Yes, I have a love affair with garlic

Thinking about dinner (Italian beef in the crockpot - easy peasy) led me to thinking I wanted to make some fries.  Maybe some garlicky fries.  Which led me to thinking I needed to roast some garlic - maybe for the fries, and definitely for some roasted garlic aioli to smather all over my Italian beef sandwich.  Then I saw a post from How Sweet It Is about roasted garlic oil, and I figured I could just do it all at once.  

I roast garlic often enough.  and I make a killer homemade garlic salt with a head of roasted garlic (don't worry, I'll show you how soon and then you'll be hooked, too).  Here's the garlic, all ready to go in the oven:

45 minutes later:  

Drain & cool....  then into a bottle.

and all this yummy roasted garlic

Garlic Aioli

1 cup mayonnaise

3-4 cloves roasted garlic, mashed with a fork

a little salt & pepper

a little lemon juice

Mix it all together & let sit in the fridge for while (an hour, anyway) to let the flavors meld.  Use on burgers, fries, sandwiches, crackers, chips, eat it off the spoon......

but sometimes, I don't do anything...

So far this week, I've done - um - a lot of not much. 

I bought laundry detergent &  fabric softener that look suspiciously alike.
Which will turn out badly.

I cooked a ham for dinner, and then made ham stock out of the bone.
Which means we'll have ham & beans soon!

I watched my twelve year old eat massive amounts of vegetables, including cabbage & brussel sprouts.  Which is amazing, and probably means we'll be buying him new shoes in a month.  You know, because we didn't just do that.

I read an entire book in one day, but haven't yet started my book for book club.  Which means I'll be reading all weekend to be ready for next week.

and, I love (LOVE) these new teabags!  

Soda Bread. Just do it... you'll be glad you did.

March is around the corner, which means St. Patrick's Day is almost here, which means everyone will be making corned beef.  I'm not really sure corned beef is particularly Irish, but neither is green beer, so we'll just let it go at that.  Soda bread is more Irish, but this is a recipe that deserves year-round love, not just in March.  It's moist & just a little sweet, and would perfect with any soup or stew.  This is a 'by hand' recipe, it goes together quickly and you probably have the stuff in your pantry.

Irish Rosie's Irish Soda Bread
3 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 pint sour cream
2 eggs
1 teaspoon caraway seeds

1. Combine dry ingredients in large bowl.
2. In a small bowl, beat eggs and stir in sour cream.
3. Add egg & sour cream mixture to the dry ingredients.  Stir with wooden spoon, it will be really thick.
4.  Add caraway seeds.  Don't skip this part.  Even if you don't like them (I don't, really) it's just a little bit and they really add to the flavor of the bread.
5.You may need to knead with your hands a few times to get it incorporated
6. Place batter in a well-greased (I use parchment or foil in the bottom, too) 9" Springform pan.
7.  You may need to dust top lightly with flour so you can pat the dough into the pan.
8.  Make a shallow crisscross on the top.
9.  Bake 50 minutes at 350 F.
10.  Share with friends!

*I found this recipe online years ago.  You can find the original here.

Minecraft Beanies

Just finished up these birthday gifts for my nephews - Minecraft Creeper Beanies.  If the term "Minecraft Creeper' is foreign to you, just ask someone - probably a male someone - under the age of 15.  Jack & I came up with the design last year when it was his turn to pick a beanie.  And check out my fabulous wrapping job -

Well.... That Went Horribly Wrong

Several weeks ago, I was completely suckered in by some adorably geeky painted glassware I found on Etsy.  (see here).  Go ahead, look, they are really cute. Mario flowers- how cute? right?

And, the way most things start, I said "huh.  I can do that." That very same day, my brother found the exact glasses I needed for this project- at the whooping price of 50 cents each.  Off to buy glass paints and some new brushes (apparently we I didn't move small paint brushes with us) and I was psyched (WOO HOO) to do this.

and....  here you go:

Now, go back to the cute Etsy ones & compare.  or not.  no need to.  This is even after  I washed off all the paint and started over a second time.  

Guess what?  They still hold wine.  So there.

A Green, Orange & White Nightmare...

I've been eyeing those ribbon wreaths on Pinterest...  they look like a ton of work.  Let me tell you, they are.  I was completely suckered in by a St Pat's day sample I saw -"oh, look!  I can do that! they want $100 for this one!  that's nuts!"

Well.  You can't pay me $100 to make another one.

 First, I cut all the ribbon and tied it.  Then I realized I'd cut all the ribbon twice as long as it needed to be.   

So I untied it all and cut it in half.  Because that's fun.   

I used a mixture of these floral pins, some T-Pins I stole from my mom, and regular pins. 

Partly because I knew I wouldn't have enough pins, and partly in an attempt to save time, I tied two ribbons to some of the floral pins.  In case you are wondering, it did not save time.

By this time, I was considering tossing the whole thing.   It took forever, and I'm not super happy with it.  It actually looks cuter in the picture than in real life.  With the 1/2 price ribbon, and the coupon for my Styrofoam wreath, and little clovers & pipe (the leprechaun came from my mom's stash), 

I spent less than $30.  

Shopping Bag Hack (or, Best Idea EVER!)

I don't know about you, but I end up at the grocery store with a pile of shopping bags, my purse, and my list, all stacked in the front part of the shopping cart.  Typically my list falls to the ground somewhere around aisle 2, leaving me with no idea what I came in to buy.  So when I saw these on Sew4Home, my first thought was 'BRILLIANT!", and off I went to buy the stuff to put them together.

The instructions tell you how to double up the bags and even add an inside pocket.  I was just wanting the vinyl pocket on the outside to hold lists & coupons, so I skipped all the other steps.  I bought a medium weight vinyl ($4.99/yd + coupon!) and found a clearance fabric that matched the bags without being too annoying.  I now own a lot of vinyl, by the way.

Vinyl needs a little love if you want to sew on it - I used masking tape to hold it in place (don't sew over the tape) and wax paper over the whole thing.

 Really, how fun is this?!  I'm excited to go to the store now.  well, maybe not excited...