Weekend of Fun!

Carrie here ... My family and I had a fun filled weekend.  It started Friday night as we took Taylor to Nick and Jacquie's house (Matt's brother and sister-in-law).  We had pizza and carved pumpkins.  The kids had so much fun!! 

We had brunch on Saturday and it is our new favorite meal; Jessie's Kung Pao.  I am always learning new meals from my sister-in-law, Jessie.  She is the best cook but does everything by taste, so she never really has a recipe.  She taught me how to make Kung Pao, so we had it for brunch with an egg; instead of avocado, like we usually eat it.

Taylor spent Saturday with Uncle Nick and Aunt Jacquie.  They went apple picking in the morning, which is something Taylor has never done before. 

Following that, they went to the Milwaukee Zoo for Trick or Treating.  It is something we have done for the last few years, but with Kayla having a Soccer game we just had Taylor go.

We then went to Kayla's soccer game.  It was a beautiful fall day.  They tied with 0-0 but it was still a good game. 

We then headed back to Nick and Jacquie's to pick up Taylor.  We stayed over and all were in bed pretty early.

We headed back early Sunday morning as Kayla had another game at 11:00.  It was a cold, windy, rainy day. But it ended with Kayla and I seeing a double rainbow and a beautiful sky to end the evening. 

It was a great weekend with family!!

Planetary Curtains

Jenny here :) ... I used to sew with my Grandma when I was little, I don't remember too much... lots of ironing and measuring, pins all over the place, fabric scraps, etc. I've always wanted to learn how to sew like she did. We were very close. She always had health problems, but took everything in stride and was a very loving, smart, and optimistic woman. Despite her health problems, she passed very abruptly and unexpectedly in 2003. She was the only one I knew who could sew.

My MIL knew I wanted to learn to sew someday and actually bought me a sewing machine for Christmas about seven years ago and it's lovingly been collecting dust, waiting for me to use it.

I met Carrie when our daughters attended the same preschool, but last year we discovered we are kindred spirits and now like to hang out on a weekly basis. One of the first times we hung out she brought over all this sewing stuff she was working on and I was immediately drawn in! "TEACH ME", I said!

She first taught me how to cross-stitch, then she taught me how to use my sewing machine!!! The first thing I sewed was a W-heat Sack, which I will talk about in another post sometime. Then a curtain for my future art studio. Then it was a group effort on a scrub top (another coming post). After completing the scrub top, I realized how incredibly simple making curtains is!!!!

My middle child Sydney is obsessed with planets. Especially Jupiter! She has a lot of space stuff in her room so now that I know how to sew, I thought it only appropriate to make her some planetary themed curtains! Here are the steps I took...

1.) First I measured the window to figure out what size I wanted the curtains to be.

2.) Next I planned how I would make the curtains and determined what my seam allowance would be on all sides to get my final measurements.

3.) Once I got all my measurements, I went and purchased the fabric I wanted.

4.) Next I cut my fabric to the precise size needed for each curtain panel.

*The following steps are the same for each panel

5.) For the side and bottom hems I pinned then pressed the fabric in 1/2 inch.
(I did the side of the panels first.)

6.) Then I pinned and pressed it in another 1/2 inch.

7.) Next I sewed along the inside edge of that seam

8.) For the top, I pinned and pressed the fabric in 1/2 inch like I did to the other sides, but then for the next step I pinned and pressed the fabric down 4 inches. And then sewed along the inside seam.

9.) To give the top of the curtains a little decorative ruffle, I sewed in 1 inch along the whole top of the panel.

And here is the finished product. I might make two more panels of the same fabric or a matching solid color fabric to add in, but for now I think it looks pretty darn good :)

Stay tuned for my future posts on Scrub Tops, W-heat Sacks, and Refinishing furniture :)

Comfort Food - Apple Crisp

Hey there, It’s Jenny. I’m not feeling too hot today. Got a bad head cold and keep getting chills. I was craving warm apple crisp though this morning and Carrie was over, so she called up her Grandma and gave me her Grandma’s apple crisp recipe. I then promptly dragged my sickly butt into the kitchen and set to work. 

Preheat the oven to 350F. Peel, core and slice 8 apples and then put them in a big bowl and mix in a cup of white sugar and 2 tablespoons of flour. Grease a rectangle baking dish, like 8x14, and put in your apple mixture. Next you can use the same bowl to mix your topping together. Combine 1 cup of oats, 1 1/2 cup of brown sugar, 2/3 cup of melted butter, 1 1/2 cup of flour, 1/2 tsp of baking soda and a tsp of salt. Mush it together so it’s nice and crumbly and then evenly pour it over your sugared apples. Bake at 350F for 30 minutes. Oh so good! Serve with ice cream or cool whip.

I realized half way through my creation that my Quaker Oats expired nearly a year and a half ago so I substituted it with 3 packets of instant oatmeal 😂. 2 Maple brown sugar packets and one cinnamon spice. Carrie made fun of me of course cuz this isn’t the first time we’ve found expired food on my pantry. It happens to us all though right? Any ways the Apple Crisp was exactly what I had been craving and it turned out great 😊

Grandma’s Apple Crisp

• 8 apples (peeled, cored, and sliced)
• 1 cup of white sugar
• 2 tbsp flour

Topping

• 1 cup oats
• 1 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 2/3 cup melted butter
• 1 1/2 cup flour
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp salt

Baked Chimichangas

Hey, Carrie here! Tonight we had a busy night at our house.  Both of my kids, in the fall, play 2 sports Volleyball and Soccer.  While Kayla was at volleyball, Matt was at her game, I was with Taylor at her soccer practice.  I was not looking forward to making supper after a long night of sports but this recipe for Baked Chimichangas is so easy and quick to make.  Good thing I made it into 6, instead of the 4 the recipe calls for, Kayla was very hungry after her game.  This is a go to recipe in our house.  I found it at https://lilluna.com/baked-chicken-chimichangas/ .

 

 

Just came out of the oven!  YUM

 

Welcome to Kindred Homemakers

My good friend Carrie and I love to hang out and make stuff together. We both are always busy creating and learning new things. So we've decided to create this blog to share our experiences with all of you. Our long term goal is to open a store on Etsy, so we can share our creations online. Stay tuned :)