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Airstream Cushion Covers
When my friend Ali, owner of the amazing Idol Airstream Salon, asked me to sew cushion covers for her salon, that (like the name suggests) resides in an Airstream trailer in the Georgetown neighborhood of Seattle, I said hell yeah! I have long had an affinity for Airstreams and thought at one point that I would someday own one myself. I simply adore Ali and she has been my hairdresser for years. Ali has great taste to boot, so once she showed me the fabric she had picked out, I knew this would be a fun project. After making my Meringue skirt with piping, and three dog beds for Wyatt, I…
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February Cook the Books: Asian Dumplings
Once again, I thought it may not happen. I thought I might run out of time to cook from February’s Cook the Books cookbook, Asian Dumplings by Andrea Nguyen. Luckily, Flower came to the rescue, took the reigns, offered to host, picked out all the recipes and bought all the ingredients. She’s sweet like that. All I had to do was show up… and bring my camera. Thanks Flower! The recipes she picked were Fish and Chinese Chive Dumplings (page 37), Pork and Shrimp Pot Stickers (page 41) and Daikon Radish and Smoky Ham Cakes (page 122). The recipes had been preselected and the ingredients purchased, but that was about as much of plan as we had. I took on…
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Happy Birthday Rake and Make… and Goals for 2013!
Well, I did it. My first post was on February 19th, 2012, so Rake and Make is one year old as of today. This will be my 53rd post, which means I met my goal of posting an average of once a week! I recapped 2012 in another post, so I won’t go into that again. Instead, I’d like to take this time to talk about my goals for 2013. Since Rake and Make is a gardening, cooking and crafts blog, I have goals in all three areas and a few overall goals for blogging in general. GARDENING– Grow more blueberries– I really need to work on my blueberries. A couple…
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Blogcademy Scholarship Entry
I really, really, really want to go to this blogging workshop in March, called the Blogcademy. Some of you have probably heard me talk about it on Facebook. It’s two days in Portland and is taught by some of my favorite bloggers, Gala Darling of galadarling.com, Kat Williams of Rock n’ Roll Bride and Shauna Haider of Nubby Twiglet. These ladies are all super talented and know the biz of blogging inside and out, as they have been doing it for years. Not to mention, they all look like they would be a lot of fun to meet and hang out with. So it’s a no-brainer for me, if I get…
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Wild and Free Wristbands
My second knitting project ever! These were actually belated Christmas presents for some girlfriends of mine that have lovingly become known as “wild and free” (vs. “tamed and tied down” like the rest of us). Meaning, they’re spontaneous and do cool shit like go to France on a whim, sip tequila in fake eyelashes and have impromptu dance parties. They’re a little like Patsy and Edina, except they’re both totally functional and have successful careers. I saw a pattern in Stitch ‘n Bitch: The Knitter’s Handbook for a wristband that said “GEEK”. It said you could easily make them say anything you wanted them to, by making a graph. So I…
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Dairy-free “Buttermilk” Banana Nut Waffles
Ahh… waffles. I’ve never been a lover of pancakes, but I am certainly a waffle convert now. It all started with the waffles Matt’s mom always makes us when we visit his family in Vermont. The smell of waffles now evokes memories of cozy holidays and relaxing vacations in a picturesque environment. So it was only fitting that Matt’s folks sent us the BEST WAFFLE IRON EVER for Christmas! This shiny piece of machinery is like the Cadillac of waffle irons. So far, I’ve only used it to make waffles, but it came with reversible grill/griddle plates and waffle plates AND opens up flat. I guess this is where I…
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Sparkly Striped Cowl Neck Renfrew Top
I haven’t been sewing as much as I had hoped to this Winter, but I did manage to whip up another Sewaholic Renfrew Top. This is my second Renfrew top that I have made. I blogged about the first one I made here. I said I would make this pattern again and I meant it! I found the fabric at Pacific Fabrics in the sale pile. I thought it would make a great cowl neck Renfrew, be seasonal and good for the holidays, as it has a little sparkle in it. This pattern is awesome because it has three collar types to choose from (v-neck, scoop and cowl) and three sleeve…
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Cook the Books: Chicken Breasts Diable, Crumb-Coated Broccoli and Cheesy Rice with Spinach
In my last post, I mentioned that something I have been looking forward to is Meg of Grow and Resist and Oh Briggsy‘s Cook the Books Cookbook Challenge. They are co-hosting a year long cookbook challenge, where they pick a cookbook a month to cook from. I love blog challenges and they sold me on it with their amazing, interesting and unique cookbook choices. The January cookbook is Around My French Table by Dorie Greenspan. It’s a beautiful cookbook with gorgeous photography and it’s French home-cooking so nothing seems too technical. It’s just my speed. I am so excited to cook from it, for so many reasons. One reason being, that I…
