This and That

I feel like I am falling behind on this blog.  There are a whole bunch of things that have been bouncing around in my head that I have been wanting to blog about but I just keep putting it all on the back-burner right now because I am totally preoccupied with my current project (sewing Halloween costumes - sheesh, I totally bit off more than I can chew with our theme for this year and have been maxing out my sewing abilities and having to learn lots of new really hard stuff.  Hard for me at least.  Like, how to sew a zipper.  I'm not a great seamstress, obviously). 

 

Anyway, a couple weeks ago my sister Jennie put a picture on instagram of a pizza she had made on the grill.  So last weekend I tried it myself using the techniques from the "Our Best Bites" cookbook (which Paul calls the "Half-Blood Prince Cookbook" because basically everything I have made from there has turned out magically amazing and delicious).  Here is a link to their grilled pizza tutorial online:  http://www.ourbestbites.com/2009/06/tutorial-bbq-grilled-pizza/.  I used their breadstick recipe for the crust, then topped it with grilled and shredded chicken, chopped cilantro, thinly sliced red onions, chopped bacon, bbq sauce and mozzarella cheese.  It was phenomenal.  Like, this is our new favorite pizza.  I thought it was a little tricky making it on the grill, but now that I have done it once I know it will be a lot easier next time. 

 

 
Paul washed his truck and my car one evening after work.  Clara watched him while she finished eating her dinner.  And she was not wearing any clothes because (a) it was warm, (b) she had peach juice dripping all down her front so I figured might as well strip the shirt off, (c) I had been watering the garden with the spray nozzle attachment on the hose and she had been walking through the spray and laughing so she was already soaked anyway, and (d) it was just about bathtime.  Oh how I love these warm and lovely summer nights, especially when the lighting is all ethereal and exquisite.  (P.S. - our front yard is in terrible shape.  There are big patches of dead grass and it just looks awful because we haven't put any work into it.  We are thinking that possibly we will do landscaping next year and fix it.  But one project at a time, right?)

 

 

 
I already finished sewing Clara's Halloween costume (and it turned out SOOOOO unbelievably cute but I can't post about it on here till October because it is kind of a surprise) and when I was putting away the fabric scraps I realized that I had a huge pile of leftover scraps from past sewing projects (aprons, bags, elephants, etc.).  So I threw together a quilt top using up a bunch of my leftover scrap material.  It had to be a really patchworky looking quilt since I didn't have enough of anything to do a consistent pattern, but I still think it turned out well.  Obviously it still needs to be quilted and bound but that might not happen for a little while as I am finishing up my costume and Paul's costume.

 
Clara loves the new quilt.