Remember the single felted wool mitten I showed you a couple weeks ago? Well now there are two! They’re finished and I love them. (Just in time for… Spring. Hah! Oh well.)
I still might embellish them a little using the pretty nordic ribbon and buttons from the original sweater they were made from, but I also might just leave them as is. I like their simplicity. Actually, I’m really proud of these mittens. I’ve never made anything like them before so it was a slow project, and one I wouldn’t necessarily care to repeat, but I’m really happy with how they came out. They fit beautifully and they’re so warm! Apart from my time, they cost next to nothing since all the materials came from the thrift store.
They have three layers made from two different felted sweaters plus an inner lining of really soft white fleece. They’re so cozy and luxurious; I wish you could feel them!
They’re made from the sleeves of these sweaters:
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Do you ever make stuff from felted wool sweaters? I really like the concept — it’s so easy and cheap — the knitting has been done for you already, and you can so easily get used sweaters from the thrift store for such little money!
If you’ve ever done something like this before, please leave a comment and tell me what you made! I’d love to get some other project ideas — maybe something that’s a little simpler than 3-layer mittens. 😉
I recently expanded my art marker collection and needed something to keep them all organized within a compact space. So I made a holder using materials I had on hand, and I’m really happy with the way it turned out. It’s not beautiful, but it does the job perfectly.
Here’s how to make your own without spending a cent!
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Materials:
A small cardboard box (my 10″ x 6.5″ cardboard box fits 140 Prismacolor art markers)
More cardboard, for the dividers
Duct tape or packing tape
Scissors
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 1. Measure your outer box so that you know how big to make the dividers. Measure and cut out one divider and insert it into your box. Trim if necessary. When it’s the right size, use it as a template to cut more dividers.
2. Put a row of markers in place at one end of the box. (Putting the markers in helps you know exactly how wide to make the rows.) It helps to prop up the opposite end of the box so the markers stay in place. Insert the divider up against your row of markers to see if it needs trimming. Then put a strip of duct tape on either side of the divider, as in the photo.
Insert your divider to make sure it fits right; remove and trim if necessary, then apply tape.
3. Tape the divider into place, flush against your markers.
Tip up one end of the box so the markers stay in place.
4. When the divider is taped into place, add another piece of tape to the bottom:
5. Keep adding rows of markers and dividers until you’re finished.
We love sushi at our house, though we don’t often go out for it. Actually though, I prefer to make my own — because then I know the source of the fish (which I think is important if you’re eating it raw). And of course it’s also much cheaper to make your own at home. It’s simple and fun, too!
Let’s begin!
To make one batch of sushi rolls, you’ll need the following. This can easily be multiplied. Today we’ll be making a Raw Salmon-Avocado Roll. But you can fill your sushi roll with anything! That’s part of the fun!
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You’ll need:
1 sheet of toasted nori seaweed
1/4 cup raw sushi rice or short-grain rice + 1/3 cup water. (This will make enough rice to fill one sheet of nori. To fill about 4 sheets of nori, use 1 cup rice + 1 1/4 cups water.)
half an avocado
about 2 ounces of raw salmon from a company you trust (I always use Lars Larson Trophy Salmon — they’re a Colorado company selling wild, line-caught Alaskan salmon that they process and freeze right on their boat.)
soy sauce to serve with sushi (Nama Shoyu raw soy sauce is our hands-down favorite)
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1. Cook your sushi rice. You do want to get the actual sushi rice/short-grain rice because you need that sticky texture for your sushi to turn out right. Combine the 1/4 cup rice with 1/3 cup water in a saucepan. Salt the water. Bring to a boil and cover the saucepan. Turn to a very low simmer and cook for 25 minutes. Don’t lift the lid at all during that time.
It’s best to cook the rice right before you plan to make the sushi. Fresh rice gives the best results.
2. While the rice is cooking, slice your avocado and salmon.
Halve the avocado, then cut into slices
Peel the slices
I like to buy the pre-toasted Nori sheets
3. Let the rice cool a little and then spread it all out onto your sheet of nori, except for 1″ at the end.
4. Arrange your salmon and avocado down the middle.
5. Wet your fingers with water, and moisten the entire 1″ strip of nori that you didn’t cover with rice. This will be your glue and will hold your roll together.
6. Beginning at the opposite end (not the moistened strip), roll your sushi up. It’s effortless; you don’t need any fancy bamboo sushi rollers or plastic wrap or any other tool. Just your hands! (I threw away my sushi roller many years ago; I found that it just got in the way.)
7. Your roll will end up seam side down, and while you slice it, the gentle pressure will help glue the seam shut.
8. Slice the roll. To get nice clean slices without squashing the roll, work with a nice sharp knife. Wetting it first also helps, as does cleaning it off under running water after every couple of slices.
Have you ever bought brown rice crackers? They’re surprisingly expensive, and often have unnecessary ingredients and are wastefully packaged.
So I’ve devised a very easy way to make my own. We love them! They’re nice and crunchy — great for dipping, or just eating plain.
1. Purchase a package of Food for Life Brown Rice Tortillas from your local health food store. (The above 12 oz. package of 6 large tortillas was $2 at my local store.)
2. Cut the tortillas into triangular wedges or rectangular strips.
3. Arrange them on a cookie sheet.
4. They’re yummy just plain like this, but if you’d like to add salt (or any type of fun seasoning blend — Penzeys Spices is my favorite place to go crazy with seasonings!), just brush the top of each strip lightly with water and sprinkle with salt. (The salt will adhere surprisingly well after baking.)
5. Bake at 275°F for 30-35 minutes until lightly golden and crispy-crunchy (and no longer leathery). You’ll probably need to add another 5-10 minutes to that bake time if you brushed them with water first.
6. Let them cool, and then store in an air-tight container (at room temperature is fine). Done!
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Three perfectly baked brown rice chips, against a raw brown rice tortilla, so you can see the color difference.
Mmmm, challah bread! The perfect holiday treat for your own family, or a friend! Challah is a traditional Jewish bread eaten on the Sabbath and on holidays, and is usually parve (made without milk or meat); this recipe isn’t parve (okay with me since I’m not Jewish), but if you’d like it to be, just substitute oil for the butter.
Here’s the challah recipe that I’ve used for many years (plus my tips for success), as well as video instructions on how to do a pretty 6-braid loaf.
Before we start, know that this bread requires two risings. Keep your eye on the dough — once it has doubled each time, move onto the next step promptly. I wouldn’t recommend leaving to go shopping and letting it over-rise and sit around too long, because the yeast will consume more sugar than you want, and the resulting bread will be more yeasty and not as subtly sweet; if this happens, the bread will still be good, but not asgood.
Ok, let’s get started!
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Challah Bread
7/8 cup water, at 100° – 110°
2 tsp active dry yeast
1/4 cup honey
2 eggs at room temperature
1/4 cup butter, melted
1/2 tsp salt
4 cups flour (I like using half white, half whole wheat…all white is yummy but not as healthy…or you could also use all whole wheat)
For the egg wash: 1 whole egg + 1 Tbsp water
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Proof the yeast by stirring it into the water and letting it sit until it’s bubbly and foamy on top, about 5 or 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, melt the butter and warm the honey if needed so that it’s free flowing.
Stir the salt into the flour in a large bowl, and add all the other ingredients (yeast water, honey, the 2 eggs, and butter).
If you have an electric stand mixer, now would be the time to use it, allowing the dough hook to knead the dough for several minutes.
If, like me, you don’t own a stand mixer, no problem! — with a wooden spoon, stir until a dough forms. With the same wooden spoon, pretend that you are the stand mixer. Knead the dough as best you can for several minutes, until smooth, using the spoon — digging into the center of the dough, twisting, lifting, dropping. I’ve made this bread many times and discovered that you want to add a bare minimum of extra flour, or else the resulting bread will be too dry. When kneading with a wooden spoon in the bowl, you won’t be tempted to add flour since the dough won’t be sticking to your counter, to your hands, etc., while you knead. (You can also knead with your hand inside the bowl! Either way works just fine.)
Now, with the dough in the bowl, cover the bowl completely with a lid, plate, or plastic wrap.
Set aside to rise until doubled in size. To speed the process, I like to turn the oven on for a minute or two, then turn it off (test with your hand to be sure it’s only just warm) to create a slightly warmer environment than the ambient temperature in my kitchen… then put the bowl into the warm oven.
Once it’s doubled in size, punch it down and gather the dough into a loaf shape, cutting it into six pieces of equal size. Feel each piece with your hand, re-distributing dough from piece to piece until they all feel about the same.
On a lightly floured surface, roll each piece of dough into a rope as long as you like; mine usually end up about 18″ long.
Lay your ropes onto a cookie sheet covered with parchment paper (you can, instead, grease a cookie sheet generously, but I find that parchment is really a good tool in this situation, otherwise the egg wash tends to glue the edges of the bread to the sheet, making it a little hard to get off. You can certainly do it that way… but if you have parchment, use it here.) 😉
At one end, pinch the ropes together, and now you’re ready to braid! Watch the video below for instructions on how to do a 6-braid loaf (it’s not hard, and the end result looks very impressive!).
Once you’ve braided your loaf, it needs to rise until doubled in size. I’ve tried covering the loaf with wax paper, plastic wrap, a damp tea towel, and they always stick to the loaf no matter what. My favorite method, therefore, is this: turn on your oven for a minute or two until it’s slightly warm, and then turn it off. You don’t want it too warm! Meanwhile, boil some water. When the water boils, pour it into a couple of mugs, and place those in your warm oven. Put the uncovered braid into the warm oven, and close the door. (I like to turn on the oven light to add a little more warmth too.) This way, your braid can rise without anything covering it, and because of the high humidity, it won’t dry out while rising. Because of the warmth and humidity, this step may go fairly quickly, so keep tabs on the braid.
Once your braid is doubled in size, take it out of the oven. Preheat the oven to 375°. While the oven’s heating, make an egg wash by combining 1 whole egg and 1 Tbsp of water in a small jar and shaking vigorously. Using a pastry brush, paint the egg wash onto the braid.
When the oven is hot, put your braid onto the middle rack and bake for about 15-20 minutes, until the top is golden and the underside is lightly golden, but not overdone. Try not to over bake, as that will also dry out the bread. You want the top to be golden, but not too dark.
A nicely done underside will look like this. See how it’s golden also, but not too dark?
Let the bread cool, and enjoy! It’s delicious fresh, but also keeps nicely on the counter; seal it inside a bag to keep it from drying out.
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"There's nothing more pleasurable than making things by hand, and nothing more beautiful than handmade things."
"Do what you can, with what you have, where you are."
- Theodore Roosevelt
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