Making Blueberry Jam

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OR “A Masochistic Way to Spend a Beautiful Summer Morning”

Homemade Blueberry Jam is one of my most favorite things in the world. I actually look forward to the summertime and to berries ripening throughout the land so I can replenish my blueberry jam hoards. Rabbit and I had fun this morning making jam together:

She’s my go-to girl whenever something needs “smashing” in this house, so it was only natural that she help me out with crushing the blueberries.

Now, to the uninitiated, I must warn that making jam can be rather painful because it spits like nothing else, which covers you with a smattering of burns. Cover any skin that you can, stir with a very long handled spoon and do not lean over your concoction while it cooks. (And shoo away any little ones from the kitchen!)

What things look like after you’re done boiling it all down:

Yep, it’s messy; you acquire a few burns and you’ll definitely spend the entire processing time cleaning up the kitchen.

But it’s worth it, because you end up with beautiful jars of gloriously tasty blueberry jam. It’s practically ambrosia.

And, in the words of my granny, who includes an extra step at the end of all her recipes: “Yummy”

Amber’s Apron

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My cousin, Amber, turns twelve this week; and she likes to help her mom out in the kitchen, so I thought an apron was a good birthday present choice for the dear girl. She’s one of my favorite people, and she’s named after me to boot (same middle name). You gotta remember the ones that are named after you! (I was even present at her birth…quite the experience for fourteen year old me!)

It’s Apron A from Retro Aprons by Cindy Taylor Oates and I used fabric from Sandi Henderson’s Farmer’s Market collection.

I am completely smitten with the fabric and I’ve been racking my poor, worn-out and exhausted brain trying to figure out a way to use the scraps in something else, but there aren’t too many scraps leftover. Wah.

Happy Birthday Ambone!

Midnight Frost Necklace & Earrings

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No offense to all the other pieces of jewelry I’ve made, but this set is one of my absolute favorites! It’s for my cousin Ashley, who turned 17 this month…where did the time go? I was in the fourth grade when she was born and she starts her senior year of high school this coming September!


Spaghetti and Meatball Cupcakes

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I am loving the Hello Cupcake! cookbook that we gave to Bluebird for Christmas. This is just one of the cute ideas in it. I made them for Recipe Club at the end of March.

It’s just cupcakes from a box, frosting from a can, strawberry preserves and Ferrero Rochers. Love it. They tasted good, too.

Planet Earth Cake

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I just realized that I never showed y’all my cute little Planet Earth cake that I made for Bluebird’s space birthday party. Here it is!

If you’re interested in making one for yourself (as in, next Wednesday is Earth Day…), it’s quite simple:

Take a regular ol’ box of cake mix, mix it up and pour it into your pans–I used Wilton’s Sport Ball pans, but I’ve heard of people using Pyrex bowls. Bake it. Let it cool. Frost it with some blue frosting (I used the stuff from a can…many of you are already aware of my disdain for making frosting.)

Now don’t get scared, but this next step requires a map or an atlas:
Make some green frosting and put it into a decorator’s bag with a #3 or #5 writing tip on it and freehand some continental outlines. (Don’t worry too terribly much about accuracy, it’s a blinkin’ cake…you’re going for recognition, not masterpiece.)

Once you’ve got your outlines, put on a star tip and start filling in your land masses.

Voila! Planet Earth Cake!

I laugh every time I see how close Japan is to Alaska, and I was thisclose to leaving Australia and New Zealand off of the whole thing altogether because it was really hard to get the frosting down there, but I figured I owed it to my brother (who resides in New Zealand) to represent his place of residence…oh the fun of frosting creations.

Finished: Cheerful Baby Quilt

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My dreams have finally come to realization! I am a completely finished blanket! Oh, it’s wonderful!

The oldest girl really likes me and I’ve victoriously been added to the necessary accessories needed for her to go to sleep each night. It also appears that I am her go-to television blanket. She wraps me around her like a shawl whenever she watches TV.

It’s really happened, I’m finally finished. It’s taken years to get to my completion, but it’s been worth it when I’m lovingly dragged around the house and demanded for each night. Life is good; downright cheerful, I’d say.

Cupcake Apron

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Yes, I am slightly disturbed that she knows how to pose like that.

Pattern: Little Retro Aprons for Kids, by Cindy Taylor Oates, Pattern A-2
Fabric: Cupcakes–I’ve managed to discard all the selvage from this except for one piece that says “Robert Kau…”; Dots–from the “Smores” collection by Me and My Sister Designs for Moda, Pattern #22074

I am loving this apron, and Bluebird has warmed up to it since her lacklustre reception upon its completion. I am totally looking forward to making more of these babies! The pattern is very well-written, except for one tiny mistake that tells you to put the wrong sides together near the end, but it’s easy to catch and correct. I’ve also purchased the designer’s other two apron pattern books for adults…mwahahahaha, aprons galore!

The Thanks I Get

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I committed to sewing up an apron for both Bluebird and Rabbit. We’ve picked out fabric (Bluebird went with pink, cupcakes and rainbow bubble dots; Rabbit is still deciding between cherries or sock monkeys…oh, to understand the decision-making criteria of a two year old), I washed Bluebird’s fabric and got it ready to go and I started cutting and sewing this morning.

I really enjoyed sewing up the little apron, which is so adorable and perky; but after seven collective hours of sewing and sticking pins into my fingers, I was pretty glad to be done. I proudly produced the tiny apron to my family, and Mr. Brooke expressed his admiration and Bluebird was happy to put the apron on so I could take a picture of her in it. I then took it off of her so I could do some “Finish Project Shots” and when I was rudely cut off from that endeavor by my lazy camera batteries, I offered it back to her to put on again.

Her response: “No thank you.”

I think the next apron will be for me. ONLY ME.

And I’ll be sure to probably thank myself for all the trouble I went to in making me a present!

(Pictures will follow when: 1. I get new camera batteries, and 2. I find the cord that allows me to upload my pictures to my computer.)