Crochet projects I've completed

So, using YouTube, Pinterest and various blogs, I've successfully taught myself how to crochet. Single crochet, half double and double crochet are the stitches I'm comfortable with at this point. I've made a cowl using a bubble stitch, 3 double crochets in the same stitch, I made a black beanie using all double crochet and another teal beanie using a random variety just to test my skills. I wore that hat for a whole day and got several compliments. The last beanie I made was all double crochet using a rainbow yarn. It's a little loud for my taste but I love how the colors line up. To learn and get comfortable with the atitches I used a plain yarn, now I've moved on to some great textured yarns. If you're learning to crochet remember to take your time and don't take anything to seriously. It takes a lot of screwing up to get it right, and you'll be better for it in the end. I can make a hat without following a pattern now.

Last sunset of November 2013

Meet Charlotte

I'm afraid of spiders, but one thing I practice to acclimate myself to them is taking photos and researching them.

One spring day after hours of tending to my roses I peered out my front screen door at my hard work. To my terror, from eight feet away, I saw this bright green hairy spider sitting on a fresh peach rose.

This spider was about 2" long, not including her legs. The abdomin was beautifully decorated and the legs extremely hairy. I was traumatized but intrigued. In the above photo she's devouring a wasp. In the photo below she's devouring another one. It seems with every wasp she ate she grew bigger and bigger!

She stayed on the same flower for days until it wilted and the petals fell off. I looked for her (and found her) everyday in the same location. I was sad when her flower fell off. I missed her. I had shown her off to Mike and to family and friends. I named her Charlotte after my favorite childhood movie. I knew all of the words to "Charlotte's Web" and I even curled up on the back of my couch and acted out the part.  Weird that with my affinity for that movie that I would grow up to be so afraid of spiders. I think it had something to do with the movie "Arachniphobia."

So I watched Charlotte inhabit a few flowers on the same bush and in the same general vicinity. I watched her continue to catch live wasps and enjoy them until they disappeared. The weather got colder as Summer came to an end and she began to slow and become inactive. Then one stormy day I looked out to her perch and found this

I had thought that she'd been replaced by another spider, one that hadn't yet overstuffed her belly with wasps, I couldn't believe that this was my Charlotte. But as I observed for the days ahead I noticed that it wasn't a wilted flower she clung to, it was an eggs ac.  This is when I knew for sure that Charlotte was a mother. I was so excited that my garden would soon be filled with these beautiful green spiders just like her! Especially because I had been stung by a wasp that season and quite enjoyed watching her exterminate them from the garden.

Well Charlotte eventually faded away but I kept tabs on her little ones for some time, until I didn't see them anymore. We had had some hard rains and I worried that all her hard work had gone to waste, but yesterday, a whole year after watching her beautiful life cycle, I found another eggs ac crawling with little Charlottes, on the same rose bush! This filled my heart with glee and my eyes with tears of joy, for even though I hadn't seen this generation devour wasps and inhabit flowers, some of her offspring had survived.

Charlotte is a green lynx spider and although their bite can be painful, they seldom do bite unless threatened. I will look forward to many more generations of this beautiful creature in my garden. Although I will never touch her and will always keep a good distance, this is a spider that I like having around.

Fried ham and cheese balls

So after I made Mike breakfast and I still had some leftover pancake batter but wanted something slightly more savory, I boiled some fry oil and went to work on these delicious little creations!

First, roll up some game and American cheese, stab it with a skewer and cut it into a bite size chunk

Then dip it in pancake batter. You could use cornbread batter too, but this is what I had on hand, and all over the kitchen. (I'm a messy cook!)

Test your fry oil to make sure it's not too hot. Just drizzle a bit of batter in there. If it turns golden brown in a quick but not too quick amount of time, drop your ham ball in there, stick attached, turn until completely golden brown. Batter will fluff up quite a bit. Experiment with the consistency. I like a fairly loose batter, but one that holds on without dripping off before I get it into the oil. Each ball should only take about 10 seconds max.

(Excuse the post breakfast dirty stove!)

I also tried making some breakfast sausage balls. Those turned out great too! Just roll sausage into macadamia nut sized balls and cook through before dipping them in pancake batter. They'd be excellent dusted with powdered sugar and served with a side of maple syrup.

Give this quick, easy recipe a try! It's not the healthiest but it sure is a delicious little splurge.

It would be a great brunch dish to serve to a large party!

Enjoy!

Momma Doi's fantastic Wun Tuns!

Around Thankgiving time my mouth always begins to water for Mike's mom's recipe for Wun tuns. I took a picture of it and posted it on my Instagram account so it would be at my fingertips whenever the mood struck me to whip some up. It wouldn't be fair for me to not share this fantastic recipe with you so here it is. I'll post a picture of the delicious finished product next time I make some!

Best Hair Conditioner EVER!

I'm a natural mousy brunette with blond highlights from the sun, but for a year or so I swore I was a redhead! I had never dyed my hair before and my mother always warned me against it, but without her here I decided to give it a go! I got plenty of compliments on the color, people thought it was natural, but over time it felt over processed and I felt like chopping it all off. But I look terrible with short hair and despite my prior beliefs, long hair is lower maintenance. My sister in law Lori introduced me to this amazing conditioner! Within one use my hair was buttery soft and shiny. When the bottle was empty I tried whatever else was available and my hair reverted to full and lifeless again.  Without my usual brittle breakage, my hair has grown longer than ever.  Matrix Total Results Sleek conditioner is the only thing I'll use now. Mike tried it himself one time because his hair was feeling a little dry, and he raved about how his hair felt afterwards. Actually, he's the very reason I'm posting this product review. He said that I should share our hair secret with as many people as possible! Try this product! It has a neutral fragrance that both men and women can enjoy. It's pretty affordable too. I get a gallon of each, the shampoo and conditioner for about $50 altogether. I'm pretty frugal so I've calculated that the cost per use is similar to cheap drug store brands like Herbal Essence or Mike's favorite, Finesse.

Turkey for You and Turkey for Me...

In the wee hours of this morning, as I lay in bed, afraid of the cold and wishing just a few more winks would fall on my sleepy little head, I got to researching TURKEY DEALS this November.  The San Diego Union Tribune mentioned that due to a lack of feed there was rumor that there would be less turkeys available this year.  They concluded to say that there will be enough turkeys to go around, however, expect to spend around 80 cents a pound for a frozen one.  Well, my whole family, meaning Mike my Fiancé, Keila and Monday my doggies, and Sybil the kitty.  So I got busy on a couple of my favorite store sites looking for deals anyway.

Turns out the best deal I found is at Fresh and Easy.
limit 2, while supplies last!  That information comes straight to you from Fresh and Easy Neighborhood Market Facebook account.  This was the very first deal I found for the season and so far it's the best!

Jennie-O Turkey Store Premium basted Frozen Turkeys
              8 to 24-lb 37cents per lb

Next so far in my research would be Von's.  You have to buy $30 worth of groceries to get the deals, and it's limit 1 per purchase, but here's the breakdown:

Safeway Frozen Turkey, Grade A offers good through 11/28/2013
                         
               8 to 16-lb     $8.00 each  ($1 to 50cents per lb)  *best Von's deal per lb for a 16-lb turkey
        16.01 to 20-lb   $11.00 each  (69cents to 55cents per lb)
        20.01 to 24-lb   $13.00 each  (65cents to 54cents per lb)

Butterball Turkey (it doesn't say frozen so I assume it's fresh)
             10 to 16-lb   $10.00 each  ($1 to 63cents per lb)
        16.01 to 24-lb   $15.00 each  (94cents to 63cents per lb)

I'll keep up my search, and update this post as I find more deals, in the meantime, go gobble up some turkey, it's great anytime of the year!