White for dishes...

My favorite towel for drying dishes is a good quality flour sack tea towel. As a kid, I learned to embroider on those towels. My mom never had plain white, boring flour sack towels. Hers were (and still are) always beautifully embroidered and edged with bias tape.

some actual towels from her kitchen. aren't they beautiful?

When I got married, I followed suit. And then we had kids...

• they came in to wash up for lunch and dried their "clean" hands on those beautiful towels.
• they ate warm-from-the-oven chocolate chip cookies and wiped their hands and faces on those beautiful towels.
•  they spilled some milk, and what did they grab to clean it up? Those beautiful towels.

So we made a new rule: white are for dishes and colored are for hands (and everything else). My kids knew the rule, my nephews knew the rule, I think every kid who entered our home knew the rule.

I no longer take the time to embroider my white towels, but I do embellish with some ribbon or rickrack or a ruffle, and still like to keep them white as long as possible. To this day, nephew Tim (now a doctor) comes to visit and says, "white for dishes and colored for hands," as he reaches for a towel from the towel bar.

Thanks, Tim, for following the rule! (Love ya!)



...and a couple of my embellished towels.

Homemade Granola

This summer I have been addicted to yogurt and granola for breakfast. It began when I visited my aunt and uncle and she prepared a lovely bowl of fruit for each of us, with homemade granola and yogurt to add as we wanted... which reminded me of a recipe I hadn't made for years.

I got home and dug it out. I have no idea where it came from, but it's ok. I've changed it to suit my taste, or whatever I have in the house on the day I'm making it. Which is the fun part: do whatever you want!

Here's what I've been doing lately, but honestly, add whatever YOU like!

First, preheat your oven to 325° F.  In a large-ish bowl, combine the dry ingredients:

4 C old fashioned oats
1/2 C coarsely chopped almonds
1/2 C coarsely chopped peanuts
1/2 C dried cranberries
1/2 C sweetened coconut flakes
1/2 t ground cinnamon
1 pinch of salt

Stir those together.

Then in a saucepan, stir together:

1/3 C vegetable oil
1/4 C honey
1/2 C brown sugar

Heat to boiling and remove from heat. Stir in vanilla.

Drizzle the syrup over the oat mixture and stir with a wooden spoon. Spread it evenly onto a sheet pan. You'll want to either line your pan with parchment (that's what I do) or spray it with cooking spray for easy cleanup.

Bake till golden, about 25 minutes, stirring a couple times in the middle. I "stir" it by piling the edges into the center with a pancake turner, and then pushing the mound back out to the edge of the pan in sort of a fold, just to be sure it all gets a little crunchy. Here's the mound...

After it's finished baking, let it cool and then break it into chunks, or crumble it. Store it in an airtight container.

In the comments, tell me your favorite granola ingredients. I'm always up for trying new ideas!

Enjoy...

Renegade: the photos

It's been almost a month since the Renegade Craft Fair in San Francisco. We had so much fun and met some wonderful people. I mentioned last post that we had the best spot in the house, with an amazing view of Alcatraz and the Hyde Street Pier area.

Here are some shots of our booth and our wares.

Amanda and me

Ruffle dishtowels, gray placemats with cross stitch X's (these sold out, but I think I'll make some more... I love them, and so did lots of customers), and ruffle runners.





















Pillows and some paper products... notepads, notebooks and thank you notes with a french knot for the period.


And last... Alcatraz with a little fog hovering around it. Beauty!

Changes

Lots of changes going on here at Rufflewood. We started early 2011 as a mother/daughter/sister partnership. Brainstorming sessions and production Saturdays (AKA Sweatshop) -- SO fun! But then...

Change #1: In August Kate gave birth to their second child. She hung with us for 4 months, but at the new year, had to leave the business. You can still visit her, though, on her blog Style Smaller.

Change #2: Amanda launched Delighted, her online magazine, I am so thrilled and proud of her. You'll want to grab a cup of coffee and sit down to enjoy every page.

Change #3: Amanda is pregnant. Their baby is due 12.12.12!

As you can imagine, working a day job and launching a magazine while you're pregnant is pretty exhausting. So then,...

Change #4: I'm on my own. Not nearly as exciting as 1, 2, and 3. But I am enthusiastic about continuing to create useful and just-for-fun items for the home, and preparing for the new line for Fall. So be sure to check back in the coming weeks and months to see what's happening in the Rufflewood shop. Fortunately, Amanda and Kate are still great consultants and support.

And I am, of course, overjoyed to increase the grandchildren count!


 

PS: Here's a photo of the view from our booth at the Renegade Craft Fair last weekend. (Not great photography... just used my phone.) Beautiful sight, no?

Renegade

Hey! If you're in the San Francisco area this weekend, be sure to visit us at the Renegade Craft Faire at Fort Mason.

You'll find us at booth 47...  at the north east corner of the building. Right near the DJ. Hope we see you there!

Our Table Runners in Rue!

Thanks to Erin at Bustle Designs for using our ruffle linens in her Rue photoshoot! Take a peek on page 82.