elliemoon

JACK-O'-LANTERNS IN A HURRICANE

luckily for us, hurricane sandy wasn't very intense. we lost a few shingles off of the roof, a few big branches off of the trees and had no power for most of the day and last night, but that was about the worst of it. wish i could say that for everyone. 

our power outage crafting brought us around to the pumpkins we had yet to carve. we started a little on the late afternoon side and so, in the end, were kind of squinting our way through the final steps. maybe not the smartest idea to have little ones yielding sharp objects in low lighting, but they all came through unscathed and that's what counts::

owen didn't put his name stamp on his, he was too busy carving up a uniquely scary pumpkin that we were all very impressed with::

sending our thoughts out to those that weren't so lucky in the storm. with the power back, we've been seeing a lot of very sad photos and footage. and realizing just how fortunate we are.

happy halloween everyone!

 

 

 

 

THE CALM BEFORE THE STORM

yesterday big b and the boys trekked down to the lake to tie things down before the storm blows in, which should be sometime today. these are some shots i got earlier, on a walk i took with ellie. the colors are just peaking and will be mostly gone after the winds i would think::

hopefully the trees themselves will still be there. i'm holding to the idea that this will be yet another storm blown out of proportion by the news and radio. no pun intended. those radar pictures are looking a little scary though. hold on tight new englanders. see you tomorrow, electricity permitting.

 

 

LENNON AND MAISY

 

**happy saturday and sunday!!**

if i'm not here monday you can assume we headed for higher ground, or we have no power. hopefully the storm will take a different route! good luck to all on the east coast.

VEGAN BANANA "ICE CREAM"

this one's for you katie! i've been seeing this featured all over the place and finally got around to trying it. just take some ripe bananas and throw them in the freezer. these ones i froze overnight. then just process them. that's it. really.::

right about here is where it became painfully obvious that my blender is hurting. (vitamix, i need you). but as i was scooping things out to an alternate, you could see that deep down beneath the blade the magic was trying to happen::

i transferred the chunks to my smaller food processor and we were on our way::

you won't believe the creaminess. i was shouting. the kids were frightened::

if you are a soft served fan you will love this. it is delicious and the best part is, you can let the little people have ice cream whenever they want. dinner taking too long? here, have some ice cream! you're overall popularity in the house just went up a notch and a half, done and done.

 

 

 

ACRYLIC CRAFT PAINT AND MINIATURE PUMPKINS

good times!

 

 

EGG NOODLES

this is a recipe from grammy parziale. it is her version of stracciatella soup. she just called it egg noodles. plain and simple. it is the ultimate comfort food for me. every time i make it i'm right back in her kitchen. as a kid i was not only the worlds pickiest eater, but i also had a very nervous stomach, so gram would make batches of egg noodles for me all of the time. they were one dish i never turned my nose up at. almost every sick day off of school she would come by with a container. i love, love, loved them. 

they are so simple to make. normally i just about fill one of our soup bowls with noodles and dump them into the pot, but for recipes sake i measured this time. its about 2 cups of egg noodles. bring a pot of water to a boil and toss them in for 8 minutes or so. meanwhile crack and lightly beat two eggs::

if you over beat them, they will turn into scramble eggs. you want to have nice ribbons of egg white when they cook up. stracciatelle means "little shreds", here, in reference to those strings of egg. it comes from the italian word stracciare ("to shred or tear"). after the pasta is done, drain off a bit of the water so that it is just covering the noodles. if you like, you can make your egg noodles a little soupier by leaving more water in the pot::

with the pot still simmering, add a dab of butter (maybe a TBSP) and a little salt. once the butter has melted, stir the noodles around while slowly pouring in the eggs. my grandmother would shut the heat immediately but i let it simmer with the eggs for a minute more. now just let it cool and enjoy. you can even add a little sprinkle of parmesan if you're in the mood::

gram would always spoon a small amount into a shallow soup bowl and make us "eat around the edges". when i started making these for myself i understood why. i don't know the science behind it, or if there is any, but for whatever reason, egg noodles are HOT and stay hot for quite a while. when the kids were smaller i used to add an ice cube to theirs or we'd be sitting around for a while drooling over the bowls. now i just make them in advance and leave them covered on the stove for a while.

these are great for a nasty cold, a sour stomach, a rainy winter day, or anytime i'm missing gram.

 

 

 

FLOWER CLIP - ENTER TO WIN!

october friday giveaway number three. a cute little knitted hair clip. pictured here on indy but just as nice on an adult. a little touch of pretty::

to enter, leave a comment below. follow me on facebook and leave an additional comment to double your chances! comments will remain open until 9pm on sunday and a winner will be announced here, at the end of this post, shortly after comments close. happy weekend!

 **comments are now closed. congratulations to sara!**

 

MY FIRST BIRDIE SLING

this is one of the multiple projects i was cutting for. i did wind up cutting everything. this is the first "sit down and sew with no prep work" finished product! it felt good. not that i don't appreciate the tracing and cutting steps, but they take a while. i always trace and cut patterns onto pattern paper to preserve the original patterns. even when completely unnecessary, ie: a bag that only comes in one size. there is no help for the way my brain works, i just have to let it do its thing::

this is amy butlers birdie sling. my friend megan can sew them in her sleep and inspired me to finally get to it. i purchased the pattern nearly a year ago.

it's a very roomy bag. perfect for a knitting project or two. there are three pockets inside as well! it calls for medium weight and fleece interfacing, so its nice and sturdy and has some weight to it, which i love. this was a trial run that i was going to donate to a fundraiser at kai's school. but i've become a little attached to it and may have to make a replica for the event!

 

 

HAND ART - AN OPTICAL ILLUSION

here's something to do with the kids on the next rainy day. very simple steps and very cool results. just trace any hand lightly onto a piece of paper::

that part's easy enough. now start drawing horizontal lines across the page and let the line curve upward and create an arc whenever you are drawing inside the hand. this gets easier when you get to the fingers::

et voila::

pretty cool right? a diy optical illusion. people were very impressed around here. 

 

 

IMPULSE BUY

i saw these when i was out recently and had to get them for the girls. crayola crayon rings, perfect little stocking stuffers::

so colorful and fun. someone has to convince the stubby pencil studio to start making these!