Two Centerpieces for One Day

The 31st of December is a double holiday in our family. It’s our son’s birthday as well as New Year’s Eve. And, of course, we are going to celebrate both.

To honor the birth of my little one, we will have a birthday lunch. We are not going to have a big party, only the three of us plus grandpa. Nevertheless, I want to create a special festive mood. So I made this Winnie the Pooh centerpiece to decorate our lunch table.

A bit later, the Winnie the Pooh centerpiece will be replaced with the New Year’s Eve one. I used real fir branches for it, and I just love the way it smells.

I am linking to Show and Tell Wednesday and Thrifty Thursday.



Please, don’t forget to join or just visit me on January 3rd for Handmade Monday.

Happy New Year!

Cross-Stitched Christmas Stocking

The poinsettia and berries stocking is finished! I’m so glad I finished it before Christmas because otherwise Santa Clause wouldn’t have a place to leave Viktor’s present.





I'm linking to Rednesday at It's A Very Cherry World! and Show and Tell Friday at My Romantic Home.

Scandinavian Cookies Silkekaker

This holiday season, I am exploring many baking recipes. Here is one that comes from Scandinavia. My husband translated the recipe from Danish, and I converted it from grams to cups.



1 cup (8 ounces) butter, softened
2/3 cups sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
½ tsp salt
1 ½ tsp baking powder
2 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder

Beat butter, sugar and vanilla extract together with an electrical mixer. In a separate bowl, mix together flour, salt, and baking powder. Combine the butter with flour and knead into dough.

Divide the dough in half and knead cocoa powder into one half. Roll four ropes about 12 inches long out of your dough (two white ones and two brown ones); make sure they are equally long.

Place one white and one brown ropes next to each other; put the remaining two on the top of them in a chessboard manner forming one long dough bar. Wrap it into plastic and refrigerate for at least one hour.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Spray or grease cookie sheets. Cut the dough into ¼ inch slices. Put them on the prepared cookie sheets and bake for 13-15 minutes. Keep an eye on your cookies towards the end of baking as they can burn very quickly.

Allow to cool completely on a wire rack before storing in an airtight container.

I'm linking to Foodie Friday at Designs by Gollum.

Handmade Monday: Poinsettia and Berries

Handmade Monday is back! However, there are some changes. From now on, Handmade Monday will take place once a month – on the first Monday of the month. Otherwise, all the guidelines are the same.
Today, I want to show the craft project I’m working on this holiday season. I am cross-stitching a “Poinsettia and Berries” stocking cuff. I want to make a beautiful and special stocking for my son.



Working on this project is very relaxing and is a great way to get into the holiday spirit.
Please, share you projects or handmade items with us. Next Handmade Monday will take place on January 3.

Enjoy your holiday season!

Cream Cheese Rolls

These cream cheese rolls are easy to make and require simple ingredients. They make a nice holiday treat.

1 cup butter, at room temperature
1 package (8 oz) cream cheese
2 tsp sugar
2 cups flour

For glaze:
1 egg white
1 tbsp water

For filling:
1 cup finely chopped walnuts
¾ cup light brown sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon

Beat the butter, cream cheese, and sugar until soft and fluffy. Sift over the flour and mix until combined. Shape the dough into a ball and divide it in half. Flatten each half, wrap into plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
To make the glaze, beat the egg white with water. To make the filling, combine walnuts, brown sugar, and cinnamon.
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease two cookie sheets. Work with one half of the dough at a time. Roll it out thinly making a circle (about 11 inches in diameter). You can use a dinner plate as a guide to trim the edges with a knife.
Brush the surface with the glaze and sprinkle evenly with half the filling.
Cut the circle into 16 segments. Roll each segment starting at its base.
Place the rolls on the cookie sheet and brush with the remaining glaze. Bake until golden, about 20 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.



I'm joining Seasonal Saturday at La Bella Vita.

Cranberries

Hello everyone! In high spirits and full of energy, I am back in the blogland ;-)

Last weekend, I bought a big bag of cranberries. I don’t know what I was thinking buying so many of them. It seemed like a good deal, and I thought I can eat them just like strawberries or raspberries (silly me). When I discovered they are not tasty at all, I panicked for a moment. What am I going to do with so many cranberries? Luckily, there is such a thing as the Internet, full of interesting ideas and advice!

Here is what I did: I froze half of the bag. I left some of the berries for cranberry sauce, which I will make in a couple days. The rest I used for decorating.



First, I simply added some cranberries to my autumn basket. Using martini glasses, I made cranberry candle holders. However, caution should be implemented with such candle holders. If the berries come in contact with the flames, they might burst. The candles should not be left unattended!



I also made cranberry napkin rings. I had to pick the hardest berries because I don’t want them to stain my napkins. And in case they might, I am using burgundy colored napkins.



For more cranberry craft ideas, visit this page.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Ciao for Now

My dear blog-world friends,

I haven’t been feeling well lately and haven’t felt as excited about blogging as I used to. I have decided to take a break. Of course, I will still visit your wonderful blogs, so we will stay in touch.

For those of you who joined me for Handmade Monday, here is a list of some other blog parties/memes where you can link your handmade projects:


Craftastic Monday at sewcando.blogspot.com

Making Monday Marvelous at craftingreallyawesomefreethings.blogspot.com

Tutorial Tuesday at hopestudios.blogspot.com

Hoo’s Got Talent at nightowlcrafting.blogspot.com

Fabric Fun Thursday at cheapchichome.blogspot.com

Look at me at funtocraft.blogspot.com



Ciao for now,

Olga

My Roses Are Blooming Again

Ask me why I am so happy today, and I will tell you that it’s because my roses are blooming again!

Take a look!









And now look at this naughty cricket (or whatever it is) eating my rose. The rose must be very delicious as half of it has been eaten. Oh well, I’ll just let the fellow enjoy it.



I’m linking my roses to

Fertilizer Friday

Show and Tell Friday

Fresh, Clean, and Pure Friday and

Macro Flowers Saturday.

Handmade Monday: Another Tablecloth Update

This Labor Day weekend has been so relaxed that I almost forgot about Handmade Monday! I don’t have anything handmade to show this week, so I thought I’d make another update on my crocheted tablecloth.

The work is slowing down now as every row gets bigger and bigger. It also gets somewhat tedious and boring. I feel like I’m ready to finish this project, but I am only halfway through. Hopefully, I won’t give it up entirely (something that has happened before with other projects).

If you have something handmade to show this relaxed Labor Day weekend, please link below. If you are joining for the first time, the guidelines are here.

Happy Labor Day!

Potato Gnocchi

The other day, I made potato gnocchi for dinner. I was surprised how easy to make they are and how few ingredients they require.
Gnocchi can be served with pesto, herbed butter, or tomato sauce. I served mine with pesto and grated Parmesan cheese.



1 ½ pounds potatoes
1 egg, beaten
1 ¼ - 1 ½ cups bread flour
1 tablespoon olive oil
Salt
Pesto, melted herbed butter, or tomato sauce
Freshly grated Parmesan

Cook the potatoes in their skins in a large saucepan of boiling salted water until soft. Drain. When cool enough to handle, peel and mash until smooth.

Beat in the egg and half the flour. Turn out onto a floured board and gradually add more flour, kneading lightly until you have soft but not sticky dough.

Keep the board well floured while you roll pieces of the dough into long thick sausage shapes about 1 inch thick. Cut each rope into pieces about 1 inch long to make gnocchi.

Press the gnocchi against the back of a fork to make the traditional indentations, then place on a floured tray. Cover with a floured cloth and chill for at least 30 minutes.

To cook the gnocchi, bring a large pan of salted water to a boil. Add the olive oil and reduce the heat to a gentle simmer since fast boiling will destroy the shape of gnocchi.

Add the gnocchi to the water in batches, cooking them for 2-3 minutes. They should float to the surface when they are almost cooked. Remove from the water with a slotted spoon and keep warm in a buttered serving dish while you cook the remainder.

Have ready a melted butter or sauce. When all the gnocchi are cooked, pour the melted butter or sauce over them and sprinkle with grated Parmesan. Serve hot.

Serves 4.

The recipe is from Sarah Brown's book The Vegetarian Bible.

I’m linking to Foodie Friday

and Vegetarian Foodie Fridays.

Handmade Monday: Violet Doily

This doily is my favorite. My mom made it for me several years ago. Actually, I wanted to crochet it myself. I remember I bought the crocheting booklet with the pattern and all the needed threads. Then I discovered that I couldn’t understand anything in the instructions whatsoever. An English-Russian dictionary didn’t help either.

Then my mom said she will give it a try. Of course, she didn’t understand anything in the instructions either, but she crocheted the doily just by looking at the photograph. I thought that was pretty impressive. My violet doily is not exactly the same as the one in the booklet, but it’s very close. And I like it very much.



If you would like to share your handmade items, just link below. If you are joining for the first time, please see the guidelines here.

Thank you for stopping by and have a nice week!

Handmade Monday: Ukrainian Rushnyks

It’s time for Handmade Monday again. Welcome!

In order to honor my Ukrainian heritage, I want to show Ukrainian embroidered hand towels called rushnyks, which traditionally were used for religious and ceremonial events or hung on the walls as decorations.



I received the two rushnyks below from my aunt as keepsakes when I was leaving Ukraine for America. She cross-stitched them herself when she was young. In the past, many village girls would make rushnyks for their dowry, but this tradition is long gone. Nowadays, rushnyks are occasionally used in ceremonial events (for example, weddings), but very few people would actually hand make them.





This third rushnyk has flat embroidery (I don’t know the proper name of this stitch in English). I received it from my grandparents’ neighbor. A very sweet old lady gave it to me as a present.




Now it is your turn. You can link your posts about handmade items below. If you are joining for the first time, please see the guidelines here.

I am away on vacation, so I have lots of sightseeing to do. But I will check all the entries when I come back on Wednesday. Until then!

Ukrainian Folk Outfit

August is a special month for many Ukrainians as on the 24th they celebrate their Independence Day. For centuries, Ukraine struggled for independence from Russia, but only in 1991 when the Soviet Union collapsed, Ukraine became an independent country.

I no longer live in Ukraine, but every year on the 24th of August I celebrate my Ukrainian heritage. This year I want to share it with others through my blog. I am going to make a few Ukraine related posts.

This first post is on Ukraine national (or folk) costume. Such outfits were worn by peasants back in the 18th-19th centuries. People in Ukraine no longer wear traditional outfits except for performances and special occasions. A female outfit consists of blouse, underskirt, outer skirt, vest and apron. There is lots of embroidery in the costume. In fact, the amount and sophistication of the embroidery showed the prosperity of the person who wore it.

A few years ago, I received a Ukrainian folk outfit as a present. Of course, it is only a contemporary imitation and the embroidery is not handmade, but the costume itself is hand-sewn. Nevertheless, I am very proud to wear it once a year on the day when I celebrate my cultural heritage.



Today, I’m joining a new blog party. It’s is called Fabric Fun Thursday and is hosted by Kim at Cheap Chic Home.

August: How Does the Garden Grow?

This year, I don’t have annual flowers in my garden, but I do plan to have some next year. The only exception is my pink petunias. I bought the seeds from a dollar store back in the spring. Whether the seeds weren’t any good or I didn’t water them enough, I don’t know, but I only got two petunia plants out of the entire seed packet. But I must say they are very pretty. I hope my two petunia plants will produce some seeds for the next year.



One morning, on my daily check of the garden, I noticed how pretty my green onions looked with the drops of water on them. I thought I’d take a picture and post it in my next garden report. Green onions grow all year around in my garden, and I like adding them to salads and omelets.

And now I want to show what I recently harvested. The plums come from my neighbors’ garden. Wait, I know what you are thinking, but let me explain ;-)



The tree grows near the fence, so I have many branches on my side. The neighbors kindly let me have as many plums as I want and can reach. So I harvest them liberally. Besides, if I don’t pick them off the tree, the plums will end up decaying on the ground in my yard and that is not pretty. These plums are not very big but sweet and juicy.

The tomatoes and onions are from my vegetable garden. I’m very happy with the tomatoes but not so happy with the onions. I expected my onions to grow bigger. The greens in the basket with the onions are rosemary. I picked several twigs as I was making baked potatoes with rosemary.

And this completes my August garden report. To see what others are growing and harvesting this month, visit An Oregon Cottage for Tuesday Garden Party.

Handmade Monday: A Tablecloth in Progress

Welcome to Handmade Monday!

The only handmade project that I am working on at the present is crocheting a round tablecloth. It has been a while since I got the idea of a lacy tablecloth to use for garden tea settings. After I finally found appropriate crocheting threads and a pattern, I set to work.

So far, I am about one fourth through with my project. I really like the way it is coming out. I hope to finish it before the rain season arrives, so I can have at least one afternoon tea in the garden, set on my handmade tablecloth.

If you would like to share your handmade items, link below. If you are joining for the first time, please see the guidelines here.



Have a great Monday!

Pear Bread

Last week, at my local grocery store pears were only thirty-seven cents a pound. Guess who bought several pounds.

Having so many pears, I wanted to try some new pear recipe. I found this pear bread recipe at allrecipes.com, and it turned out very delicious.



1 cup vegetable oil
2 cups granulated sugar
3 eggs
2 1/2 cups pears - peeled, cored and chopped
1 cup chopped pecans
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease two 8x4 inch loaf pans or one 9x13 inch loaf pan.

In large mixing bowl combine oil, sugar and eggs, beat well. Stir in pears, pecans and vanilla. In another bowl, combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg. Stir dry ingredients into the pear mixture; mix well. Pour batter into prepared loaf pans.

Bake in preheated oven for 60 minutes for two 8x4 inch pans or 90 minutes for one 9x13 inch pan, until a toothpick inserted into center of a loaf comes out clean. Allow loaves to cool in pan(s) for 10 minutes before moving to a wire rack to cool completely.



I’m linking to Foodie Friday

and Vegetarian Foodie Fridays.

A Striking Floribunda

On my last trip to the local Rose Garden, I discovered a remarkable rose.
It looked as if some naughty artist took a palette and added pink brushstrokes to a white rose. In addition to its distinctive beautiful coloring, the rose had the most fantastic fragrance. Being intrigued by this rose, I wanted to know its name. And what a special name it has – Julio Iglesias!



I love Julio Iglesias’ romantic songs especially the ones in Spanish. There is so much passion and ardor in his voice. His love songs are full of drama and affection. And now I love his rose!
From the little research that I made, I found that it was bred in France in 2006. What beautiful tribute to a great singer.



Well, now I must have Julio Iglesias in my garden.

Today, I'm linking to Outdoor Wednesday at A Southern Daydreamer. Please, come and see other bloggers' outdoor adventures.

Handmade Monday: Decorative Birdhouses

It’s time for Handmade Monday again!

All my previous HM posts were either about crocheted or knitted articles. Today, I am in the mood for something else. How about decorative birdhouses?



I inherited these birdhouses from the previous homeowners. For almost two years, they were just sitting in a corner of my garden. At some point I even wanted to throw them away as their shabby appearance wasn’t very attractive. But then I decided to give them another chance to life by repainting them.



I went to my brother’s place, who recently bought a house and now is remodeling it. He kindly let me use any of the paint from his garage. I felt the excitement of a little kid who was given her first paints. Even though I didn’t do a very good job, I enjoyed the experience a lot.

Now the birdhouses are back in my garden. They will be a part of a bigger project that I’m working on (I hope to blog about it in the future).

Moreover, I decided to use these birdhouses for Handmade Monday sign.



Thank you for participating in Handmade Monday or just stopping by. If you are linking for the first time, the guidelines are here. Have a great week!

Pasta Bowls and End-of-Summer Pasta Recipe

Today, I want to show what beautiful hand-painted pasta bowls I have. Each of the six bowls is unique and has its own vegetable – artichoke, garlic, pepper, asparagus, eggplant, and tomato. The seventh big serving bowl has a group of vegetables painted and a sign “Verdura”. I love how festive and cheerful these pasta bowl are.



With such pretty bowls, I need something to go in them, right? How about simple and delicious end-of-summer pasta?



You will need:

¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 medium eggplants, cut into ½ -inch chunks
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 lb. farfalle, penne or other dried pasta
6 small or 3 medium tomatoes, cut into ½ - 1 inch chunks
1 to 2 tsp. thinly sliced garlic
½ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Chopped fresh basil for garnish (optional)

Bring a pot of salted water to a boil for the pasta. Meanwhile, heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. When the oil is hot, add the eggplant, sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste, and stir occasionally until it’s browned and tender, about 15 minutes.

Add pasta to boiling water and prepare as directed. While it’s cooking, add the tomatoes and garlic to the eggplant mixture and cook, stirring occasionally until everything is nicely softened, about 10 more minutes.

When the pasta is done, drain and toss with the eggplant sauce and Parmesan. Adjust the seasoning and garnish with basil if you like.

The recipe is from Parents magazine, August 2010.



To show off my pasta bowls, I’m joining Show and Tell Friday. And to share the pasta recipe, I’m linking to Foodie Friday and Vegetarian Foodie Fridays.

Thank you for stopping by and have a wonderful rest of the week!

The Beginning of a Teacup Collection

In my dining room there is a shelf that has been empty for a long time. I just couldn’t come up with anything to display there. But then I thought it would be nice to fill it with pretty teacups. Hence, these three cups are the beginning of my tea cup collection.

They aren’t any special in terms of their origin, but they are special to me because I got them from my mother. She had the tea set for decades, but now this is all that is left.

The cups now occupy my shelf, but I do intend to use them often. Pretty things should be used and enjoyed, and not merely displayed. Don’t you think?









Today, I am joining Martha at Martha's Favorites for Teacup Tuesday. Check out her blog to see what interesting mustache teacups she has in her collection.