The Hearth Troll

Posted on February 29, 2012 by Betsy

Attention GFC Followers – today is the last day that Google’s Friend Connect will show my posts in your dashboard. Please take a moment to consider following via another method – email, twitter, RSS feed or Facebook – all links are available on the left sidebar. Thanks for reading!

The Viking is from Sweden where they have a tradition for making hearth trolls. These hearth trolls are made out of twigs and live somewhere near your fireplace or hearth. They are meant to bring you good luck and good fortune.

This story so charmed me when I first heard it that I had to make my own hearth troll. Of course with one twig eating cat, one twig eating dog and one truck wielding toddler, my troll has to live up above our mantel, rather than on our hearth, but I like to see him up there smiling down at us with benevolence.

Smiling Hearth Troll

I made him by gluing layer, upon layer, upon layer of twigs from a really odd bush we have outside onto a Styrofoam cone.

I accented him and built his features out a vine we have curling around a post of our deck. It’s winter, and I’m pretty sure the vine was dead, which is why I took it. If I thought it was still alive, I would have left it in place, because I sort of enjoyed seeing it wind its way upwards.

And there you have him: One hearth troll. Here’s hoping he brings us luck!

This post is linked up with Fireflies and Jellybeans, Fingerprints on the Fridge

Gluten Free Crustless Quiche

Posted on February 28, 2012 by Betsy

Pin it

I love one dish meals. Just chuck everything together in one dish or pan, serve all together and enjoy. So easy, so simple, so quick to make and to clean up. This crustless quiche falls into this category.

I’ve been making this quiche for years. It tastes awesome straight out of the oven, but I frequently end up eating the leftovers for breakfasts and lunches for the next couple of days as well. In other words; it warms up well, too.

Crustless Quiche

Print recipe

Serves:	6
Prep time:	15 minutes
Cook time:	1 hour
Total time:	1 hour, 15 minutes
Dietary:	Gluten Free
Region:	Worldwide

Gluten free crustless vegetarian quiche

Ingredients

2 cups broccoli (chopped)
1 onion (diced)
1 cup cheddar cheese (shredded)
6 eggs
1 cup cream
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon white pepper
1/2 teaspoon turmeric

Directions

Step 1
Layer the cheese, onion and broccoli into the bottom of a pie plate
Step 2
Mix together the cream, eggs and seasonings and pour over the vegetables and cheese
Step 3
Bake at 350 degrees for one hour or until fluffy and set in the middle
Step 4
Enjoy!

A few additions you may want to consider when you make this:

Bacon
Caramelizing the onions first. I sometimes do this, sometimes don’t. It’s really good and worth it, but it just takes so long that I sometimes run out of time. If you have an extra 45 minutes, by all means do this – it’s really good.

Linking up with Tasty Tuesday and Gluten Free Wednesdays

Book Review – The Rules of Inheritance

Posted on February 23, 2012 by Betsy

Pin it

I honestly prefer not to dissect books. My husband, a writer, will pick a book apart from beginning to end. Me? I like to swallow them whole and let the after impression tell me what I want to get from it.

I actually had a very hard time doing that, though, when I recently read The Rules of Inheritance by Claire Bidwell Smith, mostly because I kept stopping to think throughout it about the concept of placing things “in your narrative”.

Smith’s book is a memoir that details several major events in her life, beginning with the diagnosis of cancer in both her parents within months of each other, and moving through their deaths, her grief, an abortion and finally the birth of her daughter. Frequently in the book she mentions being aware of an event in a way to help make it part of her narrative – part of her life’s story. For example, she refuses pain medication during child birth because she wants to be conscious of the experience as it will be part of her narrative.

This made me think, mostly because I’m not sure I possess what it takes to step back from a moment like that and see it against the framework of my life and where it will be fitting in. Perhaps it’s because she experienced such loss and such major events early in life that allowed her to be able to step outside herself in this way.

The book itself is extremely gripping, despite the fact that the narrative jumps back and forth in time. While this normally works for me, in this case I found that being jerked back and forth from good times to bad left me feeling a bit raw – I couldn’t celebrate or mourn her life’s experiences with her because I wasn’t given time to integrate them. Perhaps this was the intention, though.

I frequently re-read books that I like to help grab a second perspective through a second reading. This one has been placed on my re-read list to be read as soon as possible.

This is a paid review for BlogHer Book Club but the opinions expressed are my own.

Bird’s Nest Hair Clip

Posted on February 22, 2012 by Betsy

Pin it

I may be a bit obsessed with bird’s nests. Just a tad bit. So when I found myself idly rolling some silk cord through my fingers one day, wondering what to do with it, I realized that I had to make a bird’s nest. Or two.

These hair clips are so fast and simple to make that I kind of surprised myself by stopping at two. I have worn them both about 18 million times since creating them, too, so maybe it’s a good thing I don’t have more.

To make them, just roll a piece of silk cord up between your fingers, and sew through all the layers every few twists to help hold it in place.

Unlike a rosette, though, you want to start moving the cord up at the edges, rather than laying it flat so you have some place to put the eggs.

Then just string a bunch of beads onto a needle and thread and sew them into the center of the nest.

That’s it! I then went ahead and sewed the edges of the nests onto two hair clips, but they would also make nice pins or other decorations.

This post is linked up with #iPPP and Fireflies and Jellybeans

Sunrise in a Jar

Posted on February 16, 2012 by Betsy

Pin it

We have this huge bank of windows in our living room. They take up a full wall, and they’re sort of inset – not deep enough to be window seats, but set back just enough that combined with the number of them, it’s making it very expensive to put some curtains up there. Curtains are on the list of things to eventually get, but it may be a while yet.

So the windows are currently bare, and they have these really deep sills. Deep enough for a toddler, dog or cat to sit in and stare outside, but also deep enough to be able to set some things on to help decorate that area.

We already have a Sunshine Jar there – it glows yellow when the lights are turned off after collecting solar power all day. So to complement it, and to complement the colors in the room, I made what I’m calling a Sunrise in a Jar.

These are “Lucky Bean Pods” that I painted gold, copper and reddish pink using metallic paint.

The pods themselves are very smooth, lightweight and typically dark brown. They cost about $2 for the lot of them.

I was trying to pick up colors already in the room, while purposefully choosing colors that would glow when the sun hit them, making it look like a sunrise.

When I was done painting them, I just piled them into an old vase we had sitting around. Perfect fit, and they now live on our giant window sill. When the sun hits them, they are breathtaking, and they can also be seen from the deck as you enter the house.

I used the same paints in a painting across the room (post to come later), and the colors really help to brighten up the space. In fact, I love it so much that I almost don’t want to distract from it with curtain. Almost.

Linked up with Fireflies and Jellybeans, Yesterday on Tuesday and Fingerprints on the Fridge

Valentine Felt Flower

Posted on February 14, 2012 by Betsy

Pin it

I had so much red and white felt left over from my Valentine’s Day garland, that I decided to play around with a few sheets and see if I could come up with anything else. A sheet of red, a sheet of white, one button and some hot glue later, and I had this:

It’s made of six large red hearts glued to a circle, topped with six white slightly smaller white hearts. On top of this was six white hearts that I put a dab of glue into the center of and pinched to help them stand upright. It’s finished with six small red hearts and a button from my stash.

I hot glued it to a dollar store headband so I have a funky Valentine’s Day hair accessory to wear today.

Final time and cost: 5 minutes and $1.50.

Linked up with Today’s Creative Blog, Fireflies and Jellybeans and Fingerprints on the Fridge

Valentine Lollipops

Posted on February 8, 2012 by Betsy

Pin it

Gunne Bear and I have quite the social schedule going on for Valentine’s Day this year. A party party, plus a yoga party and a gymnastics party to attend. So I figured it would be fun for him to give out some Valentines to his little friends.

Because the average age at these things is 3, I figured that standard Valentine’s day cards were not going to go over too big; none of them can read.

So I figured the next best thing to do would be to make some Valentine’s he could hand out to everyone and that everyone would enjoy: Valentine Lollipops.

This took me 10 minutes to make and cost $2 in materials at the Dollar Store.

I used a heart punch to cut out four construction paper hearts per lollipop, then glued them right onto the wrapper. I accented with centers and leaves and voila!

Something to hand out at the parties we’re going to that is sure to be a hit with everyone.

This post is linked up with #iPPP and Fireflies and Jellybeans.

Gluten Free Shortbread Cookies

Posted on February 6, 2012 by Betsy

Pin it

I loooove shortbread. I think it has to be my absolute favorite cookie of all time. When I was growing up, my grandmother made Lebanese shortbread cookies every year for Easter, and I can still taste the way they melt in your mouth.

I was determined to find a recipe that would yield a shortbread that would taste buttery and rich, but that would only use rice flour, thereby making them gluten free. I tried and tinkered with a bunch before I finally created one that really worked.

This are amazing. Really light and crisp with a buttery flavor. I think they’re good on their own, but my husband actually declared that it would “Ruin [his] life” if I did not ice them. So I had to create an icing recipe that would stand up to the delicate cookies and not overpower them.

The results were heaven. I’m thrilled to get this recipe done and approved now so that I can introduce it to the family Easter dinner this year.

Gluten Free Shortbread Cookies

Print recipe

Serves:	24
Prep time:	15 minutes
Cook time:	10 minutes
Total time:	25 minutes
Dietary:	Gluten Free
Meal type:	Dessert
Region:	Worldwide

Gluten free shortbread cookies

Ingredients

1-1/3 cup rice flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup confectioner's sugar
1 egg (yes, i know egg whites don't typically show up in shortbread, but this is gluten free, and the egg white acts as a binder. trust me.)
2 egg yolks
1 teaspoon vanilla

Directions

Step 1
Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and mix until smooth.
Step 2
Roll the mixture into balls slightly smaller than golf balls and place on a greased baking sheet.
Step 3
Flatten out the balls with the tines of a fork.
Step 4
Bake 10 minutes at 350 degrees.
Step 5
Let cool, then decorate if desired.

Let the cookies cool completely before you ice them – I can’t stress this enough – otherwise the icing will melt right off of them.

Shortbread Icing

Print recipe

Serves:	24
Prep time:	5 minutes
Cook time:	None
Total time:	5 minutes
Dietary:	Gluten Free
Meal type:	Dessert
Region:	Worldwide

Ingredients

2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons shortening
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup confectioner's sugar
1-1/2 teaspoon milk

Directions

Step 1
Cream together the butter, shortening and sugar in a chilled bowl
Step 2
Add the vanilla and milk, mix well to combine.
Step 3
Add a few drops of food coloring if desired.
Step 4
Spread on your cooled cookies.

Enjoy with a cold glass of milk. I declared three cookies at a time to be a serving, because I just couldn’t stop at one (sometimes I couldn’t stop at three, either, but that’s beside the point). Be sure to let me know if you try them and what you think!

Linking up this week with Tasty Tuesday, EKat’s Kitchen, Fireflies and Jellybeans, Inspire Me Monday, Fingerprints on the Fridge, Gluten Free Wednesdays

Surprise!

Posted on February 1, 2012 by Betsy

Pin it

One of the ways we save money around here is by buying nearly all of G Bear’s clothes from consignment stores and eBay. I’ve been doing this for nearly 3 years now and have never had a problem with it; the clothes we get are always in good shape, clean and way, way cheap.

So a few weeks ago I had a coupon for 20% off an order at an online consignment shop. Score! I quickly loaded up my cart with new PJs since he had just outgrown his and managed to score some for as little as $2 a piece.

We got a set with construction vehicles and one with fire trucks. Gunne Bear was beside himself wanting to put them on. He could barely wait for me to run them through one last wash cycle.

The first set fit fine, no problems, and a couple of night later I took out the second set.

For some reason, I couldn’t get one of his feet into the foot part of the pajamas. There seemed to be something in there. I figured it was a trapped dryer sheet, and reached in to pull it out.

It was no dryer sheet: It. Was. A. THONG.

A black, lace thong was inside my son’s pajamas. I could not stop laughing or repeating, “Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god” over and over again. Thankfully I managed to get it out of the room before my son started insisting he wear it as a hat.

This post is a part of iPhone Photo Phun.

Funky Mama Bird

Writer, Crafter, DIY Expert and Slow Cooker Goddess

Monthly Archives: February 2012

The Hearth Troll

Gluten Free Crustless Quiche

Crustless Quiche

Ingredients

Directions

Book Review – The Rules of Inheritance

Bird’s Nest Hair Clip

Sunrise in a Jar

Valentine Felt Flower

Valentine Lollipops

Gluten Free Shortbread Cookies

Gluten Free Shortbread Cookies

Ingredients

Directions

Shortbread Icing

Ingredients

Directions

Surprise!

Follow Funky Mama Bird