Always Learning

 Until earlier this year I always thought you had to add water to a crock pot when cooking. How did I go so long without knowing water isn't always needed?

My mom is the one who told me about cooking in a crock pot without water; she also suggested adding paprika to your meat so it has color when it's finished cooking.

 I slow cooked a chicken all night without water and then removed all the meat from the bones.

Next I added to the broth already in the crock some celery, onions and garlic; plus the bones, skin and fat. 

Covered it all in water and slow cooked it all day. 

By evening I had some of the best broth which was then used for barley chicken soup.

A Refashioned Blouse

After making Elizabeth's tiered skirt I realized she didn't have a blouse to go with it. I searched Target and Wal-Mart for a plain brown t-shirt but had no luck. So when I spotted a woman's brown blouse at a garage sale for 1-dollar I promptly purchased it.

 The neckline was way too low so I took a piece of the leftover skirt fabric and stitched it into the neck opening.

 Next I cut about 4-inches from the sleeve and 2-inches from the bottom and then proceeded to sew a zig zag stitch over the edge while slightly pulling the fabric which gives you a cute curled hem. I learned this trick from my mom.

 Now Elizabeth has a nice blouse for her skirt.

 She is pretty happy with what I was able to do with the blouse.

I just love how everything turned out; a true one of a kind skirt set.

Some Skirts for Elizabeth

Over the summer I began to notice Elizabeth's skirts and dresses were getting too short.

 I like for her to dress modest and prefer her skirts and dresses to hang below the knee.

So I made her two new skirts and have already picked out enough fabric for a third skirt. She of course is thrilled to be getting some new clothes. 

It's fun sewing for my kids just like my mom sewed for all of us kids when we were growing up.

Humm...I Wonder

Today as I was making some whole wheat dinner rolls I began wondering...

How whole wheat cinnamon rolls would taste... 

 So I made just a small pan full...

And they smelled so good and looked so tasty...but they just didn't taste right. Sometimes there is no substitute for white flour!