Friday Favourites!

Hi Friends! I've been SOOO busy it's kind of gross. Working for a non-profit and having "year end" be today, as well as wrapping up stuff to go to Prince George, is a lot of work!! This is me taking a little break to show you some of my most favourite things gleaned from Pinterest lately. in respect for the little time I have, there's no descriptions, but lots of pictures that turn into links. Enjoy my pretties!

Source: etsy.com via ohsweetie on Pinterest

Source: sunset.com via ohsweetie on Pinterest

Source: gomakeme.com via ohsweetie on Pinterest

Source: brineydeepdesigns.blogspot.com via ohsweetie on Pinterest

Source: flickr.com via ohsweetie on Pinterest

Source: gingerbreadbagels.com via ohsweetie on Pinterest

WIPs

Diandra is coming to visit so I've got lots lots lots to do before then. I want to get a bunch of stuff done so that when she is finally here I'll have lots to show off.

a great way to enjoy derby: LABEL EVERYTHING!

Community: Derby is getting better for me. I think I needed to hit my low point (happened last week) so that I could move forward. I'm not feeling so overwhelmed with it all. We've also got a new coach (Robyn Ocean yeahyeahyeah) and she is bringing her counselling skills to derby. What a great combination, seriously. Over the last couple weeks (maybe it has only been 4 practices now, the group is feeling more cohesive and supportive. I'm going to make Robyn write a post about it, actually.
Right now I'm working on getting other rollergirls to take on some of the stuff that I've been responsible for over the last couple years (namely sound, and some fundraising stuff). The Fundraising Committee is planning a couple events for the next few months and we are building on a super successful year so far. We were volunteering for the PWB Disco-tastic party last weekend and gave away a $500 50/50 prize. We've got the best 50/50 odds in town! (tell everyone!). We've got another bout this Saturday against the St. Albert Rollergirls and we are so excited!
The Prince George Farmer's Markets are in full swing and the Saturday market will be heading outside soon. P&R has great carrots from last year and the beets are really good (I've been getting some every week!) There are also a few new producers at the market, including flours from Vanderhoof, beef from nearby, and a woman doing hydroponic greens (and farming Tilapia in the water?!? whoa) from Chief Lake Rd. It's looking like a great Farmer's Market season. I'm working on booking community tables at the Market for Bike To Work Week this year! I've also got a bunch of other Bike to Work Week things to do, including confirming all the great Celebration Stations! The Cycling Club Bike Swap is coming up and I'm planning on taking some cash and coming home with a new cruiser for myselfish. YEAH!

vintage baby knits

Saroyan

Craft: I've finally figured out a plan to finish my hot pink fingering weight cardigan (on the knitting machine-I've got the front panels to do and then the button bands, then I'm DONE!), also working on this cute little vintage re-do sweater from Red Heart Yarns in Debbie Bliss Cashmerino, the yoke is a lace flower, ack! I love it!  Asia and I've got a photo shoot planned and my design goal for this year is to get published in knitty. So I'll be shooting my cowl and seeing what happens there. In the mean time I want to get a whole bunch more designs out of my head and onto needles/paper, etc. so that I'll have a larger collection of patterns for knitty readers to find and enjoy!
I was enjoying knitting 'Saroyan' in Ranco but now it's not as much fun. Once I'm done the baby sweater, I'll get back into it I think. I'm not sure what to do about the length because I think that I can get a longer scarf but because of the yardage from the sock wool. I am really enjoying the colourway, it seemed really sad and boring next to all those beautiful colours in the shelf and it was a marked down hank because it was stained (barely!), I took pity on it and brought it home. Help! Not sure when to start the decreases, I've still got a ton of yarn left

cupcakes...mmmm

lunch

Kitchen: I just posted the first part of Teeghan's birthday cake recipe, next week I'm posting about her cupcakes, we made carrot and beet cupcakes (batter turned pink but the carrots and beet bits inside look like sprinkles inside the cupcakes. The icing is just cream cheese and a bit of icing sugar. At least three people asked for the icing recipe. Cheese and Sugar. That's all you need to make people happy. Who knew? Tonight I made the chickpea cutlets from veganomicon (this does NOT count as bloggin about them) and roasted veg! I'm already thinking about the garden! I'll be taking all of the sprouting garlic cloves from the pantries (mine and Mark's) and planting them all. The best part about planting garlic is letting them go. I will forget about them until I see those strangely straight stalks growing thought all the perennials a few months from now. What fun! I've been eating a lot of charcuterie plates lately and working my way through all the delicious pickles, spreads, and cheese that Mel brought me from home! Deanna's hot pickled asparagus are divine!

The Duck's Birthday Bash (DIY KID & a CAKE recipe)

Two fabulous, unique and especially-for-you-by-the-gals-at-Home-Sweet-Home recipes in two days?? What?! 

Chocolate Mint Marble Cake 

Tee (The Duck) just turned 6 and she wanted to have a big birthday so everyone could come. Any DIY KID would want to be involved in all the party preparations, so after some planning discussions we  started planning. We figured out that she wanted a roller skating dress-up party, then we decided on a 'Party Animals' theme so that all the kids could dress as their fave animal. We also thought that ducks don't need presents from friends and so instead we would collect donations for the SPCA.

During the party, we could tell which kids were with us because they were dressed up! It was awesome! The kids all took party in making their own costumes and most came with their faces painted. Kids want to dress up all the time so of course they all loved it. Another bonus, we got to call them all party animals all afternoon. We had a bunch of bunnies, a few cats, a couple of dragons, and one sweaty little cow. After it was all over, we raised $121 and collected a bunch of pet food. The next step is for us to take our donations to the SPCA and see all the animals. I'm really looking forward to this part. Tee loves animals so much and I  can't wait to show her the SPCA, we've got such a great one here. Maybe we'll register for dog walking and the SPCA kid club while we are there.

Since the Duck's birthday was during March Break, we held it on the weekend following. Of course, this just means more opportunities to make more cakes! For her birthday dinner, I made a 'sushi cake' for dinner then we shared our Chocolate Mint Marble Cake creation with mom and Robyn (and Dave when he got home). It was a fantastic cake (that we made up) and the one I will share with you here! Of course, we did cupcakes for her party and made those together too: Carrot and Beet cupcakes with Cream Cheese Icing. Yummy!

This is the perfect cake to make with kids, especially those like the Duck who like to do stuff in the kitchen. When Tee and I bake we talk about measurements and portions (math-fractions&geometry), leavening (chemistry), density of liquids (physics), and more! I really have to hold back and not dive in to help stir, mix, or whatever so this is the perfect cake for adults like me too! I chose to do the chocolate batter, and Tee the mint (because she wanted to do the food colouring bit).

Chocolate Mint Marble Cake with Mint Buttercream Icing
Preheat oven to 350F


This cake is low sugar, egg-free, and totally customizable. I opted for using local honey to offset the 'sustainability factor' of the chocolate and we used white flour for simplicity-sake but I think that you could substitute freely here.


Starting with 3 bowls, measure out the dry ingredients into two that are approximately the same size and measure out the wet ingredients into the third smaller bowl.


Dry Ingredients: 
(Mint Cake)
1 1/2 cups flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
(Chocolate cake)
1 1/2 cups flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
4 Tbsp. cocoa powder


Wet Ingredients:
3/4 cup oil
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup hot water
1 1/2 cups milk

_________________________________________

Mint Buttercream Icing

1 cup butter

2 cups icing sugar

1 tsp. peppermint flavour (or more to taste)

~1 Tbsp. cream (add more if necessary to achieve desired thickness)

__________________________________________

1. Oil and flour two cake pans.
2. Mix Dry Ingredients.
3. Mix Wet Ingredients: add oil and honey to bowl; pour hot water over this and stir to dissolve honey. add milk and mix well.
4. Add ~2 cups of the wet mixture to the chocolate dry mixture, add 1 tsp vanilla to chocolate mixture and mix well. Add 1 tsp peppermint flavour  and food colour of choice to the remaining wet ingredients, mix and add to the mint dry mixture. Mix well.
5. Divide batter into the prepared pans and marble. See photos below for guidance.

this is how we thought we should marbled our batter

our marble batter. ew

this is how Martha thinks you should marble your batter

6. Evenly distribute batter into two pans. Bake the cakes for 25-30min or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Let rest 10 min. or until the edges pull away from the pan, invert and remove from pans.
7. Cool completely. If you are pressed for time, given enough space you can jam them in the freezer for 15 min. or until cooled.

two layers, two colours of icing

8. Prepare icing. Divide into two portions (about 1:4, inside:outside, and add food colouring of your choice to both.
9. Spread a small spoonful on the centre of your plate and place the flatest of the cakes top side down (bottom up) on the icing (this makes the cake stick to your plate! you may need to cut the top off a really rounded cake). Then spread the smaller amount of icing (here: our green icing) on the bottom (flat side) of your first layer.
10. Place the second cake bottom side down (flat side) on top. Now you have a double layer cake, way to go!
11. Use the remaining icing to cover the whole cake (or just the top if you like!). I like to blob all the icing right in the middle of the cake and use a flat edged knife to spread it around as I go. A cake stand or a plate that you can turn as you go is great for this.
12. Refrigerate for 10min + (optional). Then serve and enjoy.

We had a great time making and enjoying this cake! It's really fun to see how the marbling works out and super fun to have the Duck involved in all the steps to making this cake. 

Roasted Veg Pizza!

Upon request, here is my "recipe" aka quick description on how I made this roasted veggie (vegan) pizza.

Ingredients:
One recipe vegan pizza dough (I like this one)
Cornmeal
About 4 Cups of Roasted veggies (to roast veg, cut assorted veg, I used eggplant, red peppers, zucchini, red onion, mushrooms, and garlic cloves, and toss in a bit of oil and spices of your choice, i used oregano and pepper, and spread on a foil lined baking sheet and roast on 400F for about 20-30 minutes)
Tomato sauce (plain and without corn syrup in it, yick)
Nutritional yeast (about 1/3-1/2 cup)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 500F with a pizza stone in it for at least 1/2 hour. On a Pizza Board or wood or glass cutting board cover it with a light layer of cornmeal. Stretch and throw your dough until it's the size and thickness you want, placing it on pizza board. Top with a generous amount of tomato sauce, nutritional yeast, and roasted vegetables. Transfer to pizza stone and bake for 10 minutes (no more, no less, unless you have a super thin pizza, then go for 6-7 minutes). Remove from oven and SMOTHER with hot sauce. Dip in extra tomato sauce. YUM.

WIPs!

Kitchen: Yesterday was T's 6th b-day so I figured that there was no better way to spend the afternoon than making her birthday cake. We didn't have a couple ingredients so we adapted a recipe (or two or three) to come up with a chocolate mint marble cake. What a success! Look for the new recipe here on Sunday! 

Craft: I'm working on a couple new patterns (for publishing?!) and trying to get a photo shoot organized with Asia. I'm pretty excited about this and am planning to have some cardstock print outs done up to sell at Top Drawer Yarn Studio. I'm also trying to plan out my knitting, I've got my KAL project 1/2 done, Saroyan on the go, the back of my Pea Pod cardigan on the knitting machine (all that stockinette is way too boring to do by hand), and I'm itching to start new projects (scarves, hats, head bands-Alex: I'm really into them now too!) and a couple pattern ideas that I have. I've got two hanks of Sweet Georgia Worsted for an olive and magenta baby cardigan, and two green balls of Debbie Bliss Cashmerino for a Sweet Pea hat. I also really really want to start a new KAL where we would move through the young and exciting new designers like Ysolde Teague, Steven West, Jared Flood, and more! Want to join or start your own local chapter?
Tee and I've been working through the kits she got for her B-day yesterday, she got a clay modelling book and a felted bug kit. They are both perfect for a crafty kid like her.

Community: My derby life is in chaos and I don't want to talk about it.
On the plus side: I'm the coordinator for Bike To Work Week this year! Wahoo! So I've got a bunch of work to do for that but am taking today off from everything. Tomorrow I'll get to work on Sponsorship letters, prize donations, and everything else on my huge to do list. This year we'll be adding a 'Best Dressed Commuter' photo booth, pairing Celebration Station hosts with locally owned cafes and caterers. Lastly, in an effort to make sure that no one is left out from the festivities (because Bike to Work Week excludes those without work), last year we added the 'Un-Employed Workers Union' and this year we will have the 'Retired Bikers' team.

Oh, and I started reading Monkey Beach again last night. I'm enjoying it! Dar and I got into this great conversation with a customer about books at the yarn shop the other day. It's really nice to talk about books, ideas, and be with people who are into similar books, I do have to remember to write down their recommendations next time. I've always avoided joining a book club but like to hear about the books that they choose. Did you know that most libraries have 'Book Club' collections? This means that you don't have to buy your own copy! I sometimes can grab extra copies from my mom's club.
What books have you enjoyed lately?

Faves! Sharing Crafting Space

Diandra and I definitely have crafty houses. I remember my first visit to Di's place, I was so inspired by all the crafted stuff she has everywhere I went thrifting afterwards and spent a wack of cash on crafting stuff. Then after arriving home, I realized that my place is the same; there is crafted stuff everywhere! We both make stuff nearly everyday and since we live with roommates, family, etc. we have to share our crafting spaces. I've got a somewhat small house with no extra office/craft room so I need to be vigilant in tidying up crafting/work messes before moving onto something else, namely: Dinner. The two main spaces that are shared in my house are the dining room which is the craft/sewing room and the living room which is also my office. So that means a sharing space and having creative storage to make sure that the the rooms are totally multi-funtional. There are lots of ways to do this! One of the big storage solutions for me is probably using dressers for supply storage. I keep my yarn stash in a large dresser in the living room and craft supplies in another dresser in the dining room. Using clever disguises like a cozies and baskets to hide crafting supplies keeps your gear is close at hand, but also stashed in a way that becomes decoration. What if you covered a living room side table with a table cloth or cozy so that you can use the hidden shelves for a messy basket of yarn WIPs?  Or what about the idea inspired by Jenn (whose living room doubles as a craft room): have a sideboard to store craft supplies topped with an ironing board!
Here are some of my favourite storage ideas for crafty people who need to share space.

I keep sewing stuff and material in vintage hard-sided suitcases and could put them away in a closet but I use them so much that I can't seem to kick them out of the dining/craft room. I also have a small suitcase for my sewing paraphernalia that makes it easy to keep it all organized and my sewing machine also sleeps its own vintage suitcase in the hall. And, I've had them like this for so long that I may have convinced myself that it actually looks okay.

I love this desk/craft space, though I think the mirror might be a tad distracting. I do like to look at myself...

Use a china hutch/cabinet to store craft supplies instead of dishes!

Spice containers for odds and ends make a mod decoration!

This is my latest idea that I came up with. It's so simple but so great! I have this cork trivet set aside for my cooling iron so I can put the huge ironing board away when it's supper time. It's such a great iron that it become part of my desk-top display between crafting so I almost never need to put it away.
On my wandering I also found a crafter using a bread box being for storing craft supplies too, now that's smart! I think that I would put buttons, clips, threads and other small things (that get lost in drawers) in bowls inside a bread box. I'll be on the lookout for one to add to my space this thrifting season. What is your favourite craft storage trick?

WIPs

I had intended to do my WIPs post last week, but Laura beat me to the punch. So this might not be so up to date when you're reading this, but I'll post a bit about last week and this week (speaking about my works in the future! ha!)

Kitchen: I've started menu planning a month in advance because we're trying to save money to go on an epic adventure to Prince George and Terrace to see friends and to get tattoos and to do roller derby. Fun! I've been trying to focus on using stuff we already have and am constantly juggling things around as dinners or other things come up. I'm also doing this "Total Body Transformation" lifestyle diet thing that Frida Beater does. It's "clean eating" which I'm finding difficult (who knew that was my final frontier for food) but I'm getting better at it. Combining that with vegan eating and PHEW there's always so many dishes I can't keep up (more than usual, esp. because we're trying not to eat out at restaurants). That aside, I'm really digging Appetite For Reduction which is just a great all around cook book. We're eating from it a lot.

Community: I'm tired :( I'm three weeks from being off the board of AVRG and it's a blessing in disguise. A few weeks back I decided to step back for the last month or so and give myself a break (it's been a full year almost at 20+ hours a week) and other people have had the strength to stand up and make the league their own, which is awesome. I also took a break from skating which was hard, but so needed because I went back this past weekend and loved every second of it. I've been having a hard time keeping up with my workouts, too. Seth has been sick (hand, foot and mouth? yuck) and I'm exhausted from being up so many nights with him, and work has been busy, so it's like, where can any energy come from?

On the other hand, my role with RDAC is picking up and it's AWESOME. I really like being on that board and look forward to the work I do with them on a daily basis. I'm part of the formation of the national roller derby association. It's nice to remind myself and give myself permission to throw myself into it. And! I've joined a softball team in a beer league. HELLO! Fun. Can't wait to try another sport on and take Roller derby a little less seriously and focus on other kinds of fitness to boost my derby self.

At work we've been busy. We've come off a busy February of meetings and AGMs and workshops, etc. to head into a busier March. The Teacher's Strike has put a kink in my plans to run our school survey in March, so we'll be doing it in late April when I get back from our trip north. Planning a bunch of other community-minded events, too. Loving work a lot lately.

Craft: The big thing for me is that we're moving and I've started paring down. I went from 6 baskets of craft supplies (not counting yarn) down to one basket. WHAT? Awesome. We're having a moving sale and I hope crafty ppl come! The other thing is that I have two knitting projects on the go that I have to get finished! (Stewart's sweater and Tawney's hat, seen above)... Once I'm done those I'm going to start a KAL with the incredible Kittee Berns of Cake Maker to the Stars to knit THIS GREY SWEATER (before dark)! Laura has also asked me to do a westknits KAL with her and I'm tentatively in because I've always wanted to make one of these !! which one should I make? (Check his WEBSITE for links and other patterns!)

Daybreak?

Flamboyan?

Birdwing?

Clockwork? 

Fabric Bucket: Tutorial version (+DIY KID)

When I was searching for fabric bucket tutorials, I came across this lovely one on Craftster.
I made one in a flash, here it is in hot pink and polkadots. I used the cut-out corners as handles. I added a pocket inside before sewing the lining piece.

The author was right, they're addictive to make! So I made 7 more that I will sell at the yarn shop for knitting project bags.

I like the handles this way, just pin them inside the top turned and pressed edge, then sew them! 

I used the cut out corners and sewed them end to end, then turned, pressing and sewing into handles. 

 The goal here was to learn basics of bucket construction and also find a pattern with a simple design that I could adapt to make my own custom buckets. So the last one that I made is a huge organizer that I made for my yarn drawer. I made 4 inside lining buckets for the inner sections, then doubled the measurements to get the outside liner. I threw in pieces of cereal box for the bottom and two sides to help it stand up(next time I would only use a bottom piece cause after it was sewn, it held it's shape without help). There is no photo because it looks terrible!

matching material (different colour same pattern) with contrasting handles.

A DIY KID can help with picking material, pinning, and putting pins away.  They could try creating their own bucket with the same pattern using paper and glue by decorating the sides and handles with crayons, sparkles, paint, and stickers.

Kung Pao Sauce (for Squash Stir Fry!)

Here's another squashy recipe pulled out of the draft archives of ohsweetie. Enjoy!!

This is a "asian-fusion" sauce inspired by the Kung Pao sauce recipe in the REbar cookbook. It is great for smothering some stir fried vegetables and I used mine to sauce-up some stir fried hubbard squash with tofu and whatever other veg I had in the fridge. YUM. Never stir fried before? Here's some basic instruction from instructables.

Now, for the sauce combine the following ingredients in a bowl and pour veg as you're cooking it (almost done). The sauce must cook at least for a bit, especially if you're going to thicken it with corn starch/water slurry

2 tbsp grated ginger
1 tbsp grated garlic
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 hoisin sauce
1/4 cup apple sauce
1 tbsp sesame oil
2 tbsp sambal oelek (or less, this is spicy)
1/2 cup of water (optional)
1 tbsp corn starch (optional)

Mix in a bit of water and corn starch if you find it too runny. Um, yep, that's it! XO

FF: Photography!

Photography is the kind of thing I don't feel I'm very good at. When I started blogging in 2004 (or even building e-zine webpages in 1995!) digital cameras were well known and used, but I didn't have one. Couldn't afford it. When I moved to Japan it was a miracle I could post pictures from my cell phone to my blog or my flickr account. Now, fast forward about 8 years and the basic sony cybershot digital camera is lacking in the photo department. the other thing that's lacking is my inability to edit every single photo I take in photoshop (or give it the time). Also the money commitment to get a new fancy DSLR camera, let alone learning how to use it all. Is that something I want? Not really. The photos on HSH might not be as fancy as on the "big DIY blogs" but whatever. That's not the aesthetic we're going for (b/c it's obv trying too hard). Here's a round up of some of my favourite photos from my Flickr. They focus on quality of the shot, not the content. do you have a digital camera? What do you use it for? (click on each photo for more info).