Peanut! Peanut Butter!

 

 

The life of a teacher/runner's wife is full of protein of all kinds.  When Derek tutors, his days run about 9.5 hours.  Add running 5 miles at 4:45 am and 3 miles at 4:30 pm on top of that and I have one tired man on my hands. 

 

He is also a create of habit.  Cheese and sausage for breakfast.  PB&J, pineapple, and chips for lunch.  Grilling and veggies for dinner.  Every.  Day.  How then do I add in some extra healthy protein for him?  Peanut butter.....everywhere....all the time.  A spoonful at breakfast.  A spoonful for dipping his afternoon Kit-Kat in.  Or mixed with Nutella and whip cream for his own special mixture of happiness. 

 

We happened to have a container of peanuts left over from a recipe I never tried so what did we do with it? That's right! Made home made PeAnUt BuTtEr!!!

 

Here's what you will need:

•  Peanuts (any kind! Honey roasted, dry roasted, salted, mixed nuts, etc)
• Food processor
• Oil (veggitable, peanut, olive, any kind will do)
• A container to put the peanut butter in (I used a square Rubbermaid so you can use anything if you don't have a free mason jar)
• A small spatula to scrape the edges of the processor
   

 

 

 

Here are my peanuts!

 

 

I did batches because my food processor is small.

Pour about 1/3 of the peanuts into the processor.

I only have Chop and Grind on mine so I chopped for about 1-2 minutes.

The peanuts become like powder. 

Then Grind for about 4 minutes.  Scrape the sides of the processor to help mix every now and then.

 

You might need to add a teaspoon or two to the peanuts throughout the process. 

Of course, this is completely up to you.  If your butter looks a little dry, add some oil. 

 

Voila! 

 

The more you mix the creamer your peanut butter will become.

 

Of course, Derek had to do a "taste test" throughout the process. 

He found that it was a little bland so we added salt while mixing.  I think that if the peanuts were salted that probably wouldn't have been a problem.

 

 

Peanut butter has become so expensive and it's SO much fun to make things with Derek. 

 

I can't wait for our next adventure! 

Hung by the chimney with care

Christmas is not my most favorite time of the year.  Christmas can be a very difficult time for my family. 

 

I was wrapped around my grandfather's little finger.  I am the only girl born into my dad's family for generations which made me special.  PawPaw adored me.  Hot June and July afternoons were always filled with laying in his lap as he scratched my back and sang Christmas carols to me.  Yep, Christmas carols in June and July! 

 

He loved, and I mean LOVED Christmas.  He was sick for a long time and one Christmas morning he had seen all the Christmases on this earth his frail body would let him.  It is only perfect that the last song he sang me was Bing Crosby's White Christmas that Christmas Eve just hours before he went to be with his Jesus.

 

Time heals hurts.  So does a little Bing Crosby.  And some fabric and a sewing machine. :-)  PawPaw would be GIDDY at seeing this...even if my stocking is lopsided with Alabama hounds tooth.  He would still love it.  This is for him.

 

 

This is what you will need: Fabric, ribbon, rotary knife, backing (optional), sewing machine.

Extras:

1. If you are making a cuff for your stocking, make sure to get a different color/pattern than the main stocking.

2. Each stocking will take about 1/3 of a yard.  I was able to use 1/4 of a yard per stocking because I played with the pattern to get it to fit before cutting it out.

3. Pick your fabric wisely.  Think about what you are using this for....to hang up and put objects in.  I used flannel and an upholstery fabric.

4. Pick your stitch wisely.  Same as above.  You will want your stockings to last and not pucker.  Pick a more complicated stitch that will give you forward, backward, and side stitches. 



 

Okay, let's do this....

Here is the pattern I used Stocking Pattern. Print it out, cut it out, tape it together. 

 

 

This is what the patter looks like put together. 

Leave your fabric folded in half.  You will only trace and cut once with the fabric already on top of each other.

 

 

Pin the outside together before sewing.

**Make sure you are using a size 14 needle and a quilting foot on your machine.  These are thick fabrics that need heavier needles.**

 

Time for the cuff.  With your rotary, cut your cuff 15x9 inches. 

Fold your fabric in half.  It should now be 15x4.5 inches.  Sew the narrow edges together.

 

When picking your ribbon, try to get a wider ribbon.  1inch will do just fine.  Cut strips of ribbon 6-7 inches long and fold in half to create a loop. 

Keep your stockings inside out while you attach the cuff and ribbon. 

Slide the cuff onto the stop of the stocking.  You want all rough edges from the stocking and cuff to be together. 

Slide the ribbon between the top of your cuff and stocking.  You should have one layer of stocking, edges of the ribbon, then 2 layers of cuff (because you folded it, remember).

Pin the ribbon in place.

Sew cuff and ribbon to stocking. 

 

Pull the stocking ride side out.  Fold the cuff over.

Viola! Hang them by the chimney with care for St. Nick to fill with coal. :-)

 

If your stocking does not hang as "stiff" as you would like it, here is a tip --- add backing.  When first cutting out the stocking, add a layer of backing to your stocking before sewing.  You would then have a fabric sandwich. 

 

In the picture, the red hounds tooth are mine and Derek's while the red plaid are Mom's.  I'm pretty excited to be hanging them up this year!!