The most amazing pizza I have ever had!

I am a huge carb fan (it comes from my Italian genetics) and pizza is one of my favorite forms. Homemade pizza is my favorite but time is in short supply. My family has been buying take and bake pizzas recently because of the time issue.

Since it is summer time we have been using the grill almost every weekend so my mom suggested trying pizza on the grill. It's something that could easily be made veggie or meat laden. So tonight we made two small grilled pizzas. My mom found some frozen pizza dough at the grocery store so we wouldn't have to make the dough from scratch.

We stretched out the dough and brushed it with olive oil. When the grill was hot we placed the dough directly on the grill to bake before topping it. When the crust started to brown on the bottom we removed it from the grill. I then topped the browned side of the crust with canned tomato sauce, garlic, oregano, fresh mozzarella cheese, fresh basil and fresh mushrooms. We have a mini herb garden on the deck and decided to use some basil from it. The pizzas were then placed on the grill to finish baking. They only took a few minutes for the pre-baking and the final baking.

I didn't get a chance to take pictures but next time I will. The pizza was so good that I ate entirely too much of it. The fresh basil was definitely my favorite part of it. I can't wait to make it again! Let me know if you decide to try it for yourself.

Peace!

Read of the Month: Lady of the Forest

Look at me! I'm making my second book review and it's within the next month like I promised!

This month it is all about showing off one of my favorite authors. Jennifer Roberson is a wonderful fantasy author that brings new worlds alive for me. She has written mostly series so I was glad to find a singular book written by her.

Lady of the Forest is Roberson's version of Robin Hood and it is told from Lady Marion's side of the story. I have a love of the Crusades (I don't know why because it was a horrible bloody violent time in history that I am not proud of as a Christian) so Robin Hood is a classic tale for me. The detail she puts into her writing is amazing. Lady Marion discovers who she is and becomes a very strong woman in the process. Robin is shown as a man who hides himself because he was forced to when he was captured in the Crusades. Not only is he physically scared but he is mentally injured as well. He finally finds himself again through meeting and falling in love with Marion. The Sheriff of Nottingham is developed as a twisted conniving man who only wants to advance in the world at any cost. His daughter is a perfect copy of her father and wants Marion out of the picture. But in the end the Lionheart returns just in time to set everything right for a time.

The way Roberson writes, transports me into the story. I felt like I was Lady Marion making the same decisions that she did. This version was a good mixture of fact and fiction. I would recommend this book to someone who doesn't usually read fantasy books. It is a classic tale that everyone knows but with a twist.

I hope you have enjoyed my monthly book review!

Peace!

Oh Baby!

There seems to me that a lot of babies are being born to couples I know this year. So here is one cute gift I have made for a new baby girl that is due in Oct. My manager at work and his wife are having their first child this fall and I am kind of tire of just making a blanket for the new bundles of joy coming into the world this year. I decided to make a stuffed animal that will be a keepsake as well. Bunnies are cute and great for little girls. I found a great pattern on Craftster by Wayuki. Here is the link to the Linguine Bunny pattern.

I used a cotton yarn because it would be durable, washable and soft. All of these attributes are very important for a baby toy. Although the pattern shows solid colored bunnies, I like to use lots of color and picked multicolored yarn from I Love This Cotton called Carousel.

Here is a lovely picture.

I am working on a toy/pacifier leash for another baby and will have pictures up soon. Let me know what you think of this cute little bunny. 

Peace!

Read of the Month: Water for Elephants

I am going to try to do a book review once a month. (We'll see how long it will last:)

For my very first Read of the Month, I have picked Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen. The movie was recently released and I thought I would read the book before I saw the movie. The movies always seem to ruin the books for me so I like to read them before seeing the movie.

I thoroughly enjoyed every word of this wonderful novel. The story is about Jacob Jankowski and his experience with a circus in the 1930s. At the beginning of the book we find Jacob in his last semester of Vet School with a future at his father's small veterinary practice. His story takes a turn for the worse when his parents are killed in a car accident and everything they own has to go to the bank. He runs away during final exams and winds up on a circus train. He finds the Benzini Brothers Most Spectacular Show on Earth to be both his salvation and a nightmare. It is found out that he is a veterinary student and he gets put in charge of the circus menagerie where he meets the beautiful equestrian star, Marlena, who is married to the twisted animal trainer, August.  In a race to claim assets of a circus that broke apart, Uncle Al , the ringmaster, buys an un-trainable elephant named Rosie. The bond that grew among this unlikely trio became their only hope for survival. 

This novel is written from Jacob's point of view and flips between young Jacob at the circus and old Jacob who is now in a nursing home. The format reminds me of The Notebook because the author never reveals key events until the very last moment. I was on the edge of my seat the whole book, which I couldn't put down at all. I finished reading it in only two days. Gruen's writing style kept me hooked until the last page. I always felt like I was part of the story and became completely emersed. 

I highly recommend this book to everyone!

Let me know what you think about the book or if you think you will read it.

Peace!

Craft-it-Forward Projects and Mother's Day gift

I signed up in January to participate in Craft-it-Forward. About a month ago I completed two craft projects and sent them to their new owners. So now I will share them with you.

This first project is a triangle shawl for my wonderful friend Cathy Cooney. She is a huge Civil War buff and I came up with the idea of making her a shawl she could use if she got into re-enactments. I used a simple pattern by Caron and I used a pound skein of navy blue yarn. I chose this pattern because it looks like something a lady would have made for herself back in the Civil War Era. 

The second project that I made and sent out was for my friend Evan Schnabel. It took me awhile to figure out what I was going to make for him because I'm not very good at picking out things for guys. I finally thought of a practical throw. I used the moss stitch as a pattern and alternated colors every 15 rows. I used dark chocolate brown with sage green "I Love This Yarn." It's my favorite brand of yarn because it's super soft and has great give. 

This project isn't for Craft-it-Forward but for my Mommy for Mother's Day. Since she and Dad aren't here this weekend I thought I would make a post about my gift for her. My mom has problems with her wrists and legs (I kind of do too). We found that magnetic jewelry has helped with pain. Recently she told me that she would like a full set (2 bracelets and 2 anklets). I decided to make it for her for Mother's Day. I used round and helix shaped magnetic beads with brown and blue seed beads. The bracelets measure about 7 inches and the anklets measure about 10 inches. 

Well I hope you enjoy my projects. Let me know if you want more details. 

Peace!

My Love of STAR!

I LOVE volunteering at Shangri-la Therapeutic Academy of Riding (STAR)! The riders are amazing. The horses/ponies/donkeys are amazing. The instructors are amazing and my fellow volunteers are amazing. Therapeutic riding is what it sounds like, riding horses for therapeutic exercise. But at STAR it is much more than just riding horses, it's about connecting to the riders and horses and other volunteers. Not only do the disabled riders learn how to use and strengthen muscles but they learn about caring for their horse. Some riding schools will groom and tack your horse for you but at STAR every rider helps with the pre-ride duties.  

I have only been volunteering at STAR for 8 months and have learned so much more than I ever thought I could. The riders have disabilities that range from Autism to Spina Bifida to ADD/ADHD. Some riders need more help than others but I love being there for the emotional support as well as physical help. I have also started learning a small amount of American Sign Language.

Helping out in the barn is also a great job I get to do. Cleaning out stalls, turning horses out and bringing them in are all enjoyable for me. It's a simple physical job that lets me forget about the every day worries I have. I have also learned more about caring for equines. Which brings me to the actual craft part of my blog.

The horses at STAR have tags for their halters so they can be kept neat. Not every halter fits every horse. Kandy, a percheron, has the biggest halter and Honey, a mini, has the smallest halter. The current halter tags that are being used at STAR are cardstock and fall apart easily. The environment of the barn is hard on paper materials so I decided that I would make some metal stamped tags that would stand up to the harsh treatment. Below is the finished product.

All of the halter tags together 

Honey's halter tag

I will be dropping them off today and can't wait to see the Equine Manager's reaction. 

Peace!

Children are people too!!!

Since I am not working at the moment, I like to help my mom out. She is the adult ministries director for our church and I like to help her by typing attendance on Mondays. I have gotten quite fast and it allows her to work on other things. In typing attendance I get to learn who attends what service and I'm getting good at reading bad handwritting. But I have discovered something shocking. Some parents are listing their childern after their last name, as if they are a passing thought. I brought this to my mom's attention and she said that she has had to ask a lot of parents to list their children because they don't. It is absolutely shocking that parents would have to be told to list their children on the attendance pad/card. Children are the future and it is so very important to make them feel as part of the family of Christ. It makes me question if these parents think that their children are second class citizens or not human. Don't get me wrong I'm sure thsat they are being cared for properly and loved by their family. It just seems that they are being hidden from the wonderful church family that can provide so much more care and love. What do you make of this? I would like to know your opinions.

Peace!