Two Birthday Cards

Hello!  Whew, it is good to get back to crafting- I have missed it so much!  Yesterday, my husband took the kids over to the coast for the day, leaving me at home all alone for several hours.  I could have used the time to clean, or organize all the medical bills, or balance the checkbook.....but I didn't.  I went to Michael's and Craft Warehouse and browsed to my heart's content, and picked up some new papers in pretty spring colors.  I figured that I could use some inspiration for my first projects after my break from crafting, and new paper always inspires me!  Plus, it's a pretty cheap way to go for inspiration.

I have two family birthdays coming up in the immediate future- well, three, but I only got around to making two cards yesterday.  One is for my dad, who turned 71 yesterday.  We just saw him a couple of weeks ago when he came out to help out during hubby's surgery and recovery, but I still wanted to send him a card to wish him a happy birthday.

This one was fun to do!  The striped paper is one that I've had for awhile but never used, and when I picked it up, I did so with the thought in mind that it had a lot of nice, masculine colors.  I love being able to work with multiple colors- though it usually takes me longer to come up with a design, because there are so many choices!  I went with some simple, clean lines here, with the exception of the torn brown paper.  The blue paper has a sort of crinkly texture that adds some interest.  I printed the Happy Birthday message on the computer and cut it and the black and green frames out with the oval Spellbinders Nestabilities dies.

Next up was a card for my cousin, Trina, whose birthday (the big 4-0) is April 1.  Trina is the cousin who lives in Montana and we see every summer for vacation- last year, we met up in Leavenworth, WA.  This year, we will be going up to see them in Montana in their brand new vacation cabin- woohoo!  Anyway, here is Trina's card:

This was made with one of the new papers I got yesterday, the leafy patterned one in shades of green and turquoise.  Or maybe that's teal, it's kind of a fine line, isn't it?  I thought it was pretty and kind of tropical-looking.  I used one of the Martha Stewart punches for the palm leaves, and another for the flowers- hydrangeas, maybe?  I don't know, but they were more tropical-looking than the daisies, lol.  Here's the inside of the card:

I printed this out on the computer, and we'll all sign our names individually as well.  I'm going to make a bookmark and include it in the card before getting it in the mail.

So much to do!  It's almost April already, and then May, and that's Mother's Day!  I opened my Etsy shop in April of last year, and didn't have the inventory or presence to take advantage of Mother's Day sales, so I'm hoping to stock up my inventory with some new designs early and not miss the boat this time!  I have one more birthday card to make in the short term, for hubby's neice Rachel, who turns 18 on the 31st, and then I will be focusing on bookmarks for awhile.  I mentioned before that I joined a spring bookmark swap with the PBS Swappers group, and I was excited to find out that there will also be another card swap scheduled for April, so I want to do that one too.  I got a neat paper that I want to use for the bookmark swap, and I'll try to give a sneak preview next time.

Happy crafting!

...And, I'm Back (Almost)

Hello!  The past month has been a total blur, and I am completely exhausted, but things are starting to get back to normal.  My husband had surgery to remove a pituitary tumor on March 10th, and I only just returned to work this past Monday, because caring for him, and the kids, and the house, the dog, and everything else, pretty much took everything I had.  Thankfully, hubby is on the mend now and will hopefully get the all-clear next week from his surgeon to return to work.  Meanwhile, I've been trying to catch up on sleep and remember what it's like to relax for a few minutes a day.  I have not had a chance to even THINK about crafting, but am looking forward to getting back into it!  I am itching to revitalize my Etsy shop with some new designs and make some spring-themed cards.  I was sad to have to miss out on a birthday card swap with the PBS Swappers group, but just signed up for the spring bookmark swap.

Anyway, just wanted to pop in and say I am still here, and will hopefully be back to business as usual soon!

Hiatus

I can't believe it's been almost a month since I posted to this blog- whoops!  Time sure flies sometimes!  Well, I have had no time for crafting so have had nothing to report there.  Also, my husband has been having some health issues, and will be going in for surgery on March 10th, so I will be continuing my hiatus for a bit longer.  I will also be putting my Etsy shop on vacation during that time, until he is back on his feet and I won't need to be a nursemaid any longer (well, no more than usual anyway, lol).  Please be sure to check back in a couple of weeks, when I hope things will be getting back to normal and I will have had some time to get some of these ideas out of my head and created!  See you then!

Tags, Bookmarks, and Valentine Treats

Hello!  So sorry to have been absent for so long!  I have been busy and not crafting, so have had nothing to share.  My free time, when I have it, tends to get spend reading, and crafting falls behind more often than I would like.  I did get a chance to get to do some catch-up this weekend though, on some miscellaneous things.

First, I signed up for a tag swap through the PBS Swappers group.  Tags?  Never done them!  I was nervous, until I read on the swap board that most of the other participants had not done tags before either- so we are all beginners together!  The theme, inspired by Valentine's Day, is Love, but beyond that there are no requirements.  I had a vision in my mind from the beginning that had a scrap of paper bearing a love poem, so that is what I built on for my tag.  I went through a couple of revisions before settling on my design:

So, I found the "How do I love thee" poem by Elizabeth Barrett Browning online, and that is what I used for the poem (or partial thereof), printed out on the computer.  I used a stamp for the gold heart and "Love" impressions, and found some great paper roses at Michael's for 3D embellishments.  I cut out the tags with the Spellbinders Nestabilities Labels 4 dies, and just snipped off the tips on the top and bottom.  Oh, and I found these great little heart-shaped "Love' insribed charms at Michaels.  They were in the wedding section, and I got 20 for $1.99, so they were very economical!  They were silver though, so I distressed them with sandpaper, and that revealed a gold-tone underneath the silver finish, which was perfect for this.  A black ribbon tops the tag.  I"m pretty happy with how it turned out- my only concern now is how I will be able to mail these without ruining the roses!  I did not think about that before it was too late..now I have to worry about how these will make it through the U.S. mail without getting messed up.  A purchase of bubble wrap is in my near future, I think!

I have also begun to think about my Etsy shop, and adding some spring designs.  I've been researching color trends, and have found some really interesting data on what colors will be hot this year!  I'm not sure how much of it to pay attention to...so the result has been to look at what they say, and pick out what I like from the bunch,  LOL.  Here are a couple of new bookmark designs I put together recently:

 This one uses aqua and chocolate brown, using dyed daisies:

This one also uses dyed daisies in lavendar, paired with navy blue in this bookmark.

I haven't done any other bookmarks since the last set I did for the Christmas season, and am anxious to develop some new designs for spring, and clear out some of the winter designs.  I'm thinking of having a sale in my Etsy shop on those older designs, so watch for that!  In the meantime, I'm on the lookout for new, fresh color schemes for my spring collection- so please leave a comment if you have any ideas for colors you'd like to see in bookmarks!

Last but not least, we are nearing Valentine's Day, and I have been helping my daughter Meredith prepare for her school's Valentine's Day party.  I came up with a cool lollipop flower that is really fun- she is making these for all of her friends.

Aren't those cute?!  They are made with 3 layers punched from a 6-petal flower punch.  They are a bit of work to assemble, so we decided that we will just make a few for M's best friends.  They are fun to put together, and look so pretty when assembled!

That's all for now!  I hope to have more to show you soon.  I recently got a heat embossing tool and am looking forward to experimenting with that!  I have a few family birthdays coming up, so will be making some cards soon!

Meredith's Note Cards

Well, I'm a few days late for my weekly update, but better late than never!  It's been busy as ever, and I haven't been crafting, so don't really have anything new to show off this week.  However, I realized that I forgot to post the note cards that I made for my daughter, Meredith, so wanted to do that real quick.  I think I mentioned this awhile back- I found this cool "M" stamp in the dollar bin at Michael's, and thought it would be cute to put on a little note card for Meredith.  The need for something to write thank you cards for Christmas gifts prompted me to go ahead with that project, and I like how it turned out.

I made four cards for her- two of them had a dark pink ribbon instead of the green, but I ran out of that color and did green on the other two.  If I'd had more of the pink ribbon, I would have done bows- I think it needs a little something else.  In any case, Meredith really liked these.  Her favorite color is blue, and I really liked the mix of colors in this paper.  I used one of the Spellbinder Nestabilities label dies for the piece that I stamped with the M, as well as the pink frame.  Love those Nestabilities!  I wish I could find more of them locally, but Craft Warehouse is the only store that carries them here, and they have a limited selection.  The inside is blank, and Meredith did indeed write her thank you cards in these.  I ended up making these in the standard A2 size, rather than note card size, because the M stamp was bigger than I remembered, and would have been too overwhelming on a smaller card.  It worked out well, because I already have some A2 envelopes, and had been having trouble finding notecard sized envelopes without the cards.

I sent in my cards for the Thank You card swap, and am now awaiting my swap package- I'm excited to see what everyone else did!  That is my favorite part about the swaps, even more than creating my own, is seeing the ideas and interpretations that other people come up with.  It really helps me to expand my own ideas and creativity.  I have also joined another swap- this one is for Valentine or love-themed tags.  I have never done tags before, so I'm kind of scared...but thankfully, most of the other gals in the swap are also new to tags, so we're all in the same boat!  I have some ideas for mine and have purchased a couple of supplies, but need a few other things, so a trip to Craft Warehouse is in my near future so that I can get started.  We have a long time to get this one done- end of February, but I don't want to put it off and then lose track of time like I did with the thank you cards!

Til next time- happy crafting, everyone!

Thank You Card

Hello!  So, last week was the first week back to work after the lovely 2 week holiday vacation.  Ohhhhh, it was rough!  For 3 weeks out of the year (winter and summer vacations), I get to feel what it's like to get adequate sleep.  It's not hard to get used to!  It is certainly hard to go back to getting up so early after a couple weeks of sleeping long and late!  We were all dragging for most of the week.  Consequently, I really did not do much in the way of crafting.  Or cooking.  Or a whole lot of anything but coming home and collapsing at the end of the day.  This week is a little better so far, although I can't say that I ever really "get used to" getting up at 5:45 am.  It's SO early, sigh.

Here's what I did do, though.  I realized on Friday of last week that the due date for the Thank You card swap on PBS Swappers is NEXT Friday.  D'oh!  That meant that I had to figure out a design, make the cards, and ship them out in time to get to Christy for the deadline!  So on Friday evening, dead tired as I was, I was a-making cards.  There were only four of us signed up for this one, so I only had to make 3.  I kind of had an idea for a design in mind, so I just had to flesh it out.  It was all based around a paper that my daughter Meredith picked out when we went to JoAnne's a few weeks ago.  She spotted it and decided she wanted a bookmark made with it.  It was expensive- $1.99 for one 8.5x11 sheet- ouch!  But I went ahead and got it, because I thought it was kind of cool, too.  So I decided to use some of that paper for the Thank You card.  I have plenty left over, so there is still a bookmark in Meredith's future, when I have time to make one!

So, it's the paper on the left that M picked out.  The one on the right is embossed with a Cuttlebug embossing folder via the Big Shot.  Then there is just a strip of black paper down the edge between the two, topped with some silver ribbon.  The "Thanks" message was printed out on the computer.  It's a pretty simple design, but I like the nice clean look of it.  Hopefully the others in the swap will like it too!

I don't have any other swaps in my immediate future, but am hoping that things will slow down a bit so that I can do more of them, as well as more of the challenges at PBS Swappers.  I have missed the challenges for the last couple of months since I have been so busy!  Hopefully that can change soon.

Have a wonderful week, everyone!

Happy New Year!

The holidays are over- whew!  I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season and a happy new year!  I have been off work for 2 weeks, and it has been blissful...sleeping in, doing lots of cooking, spending time with the family.  Unfortunately, not much time for crafting!  I had a list of things I wanted to do around the house during the time I was off, and that kept me pretty busy.  I didn't get everything done that I wanted to, but I made a pretty good dent in the to-do list!

We spent Christmas Eve with my husband's sister and her family and had a lovely time.  She has three kids around my kids' ages, so they always have a good time together.  I decided to make some bookmarks for the kids to go along with their Christmas presents.  I had already made one for my husband's oldest niece, which I posted a few months ago, when I first started making the personalized bookmarks.  This is for his younger neice, who is the same age as my daughter.

 I took this photo late at night when the lighting was not very good, so it's hard to see the colors accurately- here's a closeup, so that you can see the pretty plaid paper in the middle layer.

I made one for my husband's nephew also, but I neglected to get a picture of it.  I think he liked it- it's hard to tell with a 7 year old who never stops moving!

We also stopped in to see my husband's step-father, though we missed seeing his step-sister, as she was at work.  I made both of them bookmarks as well:

They both do a lot of bible study, so I think they will get a lot of use out of these.

I promised a Kitchen Creation after I did my holiday baking, so here is my favorite cookie recipe.  It's actually the oatmeal cookie recipe from the Betty Crocker cookbook (wtih one small change), to which I add a bag of white chocolate chips, and some chopped dried cherries.  I don't know what it is, but the combination of the white chocolate and the cherries is just fantastic!  The only thing I do differently than Betty is I use 1/2 cup of butter instead of 1/4 cup plus 1/4 cup of shortening.  Shortening is one of those things I don't keep around as a staple, because I use it so infrequently that it inevitibly goes bad before I can use it all.  The texture is slightly different than it would be if I followed the recipe exactly- they would probably rise more than they do, but the flavor is really good.

White Chocolate Chip, Cherry & Oatmeal Cookies

1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup butter (I use real, but you could sub margerine)
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 egg
1 1/2 cups quick-cooking oats
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 bag (regular size) white chocolate chips
1/4 cup to 1/3 cup chopped dried cherries, depending on taste and how much you like

Preheat oven to 375.  Mix butter with sugars, vanilla and egg.  Combine dry ingredients in a separate bowl and stir into sugar mixture.  Stir in chips and cherries.  Drop by teaspoofuls onto an ungreased cookie sheet.  Bake about 10 minutes until light golden brown.

Sorry, no pics of these- we gave away lots to friends and family, and the few we kept for ourselves were gone pretty quickly!

Next on my crafting agenda is another card swap with the PBS Swappers, this one a Thank You card.  I already have an idea for a design, so I just need to block out some time to put it together.  I also have an idea for some notecards that I want to try out.  Awhile back, I found a cute "M" stamp in the dollar bin at Michaels and bought it, thinking I could make something for my daughter Meredith with it.  Since she got lots of nice gifts for Christmas and needs to write some thank you cards, I thought I'd like to make her some monogrammed notecards for that purpose.  So I am going to give that a try soon- I picked out some paper today, and have a basic design in mind.  I just need to find some notecard-sized envelopes, as Michaels does not carry any by themselves, only with cards.  Guess I will be taking a trip to Paper Zone soon!

That's all for now- I have to go get ready to go back to work tomorrow!  Boy is that going to be tough...I could sure get used to the slower pace of life staying home!  Next time, I will have a Kitchen Creation on healthy cooking, since we're all trying to eat healthy after the new year and lose a few pounds, so look for that next week.  Have a great week everyone!

Cards! And Tags!

Wow...what a week it has been!  The holiday season is busy enough, but throw some intense work stuff on top of it, and it's downright stressful!  I have had a really hectic couple of weeks at work, and can't even tell you how relieved I am to be on vacation after that!  I am glad to say that I got done what I needed to get done before being out of the office for two weeks, so I can rest easy and enjoy my time off!

When things get really busy, the to-do list tends to pile up, and that just creates more stress.  Anyone who knows me knows that stress + me = not a good situation.  That is definitely my weak area.  So I do a lot of thinking and planning ahead, trying to anticipate things that need to be done, so that they don't sneak up on me and create pressure that I don't need.  Of course my wonderful husband helps in this area- generally speaking, I can ramble off a list of what is stressing me out, and he will just take care of it.  It sure is good to have him on my side!  It is so easy to get caught up in all the "shoulds" of this time of year, isn't it?  I should finish my shopping, I should get all the wrapping done, I should this, and that, and the other, oh, and throw in a band concert here, a dance recital there, a Christmas party over yonder, and yeah, things get a bit out of hand.  It is good to take a few moments for a reality check and remember that: I am one person.  I am human.  I can only do so much.  And if things are not perfect, the world will keep turning, time will keep rolling on, and life will go on.  Being "the one who makes the holidays happen" is a lot of pressure, but it doesn't have to be.  I have to keep reminding myself that it's ME who makes it that way, because *I* want everything perfect, and *I* have control.  I want my family to have the most wonderful holiday EVER, but it's no good if they don't have ME in there somewhere!  It is all too easy to forget that.

So anyway, we are now 6 days away from Christmas!  My kids are so excited!  We have watched some of the fun Christmas shows from my youth, like Santa Claus is Coming to Town and Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.  We have the tree up, the cards are mailed, and I have all the stuff purchased for Meredith and me to do the holiday baking.  That will be done in the next couple of days.  We like to make cookies and other treats and deliver plates of goodies to neighbors and friends.  This year, I have some really YUMMY stuff planned!  Look for a Kitchen Creation in my next post with some of the recipes that we plan to make!  Last year, we discovered some incredible mint chocolate chips made by Nestle, and they are great in cookies.  So we will do those again this year, in addition to some oatmeal white chocolate chip cherry cookies, chocolate dipped macaroons, and some dipped pretzel treats, as well as my mom's special fudge.  I can already feel my waistband expanding....but how can you resist at this time of year???

Ok, onto the crafting business.  I guess I ended up having a bit of a Christmas rush in my Etsy shop after all!  I got several orders last week, which was a very nice surprise!  I hope everyone who ordered was happy with what they got!  So that was fun.  I signed up to participate in a Hello card swap on the PBS Swappers group, and that has kind of been hanging over me for awhile.  The cards are due in to the swap hostess by the 30th, so I have had that in the back of my mind that I need to get that done.  I had some paper that I had in mind to use, that I picked up when I went to JoAnn's a few weeks ago, and finally got time today to flesh out my ideas.  I like what I came up with, and hopefully everyone else will too!  I have to give credit where it's due, and report that I used a card sketch from the Mojo Monday blog as the base for the card.  I just love this site!!  I feel pretty good about my ability to put colors together and whatnot, but I'm not so great with layouts, and this site is really helpful in that area!  I am not sure why I felt like using springy colors here...maybe I'm getting a bit weary of winter already.  But I really liked the striped paper, and that is where I started.  I also had an embossing folder that I wanted to use, with leafy vines and little birds, which gave me the idea to use a Sizzix die I have with a bird as well.  So here is the final result:

Well, at least the recipients only have to wait a few months until spring, and it will be just perfect!

I mentioned that Meredith and I will be doing our baking this week.  I thought it would be nice to make some little tags to go on the plates of goodies that we will bring to our friends, when we get them all made.  I put these together, and they are very similar to the card I made for Kendra that I didn't get a picture of a couple of weeks ago.

The poinsettias should be pretty recognizable from earlier in the year.  Fortunately, I had a few already made, and had punched out a bunch of the leaves ahead of time so all I had to do was assemble them and put them on the cards.  These cards are 3x3 inches, so perfect for a little gift tag.  I love the plaid paper on the bottom- it's hard to see in this pic, but there are red lines that run throughout the green, so it looks lovely with the poinsettias.

Being off work this week, I am looking forward to some free time to think about some new crafting projects, as well as spend time with my family and friends.  One of my local friends is having a wrapping party in the next couple of days, and that should be fun- get something done and have a good time with friends, all at the same time!  I just know that my vacation time is going to fly by, and I hope to fill that time with some good memories.  Happy holidays to everyone!  May the season fill your hearts with joy!

More Bookmarks- Teacher Gifts, Plus a Few for my Shop

We are going into the last week of school before the winter break, and that means it's time to figure out holiday gifts for teachers!  Traditionally I have given gift cards, or a few times I gave some wonderful handmade soaps from this great store in downtown Salem.  My son is now in high school, so we don't need to do gifts for his teachers, but my daughter, being in 4th grade, really wants to give something to hers.  She has her main teacher, of course,  but also wants to give something to the music teacher, who also runs the choir program, and the librarian.  Well, guess what makes GREAT teacher gifts?  Bookmarks!

Meredith did a little research last week, to find out what colors her teachers like.  Based on what she found out, we came up with some designs (well, I should say that she did, with minimal assistance from me.  She very definitely has her own opinions!)  She is happy with the results, and I hope the teachers will be too!

This one is for her regular teacher.  I've had these flowers for some time, but have never used them before now.  They are Bougainvillea in purple shades.  I wish I knew how to pronounce that...

This is for the music teacher, who said that her favorite colors are red, yellow and turquoise.  We used two out of three here with these lovely yellow daffodils.  I got these awhile back but have never used them before either, and I think they are so cute!

Finally, this one is for the school librarian, who reported her favorite colors as red, brown and green.  Again, we went with two out of three.  This design should look familiar- it is the Classic Rose design that I had in my shop when I first opened it.  While we were making this one, I went ahead and made a couple extras so that I could relist one in my shop.

Meredith and I hit a couple of craft stores today before we got to working on these, and we found some interesting new papers.  I am such a sucker for papers- I really need to work on my self-discipline!  I also found this cute ribbon, black with little white paw prints on it.  I remembered seeing some black paw print stickers, and thought that combining the two would make for a cute bookmark.  I was right, if I do say so myself!

I would love to find some paw print stickers that are a little bit bigger- but these were what they had in JoAnn's, where I got the ribbon.  I'll be keeping my eye out for others when I'm out shopping in the future.  Isn't that ribbon precious?!

Well, that's it for this week.  I need to get to work on my Hello card for the swap on the PBS Swappers group- those are due at the end of the month!  I got all my paper for it, I just need to sit down and figure out a design and then make enough for the swap.   Right now, though, I'm off to make a few Christmas cards to send to family members with our annual family picture, which I will leave you with.  Have a great week!

Back From a Break! A Few New Items, and a New Kitchen Creation

Whew!  Now that the holiday season is in full swing, I am busier than ever!   Thanksgiving was lovely- we had my cousin and her husband down from Montana, and had a blast with them.  We even did a little Black Friday shopping, which I usually try to avoid like the Plague, but went since my cousin is totally into it.  Apart from the sleep deprivation, it was fun!  I have the shopping almost done, but not quite, and I still haven't wrapped anything.  Got my cards but haven't addressed them yet.  Still have to write the annual holiday letter.  Yikes- too much to do!!

This weekend I finally did carve out some time to get some bookmarks done and a card made for my BFF Kendra, since I need to send her package out tomorrow.  We have an annual tradition of sending each other an ornament for Christmas, and this year I got hers when we were on vacation in Leavenworth, WA over the summer.  I did not think to get a picture of the card before I packaged everything up, but that is ok, because it's really  not one of my better works.  Sorry Kendra!  Anyway, I did some much needed maintenance on my Etsy shop, relisted some items that had sold previously, and listed a few new items as well.  You will remember the map bookmark I posted about awhile back- I made a couple more of those, as well as two other map designs that I did not post previously:

These are from the same bunch of scrapbook paper that Kendra sent me awhile back, and I really like these- they are kind of Old-World looking.  They are actually the same map pattern in different colors, which I had not noticed until today!  I really like them.  I need to get over to  Goodwill and see about finding some atlases that I can use, since this is such a neat concept!

(Side note, does anyone know why Blogger wants to put all these random extra line spaces before and after the photos??  Arrggghh!  So frustrating!!)

A couple more florals that I listed, one to replace one that sold awhile ago, and another that I made awhile back but didn't get around to photographing until now:

 The one with the teal, lime green and blue butterfly delphiniums is similar to one I did before- the difference is that I had used teal handmade paper on the previous one.  On this one, I used regular scrapbook paper of the same color.  Interestingly enough, within about 15 minutes of listing these in my shop, I got an order for that one, plus the pink and green dyed daisy bookmark!  First time THAT has ever happened!  Maybe I will have a bit of a holiday rush after all!

I'm still in on the PBS Swappers paper craft group, but have been too busy lately to participate in any of the challenges.  I have joined a couple of the swaps though.  Most recently, we did a winter bookmark swap, and of course I participated in that one!  I did not get a picture before I mailed them off, but this is the picture that our lovely hostess, Christy, posted on the PBS Swappers site:

That one was fun to make!  I used two different Martha Stewart snowflake punches plus another smaller snowflake punch and layered them in purple, white and silver papers.  The outer frame is a deep purple, and the background is actually a blue vellum over white card stock, so it gives it a nice icy-looking finish.  I have joined two swaps that will be taking place in the near future- one is a Hello/Hi card, and the next is a Thank You card.  I already have a couple of ideas for the Hello card, and will be working on that one first, since the deadline for it is the end of the month.  The Thank You card doesn't need to be done until next month, so first things first!

Finally I have a new Kitchen Creation to share.  This was a new experiment, and while I think it can use some tweaks for next time, it turned out pretty tasty.  I was inspired by a package of pork stew meat that I ran across in the grocery store, which I don't think I've ever seen before.  But maybe I just haven't been looking for it. In any case, since we have been all turkeyed-out for the last week after Thanksgiving, I was browsing the pork section in the meat department and had to get it when I spotted it.  I recalled a recipe that I had made many years ago that I loved at the time, and then of course lost the recipe, but that is what inspired this dish.  The lost recipe was for a pork roast in the slow cooker, with potatoes, green cabbage and onions, seasoned with fennel seeds and a little vinegar.  I thought that perhaps I could take that same idea and make a stew with those ingredients.  I did not have any cabbage or fennel seeds- but, hey!  I had some brussels sprouts and a fennel bulb, so why not use those?  Now, I know that not everyone likes brussels sprouts, but I happen to love them.  If you don't like them, you can leave them out.  It's ok, I won't be offended.  I was flying solo without a recipe here, and like I said, there are some things I would do differently next time, so the recipe here is what I would recommend including those changes.

Pork Stew with Potatoes, Fennel, and Brussels Sprouts

Ingredients:

(Some items are not pictured.  That's because I figured out a few things along the way, after I took the picture.)

1 lb. pork stew meat, trimmed and diced into 1-inch cubes
2 slices of bacon, diced
1/4 cup flour
Potatoes- about 4 (I used Yukon Gold), halved lengthwise and sliced thinly
1 small onion, sliced thinly
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 leek, sliced lengthwise, rinsed thoroughly, then sliced thinly crosswise
About 3 cups brussels sprouts, washed, trimmed, and quartered lengthwise
1/2 of a fennel bulb, core removed, sliced thinly
1 1/2 cups chicken broth
3 tbsp apple cider vinegar (or more, to taste)
1/4 tsp dried thyme leaves
1 bay leaf
salt/pepper to taste

Instructions:

1. Cook bacon in a large skillet until crispy.  Remove bacon and set aside, reserving fat in pan.

2, Place flour in a large resealable bag and add some salt and pepper.  Add pork cubes and toss to coat well with flour mixture.   Remove pork from flour mixture and shake off excess flour.  Heat reserved bacon drippings in skillet and add pork.  Brown well on all sides.

3. Place potato slices on bottom of slow cooker.  I used my 6-quart cooker.  Add onions, leeks, garlic, and fennel.  Add pork.  Combine chicken broth and vinegar and pour over the top.  Cover and cook on high for 2 hours.

 4. Lower heat to Low and add brussels sprouts to the top.  Replace lid and continue to cook on low, about 4 hours, or until brussels sprouts and potatoes are tender.

5. Stir to incorporate ingredients and add salt and pepper to taste.  If necessary, add a bit more vinegar.  Serve topped with reserved cooked bacon.

 

My notes:  I really liked this.  It's really tasty with a little bit of tang from the vinegar, but it's not overwhelming.  The onions add a little bit of sweetness, the fennel gives it an earthy undertone, and the pork is falling-apart tender.  The vinegar gives the brussels sprouts a nice bright flavor, and the smokey, salty bacon brings it all together.  This is admittedly not the most *attractive* dish I've ever cooked, but it was tasty, filling, and warm, and just perfect for a cold late fall night.

Hope you enjoyed this Kitchen Creation!  I love to cook and love sharing recipes, so if you try one of the recipes I post here, I would love to hear from you!  Please feel free to leave me a comment and ask any questions you might have or tell me how you liked it!