are, and our families have been awesome and supportive.

To celebrate and prepare, I've been obsessed with knitting for the baby.  Since I started knitting for the baby two weeks ago, I've finished two projects.

The first one is a hat that is supposed to be reminiscent of an umbilical cord.  I got the pattern from the first Stitch 'n' Bitch book.  It's supposed to fit a newborn, but I hope to God my newborn's head isn't going to be big enough to fit it!

There's the hat in profile.  Here it is with a roll of tape to give size perspective:

And another shot on the head of the plush cat, Crookshanks:

I've also made a pair of booties from the second Stitch 'n' Bitch book (Stitch 'n' Bitch Nation).  They were very quick and I finished them in an evening.

Here they are with the tape:

They're so wee!  Here they are in Jason's hands:

That's what I've made so far.  Next I want to make a little owl.