Happy Valentine's Day!

Valentine's day is always a family affair in our house.  While my husband and I both enjoy the opportunity to show love to each other, our anniversary is almost exactly one month later, and we usually save our money and go out for that instead.  So I have been making "fancy dinners" for the big V-day since our kids were little.  Usually we get all dressed up, but this year I spent so long cooking I couldn't fathom putting on a dress at the end of it.  I opted for a red shirt and jeans instead :)  We still had candles and a tablecloth.  I let the food be the fancy part this year.

We started off with this cute appetizer of Cupid's Arrow Cherry Tomatoes.  Its not so much a recipe as an idea.  The original had little paper feathers on the arrows but I thought adding some mozzarella cheese would be fun instead!  I really wish I had used the triangles I cut out of the cheese pieces as arrowheads... I just didn't think of it.  Maybe next year.

I got some cute little heart-shaped ice cube trays in the dollar section at Target.  The kids love anything seasonally themed!

We had rice (recipe at end of post) with heart-shaped carrots.  The only way my kids would eat it was because of the cute carrots!

We also had Skillet Lamb Chops (*side note: I added sliced fennel bulb and skipped the dried onion.  I must say I was so glad I tried something new!  I had gotten a fennel bulb in my organic veggie delivery this week and had no idea what to do with it.  After googling some ideas I discovered that the flavor suits dark chicken meat and lamb well.  Since I love lamb I went for it and I must say fennel bulb is delicious!  Kind of a mix between celery, onion, and potato) and roasted veggies (used potatoes, Brussels sprouts, and cauliflower).  I thought the cooking time on the roasted veggies was a bit long.  Next time I'd cook them probably 25 min.

All of it was simply fabulous.  I felt like a gourmet chef.  Its been a bit hard to find the time to cook since we added a fifth member of the family, so this felt like a great accomplishment to me!  Prior to children I was a chemist.  I loved working in the lab, and after choosing to stay home cooking brought the same type of enjoyment for me.  I literally was in the kitchen from 2pm until we sat down to eat around 6, but it was totally worth it!  I wouldn't do that every day, but for a special occasion it was fun :)  Can you guess my kids' favorite part of the meal?  If you said the tomatoes, you'd be right!

Unfortunately, I didn't take a picture of our youngest.  Just imagine this adorable little boy covered in a mess of tomato seeds and you get the idea :)

Savory Rice Medley

2 cups water
1 cup uncooked, long grain rice
2 green onions, sliced
1-2 sliced carrots (optionally, slice and cut into heart shapes)
4 teaspoons chicken-flavored bouillon granules
1 tablespoon olive oil
½ teaspoon dried basil leaves

In saucepan, combine all ingredients, bring to a boil.

Reduce heat; cover and simmer 15-20 minutes or until rice is tender and liquid is absorbed.

Precious Preemie

I got contacted recently to make a simple preemie beanie for a client's 3.5 lb niece.  She was born at 30 weeks and the client wanted something sweet to warm her new niece and cheer up her dear sister who was, understandably, dealing with many different emotions.  I have not made a hat this small before and could hardly believe that something sooo small could fit on a human baby.  It was a fun, quick little project and a great chance to try out my new center-fold tags :)

Show and Tell

I have been slacking in my blogging as of late!  It has been a whirlwind around here with someone in the house being sick almost at all times.  I really think that from the moment we brought our youngest home we have not had one single 7 day period without someone having some form or illness.  I am still taking orders and finishing items, but getting around to blogging about them all is proving more difficult to find time for.  Good news is that the last 36 hours we've had some crazy winter weather (or Snowpocalypse according to some) and the kids have been off school.  We're off again tomorrow meaning I finally have a bit of a breather to get caught up on things!

So, here's a quick view of what I've been up to as of late:

I got "real" tags!  These woven tags are from Custom Couture Label Company on Etsy.  Dianna was amazing and a huge aid in helping me get just what I wanted.  I'm thrilled with how they turned out!  The second pic is the back-side of the smaller tags.

I made a beautifully soft and squishy blanket for Loree of Loree Alayne Photography to use in her shots.  I can't wait to see a sweet little newborn cuddled up on this!

Gina Giraffe is back, this time paired up with a Sweet Traditions hat. 

Inspired by the many beard hats floating around the internet, I came up with my own pattern and made a hat for my brother to wear on his ski trip in Colorado last week.  It was such a hit that I now have a line of 5 more hats that I'm working through for various family and friends.  My husband has had lots of fun modeling these silly creations for me!

I worked up this quick spring hat for my daughter in a fit of longing for warmer weather.  It will go great with her Easter dress this year.

And lastly, another photo prop for Loree Alayne Photography, a cute earflap hat with extra long ties.  The beauty of this hat is that it is a neutral color.  Left alone its great for boys, but add a little flower clip and you've got a darling girl hat too!

If you aren't already aware, Knits and Knots has a facebook page and I do a much better job of posting new pics almost daily there.  Come join the fun!

CSN Stores Giveaway Winner!

And the winner is...

Comment #10 was from Rochelle who said her remedy for winter boredom is:

We play games on the Wii, play board games, and bake.

Congrats Rochelle!  You will receive an email from me with instructions of how to claim your prize.  Thanks for playing along everyone :)

Giveaway!

You may remember a while back I was approached by CSN Stores to do a review of one of their products and I got a non-stick wok and reviewed it.  Well, I have been approached again by CSN, this time to giveaway a $35 gift certificate good for any item** from any of their online stores!  CSN stores have pretty much everything you could be looking for for your home or garden from modern bar stools to outdoor furniture, and it has been my experience that items are shipped promptly and are good quality.

So how do you enter?
Leave a comment on this post telling me what you do to keep your kids (or yourself) entertained in these dreary winter months and be sure to include your email address so that I can contact you if you win.  That's it!

One entry per person, no exceptions.   Entry will be open until Wednesday January 26th at 1pm EST.  The winner will be chosen via random.org and announced on Thursday January 27th.

**PLEASE READ THIS DISCLAIMER!**  The $35 gift certificate is in the form of a promo code and shipping is NOT covered.  Shipping for whatever item is chosen by the winner will be the sole responsibility of the winner.   This giveaway is only open to residents of the US or Canada (sorry, that's not by my choice!)

Tiny Gina

I got a request this week for a Gina Giraffe rattle worked in the 4-6" tall size range.  The pattern yields a giraffe that is about 10-12" tall, so I wasn't sure if I could miniaturize it.  However, after an afternoon of crocheting I came up with this guy:

He turned out so cute!  Just barely big enough to fit a rattle inside.

I have made enough of the original pattern that I knew the general shape of each of the pieces, so I simply stopped increasing a few rounds early and followed the shaping in the pattern.  I still used worsted weight yarn so he's nice and durable.   Hopefully he'll get a lot of love for years to come!

Spring Line 2011

My sweet friend, Jill from Raindancer Studios took some pics of the newest items  for spring.  She is such a talented photographer that she was able to capture the beauty of the stitch pattern in each of the items in a way I'm just never able to!

free pattern here

free pattern here

In an effort to be proactive I've decided to start listing specifically items that people might be interested in the coming season, starting with spring.  You will find a link at the top of this page for the Spring Line 2011.   What this really is is just a taste of items that might be interesting to you in that season.  I also have put together a small newsletter that contains a limited selection of these items and some news on deals for this spring as well.  Check out the Spring Line and the newsletter for more info :)