The Happy Tower of Roving March 17, 2009

Isn’t it just grand? I dyed fiber this Sunday, and I am just so happy with the result. I’m selling most of these, but keeping a few for myself to spin. And of course, those that don’t sell, I’ll spin those too. A fiber and yarn stash can never be too big, can it?? It’s so funny, I never mind if my fibery things don’t sell. Because I love them… and am always happy to keep them. Don’t get me wrong, I do need to sell a few things, so I can buy more things. It’s a cycle. Do you know that every red cent I have made selling crafty things has went right back into more crafty things?

Except the bad ass man bag for my husband…. I bought that too.
It’s technically called “The Briefcase”. And the size large is perfect. It even converts so it can be worn as a backpack. Clever.

Bad ass… right? It’s his Indiana Jones bag. It’s gone on all our adventures.
It’s, hands down, the coolest bag ever. The company is called Saddleback Leather. And the product is worth even more than the price. That bag will last forever. Definitely highly recommended.

Saddleback Leather. Click only if you have self control. You will want one of these bags.

Oh, but I went off topic, didn’t I? This was about Roving. I would go back to that, but I am tired. As I should be. It’s 1:30am. I’m going to crawl into bed now, and dream of my sexy husband and his rugged manly self. He’ll probably be using his man bag. We’ll be on an adventure, and he’ll rescue me from something. Because he’s manly. And manly men do that. My very own Indiana Jones with his bad ass man bag. Only more handsome.

This girl I call Olivia….. March 13, 2009

Sometimes I wonder who the heck she is…. but I know. She’s an amazing, smart, funny, beautiful, sarcastic child. She’s got a grown up sense of humor, a boy crazy streak, small feet, soft hands, a spunky haircut and lots of skinny jeans. She loves Abercrombie and Hollister, her laptop and her cell phone. She actually texted 15,000 times (outgoing AND incoming) in one month and thank goodness they let us switch to unlimited texts AFTER the fact! She has wonderful friends, who are all pretty cool kids. She’s mostly sweet to her sisters, and she’ll sometimes bring them down into her room to play Rockband. She gets amazing grades (unless she’s missing work! Olivia!!). She watches Lost with me. She loves music. She sings really, really loud in the car. Really loud. And I make fun of her singing… but I love listening to her.
I feel like sometimes I don’t talk about her enough, or show enough pictures of her. But she won’t let me take pictures! She hides from the camera! I don’t know why… beautiful as she is. And she IS. Just gorgeous. And I’m not saying that because I’m her mama!
My little Olivia. Oh… she’ll be 13 this year. A real teenager. Time just FLIES, doesn’t it?

Gumbo Ya-Ya! March 11, 2009

Since I found the Holy Grail this morning, Roux in the microwave!, I had to make Gumbo. I’ve stood sweating, feet aching, for a good hour at a time making roux on the stove top. No more! You’d have thought I won the lottery with this discovery. Apparently, everyone else already knew about it. Welcome to the party, Berritt! Better late than never.

Here’s my gumbo recipe. It sometimes changes, sometimes I add parsley. Sometimes not. Sometimes I add a whole, cut up chicken. Today I used boneless thighs. Once I bought all the spices separately and made my own cajun seasoning. But the McCormicks is pretty good. And I’m lazy like that. 4 kids will do that to you. I don’t even have exact measurements. My instructions are taste, season. Taste, season… until you get it right. And you’ll know when it’s right.

You need a big pot.
Chicken. Whole, cut up. Or boneless skinless thighs. Those worked out well.
Andouille sausage, cut up. Hot links will work in a pinch.
About 1.5C roux
butter and vegetable oil
2 stalks celery, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
1 sweet onion, chopped
chicken broth
cajun seasoning
salt
file powder
green onions
white rice, cooked

Melt a bunch of butter in your pot. Brown sausage and chicken. Remove from pan and set aside.
Add microwave roux to pot(Try it, I swear, it tastes EXACTLY the same) Roux should be really dark brown. like this:

Add chopped celery, green pepper and sweet onion. Cook until veggies are soft-ish. Add broth (I used one container) Add chicken and sausage. Add cajun seasoning, pinch at a time until it tastes good. Add salt a pinch at a time until it’s salty enough. You may not be hungry when it’s done. There’s a lot of tasting involved.

Simmer gumbo while you prepare the rice. I love a rice cooker for this. It always turns out perfect.

When the rice is done, and the chicken is falling apart, serve it up. If you cooked the chicken on the bones, take the bones out.
Add a scoop of rice to the bottom of a bowl. Ladle gumbo all around it. Sprinkle with File and green onion.

There’s a Party in My Tummy, SO YUMMY, so yummy! March 5, 2009

Bruchetta, Berritt’s way.

ingredients:

3/4 cup Balsamic Vinegar
1/2 c Olive oil
8 roma tomatoes, diced
6 (or MORE) cloves garlic finely chopped
about a cup loose basil, chopped
1/2 cup red onion, chopped
Crumbled Feta cheese
Rustic baguettes, drizzled with olive oil and broiled

Mix all ingredients except Feta in a bowl, in no particular order. Let marinade for an hour or more, but not too long. It’s best fresh… but still really good on day 2. It rarely makes it to day 2, though.
Don’t eat it all with a spoon, don’t underestimate how easy that is to do. Go ahead and take a bite. BUT save some for the bread. it’s best all put together!

Slice bread, drizzle with olive oil and broil a few minutes. The tops will be golden and crisp, the bottom will be chewy.

Top each slice of golden crunchy chewy rustic bread with a big spoon of Bruchetta topping. Crumble as much feta as you like on top. Eat. Eat. Eat.
I could die happy having eaten ONLY this every day, for the rest of my life.

When you’re 1, there is no better place…. March 3, 2009

than in your daddy’s arms for an afternoon nap.

By Popular Request! February 26, 2009

Columbian Potato Stew

I’ve made this so many times, pretty much every time we have company, this is what we make. It sounds soooo simple but it is the BEST soup ever.

It’s NOT low fat.

Ingredients:

1 whole chicken cut up. (wings, breasts, legs, thighs) with skin and bone!!
1 whole white onion chopped
1/2 lb russet potato, peeled and chopped
1/2 lb each red, yellow (not peeled) and sweet potato (peeled) chopped into bites
6 cups chicken broth
1/2 c sour cream
1/2 c heavy cream
a pinch fresh oregano
salt and pepper to taste
3 ears corn, or about a cup of frozen corn. It looks fancier with the ears of corn cut in slices, but I don’t like eating corn off the cob.

Season chicken with salt and pepper, roast in oven for an hour or so. (Get the chicken skins really nice and crispy…. YUMMY!)
While the chicken is cooking, make the soup.

sautee onion in your pan in oil until it starts to brown, no longer. Add broth. Add peeled chopped russets and cook those down (that’s the thickener)
Add the other 3 types of potatoes, the oregano when the russets are soft. Add corn when the other potatoes are almost done.

This is the most important part…..
1 c diced white onion
2-3 jalepenos chopped (take out the seeds and ribs if you’re a weenie)
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
juice of 3 limes

mix that together and set aside.

Add the cream and sour cream to the stew, and it’s ready to serve.

Ladle the soup into a huge bowl. Top with a piece of chicken or 2, and a big spoonful of the salsa.

It is SO good. Everyone I have made this for has begged for the recipe.
It is so simple but impresses everyone.

Quick update…. December 12, 2008

We got the house! I’m almost done unpacking. I need to finish because then I can do my sewing room! I am SO excited to do my sewing room. I have awesome ideas…. I just need to make time.

The girls are all doing wonderful. I just love every single inch of them all.

That’s all for now. 🙂 I’m still around. Suuuuper busy, that’s all.

Has it really been 4 months? October 15, 2008

I guess it has. It has been so busy. From a 3 week vacation mid summer, Alex coming and going again, buying a HOUSE!!, school, a flu and a cold (HOW did we get sick?? We never get sick?) it’s been insane and I don’t seem to get a minute of free time.

We are supposed to be closing on the house this week, I think. I am in LOVE with this house, or…. maybe the idea of what this house can become. It’s a 3 level craftsman with a great yard, and, well…. poptential? It’s gorgeous outside. Inside it looks like the seventies came and vomited up an interior. It needs a new fireplace, a wall and a kitchen knocked out of the top floor, french doors replacing a sliding door to the top floor balcony. It needs a kitchen remodel, wood paneling demolition, 3 bathroom remodels, a sunroom replacement… and 342,876 gallons of paint, but it WILL be great. Don’t get me wrong. We could live there comfortably and do nothing. But we (I) can’t live in ugly!! I will be posting progress. As long as we get the house 😉

The Good Sheep is opening!! June 29, 2008

CLICK The Good Sheep!

I’ll be selling fibers, yarns, and spinning/knitting supplies! I’m excited to be able to fund my craft habit by crafting.

Spinalong! May 9, 2008

Once upon a time, a girl got a drum carder. She joined a spinalong challenge with other super cool fiber friendly girls. They all voted on a picture to draw inspiration from… and although the girl didn’t vote for the picture chosen, she gleefully carded up some fibers and spun a skein of shimmery magical yarn. 🙂

The picture:

The fiber:

The batt:

The handspun yarn:

The spinalong was SO much fun!! I want to do another!