try this...

Cooking is something I like to do, but am not always good at it. But this recipe shared by a friend, is so worth passing along. The picture is from Martha Stewart Everyday Food. I think it is kind of weird when people photograph their dinner plates, but trust me it looks just as good at home! I have used butternut squash and pumpkin and they are equally delicious. Enjoy!

ingredients

Serves 4

• Coarse salt and ground pepper
• 12 ounces rigatoni
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 5 ounces fresh goat cheese, crumbled
• Roasted Pumpkin with Shallots and Sage

Directions

1. In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook pasta until al dente. Reserve 1/2 cup pasta water; drain pasta, and return to pot. Add butter, cheese, and pasta water; toss until butter has melted.
2. Gently fold in roasted pumpkin; season with salt and pepper. Divide among serving bowls, and serve immediately.

Ingredients for roasting pumpkins, shallots & sage:

Serves 4

• 1 medium sugar pumpkin (about 4 pounds), peeled, seeded, and cut into 2-inch chunks
• 4 shallots, peeled and quartered lengthwise
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/4 cup fresh sage leaves
• Coarse salt and ground pepper

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Divide pumpkin, shallots, oil, and sage between two large rimmed baking sheets; season with salt and pepper, and toss.
2. Roast until pumpkin is tender, 30 to 35 minutes, tossing once and rotating sheets halfway through.

pink quilt: all done!

The pink plus quilt top is back from the long arm quilter and I have gotten the binding on! My little girl got to sleep under it for the first time the other night. No coming into my room in the middle of the night saying she is cold, so I would say that's a good start! I love the bubble pattern I chose for this quilt and once it was all washed and dried, it got so soft and just perfect!

Now everyone has a mama made quilt and I can move on to plans for a throw quilt for the couch. I have been spying this pattern from Amy Butler to try next. The backing of this quilt was made with Amy's new line Soul Blossoms.

Hope your weekend gets off to a great start. We are celebrating my oldest's birthday. Makes a mama feel old watching her boy turn 11. So proud of the young man he is becoming!

pillow month

Felt Cushions by Ferm Living at Rose & Grey
my favorites so far~love how the colored buttons just make them pop!

February is pillow month over at Sew Mama Sew blog. Each day they are highlighting a pillow of the day. They are also giving loads of tutorials on how to do things like the dreaded zipper, adding binding and applique. Look at some of the cute ones they have posted!

love the applique on this one!

this is the pillow I received in the flickr pillow swap!
It has a great quilting design (with a tutorial here) and is sitting on my couch right now!

I am looking forward to seeing what else Sew Mama Sew comes up with for pillow designs the rest of the month. I have really been wanting to make some new pillows for our family room and these are giving me the inspiration to get it done! We are having yet another snow day today (with hardly any snow) May have to take the kiddos to the fabric store with me, oh they'll be thrilled!

Olliekate pillows I have made in the past

"that's a lot of pink" quilt top

That is what my husband said when he came into the room and saw this quilt going up on the design wall- "wow, that's a lot of pink!" But it's for a 4 year old girl who only likes pink, of course it's a lot! I used 3 1/2" squares (300 of them) to make this plus quilt design. I threw in a few shades of purple and then some of my favorite prints from my stash. There is a lot of nice subtle variation that makes the crosses pop I think. And once it is quilted, it should really look better. This quilt was totally inspired by this quilt, made by Film in the Fridge that I saw online a few months back. Isn't that pretty? Love her quilts!

This is the first time I used a design wall to help me with a quilt. Simply hang a large piece of flannel on the wall ( I used a sheet) and all your blocks will stick like magic. I left it up there for several weeks while I worked on the quilt top. No more setting it all up on the floor and having to clean it up, just to put it all back down again later.

Quilt top measures 45"x60", good size for a little one. I had 20 rows of 15 squares. I have sent this off to Back Porch Quilters and should get it back soon. I knew it would take too long and it is so cold here these days, I wanted it done quick!! I will post pictures as soon as I get it back.

Happy Monday!

olliekate is back on etsy and we are having a sale!

After a rather long hiatus, we have gotten our tees back on etsy and are super happy to be sharing some new designs with you. To celebrate, we are also having a sale! Use code FEB11Sale and receive 15% off your order. More tees will be listed throughout the month as well. Lots more to share but head on over to the shop and let me know what you think! I really hope to resume daily blogging too!

back to school dress

A poolside sewing tutorial from my dear friend Heather taught me how to make this oh so sweet and simple pillow case style dress. I used the unicorn print from Heather Ross's Far Far Away line and the coordinating orange floral for the bow. I sewed this for Kate before her first day of preschool this week. Got to go back to school in style, right? I just wish I had tried this pattern at the beginning of summer. Hope your end of summer or back to school season is going well.

Happy Weekend!

little goodies

My youngest turns 4 in a few days. So amazing, so fast it is going. We had a little party to celebrate and it was a good opportunity to get me out of my sewing/blogging slump! Little goodie bags made from all of my favorite polka dot fabric stash. I filled them with crayons, lollipops and little homemade coloring books. Lots of fun and worth the time. Loving Handmade, especially for our most special memories. Hope your summer was great, sent the kids off to school this morning and getting back into the swing of things!