Steph's Simple Life

I know that it took me a long time to post my first hat,  but after I did.....I couldn't stop!  Not only that, I wanted to try to make some hat pins (that's very addictive!).  The hat I made today, is a combination of several that I had seen, I used cotton fabric and heavy, sew in, interfacing.  I messed up a little, but I made it work, after awhile.  (Again, that's why I'm not using expensive supplies.)  In the picture, I placed one of the small hat pins on the front of the hat.  The hat sits on the crown of your head and I still need to attach a comb so that it stays in place.  What do you think? -Steph

Today I'm trying a recipe from the Pioneer Woman's collection, I actually saw her make this a few weeks back on her television show and thought it looked good, especially since she used chilpotle peppers! (Here's the actual Pioneer Woman's recipe .) The recipe calls for a pork butt, but I'm using a loin instead, because that's what I have and it's not as greasy.  I started by cutting up 2 onions and placing them in the bottom of my dutch oven (again, if you don't have one...get one!) and placed the meat on top of them.  Next I put the peppers on the meat.  The peppers look like this: Pour on 2 cans of Dr Pepper, cover, and cook for 6 hours at 300F...you will want to turn it over half way through the cooking time to ensure that it cooks evenly. This turned out so good, it's sweet and spicey.  I served with a marinated cole slaw which I prefer over the creamy kind....plus it's a "make ahead" recipe, which I love too! I shred a h...

I know, making hats has a real name....millinery, but since I don't have all the fancy tools that is really necessary, let's just call it what it is, hat making.  I do know now why the Mad Hatter was mad, it can drive you crazy!!! I've always loved hats, the stranger the better. I don't know why.  Now that I have the time, I decided to try to make some.  Not really knowing what I'm doing, I bought cheap fabric.  Actually, I bought some felt remnants at Joann Fabrics.  Not the felt squares, but the premium felt remnants....they had some white and black so I figured that was good to start with.  After I started making the first one, I decided that I wanted to learn how to put a birdcage on a hat.  So that took some trial and error too.  As I said, I didn't know what I was doing, still don't, but wanted to use what I had on hand so see what I could do.  I also bought some cheap tulle at Wal-Mart to play with.  Once I feel a little mo...