We are Not Our Own

We are not our own: let not our reason nor our will, 

therefore, sway our plans and deeds.

We are not our own: let us therefore not set it as our goal to 

seek what is expedient for us according to the flesh.

We are not our own: in so far as we can, 

let us therefore forget ourselves and all that is ours.

Conversely, 

We are God's: let us therefore live for Him and die for Him

We are God's: let His wisdom and will therefore rule all our actions.

We are God's: let all the parts of our life accordingly
strive toward Him as our only lawful goal.

~ John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion ~

Key Lime Bars

Lime is one of my new loves -- citrusy, summery, and a tad sweeter than lemon. 

A leftover lime from a homemade sugar scrub inspired me to try a lime bar recipe from my recipe binder. It was a Land o' Lakes recipe snipped from a flyer or magazine ages ago. But after trying the recipe, it's been transcribed and printed in a more readable, permanent format. Because these are keepers:

Fresh, sweet, and deliciously chilled. A perfect summer dessert!

These babies are NOT gluten free, Paleo friendly, low in sugar, or remotely healthy. Which is probably why they taste so good. *wink* Actually, I don't think it would be too difficult to make them gluten free, and if you substituted something healthy for the refined sugar, you could probably come up with something that won't double your blood sugar levels in one bite. But I'll leave that to your discretion, because I like these sugary little confections just the way they are.

Key Lime Bars

Ingredients:

Crust:

• 1 ¼ C all-purpose flour 
• ½ C Butter, softened 
• ¼ C sugar 
• ¼ C chopped pecans 

Filling: 

• ¾ C sugar 
• 2 eggs 
• 2 TBSP all-purpose flour 
• 3 TBSP key lime juice (I used regular lime)
• ¼ tsp baking powder

Frosting:

• 1 ½ C powdered sugar 
• 1 TBSP butter, softened 
• 1 to 2 TBSP key lime juice 
• Freshly grated key lime peel 

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350˚ 
2. Combine all crust ingredients except pecans in small bowl. Beat at low speed, scraping bowl often, until mixture resembles coarse crumbs (I used my food processor). Stir in pecans. Press onto bottom of ungreased 8 or 9-inch square baking pan. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. 
3. Meanwhile, combine all filling ingredients in small bowl. Beat at low speed until well mixed. Pour filling over hot, partially baked crust. Continue baking for 18 to 20 minutes or until filling is set. Cool completely. 
4. Combine all frosting ingredients except lime peel in small bowl. Spread over cooled bars. Garnish with grated lime peel. Store refrigerated.

Coconut Flour Cheese Crackers

These Coconut Flour Cheese Crackers made a brief appearance in our kitchen recently. A very brief appearance. They ended up soft instead of crispy. I could have remedied by popping them into the oven at a low temp, but quite honestly, they didn't last long enough for me to bother.

They're part of my ongoing love affair with my new food processor, which I've used almost every day since I bought it. They're also part of my ongoing obsession with cheese. They're even gluten free, for those of you who are so inclined (though coconut flour is a bit pricey). In fact, I can't think of a single downside to these little munchies.

Unless you count withdrawal.

Flutterby

As I anticipated, little Rosa has provided me many excuses to sit down at my sewing machine. Baby dresses are so sweet, so rewarding, and so inexpensive. When you only need roughly a yard of fabric, it's easy to get those creative juices flowing!

This dress, for instance, cost only a dollar -- it used to be a linen skirt, but I had other plans for it when I rescued it from the thrift store.

I love babies in linen. It's such a pure, natural, soft (when washed) fabric. I had some white covered buttons in my stash which matched perfectly and saved me both time and money (hurrah for salvaged butons!). And a linen tie from the skirt was easily fashioned into a little bow.

I had to do a bit of creative piecing, since the skirt was straight, long, and divided into four panels. Also, I decided I wanted to try my Bubble Jet Set, a product that allows you to wash inkjet printed fabric without risk of bleeding ink. It was easy enough to use (you pre-soak the fabric in the solution and let it air dry), though I don't yet know if it worked, since I haven't washed the dress yet. The printing worked quite well, once I figured out a technique for printing on fabric that worked (I'll have to share those tips in another post).

The butterflies were all free images from The Graphics Fairy. I love the simplicity of the black and white, and I was surprised by how detailed they came out. I can't wait to try some other projects with printed fabric! 

The pattern is my own concoction, using Simplicity 3656 as a very loose base for the bodice. The skirt is divided into six panels. I was afraid my piecing had left the skirt too short, but luckily I had enough fabric left to create an extra band of fabric along the bottom. I tend to like long dresses for babies -- not for modesty, but because I like to have enough fabric to cover my little one's diaper when I'm holding her! Granted, cloth diapers make that a little harder. 

Back

Now, to figure out how to refashion the rest of the linen in my stash...

Newport

Pablo attended three months of Officer Candidate School in Newport, Rhode Island -- our first real separation. He actually got the call from the Navy just a few hours after Rosa was born. Being apart was agonizing, but also a good "test run" for me of what life will be like while he's on deployments. He excelled at OCS, which was no surprise to me! The littles and I flew up to Newport for his graduation, and it was such a delight to re-visit the Northeast (though it couldn't hold a candle to the excitement of seeing Pablo again!).

My dad had six weeks of training in Newport when I was six years old, so I have distant but fond memories. I couldn't go back without visiting the Breakers!

Luckily for me, Newport overflows with Colonial and Gilded Age history -- which happen to be my two favorite America historical periods. Walking streets once paced by founding fathers is an experience that those of us confined to the South are unfamiliar with!

While the beauty of The Breakers was overwhelming, both Pablo and I found it rather excessive and gaudy -- we much preferred the "downstairs" kitchen and butler's pantry!

Here's a gratuitous shot of my handsome Ensign (with six week of growth on his noggin; candidates' heads are kept closely buzzed for the first seven weeks). Obviously, it's taken me a while to post these, as I doubt it's snowed in Newport recently. I couldn't believe that I got exactly what I wanted in terms of weather -- several inches of snow fell while we were there, but none of it stayed on the roads! Snowy roads sound terrifying to me...

I just couldn't go to Newport without getting lobster, which I'd been craving for a while. His name is Ralph, by the way. Please don't ask my why I named him before consuming him...

Sadly, we didn't get to do much sightseeing, since we were all exhausted (especially Pablo) and the wind was insane almost the entire time. But we did have a walk-about or two, and did a bit of driving. Here's the famed Trinity church:

Newport took my breath away with street after street of gorgeous homes -- tree-lined avenues in the "mansion district", endless streets of Victorians and Queen Annes, and stately rows of Colonial dames. I'd love to go back with more time and more energy.

I'm always glad for an excuse to do a bit of globe-trotting! And now that we're in the Navy, I'm going to venture a guess that there's quite a bit more of it in our future.

And Now For Something Completely Different

I mentioned in my last post that change was afoot in our family. 

Change that involves this:

Yes, my handsome husband recently commissioned as an officer in the United States Navy! After much prayer, research, and consideration, he gave up engineering to pursue a career in the Navy. For me, it was an unexpected but welcome concept when Pablo first brought it up -- I grew up as a Navy "brat," and thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to travel to new places. I never expected that adventure to continue after my marriage!

God has opened many doors thus far, as there have been so many tiny details that had to be in place for this to happen. I can't wait to see what the future holds in store!

Anger Management

Somehow, February and March slipped away from me. I've good reason (involving a job change and an airport, as I'll elaborate on soon), but nonetheless, April is already here! I'm actually enjoying the spike in temperature, and the opportunity to pull out my summer clothes.

But while I'm gearing up to post about recent happenings and projects, here's a quick snapshot from the airport in Providence, Rhode Island (that's a hint, by the way). Apparently this is a new form of anger management...

And now it's time to go work on my backload of laundry! 

Rosa's First Doll

It's far too early for Rosa to have a doll -- she's only just started holding on to her rattle in a vain attempt to shove it into her mouth! But, taking advantage of my mother's recent visit, Rosa's first doll took shape.

I've known for a while that I wanted my daughters' first dolls to be Waldorf dolls. A simple search on Google or Etsy will show the variety of sizes, colors, and styles of Waldorf dolls. But all of them have at least one thing in common -- they are sweet, innocent-looking dolls that are perfect for developing imaginations. Unfortunately, another trait they share is that they are quite expensive to purchase!

However, with a few materials and a needle, we were able to have a go at making our own at very little expense. And thus, I am very pleased to introduce you to Edith:

Edith is a bunting doll, which means that her "dress" is really her body, too. For the head, we followed Beth's marvelous instructions on Flickr: Making a Waldorf Doll.

I drafted Edith's dress after seeing this Waldorf bunting doll. I knew I wanted to make some changes, though -- I didn't want the arms sticking straight out, and I also didn't like the shape of the cap. But I think the style is perfect as a first doll, before a little girl is old enough to dress a doll or take care of its hair.

My mom provided the gorgeous teal wool for the dress. She'd found a sweater in a thrift store in New Zealand, but hadn't realized that the former owner had "repaired" a hole with bright turquoise thread. So now it's taken on a new form, and I must say that I love the color and the feel of the wool! We even used the ribbon hangers inside the sweater as the ties for the cap and braids, since they matched perfectly. The lace around the waist and the edge of the cap was a salvaged piece I had in my stash; I've always thought it was lovely, and was waiting for the right project to come alon.

Edith's hair is a gorgeous merino wool that we found in a local high-end yarn shop, and turned out to be the most expensive part (though I have PLENTY of yarn left for future dolls or other projects!).

Edith isn't a "true" Waldorf doll, since she does have some synthetic materials (the stockinette for the head is from a pair of new-but-thrifted girls' tights, the batting is 1/2 bamboo rayon and 1/2 polyester, and the cotton knit for the face is a cotton/poly blend). However, it was not my goal to spend a fortune on materials, and the doll still has a lovely natural look and feel.

There were a number of things that made this the perfect beginning doll-making project. With no real "body," there was very little actual doll-making involved. And having the cap sewn straight on to the head meant that there was no wig-making involved, either (except for the few strands that peek out at the top). It gave me a taste for doll-making without boatloads of stress. It's definitely something I'll do again in the future!

As much as I love the doll itself, I'm even more pleased that it's something Rosa's mama and grandmother could make together for her. And while Rosa will have to pick out names for her dolls when she's older, I named this one "Edith," because that was my maternal grandmother's name. Though we'll be calling her "Edie," just like my grandmother was called by her friends!