requies

Nothing is better than roast chicken for dinner on cold days, right? Of course right.

Especially when it's nestled in simple carrots, onions and potatoes. Plus, the chicken is seasoned with my favorite flavor combination right now, rosemary, garlic and lemon. Nothing else like it!

I've made this recipe many times, and it's always super delicious, moist, and filling. Give it a shot!

Roasted Chicken with Carrots and Potatoes
Adapted from: Bride and Groom First and Forever Cookbook
Serves 4

3 carrots cut into large pieces, like 6 pieces per carrot
8 red new potatoes cut into halves or quarters
1 medium yellow onion cut into 6 wedges
3 tablespoons olive oil
kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
1 4 lb chicken
1 lemon, cut into quarters
2 fresh rosemary sprigs
4 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed


Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
Place carrots, potatoes and onion in a 9X13 inch glass baking dish. Drizzle with 1 tablespoon of the olive oil and stir so the vegetables get coated. Sprinkle generously with salt and pepper. Spread the veggies to the edges of the baking dish to make room for the chicken. Place the garlic cloves in the space you just created by moving the veggies.

Take the gross stuff (neck and giblets) out of the cavity of the chicken. Not all chickens are sold with the neck and giblets in a little bag placed in the cavity, so don't worry if you can't find them!

Rinse the chicken and pat dry. Season the cavity with salt and pepper and put the rosemary and lemon inside. Place the chicken on top of the garlic cloves in the baking dish, this will keep the garlic from burning. Drizzle the chicken with olive oil and then season liberally with salt and pepper, don't forget the legs and wings! If you want, you can truss the chicken, but you don't have to.

Roast for 45 minutes. After 45 minutes, use tongs to tilt the chicken so the juices come out of the cavity. Stir the vegetables into the juices and brush the juices onto the chicken. If the skin is browning quite a bit, place aluminum foil loosely over the bird.

Continue roasting until the chicken has cooked to an internal temperature of 170-175, or until the juices run clear when you poke the thigh joint with your knife. This should be another 25 to 30 minutes, but it could be more.

When it's done, move the chicken to a platter and let it rest for 10 minutes. Stir the vegetables in the garlic and juice and squeeze some lemon juice over them. Yumm! 

I wish I could give you tips for carving the chicken, but I can't. I'm definitely not an expert. Cutting the legs off is especially difficult, I basically just mangle them until they fall off. They may not be pretty, but they sure will be delicious!

If you've never roasted a chicken before, you've really got to try it. It's easier than it sounds and it's so homey and delicious!

Remember to save the bones so you can make a stock. I'll show you how next time!

I made something new! It's definitely not perfect, but it works, and I think it's pretty. This pattern is also from the Home Ec course. It's a place for me to keep my double pointed and interchangeable needles neat and organized!

Since I got my new sewing machine in the mail I've been on a sewing frenzy! Let me show you all the stuff I made!

It's a reusable gift bag with a ribbon drawstring! Check out those clean lines!

A single napkin! I planned to make a set of 4, but it turns out napkins are harder than they look. But get a load of those perfect double hems!

And round bunting! Look, applique and curved stitching!

All these items are projects in the Home Ec course. I'm really enjoying it, and totally recommend it to any new seamstresses or seamsters!

This is my new favorite place, where I spent about 15 hours (I'm exaggerating...a little) working on my first project yesterday! It's perfect! The lighting is great, although you can't really tell from this picture, plus there's plenty of space for all the stuff sewers  need! Sewers as in, people who sew, not underground pipes for sewage....now I see why they prefer the term "seamstress." Let's take a tour, shall we?

This is my cutting mat and rotary blade. It's pretty amazing how precisely it can cut fabrics. And these fabrics and ribbon mark my first purchase from the fabric store! *squeal*

This is how I use the cutting mat, I hope I'm doing it right!

These are all my notions and thread.

And this is the machine, itself! I was trying to think of a name for it, but I think I'll just call it "brother." That way I can reference Full Metal Alchemist's Alphonse and make Arrested Development jokes while I talk to it...hermano.

And if you will look to your right, you will see beautiful sunsets. Pretty great sewing nook, right?

Do you have a favorite place in your house to do work or crafts?

Happy New Year! It's taken me a while but I finally thought of 27 goals I'd like to accomplish before I turn 28!

1. Write 2 blog posts a week on average.
2. Reach 30 sales on etsy.
3. Write another pattern.
4. Think of 27 goals (check!)

5. Learn how to sew. (I got a sewing machine for Christmas, and I already signed up for this e-course. I'm so stoked!)
6. Learn how to quilt.
7. Learn how to knit colorwork.
8. Knit mittens.
9. Knit an adult sized top/sweater/cardigan/shrug.

10. Crochet amigurumi.
11. Successfully poach an egg.
12. Bake sourdough bread.
13. Learn how to tell the doneness of steak by touch.

14. Keep a budget. (I've started using mint.com. It's pretty cool, and free!)
15. Recycle more.
16. Stop nervously picking at my eyebrows.
17. Clean the apartment more frequently.
18. Do yoga once a month, at least. (Once a month sounds easy, but I'm being realistic here, people!)

19. Call a family member or friend every week.
20. Sponsor a knitting club.
21. Read an entire work in Latin.
22. Teach Greek.
23. Practice Hebrew, Greek, and German once a month each.
24. Start studying a new language, I'm thinking Portuguese or Italian.
25. Read 1 book from each author on the Great Books list.
26. Get published. (eeeek!)
27. Learn how to play piano.

Alright, that's it! I'll keep you posted on my progress! Do you make yearly goals? Are you better at keeping them than I usually am? : )

I'm 27 now! Yaaaaaaay! We had a lovely day of shopping with gift cards and dining at a fancy Italian restaurant called La Sorella di Francesca. Everything was fabulous, especially the tiramisu, light as air, amazing!

It has been a year since I made (really attempted to make) 26 goals to accomplish before I turn 27. Let's see how I did!

1. Bake a loaf of bread from scratch! Check!

2. Make naan! Check! But it was awful and made me nauseous, so I did not share the recipe!

3. Knit a shale baby blanket! Check!

4. Create an etsy shop. Check, check, check!

5. Read an entire work in Latin. Not even close. Well, closer to this goal than I was last year!

6. Complete the Buffy Season 8 comic book series. Yes! But then, thankfully, Joss Whedon released another volume!!! So I can continue nurturing this obsession.

7. Learn how to quilt. No. But, I would like a sewing machine for Christmas (hint, hint, nudge, nudge), so maybe I'll have better luck this year!

8. Think of 26 things I want to accomplish. Nope. Ha! I only got to 13.

9.Write, on average, one blog post per week. Whoa! I just counted and I wrote 83 blog posts this year! That's an average of 1.6 per week! 

10. Have 20 items for sell in my etsy shop. Nope! I've only reached 16 so far. But I'm really happy with that! I have reached 20 sales though, just yesterday in fact! Yaaay!

11. Learn how to embroider. Check! It has definitely been my favorite new hobby this year.

12. Be more intentional about making friends. This one is hard to quantify. I was not able to meet with all the ladies on my "To Have Coffee With" list, but the few coffee dates I did have all resulted in deeper friendships, so I'm very thankful for that.

13. Read at least one book from every author on the Great Books list. Pssssssh, yeah right. I knew this one was impossible when I made the goal, so I'll just have to continue working toward this accomplishment this year!

I'll be back soon with 27 goals before 28!

Thanksgiving was heavenly, there were so many precious moments. I hope this pastiche of pictures conveys how relaxing and joyful our time with family was. Thanks for sharing your home with us Nathan, Michele and Baby Henry!

Leftovers, Dominion and Die Hard, a Christmas tradition in the making!

It's time to start making crafty holiday decorations, so you can have them up by December 1st...or today, if you're a crazy person like me. I put up our Christmas tree today, and I've been listening to Christmas music since Halloween. I can't help it! 

These crocheted snowflakes are soooo easy to make. I can hardly crochet anything, and I can make about a million of these in a day. You can make ornaments out of them (these make a nice simple gift for coworkers), or a garland, which is what I'm working on.

 If you are new to crochet, or would like to learn, you should try this pattern. You only need to know how to chain, single crochet, double crochet and slip stitch, and I'm sure you can find youtube videos demonstrating each of those steps for you. In fact, I'll find them for you!

There! Now you know everything you need to know to make those awesome snowflakes.

What holiday crafts do you like to make? Could you share a link with instructions?

Sorry I've been incommunicado for a while. We had to post grades for this quarter and had parent teacher conferences, so I was pretty busy! But, I was able to record some of the best parts of my week with my phone, so I thought I'd share!

I made this fall garland out of paper leaves. I bought them from Paper Source, don't you love that place? And, we enjoyed the first fire in our fireplace! We've never had a fireplace before, it's pretty fantastic.

One morning, my windshield was covered in ice. This did not make me smile, until I took a closer look.

The crystals took my breath away! So pretty. 

This next picture is kind of gross, but it's perfect for Halloween!

One of my students scraped her elbow and bled on her homework. I thought it was really funny that she left me a note explaining that it was an accident and apologizing, as if I would think she did it on purpose. Ha!

What things have been making you smile this week?

My newest cozy was featured in this lovely treasury list! See it?! Right there at home with all those chic, beautiful items! Click on the image to visit the list and the featured stores.

And in other exciting news, my Earl Gray cozy was mentioned in hello lovely inc, a style blog! Go check it out to see other beautiful items!