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.