Food and Drink – Page 2 – Elliebelly Knit & Dye Works

Christmas Cookies

Posted on December 19, 2006 by Joyce Makes Art

My Grandmother made these, and taught both my Mom and me to make them. The three of us made them together every holiday season for years. My Mom taught Ellie to make them when I thought she was really still too tiny to bake, and now Ellie too has to make them every year. She has been begging me for days — it’s time. We finally made them tonight and were happy to add the newest baker in the family, Ollie, into the fun.

The big guys are strictly about eating them, but they like the family tradition of making Meltaways too.

Yum!

It’s Done! It’s Done! Oh Jan is done!

Posted on November 23, 2006 by Joyce Makes Art

A very grateful Eleanor wore her Oh Jan dress for Thanksgiving dinner today. I really had reached a point where I wasn’t sure I would ever finish it, and it does look suspiciously short due to ~~the fact that there was no way I was going to knit 4 more inches that anticipated when I began the pattern because this child is going to be an amazon~~ an apparently unnoticed growth spurt.

I think I may like this picture of my appetizers better than the appetizers themselves. It was fun going out barefoot to pick chives to snip all over the top of them.

If, like me, you abhor the travails of Black Friday shopping, please consider shopping on my website. I’m almost to the point of begging now — I am still in the process of trying to clean out my studio, because in 12 short days, HGTV is going to show up to shoot a segment there and there is some serious overcrowding going on. I can’t tell you how much I love everyone who has helped me empty out space in the shelves were I normally store Elliebelly merchandise at this time of year, so that I can use it to clean off the shelves and tables in the studio and make nice. If you haven’t taken a look yet, come visit and use code 3120666 to get free shipping at my website. I’m also going to have some items on Midday Faire tomorrow — both Black Friday sale items and a few special things.

A Random Day

Posted on September 30, 2006 by Joyce Makes Art

In an effort to live up to the ultimate criticism my 16 year old likes to level against me, "oh Mom, you are SO random," I’m going to offer up some moments from my day.

We’ve had a bit of rain in the past few weeks and it is amazing how it has perked up my late summer garden. The Zinnias are extravagant and are blooming all over.

The cherry tomato plant Ellie’s Godmother gave her is covered in little tomatoes (having been carefully watered by Mom every day, all summer long) and I’m crossing my fingers they will turn red before the cold hits. I’m not your basic fried green tomatoes kind of southern girl, but I do have my eye on a recipe involving fresh Mozzarella Cheese and little tomatoes.

And look at this! My Gardenia bush is blooming! I love Gardenias. Their sweet fragrance reminds me of my Grandmother and I love bringing them inside to grace the dining room table. No clue why they’re blooming in September, though.

Here is one of the many reasons I grow lots of parsley — it insures plenty of Swallowtail Butterflies in my garden.

Since evil husband was off watching football this afternoon, I let Ellie pick whatever she wanted for dinner, and she chose applesauce from one of our favorite cookbooks, Fanny At Chez Panisse. She and Ollie and I peeled the apples, and then gave them a liberal sprinkle of Cinammon before cooking them. The result was an extravagantly delicious if unusual dinner. We rounded it out with a Tisane of Lemon Verbena, Pineapple Sage, Peach Tree leaves, and Lavender. It was yummy. I’m still sipping it as I type.

Finally, a kitty picture. This is Hermione, who although she seemed to be the shyer of the two kittens on arrival is absolutely intrepid. We’ve made toys from some tree branches and yarn and the kittens have been having a wonderful time.

It’s back to the studio for me. I have two dresses I’m in the middle of painting, a journal in progress, a sort of funky collage with thick gessoed edges, and a little fabric page. I remind myself of the 16 year old’s favorite joke — Q. how many kids with ADHD does it take to screw in a light bulb? A. Let’s go ride bikes. Honestly, that is me in the studio. Actually, that’s me in every day life. I’m off.