Wednesday, May 13, 2009

Favorite Things

There's no chance of me creating an Oprah-type furor such as the recent KFC disaster. With that in mind I thought it might be fun to occasionally pass along some of my favorite things.

My long-time friend and godmother to our daughter sent me a wonderful Mother's Day e-card created by Jacquie Lawson. There is a yearly fee to access and use the cards, but there is no limit to the number you can send. It's a beautiful alternative to snail mail cards. Here's her card of the month:

Jacquie Lawson e-cards

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Do you read Posy Gets Cozy? It's Alicia Paulson's blog and she's a gentle soul who lives in the Pacific northwest. She cooks and creates and has written a book filled with her projects. She also offers some of her designs online.

Recently she featured her Jane Market Bag, which is one of those reusable fabric shopping bags. I purchased and downloaded the pattern and spent an afternoon putting it together. I love it because of there are pockets on each side which allows you to toss in your keys and your wallet. Very clever.



Jane Market Bag
Copyright Alicia Paulson

The pattern is $6 and can be downloaded directly to your computer.

I've been making a larger and simpler version of a market bag for family and friends. Stay tuned for a tutorial on that bag coming up soon.

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Look at the amber glow of my next favorite:



REAL maple syrup. This bottle is from Park Falls, Wisconsin and it was purchased at a mini-mart in Fifield. It's perfectly sweet with a lovely maple flavor. I'm using it this morning to flavor my oatmeal. Yummy.



This is a small business and they don't seem to have a website. They do offer mail order.

Northern Wisconsin Maid contact information.

Or look for a local producer in your area.

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My new favorite idea is to prepare a month's worth of meals. I've done something like this in the past when the kids were young. The idea is appealing because after a lifetime of worrying about "what's for dinner?", I'd love to have something prepared and waiting in the freezer.

I came across ONCE A MONTH MOM. She puts together menus, shopping lists, directions and a podcast to help you prepare meals in advance. This includes labels that you can print out and place on the freezer containers.

Once a Month Mom Menu for May

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These are a few of my new favorites. And no....... nobody pays me to say nothin'. Hmmmmmm, is that a double negative? Only my Grammar Nazi knows for sure!

7 comments:

Molly said...

Amen on Alicia Paulson, and I'm forwarding the OAM cooking link to my SIL. Have a great day!

Jody Blue said...

Your fav's are much more realistic than that O lady

Sadie said...

That syrup looks gooooood!! We have sugar maple's around this area too, that are tapped as we speak :)

Once you've had the real maple syrup, the artificial kind just tastes funny.

Have a great week!

Vee said...

Love Lawson cards, too, but hadn't seen this one for Mother's Day...very nice!

Yay for featuring Alicia's blog...love it, but never comment there. She's way out of my league.

Hmmmm, real maple syrup. Don't forget to try those maple scones one day. Yummy.

I need that menu planner. I fly by the seat of my pants way too often. Thanks so much for the link.

I'm ain't biting on any grammar stuff today.

Bella Della said...

Your favorites are much better than O's. I love Posie's market bag. I've been drooling over that- if only I sewed.

Cottage Rose said...

Hey Suzanne; they maple syrup sounds pretty good. How sweet and kind to send you such a pretty card...

Hugs;
Alaura

life in red shoes said...

I want to make about 65 of those bags. And I read her after you, every day.