A Very Productive Sick Day

Yesterday I started feeling like I was maybe coming down with something. I made a big pot of homemade chicken noodle soup and planned to have soup, tea and lots of medicine and vitamin C for the next few days. I really didn't even plan on moving from bed much. But even though I wasn't feeling well at all today, I somehow managed to get quite a bit done! I'm actually rather impressed with myself for getting up at all. Those unexpected productive days are some of the best. They're like bonus days!

So today I was able to check lots of stuff off my to-do list and get a bunch of etsy projects done! Here's a look at what I was working on:

These are some felt keychains and some vintage button bobby pins for my etsy shop:

www.applestone.etsy.com

A Perfect Rainy Day

I LOVE rainy days! They make me want to stay home in my jammies, drinking tea and curled up with a good book. Or, in todays case, baking and sewing... tea is a given here. So I turned on some good music (I'm loving Ray LaMontagne) and got busy in the kitchen doing one of my very favorite things. Baking!


Last weekend, I finally got a chance to use my new Madeleine pan. I got it a couple weeks ago, but with all the craziness of the last few weeks, I haven't had the chance to use it. I thought Madeleines were going to be these difficult, temperamental things, but they weren't at all! They were amazing. I had really only ever had the ones from Starbucks, but let me tell you... once you've had homemade Madeleines, you'll never go back.

They were so good that I made another batch today because
I ate them all
everyone loved them so much! The recipe I used came with the pan, so I didn't even bother looking up recipes and reading all the reviews and, like i said, they turned out great! Here's the recipe I used:

Madeleines:

Ingredients:

• 2/3 c. flour
• 1/4 t. baking powder
• 1/2 c. butter, melted and cooled
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 t. vanilla extract
• 1 c. powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350. Spray Madeleine pan with Pam (I used the cooking spray with flour in it)

Sift together flour and baking powder in a small bowl and set aside. In a separate mixing bowl, beat eggs and extract on high speed for 5 min. Gradually beat in powdered sugar. Beat another 5 min or until thick.

Gently fold in flour mixture, then melted butter. Mix until smooth. Spoon the mixture into pan, filling about 3/4 full. (I used a measuring teaspoon, but I've been told these work great) Bake approximately 8 min. or until edges are light brown. Cool in the pan for 1-2 min. Loosen cookies with a knife then invert pan onto a cooling rack.

Optional:

Dust tops with powdered sugar

To make Orange Madeleines, substitute orange extract for the vanilla and add 1/2 t. orange zest.

I probably could have filled them just a little more, but I'm still working out exactly how much I need before they overflow.

Now I can sit down with that cuppa tea and enjoy the fruits of my labor!

I hope that you enjoy these little treats too!

Recouping

Today I was going to accomplish alot. I'd start by doing yoga, get my day started right. Then I'd get showered and ready and make phone calls and send emails (all of which have needed to be made or sent for some time now). Then I'd clean up the house, make sure the laundry is done and then finally get to work on some projects for Etsy.

Well, it is now 2:47 in the afternoon and, I'm sorry to report, none of those things have been accomplished. It should have been a very productive day... but it just didn't happen.

I think the main reason is that yesterday was the first day after a very long two weeks.

My little brother got married last weekend. And while I am so very excited for them, it was quite a busy couple of weeks! Lots of family in town, house projects to finish before they got here, rehearsal dinners and finally the day of the wedding. It really was a lovely wedding!

Being on the grooms side of things, I didn't know a whole lot about the actual ceremony. So I was just as pleasantly surprised as all of the guests at the gorgeous chapel and the dresses and the ceremony. It was beautiful!

So Congratulations to the lovely couple!

But now, after having had a couple days to recoup from the busy-ness that is a wedding, I need to get back to a routine. I have phone calls to make, emails to send, a house to clean and all of these fun projects waiting ever so patiently in the study!

Here's to hoping that tomorrow will go as planned!

A New Beginning

A few months ago, my husband and I bought our first home. It is a small 50's bungalow style house. And when we moved in, it needed quite a bit of work. But we felt we were up to the challenge! Everything (and I do mean everything) needed a good coat of paint. Walls, trim, baseboards, cabinets... some of which we still aren't done with. We have re-drywalled, torn up carpet and taken at least of bucket of nails out of the walls. And in the last 4 months, we have accomplished alot! It's not always easy, but it is so rewarding to be putting in a lot of hard work and getting a home in return. So, this is going to be a place where I can document the fun (and not so fun) projects around the house, plus all the other great stuff that life brings!