It's been a bit of a slow process as I learn how to post and share recipes, but I did add three more today on my lunch break! Be sure to keep checking back to the RECIPES tab on the top of the page - I hope you'll find something fun to make.
Also, don't forget that you have until 11:59 p.m. TONIGHT to enter for a chance to win my "Irish Pride Cowl"!
You actually have 4 chances to win, so make sure you've done all that you can to improve your chances - and pass it on to someone you know :-)
Thursday, February 28, 2013
Monday, February 25, 2013
Cooking with Crafty Holly Louise
In an attempt to make the recipes
that I share a bit easier for everyone to locate, you’ll see that I’ve added a RECIPES tab to the top of my blog. I hope that
you’ll be patient with me as I figure out the best way to share my favorite
recipes with you (both old and new). Please
feel free to leave me a comment if you have any tips/suggestions – I’m always open to good ideas!
I’m starting out my “official”
recipe-sharing with yesterday’s dinner; which we enjoyed with good friends. I’ll apologize right now for the lack of
pictures in this cooking post. My
itty-bitty kitchen was still “pre-scrub down” when I was prepping, and by the
time the soup was ready, I was too hungry to think to take a “final product”
shot!
Using my crockpot during the week
always seems [in theory] like such a great way to make dinner on a week night,
until I remember that it requires either morning prep before work, or evening
prep the night before (and enough room in my fridge for my crockpot sleeve
overnight)! This basically means that my
crockpot rarely gets used, and if it does, it’s on the weekend.
Anyway – I love creamy potato
soup! This recipe was easily made
Gluten-free, and very easily adjusted to accommodate a vegetarian friend! This was my first time using this recipe, so
I really have no idea how differently it would taste with chicken stock and
cream of chicken soup. Honestly, it
tasted so good the way I made it last night that I really have no desire to
try! I love that this is now a vegetarian
meal – bacon’s a vegetable right?
The one thing that I will try
next time is using some milk and cornstarch to thicken it up instead of cream
cheese. I think it’ll be just as tasty
without the full-fat cream cheese (required to melt properly), and a bit less
rich. I’m going to put cheese on top of
my bowl in the end regardless, so adding that much to the soup as well just
doesn’t seem necessary in my book! I’ll
try to remember to do an update the next time I make this soup with the cream
cheese substitution, and let you all know how it works out!
Crock-Pot Potato
Soup
5¼ cups chicken or vegetable stock (or three 14 oz. cans)
1 can cream of chicken (or mushroom) soup
½ cup onion, chopped
1 T garlic powder
1 T dry dill
¼ tsp. each salt and black pepper
1 pkg cream cheese (not fat free, it won’t melt)
Combine everything in Crock-Pot, except cream cheese. Cook for 6-8 hours on low heat. About 1 hour before serving, add cream cheese and keep heated until thoroughly melted. Dish soup, and top with shredded Cheddar and crispy bacon.
(Recipe adapted from Cara of http://pearls-handcuffs-happyhour.blogspot.com/)
Did everyone watch the Oscar’s
last night? We “watched”, but a napped
halfway through, and definitely didn’t make it till the end of the evening (5
a.m. comes waaaay too quickly at my house!)
I haven’t seen any of the movies that were nominated (other than Brave),
so I really watch the same way we watch the Super Bowl – not because we’re
football fans, but because it’s the Super Bowl, so you watch!
Of course, there HAD to be Oscar
crocheting! I just got a new mill-ends
of cotton yarn on Saturday that was screaming “Make pot-holders and matching
dish cloths out of me!!, please” So I
followed orders:
Who did you think was best
dressed? Of what I saw of the Red
Carpet, Kerry Washington’s dress was my favorite!
Don’t forget about my GIVE-AWAY
and all the ways that you can enter to win!
Spread the word too – you have until Thursday, February 28th
at 11:59 p.m. to enter for a chance at being “most-fashionable” this St.
Patrick’s Day!!
Friday, February 22, 2013
GIVE-AWAY Announcement!
I’ve wanted to do a give-away for a while now; probably for about a year the more I think about it! Last spring I put a reminder on my calendar to do something on my “Blog-a-versary” in August, but it came and went without the time for me to be really serious and do something special. Now, I could wait until this August and do something BIG for my 5-year Blogging Anniversary, but I don’t wanna ;-)
So, ATTENTION family, friends & crafty bloggers:
Celebrate St. Patrick’s Day 2013 in style with this Granny Cowl with Cream Rose!!! It’s the perfect way to show your Irish pride this spring, and for years to come! This cowl was made by yours truly using 100% Acrylic yarn in a smoke-free, pet-free environment. And, I speak from experience when I say that you’ll LOVE wearing this crafty accessory!
HOW TO ENTER
To enter to win, simply leave a comment on this post and answer one of the following questions:
“What’s your favorite way to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day?”
- or -
“Why are you most looking forward to SPRING?”
You can receive up to THREE additional entries to win by doing the following:
1. Become a follower of my blog; leave an additional comment on this post letting me know you’re now a follower of Crafty Holly Louise
3. Add my ETSY Shop to your favorites; leave an additional comment on this post letting me know that Crafty Holly Louise is now one of your favorites
4. Share my give-away on your blog, linking back to this post; leave an additional comment on this post with the link to your post
Deadline: Thursday, February 28, 2013 at 11:59 p.m.
Winner: The winner will be announced on Friday, March 1, 2013. If the winner does not respond within 48 hours, another winner will be selected.
Monday, February 18, 2013
Holiday Weekends
I hope that everyone is enjoying their long, holiday weekend! To me, three-day weekends mostly mean one extra day of uninterrupted crocheting and crafting!!
Jonathan and I are in WNY visiting family. Sadly we have to head back to MD later today, but as always it's nice to be home (and it's an added bonus to even have some snow!)
Just a quick hi to my blog friends this morning, and an exciting preview for an upcoming announcement:
Please check back later this week for my first blog giveaway!!
Jonathan and I are in WNY visiting family. Sadly we have to head back to MD later today, but as always it's nice to be home (and it's an added bonus to even have some snow!)
Just a quick hi to my blog friends this morning, and an exciting preview for an upcoming announcement:
Please check back later this week for my first blog giveaway!!
Thursday, February 14, 2013
Inaugural / Valentine's Crocheting
My Inauguration Day crocheting
last month was fueled by my desire to get some Valentine’s Day packages sent out
prior to Valentine’s Day. I had also finally taken down my Christmas tree and
decorations late that Sunday night, and decorated for Valentine’s at the same
time (yes, I was a bit of as mad-woman that night – I have my moments). By Monday, I was just in the mood for MORE
HEARTS around the apartment!
For those of you who don’t know,
in 2009, Jonathan and I had tickets for the Inauguration, and were lucky enough
to stand [in the freezing cold] on the Capitol lawn and watch history being
made LIVE. That weekend 4 years ago,
Jonathan had also just returned from a 2-week trip to China so between the jet
leg, and how bitter COLD it was, there was NO
WAY I was getting him to stand outside again in 2013! Since 2009 I have changed jobs, and I now
work right on Pennsylvania Ave – along the parade route. Coming downtown and watching the parade from my
building was an option, but neither of us were 100% sold on the idea of dealing
with public transportation (couldn’t park in my building that
day)/security/waiting around all day.
So, instead, from the comfort of our warm apartment, we invited our
friends over for brunch!
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Anyway, the entirety of January 21, 2013 was spent on the couch, in sweats, watching another big day in America’s history. Sounds to me like the perfect conditions for some serious crocheting ;-)
By the end of the day, as the
parade was finally winding down, I
had this:
After inspiration had struck
weeks prior, I was in AC Moore while the front of the store was overly
saturated with the smell of Roses thanks to those $1 pouches of home scent/potpourri
stuff. I picked up a couple pouches with
these hearts in mind, and when I stuffed the hearts I just added a little bit
of the potpourri throughout the batting.
Each heart has a lovely rose smell now too! I doubt these will go away with my Valentine’s
Day decorations (this year at least) – they’re just too cute!
Besides, we all know how I feel
about ROSES these days ;-)
*Side Note* The weather in DC was incredibly spring-like
on Tuesday afternoon of this week. After
a lunchtime doctor’s appointment, I decided to walk back to the office (Metro
trains run less frequently in the middle of the day, so if I get a good pace
going, I can usually walk from the “doctor offices corridor” back to 1001 Penn
in the same about of time!) I made a
point to swing by the White House on the last of my walk and snap a couple of
pictures.
I leave you with shots of the White House with the least amount of tourists I’ve ever seen in this location, and what’s left of the Presidential viewing stand that the Obama’s and other lucky guests used to watch the Inauguration Parade.
Monday, February 11, 2013
You'll be Swell, You'll be Great!
Growing up, I remember my Grannie
having a small pewter hanging in her kitchen that read “take time to smell the
roses”. I seem to recall asking her
about this one day as it made little sense to my pre-adolescent self. I believe she told me that it was a
retirement gift (I’m sure she’ll correct me if I’m wrong once she’s read this –
Hi Grannie J) Looking back, I believe that at age 10, the
thought of needing to take time to smell roses seems like a silly thing to make
time for. To me, this probably seemed
like nothing more a nonsensical way of getting closer to a bee than was truly
needed.
Does anyone else find roses to be
as romantic as I do? They’ve always been my favorite – whether as flowers
given to me after a show in my childhood; or adolescent, romantic daydreams of “Prince
Charming” bringing home flowers.
I even carried roses on my
Wedding Day.
“Where’s the crafty tie-in!” you ask?
Well, my Sunday started with me
finishing up a new cowl. I saw pictures
of this great cowl at MaybeMatilda back in the fall, and was convinced that I
could figure out the pattern on my own…..THINK AGAIN, HOLLY.
I tried variations of what I thought Rachel may have done for a couple
of Christmas gifts; but it was a complete struggle of trial and error, cursing,
and frogging. The two Christmas gifts
were completely different when finished and I didn’t 100% love either version
as a long term pattern for my use. My
penny-pinching self held out though (sorry Rachel!), and I believe that I have
finally figured out the correct combination of base chain, “infinity crocheting”,
hook, and number of rounds to create something very similar to what I first fell
in love with last fall.
“What's the big deal with the roses you
yammered on about 2 pages ago!” you ask?
Once I found THIS pattern, and I
played around a bit with different hooks and one vs. two strands of yarn; they
became (just as Lucy warned….)
VERY addicting!
For anyone who is curious, I’ve settled on 2 strands of worsted weight yarn and my trusty Susan Bates “L” hook. The one on my cowl was made with my favorite “K”hook and measures about ~3” across while the ones I now prefer with the larger hook are ~3.75” across. Now you know!
There’s 15 of them sitting
there. I made all of them last night. Someone
I still need to go through and sew them, etc. [which I’ll likely hate every
second of], but I just LOVE them!
ALL THE ROSES = ALL THE FUN!
Can’t wait to see what I decide
to do with them all ;-)
Monday, February 4, 2013
Super Bowl Sunday!
I have started, and saved more half-finished posts
than ever before, including:
If only we had the manpower of the NFL fixing our
power outage on August 6, 2011!
- Christmas gifts (now that I've gifted all of them)
- Inaugural/Valentine’s crocheting
- Custom Orders
- Baby Blankets
- PINK
It would probably make the most sense for me
to FINISH the posts I’ve started before writing something new. Yet here I am writing and posting about my
Super Bowl crocheting instead!
Anyone who knows us knows that Jonathan and I are
not “football people” (we’re more, West Wing, Downton Abby, Harry Potter,
Disney World people!) For those of you
who don’t know us personally, my lack of discussion regarding, basically all
sports should have been your first clue J
On that note, we do typically watch the Super Bowl
every year. Mostly for the commercials
and Halftime Show. Usually by kickoff we’ve
selected which of the teams we plan to root for as well (it’s been a looooooooooooooong
time since the Bills made it to the Super Bowl so each year we pick our
favorite of the “last two standing”)
This year Jonathan and I were both rooting for
Baltimore (yea Ravens!!) My Uncle Warren
lived in Baltimore for ~35 years and I used to visit with my family each spring. Jonathan and I also just marked our 8th
Anniversary of living in DC – just one hour away (depending on the traffic!)
from Baltimore. Add into the mix that Jonathan is current student teaching in
Columbia, Maryland; about halfway between DC and Baltimore. From the sounds of it last week, he’s in the
middle of “Ravens country” and everyone
was very excited for their team to be in the Super Bowl. It goes without saying that Jonathan wore purple to work both Friday and today.
To me, the Super Bowl also means two other things:
Fun foods that we usually don’t eat
It’s time to pick my “Super Bowl craft”
First, the food.
I found this recipe online quite a few weeks ago, and thankfully cauliflower
seems to have good staying power in the fridge (at least this cauliflower did!),
cause it’s taken us a few weeks more to make it! I’ve even seen a few FB friends making
something similar since I originally found the recipe. No, it’s not the same as wings, but it was
sooooooooooo yummy on its own that I definitely did NOT care. You
really can’t go wrong with anything covered in Frank’s and blue cheese,
right? Jonathan even declared (through
my Instagram-filtered FB uploaded picture) that “he would only be eating vegetables
in buffalo wing form from now on.” I’m
[fairly] certain he was joking ;-) Definitely will be making this again!
For the crafting, I had planned to start a new “Super
Bowl project” for the night – I was thinking of a new pattern that would be great
for custom orders/ETSY. I picked up my
current order to just work on for a bit before kickoff….then, once I realized
that I was crocheting purple,
I felt that I would be jinxing things to put it down! Here’s my progress as of this morning:
I realized last night that I can’t crochet as
quickly during the Super Bowl as I can during other TV – you actually want to
watch the commercials!! Even if we’re
using our Roku or watching a movie, it doesn’t require me to look at the screen
as frequently as football and Super Bowl commercials!
Speaking of Super Bowl commercials – what was
everyone’s favorite(s)? I did not think
there were as many good/funny ones as in years past (I still have the Go Daddy
one burned onto my retinas…not funny – painfully gross), but did giggle
throughout following:
I fell asleep at the end of the 3rd
quarter, waking up with 5:30 left of the 4th quarter, so I missed
this next one last night. They showed it
on the Today show this morning as one of the top 5, and while it seemed little
long during the recap, by the end I found it hilarious!!
Leave me a comment if I’m missing a good one, or let me know if you agree!
Lastly, I have to make a quick comment about the
power outage….I mean come on, I really thought all GREAT nights included a
power outage!!!
NAH, I wouldn't really change that night for the world!
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