Happy Monday!!!

Or should I say sad Monday.... hubby starts his new job today.... he's off to Venice and then all over Europe. This new job is "supposed" to work better for us (the operative word is SUPPOSED). He's on about 20-23 days on and around 20 days off..... we'll see how it works. He might even see if it works to do 20 on and 10 off. Anyways, he'll be doing japanese tours so it should bring in more money than he's making now, plus he's used to doing these tours.... the people are so much easier to work with and not such long hours like his last job. The only part that sucks is that he's gone a bit longer. The sacrifice better be worth it. Anyways, we enjoyed our couple of days with "Ba" a lot! We went to Sarnico on Lago d'Iseo to visit with our friends Marino and Elena and their family. That town is so much nicer than ours! They actually do stuff for their citizens like installing AWESOME parks for parents and kids. They have great markets and the city is just so pretty on the lake.... we would totally consider moving there if we could.... G even told me to look into the real estate listings on the web. Even Paratico would be nice. It's on the other side if the river but it literally feels like all the same city. That little bridge in the photo is what joins the towns. Plus the city has so many beautiful villas all along the lake.... like so beautiful George Clooney should seriously consider buying one. They are fantastic. If you google Sarnico you should find some amazing picts.

Anyways, I know I am trying to keep up with the Monday Mojo thing but I'm not really upto it today.... sulkingis more my mood I suppose.... but I won't leave you empty handed... I found this little linky for a great do it yourself project at The Long Thread... It's an adorable little kids' drawing case.

Quoting Rachel Ray... "Yum-O!"

I'm busy making pizza for tonight... I hope it turns out as good as last time.

Here's a shot:

While I'm no Betty Crocker or Rachel Ray, I do seem to have a knack for making kick ass pizza lately (the proof is in the picture above). I made pizza the other day and it was soooo good! Even Isabella ate more than usual (ok so that's like 2 more bites than her usual 4 as she isn't a pizza person) then I used the same dough (using mother yeast - I'll explain in a bit) to make mini calzones cuz I was at the end of my wits trying to find something to make other than pizza and rice the other day (I didn't go shopping so the cupboards were limited). I saw mini calzones on the Kraft Kitchens website and decided to try to make my own. (Yes, that's the mini calzone below in all it's yummyness.... with ragus sauce and cheese....mmmm)

EUREKA!

Isabella actually ate 2! That's a big deal in our house AND she kept saying "Yum mommy, buono!" Well, that little comment from my food critic was enough for me to decide to try it again in the future!

Ok so I know you are wondering what mother yeast is and for those who are cooks, you probably know...

Mother yeast is when you make dough and save a portion in the fridge, the next time you go to make bread or pizza (like me) you use it and add to it - flour, water, oil, salt - NO MORE YEAST PACKETS. The end result: much yummier pizza with less of a yeasty taste. Believe me, once you try it, you won't really want to go back. We learned this trick from Giovanni's Auntie Evelina - that woman can make pizza! (Probably helps too that she has a real wood burning pizza oven!)

So tonight I'm trying it again... hope it works, it's been in the fridge a few days. Oh yeah, if you want to try this mother yeast thing out, you need to work the dough at least once a week... yeast like us, gets hungry.... you need to feed it flour and water to live....

Good luck if you try it out!

Finally Done!

I finally finished the hat I was working on for Isabella. Turned out pretty good considering I didn't know what the heck I was doing (ok so a little bit).

I saw these amazing hats Kristy makes over at Noodle Noggins and thought I wanna try my hand at it. I sort of know how to crochet... if it doesn't work, I'll just take it apart and make a scarf! haha!

So I found this pattern here at Etsy, and VOILA!

I think it came out ok considering my yarn was a little on the fine side for the pattern and the fact I ripped it out 3 times before getting the right sizing. I had to do a little modifying to make it work. It's a wee tight for Isabella so I doubt she'll be wearing it a whole lot (unless mommy wears it around the house to try and stretch it a bit - haha).

Why don't you go try something new? go pick up the pattern...

My new project? Girly-ing up some hand-me-down jeans of Isabella's. They are boy jeans and since Isabella's hair refuses to grow, people already think she's a boy... gotta bling up the jeans!