Monday, October 25, 2010
Friday, October 22, 2010
Halloween Costumes (part 1)
We've been making a lot of these:
Involving these:
and this:
So, I was playing around with another XXL t-shirt, when I discovered that this could be the perfect (!!!) body for Ruben's BAT costume:
Does my drawing make sense? The t-shirt is upside down. I put elastic through the bottom hem, just like in these skirts. I turned it inside out and stitched it along the dashed line. I cut two arm holes where you see those two vertical lines. His legs come out of what were once the t-shirt sleeves. This is so simple that it has already taken me much longer to write this post than it did to make the costume! This is just the beginning for our bat, but it would be a very cute body for many toddler-preschooler animal costumes.
It's really stretchy around the neck, which you need for easy on/off. He says it is very comfortable.
He gets into character as soon as he puts it on. I love that. I'll show you more pictures when he has wings!
Involving these:
and this:
I think I've talked them out of this:
So, I was playing around with another XXL t-shirt, when I discovered that this could be the perfect (!!!) body for Ruben's BAT costume:
Does my drawing make sense? The t-shirt is upside down. I put elastic through the bottom hem, just like in these skirts. I turned it inside out and stitched it along the dashed line. I cut two arm holes where you see those two vertical lines. His legs come out of what were once the t-shirt sleeves. This is so simple that it has already taken me much longer to write this post than it did to make the costume! This is just the beginning for our bat, but it would be a very cute body for many toddler-preschooler animal costumes.
It's really stretchy around the neck, which you need for easy on/off. He says it is very comfortable.
He gets into character as soon as he puts it on. I love that. I'll show you more pictures when he has wings!
Thursday, October 21, 2010
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
Iron Jane
We are three weeks into our CSA, and it is such a pleasure.
(We just got a farm subscription, so for $20 every week we get a huge box of a variety of local, organically grown fruits and vegetables. I promise I won't bore you with the inventory... please keep reading!)
The very first thought I had when I opened our box was, "Hooray, somebody else decided what we're going to have for dinner!"
Making dinner at our house sometimes feels like my own private game of Iron Chef. There's a one hour countdown and the big clock is ticking, the available ingredients are strangely mismatched, and oh, the PRESSURE. But, if I can pull it off, I win the prestigious title of "Iron Chef." Well, maybe not. But if I beat the meltdown, and dinner tastes good, I feel the Iron.
But, back to the CSA. I love NOT having a choice of what vegetables we get each week. Someone else is shopping for me, and they're choosing some things that I never buy. Vegetable variety is being forced upon me, and I know that is a good thing. A little recipe search on Google or Epicurious gives me some inspiration, and off I go.
If you happen to be getting an abundance of yellow summer squash in your CSA or garden, here's a delicious and easy recipe that I came up with last night. I used some Japanese zucchini recipes for inspiration. Please let me know if you try it!
(Farm illustration by Diego)
(We just got a farm subscription, so for $20 every week we get a huge box of a variety of local, organically grown fruits and vegetables. I promise I won't bore you with the inventory... please keep reading!)
The very first thought I had when I opened our box was, "Hooray, somebody else decided what we're going to have for dinner!"
Making dinner at our house sometimes feels like my own private game of Iron Chef. There's a one hour countdown and the big clock is ticking, the available ingredients are strangely mismatched, and oh, the PRESSURE. But, if I can pull it off, I win the prestigious title of "Iron Chef." Well, maybe not. But if I beat the meltdown, and dinner tastes good, I feel the Iron.
But, back to the CSA. I love NOT having a choice of what vegetables we get each week. Someone else is shopping for me, and they're choosing some things that I never buy. Vegetable variety is being forced upon me, and I know that is a good thing. A little recipe search on Google or Epicurious gives me some inspiration, and off I go.
If you happen to be getting an abundance of yellow summer squash in your CSA or garden, here's a delicious and easy recipe that I came up with last night. I used some Japanese zucchini recipes for inspiration. Please let me know if you try it!
Summer Squash and Onions
Ingredients:
* 4-6 medium yellow summer
squashes
* 2 tablespoons olive oil
* 1 onion
* 2 tablespoons soy sauce
* 1/2 teaspoon powdered
ginger
* 1/2 teaspoon garlic
powder
* 1 1/2 tablespoons honey
* 3 tablespoons sesame
seeds
* 2 tablespoons butter
* ground black pepper
Directions:
1. Slice squash and onion into thin (about 1/4”) pieces
2. Mix soy sauce, honey, garlic and ginger
until honey is dissolved
3. Pour olive oil into large frying pan
and heat on medium high
4. When pan is hot, add all remaining
ingredients (including soy sauce mix)
5. Fry, stirring occasionally, until
squash is tender and browned
Monday, October 18, 2010
Thursday, October 14, 2010
Date Night
Toys stay on the floor and dishes in the sink... Tonight is date night. At least, I think it is. Joe's not back from tucking in Diego, so that might be a sign that he's accidentally resting up for date night. I should know. I just woke up from putting Julio to bed.
"What does this dynamic couple do for date night?" I know you're wondering. No, there is no babysitter or idling taxi waiting for me to put the finishing touches on my up-do. These days, date night is more of a sweatpants and herbal tea type of affair. There is usually a laptop and a DVD involved. Sometimes we watch the whole thing (not in one installment) or enjoy a (huge) bowl of ice cream.
When Diego was a baby, we used to read or play scrabble or cribbage, make some music together or (once) do some stretching and a light workout. For that matter, before the kids came along, we even used to go out. Those luxuries are on hold these busy days, but you know what? I really don't mind. I love watching a movie (falling asleep) next to Joe on the couch. I know our days of out-on-the-town will be back before long, but right now I can't even imagine staying out late. I think I'd rather have a babysitter come at 5:30 in the morning so Joe and I could get an extra hour of sleep. Speaking of which, I'd better go wake him up for date night!
"What does this dynamic couple do for date night?" I know you're wondering. No, there is no babysitter or idling taxi waiting for me to put the finishing touches on my up-do. These days, date night is more of a sweatpants and herbal tea type of affair. There is usually a laptop and a DVD involved. Sometimes we watch the whole thing (not in one installment) or enjoy a (huge) bowl of ice cream.
When Diego was a baby, we used to read or play scrabble or cribbage, make some music together or (once) do some stretching and a light workout. For that matter, before the kids came along, we even used to go out. Those luxuries are on hold these busy days, but you know what? I really don't mind. I love watching a movie (falling asleep) next to Joe on the couch. I know our days of out-on-the-town will be back before long, but right now I can't even imagine staying out late. I think I'd rather have a babysitter come at 5:30 in the morning so Joe and I could get an extra hour of sleep. Speaking of which, I'd better go wake him up for date night!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)