Here we go again

We made our first batch of popcorn from the strawberry popcorn we grew in our garden last summer. It’s really delicious! The kernels are smaller than regular popcorn but full of so much flavor. I am wishing we had space to grow more. Maybe our next house will. In the meantime K wants to grow some sweet corn so she can snack on it right out of the garden.

I found it rather ironic that some of my prized vintage Pyrex is in the strawberry popcorn photos. You may have seen what I posted on the Facebook page on Saturday about vintage Pyrex containing high levels of lead (inside and outside each piece!). My first reaction was denial. No, it can’t be! I admit I am attached to them. Pyrex was what we switched over to when we rid our house of plastic many, many years ago. But then rational thought came back over me. I know all too well the dangers of lead, as my K had high lead levels as a toddler (before our Pyrex days, though), and it is not something I will play with.

So here we go again, back to the drawing board of what to store and bake our food in – mixing bowls, too! I am thankful now that I bought a large set of All Clad stainless steel pots and pans years before I even met Kevin, so I at least have safe cooking ware. I was working part-time at Williams Sonoma then and loved using my employee discount. How on earth I managed a full-time job, full-time college and a part-time job at the time blows my mind. I can’t even imagine it now. But that’s another topic. Back to the matter at hand – I think I am going to look into some cast iron bake ware for our oven needs. I am researching enamel cast iron, too. We use mason jars for some food storage in the fridge but I need to find something larger for other leftovers. I would love to hear your thoughts on what you use and why. Maybe we can all help each other have safer kitchens and homes.

As for the Pyrex, it will sit high up on top of our kitchen cupboards for now. I do still love the way it looks…

Did you see those sweet little baby gifts in the photos above? *swoon* My talented friend Jackie thoughtfully surprised us with those. They brought tears to my eyes. I was just thinking about the fact that we don’t really know anyone here and that this sweet baby boy won’t be celebrated like his siblings were when we were surrounded by loving friends and community. Jackie reminded me otherwise. Thank you!!!

Speaking of our baby boy, I finished my nursing shawl over the weekend. I love how it turned out. Oh my did it grow! I was nervous that it would be too small but I think it came out just right. As soon as it was dry we ran outside behind our house to snap some photographs. It was pretty dark that day but I thought we could still make it work. One thing I didn’t take into account was the crazy wind.  The shawl and my skirt were blowing all over the place. Oh well. We’ll get better photos when the baby is actually here.

I think I am going to beg for request some blocking wires for my birthday or Christmas this year. I think that would be much better for future knits (and even to re-block this one). My sewing pin method seen above took a good 45 minutes to block with and the edge isn’t as neat as I would like it to be, but sometimes we just have to make do, right?

This is actually my first time using some sort of nursing cover so we’ll see how it goes. I am pretty discreet with my nursing in the first place but I thought this shawl might be helpful for church. I just want to make sure I am respectful, especially since this is a small church in a small town. I have never nursed a baby in church before as I didn’t join the Catholic church until Little L was a toddler and not needing to nurse as often. This is a whole new territory for me.

Rav notes here.