Dreads at about 3 months

Just took these yesterday. Dreads are a slow progression, but it is what it is.

A trip to the Odder Side!

I just started a new blog that will feature all the odd, strange, gross and crazy things and people I love on etsy! Take a second and check it out!
Celebrate Odd Etsy!

I love Halloween!

I had to share all the lovely Halloween stuff I have been accumulating all month. First off, if you haven't gone to your local Target store and checked out their Halloween stuff, you should. They have the best displays and candies I have ever seen...though this year I have yet to see any gummy dissection kits :(
Target is also the only place I have found that carries the rare and wonderful Pumpkin Spice Hershey Kisses. I found them last year and by the time I found they were the equivalent of candy crack... our local Target had sold out. You should go out and buy as many bags as you can afford now. You will not be sorry. I promise.
Last year I picked up a great skull cookie jar to go with my eyeball salt and pepper shakers and brain bowl. I am determined to have a 'mad scientist' themed kitchen... but I digress. This year I picked up some great metal skeletal hands serving forks. They are just great fun to play with! (I the shirt in the picture was also bought at Target... along with a dozen or so other Halloween themed T-shirts).


There was also this awesome black/silver fiberglass skull pot thing. We couldnt quite figure out exactly what it was supposed to be... you couldn't put candy in it without fear of little kids falling in (plus it would take a metric ton of candy to fill it) and it didnt have any drainage for potted plants. We drilled said holes, and now it is a planter waiting for spring to be filled with photosynthesizing organisms.


Not pictured, I also picked up a pair of knit gloves with skeletal fingers printed on them for a buck. Working in a medical building... I get a lot of complements! A glowing skull to hang from our balcony, bloody hand prints for the sliding glass door and a skeleton cling for my back seat of my car also been making their appearances for the first time this year. I have also gotten a plethroa of Halloween themed socks just for fun too.

I have also been working on a Halloween wreath, complete with hand painted skull, black and purple flowers, sparkles and black feather boas. It looks pretty darn kick-arse if you ask me!

New Shop!

I am going to officially announce that I am opening a second shop that will focus on fiber goods of all kinds: Fuzzy Hearts Yarn! It will (eventually) have all my knitted and crocheted goods, handmade needles, hand spun yarns, stitch markers, destashes... and what ever else I think might fit. I hope I can keep two shops straight... because that is my biggest fear that kept me from opening two shops for a long time. I felt that my first shop was just too cluttered and it was time. I will slowly be adding stuff from my current shop into my new one as they expire and list new stuff directly to my new shop. My first item is a lovely hat, if anyone is interested!

Dread Journey: 1 Month 1 Week

I know I said I would take a picture of my dreads each month, but right now I think it is going to be when ever I can. This picture was taken at one month and one week. They need a lot of tightening, both at the root and at the ends. My ends tend to curl when they are just washed too... which is a bit strange, but cute when I have them up in a pony tail. I like them about 150% better when they are up in a pony tail. I worry about back combing them too much and having the hair break.



I know they are just baby dreads, but I want them to lock up as fast as I can make them! So far, my hair regimine is: wool sleeping tam, 1:1 dilution of Dr. Bronners Tea Tree Oil soap, spray with saline solution occassionally, spray with lemon juice solution occasionally, one a week no-poo baking soda/vinegar rinse treatment, and backcomb/crochet hook when ever it is clean and I/my husband have the time. I dont think I have ever put this much work into a hairdo ever!

Stuff Just For Me

I just wanted to show off two of my latest creations.

The first is my attempt at the Wren pattern. I used some Lorna's Lace Shepard Sock Yarn in Hermosa. I like how it came out, but I may reposition the button.


The second item is a tam, just for me to sleep in. I have heard that sleeping in a wool hat will help them dread... so bingo! That what I want to make! I used Fisherman's Wool from Lion Brand in Nature's Brown. The yarn was different to work with... as it felt at times slippery or greasy. I dont know how to explain it, but the final product was just fine. Maybe it was because it was 100% wool and I had never worked with wool like that. I started out using a pattern from a book I had, but pretty quicky I went off the 'chart' and just went free form. It still worked out just fine.

Winners in the Country Bob's All Purpose Sauce Giveaway!

Congratulations is order for the two winners! Congrats Christa and Aik! You will be contacted soon and I hope you enjoy your free sauce!

Product Review: Country Bob's All Purpose Sauce

Not too long ago I was contacted by the good folks at Country Bob, Inc to do not only a product review of their All Purpose Sauce, but to run a great blog give away (see my previous thread). For this I have decided to try a few applications. I have tried it straight from the bottle, sausage gravy, on and in turkey burgers and in a stew.

First off: Straight out of the Bottle:


The sauce is thick and a dark reddish brown. The taste is pretty strong, and very sweet. It reminds me of a steak sauce. It would probably make a great steak sauce, because it tastes like a mix between ketchup and A-1. I actually like it better than A-1 because instead of the vinegar-wine bite (which I think can be a bit strong) the Country Bob All Purpose Sauce is nice and sweet. The only down side that I can see is that the product contains high fructose corn syrup, which I am trying to cut out of my families diet.

Breakfast: The Best Sausage Gravy & Biscuits


I have made basically this same recipe before, but without the sauce. I also used the sausage drippings in addition to the butter for the base. I used the same sausage (Bob Evan's Brand) and biscuits (Bisquick). The sauce looks a little darker, but that makes sense because of the darker color of the sauce. The sauce has some nice molasses undertones and I feel it rounds out the sage from the sausage nicely. It transforms the gravy into a more hearty flavor than spicy flavor normal Bob Evan's style gravy tastes like. If you use a less flavorful sausage, I think you would taste the sauce more. It is a nice addition to this breakfast treat!

Lunch: Turkey Burgers (sorry, no picture)

This recipe was an original by my husband. He used a little sauce in the ground turkey burger (along with a few spices, bread and milk). We also put some on the burger once it was done cooking. It wasnt too bad, but I found I actually could taste the sauce in the meat when I ate a few patties cold the next day. Warm, the there was just a little sweetness of the meat. My husband did notice that the burgers had a tentancy to burn in the pan... but that could either be because of all the sugars in the sauce (HFCS, mollases, sugar) or that he had the pan was too hot. We didnt put any other condements or extras on the burgers... so that may also change the interplay of flavors.

Dinner: Slow Cooker Stew


I followed the recipe for this one pretty much dead on, but I used lamb instead of beef. You marinade the meat the night before, which emparts a sweetness to the meat. The stew itself was tomatoe based, which we dont normally do. It actually reminded me of my mom's version of goulash (which isnt a bad thing). There was a lot of liquid in the slow cooker. The stew meat kept some of the sweet flavor, but I think the gamyness of the lamb overpowered the some times delicate flavor but the meat was very tender. We couldnt really taste any of the sauce in the drippings.

Overview: I would definitly use this as a steak sauce. I prefer it to other, more common, steak sauces. I will probably continue to experiment with it in other recipes. It is pretty flavorful when it is by itself but you may need to tweek the amount of the sauce in recipes if you want to make sure you taste it. I recommend trying it, especially if you find normal sauces too strong in the bite department.

Country Bob's All Purpose Sauce Interview and Giveaway!

I have some exciting news! I have been contacted by Mr. Al Malekovic from Country Bob Inc to review on of their products, Country Bob's All Purpose Sauce, on my blog. Mr Malekovic also was gracious enough to answer some questions for me for an interview. What makes this even better is he is putting up two bottles of Country Bob's All Purpose Sauce for a blog give away! I cant fit all of these wonderful things into one blog post (who would want to read through ALL of that anyway!?) so I am splitting it into two blog posts, one that contains the interview and blog giveaway, and another that will detail the culinary creations my husband and I make and try using Country Bob's All Purpose Sauce. First off… the interview and giveaway!



Mr. Al Malekovic answered the following questions for me.


What’s the story behind Country Bob's All Purpose Sauce? What was the inspiration? Country Bob was a carnival barker and a Don Rickles all wrapped into one. He owned a gas station and would BBQ for the cronies that came and gossiped. He came up up with the sauce in 1968. In 1982 Country Bob, his son Terry, (He is my son-law), Reed my son and I stared a Corp and put it on the market. We had to learn the hard way. Trail and Error. He died in 2001 of cancer. You can also look at our web site under story.

How large is the Country Bob’s company? We are a very small company, 14 employees, but we are fully automated and have a fine crew. We use food brokers, who help get Country Bobs in the stores.


How many different products does Country Bob’s make? Do you have any new products waiting in the wings? We have four products, Country Bobs, Country Bobs Spicy, Seasoning Salt and a BBQ sauce. Because of the cost of developing a product we are not coming out with anything new. We use to have a Sloppy Bob sauce but we were having it made somewhere else and that company went under and we could not find another to make small batches for us. It was a great product.



Where can you find Country Bob's All Purpose Sauce? You can find Country Bobs at Kroger, Wal Mart Super Center and about every store in *Cincy! (*Cincinnati, Ohio... for those of you who are not familiar with the area)


What makes Country Bob's All Purpose Sauce unique? What makes Country Bobs so unique, it truly is a All Purpose Sauce. Use it on steaks, a great dipping sauce, bbq sauce and to flavor up soups, stews, casseroles etc.


What’s the most common recipe Country Bob's All Purpose Sauce gets used in? Most people use it as a dipping sauce and with appetizers with little smokies and meat balls.


What’s the most unexpected recipe Country Bob's All Purpose Sauce can be used for? The most unique use is in fudge recipe in our cookbook.

What is the best complement or comment you have had about your products? The best compliment we have had is from the kids. "Gimmie more Bobs Mommy"




Here comes the fun part! The giveaway! It is really simple. First, go to the recipe page at the Country Bob Inc website, pick out a recipe that looks interesting. Next come back to this blog entry. In the comment section, leave a comment with you email address and the recipe you found! That is all you have to do! Incomplete entries will not be entered. This contest will last until the Sunday before Labor Day. September 6th, 2009 at midnight Eastern Standard Time. Two winners will be picked at random and each winner will receive a FREE bottle of Country Bob's All Purpose Sauce. Winner will be contacted via email to gather the needed information to send you a bottle.



So what are you waiting for? Go over to the recipe page and find something yummy! If you try anything and write about it, let me know. I will link it on my blog!


Images used with permission from the Country Bob Inc website.

Second Try at Real Dreads

WARNING: Long and full of pictures!

I have decided to take the plunge again! I have been itching to get my hair redreaded for ages now, but I had to wait until after I got my new job. Then I had to wait until I was sure I could get them in said job (another lady in the office has them, so I figured they couldn't stop me, right?). Then I had to try and find someone to do them (cause, as much as I love my husband, I know he didnt want to dread my hair again)... It is tough moving to a new city in a new state and trying to find someone to put dreads in! I found Nature's Outer Beauty on line, and decided to give them a try. Right on their website they said they use the latch method, and no wax... so bonus! The ladies there were very nice, but it was a long wait even with an appointment (I think they had some walk ins). The salon was a tad small, but nice. Everyone was very chatty, and I got a some work done on my knitting while I waited. The waiting didnt really bother me. I had waited probably close to 6 months to get this done, another hour and a half wasnt going to kill me. Did I mention they have hours on the weekend? Another bonus!

Well, here is a before picture. I know what most people think... why would you ruin your hair?!?! I dont see it as ruining, but improving! If/when I dont want them any more, I will just shave my head like I did last time. I love having my head shaved as well, and the only reason I grew out my hair this long (I HATE this length!) was for the dreads.



All I ever do is put my hair in a pony tail anyway wit it that length! It took about 2-2.5 hours of chair time, but even after they started on my head, I had to give up my seat occassionally so they could finish other people up. I got there for a 4pm appointment and didnt leave until like 8pm or so. I was HUNGRY... but that isnt as important. I was hoping they would do the crochet hook method seen HERE but they just did the latchhook-pull through method. That is okay, it will help secure the roots, but I would have liked a bit more back combing and locking going on.


It didnt really hurt that much, but sleeping that night was a bit tricky. The latch hook method didnt work all that great on the hair at the base of my neck because it is so short... they tend to want to flip around. Wearing head bands to work (for a more professional look until they lock up) isnt helping. I think those will need the most work, and they are the hardest for me to see.



She also didnt back comb or try and dread the ends at all. Go figure. I was a bit miffed, but I figured for the price (which was totally reasonable in my opinion) I could work on the ends myself (and with the help of my hubs). What I really needed help with was sectioning my hair and getting them started.

This last photo is of me 1 day post dread. The stray hairs and loose ends are driving me mad, but I know dreading is a long process. I will try and take a new picture every week or so. If I dont blog about it, I will have it up on my flickr account. I just hope this poofy/messy stage doesnt take too long!