Business Adventure

As you may recall from a previous post, this past Christmas I made these ski bands as gifts for my sisters:


They all seemed to really like them, which was great! My future sister-in-law, Anna, thought that they would be able to sell them at a local high end clothing store, Thread, where she works. She showed her ski band to her boss, and her boss was interested! So, I met with her to chat about details (they would do 50/50 consignment). After thinking it over and talking to my main man, I decided that at this time, it wouldn't be worth the time and stress. But, perhaps I could take my time making them over the next 6 months, and then have them to sell come Fall 2010. So, those plans are still to be determined!

For now though, I decided to just make the felt flowers, and make them into hair clips to sell. I thought about selling them on Etsy. The upside to that would be more profit. The downside is that there are so many other people selling similar things that I feel like my stuff would just get lost in the mix. Plus, the idea of having to make multiple trips to the Post Office does not appeal to me. I met with one of the owners at Thread this past week, and she is cool with me trying to sell them there!

So, this past week has been filled with trips to Joann Fabrics, some fails, but many successes as I cultivate my creative juices to come up with some products I am happy with. My husband helped me create a logo too! Here are some examples of what I will be selling:

Simply Stacey.....

I am very excited about this opportunity! I don't have my hopes set too high right now. If they don't sell, then hey! I have plenty of gifts to give next Christmas!

Fried Zucchini Cakes.

When it comes to cooking, I am more of a "creator". Not much for following recipes. Which, I confess, has had its ups and downs. One creation that turned out pretty well, if I do say so myself, are what I call Fried Zucchini Cake. I am a big fan of Zucchini. Very tasty, versatile, and is so cheap too! All throughout the winter I have bought zucchini at the market, 3 for $1.00. Can't beat that!

I am sure something similar to these have been made before, this is just my take on it. Because I winged it when making these, I don't have the exact amounts. It's pretty fool proof though. Here it is!

Fried Zucchini Cakes
1 Zucchini, shredded
1 c grated cheese
1 egg
2 tbls milk
3/4c flour (or enough to make a pancake like batter)
Seasoning: Salt, pepper, garlic salt, onion powder
Oil

Stir all ingredients (except oil) together. Add milk/flour until consistency is right. The batter should be equal amounts batter/zucchini.
Heat up enough oil to cover the bottom of your fry pan. Drop a spoonful of batter, and flatten slightly. Fry each side until golden brown. Add more oil as you go, if needed. Best when eaten right away!

*From my experience the first batch tends to fail. I think the oil just wasn't hot enough.

If you are like me, you have a plethora of zucchini in your fridge. That is why next I will post my absolutely yummy Zucchini Bread Recipe.

Baba Ghanoush!

Monday evening I had my sister over to join me in watching the finale of our...ahem..."guilty pleasure", and the night would not have been complete without a slew of yummy food; Chili, Fried Zucchini Cakes, and for the first time I tried my hand at making Baba Ganoush! It turned out OK. I've only had it once before (store bought from Wegmans) and it didn't quite taste the same as that. Wasn't bad, just different.

I'm not really a fan of using recipes when it comes to cooking, but here is the recipe I kind of followed:

Baba Ghanoush

Ingredients:

• 1 eggplant
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 1/4 cup tahini
• 2 tablespoons sesame seeds (I just used sesame tahini)
  
• 2 cloves garlic, minced (I used roasted garlic instead)
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin
  
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Lightly grease a baking sheet.
2. Place eggplant on baking sheet, and make holes in the skin with a fork. Roast it for 30 to 40 minutes, turning occasionally, or until soft. Remove from oven, and let cool.
3. Remove skin from eggplant, and most of seeds.
   
4. Place eggplant, lemon juice, tahini, sesame seeds, cumin and garlic in an electric blender, and puree. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Transfer eggplant mixture to a medium size mixing bowl, and slowly mix in olive oil. Refrigerate for 3 hours before serving.

Next I will be posting the recipe for my Fried Zucchini Cakes!

Enjoy!

Modern Day Baby Book

I confess. I have not done the best job at keeping up with Williams baby book. Or this blog, for that matter. The first child is supposed to have the perfect baby book, down to the very last detail; first poopy diaper (how exciting!), first gassy smile (aw, so cute!), first lock of hair from first haircut, saved (he'll be so happy you kept that).

I have every intention of being that perfect mom, but am far from it. I have his ankle bracelet from the hospital...somewhere. I think. Papers from (most) doctors visits with his measurements, crumpled together in pile. I figured I would kill two birds with one stone here, and actually write a blog about what Will is up to these days.

He is coming up on 16 months. I love, love, love this age! He is so much fun to play and interact with. Every day he learns something new. Here are some of his favorite things:

- Playing on the bed, throwing pillows, being thrown on pillows.

- Wrestling with his daddy.

- Veggie Tales.

- Eating! This little guy can really put it away. A typical day? Breakfast, snack, lunch, (nap), 2nd lunch, snack, first dinner, second dinner. He stores it all in his belly. Not to mention nursing 3 times, and cups of milk throughout the day.

He has the cutest laugh ever! He thinks it's the funniest thing when you say God bless you when he sneezes. Laughs hysterically when you "accidentally" make something fall, and claps his hands, laughs, and dances when daddy plays music from his phone.

He runs for the hills when its time to put his coat on, cries like the dickens when he gets his diaper changed, and can whine with the best of them when he doesn't get his way.

He doesn't have much of a vocabulary yet. Back in the summer he made the noises dada and mama, but since then has stopped saying it. His first official he knows-what-it-means- when-he-says-it-word is.......yeah. Yeah, that's right. Yeah.

He has 12 teeth, and is working on his canines. Not fun!

Although he doesn't say much, he understands alot. We've been teaching him body parts. He know his belly, hands, toes and head. We're working on spleen, ankle, and collarbone.

He spends most of his time going from one thing he can't touch to the next, and just loves hanging out with his mommy!

Our Merry Christmas!

We had a wonderful Christmas! Although Will did celebrate his first Christmas last year (at 2 months old) I keep thinking that this was his first Christmas. He definitely seemed to enjoy this one a lot more!

~Will playing with the gift I made him~

This is the first year I have had time at home to make lots of yummy Christmas desserts! Within the 2 weeks before Christmas I made: Baklava, Chocolate Fudge, Cream Cheese Brownies, Oatmeal Scotchies, Biscotti, Cookies and Cream Fudge, Peanut Butter Balls, Galaktoboureko, Cinnamon Rolls, and Soda Cracker Toffee. Phew. I think that is everything!

~Some of the desserts I made~

I love Christmas, but never liked the stress of gift shopping. Not knowing what to get, and getting something just to have something to give. This year with money being tight, we went real lite on the gift giving, and I made all of my gifts.

~Gifts I made for my sisters~

Our church had a very nice Christmas Candlelight service. I loved getting us all dressed up!

~My Little Family~

We went over to my family's house Christmas morning for gift sharing and a GREAT breakfast (thanks mom!).

~Christmas Morning Family Picture~

Red Kitchen

I spend a lot of time in my kitchen: Eating, cooking, cleaning, eating again. I enjoy spending time in there too. I wasn't happy with how it looked though, so I decided to paint it....RED!


BEFORE:








AFTER:








I LOVE my new kitchen!