In Like a Lion out like a Lamb Crochet Project

Well it is March and as the little saying for March goes "in like a lion and out like a lamb", I thought I would post this little lion for my  weekly project. I finally got the nose and mouth sewed on, which was all it has been needing for the last month.  I started this while visiting Marie.  We started them together actually, but I came home with the pattern, so Marie was left with only the beginning of the head. Instructions are following so Marie and any one else can whip it up in no time.  Now I am hoping to come up with a nice little " lamby project"  so that I can post it at the end of March.

Check out little Tobby posing with Lion... isn't he cute?

Instructions for Crocheted Lion

This came out of one of Vanna White's little crochet books with a few variations of my own.
I used one color, hers called for three
I used 1 portion of 1 skein of gold yarn
2 plastic eyes

Head and Body
Begin at center off face, chain 2
Round 1
work 6 sc in 2nd ch from hook.
Place marker for beginning of rnd; move marker up as each rnd is completed. 

Round 2
2 sc in each st around : 12 sts.
Round 3
(2sc in st, sc in next st) 6 times  -18 st
Round 4
(2 sc in next st, sc in next 2  sts) 6 times - 24 sts

Round 5 
(2 sc in next st, sc in next 3 sts) 6 times - 30 st
Round 6 
(2 sc in next st, sc in next 4 sts) 6 times - 36 sts.
Round 7
(2 sc in next st, sc in next 5 sts) 6 times - 42 sts.
Round 8 
Sc in each st around.
Round 9
Working in back loops only,  sc in each st around.
Follow package directions to attach safety eyes.
Rounds 10 -17
Sc in each stitch around.
Round 18
(Sc2tog, sc in next 5 sts) 6 times - 36 stitches
Round 19
(Sc2tog, sc in next 4 sts) 6 times -30 sts.
Begin to stuff piece firmly.  Continue to stuff as work progresses.
Round 20
(Sc2tog, sc in next 3 sts) 6 times- 24 sts.
Round 21
(Sc2tog , sc in next 2 sts) 6 times - 18 sts.
Round 22
(Sc2tog, sc in next st) 6 times - 12 sts.
Round 23
(Sc2tog) 6 times - 6 sts. Fasten off.
Mane
For the mane, I did single strands inserted in each stitch, tied and knotted.
Here is the other variation:
Join with slip stitch into any stitch on round 9.

Round 1
Working in front loops of round 9, chain 1 ( sc, hdc) in same stitch as join, (dc, hdc) in next st, (sc, sl st) in next st, *(sc,hdc) in next st, (dc, hdc) in next st, (sc, sl st) in next st; repeat from * around.  Fasten off.
Ears (make 2)
Ch2
Round 1
Work 8 sc in 2nd chain from hook.  Place marker for beg of rnd: move marker up as ech round is completed.
Round 2  
Sc in each st. around - 8 sts
Round 3 
(Sc2tog) 4 times 4 sts.  Fasten off.
Legs (make 4)
Ch 2
Rounds 1 and 2
Work rounds 1 and 2 of head and body
Round 3
Working in back loops only,  sc in each st around
Rounds 4 and 5
Sc in each st around.  Fasten off.
Tail
Chain 5. 3hdc in 2nd ch from hook.  Fasten off.
This little tail seemed too skinny to me.. I added another row of stitches and a little fringe on the end like the mane.

Finishing
Sew ears to head.  Stuff legs and sew to body.  Sew tail to end of Body.  With contrasting color, embroider straight st nose, mouth and whiskers.

If you have any questions comment me.
Enjoy

Kefir

       While I was in Ohio for the birth of little Grandson Ezra,  my son in law, Jon gave me a gift. 

Now this gift is not something many of you would often think about desiring to own, unless you knew about what a delightful thing it was; I have been so delighted with my gift, that I would smile and giggle every time I would look at it.  What in the world could this gift be?  And have you ever seen the like of such a thing?  It is a living organism.  It  is something that is good for your body.  It tastes really good when made into a smoothie.  It is well known in many parts of the world, but hasn't been as well known in the U.S. until recent years. I had been tempted to make you guess.... but of course the title of my post has already given me away.  Yes, It is kefir.   Jon knew the value of kefir and brought it home to his family.  He  then grew and multiplied his kefir, and blended up its produce into many lovely smoothies (I was the delighted recipient of these smoothies).  In short order his kefir culture multiplied, and he sent me home with a share.

Many years ago I ordered kefir through our food co-op in a variety of flavors.  The kids thought it was a real treat.  When Russell, Olga and Eddie came to live with us, I would pick up kefir at the health food store on occasion.  It was a familiar food to them, because it is a common food in Russia.  Eddie often asked for it. Now I can make it myself.... because of my son in law.  Thanks Jon.

Once you have the little kefir cultures or grains, (check the internet to order some),  it is easy to make and maintain.  It goes like this.  Put your kefir culture in a quart sized canning jar.  Add two to three cups milk (might as well make it organic milk if you are trying this for a healthy treat). Place lid on top loosely.  Allow to sit at room tempurature 12 to  36 hours.  Once milk and culture mixture are thick, strain into a bowl, using a plastic strainer and spoon.  (Jon told me and I have since read on the internet that metal can cause your kefir to respond negatively, which may inhibit its growth, so use plastic instead).  Set the  kefir liquid to the side.  Put kefir grains back in jar.  Add 2-3 cups of milk,  Now the process starts all over again.  Meanwhile, blend your kefir  with banana and other fruit, and you have a wonderful smoothie. When blended with fruit and a little sugar and even some vanilla, it is a delicious beverage and tastes like yogurt in drink form. If you cannot attend to your kefir as soon as you would like, you may keep it in the refrigerator where it keeps nicely with out spoiling.  Also, as a note, the longer you let your kefir sit and ferment at room temperature, the thicker it gets, and also the tangier it gets. If you prefer less tang, refrigerate or drink it sooner.  It never seems too tangy for me, but that is just a little info to help you on your way.
Enjoy

Whole Wheat Bread

Yesterday, Luke and I spent the day in the kitchen baking.  I made whole wheat bread and hamburger buns, and he made pita bread, raviollis and egg noodles.   I think I am gaining weight now that Luke moved back home.  He is a great cook, and I can't resist all of the delicious foods he makes.

  About 12 years ago, Steve bought me 2 machines that I have loved.  One is a Grain Master Whisper Mill, and the other is a Bosch Mixer. 

The Whisper Mill is a convenient electric grain mill  which  can easily grind wheat (or other grains) fresh every time you need flour.  I can store my wheat berries with no worries of spoilage and yet still have whole wheat flour when I need it; once berries have been ground into flour, the germ is exposed to oxygen, and will soon begin oxidising, causing the flour to become rancid in a short amount of time. Mass marketing in the 20th century brought us flour with the germ removed, which gives a longer shelf life, but cheats us out of important nutrients contained in the grain.  I recently started grinding some wheat berries that we had in storage for over 10 years.  The grains were fresh, clean and ready to grind.  The flour made delicious bread.  Wheat berries if stored in a clean, fairly cool environment, will actually remain nutritious and intact for thousands of years.  Wheat berries which were discovered in Pharoah's tomb were found to contain all vitamins and minerals still intact,  and were able to be sprouted and also ground for bread after 5000 years. God sure knows how to package and preserve food doesn't He?

There are several good quality mixers on the market, but for making whole wheat bread, my favorite, is my Bosch Mixer, which is a wonderful heavy duty mixer that allows me to mix and knead  dough in large quantities (5-6 loaves at a time), without worries of burning up the motor, which incidentally I did with a couple of bread machines years ago from excess whole wheat bread making.  

sponging in my Bosch machine

The recipe I use for my basic whole wheat bread is one I got from the little bread making supply store that we bought these machines from.  They were located in Denver but I can't even remember their name now... they are no longer in business. Everyday they did demonstrations for grinding wheat, making breads, buns, rolls, pizza etc. I have been using the recipe ever since.

Basic Whole Wheat Bread

Grind approximately 10 cups Wheat Berries in your Wheat Grinder. This produces about 16 or 17 cups of flour.

In your mixing bowl put:

• 6 cups of very warm water (when it is hot to the touch, but not scalding)

• 1/3 cup oil (I use olive oil... you could use whatever you like)

• 1/3 cup honey (if you use the measuring cup for your oil first, then measure the honey, the honey comes out of the cup easily)

• 2 tablespoons yeast (I use instant or fast acting yeast)

• 5 cups wholewheat flour

Mix together and let sponge 10 - 15 minutes.... until bubbly.

Turn on mixer and add:

• 1 1/2 tablespoons salt

• 1/3 cup gluten (this gives the bread a softer, airier, stretchier texture; in recent years I have been leaving this out. I sometimes add a cup or two of white flour in place of the whole grain, for an alternative to additional gluten).

• Approximately 9-1l cups more flour) Each time you make bread, your flour measurements can be different, depending on the moisture in the flour or the moisture in the air, or whether the flour is freshly ground, or has been ground previously (the flour will be more compact, the longer it is stored as flour). The best way to determine if you need more flour is to watch as you put in each cup. Once it no longer sticks to the sides of the bowl, you have enough.

Add ins may be added at this point... such as sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, oatmeal, dill or caraway seed what ever you like.



Knead for 5-6 minutes if you have a Bosch Machine, or 7-10 with a standard mixer (if using a standard mixer, cut this recipe in half or 1/3), 13-15 minutes for hand kneading .


Put bread dough onto an oiled surface (this keeps the bread moist). Cut dough into portions for each loaf pan, pat them nicely into a log shaped loaf and place into oiled pan. This recipe makes 4-5 large loaves, or 5-6 medium loaves. I also use the dough to make pizza, cinnamon buns, hamburger buns and rolls.


I grease my bread pans with natural shortening or cooking spray or you can also use a mixture of oil with a little bit of liquid lecithin as described below: Also, a narrow sided bread pan is best, in order to support the rising bread dough, providing better chance that your dough will not collapse in the center.

Lecithin non -stick mixture:

• 1 Tablespoon lecithin (this adds to the non-sticking quality of the oil)
• 2 Tablespoons oil 

You can keep a mixture of this in your fridge for ready use.

Allow bread, or rolls time to double in size.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Bake bread approximately 25- 35 minutes depending on the size of your loaf.  You may use a thermometer to check the internal temperature; you will want it to be about 195 degrees.  I don't ever use a thermometer, but take it out once it is lightly golden, usually about 25 minutes.

Dough waiting to be oiled, and divided into loaves and rolls.

Rising Loaf

Rising Hamburger Buns

Cinnamon rolls and sticky buns are a yummy way to enjoy healthy, wholesome, bread.

Cinnamon Buns rising

This bread makes wonderful sandwich bread.

Origami Boxes, and gifts of the heart

For Valentines, our son Luke made origami boxes.... well, rather it went like this.  Luke made some really wonderful origami boxes one evening and I thought they were so delightful I asked him if he would make up several of them for Valentines, so that I could put my truffles in them and make a pretty table.  He obliged.
  He's such a sweet lad.

 Aren't they pretty?  

I decided that I would post them as one of the 52 weeks of projects.

 Those little truffles fit in there perfectly (recipe in previous post).

 Luke is also a great cook.  He added this to our Valentine Schmorgesboard (my spell checker says this is not a word).

 

My Meatloaf doesn't look quite as pretty as his pizza, even though we put it on a lovely crystal plate.

 Another of Luke's accomplishments.  Croissants... they were delicious. 

We had fun this Valentines Day, cooking and decorating together.  During dinner, we watched Dean Martin on You tube singing "That's Amore".   All we needed was our little grandsons to dance with. Our Favorite version of "That's Amore"  is the one where Jerry Lewis joins in.  Eddie didn't know who Jerry Lewis was, so we decided we needed to update his education.  No child should go through life with out at least one Dean Martin, Jerry Lewis Movie don't ya think?
 

Don't forget to scroll down and pause my playlist music before you press the start button

Valentine Dinner

This year our Valentines dinner is a family affair.  Romance is still waiting for Steve and I .... some day somewhere... Yes, Hawaii, that is our promise we are going to Hawaii... one day to recharge our romantic batteries and make sure we don't end up looking like this couple.  We tried to get there on our 20th anniversary, then our 25th, then our 30th.  I can picture myself there on Valentines day too; we're not particular.   But, oh well, perhaps next year. This year, there will be 4 of us ages 50,  50, 28 and 15, and we will be home with the dogs and the cats and the cows and the snow....  but it can still be romantic don't you think? Here's the menu:

 Menu:

Dinner:

Heart Shaped Meatloaf 

Mashed Potatoes

Corn

Rolls

Salad

Iced Tea

Dessert:

Chocolate Oreo Truffles (see recipe below)

How can you go wrong with that.... at least not around here, where meatloaf and mashed potatoes are always in high demand

Chocolate Oreo Truffles

I first tasted these at my Dad's house.  Kathy gave me one of these choice morsels on  my last visit.  They were one of the most scrumpious treats I have ever had.   They make a wonderful Valentines Day treat.  Here's the recipe:

Ingredients

1 16 ounce Package Oreo Cookies

  I used "Newman's Own",  he doesn't use hydrogenated oil in his

8 ounces cream cheese 

softened to room temperature

16 ounces of semi sweet chocolate chips 

or you can use milk chocolate, white, or mint flavored for a contrasting mixture
Toasted almonds, shredded coconut, chopped nuts, or cookie crumbs, cocoa, candy sprinkles, or alternate colored chocolate or frosting to add variation and decoration

Instructions 

1. Place cream cheese in a bowl, and allow to soften.
2. Crush Oreos in a food processor.  
3. Add  the oreos to the cream cheese and mix thoroughly.  
4. Roll into walnut sized balls and place on a waxed paper covered cookie sheet.  
5. Place in refrigerator until cold and firm.
6. If you want to add nuts or an almond to the inside, you can add now.
7. Meanwhile, melt chocolate chips in a double boiler ( I saw Paula Dean using a glass Pyrex bowl over a pan of heating water on the stove top..... I liked that). 
8.  When the truffle balls are cooled and chocolate is melted, dip chocolate balls into chocolate extended from a tooth pick, skewer or fork.  
9. Place on wax paper to dry. 
10. If desired, sprinkle with additional cookie crumbs, sprinkles, nuts or drizzle with contrasting colored chocolate.  
11. Place each in a cupcake paper to give it a nice touch. 
12. Try to keep them out of sight until ready to serve... they may not last.

Soothing Bath Salts for Valentines

A nice Valentine soak in the tub to soothe and calm the nerves is what sounded nice to me this year for Valentines.  As a gift or a romantic indulgence, bath salts seemed like a nice idea to try.

 I found Dead Sea Salts, dried Lavender flowers, dried  Chamomile  and baking soda in the bulk section of the health food store (quite inexpensive).

 Put them in the blender and pushed the button.

Spooned the delighful smelling powdered bath salts into clear Valentines Bags.

 

 Tied off the plastic bag and placed into a homemade bag.  Tied with pretty ribbon.

 

Gave them to my girlfriends and indulged myself in a trial bath.   So soothing to the skin, and  smells so good.

Soothing Bath Salts

4 cups Dead Sea Salts

2 cups Baking Soda

1 cup Dried Lavendar flowers

1/2 Cup Dried Chamomile Flowers or Calendula petals

Blend all ingredients in a blender and breathe in the delightful smell.

If you don't care for little petals floating in your bath water, consider putting a large scoop of the bath salts into a coffee filter. You can seal all openings by sewing edges together  like a little envelope or 

tea bag; or pour into a nylon stocking, tie off and add to bath, or add essential oils instead of flowers.

Other optional ingredients:

Oatmeal (soothes itchy skin)

(be sure to grind it fine first and mix it with the other ingredients once they are ground

Powdered Milk (a beauty treatment used by Cleopatra)

Essential oils

Enjoy