Inspired by Apples

It is a happy day when the first US grown apples arrive in the produce section. Apples are one of my favorite staple foods during the cooler months, whether serving as a snack with peanut butter, in a salad with greens and walnuts, shredded in a slaw with carrots and lemon juice, or baked with an oat & pecan topping with vanilla soy ice cream in an apple crisp (as shown below). My favorite variety of apple? I'm partial to Fujis, but also love the honeycrisps and pink ladies.
Not only will this fiber-rich fruit help keep the doctor away, but it can also serve as inspiration for more creative outlets. I chose this bright, cheerful apple print fabric to use as a lining for the Frenchy Bag that I made at a recent Sew Crafty class. Now it makes me hungry everytime I look inside my bag!
The outside of the bag turned out cute as well. It's the perfect size to stash just about everything in, even a couple of apples!
The W.I.P stitch along was just the push I needed to start my first embroidery project! And with such minimal supplies, it's easy to get started. I picked up some organic cotton twill, embroidery floss (in pink, purple, brown, and green), a hoop, and a needle and that's it! I finished up embroidering the love bear last night and now just need to decide what to do with this cute little guy.
No shortage of projects in my queue. This weekend I went fabric shopping with two of my prego girlfriends (yes, I have entered that stage in life where everyone I know is pregnant) so they could pick out what they wanted for the nappy bags that I'm going to make them. I am currently in the cutting fabric stage (aka my least favorite part) for the first one which has a fast approaching due date!

This post is a part of Work-In-Progress (W.I.P.) Wednesdays where I share some of my projects that serve as a creative outlet for my mostly left-brained mind. I may be posting the results of finished projects, actual W.I.Ps, or projects that are on my to-do list. Be sure to check out others that are posting their projects as well. Thanks to Shellyfish for inspiring us all!

Apple Red Happiness

Apple red happiness
Popcorn cheerfulness
Cinnamon singing inside....
Peppermint energy
Gumdrop holiday
When you choose a vegan life!



So I've had that little tune in my head since my brother sang it a few weeks ago while we were in Boston (I'm not sure he was sober at the time). Okay, so I altered the last few words a bit, but I thought it sounded good. Plus, a perfect song to bring in a new season of eating apples! I've been snacking on them lately with my favorite apple pairing; peanut butter. The fuji apples at Whole Foods right now are ginormous. And so delicious.

I also used an apple last night to make a new batch of muffins, these are Zucchini Apple Muffins from the Don't Eat Off the Sidewalk zine (Issue #1). I added some walnuts. All muffins need nuts in my opinion. These are perfect for my grab-and-go breakfasts. I've become addicted to muffins lately!

And nothing to do with apples, but tonight my mom came over for dinner and we made LizzyQ's roasted fig pilaf. My only changes were to use fresh parsley instead of dried and I subbed toasted pecans for pine nuts. Then I stuffed the pilaf into half a roasted acorn squash, served with broccoli on the side. Definitely give this recipe a try! A perfect way to prepare for our cold front that should come in tonight, bringing the temps down to the mid-80's. Fall is here! (almost)