Why I am not a Food Blogger

Weekend mornings give me a little extra time making a quality breakfast. My husband and I tend to avoid the glutens, so I cook a lot with squash (and can find some delicious paleo recipes thanks to the interwebs). One of my favorite recipe sites also contains one of my favorite recipes: Breakfast Stuffed Acorn Squash. I use spicy sausage to compliment the sweet taste of the squash.

Now, the very first time I made this, I followed all the directions and baked the egg within the shell of the squash. Feeling a little Martha Stewart-y that day, I also plated it on my hearty Fiestaware plates and provided a side of applesauce. (I think my husband sighs a little when I am feeling Martha Stewart-y, as it means sitting at a table rather than eating in the living room in front of the television. It also means I dirty more dishes than necessary for the aesthetic of a meal and he has more dishes to wash.). Look! Look at the fancy egg in the shell of the squash!

That happened once. Even with my extra free time on weekends, I don't have time for that nonsense! This is now what results in making my favorite dish:

I baked the squash on foil in an attempt to clean one less dish.

Shredded squash shells and a messy pan. Never mind my plating! This sucker gets served in a bowl with a fried egg on top (because the whole baking-an-egg thing takes time and I am hungry!).

mis-matched bowls, because everything else is in the dishwasher.

Finally, the true food blogger knows how plating, aesthetics, and quality photos can really sell the food and food-for-thought. This is pretty much what is really happening when I am working in the kitchen:

cooking is essentially a blur, as I rush around to avoid burning things.

So I will continue to cook. I will continue to eat. I will continue to read about others' foodie experiences. I will limit my sharing about food, however, and leave that to the real food bloggers.

Quilt Earrings!

I have been playing around with polymer clay recently. A while back, while I was cutting fabric scraps for a scrap quilt, I needed to take a fabric break. That's when it hit me: quilt earrings! I could still maintain the quilt motif while using a different medium!

I love the way these guys turned out! They are small and the stitching details make the "quilt" pop!

I love the way these turned out! It took some serious concentration and steady handwork. They are cute! Some I attached to stud posts and others clip on earrings.

The dime conveys the size.

Some are clip-on earrings.

Some have posts.

I listed a variety of them in my mom's Etsy shop. I will list the clip-on earrings later. These are too cute! I can special order colors and blocks. I can also do bulk orders. Check out the earrings at Cumberland Quilting Co.'s Etsy shop!

Dreamin'

Sometimes dreams seem a little lofty, but they are still there.

Do you have dreams? Aspirations? Goals?

Sure you do. You're human. Even if you dream that the dishes would do themselves, you have a dream (a lofty one, sure, but still a dream).

Do you take steps towards those dreams?

The difference between the dreamers and the doers is that: doing. Sacrifice. Mistakes. Getting knocked down and trying again. Shaking off that dust and moving forward.

"Dusty roads mean dirty feet." -Sara Watkins

I have ideas of what I want to do with my life (dreams). I have aspirations (ultimately, work for myself). And that takes sacrifice. I work longer hours. I work at one job that I don't like so much. I try new things- some work, some don't.

So here I am on this unsuspecting Tuesday morning, thinking and dreaming. I have another full day ahead (of stuff and work that I don't really want to do). But I will also have a few evening hours to create, design, write, and promote. I will have a choice! Television or invest in my dreams. "Chill out" or invest in my dream. Even goof off! or invest in my dream.

Make it happen.




What dreams are you pursuing? Are you making sacrifices to get there?