Crocheting: Project in Progress

I'm an occasional, mostly a wannabe, crochet-er. Meaning, every few years, I get the urge to dabble in crocheting (my Mom taught me the basics when I was a kid), and so I pull out some yarn and a crochet hook, brush up my skills, crochet a few lines, and ultimately lose interest in whatever it is that I'm "making." It's very uninspiring, really. But a few months ago, I was inspired to start and really make the effort to finish something. What is that something you ask? Why, a blanket! I've wanted to crochet a blanket for years but have never taken the time to really put in the work and effort to achieve that dream.

Now, I'm not writing here tonight to declare to the world that I've finally managed to finish a crocheting project (soon, soon!). However, I've made awesome progress, more progress than I've every made before, so I decided to offer a sneak peak of my blanket.

My target finish timeline (that I'm making up even as I type haha) is around the end of April, which should be very doable even with only working on it a few nights a week. And I can already say that it makes a great nap blanket, because I've unintentionally tested it out :)

Everyday, it seems recently, I'm inspired by a blog that I read or something that I find on Pinterest; whether it's a new project or a recipe to try or a quote, I feel like I'm brimming with potential and excitement. And love. Can't leave that out! I'm brimming and overflowing with love for my husband; he makes me so happy. Yes, I'm one happy, joyful girl!

I can't wait to share some of the projects I'm looking forward to getting into in the coming months. Stay tuned to the Chronicles!

Winter's New Look

It's February, and I've hit the itchy part of winter where I long to change something up. Namely with my hair. It never fails to happen haha. So, I hopped over to my hairdresser and said, "Let's play!" She loves me; I'm always asking her to do something different, and we have fun. Yay! So happy!

Also, I got to meet my hairdresser's husband, and he told me to blog about it, so there! Done! They make a great couple, and they're cute together too :)

It's a Sweet Potato Thing

One of my favorite seasonal dishes is sweet potato casserole. My mouth waters just thinking about it. Whether it’s chunks of yams or whipped potatoes, it all tastes yummy! Thinking on this, I decided to do a search for a sweet potato casserole recipe. And, of course, the best way to find what you’re looking for is to search Google Images haha! If it looks good, then it should probably taste good, right?

I looked at a few different recipes before deciding on one that looked doable. The only problem was that the recipe would make quite a lot—more than D. and I would eat, even with leftovers. But I didn’t want to wait until Thanksgiving to try it out. So I decided to half the recipe and do a test run. If it turned out good, I’d make the full recipe for Thanksgiving with the In-Laws.

Oh boy, was it ever a great test! Pretty easy to make, and it was delicious! D. commented that the casserole almost tasted like dessert. It’s a go for Thanksgiving for sure!

Gather the Ingredients:

     For the sweet potatoes:

     2 1/2 lbs sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed (about 4 potatoes of medium size)

     3/4 Cup sugar

     1/4 Cup evaporated milk

     3 tablespoons butter, melted

     1/2 teaspoon salt

     1 teaspoon vanilla extract

     2 eggs

     For the topping:

     1/3 Cup flour

     2/3 Cup packed brown sugar

     1/8 teaspoon salt

     2 tablespoons butter, melted

     1/2 to 1 Cup chopped pecans

Place sweet potatoes in a pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes or until tender. Drain and cool about 5 minutes.

Place the cooked sweet potatoes in a large bowl; add sugar, evaporated milk, butter, salt, and vanilla. Beat with a mixer at medium speed until smooth (I didn’t feel like getting out my mixer, so I just beat it together with a wooden spoon). Add eggs; beat well. Pour sweet potato mixture into a greased cooking dish.

For the topping, combine flour, brown sugar, and salt; mix thoroughly with a fork until the mixture resembles course crumbs. Stir in butter and mix well. Sprinkle topping evenly over sweet potatoes and then top with pecans. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes or until golden. Savor the sweetness!

Do It!

Food for thought: you don’t have to wait for New Year’s to start a resolution. Instead of putting it off until a better time, if you want to make a change in your life, do it now. There will always be something to distract you; there will always be something you’d rather be doing. But if you truly want that change, you have to take action, you have to put in work, you have to chase it. That’s the point of this blog. I could sit on my couch and enjoy looking at what other people have done (and I still do this too haha). Or I can get off my butt and start something new. Life goes by too quickly for us to let it just pass us by.....what are you going to do today?