Skagit Valley Sprint

Skagit Valley Sprint

Saturday, December 12, 2009

Winter Arrived...

In the form of snow this afternoon, the weatherman had promised it, predicting a 50% chance, which usually means not even a skiff or a flurry but Mother Nature came through this time in a pinch.  I don't know, I kind of like it, it feels more like Christmas now AND more importantly the temperature raised up to the mid 20's compared to the teens and below that we have had the last week or so!

In honor of the nice chilly day, I decided to try my hand at Olive Garden's chicken gnocchi soup (our OG is ALWAYS packed and impossible to get into without an hours wait) so I try to replicate some of their menu at home...I make my version of OG's Zuppa Toscana, which we all love, but it was time to try someting new. My DH and I  drove all over town trying to find the packaged gnocchi, which was suprisingly hard to find, but was well worth the drive AND my DH liked it, a double bonus!! (the jury is still out with the kids who haven't tried it yet)


Yesterday after work, I flipped through the JoAnn's flyer and noticed that some yardage I have been eyeing was 50% off (okay, truth be told, I flipped through the flyer while at work, but just between you and me, we'll say that it was accomplished during my break...yeah, that sounds good!!) I came home with a bit more than anticipated to add to my stash, but hey...some of it was 50% off the clearance price, now who can pass that up??  I noticed that Flourishing Palms has recently returned from Australia and decided to join the Don't Look Now Joseph's Coat quilt-along with some of her friends in Iowa but wasn't real excited with her fabric choices...I mentioned to her that I have not been too keen on the contents of my stash either, nothing in it seems to inspire me anymore. That is, after being introduced to designers like Amy Butler, Kaffe Fasset and Denyse Schmidt to name just a few, so I have been buying bits and pieces here and there when on sale, something I try not to do except when starting a new project, it just seems that everything in my stash is old and outdated...I still have only admired those designers from afar, due in part to the fact that the local shops where I live are a bit behind the times...they should be popular AND affordable here in about a year or so if I am lucky!

Oh! and last but not least...I have been just looking for an excuse to make an apron (and in true form for me, it is of course not for me- though I REALLY want/need an apron) I thought it might be fitting that since my oldest son's girlfriend is enrolled in the culinary arts program at the vocational/technical school here and someday wants to open her own restaraunt that she might appreciate an apron for Christmas! I have had the pattern for some time now, but with 13 days until Christmas, I suppose that I had better get cracking!!!