Wednesday, June 11, 2014

Aprons, Yogurt, and Other Randomness

Before I forget, I need to answer a couple of questions that have been asked!  First, Nikki asked what pattern I had used for the aprons I made last month, and I forgot to reply.  I figured it would be good to mention it in an actual post rather than a comment, since others might be interested too.  I just checked, and unfortunately that pattern appears to be out of print now. :(  However, I bet you could find it online somewhere, maybe Etsy or Ebay?  Here is a picture of it--the number is McCall's 5643.  And FYI, I adapt it a bit every time I make it--I basically make View A, but without the flap thingy on the top, and with the pocket for View B instead (except this time I changed up the pocket a little).  I also make it reversible.  So I buy two coordinating fabrics (2 yards of each) and use the second fabric for the main part of the lining.  It's kinda hard to explain, but basically everything is double sided--if the two fabrics are polka dots and checks, you'll have a polka dot and check fabric on each side.  If you end up sewing one of these, you can look back to my original pics if you need it to make more sense. :)

Also, Joey had mentioned that I should post a yogurt tutorial since I've been making it a lot lately!  Instead of that, I'll do the quicker and easier thing--point you to the original blog post with its own great tutorial!  It's found here on Trina Holden's blog.  I have made yogurt three times now (most recently with whole milk instead of 2%) and it has turned out great every time!  The kids love it and Jim eats it with granola nearly every day.  I think it is yummy as well, and I love to put it in smoothies.  

I updated Eating for Two last week and forgot to post about it here--I know some of you discovered it anyway, but just thought I would mention it for those who hadn't!  

Another link I wanted to mention . . . some of you may be familiar with the Fresh Modesty blog.  I stumbled upon it a while back and while the girl who writes it is a whole lot younger than me, I love her style and I especially love her denim skirts!  I think they are really flattering, and I have been eyeing her ebook with 2 skirt tutorials for quite a while now.  I still hope to get it eventually and make myself a skirt or two, plus it would be a handy resource for sewing for Julia as well!  Anyway, she has recently embarked on a new business venture called Fresh Apparel, where she will be offering her "Errand #17" skirt for sale (a limited number will be available at first).  She currently has a Kickstarter campaign going to raise the money for the first batch of skirts.  Now, these will not be cheap--but they WILL be made in USA, and well-made by the sounds of it!  So I wanted to throw out the info in case anyone would like to donate to her business.  (You can donate any amount of a dollar or more--but there are incentives for donating higher amounts.)  You can go here to read all about it!  The campaign is fully funded for the first round of skirts, but she would love to read her "stretch" goal for a second style, and there are three days left to do it.  

We are getting a lovely soaking rain tonight; we haven't had a good rain since we planted the garden over a week ago, so I am thankful!  We have a few small shoots coming up and our tomato plants all look pretty good, but hopefully the rain will help encourage things along a bit.  Everyone but me is in bed; Julia was singing along to the lullabies on the iPod a few minutes ago, and I am headed for dreamland soon myself.  Hope you are all having a great week!

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thank you Carrie!! :) We have enjoyed making our own yogurt for years and though our tub turned yogurt maker is NOT pretty, it works quite well for our large family who can really put away yogurt. :)

syds1girl said...

The photos of the aprons you had posted is SO neat. They are just beautiful & I love the colors you chose! Yes, yogurt is so easy and so good for you too. I will check out the blog, as maybe she'll have tips on the "greek-type", no idea what they do to make it greek. The soaking rain was truly a blessing, I agree.

1HappyWife said...

Thank you :)! Hannah can't wait to try making yogurt!!!

Carrie said...

I was amazed by how easy the yogurt making process is! We are really enjoying it. :) I *think* you can make the yogurt Greek-style by draining off the whey to make it thicker. I read that somewhere--not sure if it was on Trina's post or not. I haven't tried it yet, but I want to sometime! I did find that using whole milk, we didn't get as much whey separating from the yogurt as we did when we used 2% milk.