One of my dearest friends is having a baby! Practically none of my pre children friends have kids. In fact I can only think of one that I speak to with any regularity and she lives out of state. I am excited to say the least. I will finally have a complete conection with her that I was unable to have before. 

Something about kids really changes relationships. Not always for the bad, just creates an invisible not talked about divide that becomes harder and harder to cross when you are a working mom. There just never seems to be enough time in the day to be the mom you want and need to be and have a social life. Playdates become your social life and since your, single, child free friends don't really want to hang out on the couch watching family friendly movies with the kids, then speaking real quiet like after they drift into sleep on a Friday or Saturday night, that once unyielding, unbreakable bond you have becomes flexible and frankly sometimes nonexistant. This is where you disover where your truly devoted friends lie. The ones that despite the meandering connection that once seemed unwavering, still manage to show up for the big moments. 

This lovely lady just happens to be one of those people. 

She was there in the room for both my kids births and shows up to every birthday party and holiday that she is invited to, assuming her own family isn't doing something the same day. She is the closest thing I have ever had to a sister and I love her with all my heart. 

Because of this love I also love her unborn baby and as she is called Auntie by my children I look forward to the honorary title being hopefully bestowed on me as well. So, Auntie E has been working on something special. I fear that with my schedule it will not be done in time but I will try my very best.

I had the idea of doing a baby blanket with the alphabet on it about 6 months ago right after the pregnancy was announced. I searched high and low for a knit pattern but many of the ones I found were taken down. I think they were all versions of a Debbie Bliss pattern and since I refuse to pay $30 for a single pattern out of a book, I decided to return to my first love when it comes to yarn, crochet. 

Crochet offers more instant gratification compared to knitting because you can finish a project in one afternoon, which is pretty rare for knit items. The down falls for crochet are that many of the patterns are pretty dated or kinda tacky when it comes to adult fashion, but when it comes to babies it is perfect. It offers a bulkier fabric which is warmer and all those things that seem tacky on an adults sweater, become rather adorable on a baby. Just think how cute a Cosby sweater would be in miniature. . . catch my drift?

What I found was this grid pattern. I had never followed one of these before and was nervous but once I started I realized how easy it was. All you need to know to be able to do this pattern is single crochet and bobbles which are much easier than they look and sound. What you get is this sophisticated looking blanket which as you can see from the picture is not quite done. It looks as though it is quilted together but it is not. It is all one piece! 

I plan on sewing on a satin back with some batting to make it warm when I am done. I used a bamboo cotton blend for the yarn which is washable. If you are interested in checking this pattern out do it here:
http://www.crochetnmore.com/babysabcsafghan.htm


Next time I plan on something much smaller because although I love this blanket so far, blankets just take way too long for my busy life. I have some tasty ideas for the next baby already!

I grew up in a household where my parents, my mom mostly made everything from scratch. It was pretty rare to see anything canned in our cupboard other than tomatoes, sardines, bonito (instead of tuna, dolphin safe and all), and sweetened condensed milk.

In more recent years my mom started making fresh pasta in place of buying the dry pasta, saying it wasn't really that hard, tasted better and was cheaper. So I was inspired to try it myself. I had made fresh pasta in one of the restaurants I worked in before I had children but it was made in a big machine that did most of the work for you and I just had to cut it as the noodles were pressed through the chosen shaped die to the desired length. 

I wanted to do something that was going to be quick and easy because dinner time was quickly approaching and throwing off dinner as many people with small children know, throws off bed time and throwing off bedtime even just once can spiral into two weeks of trying to get them back on the right sleep pattern.

I had left over roast beef that the hubby had made, I had onions, thyme, and sour cream. I opted for a stroganoff. I looked up egg noodles and this recipe caught my eye. It not only had eggs in it but butter and milk too? I found this strange and therefore compelling and in my experience butter never hurts in a recipe.

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 pinch salt
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 tablespoon butter 

1.  In a large bowl, stir together the flour and salt.