Quality

Is it just me that judges the quality of a blogpost by the amount of pictures in the post? I have a few blogs that I read every word of every post, but the rest I browse the pictures and read the post if something catches my eye. Now, before anyone gets offended thinking I don't read their blog every day, let me clarify. I subscribe to about a zillion blogs via bloglines and if I read everyone everyday I would have to quit my job. Anyway, I assume other people do the same thing, and just browse the pictures. Since I have resolved to be a better blogger, I try not to post unless I have a decent amount of pictures, or at least one related to knitting. So, may I present, a blogpost of good "quality".....

Last time I mentioned a kitchen makeover, and now I have the pictures to prove it. For Christmas, my mother-in-law gave me a ton of red kitchen stuff. I secretly suspect she is redecorating my house one gift at a time, but I don't really mind. It's not like I would buy this stuff for myself unless I really need it.

Red items from left to right: coffee maker, water bottle, blender, food processor, stand mixer, pot holder and oven mitt


Red items from left to right: toaster oven (it's red, you just can't tell at that angle), spoon rest, pot holder, utensils in the caddy, toaster, sugar and flour holders, cookbook.

So we spent all day a few weeks ago going through my kitchen purging my old unmatched dishes and appliances and redecorating my kitchen. All that's left to make my kitchen completely MarthaStewart-ized is paint, retile the floor, and make some curtains. Whew! After all the redecorating, something amazing happened. I had this inexplainable urge to.....cook! I love all the new kitchen appliances and I wanted to use them. I am still in awe of the stand mixer. You can dump your ingredients in there and just.....walk away. When you come back they are all mixed up and you didn't have to DO anything! Technology is great. My hubby has been extremely pleased with my newfound love of the kitchen.


(I can't get that picture to rotate for some reason, sorry about the neck-straining.)

Just a sample of the dinners he's been treated to lately. The top (sideways) picture is spinach-stuffed shells, and the bottom picture is lime-pepper-garlic chicken with a salsa and lime garnish. I've also made coffee cake, cookies, egg salad, and lots of breakfast stuff. Cooking is fun! Who knew?

Lest you think I've abandoned knitting for the kitchen, don't be mistaken. It's just another excuse to knit dishrags.
My very first ball-band warshrag from Mason-Dixon Knitting. Love it, ove it, love it. I want to run out and buy cotton in every color and churn out these babies night and day!

I've also been getting paper-crafty. I mentioned that I was co-hosting a baby shower. I was in charge of the invitations.
It took me a little less than an hour to make one. Then I decided to get crazy and make this many.
After making eleven my hand got a little cramped so I store-bought the rest. The guests will never know! I am saving one for the mom-to-be that I'm going to put in a shadow box with some ribbon and other cutesy stuff. (By the way, Jackie I'd love to get the picture and instructions for the diaper cake-I couldn't figure out how to email you back from the comment.)
That's all for now. I am SOOO close to finishing the Christmas presents, but...not...quite....yet. I know I am now exactly one month overdue. I'm already planning for next year.