A Tale of Asparagus and Ducks...

So Life has been crazy lately, Ethan got laid off and so we've been seeking prayer and job hunting... Needless to say we are both stressed but I am trying to keep our humble abode as carefree as possible.. Part of that is to just keep on keeping on.. to live my life day to day one moment at a time, and that means to not give up on my hobby.. which is this pinterest project and being a good mom and wife (as best as I can be with these crazy psycho hormones running through my body) Tonight I tried a recipe that intimidated me at first, I had to read it 15 times before I decided I would finally attempt it... but let me tell you, I was just gonna X out of the link and say "screw it! we won't have a vegetable with dinner!"... but here I was with two pounds of asparagus that I needed to do something with... so I grew some balls and did the recipe... It's called Asparagus Gratin... which is just what it sounds like... it's like potatoes a gratin but with asparagus.. I guess... It consisted of like 8 preparatory parts.. one being that you boil the ends of the asparagus in water before you boil the actual asparagus in the water and then with that "asparagus water" you make a rouz/gravy type thing with different cheeses that you pour over the boiled asparagus then top with Parmesan cheese and broil for 8 minutes... and *phew* I am getting exhausted just re-tracing my steps... but the end result was DELICIOUS! My husband basically ate the whole pan... after Katarina and I got to try some helpings. and we paired it with some Trader Joes Alfredo and meat balls.... and Now my tummy is happy.. here are some photos of the end result and one photo of the "woody" "ends" of the asparagus boiling in the water in the first step of the process. :) Enjoy.

 I have also been busy yarning, I made more of those peeps I showed you before, but I have a better grip on the pattern now so I was able to power through them, I also purchased some small beads for the eyes and nose to make them look more like the pattern and cleaner than my attempt at making black yarn eyes and noses... I think they turned out pretty cute! :) I am selling a four pack (pink, yellow, blue, and purple) for $10.. I have two sets if anyone is interested :)

 I had a baby shower to go to last weekend so I was searching through my yarn board for a pattern to do that was quick and cute for a present for her... She didn't know the gender of her baby so it had to be unisex and the only thing I really knew about the baby was that she was doing a classic winnie the pooh themed nursery... (the same that I did for Katarina) So I crocheted her a newborn sized winnie the pooh colored bear hat and gave her the bedding set Katarina had that was classic winnie the pooh. Unfortunately I forgot to take a picture of that so I can only give you the pattern I used, but just imagine a hat that looks exactly like the one in the picture of the pattern but a lighter hue of brown :) Newborn Bear Hat Pattern

And then of course I had a "just because" yarn pattern I took on, to brush up on my amurgurmi. (sp?).. So I made this TOY DUCK! I named him Henry..

I also attempted a couple other "recipes" My husband really likes Orange Dreamsicles so I pinned a recipe for them on pinterest.. the consensus though.. not good.. Ethan said they tasted like frozen heavy cream and that's it.. so perhaps the recipe needs adjusting.. more orange juice and orange extract and less heavy cream.... perhaps... Or I Can find another recipe... unfortunately our grocery store doesn't carry creamsicles or else I would just buy him some...

And announcing my new board on pinterest: CRESCENT MADNESS..

There are so many fun "recipes" to be done with those Pillsbury crescent rolls.. The one I attempted this time was a pizza roll up, which we paired with some whole grain pasta and four cheese sauce :) My husband and daughter seemed to enjoy them, I on the other hand didn't... guess they weren't my thing.. and the cheese stick didn't melt to my liking... but ce'est la vie; that's life.. here are some photos:

I really wish I had a camera that took decent photos instead of my phone and instagram... it is so challenging to get an aesthetic photo and to get my photos all in one place... but I make due.. Hope you enjoyed this entry.
and as always.
Until next time, keep on pinning. Erin.