Mariannes Motifs

Extremely Lazy Peach Cobbler

I just made my first ever peach cobbler.    I accidentally created my own recipe after I mistook a 1/3 cup measure for a 1/2 cup measure.  It came out completely perfect. 

I baked it in the ugly Pyrex green daisy bowl that failed to sell on Ebay.  I figure - if I am stuck with the thing I might as well get some use out of it.

Extremely Lazy Peach Cobbler

Preheat oven to 350

2/3 cup self rising flour (or 2/3 cup flour plus 2 tsp baking powder)
1/3 cup sugar, plus 1/4 cup for topping
2/3 cup milk
1 stick butter
1 can peach pie filling
Pinch Pumpkin pie spice

Melt butter in bottom of Pyrex bowl or 9x9 casserole.  Spoon pie filling into melted butter.

Mix flour and sugar in bowl and add milk.  Gently pour over peach filling.

Top with 1/4 cup of sugar and sprinkle with pumpkin pie spice mix (or cinnamon). 

Bake for 50 minutes at 350 degrees.

Grandmothers favorite baby bib

Grandmothers favorite baby bib
Originally uploaded by mar1annec

These are also part of the baby gift for Liz. They are baby bibs based on the diagonal dishcloth pattern called Grandmother's favorite.

Pattern here


I made some modifications to the pattern. I used two straps with Velcro, so there is no choking hazard of a button. For the second strap I picked up the same number of stitches on the other side to start the strap. I liked using just 5 stitches for the straps and did that on the green bib.

I also added a row of eyelets (yo, k2tog) 2 rows before the bind off at the the top to make it look more even.

Baby blanket buddy

Baby blanket buddy
Originally uploaded by mar1annec

Here is the knitted bunny I made for the kid's daycare director who is expecting in August.

This is a really easy pattern, and its neat how the head actually uses double knitting so you are making both the front and back at the same time. Clever. Even though this is blue it is for a girl. I gave it a pink face so hopefully that makes it girly enough.

Pattern found here

Sunday Chit Chat

We had a nice 4th of July weekend.   We skipped the fireworks this time, and had a nice relaxing weekend.  

Here is a picture of the kids playing in the rain this morning.  We are having a nice mellow sprinkling - very good for the flowers!  (Have you ever noticed that it tends to rain on July 5th?  My theory is that all the fireworks smoke "seeds" the clouds to make it rain.)

We have booked a condo for our trip to the beach.  We will be staying in Destin.  Because there will be four adults and 3 kids, we figured out that a condo would be cheaper than 3 hotel rooms at something like a stratosphere hotel.  We got a 3 bedroom condo which is on the beach.  Well, the condo complex is on the beach and has a private beach.  There is a short walk to the water from our unit.

We've been living as cheaply as we could for months.  In order to pay off all the bills, I sold some stock that I had and we decided that it would be ok to take a short beach trip.  We deserve a bit of a break.

Free Star Spangled Banner MP3s for July 4th

Amazon is offering more free patriotic music in honor in Independence day. Free Star Spangled Banner MP3s You can get any version, from Jimi Hendrix to Lee Greenwood, to Jordan Sparks.

Letterboxing and Geocaching

I know all about Geocaching as my brother and his kids are really into it.  They use a hand held GPS and the infomation from the Geocaching web site to find caches (boxes) wtih either notebooks for signing in, travelling items to be left at another cache, or little goodies to take and leave something in their place.  It's a really fun hobby!

I have now heard a a similar outdoor treasure hunt called "Letterboxing."  Letterboxing uses clues and compasses rather than GPS, it seems, and centers around the boxes containing a small logbook where you add your own personal stamp when you find the letterbox.

Great fun!

Governtment Cheese

***  This is satire  ***

Suggestion to Obama to solve the problem of hunger in America during the jobless recovery - bring back Government Cheese.  Who remembers in the 80's and 90's where part of your government relief package was a big ass block of tasty cheese.  Now, my parents did not qualify for government cheese, but I remember having it at a friend's house who's boyfriend was in between construction jobs.

Direct distribution of dairy products began in 1982 under the Temporary Emergency Food Assistance Program of the Food and Nutrition Service. According to the government, it "slices and melts well." The cheese was provided monthly, in unsliced block form, with generic product labeling and packaging.

Don't Poke The Crazy

Are you looking to waste time on "the interwebs" and you have already seen every single page of LOLCATS?  Then check out "Don't Poke The Crazy."  This new blog scours the internet to find crazy forum posts and websites so that you can rubberneck the drama and insanity.

Sarah Palin - Lies and Bad Spelling

Newly released emails from Palin and a McCain campaign advisor  show that people who were preparing to run the country seem to lack the ability to spell check and properly capitalize words such as "Alaska," and names such as "Todd."  Scary

Emails made public between McCain campaign Steve Schmidt and Sarah Palin show how she lied to the McCain campaign about her husband Todd's 7 year membership in the secessionist Alaska Independence Party.

The highlighting is mine.

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Palin:

"That's not part of their platform and he was only a 'member' bc independent alaskans too often check that 'Alaska Independent' box on voter registrations thinking it just means non partisan. He caught his error when changing our address and checked the right box. I still want it fixed."

Schmidt:

"Secession. It is their entire reason for existence. A cursory examination of the website shows that the party exists for the purpose of seceding from the union. That is the stated goal on the front page of the web site. Our records indicate that todd was a member for seven years. If this is incorrect then we need to understand the discrepancy. The statement you are suggesting be released would be innaccurate. The innaccuracy would bring greater media attention to this matter and be a distraction. According to your staff there have been no media inquiries into this and you received no questions about it during your interviews. If you are asked about it you should smile and say many alaskans who love their country join the party because it speeks to a tradition of political independence. Todd loves his country

We will not put out a statement and inflame this and create a situation where john has to adress this."

What to Buy a Six Year Old Boy for a Birthday Present

Ben's 6th birthday is coming up and his Grandma asked me to put together a list of books and toys he would like.  Ben and I did some online shopping and came up with this list.

Ben wants this pontoon plane.  He is very good at following the instructions and putting his Legos together.  He and Dad have their "boy time" putting together Legos.  Mom is ok at it too.

LEGO City Police Pontoon Plane

This is the "Dolphin book" that Ben really wants.  They have it in the school library but not the public library and he was disappointed when summer came and the school library was closed.  He was super excited to see it on Amazon.

Whales and Dolphins (Kingfisher Young Knowledge)

This looks like a fun game that makes use of the DS touchscreen if you want brain rotting video games.  Hey, don't knock it, they teach patience and problem solving.

Yoshi Touch and Go

Since Ben will be starting 1st grade...
Junie B., First Grader (at Last!) (Junie B. Jones, No. 18)

This looks good. Ben loves reading about animals.

The Kingfisher First Encyclopedia of Animals (Kingfisher First Reference)

I found this on the summer reading list.  "This innovative book invites readers to look for colors in a whole new way, while introducing 14 masterpieces of art by Picasso and others."

I Spy Colors in Art

Also from the school summer reading list for 1st graders.

Max & Mo's First Day at School (Ready-to-Read. Level 1)