some usual happenings

Here are just a few of the things that have been going on with me the past couple weeks.

food

One of my personal goals when we moved to Milwaukee was to continue to try new recipes on a regular basis.  I've been doing pretty well with that.  Does anyone else sometimes find a recipe that you feel a need make right away?  That happened to me last week when I came across the recipe for baked avocado fries.

I baked some mushrooms, too, because I figured it couldn't go too wrong.  It didn't.  I paired them with a simple lettuce salad with honey mustard dressing and sliced ham and chicken.  I know that it doesn't look like a huge plate of food, but it was very filling.  If I make this again, I'll spice up the breading mix a bit.  Some garlic powder, salt, and pepper would go a long way.  Otherwise I was happy with it.

I printed out Natalie's Sesame Soy Tahini Sauce recipe a couple weeks ago with no specific plan for what I was going to make with it.  Jake got tired of what I normally put in stir fry so I've been switching it up lately and decided to give this a try.

I substituted a couple ingredients for what we had on hand.  I marinated shrimp in this sauce and then paired it with sugar snap peas, water chestnuts, sweet orange pepper, onions, mushrooms, and egg noodles.  So good!  Jake liked it, too.  If you like any kind of sesame and/or nut marinade/dressing, you will really enjoy this.

Angel

Those of you who have cats know that what did not cross their minds one day suddenly becomes an obsession the next day.  That's how going outside has been with Angel.  She never expressed an interest until last month and now she asks to go out in the back yard at least a few times a week.  She only likes to step out a couple feet so we normally let her (unless it's really early or late).

buttons

Also as I mentioned on Monday, I've been working on a new button tree, this time with a fall theme.  I have all of the buttons on now.  I'm going to add some felt leaves and then attach a felt base.  I have a spiky gold ornament as the topper for my Christmas tree.  Any good ideas on a topper for a fall tree?  It's not essential that it has one, but it would be a neat touch.

cards

I have been going crazy with the mini cards lately (they're about an A2 size).  There are over 20 birthday cards here as well as a handful of spring and Mother's Day cards.  I have a bunch more of both, as well as some graduation cards, in the works, too.

More on that soon.

I also made a new birthday card design for one of Jake's fellow interns/will be fellow PM&R residents.  He and his wife got Jake a birthday present last summer when we'd only known them for a month so we really wanted to do something for his birthday.  When his wife sent out the invite e-mail, she said something about how he had just celebrated his ?? birthday and that they were having a party that weekend in honor of it.  I may flesh this design out to an A7 size card and include an inside message about how birthdays are always worth celebrating, regardless of age.

coasters

I had a lot of fun making my coasters last month that I was fired up to make another set already.  I decided to make some for the previously mentioned birthday.  It was kind of a random present choice for a guy, but I figured it would be something practical that he and his wife could use, which it definitely was.  We put them to good use before the party was over.  I am really happy with this geometric design and will be making more similar to this in the future.

Stay tuned next week for an update on some unusual happenings, including getting new living room furniture and doing some major organization overhaul.

What have you been up to lately?  Any interesting cooking or crafting endeavors?