When my nephew was born, I gave him my first ever baby blanket that I knitted. Sure, I had started many afghans over the years, but had never actually finished one. Here is little BA sleeping under my blanket:
When my life long friend H found out in January that she was having a little boy, I told her that I wanted to knit him a blanket. That evening, I went to the craft store and bought yarn. I picked out a new pattern to try and knew the supplies that were needed. I opted to try a new adventure. A knitting buddy finally convinced me to try a diagonal blanket using circular needles. I quickly fell in love. Before I knew it, the baby blanket was complete and ready long before the baby shower.
Much to my surprise, my two young boys were quite jealous of this soft blanket and wanted me to knit something for them. Once again, I went to get supplies to make a family blanket. I knew the yarn I wanted, but they did not have nearly enough in the dye lot. I got a little more creative and opted to try the diagonal pattern using stripes. So every 25 rows, I switched from the Sunny Days yarn to dark blue. Here are some photos from the last 3 months. Thanks to trips to Disney, business, illness, school hoopla, and more – it took 3 months to knit the entire family sized blanket.
Now the blanket is knitted and I need to weave in the ends. I was shocked to see that the blanket almost fits across my entire queen sized bed. Next up, I am going to use the yarn that I had bought for a Log Cabin blanket to make another lighter and larger diagonal blanket.
If you knit or crochet, be sure to catch me on Ravelry:
Be sure to let me know what project you are working on right now. I’m always looking for more ideas to add to my list.
Last week, I wrote about a new to me author that I found while in Disney World in March. I have to admit, I am quite addicted to Ridley Pearson and his amazing books. Today, I had planned on writing a review of Kingdom Keepers: Disney After Dark, but a sick little Buzz Lightyear has changed those plans.
I finished reading the first in Kingdom Keepers book solo. We are probably 2/3 finished as a family for read aloud and NHL really has been into it. Last night, I started to read the second book and am also doing research for a Kingdom Keepers post on The Disney Driven Life. I guess you could say I really like these books. They keep me on my toes, involve my love for Walt Disney World, and are genuinely entertaining.
Here is a video that Disney made for the recent release of the fourth book in the Kingdom Keepers series. As you will see, Pearson will be taking the next book outside of the Disney parks to the seas and has stated there will be seven books in the final series.
Yes, there is a Kingdom Keepers field trip opportunity for students. Can I go back to school now? I would love this not only as a student, but as a teacher. I would love to hear from anyone that has done one of these experiences.
What have you read recently? Please be sure to link up to your Book Posts, and/or leave a comment below. Include something you read on your own, with a child or someone else. Tuesday Tales are all about spreading the love for books.
Disclosure: One widget within this post is for my Amazon Affiliate where I will receive a percentage of money for the sale of the books should you opt to buy the book mentioned.
The warm weather seems to be here. Thanks to this, people across the country will be getting their grills ready for some BBQ fun. Last Thursday evening, I was invited by Price Chopper to attend their House of BBQ cooking event sponsored by Certified Angus Beef. This event was right after Price Chopper announced the new voices of their House of BBQ commercials to replace the much loved Melvin Sparks after he passed away. Allan Harris and Lynn Sterling, two nationally known musical artists, will now be seen in the ads like this one below.
That’s right, we were not cooking Thursday night, we were learning about grilling. So with the catchy tune in my head, I made my way to The Century House in Latham, NY for the House of BBQ fun. Oh an FYI, this was not a blogger event. This is one of the cooking classes that Price Chopper sponsors throughout the year for members of the community to attend.
At our seats, we were given a bag of goodies. The recipes being prepared, some tip sheets, and extras were inside for everyone in attendance.
When it was time to begin, we decided to use the hashtag #HouseofBBQ on Twitter to live Tweet what we were learning.
First up was Chef Mike Tracy from Price Chopper. Sorry about the photo quality, the lighting at The Century House was tricky to work with.
Chef Mike was filling in for Executive Chef Dave Hamlin. He prepared the following items:
Grilled Carrots with a Maple Cumin Glaze
Grilled Shrimp and Avocado Salad
Grilled Corn on the Cob With Spring Herb Butter
Chef Mike really helped to explain that you should not be afraid of grilling vegetables. He did admit that corn on the cob grilled is not his favorite since it does not look too great when finished.
Next was Chef Michael Ollier from Certified Angus Beef. Chef Michael was tossing jokes out the entire time and keeping everyone on their toes. He was fantastic to watch and listen to. He made learning about different cuts of meats fun and enjoyable. Even this girl, who can not buy Certified Angus Beef (not kosher), knows this meat is the real deal. While Chef Michael showed us different cuts of meat, we referenced the chart below. Then, he demonstrated some grilling techniques and took questions from the audience.
When it was time to try some of the foods that were prepared, I had my camera out snapping shots. Chef Michael joked and asked if I was a blogger or something. Of course, I told him I was and had been live Tweeting the event with my friends. Yes, we even got some of Chef Michael’s jokes in there. You can also read more about the different cuts of beef that he talked about on the #HouseofBBQ hashtag on Twitter.
The final person to present to the group was Chef David Robinson. Chef David is the brilliant man behind Eat Your Mistakes. He has a video cooking series that shows people how to cook and eat your mistakes in the process. Chef David was high energy and talked about his recent trip to Las Vegas where he took local supplies from the Capital District to cook for dignitaries. Yes, I am the blogger that was taking photos of photos.
Chef David was showing us how to prepare some delicious goodies to end a grilling feast. He made Mom’s Chocolate-Chip Oatmeal Cookies (YUM!) and Chocolate Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting. Both of these items were fantastic and will be made and utilized for different events. I will admit, I have been craving more of the cookies since this event. I have seen Chef David on television before, but now his blog is in my feed reader to catch when it is updated.
When all was said and done, we were able to go to the back of the room to make a plate and try all of the foods that were prepared. Here is my plate and later on when Chef David delivered cookies fresh from the oven. Yes, being at the end of the line paid off since they ran out of cookies – so gooey fresh ones were a short baking cycle away.
Have you been to a Price Chopper cooking class? Please let me know if you have. I would love to know more about your experience. For those not in the area, what do you love to grill in the summer?
Thank you again to Price Chopper, Certified Angus Beef, The Century House, Chef Mike Tracy, Chef Michael Ollier, Chef David Robinson, and my blogging buddies for an amazing evening. I know I am looking forward to hearing when the next cooking/baking/grilling event will be held.
Disclosure: Price Chopper invited me to be a part of this event. I did not pay for this, nor was I paid to go. I was not asked to blog about this, but wanted to share my experience with my readers. The opinions expressed in this are my own. I was not compensated, but did receive the items shown above and a coupon for Price Chopper cereal after completing a survey about the event.
The sun was supposed to come out today, but it looks like that has changed again. After over a week of nearly non-stop rain, we are going a bit stir crazy here. The week has been filled with rain, headaches, and flash flood warnings.
Yesterday, when there was a break in the rain, we went to buy some vegetable plants. The cold and then constant rain did not allow us to start our modest little garden from seeds this years. Still, we are hoping to have some of our own tomatoes and zucchini (all that we bought at this point) to prepare with the boys.
Growing a garden has definitely been inspired by our love of Disney. This week, I wrote about being inspired by Epcot’s Living With The Land. Over on The Disney Driven Life, I make a connection with Epcot, growing a garden, and learning. Be sure to head on over to check out my latest on connecting Disney with education. My other posts there can be found under NDM183 – that’s me!
While at Disney World in March, I decided to capture a little video while on Living With The Land. Here is little teaser of the ride. You can hear my very active three year old in the background.
I hope to see you at A Disney Driven Life to say hello to everyone else that writes there as well.
