Boll and Branch Cable Knit Throw

I had a fun box show up at my door today...

It was a beautiful throw from Boll and Branch

Boll and Branch is a fair trade certified company that sell organic cotton sheets and blankets that are amazing quality and are beautiful in design.

I don't often randomly things. I did once when I was young. I entered my sister's name in a contest and she won ice cream for our family for a year. That was a pretty lucky win, especially because we all benefited from it. However, you know those contests on Instagram. I don't usually enter those but this one was from Our Vintage Nest and I like her posts a lot so I thought I would give it a shot.

I won! That is what came today! It is beautiful. I am very grateful. Her post had over 3,000 likes so it really was the luck of the draw. I put a post up first thing today to thank her and Boll and Branch.

It is very exciting and it has gone to a very welcoming and thankful recipient.

Scrabble Family Names

I saw these scrabble tiles on a google search last fall and fell in love. My husband ordered and cut the wood last October but time got a head of me and I didn't get a chance to finish it till this last week. I am in love. I am so happy that we did it. Below are some of the steps it took to complete it.

The first step was to decide what we wanted it to look like including what words to use. I choose the names of our immediate family members. I used this generator to try different combinations to find the one I found most aesthetically pleasing:

Scrabble Puzzle Generator

I then sketched it out to determine how many of which letters were needed.

My husband cut the wood. We use reclaimed rail road wood that's approximately 3"x3" and Derek, my husband, has cut them approximately .33" thick.

Next, I sanded the wood and designed and cut the 'Scrabble' style letters and corresponding numbers on my silhouette. Then I cut and weeded the vinyl. The hardest part was setting it down in between 'crafting sessions' and not continuing on all night.

The second to final step was applying the vinyl to the wood. I use Oracal Vinyl. So far it has been my favorite brand and seems to hold and transfer the best.

 The final step was mounting it to the wall. I found these removable mounting circles with a level and a measuring tape to be the best way to do it. I used the measuring tape to mark the center of where I wanted my display to be and worked my way out from there. So far, these mounting circles have been quite successful. As you can see on the picture below, I originally mounted the "E" a little high and had to move the entire row down, they all peeled off and remounted and have successfully held since.

I am very happy with these and it was well worth the wait and anticipation. 

Grandma's Wheat Bread

My Mom used to have to make their bread growing up. My grandma always said, "Your husband will thank me someday". Just to give my mom a hard time, my dad did go and thank my grandma, in a teasing way, although having fresh baked bread is always delicious. Having freshly ground wheat also adds to the nutrition. These days, even if you are going for all natural, simple ingredients, it still more cost efficient to buy bread, especially if you live near the bakery we do. That being said, when my mom was remodeling her house and needed everything out and I needed some wheat ground, I gladly 'baby-sat' her wheat grinder for her.

There's something about using mom's wheat grinder and grandma's bread recipe on a cool summer's day that is the essence of nostalgia. Add in your husband's fresh home made 5-berry jam. We are a bit spoiled at our house.

PC: Yvonne Krieger (My mom :) )

She wanted to 'model' the toast for me.

Chalkboard Frame

I've been wanting to make a framed chalked board for a while. I've been keeping my eyes out for a french style vintage frame and finally found one, on the same trip that I found this simple one. I realized this one would actually fit our living room much better and so after waffling back and forth, this one came home with me. Painting it was easy. The lettering will be a project for another day since I had my little ones with me and wanted to get this one up. I've really liked the quote so I thought I would start with it.

I placed it next to this sign I made at a super Saturday craft day last fall. It's one of my favorite craft decorations yet. I wanted to include the picture it as well.

French Onion Soup

I guess it's been a cooking week for us when it comes to exploring new things. After a record breaking hot day that dropped 20 degrees in less than 24 hours and the start of the Walla Walla Sweet Onion season, it seemed liked french onion soup was just the right thing. We combined two different recipe's from two outstanding chef's:

Alton Brown's caramelized onion recipe and Tyler Florence's French Onion Soup recipe. We went with the Gruyere and Parmesan for the cheese topping and french sough dough for the bread. It hit the spot.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cu...ookies?

Inspired by my husband who wanted chocolate cookies with a peanut butter center, we created a new cookie recipe this evening and luckily it was quite the success. If you like peanut butter and chocolate, this one could be for you:

Mix 1/2 cup peanut butter (we used Adam's) with 1/4 cup confectioner's sugar, chill.

Cream together:
1/2 cup butter
1 cup white sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla

Mix:
1 cup of all-purpose flour
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
Dash of salt

Combine and chill in fridge while oven pre-heats to 350.

Take chocolate dough, press out in your hand and roll up grape-size ball of peanut butter mixture. Set in middle and fold up chocolate dough around it, roll in ball to seal edges.

Bake on parchment paper 10 minutes, slide off pan with paper to cooling rack, let cool at least 10 minutes more. Enjoy! Makes 10 cookies, A dozen if the kiddos don't get to the dough too soon.

A Father's Day Chocolate Cream Pie

My Mom and Dad came up this weekend for Father's Day Weekend, one of the perks of us moving back to the Pacific Northwest. My Dad requested a Chocolate Cream Pie. I had never made one before so this was my first attempt. I built it off of the the delicious recipe found here:

https://www.browneyedbaker.com/chocolate-cream-pie-recipe

I did make a few changes. My sister, who was also coming, isn't a fan of Oreos and we also had graham crackers on hand. I lined the bottom of the spring form pan with parchment paper. I made graham cracker crust by crushing 1 pkg of crackers, adding 2 tablespoons of melted butter, mixing well and pressing them into the bottom of the pan.

I followed the recipe just as stated on the webpage for the chocolate custard, however, for the sake of ease when sending my husband to the store, I had him pick up 8 oz of dark chocolate Ghirardelli melting chips with an extra oz to grate on top and placate hungry cute children.

I made the custard Friday night and put my silicone lid on top before refrigeration. It worked out fine but it did leave a few condensation drop spots. I ended up doubling the amount of whip cream. In the future, I would like to double the amount of the chocolate custard. I felt the layer was too thin and the cream a bit too thick.

That being said, the family was quite happy with it and that's all that matters. It'll be fun though to try it again in the future, maybe next Father's day!