Cosmic Color

School is almost done and that means a lot of personal time for me! I've been spending my time knitting, reading, sewing, and working on some Christmas gifts for friends. It has been so nice spending my time doing things that make me happy and I think my projects reflect that.  I've been working with a lot of bright purples and blues and pinks or *cosmic colors* and my projects have been flying off the needles! So here is a wrap up of what I've been up to! 

First off I've been working on some Christmas gifts for two of my best friends.  I special ordered some yarn from Gynx Yarns in the Moogle and Howl's Castle colorways and I am obsessed with them! She does not offer the color ways anymore which is so upsetting because I would love to get my hands on some more of her Moogle colorway!  I am making my friends the Molly Hat and I have been making a few modifications. I decided that due to time constraints I did not want to knit the cable up the side of the hat and I also made the hat a little bit shorter which was a good thing because I almost ran out of yarn while knitting! I double stranded the yarn and I love the way it came out!  I am going to add pompoms to the top of each hat when they are both finished! 

I also started a new project for myself, mittens! I have wanted hand knit mittens for the longest time now and I decided I would start to make myself some.  I am using the Grammy Mitts pattern and I am using some KnitPicks Stroll yarn.  I doubled up the yarn and changed the number of stitches I cast on and I am going to be knitting more ribbing then recommended. I would love to be able to fold the ribbing over for extra warmth! 

In other news a few exciting things have been happening around here.  First The Patchwork Peach Podcast is now on youtube! You can search The Patchwork Peach Podcast.  I will be uploading them onto the blog soon when finals are over!  We also have a Ravelry Group that you can join and post photos and chat with other members! I also just passed my huge exam and I am officially a Dietetic Technician, Registered!  In honor of my big accomplishment I will be posting a new recipe in the next week! 

I hope everyone has been having a good week! 

Banana Bread: The Best Kind of Bread

In my house fall only means one thing, Banana Bread!  The best thing about banana bread is you get to use up all of those old bananas that no one wants to eat!  When the bananas get too ripe to eat (brown) then take the peel off, stick them in a bag, and freeze them!  They are the perfect ingredient for sweet banana bread without adding tons of sugar!  In my house we always have at least one full bag of bananas in the freezer at a time so we are constantly making bread with them.  Its a great way to eliminate waste and save some money!  So don't throw out those nasty bananas!  Instead lets make some yummy bread! 

Banana Bread

Makes 1 loaf, or 12 muffins!

Ingredients: 

1/2 C Sugar

3-4 Large, Ripe, Frozen Bananas. Mashed (Make sure frozen bananas are at room temperature before starting recipe; if needed you can microwave them for a few seconds)

1/2 C Canola Oil

2 Eggs

2 C Whole Wheat Flour

1/2 C Chopped Walnuts(Optional)

1 tsp Baking Soda

2 tsp Vanilla

1/2 tsp Baking Powder

1/2 tsp Salt

1 tsp Cinnamon

2 Tbsp Flax Seed (optional)

Some Brown Sugar for sprinkling (optional)

1) Heat oven to 325 degrees.

2)Grease loaf pan. (I use a 9x5x3 loaf pan)

3) Mix Sugar, Bananas, Vanilla, Oil and Eggs in a large bowl.  (I like to use a masked potato masher to mash the bananas while I mix)

4) Combine all dry ingredients in separate bowl (if adding flax seed then add it in here).  Pour dry ingredients into wet ingredients, mixing as you go.  If adding chopped walnuts you can add and stir them in after dry ingredients are mixed with wet.  Pour into the greased pan.

5) OPTIONAL:  If you would like to add topping to the bread then sprinkle some brown sugar and more chopped walnuts on top.  This makes the top nice and crunchy!

6) Bake in 325 degree oven for approximately 60-70 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.  Let cool completely before serving. 

*If making muffins instead of a loaf of bread, cook for about 30 minutes!

Enjoy!!!!

*If sharing this recipe please link to this page, Thank You!

Zombie Here and Zombie There!

The past month of October I have been working mainly on one project.  It was my friend's birthday and I always knit her something special.  She is a fellow crafter and I always like hand making gifts for people who I know would appreciate the time and energy spent on their gift.  She loves Halloween and zombies so I figured I would make her a pair of Zombie Vixen Mitts.  I used some Stroll Sock Yarn from KnitPicks and really liked the way they came out.  I used a size 3 circular needle (used the magic loop method) and next time I think I would go down a needle size if I decide to make them again.  

Her present took me way longer then expected because of school so I ended up giving them to her late!  I forgot to take a photo of them finished but hopefully I can add one to my Ravelry page in a few weeks.  

A while ago I ordered some yarn from Mode Knit Yarns in honor of one of my favorite shows The Walking Dead.  They have yarn based off of some of the characters from the show!  I ordered the Michonne colorway and The Governor colorway.  I have not been able to knit anything with them but now since the new season is out I feel like it would be fun to have a project using these yarns.  I  think I am going to make myself another Molly Hat.  The pattern was really fun and easy to work on while watching television.  Plus it is one of the only hat patterns I have found so far that looks good on me! The last Molly Hat I made I used some variegated yarn and I would love to try to knit it again in a more solid color so I might be using the Michonne colorway for it!  

Does anyone have any good hat pattern recommendations that they think this yarn would be good for?  

Pine Forest Baby Blanket

 I've been spending a lot of my free time knitting up a special present for a new member of our family!  My cousin and his wife are having a baby very soon and we are all so excited!  I wanted to make them something special because this is the first baby in the family!  They are waiting to find out the gender of the baby until he/she is born so I searched for a gender neutral pattern for the blanket.   The baby room is so cute!  It is owl themed and gray and blue so I also wanted to keep the same colors so it would match!

In the end I picked out Pine Forest Baby Blanket which is a free pattern on Ravelry!  The pattern was so easy to memorize which was great because if I didn't work on it for a few days I would still remember the pattern when I picked it up again.  I used really thick yarn and larger needles to make the blanket go faster.  Because of school I did not have all the time I wanted to work on it so I needed it to go a bit fast.  In the end I still ended up giving it to the parents later then I wanted because I had to order more yarn.  I used Baby Bee Yarn in the color Toy Elephant!  It is super soft!

Knit Nerd is also working on the Pine Forest Baby Blanket!  It is so fun to see someone knitting on the same project as you and also feeling a little bit overwhelmed by it as well!

I really wanted to make a cute tag for the gift as well with washing instructions.  I had some old owl fabric given to me by a friend and I thought it would be perfect because it matches the theme of the baby room!  I had a bunch of old mat board scraps from when I worked at the art gallery so I used one of them for the card and then I cut out two owls, a boy and a girl one, from the fabric and simply hot glued them onto the card.  If I had more time I would have loved to go out and get letter stencils to make the lettering look nicer, but overall I think it came out okay!

I am also working on another gift for a friend of mine so I cant post any photos, but you can see some of the early progress of the project on my instagram.  Hopefully it will be done soon so I can post some photos!

Endless Tomatoes = Endless Sauce

 The garden has been doing really well this season!   During the summer I wanted to try to grow a bit more of a variety other than the tomatoes we always grow.  So I jumped in and decided to try peppers, kale, romaine, spinach, and broccoli!  My spinach, romaine, and kale did awesome until a rabbit came and ate them all.  I did manage to same some of my kale which I have under crates now so the rabbits cant get to them and they are doing a lot better.  At the beginning of the season my pepper plants started out really weak and I figured they would not grow.  I decided to leave the plants in and see what happens.  I was so excited when in late September I had a nice big green pepper!  Something similar happened with my broccoli and now I have about 5 heads of broccoli growing!  Its so exciting to see my plants prevail!  I didn't think they would grow! 

We have two small gardens on either side of our house.  The peppers and kale were planted on one side and the broccoli on the other.  I had the Romaine and spinach in containers.  Our tomatoes were planted on both sides of the house.  We have about 12 tomato plants growing at once, mainly because my dad and brother devour them once they are ripe.  My mom and I have other plans for our tomatoes though.  

There is only one thing to do when you have endless amounts of homegrown tomatoes and that is to make tomato sauce!  This recipe is perfect for using up all of those homegrown tomatoes and perfect for putting on homemade pizza! If you are not a gardener do not worry!  You can also score cheap, ripe tomatoes at the grocery store.  They are normally marked down in price because they are too ripe to sell within the next few days.  Just remember once you buy them you will need to use them up fast!  This recipe is very simple and you can easily alter it to fit the amount of tomatoes you have on hand. 

Homemade Tomato Sauce

for Pastas, Pizzas, Rice, Soups, Stews, ect. 

(Best with very ripe homegrown tomatoes)

*Note:  This recipe has you keep the skins on the tomatoes while cooking.  If you do not like the skins in your sauce then see the note towards the bottom of the recipe.

Ingredients: 

2 Cloves of Garlic

1/4 C Olive Oil

1 tsp Crushed Red Pepper (can add more if you like)

8 Basil Leaves

2 Tbsp Tomato Paste

Approximately 2 Pounds of Ripe Tomatoes (can use less, or more)

Pinch of Salt

Pinch of Ground Pepper

Crush the garlic with a garlic press (If you do not have a garlic press you can finely chop garlic).  Put in bowl until later. 

Wash and rinse tomatoes,  On a cutting board cut up the tomatoes into small pieces.  They do not have to be perfect cuts since they will be cooking down.  Put all tomatoes including the juice and seeds into a bowl.  (If you do not like seeds in your sauce then you can strain after cooking.)

In a sauce pan add olive oil and garlic and cook on medium heat until you can smell the garlic (about 1-2 minutes)

Add in the tomatoes, crushed red pepper, salt, and ground pepper. Bring the pot to a simmer and let the tomatoes cook down.  This could last anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour depending on the amount of tomatoes you have.  Remember to stir often.  

Once tomatoes are cooked down rip up the basil into small pieces and stir into the pot.  Continue to cook for 3 minutes.  

Once done you can either strain the sauce to get rid of the seeds, or you can keep the seeds in.  ( I personally do not mind the seeds in my sauce but sometimes there might be a bit too much so you can strain either half the batch or the whole batch of sauce)

This sauce stores very well in the fridge or in the freezer.  You can make large quantities and store for later.  It is perfect for pasta and pizza.  I even use it in soups and chilies sometimes.  

*Note: If you do not like skins in your sauce you will need to blanch the tomatoes and peel off the skin.  First boil a pot of water.  Put each tomato in the water for a few seconds.  Take out the tomatoes and place them in an ice water bath until cool.  Once cool you can slice a part of the skin and easily peel the skin off.  Then cut up the tomatoes into small pieces and continue with the recipe. 

*If sharing this recipe please link to this page. Thank you!

"Mostly Void, Partially Stars"

I am finally getting around to quilting my Stars Quilt!  I am so excited!  This is my first quilt and I have learned a lot from making it!  I know, and have accepted, the fact that there are many mistakes that I have made in this quilt but I think it will add to the character and I will take them as a learning experience.  

School has started up again and this semester is going to be much harder then the last.  I wanted to try to finish all of my WIPS lying around the house before school takes over, and this quilt was one of those projects on my list!  I mainly have been quilting it at night because of school and work and it helps me relax and fall asleep.  

I use my mothers old sewing machine.  My dad bought it for my mom when they were dating and I love it!  I love using an older machine, especially one that has meaning.  I am still learning a lot of the different settings on the machine and I am constantly looking back into the manual for tips and tricks.  I started quilting this completely free hand (I am just doing straight lines) and some of my lines were closer together then others and some were a bit wavy.  While I was rummaging through the boxes of accessories to the machine I found a quilting guide which I attached to my machine and it has been so helpful!  It has an adjustable bar that acts as a guide to help with straight line quilting! Now my lines look ten times better!  

I have been really enjoying listening to some podcasts while I am sewing and quilting and even knitting.  I am loving Welcome To Night Vale.  I love the weird sense of humor and I look forward to their little proverbs at the end of each episode!  They have a Welcome To Night Vale mug for sale that is on my wish list!

Hopefully I will be done with this quilt before school gets busy and I wont have to put it on hold again!

Easy Breezy Baked Pancake

Lately I have been obsessing over baked pancakes!  Yes, BAKED pancakes!  They are easy, fast, and so fun to make!  My mom and I have been experimenting and adding a bunch of different fruit to the mix including blueberries, bananas, raspberries, and next on our list are apples and of course peaches! I have been adapting the recipe to make it more healthy as well!

This recipe is perfect for a busy family, no more spending 15 minutes flipping pancakes, stores very well in the refrigerator and it also tastes great when heated up later!

Easy Breezy Baked Pancake with Blueberries, Banana, and Walnuts

Ingredients:
1 Cup Whole Wheat Flour
1T Ground Flax Seed (optional)
1-1/2 tsp Baking Powder
3T Granulated Sugar
1/2 tsp Salt
3/4 Cup Whole Milk (or Almond Milk)
1 Egg
1/3 Cup Blueberries
1 Banana (sliced)
2 Walnuts (chopped small)
1 T Butter for pan
Cinnamon for sprinkling.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Mix flour, flax seed, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a bowl.  In a separate bowl whisk the egg and milk together.  Combine wet ingredients with dry and mix together.

Melt butter and coat pan.  Pour batter in pan.  Sprinkle blueberries, walnuts, place banana slices, and sprinkle cinnamon on top.  Can sprinkle more sugar on top if desired.

Bake in oven for about 25 minutes until golden brown.  Let cool 5 minutes before serving.  Cut pancake in "pizza" like slices.  Serve with syrup and any extra banana slices and blueberries on side.
Enjoy!

*Note: You can exchange blueberries, bananas, and walnuts for any other toppings.  Try just blueberries, or blueberries and raspberries combined!  Whole Wheat flour can also be exchanged for white flour.

*If sharing this recipe please link to this page. Thank you!

I have also been obsessed with mug-rugs!  I used this mug rug tutorial by Verykerryberry!  It was a great tutorial, super easy to follow, and I loved the result!  I used left over fabric from a bag I made a while ago and I feel super fancy when I am relaxing and using my mug rug and matching knitting bag at the same time! I have made another mug rug which I will be sending to my friend but I want it to be a surprise! The mug-rugs were a great way to practice free motion quilting without having to worry about messing up a huge quilt top!  I am thinking of making a few more before I move on and finish my Star Quilt (which I will do another blog post about when it is done).