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Thursday, August 9, 2007

New Fabrics

I just got a ton of new fabrics. Some are great and some not so much. I have been playing with them and have decided that most of them will become bags. Most of them are heavy. So get ready for a whole grouping of new stuff.

Thursday, July 26, 2007

Selling

I now have a store at Etsy.. I have sold one thing. :( But it has made me believe that my sewing and crafting is not for nothing. It has made me realize that others might like my stuff... So I made a jacket and a couple bags. I am not going to sell these initial things because they are firsts. But be sure that I will be selling them in the future.

Thursday, July 19, 2007

So Many things, So little time.

Last post was about getting the manual for my babylock. Well it didn't help that much.... So I then ordered thirty needles from a seller on ebay. Well those don't seem to be working? I have no idea what I am going to do with this thing. But it has gotten quite annoying.

Thursday, June 28, 2007

Babylock EA-605

I finally got the manual for my Babylock..... Also I go some needles for it. Which is great. I have had it for 4 months I think, and have not been able to actually Serge anything. It kept on breaking needles, so I thought that I needed to get the correct needle in it. They just happened to have the manual for it as well so I should be set, right. Not so much, after reading through the manual a couple of times, I thought I should try to re-thread it. Well, that went great. Then I thought that I should put in the needles and try it out. The first needle went down in a couple of seconds....... So I redid it and checked clearance of all the little parts... Well the second needle lasted a min or so, but broke in the same spot. I went through the threading of that needle over again, and put in a new needle. I then used the manual thing to try it out going very slow as to check over everything. Which worked for about 15 min.... Then it broke. I gave up. I am giving up on solving this by myself. I am going to find someone who knows what they are doing and am going to ask them for help. But I got on the sewing machine and it was great got half way done with a bag type thing.....

Monday, June 25, 2007

Cupcakes

Cupcakes are where it is at lately. I have jumped on this bandwagon. Last month it was making cocktail infused cupcakes this month it is using inspiration from the convenience store. In the last week it has been the hostess cupcake. I am enamored with it.... But I am trying to make it a little healthier. Including whole wheat flour, yogurt and less sugar. They turned out great on the first run. Beso decided that he liked the smell, went counter surfing and got about 20 little cupcakes. I would be very worried considering there is a good amount of chocolate in them. But he is a chocolate addict. He loves the smell, and I am guessing that he loves the taste. If I want to make anything with chocolate I need to keep it under lock and key in our house. But he is alright. I then thought that maybe he is needs treats that go along with his tastes. So I got some carob and am going to make some dog treats. I am hoping that I can make some cute looking ones for him... I am going to attempt cupcake looking dog treats. Maybe it will work out. I will put up pics when they are done.

Friday, June 15, 2007

Nina Simone


I am so impressed with this artist. I love Etsy for being so there.... It's like going to a really good street fair and not having to look at all the weird stuff.... I also have a love for Nina Simone... She is one of the best artists of all time. Her voice is mesmerizing. So it put the two together and looked up Nina on Etsy and only saw a couple things, nothing that I was that impressed with. I then looked up art work.. Paintings, pictures and such. I noticed this one store that had great paintings of Johnny Cash. There were also other pictures of old soul guys. I thought what if this guy or gal did a pic of Nina? So I wrote a note and asked if they had ever thought of it and if so I would buy one... He or she wrote back saying it was a good idea. So I have been going back every couple of wks to look for anything Nina. And today I saw my picture. It is Nina..... It is Great. And I decided to buy a monkey he was selling too, because he was cute.
I have to say that I am soo stoked...

Thursday, June 14, 2007

5 Spot Hawaii


So a friend works at the 5 spot. A great little funky restaurant on top of Queen Anne. Well he was so excited because of their menu change this month that he showed me the chefs cards... The 5 spot changes decorations, menu and really atmosphere every three months to a totally new locale... Last month it was South of the Border, Tex-Mex, beans rice all that. They also have some staples that they carry through out.. Fried Chicken, BBQ, Dumplings and other various Americana foods. So this Hawaiian grouping looked great from the cards that I had been shown. So I was all about trying their Poke and their Ono. We showed up at about 7pm and the place was a mad house. People everywhere. 15 min. wait for a table. I love walking into a restaurant and having the excitement hit as you pass through their door. The decorations were fun, of course their were lei's, fake palm trees and those bright Hawaiian colors. We got seated at a table longer table with a couple at the other end. Yo and I are up for anything, they obviously were not. They promptly got up and left the restaurant... I guess it was us or the atmosphere or the prices... What ever it was they missed out. We were handed our sand bucket partially filled with shells and out drink menu. I started on the drink menu Yo started on the real menu. I noticed great drinks with Hawaiian names. Nothing that I think you would find truly Hawaiian but none the less fun. Yo ended on the Pink Lady. I am sorry I do not remember what was in it. It was very pink though. When the waitress arrived a few minutes later she spot very plainly and said the Fried chicken has been sold out, and the kitchen is on a twenty minute fire time. So if you want something cooked order it now and then get a none cooked app. We were alright with this so I ordered the Poke. One of the items I had ogled at in Nolan's pictures. Yo just wanted her drink. A few minutes later the waitress came back with drinks, my poke and a little info. They had 4 plates of the Honey Fried Chicken. Yo couldn't decide what she was going to have and I have to say that I was in a bit of a bind myself. Decisions are hard when there are so many great looking items in the menu. Then you heard one of the other waiters scream out "Three Fried Chicken". The whole kitchen then erupted "Three fried chicken" It was great and for a second I felt myself want fried chicken? But no I really wanted something else. It was a toss up between the new Hawaiian fare and the tried and true American foods. Then I heard Yo change here whole out look and order the fried chicken... Funny how when you think something is gone you really want it.. I then decided that I am a sucker for pulled pork and had to go with the pulled pork. The waitress then returned with the Poke. Ahi tuna, seaweed julienned, and a good amount of soy, I am guessing there was garlic in it as well. My first bite was not mesmerizing as I had hoped. Actually it was not even great. I then asked Yo to try some as well considering she has a much different pallet then I do. She was surprised with the amount of soy in it. I then decided that I would only eat the tuna which helped to defuse the overwhelming salty sour taste. Then our entrees came. Yo's chicken was amazing, in size and flavor... Perfectly golden, huge amount of mashed potatoes, gravy and some peas on the side. It looked glorious in spite of the only color being the small amount of peas. My plate really looked sad next to her enormous amount of food. I got a small burger bun with a couple spoon fulls of pulled pork, and a hand full of fries. To say that I was disappointed with the amount of food that I received next to the fried chicken would be an understatement. It is not that I felt I could eat more it's the size thing. Hers was so outlandishly large that mine looked miniature in comparison... We then started. We traded small amounts over the table to then try. I have to admit that her chicken was great. I then took a bit of my sandwich.... It was great. I was not stunned but very happy with the flavor. There was just enough tang, just enough sweetness, and that little hint of something else. It was great pork... I was happy in the end that the Pork turned out well. Yo had to get a large box to take home and we decidedly had a good time.

Wednesday, June 13, 2007

Moelleux


On Dorie Greenspans post a while back about champagnes, she brings up a moelleux. I had not heard of this and therefore wanted to know what it was. I found a recipe and will try it this week.... It looks interesting.

How could I not try something that says in the beginning it is sinful.....

Cast Iron

I love cast iron. It helps when making pan cakes. It gives anything a little more flavor. So when I saw this link on NotMartha.org. I was so thankful. If you click on the Link at top you will find a way to clean up used cast iron.....

Tuesday, June 12, 2007

Salmon




After seeing this today I want to make some salmon...

Crunchy Wasabi Salmon

Fish For Supper

On sunday, I decided to make fish papillions...I am wondering if that is the correct spelling? I bought some rockfish(cheapest), and a can of corn. I brought this home thinking that I could use a bottle of white wine from my stash and some of my herbs from the garden. I also had a red onion sitting in the fridge wanting to be used... So I took the bones out of the fish with tweezers. I then opened the can of corn, drained it and poured into the bottom of parchment paper that was laid out... I then went to my stash of wine and could only find one white. A bottle that I have been saving for a special occasion... Which was not going to be my canned corn papillions..... So I found a small bottle of vodka... And used that instead... Poured a little oil in put a lemon slice on top and some fresh herbs. A few thin slices of onion and in the oven it went I had no idea how long or how high so I went for the easy 350 for 30min... It needed about 15 more min and it was done... Opening the packet was fun, but getting to the fish was great. It really took on the sweet taste of the corn. I am wondering if the dryness of the wine would have helped to give it a little shock, but it was worth it. I will try again with new ingredients.....and white wine.

Bench Seat

A co-worker found out that I was a crafter and asked if I could sew something for her. I asked what it was not wanting to get into something that was too intricate for my skills. She explained that she had a wooden bench at the end of her bed that her dog liked to sleep on. So she fashioned a couple pillows as a bed for him. The problem was that the pillows would become dirty after a week. She was asking if I could make a cover for her pillows. I said it would be simple, if she brought me the pillows and the fabric that she would like to use. A wk later she brought in the material. It was super easy to sew... But after pinning the fabric to fit, I realized that the stripes on the other side were not matching up. I then had to repin.... Time consuming but still easy. I added velcro to one of the long sides to help with the removal for washing. In the end the project took about an hour. As I got it out of my car today she was sooo thankful and delighted at it. I am happy it is done and sorry I didn't get any pictures.

Friday, June 8, 2007

Trying to be in

Technorati Profile

Start

Here is the beginning. I have been reading so many others blogs that I wanted to start my own. I think that I might be interesting enough to write about so here it goes.

Things going on:
Thursday night went to Toast in Fremont. It was great. Those guys know how to throw down. I
was incredible impressed that two of the emcee's at the end of the night skat. That old jazz style of making sounds but not words. It was great to see all of these people being inovative in a genre that still gets complaints that they are still too violent, or that they promote drinking and drug use. Hopefully people will realize that There is a difference between rap and Hip-hop.