Happy Anniversary!

"If you live to be 100, I hope I live to be 100 minus 1 day, so I never have to live without you."

Happy Anniversary to my best friend!  I love you!

xoxo

In the Kitchen

This past weekend was spent not sewing.  Hard to believe but it does happen.  Instead I was in the kitchen.  It's strawberry season out here in Southern California.  I'm assuming it's probably strawberry season all over the country as well.  Is it?  Every year during strawberry season you'll find me in the kitchen. On Saturday I made strawberry ice cream with my Kitchen Aid mixer ice cream attachment - best. thing. ever.  Of course I didn't think to take any pictures. :(  But it's ok since I think you know what ice cream looks like.  I also made strawberry shortcake and freezer strawberry jam.  Delish!   Tonight or tomorrow night I'm going to make strawberry muffins with what's left over.  I'm on strawberry overload.

Sunday I took a canning/preserving class with a girlfriend of mine.  We made red wine jelly, orange & onion marmalade (can't imagine what that tastes like but I'm looking forward to trying it), and apricot jam.  I didn't take pictures during the class as I don't think strangers like having their picture taken, I know I certainly don't.  So you'll have to settle for the finished product.  I think I'm going to have to invest in canning equipment and start canning/preserving everything in site this time of year.  I'll be known as the lady who cans.  In the south we call it "puttin up."  You put up tomatoes, put up beans, put up jams, etc.  I remember my grandmother had a whole wall of her basement filled of her canned goodness growing up.  It's a lot of work but so worth it.  The finished product is much better tasting and heathier than the canned super market products.  And don't you just crave tomatoes during the winter?  I know I do.

Last night I made banana bread.  Fact.  I hate bananas.  Despise them.  Both the texture and the taste.  But every single week at the supermarket I buy them because I know they are good for me.  I think they are so easy and portable, I can just stick one in my bag and have it as a snack.  And I never do it.  Just can't bring myself to eat them.  I do however love banana bread.  It must be all the sugar and bready goodness.

So to tie this all together into something that I've sewn here are some aprons from my stash.  Truthfully this first one is from a pre-made pattern from Joann's Fabrics.  It was a fun, easy, and quick project. 

This one I made myself.  This cherry fabric never seems to go away huh?  I'm not a big cherry fan either which I know may seem surprising because you see this same fabric in every other post. 

This last one either my Grandmother or Great-Grandmother made by hand.  It's my absolute favorite.  I have no idea how old it is.  50-60 years maybe?  Possibly even older.  I love to think about her in her kitchen making food for her family.  I can tell there is a lot of love in this apron. 

Perfect hand embroidery

The stitching is just as clean on the back as it is on the front.  That is skill.

Did you see that pool in the background of these shots?  That's where I will be this weekend, with a cocktail in hand.  Welcome summer!

Interested in the banana bread recipe?  I know we all have one but I came across this one about 10 years ago and is easily my favorite.  And it's oh so easy to make.

3 ripe bananas

1 cup sugar

1 egg

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1/4 cup melted butter (no salt)

1 tsp baking soda

dash salt

Preheat oven to 325.  Mash bananas with a fork.  Stir in remaining ingredients in the order given.  Pour into buttered loaf pan.  Bake 1 hour (or until cake tester/knife comes out clean). 

In my opinion nuts are not allowed in banana bread but if you want you could add 3/4 cup chopped nuts.  Eww. 

This recipe freezes well and truthfully the best way to serve it is cold with cream cheese slathered on top (or even a cream cheese sandwich).

And lastly, because this post couldn't get any longer right?  I love Scrabble so I decided to post the topics in the future with Scrabble letters.  Because there is only 1 J I took the liberty of using my blank for the 2nd jelly in this topic.  So there.

Cheers,

Cinnamon Sangria

Latest Projects

I am a member of the American Sewing Guild. I love it. We meet once a month and just sew and gab. Sewing can be a little lonely so it's nice to get out and mingle with others, see what they're sewing and get inspired, and meet new friends. I'm fairly new with this organization but sew far sew good. :)  The meeting is only 1 1/2 hours long so it's great for quick projects.  We also sew for charity.  The current project are drawstring bags that will be filled with toiletries and other items for our soldiers in Iraq.  I hear that the soilders take the bags and fill them with candy and trinkets and give them to the Iraqi children.  I imagine that these children who are living in war zones don't get treats too often.  What a wonderful thing!  Thank you to our soldiers!  These took me no time at all - 20 minutes each maybe.  I'll be making many more of these.  If you are a sewer please consider making these.  Contact me and I will give you the instructions and sizing specifications.  It's a great project no matter what your sewing skill is.   Disclosure - this is not my pattern and it belongs to the American Sewing Guild.

At our meeting this past week we made napkins.  It was a perfect project because napkins have been on my to-do list for almost forever.  They are so easy to make but other projects always seem to take priority.  I love to cook and have guests over at least once or twice a week.  I loathe paper napkins, cloth napkins are much more elegant and also eco friendly which we all love.  The napkins I currently have are beige and a bit stained so it was time for new napkins.  I love this fabric - it reminds me of summer which makes me happy.  I think these would make great gifts and have decided to go on a napkin making frenzy.  I'm planning on making linen napkins next with embroidered cherries.  Cute huh?  Of course I will post pictures.  And yes I know I have a few photographer friends who are reading this (waving hi to A, C, & M!) please don't judge my photography skills.  I know they are terrible, I'm working on it, just be patient.  I have a whole new level of respect for you.

Perfectly mitered corners.  Very professional and a fraction of what they would cost at department stores. 

I love them. What do you think?
Who wants to come over for dinner?

Cheers,
Cinnamon Sangria

A New Ruffled T-shirt

Hello, my name is Cinnamon Sangria and I hate to spend money on clothing when I know I can make it myself. :)  As mentioned before I'm making a lot of my summer wardrobe.  Below is a shirt that I saw on J-Crew's website.  It's fresh and summery and well, it's just a cotton t-shirt.  I don't remember how much it cost but I knew it was more than I was going to spend for a t-shirt.  And I knew I could make it in no time.

Off to Target to buy 2 t-shirts and well $100 more of STUFF cause you know you can't leave that store with less than $100 spent.  Right?

1 Friday night, 2 t-shirts,  and 1 hour later.  I've got a new top for Saturday lunch with girlfriends.  Not bad if I do say so myself.  This shirt will definately be joining me on my travels this summer.  I'm going to make one in white next as I think I could dress that up with bright jewelry.  Clearly this one has sleeves and the original J-Crew one doesn't.  Maybe I'll make the white one sleeveless.  Also I bought the t-shirts that are 95% cotton and 5% spandex.  Big mistake as I had to sew down the ruffles as they were curling up too much.  Next time, 100% cotton only.  Live and learn.  I still love it.  I hope you do too.

Shoe Covers!

This is the product that started it all.  I was at the gym in the locker room and didn't know what to do with my shoes.  I'm a bit of a germapobe and the idea of having my shoes which have walked on who knows what all day long against my clothes gave me the creeps.  I knew that I could make a shoe bag to toss my shoes in, then my clothes would be clean and I'd be happy.  So I did just that, made shoe bags.  A few ladies at my gym saw them, thought that they were a great idea, bought a few and I thought, "hmmm...." and Cinnamon Sangria was born. 

These are also perfect for traveling.  Whenever I'm packing I never know what to do with my shoes.  I don't want them on my clean clothes.  Instead of using pastic bags - which we all knows kills the earth (boo!) why not use these which are much more earth friendly.

All bags are fully lined and reversable.  There are quite a few more colors to come, these are just a few.

All are machine washable and 100% cotton.

And they are also the perfect handbag cover as well.

1 piece shoe cover approximately 15" high x 11" wide

2 piece shoe cover approximatley 15" high x 8" wide

The larger shoe cover holds two shoes or you can choose to get two to prevent shoes from scratching against one another.

1 piece shoe cover $25.00

2 piece shoe cover $35.00

Product can be purchased either by emailing me at:  hello@cinnamonsangria.com or at:  http://www.cinnamonsangria.etsy.com/

10% off all purchases done through email.

Don't forget Mother's Day is right around the corner!

Cheers!

Cinnamon Sangria