Home Made Dog Treats... Recipe

I love the flourless Peanut Butter Cookies.  So does my husband.  So do our poodles, Sam and Katie.  It has become almost impossible for us to have them without giving some to the dogs.  Soooo... I decided to come up with a doggy recipe that doesn't have so much sugar in it.

I use the 1 cup peanut butter, 1 egg but I halve the sugar and use only 1/2 cup.  To that I add 1/2 cup flour and enough chicken broth to make a soft cookie dough.  (Believe me.. they are not too worried if I get too much of one thing and not enough of the other..lol )

I first tried making a BIG FLAT SQUARE COOKIE-LIKE THING and cutting it into tiny squares.  It didn't work.  So I got out my cake decorating bags and just didn't put a tip of any kind on it.  It dots out the perfect size tiny cookies onto the cookie sheet.  I bake them at 350° for about 7 to 8 minutes.   The time will vary with individual ovens so just bake until golden brown.  After cooling, I keep them in a gallon size ziploc bag.  They love them.... and we get to eat our own cookies.  :)

Today In My Life.. 02/28/2013

Today is:  February 28, 2013

I got up this morning:  around 6 or so to take the dogs outside.  What a joy they are!  I don't think I have mentioned Sam and Katie.  They love to get us up in the morning.  ;)

This is Katie.. She weighs 4 pounds and is all lady.  This is Sam.  He weighs 10 pounds of all boy!

I am hearing:  a small cacophony of sounds as Sam barks at someone walking by,  the heater is softly blowing warm air, the tinkle of glass as my sweet DH is getting his cup of coffee.....

I am thinking:  or not..lol  This is one of those mornings where my brain goes ADHD...lol  but I must get another cup of coffee.. brb...

As I look out the window:  the sun is shining at last.  The forsythia down the street is in full bloom and is absolutely lovely.  Forsythia has a wonderful meaning for me.  When I was 18 and living in Okmulgee, OK  my kitchen sink had a window over it.  Each morning doing the breakfast dishes I would look out that window.  We had a 13 month old son and a brand new baby in December.  It seemed that winter would never end and one morning in February  I looked out that window and there it was... a huge, huge spray of the most brilliant yellow blossoms looking back at me through that window.  I remember I could hear Jim playing in the living room and Phil cooing in his bed... I hear those wonderful sounds and see that window every time I see a forsythia.. 

I am thankful for:  my sweet DH who tolerates all of my hobbies... Today the dining room table is quite covered with watercolor stuff... and stuff... I think he wouldn't say a word until he found himself walking thru nothing but a tiny walkway in the house..lol  I must say that I appreciate him more and more.  I love him very much.

The current book is:  one that I got for my Kindle.  It's a freebie from Amazon and I'm finding it quite good..    Sacred Treason by James Forrester.  This is the first book of a trilogy, and I'm reasonably sure the other 2 won't be free..lol 

The family:  is growing..

And may I introduce (drum roll please!)  my first great granddaughter Elaina.... She is such a little beauty.  I only wish that we lived closer so we could cuddle her more often.. ;)

We are looking forward to welcoming another great grandchild  in May.  This one will be a grandson and I cannot wait.. :)  I had best get started on his christening gift.. ;)

Creatively:  there hasn't been much happening this week.  I have started  naalbinding  a simple scarf using the Oslo stitch.

I wanted a soft flowing scarf this time so I used a wool/silk yarn that I bought from a friend of mine.  It is hand spun and I love it.  Using the small needle instead of my naalbinding needle seems to let me hold my stitches smaller.. I don't know why that is since my thumb doesn't change sized regardless the size of the needle...lol 

Plans for the rest of the week:  had best hurry since this is Thursday..lol  I will continue naalbinding on the scarf in the evenings and I will try to get the other view of the old rusted delivery truck done.  Every time I decide I will paint something always comes up.. what's up with that? 

Free pattern for the week:  Over at Fabric Follies Two there is the cutest baby hat pattern.  Very easy and warm for the little one.  I'm sure I will be making several of these.. ;)

Hopefully the weather here in North Texas will warm up a bit during the day.  The nights for the next few days will be very cold, but eventually Spring will be here.. ;) 

Have a wonderful day.. :) 

Pinky Has A Brain...Free Recipe for Home Made Starch

I'm trying to finish up all the projects and get everything packed up for the Show tomorrow.  In the process of gathering up the doilies I found that some needed some quick work.  I tried the sugar syrup thing a few days ago and Boy! What. A. Mess. I. Made!  Will try that again when I have more time..;o)

I remember going with my grandmother to the laundromat when I was a little girl and the lady there would ask her if she needed starch...which of course she always did..  That lady would mix up some mystery concoction on the stove at the back of the laundry..(wringer washers..;o)  .. and voila'.. starch. 

Today I thought about that and did a quick google search... Here is what I found..  A wonderful, easy recipe for home made starch.. Can be made a quickly as boiling water.  Pinkyhasabrain.com  ... wonderful site for all the old home made recipes used for cleaning..and etc..

Have a great day!

September 2006... Crocheted Slipper Patterns

I was wandering back through my old Fabric Follies blog from September of 2006 and came across a pattern that I have used several times over the years. It bears re-posting since it's coming soon...ta da... the Holiday Season!

These easy and quick house slippers are a great stocking stuffer.  They are called Abi's Slippers and the crocheted pattern for them is on her website.. Crotiques.com .  Hers do not show a tie, but I found that with the kind of yarn that I used the slippers were a little too stretchy and required a little help to stay on my feet. (Never let it be said that I would just crochet them a little big...;o)

I found another pattern in my look back to 2006.  It's one that I came up with in an effort to re-do some slippers that I had years ago.  I'm not sure it's exactly the same, but I liked them anyway.  Here's the original blog post from September 2006.  And here's the pattern.  (This pair is truly ugly, but I got that Homespun yarn at the thrift store...tons of it for about $2.00 and I thought I would never get it all used up. ;o)

Well...that's my "Blast from the Past" for today.. ;o)  I think I'll start doing this more often just to see what's been happening over the years..

Have a wonderful day.  They say our 100° days will be back soon, so I'm going to enjoy these cooler days while I can.. ;o)

Kitchen Towel Holder Pattern

I was wandering the web the other day looking at some of my favorite craft sites and came across a pattern for something almost like this.  For the life of me I cannot remember where it was.. sigh  If any of you know where to find that pattern, please let me know and I will give the author of that post the credit she deserves.

I did make one change to the pattern, but this one is almost completely the same...

What I needed:

1 metal clothes hanger
Cotton yarn ... I used Sugar and Cream Cotton  Yarn by Lily but this pattern would work with acrylic or wool in either sport or worsted weight
Crochet Hook  size I

The first thing I did was have my DH cut a metal clothes hanger to a length of approx. 10 inches.  Then we curled the 10 inch length into a circle with the ends overlapping about 1 inch.  I used tape to hold the ends together.

Row 1:  Starting anywhere on the circle, attach the yarn.  SC as many stitches around  the metal circle as it takes to hide the metal circle. Join with a slip stitch to first sc.

Row 2:  Ch 1, sc in same stitch and in each sc around the circle.  Join last sc with a sl st to first sc of round.  Ch 1, turn,

Row 3: sc in same stitch, sc in next 11sc,  ch 1, turn.

Row 4 thru 14: , sc in same stitch, sc in next 11 sc,  ch1, turn,

Row 15: sc in same stitch,  sc in next 4 sc, ch 2, skip next 2 sc, sc in next 5 sc, ch 1, turn, (The skip 2 sc and the 2 ch stitches make your buttonhole.)

Row 15: sc in same st, sc in next 11 st, ch 1, turn,

Row 16:  sc in same st, sc in next 11 st. ch 1, but do not turn.
 Now sc in each stitch completely around the piece.  Fasten off.

I used a button about 1" across.  Fold the top of the piece down until it just touches the circle.  Find the button hole and use that as a guide to place your button.  Sew the button on using either the same yarn as what was used in the piece or any sewing thread that you like.

Now sit back and enjoy your Kitchen Towel Holder.. ;o)

This is a really quick project.  This was crocheted in about an hour last night while watching tv.  I hope you enjoy it.  It would make great quick gifts for Christmas... throw in a couple of kitchen towels, a few hand knitted dish cloths and there ya' go.. ;o)

The summer sun is still hanging in there giving up 100+ temps every day.  Even the birds get all their running around done in the morning or evening..

Have much to do today... Hope your day is good and that you are staying cool.. ;o)

Free Bookplates for your Home Library

I love my books. While I don't have nearly as many as I have had at several times in my life, they are still very precious to me.


Today I came across a site that has LOTS of free bookplates ... and they are done in a fashion that will encourage kids to read. Love that... and I've even found some that are wonderful for us older "kids"...lol
It's called My Home Library.org

Like this one...lol It may seem to be in a bit of questionable taste for some, but those of us in our family will totally understand it! And know that we are not alone!