Suzville

54 cents

2010-12-15T22:12:00.000-08:00

Oh, hi. Long time no post, I know. This would be because I am busy and not feeling altogether great. Rheumatoid arthritis does that to you, and with 5 active kids (4 being homeschooled and one busy graduate living here), caring for my family is about as much as I can handle.

I did want to share about a recent trip to the thrift store. I spent a total of 54 cents - woo! I found a lovely vintage tin and a little book on weather facts (DK Pocket-Size Weather Facts, to be precise). The tin was priced at $1 and the book at $.50, and it really took me a while to figure out why I paid so little, but alas, the Wedgewood-y blue and white tin was disguising itself as a Christmas item, and those were all 75% off. The books are always half off as well, hence 25 cents each. Nice!

Where else can you go to get the shoppies out of your system for 54 cents? And I am always so thrilled to add to my collection of vintage tins. And books. Have you ever seen a homeschooling family's bookshelves? I mean, seriously folks, come on.

Merry, merry Christmas!

We Do Make Stuff Around Here

2010-07-24T19:45:00.000-07:00

Although there hasn't been a lot of blogging about it.

The most prolific of the crafters/sewists/refashioners in the house is The Fashionista. She has made several items since my last fashion/sewing related post, including, but not limited to, a patriotic blazer for Independence Day which altered my life view that Patriotic clothing could not be ultra fashionable, a cute top from a rainbow plaid 80s shirt, a skirt, another cute top, and pajama shorts for her sister. She is currently working on a button-down shirt from a 70s pattern and some shorts from the tiniest scrap of ticking.

Now me, I usually just cut off pant legs and hem them, and sometimes find it hard to do even that. I have more ideas than energy to make things, much less energy to blog about it. I did make a men's shirt refashion that I am pleased with, and made a very helpful modification to a pretty thrifted top. We'll try to get some photos on here soon for you.

Get Your Cuban On

2010-07-22T09:14:00.000-07:00

Guarapo (Juiced sugar cane)

One major reason that Mr. Big and I went to Florida was to touch base with our Cuban roots. Although I am half Cuban, I've been raised in a home where Cuban culture was not much more than "why my mom has an accent and speaks Spanish". Case in point: my sister (closest in age) and I thought that Mexican food was Cuban food because my mom cooks wonderful Mexican food. I did know tostones were Cuban, but that was about it.

Part of our education consisted of eating our way through as much Cuban food as physically possible. Upon landing, we ate Cuban food at La Carreta within Miami International Airport. We stayed in beautiful Naples, which is a completely different world than Miami, but still managed to eat breakfast at a terrific Cuban deli there most mornings.

But our forays into Miami were the most gastronomically memorable. One of the first things I noticed as we drove down Calle Ocho was this:

A Cuban fast food place, a Cuban fast food chain to be more precise.

Of course we didn't go in there. Fast food is never comparable to a carefully prepared meal, like those at the famous Versailles, where we lunched on incredible Cuban fare such as freshly made plantain chips with garlicky mojo sauce, lechón asado (roast pork) with a crispy fried pork skin proudly placed on top, arroz amarillo, some kind of beef stew with potatoes, and sweet fried plantains - yum.

Eating was half the fun!

For one thing, Cuban food is one of the most cost effective ways to sustain yourself on a vacation budget. Unless we shared plates, we rarely left a restaurant without leftovers to be enjoyed later.

One of my favorite experiences was after we had driven through beautiful Coral Gables. It had started to rain what I would call cats and dogs here in California, and some accident had slowed traffic to a state of molasses. Our little car tour was not quite what we had in mind at the moment, so when we spotted a Cuban deli, we jumped at the chance to escape the rain and take in some more "Cuba". Having only recently stuffed ourselves at Versailles, we ordered one Cuban sandwich and had it cut into thirds. The sandwich you see below is what all sandwiches want to be when they grow up.Roast pork and ham, Swiss cheese, pickles and mustard on Cuban bread, pressed and toasted on a plancha. I have got to try this at home, which means mastering Cuban bread.

Anyway, I spied one of the workers shoving a raw sugar cane into a big machine and saw a glass of chartreuse liquid come out of the bottom, and I knew I had to try one of those (shown in the top image). This may well be my favorite taste of the trip. The juice of a raw sugar cane is known as guarapo.

It was sweet, as you would expect, but not much sweeter, in my opinion, than, say pineapple juice. It was a refreshing and delicious drink, one I long to have again. Alas, unless my mom's Vitamix can handle the job and I can find some sugar cane here in Central California, guarapo will remain a savored memory. I keep thinking of how good it would be with a squirt of lime and a little club soda added.

The last wonderful place we ate at was on our way to the Keys. After the Everglades became Miami and Tamiami Trail became 8th Street, we spied a busy bakery in a strip mall called La Sin Rival. We found a parking place as we contemplated what the name meant. This tiny shop was as busy as an In-n-Out joint at lunch hour (it's a California thing), but faster.
When I told my mom about our adventures with Cuban pastries, she said they were the best. I believe that. The sweet pastries shown above were divine. The concoction on the left is made up of thick layers of cream between crispy, flaky layers, and the cream oozed out the sides when you took a bite.

The savory pastries shown below were delectable. Our favorite was the chorizo squares. I don't quite know what to call these to hunt for something similar online. They were made in a big pan and consisted of a soft roll-type glazed bread with a chorizo filling that was spicy, but not hot, if that makes any sense. Don't mistake the chorizo Cubans use with the chorizo common to Mexican food. There is a world of difference between the two. Cubans use a Spanish chorizo that I don't think I can buy locally other than online.

La Sin Rival earned that name, and I'm so glad we stumbled onto it.

Clockwise from bottom left: spinach filled pastry, deep-fried picadillo filled potato pastry, and chorizo squares.

All I can say is Cuba is a taste sensation that I highly recommend. And Miami is a destination I would love to visit again and again.

Busy Times and More Busy Times

2010-07-13T07:47:00.000-07:00

First, a field trip to The Getty on a beautiful spring day. We could hardly draw ourselves away from this incredible place.
Left to right: Mr. Big, me, DQ Bakerette, and The Fashionista

And next on the agenda, a little trip to Florida for Mr. Big and me. Here we are taking the required Naples boat tour from Tin City, although not at sunset. Still a lovely and eye-opening trip.
Here's Mr. Big snorkeling in the Keys! On the boat back to land, I nearly cried thinking how all of this could be affected by the oil spill.
Mr. Big on the beach in Naples. We fell in love with Florida and would go again, or in my case - move, in a heartbeat.
And of course, everyone else was jealous. But what can I do? I take each blessing and opportunity as it comes. They will each have their chance.

A Boy, a Bag, and a Violin

2010-02-04T22:48:00.000-08:00

Dapper Dude had been asking for a messenger bag for too long.
I finished it on Christmas Eve.
Actually, it wasn't quite finished. I left the strap undone on one side to adjust it for him.

The denim came from a jumper dress and the ship-in-a-bottle fabric was from the great Mother's Day Yard Sale Haul of 2008. Already dirty, I see.
The thread doodling, that was the most fun part of all.
Just load up your thread and randomly stitch. I used my left hand to guide the fabric and my right to sporadically hit the reverse lever. Or I held the fabric with both hands and did some random zigging and zagging.
I used white, red, and light blue thread without ever changing the bobbin (that part hides in between layers anyway). I kept the thread going in a mostly horizontal direction and then added one diagonal. Look, it's already laden with dog hair.
This was a special request and a necessity for violin lessons - his multiple books were getting out of hand and unlike The Fashionista, his violin case is not equipped with a pocket.

Speaking of violin, Dapper Dude has been struggling to enjoy the work. I would love to put him in a semi-local homeschool choir program but it's just not possible right now. We're thankful just to be able to have these violin lessons.

Recently, a friend, another homeschooling mom with multiple violin students, asked me if I was interested in starting a small orchestra for the kids with a teacher who ran an entire public school music program for years. Well sure! We're going into out fourth practice and have five violin students ranging in level from second-year students to a young violinist who already play in the local symphony orchestra; and we also have one young pianist. I'm hoping this will be just the thing to spark a new love of violin in Dapper Dude. I can't wait till they play at a rest home. Or our church!

So, I Made a Sweater

2010-02-02T13:10:00.000-08:00

Or shall I call it a pullover? I understand those across the pond associate the word sweater with sweat, which does make sense if you think about it.

Anyway, here 'tis:The yarn is recycled from a beige 80s alpaca crewneck, which I dyed using Koolaid (some green and blue with a tiny touch of red to tone it down).

This was a painful venture. First of all, having the chest I do, I needed more space in the bust. Enter short row shaping. Well, then the pattern gets fiddled with and a little playing by ear happens.

Not to mention the fact that I liked my yarn knitted up in a different gauge than the one called for, so, beginner that I am, I did all the mathy stuff and basically rewrote the pattern to fit my gauge. Only, between the short rows and the rewritten pattern and the ear playing, I ended up with...

The Big Fuzzy

So I knitted an i-cord to thread through the empire waist, and that helped some, but the bodice was still too big, too long, and it made everything droop. I don't have to tell you that I was not going for droopy.

I took out the i-cord, used it to lace up the back and take in the overall circumference, took it out; then I picked out the stitches in the shoulder seams and took in a good inch or so from the neckline. I rethreaded the i-cord about an inch higher than I originally had it, and these pictures are the end result.

What a learning experience! I didn't change the sleeves one bit. The pattern called for bell sleeves, but I closed them up again at the bottom and added an attached i-cord.

Pattern: Hanna from Cocoknits
I love this pattern and will probably make it again for The Fashionista (I haven't told you about realizing I had the wrong gauge when I was all the way up to the shoulders and seeing the thing fit The Fashionista perfectly! Talk about demoralizing! I also haven't mentioned my funky looking short rows, but alas, this is not an epic).

A Suzville Update? Really??

2010-01-19T09:26:00.000-08:00

In light of my long hiatus, it is apparent that I have problems managing homeschooling, doing the things I love, and blogging it. I admire those who can do it all, I have a hard time with my hobbies after homeschooling and cooking. So much has happened since my last post!

After Hoss died, we brought home his six year old mama, Chloe.
Then we got a rescue dog, a puppy that we named Pepper, high energy border collie mix with a dominant tendency.
I finished my first sweater for me, using recycled alpaca yarn from a thrifted 80s sweater that I dyed with Koolaid. Because of my proportions, patterns have to be modified, so I am not totally happy with the fit.
I made a sweater for DQ Bakerette, again, recycled wool from a thrifted sweater, though the beautiful marled blue/cream color needed no enhancing.
The Fashionista knit a cardigan for herself (from a recycled sweater in a gorgeous green), along with a hat for herself, and a hat/scarf combo for a friend, wrist warmers for her sister, and I don't even know if I remember everything she made.
I finally made a messenger bag for Dapper Dude, using a dark denim jumper dress and stash fabric. I doodled with thread for the flap design and it turned out fantastic! Now he has a stylin' bag to carry all of his violin books.
The Fashionista is working on a coat made from a thrifted wool blanket and has drafted her own pants pattern using instructions from Weekend Designer. I know!
I made a wrap cardigan from a tutorial online this weekend. I have to finish the serged ends and steam the funky sleeves. It's been an experiment, but it's wearable, and I'm happy with it!
We became board members of our local homeschool group.
My computer caught something and had to be restored, which is how I spent this weekend. I now have some 10 different programs to scan for viruses, malware, and any other -ware there is, plus a new firewall. Of course I don't run them all at the same time, but people, please make sure your programs are up to date and working. My assumptions got me in trouble (seeing my anti-virus program tell me every single morning that the virus database was up to date was not enough).
We borrowed the Dog Whisperer DVDs from the library and watched many, many episodes. As a result, I am walking daily, with Chloe and sometimes Pepper, which is awesome because I really needed to get back into that.
On one particular walk (yesterday's), I got caught in the rain, unprepared. I had taken Dapper Dude and Nature Girl along with the two dogs. The sky was gorgeous, sunny, with a lovely breeze - something we hadn't seen in a while. We'd had a break in the rain and I thought a short walk would do us some good. Well, that breeze brought another rainstorm, just when we were far enough out that we would get wetter trying to get home than trying to wait it out crouched down on the side of someone's fence. Thankfully I had my mobile phone and we got a ride. It just so happened that the sun came back out right about the time we got home, all completely drenched.

So there you have my updates. I'll try to get pictures of our accomplishments and links to all the instructions for you soon, but I'm making no promises.

Because I'm really supposed to be writing out assignments right now.

Now Playing in Suzville: Baba Ganoush Hummus

2009-10-26T22:49:00.000-07:00

I feel like raising my voice to the heavens... in a good way! I had Baba Ganoush in mind while gleaning eggplant from my friend's garden, and it was a hit.

A Can You Buy Eggplant At The Store And Make This Again Mom hit!

Whoa there, did I hear that right?

So here's how it went down: Some time last week, whilst the young kiddos were watching their favorite after-homeschool TV show, Little House on the Prairie, I roasted me some eggplant. Some were white and bulbous and some were Chinese eggplant, or long purple numbers. I had two cookie sheets full because I needed to get them done and put away.

When they were soft (the skinny ones were done quicker), I left them out to cool (this is only a quick meal if you do the roasting part a day ahead), then scraped the skin off, or scraped the flesh out, whichever worked. It was easier to peel the big white ones and scrape the flesh out of the skinny ones. Next time I am definitely peeling before roasting, I'm not 100% positive, but I think that will work much better. I cut them as I went along and tossed them into a bowl, which I then covered and left in the fridge.

Till Sunday.

I actually wanted to do this prior to Sunday, but things work out how they work out. I had picked up some whole wheat pita bread and cut it up for chips, another two cookie sheets full, and checked the internet again for the perfect recipe.

For Baba Ganoush. Now, I had also picked up a can of garbanzo beans to make some hummus along with the eggplant dip (for protein, so we could have it for lunch). Then I found this recipe on About.com. This would be the same recipe that I passed over in the search results because it had the word vegan in the title. Turns out, it is a combination of Baba Ganoush and Hummus. Well hmm, let's try that instead!

It was perfect! Garlicky, lemony, creamy. Easy with my pre-roasted eggplant (I used half) and my hand blender. I didn't bother chopping the peeled garlic or parsley, just threw it in and viola!

The recipe called for olive oil, but I used coconut oil (unflavored because that's what I had, though I think the mild flavor of virgin coconut oil will go very well), and I think being generous with the oil really made the texture wonderful.

When all was done I yelled, "Okay kids, here's lunch, and you have to load up on the dip because we don't have that many pita chips!"

You should have seen them hover and devour. It was a wonderful, super-cheap lunch (which would be even cheaper with home cooked garbanzos and pitas).

The funniest thing is that the biggest fan is Dapper Dude, who has been known to turn up his nose at Ranch dip!

I must admit that I did get one complaint - from Dapper Dude. When asking for seconds, he asked for some dip with "no big pieces of parsley" in it. I apparently need to be more careful about removing stems.

Baba Ganoush Hummus:

1 cookie sheet full of small eggplants, or 1 large eggplant
1 can chickpeas, drained (garbanzo beans)
3 cloves garlic
1/4 cup lemon juice
3 tbsp tahini
dash sea salt
1/4 to 1/3 cup coconut oil
2 tbsp fresh chopped parsley (optional)

Preparation:

If using smaller eggplant, prick with fork and roast as is. For large eggplant, slice in half, and roast in 400 degree oven for approximately 45 minutes, or until soft.

Allow to cool slightly, then scoop out inside of eggplant, leaving skin behind.

In a blender or food processor, combine eggplant and remaining ingredients, except oil and parsley, until smooth. Mixture will be somewhat thick. Slowly incorporate olive oil until well mixed. Mix in chopped parsley by hand. Serves eight.

Enjoy with veggies, pita, or as a sandwich spread.

Yum!

My Fowl Broth Story

2009-10-11T20:34:00.000-07:00

Looking for an alternative to MSG laden broths, I began making broth on a regular basis. I also began making turkey broth from carcasses after Thanksgiving and Christmas (including begging the ones from the big family gatherings).

We are a fairly large family, and generally, one chicken just doesn't cut it. So my favorite thing to do now is buy four chickens at a time, cut out the breasts and quarters, and use the rest for broth.

I never make broth on the stove anymore unless it is for a special chicken soup recipe that I have. We have an electric roaster, so making broth could not be easier. I just throw all the chickens in the roaster, add veggies, vinegar, and peppercorns, and water of course, and turn it on. Usually I leave it overnight because it is just easier than cutting up four chickens, grilling part of them for one meal, and then going through the broth all in one day. I usually start my broth at 350 and turn it down to 250 overnight.

Sometimes we keep the roaster in the garage, too, so it's not in the way.

Can you imagine how wonderful the house smells in the morning? Ahh.

It can get tricky if the roaster is in the garage. I just do some of the straining out there and then get the big, strong man in the house to carry the roaster for me.

Anyway, after cooling it a bit, I strain it, remove bones and veggies, and sort the meat. I usually get 3 1/2 to 4 cups of meat out of this process, enough for a recipe of gumbo.

This is another post for the October Fest Carnival of Super Foods at Kitchen Stewarship.

Chicken or Turkey Gumbo

2009-10-11T19:35:00.001-07:00

This recipe is for the October Fest Carnival of Super Foods over at Kitchen Stewardship. Head on over for more terrific-for-you foods featuring homemade broths!

I make broth on a regular basis, and one of my favorite ways to use it now is in gumbo. Several years ago, my husband bought Louisiana Real and Rustic by Emeril Lagasse, which has many terrific gumbo recipes in it. As with other things that seem scary to try, he made gumbo first, and then I took over. Now we have gumbo often when I make chicken broth, and each time I make turkey broth. The recipes that I make are identical except for the bird.

I always improvise, and wrote down exactly what I did this last time because it turned out very well. A couple of notes: I used white flour but plan on trying whole wheat. I don't know how sprouted flour would work, or soaked flour since it needs to be dry for the roux. However, a quick search showed a chia flour that looks promising, from a brand called Nuchia.

1 cup chicken fat (or ghee, coconut oil, etc.)

1 cup flour

2 medium onions, diced

2 green bell peppers, diced

4 stalks celery, diced

1 lb. Smoked sausage such as kielbasa or andouille, sliced (you can skip this and increase the chicken, or use some of the excellent quality sausages out there)

1 ½ tsp salt

½ tsp cayenne

1 large, fresh bay leaf

8 cups homemade chicken broth

3 ½ - 4 cups cooked chicken, deboned and diced

¼ to ½ tsp Old Bay seasoning

2 Tbs. chopped parsley

½ cup chopped green onion

Filé powder to taste

Combine the grease and flour in a large cast-iron Dutch oven over medium heat. Stirring slowly and constantly for 20 to 25 minutes, make a dark brown roux, the color of chocolate.

Add the onion, peppers, and celery, and continue to stir 5 minutes, or until wilted. Add the sausage, salt, cayenne, and bay leaf. Continue to stir for another 5 minutes. Add the broth, stirring until the roux mixture and liquid are well combined. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium-low. Cook, uncovered, stirring occasionally, for 45 minutes.

If desired, skim off any fat that rises to the top.

Add the cooked chicken and Old Bay. Simmer for 10 minutes, then stir in the parsley and green onions.

Serve over rice, adding file powder as desired.

8 servings (this is what the recipe said but we got enough for almost everyone to have it the next day, nearly 14 servings. If you don't use rice, you'll have fewer servings.)

The roux process makes a wonderful, dark sauce.

Our Beautiful Hoss

2009-09-05T09:05:00.000-07:00

Our precious Hoss is gone, in the permanent sense.

He wasn't even two years old.

It first started with some tremors. The first time you see something like that, you think, "did he eat some toad or something?" We took him to the vet. Testing showed some elevated something in his liver. Didn't look life threatening, so back home, it was.

All was well for a few months, and then more tremors. Another trip to the vet revealed badly infected ears and thyroid problems, for which he was to be medicated for the rest of his life. The vet told us that the thyroid issues could cause the ear infections and tremors. Okay, so we're good, it's not horribly serious. We went home and began the cleaning/medicating regimen for those velvet ears. Boy, he did not like that, but after a few days he was getting used to it. The Fashionista would plop down by him and he knew exactly what was coming. We all got a kick out of the face he'd make.

The ear-cleaning face.

The ear cleaning routine continued for a couple of weeks, and suddenly, one Saturday, Hoss couldn't pee. Nature Girl was the first to notice early in the day, so we kept an eye on him, and sure enough, he would squat (due to the neutering, of course), but no action. We called the emergency vet who said if left like this he'd be gone in 72 hours. Off to the vet he went.

An x-ray revealed a bladder full of stones.

So the operating began. His bladder was cleaned out, flushed of hundreds of stones, but there were stones stuck in his urethra. As I understand it, they had put a catheter in, but he had pulled it out and they could not replace it. Someone from the vet's office called us after two in the morning to let us know they couldn't do anything more there, that Hoss needed to see a specialist from Los Angeles or Sacramento, and were just waiting to see what we wanted. My mother-in-law took that call and got me up at around seven to let me know (of course we couldn't afford that) and ask me to make the call that would sign his death warrant.

We always thought he looked silly while sitting.

I called. The gal I spoke to said they were able to get the catheter back in and he was "doing okay right now", and that they just wanted to wait and see what happened. Whoosh! After that roller coaster of a phone call, we were able to get in touch with our regular vet, who said he had performed the required operation and would do it the next morning. What a relief that was!

Hoss spent the next 24 hours with a catheter, and we missed our velvety family member. The next morning, my in-laws and The Fashionista picked him up from the emergency vet and drove him to the regular vet. This was Monday. Hoss came home Tuesday, exhausted and wearing the dreaded cone of shame. But he was home.

We stayed up with him, making sure he didn't tear open his stitches with his cone, holding his bowl up so he could eat and drink, placing sheets all over the house to catch the bleeding, cheering when he peed.

Hoss was a wonderful greeter!

He began to lose interest in his food. We thought he was being picky. He threw up, and the vet said to change his diet to reduce the fat as much as possible. Hoss lost interest even more. When he wouldn't eat anything and we had to get his medicine down, we gave it to him in cheese.

The next morning, another Saturday, he was miserable. He couldn't go to the bathroom, though he tried and tried. His tail was between his legs, and his hind-quarters were quivering. Thankfully, we caught the regular vet who told us to bring him in right away.

His first day with us; he had just passed his Cottonelle stage.

There's a point where you just know. It was dawning on me. The tail told the story. He wouldn't get out of the car and we had to get the vet's assistants to help us (two weak ladies). They brought out a stretcher and hauled Hoss out of the car. They didn't end up using the stretcher, but I wish they had, because one of the last times I saw him, Hoss was being tugged (gently, of course) across a parking lot, tail between his legs, when he wanted nothing more than to curl up and go to sleep.

The vet took his temp, said they needed to keep him, and so we went home.

The vet called later that day and said Hoss had some sort of infection that had gotten in his blood, but they were treating him. He sounded positive. So we waited.

Just a completely random, silly face.

Sunday, around dinnertime, my mother-in-law took a phone call. I was at the computer; the kids, watching something on TV. My husband, who had been in the kitchen, came and whispered in my ear that Hoss didn't make it. They really weren't sure why because he was being treated for the infection.

We decided to wait until Mr. Big got home from work to tell the kids. There was one tense moment at dinner when we were asked by The Fashionista if we'd heard anything about Hoss. I said something lame about it being Sunday. I wondered if she noticed the eye-flicks that Dad and I shot to eachother.

So regal, yet so silly at the same time.

Telling the kids was the most painful thing we've ever had to do. Thankfully, Dad took the lead. There were a lot of tears. Dad said that God had picked exactly the right family for Hoss, because he had gotten enough love from our big family to last a dog's full, normal lifespan.

Hoss was always extremely tolerant.

And that's it really, God knew the perfect dog for us, and the perfect family for Hoss. The craziness that was acquiring him was all a part of His plan for this beautiful beast who had a short life ahead of him.

Even with all the sadness, I'm so glad he left his footprints on our family.

Notes:

We live with my in-laws, and Hoss had chosen my mother-in-law as his alpha master. They decided to pay for the operation. If it had only been us, we would never have been able to do anything of the sort.
Since the vet doesn't know and it was never fully resolved, we think that there was an underlying liver problem that eventually caused the rest of the problems.
Our oldest son was 16 when we got Hoss. This was the children's first dog.
Let your kids take a gazillion pictures of the dog. And videos. It is a digital camera after all. We're so glad we have them.
He was probably going to lose it, but Hoss had the softest fur on his head and ears, just like velvet, so I called him "Velvet Head".

The Corncake Experiment

2009-08-24T19:53:00.000-07:00

DQ Bakerette has picked up a habit or two from her mom. She has begun to photograph her food. Sometime last week she asked me my opinion on simple corncakes. She's been influenced by Little House on the Prairie, you see. She is quite able enough to make things by herself, so she began her experiment. I didn't happen to be around while this was going on. I discovered these pictures when I uploaded the most recent batch of photos to the computer.

This was to be a simple batter or cornmeal with either water or milk, maybe a little salt.
It looks like they turned out nice and golden.
Ah, the tester, spreading homemade pluot jam:
Get ready:
Wait for it...

Wait for it...

Somehow, I don't think that was quite the look she was trying to capture.

To be fair, he finished his serving, and looks rather pleased with his food in this next photo.

I wonder if we'll see these again anytime soon.

Lasagna, The Long Way

2009-08-22T15:08:00.000-07:00

If I've seemed a bit AWOL lately, it is because it's harvest season. Not only do I have a freezer full of pluots that I need to make into jam, but I had tomatoes in every other crevice in both freezers. The tomatoes went directly from the garden into the freezer, no stop in the kitchen, no bag, nothing. When I had had enough (literally), I took them out and removed the skin using the boiling water/ice water method. That and plenty of help from The Fashionista and DQ Bakerette. We had a huge pile.

I must stop and tell you that when I make spaghetti, I normally use a #10 can of tomatoes. This lasts us for two or three meals with leftovers.

So anyway, we had this enormous pile of tomatoes, which the girls and I cut up and tried to squeeze. It was quite the task with frozen tomatoes. In the end, we put the tomatoes in warm water and pulled each one out to cut the tops off of. That worked well to keep the frostbite away from our fingers.

I then threw all the tomatoes into the electric roaster out in the garage. They almost didn't fit. I turned the roaster to 350 to get it going, then turned it down about an hour later. I left those babies in the roaster until bedtime, when I remembered them! It was fairly easy to take them out and strain them. This time I didn't save the strained juice. I prefer the fresh juice which is wonderful in soups.

I put the tomatoes in the refrigerator and left them there for a day or two. They were very thick already and the amount was more than a #10 can of tomatoes.

When I finally decided it was time to make sauce, I took out the tomatoes and added all of my "stuff" (fresh basil, oregano, red wine, salt, pepper, sugar, and then browned ground beef with garlic, onions, and more salt and pepper). I let this cook for a few hours on low, and we enjoyed spaghetti that night. Yum.

Part of the leftovers went in the freezer, and when The Fashionista took that out, it was to make lasagna - in the crock pot. Oh my.

I love lasagna in the crock pot. You don't have to cook the noodles. Heck, you don't even need a recipe. Just mix your favorite fillings for the white part (we like ricotta, Parmesan, and mozzarella with spinach), and then layer from the bottom; sauce, noodles, cheese mix, and sauce. Top with mozzarella or a combination of mozzarella with Parmesan. If your sauce is thick, add 1/2 cup or so of water. We cooked ours for 3 hours on high.

Excellent served with fresh garlic and basil butter on French bread.
Yes, I know there should be a salad there. We were tired. This is no short-cut lasagna, although you can certainly use this same method with a jar of your favorite sauce.

The Missing Sewing Phase and Free Patterns

2009-08-21T20:36:00.001-07:00

I seem to have slipped out of my sewing phase. It might have something to do with being thrown into my harvest phase. It also has something to do with starting school which we did at the beginning of the month.

The Fashionista made some really, really cool shorts for DQ Bakerette's birthday. Actually, they started out as shorts for her, that turned out too small. She has some odd issue with modifying patterns - she's had a couple turn out small. She'll learn though. In the meantime, DQ Bakerette will enjoy her mistake, while The Fashionista will feel sad every time she sees said shorts on her sister. The shorts are all wrapped up waiting for DQ's return. I'll have a post forthcoming with her handmade gifties.

In the meantime, you have until Thursday, August 25 to download patterns from the Commercial Pattern Archive for free! Just go here, sign in using "guest" as the login and "pattern" as the password, then click on search and go crazy. These are not full-sized patterns, but if you can transfer to scale you can use them. Even if you are just starting out with pattern modifying and drafting, save the patterns you really like and maybe you can use them later.

Now I'm off to have cake and ice cream, and a good time with family!

Obama Supports Offshore Drilling?

2009-08-20T21:29:00.000-07:00

Oh, in South America.

I was under the impression that President Obama wanted to limit the use of fossil fuels. Isn't that what cap-n-trade was all about?

The U.S. is going to lend billions of dollars to Brazil's state-owned oil company, Petrobras, to finance exploration of the huge offshore discovery in Brazil's Tupi oil field in the Santos Basin near Rio de Janeiro. Brazil's planning minister confirmed that White House National Security Adviser James Jones met this month with Brazilian officials to talk about the loan.

The U.S. Export-Import Bank tells us it has issued a "preliminary commitment" letter to Petrobras in the amount of $2 billion and has discussed with Brazil the possibility of increasing that amount. Ex-Im Bank says it has not decided whether the money will come in the form of a direct loan or loan guarantees. Either way, this corporate foreign aid may strike some readers as odd, given that the U.S. Treasury seems desperate for cash and Petrobras is one of the largest corporations in the Americas.

Huh? How can Obama insist that we reduce our consumption of fossil fuels and then turn around and financially support Brazil in its endeavors to acquire more of them?

Well gee, I see big time Obama supporter George Soros has his hands in this cookie jar. Looks like one big back-scratching circle.

So, does this mean Obama is for fossil fuels, or against?

Hope and Change? Transparency? Really.

From Hot Air

Life is Hard

2009-08-08T19:51:00.000-07:00

with DQ Bakerette around. I mean, look at all these baked goods! Pita bread, French Baguettes,
Victorian Milk Bread,

And let's not forget those award winning Cream Cheese Brownies:
And people ask me how I manage with five kids.

Well duh, their mouths are always full.

More Art

2009-08-06T10:43:00.000-07:00

by The Fashoinista. This one inspired by Escher:
This is a family favorite. I love how she captured the curiosity:

Ah yes, "Will Work for Food". Hoss doesn't like to move too much, unless something edible is involved.

Cornmeal Pancakes

2009-08-04T09:26:00.000-07:00

This is Mr. Big's favorite pancake recipe.
Cornmeal Pancakes

1 cup cornmeal
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup chopped nuts
1 cup flour
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp. baking soda
2 eggs
1/4 cup oil
2 cups sour milk or buttermilk

Mix the dry ingredients together. Beat eggs with oil and milk, and combine all the ingredients. Cook on a hot griddle to the desired size.

Note, if you use sour milk, the batter will be runnier. The cornmeal likes to settle, so I give it a little stir with each dip into the batter.

Dad's Shorts to The Fashionista's Shorts

2009-08-03T17:07:00.000-07:00

If I don't post this refashion as-is, I'm never going to get it done. Maybe knowing this will go public will encourage The Fashionista to get some good after pictures!

Dad lost weight and I gave his old Polo shorts to The Fashionista, plaid lover that she is.She took them apart, like so:
And decided to use the pocket lining and label as accents...
Now isn't that cute?
This is not a great picture, but it's the only "After" I have, ratty t-shirt, Converse boots, and all.
The Fashionista loves making shorts, and I love how she just dives in. I am afraid of failure, but she is not. Hence, The Fashionista has a few more pairs of home-sewn shorts than I do. She also has some "failures". These shorts turned out too tight, and progress was stalled. What you can't see is the black tuxedo stripe going down the side.

A pair in the works has also turned out tight. The great thing about having little sisters is that when you make your shorts too tight, you can pretend you are making them for your sister.

The Fashionista's Art

2009-08-02T18:32:00.000-07:00

She took pictures of her art for her Facebook friends, so I snagged some for my blog!This is one of my favorites, copied from a Da Vinci book. This is only a portion of the actual Da Vinci drawing, the drape of the fabric captured her eye.

He's in Love

2009-07-30T08:52:00.000-07:00

We caught Dapper Dude studying the instruction manual:I can hardly blame him, I'm in love, too. This is my new sewing machine, the Domestic Rotary Series 153.
She purrs beautifully, though she didn't come with any bobbins and finding them has been a bit tricky.

I hereby dub her Effie, after my late, sweet grandmother.

And yes, we tried her out and the first attachment he wanted me to use was the ruffler thing and the first thing I did was break a needle! I think we'll wait to use that one again.

Camo Shirt Jacket to Messenger Bag

2009-07-28T12:11:00.000-07:00

The Fashionista decided that she needed a messenger bag. She had seen this done months ago in Free-Style Handmade Bags & Skirts, and had picked up a camouflage jacket for this very purpose, but it wasn't until last week that she gave it a go.

Have I mentioned that The Fashionista often does not use patterns? She looked at the pattern in Free-Style Handmade Bags & Skirts back when we had the book (from the library), but she didn't use one when she made this.
I've been thinking about making a messenger bag, too, for Dapper Dude to carry his violin books in, since they keep multiplying. But of course, The Fashionista beat me to it.

Pound Cake with Warmed Pluot Jam

2009-07-27T10:26:00.000-07:00

And fresh whipped cream:After spending the weekend making pluot jam and spaghetti sauce from fresh tomatoes, this is the dessert that sounded good.

DQ Bakerette did the baking, of course.

Jam Session: Pluot Jam

2009-07-26T21:32:00.000-07:00

My friend has a pluot orchard, and aside from selling the sweet, juicy, and organic fruit for just $1 a pound, she lets our family pick fruit that has been ruined in some way or another for no charge. We use this to make our pluot jam, a portion of which will, of course, go to my friend.We had enough for three recipes, and since you can't double jam recipes, we did this assembly-line style. I used this recipe, which is nearly identical to the Sure-Jell recipe for plum jam, but followed the Sure-Jell method. Our fruit never comes whole and perfect. It got a little tricky trying to figure out exactly how much prepared fruit to use. In the end, I used 8 cups of prepared fruit per recipe, and it worked well. *See note 1

I also used less sugar than called for. Oooo, I know, scary. Pluots are very sweet though. I ended up making one recipe with 1 cup less sugar, one recipe with 1/2 cup less sugar, and one recipe with full sugar, all using the lower sugar Sure-Jell. *See note 2
On the second and third batches I forgot to add butter and forgot to skim the foam. Didn't seem to make much difference.
I put all of the extra jam in a jar to use immediately, and in the end it filled the jar completely.
I am so thankful to be able to make our jam and avoid all the corn syrup found in almost everything at the grocery store!

*1 The Sure-Jell recipe called for 3 1/2 pounds of whole fruit, or 6 1/2 cups of cooked fruit. The recipe in the link called for 3 - 3 1/2 pounds of fruit, or 3-4 cups of prepared fruit. Obviously, there was a mistake. Because we don't use whole, perfect fruit, it was a bit tricky figuring out which to follow. Since both recipes started with very similar amounts of whole fruit, and since 3 - 4 cups of prepared fruit cannot cook "down" to 6 1/2 cups, we realized the Sure-Jell recipe was correct. 8 cups of prepared fruit cooked down to 6 1/2 cups perfectly.

*2 One of my batches was kind of runny, but it wasn't the one with the least amount of sugar. It was the second batch, when I cooked 8 cups of fruit but chose not to measure the cooked fruit before adding the pectin and sugar. It is important to measure the cooked fruit, also. However, my kids like runny jam, and we used it in a dessert the next day.

This time I wrote down what I did and will repeat next year, using 8 cups of prepared fruit and 3 1/2 cups of sugar with the lower sugar Sure-Jell, and measuring the cooked fruit prior to adding the pectin and sugar.

Gray Shorts

2009-07-18T10:07:00.000-07:00

These are some shorts that The Fashionista made using thrifted gray herringbone tweedy cotton fabric and white piping. She modified the pattern for the pleats. I believe this is the built by Wendy pants pattern.

I just love the white piping! What a fun little detail.

Food at the Fair

2009-07-16T07:10:00.000-07:00

DQ Bakerette scored big at the fair with her brownie recipe! First place in the butter contest! We are so proud of her, this is her first time entering food in the fair. Less than six months ago she was afraid to take hot pans out of the oven by herself, and look at her now!

The itty bitty picture below was just so blurry, but it was one of my favorites. Left to right: Grandma, DQ Bakerette, and The Fashionista. Her other grandparents were there to celebrate with us, too. We all had a hard time figuring out what that glass thing was! Of course, it's just a modern platter for her creations, but in a pinch it can be used as a magnifying glass or a light box.
The prize? 30 pounds of butter! We do all of our baking with butter; that's why I've encouraged my girls to enter the butter contest the past two years. The Fashionista got second place and scored 20 pounds of butter last year.

Great job DQ!

New Header, Again

2009-07-15T12:38:00.000-07:00

Please forgive me while I play around with my photos and make fun graphics. I'll probably change the header a few times. That one up there now is a five minute header. I'm learning all sorts of cool techniques for Photoshop Elements, and today I learned how to blend images, such as the blue texture on the font, and the different colors on the architectural designs. And seriously, it took me all of five minutes.

Open a door like that and you're Alice in a Wonderland of graphic potential.

Clipping Paths Tutorial (I'm thrilled to learn this because I didn't think you could do this with Elements)
Free blue texture from Bittbox
Background for architectural brush found here
Botched Ornaments brush found here
Sidewalk font

Happy Birthday Mr. Big

2009-07-12T17:16:00.000-07:00

He's officially an adult now.Working heavy summer hours, helping with Vacation Bible School all this week, his friends over for a party - it was hard to snatch a minute to do the whole candles-and-gifts thing. This was his lunch hour.

It's nice to get some photos of real smiles, and not some goofy look or potential gang symbols! (not that he is associated with that type of crowd, but when he does anything with his hands, I cringe and think, "some gang somewhere uses that as their secret symbol!")

Oreo Cream Pie, his favorite:
I'm quite sure this is the recipe, but DQ Bakerette and Grandma made it, not me.

Giving his grandma Eskimo Kisses is a very cool thing indeed. I think he got his grandma's nose!

It was a nice 40 minutes!

Yes, happy birthday Mr. Big. This is one you'll remember all your life.

Dude, I've got an 18 year old son!

Breakfast of Champions

2009-07-11T09:06:00.000-07:00

Or at least 18 year olds. Mr. Big is officially an adult, and this was his breakfast choice.
Fresh Berry Pluot Cobbler from this wonderful website, with fresh whipped cream.
Berries (blackberries, red raspberries, and white raspberries) and pluots picked this morning.

It was good, and it better have been. I practically had to climb inside an angry blackberry bush to get those plump last-of-the-season berries.

Chocolate Cherry Tomatoes

2009-07-10T16:50:00.000-07:00

Because they're just so purdy:
These are Chocolate Cherry Tomatoes, a little darker than your typical cherries, and with an intense, sweet tomato flavor. These are our new favorites.

DQ Bakerette could eat this whole bowl by herself. I think she was born eating veggies.They are wonderful sliced in half and dressed with olive oil, sea salt, and freshly ground pepper.

Wallet Numero Uno

2009-07-10T14:16:00.000-07:00

The Fashionista made a wallet. She's holding it closed because it lacks a fastener:Notice all the little pockets:
And the clear vinyl pocket:
Look at the cute little coin pocket:
Ooh, there's even a space for the little bank book:
And a long pocket:
Nope, no pattern.

Again.

Breakfast

2009-07-10T07:28:00.000-07:00

Dapple Dandy Pluots, Greek Yogurt, and Granola:

Dapple Dandy Pluots, otherwise known as Dinosaur Eggs, are a plum/apricot hybrid. The scale definitely tips on the plum side of the hybrid. I am fortunate to have a good friend with an orchard full of them...

All ripe, right now, calling me...

Because that one in the picture was the last one in the house.

Chocolate Zucchini Bread...and a Dog Story

2009-07-10T07:20:00.000-07:00

See this? Decadent, gooey, chocolatey zucchini bread. I think the point of this recipe is to hide the zukes, because you certainly can't tell they are in there. This is a great way to ~~shove~~ sneak some more veggies down your kids' throats. There is a little over 1 1/2 cups of zucchini in there.
If you make this in secret and serve it for breakfast, your kiddos will think they've suddenly appeared in the Promised Land.

We don't have too many problems with picky eaters because they know if they don't eat what is served for dinner at dinnertime, they'll eat what was served for dinner at breakfast the next morning. Dapper Dude is the pickiest eater, gentleman that he is. He prefers to take his time rather than save it for breakfast.

See this? This is Hoss. Cute, huh? Looky here, his ear is floating in his water. Oh, why is his water bowl in the other bowl you ask? He likes to tip it.

And look how dignified he is:

Here's Davy Crockett Hoss:

And Cowdog Hoss:

Oh, the cuteness. It can almost (but not quite) make you forgive him for this:

Sigh, at least DQ Bakerette and I made two.

Hoss highly recommends this recipe, by the way.

Art at the Fair

2009-07-09T13:37:00.000-07:00

It's that time again, time for the local county fair! The Fashionista was so excited to finally get a card in the mail that said she had won an award. You don't get one of those for any old ribbon, it has to be a "Best of" award. Tuesday evening we went to a "Meet the Artists" event, where The Fashionista won not one, but two awards! One each for Best of Show and Best of Division. She scored a $50 gift certificate to Michael's. Not too shabby!

When we get these back, I'll take better photos. For now, here is The Fashionista's drawing, Reflections:
DQ Bakerette's drawing, Lucky Duck:

Nature Girl's untitled landscape:

Dapper Dude's drawing, Old Car:DQ Bakerette also entered brownies in the butter contest, hoping to score 30, 20, or 10 pounds of butter; and some pistolets, which are like individual baguettes.

The Fashionista also entered items that she knitted for me; an entrelac scarf she made me for Christmas, and lace cuffs she made for my birthday. Now that I think of it, she should have entered her little monster, Olly.

We'll find out how they did later this week.

Speaking of artists, my mom has a blog now, Migdra's Fine Art. She is an accomplished oil painter. Yes, I know the name Migdra is odd. She thinks so, too. She's Cuban and her mom told her she named her after an American (I think). We've never been able to locate anyone else with that name, in America or anywhere else for that matter. Anyway, go visit; it is worth your time. We don't have many of her works up yet, but we're working on it.

Hanging Shoe Organizer

2009-07-08T08:04:00.000-07:00

Recently, The Fashionista went shopping in my room for fabric to make a shoe organizer to hang over the door of the bedroom that she shares with her sisters. That is the only space not utilized in their room, everything else is packed and organized up to the ceiling. Well, at least The Fashionista's stuff is organized up to the ceiling.

I don't have piles and piles of the gorgeous designer cottons, but I do have a large stash of fabric, some vintage, from a huge yard sale haul from Mother's Day weekend in 2008.

Since this wasn't a personal project, it was a good opportunity to use of some of the fabric oddments that I had but was less likely to use. This included some of that funky 70s fabric.The Fashionista chose several potentials, narrowed her choices down, and cut them out per the measurements she had taken of the door.She arranged them on out cutting table (oh, the luxury of this hand-me-down!) to find the most appealing layout and match the strips for the tops of each pocket without any duplicates.

Now here is where I exited, and didn't get pictures of her progress. She made some sort of pleats, and, I believe, stitched each row of pocket fabric together after finishing the tops of each pocket piece with the strips (I would call it binding but it was certainly not biased).

Then she pleated the bottoms of the pockets and added seam binding. She and stitched the pocket pieces to the base piece, both down the bottom of each row and then through the seams of each individual pocket, and again down 1/4 inch from both sides of each pocket seam.
After this was complete, she sewed binding around all four edges, and voila! In the photo below you can see the funky 70s fabric. I was surprised that it looked so nice, and you don't even notice that those pieces are different than the cotton unless you look closely.
After this last photo, The Fashionista added grommets to the upper corners, from a thrifted bag of various fasteners.

While hanging and filled with shoes, the middle sags, so we need to add grommets at the top where the left and middle pockets come together, and the middle and right pockets come together. I am having a hard time getting The Fashionista to give up two more of her grommets!

I'm thinking next time we'll use a dowel to distribute the weight more evenly.

This project came together rather quickly, but only because it was The Fashionista. If it were me, I would have consulted the internet for a pattern, and then hemmed and hawed about what fabric to use, and then worried I would do it wrong for a while before attempting the challenge. She just jumps right on in to the deep end - never even looked at a pattern.

Good thing for us, because we now have a proper shoe organizer!

Hmm, my own bedroom door is empty...

This might come in handy in the bathroom, too...

Patriotic Purse

2009-07-06T16:00:00.000-07:00

Here are the pictures of The Fashionista's first handbag, made for Nature Girl's birthday:Complete with Tootsie Roll wrapper.

I think she should make some more, don't you?

Starting with one for me.

Actually, she has just made herself a wallet, and I can't get photos of her creations fast enough!

Honduras - This is not a Coup

2009-07-06T11:20:00.000-07:00

I can't keep my mouth shut.

The Obama administration has signaled its support for democracy in Latin America by condemning the coup in Honduras, reducing military cooperation and joining with other countries in the hemisphere yesterday in a rare suspension of a nation from the Organization of American States.

Um, hello, WaPo, this is not a coup. I repeat, this is not a coup. Here is a letter from a well known Honduran Attorney:

On January 11th of the year 1982, a constituent assembly gave birth to a beautiful Constitution that was vaccinated against the diseases that historically have affected the region. The Honduran Constitution does not allow the reform of articles related to the form of government, the territory, the presidential term, the prohibition on presidential reelection and who can't become President in the subsequent term. It goes further and states that the alternation of the Presidency is mandatory and its violators incur in high treason.
The above is nice but it does not explain by itself how Zelaya was removed from the Presidency legally. Our constitution clearly lays out an impeachment process that must be followed to trial and convict a President that has violated the Law. But our Constitution also includes a single exception to this rule in article 239, which states that the President that violates the principle of alternation of the Presidency or simply proposes its reform, will immediately cease in the exercise of office. In other words, the simple act of proposing the reform removes ispo jure (by operation of law) a President from office. This may sound radical to many, but the truth is it's coherent with the geopolitical reality of Honduras; and on June 28 of 2009 it proved why.

Zelaya clearly violated the Constitution and incurred in high treason. There is vast evidence that support this, which was used by the Attorney General to get a court order to arrest Manuel Zelaya Rosales; a citizen that deposed himself from office when he committed the highest crime under our Constitution. The different court files and the Honduran Constitution are available through the hyperlinks at the bottom of this newsletter. I urge you to see these documents for yourself.

If you read the full letter, Bueso provides a link to the Honduran constitution (though, unfortunately, is it in Spanish).

Gee, you would think our own president would respect the constitution of another country, and the right of its citizens to uphold their own constitution, being that, you know, we have a constitution of our own.

My own mother came out of Cuba right before Castro took over. I know there are some people who think communism is some sort of utopia, but believe me when I say it is NOT. Those in my mother's family who did not escape before Castro took over would tell you that.

Yes, escape. That is what my mother did, and others in her family did not. If you have a different opinion about the nature of these dictatorial countries, I do apologize, but you are simply misinformed.

Unless of course, you have family members from those regions who are simply thrilled with their dictators and they tell you a different, shiny-happy story.

And what if President Obama tried to do what Zelaya tried to do?

Read this:

Take this hypothetical: imagine that Barack Obama announced that he was going to hold a referendum on legalizing a third term for himself. Imagine that even his attorney general, Eric Holder, advised him that it was illegal. Imagine that the Supreme Court ruled that holding the referendum was unconstitutional. In spite of that, let's imagine that Obama coerced the FEC into holding the referendum anyway. Then - let's further imagine -- we found out that Venezuelan strongman Chávez (who has pulled off a similar power grab in his own country) was financing the referendum. What should the Joint Chiefs do in such a case? And if they removed Obama from office, would they be destroying the Constitution or preserving it?

...at that point Barack Obama spoke out - to side with Zelaya, Chávez and dictatorship. Obama said he was "deeply concerned" about what was happening in Honduras and called upon that nation to "respect democratic norms."

Obama is on the same side as Chávez, Ortega and the Castro brothers.

The President of the greatest country in the world, a country that, though not perfect, upholds freedom for every individual in the world; yes, our very own President Obama has chosen to side with dictators. Do yourself a favor and read the whole thing.

Gosh, someone might just come to think that President Obama is just not a "Of the people, by the people, for the people" kind of guy.

For a wonderful detailed description of the events leading up to the butt-kicking of Zelaya, please read this account from someone who actually lives in the Honduras.

Emphasis in the quotes are mine.

Beet Greens

2009-07-05T23:11:00.000-07:00

Because they're just so purdy!raw

and cooked

I'd like to dye some yarn in these lovely colors.

A Bowtie!

2009-07-05T21:12:00.000-07:00

Today was Dapper Dude's birthday. He got his blog nickname because he loves to dress nicely, and the past few times he has gone to the thrift store with me, he made a beeline for the ties. He's wanted a bowtie for a long time, but I won't let him buy the nasty wedding bowties they have there. At some point I decided I would secretly buy one of the nasty wedding bowties and use the metal components and this pattern to make him his very own bowtie.

I really didn't know what fabric to use, having not found any silk that appealed to me. A while ago, I had picked up these very high waisted Leslie Fay shorts at the thrift store because I loved the seersucker plaid. Surfing the web, I came across this site, with the most adorable bowties I have ever seen, and I had found my inspiration.

Tada! It is nowhere near perfect, as that bumpy fabric is hard to turn.It is not tied perfectly, either. I do believe this is the first bowtying experience I have had, because even our wedding almost 19 years ago was more casual. The seersucker is not the easiest to tie, but we'll get the hang of it!

Anyway, that is one happy kid, who finally has his own bowtie. I have a feeling it will be one of many.

Weekly Sewing Update and a Giveaway

2009-06-27T20:50:00.001-07:00

There is not much to show for around here, although the sewing hasn't stopped. I made a pair of bloomers for myself, to wear under my summer skirts and avoid contact with the silky, sticky slip (I also made two slips, but more on that later). I am just finishing up crocheting the lace edge on one leg.

The Fashionista was making a cami from an old knit sheet - though I don't know the status on that one. A yard sale yesterday yielded sewing doo-dads, including 6 yards of floral calico for DQ Bakerette, of which she promptly cut a portion of and sewed into a dress like Nature Girl's, with some tutelege from Mom.

Other thrift store and yard sale finds include:

A package of brown waistband elastic (made in Italy for the fashion industry)
Zippers
Four sewing patterns
Perfectly fitting jeans for me (which I think I am going to cut off)
A knit top to refashion
Two wool sweaters to recycle and possibly dye
A bag of trims, includin pom-pom trim in two colors
One large bag full of clothes for the girls, both for refashion purposes and wearables
Assorted sized pom-poms and cat/fish fabric for Nature Girl

Okay, I have to add here that as I was writing this, all of a sudden I heard numerous people saying, "hhhellloo, haaaleujiah, hhhowww arre you?" I turned around and my husband and all five kids are sitting around the living room saying the line from KJ-52's Yo Bref Stank. The song is hhhilarious, but that was quite scary - it was like Night of the Living Dead with Bad Breath.

One of these days I am going to make an apron. I mean, how hard can it be? The problem is I want an apron that I have to buy a pattern for (and I am cheap) or figure out myself; and I want to make a specific type of apron for my mother-in-law before I make one for me. Add the fact that I am really good at putting these things off. I would be thrilled to win a gorgeous apron from Boojiboo, and that is a possibility with Grosgrain's Boojiboo Flirty Apron GUEST GIVEAWAY. Then I would only have to worry about one apron. You should enter to win one yourself, they are all so pretty and flirty!

So anyway, now I'm off to finish my bloomers!
Technorati blip: zqn2mgb8eu

Funny

2009-06-22T23:19:00.000-07:00

Mr. Big: "Blah, blah, blah metaphorically speaking blah"
Dapper Dude: "What?! A fork was speaking?!"

A Different Shirred Dress

2009-06-22T09:45:00.001-07:00

There are some fantastic shirred dress tutorials on the internet. An excellent video tutorial can be found at Threadbanger.

But I was going for a slightly different look. Last year I found a dress for myself at a yard sale. It had shirring above and below the bust, and this was the way I wanted Nature Girl's dress to look.Here's how I did it. Instead of a simple rectangle, I added height to the front as shown in the image below. This way, the front of the dress is on the fold and the seam runs down the back. The picture shows imaginary side seams. If you were using two separate rectangles you would place the higher section in the middle of the front piece.

First I finished the top edge, and then I began the shirring at 1/4" intervals for a few rows right along the edge. Then I had Nature Girl try on the dress and marked where I wanted the lower rows of shirring. Basically, I wanted gathering for an empire waist.You can see that the upper and lower rows of shirring are closer in the back than in the front.

Skirt Refashion

2009-06-22T09:13:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite things to do is find clothing that has gorgeous fabric, and enough of it to work with. It doesn't matter if it fits.

This skirt was made from a tiny designer skirt. It was way too small for me, but it was full and tea length. Slashing the thing was a difficult decision for me because of the label. I knew I could sell the skirt on eBay and make ten times what I paid for it - that is what I used to do as a business. In the end, this gorgeous cotton lawn won me over.I ran into problems because the skirt was made up of one front and two back pieces that were all the same size. My plan was to make a drawstring from the extra length, which I did, but then it became evident that I was either going to have to wear the skirt with the side seams in the front or have a lot more fullness in the back. This in addition to the fact that there was way much fabric anyway (unless I wanted a full skirt, which I didn't).

I thought about pleating it, but couldn't get over those side seams being in the front, and obviously couldn't have pleats only in the back. The solution was to take a chunk out of the center back and redo the drawstring. This was a very easy fix when I finally got around to doing it. Eventually I'd like to put in a zipper, but for now, I'm more than happy to wear it.

This skirt was the third in a series of recent skirt refashions. These are the other two:

This embroidered cotton lawn skirt was made from a dress. I used pleats to control the fullness and elastic for the waist.
And this one was also made from a too-small and tea length linen skirt. Being a-line, this was the easiest of the three skirts to deal with. It, too, has an elastic waist.

A Birthday

2009-06-21T22:59:00.000-07:00

Our sweet Nature Girl turned twelve today. Curls and sleep-overs, balloons and cheesecake, homemade pinatas and candy have ruled the past few days. That and a sewing marathon of sorts. The day contained a few handmade gifts.

First off was the dress we picked up a couple of weeks ago. I took in the sides just a teensy bit and added the green. She wanted it ready for church today and I practically finished it as she was going out the door.
Next, The Fashionista had secretly made this handbag for Nature Girl, and it was happily accepted. More photos to come soon.

DQ Bakerette spent the afternoon making a divine chocolate cheesecake. No, we didn't wait until it was perfectly chilled to eat it.
As evidenced in this photo of the gooey goodness:
And last, I've been promising a dress for her of this fabric for months, and I sewed up this quickie today:This fabric was part of a huge yard sale fabric haul from Mother's Day 2008. More on the dress (and my mods to the typical shirring) later.

Weekly Sewing Update

2009-06-19T21:20:00.001-07:00

The ballet rehearsal is over but the sewing is not. It's been a busy sewing week around here. The Fashionista is working on some shorts from Dad's old shorts to be blogged when complete. Nature Girl and Drama Queen Bakerette made gifts for a friend's birthday this week: The bunny is from Wee Wonderfuls. This was our first stuffed project, made almost entirely by Nature Girl. DQ Bakerette made a little pouch ala Bend the Rules Sewing (sadly, she was too rushed to photograph, but it is the one on the cover), and I have been shrinking my refashion pile:
This top was two sizes too big for me, and a baggy style that made it seem even bigger. I basically took the whole thing apart, shaved some off, put it back together, and then sewed up the sides. I love the fit and look now - not too low or too high at the neck, not too tight or too baggy. It was a great lesson in altering a raglan top with gathering, and I might even get up the courage to make one from scratch. Actually, what I really want is a sleeveless dress with this neckline (but widened) in a woven.

Linen Shorts Refashion

2009-06-11T17:52:00.000-07:00

A trip to the thrift shop a couple of weeks ago yielded some terrific linen/cotton pants; just a hint of pink and lightweight with a wonderful texture. Unfortunately, they were wide legged and I am short - not a good combination. Besides, summer here leaves one with a desire to wear shorts more than pants (although this summer here in the Central Valley of California has been unseasonably temperate, i.e., heavenly). This is one of my favorite refashions, and these are my new favorite shorts.

I've been thinking about this detail on the leg for a while now, and wanted to try it out. When I found these pants I knew they would be perfect because they are so lightweight. First, I cut off the pant legs, using a pair of favorite shorts as a guide. Next, I cut a curve in the outside of each pant leg.
I used the cut-off pant legs to make some bias strips and pinned a couple of these to the curve on the right side, then I sewed this with a narrow seam. I made a mistake here and cut the strips too short, thinking that would help reduce bulk with the hem. It only caused problems.
I folded the bias strips around and pinned in place,
and then topstitched along the edge.
Next, I put the bias strips along the bottom of each leg and attached them the same way as the other bias strips, leaving the ends long in the back side of the legs. This length was for a tab to attach a button to. With some extra fabric, I made tiny spaghetti strap loops. I sewed these into the end at the front of each leg. It was all very messy, as I realized at this point that I had made the mistake I mentioned earlier.
After the loops were attached (with barely enough room because of my mistake), I trimmed the ends, then turned the bias strips like before and topstitched them.
I sewed on a couple of vintage buttons and viola!
I love these so much! They go perfectly with the long black top I refashioned from a dress. I don't know if I'll end up doing this again, but if I do, I'll definitely know better next time.

Toile Jacket and Crochet Goodies

2009-06-08T14:06:00.001-07:00

While I love this jacket/blazer (can someone tell me when is a blazer not a jacket and vice versa?), the tailoring leaves much to be desired. It was my first attempt at a jacket, and my sewing skills are that great anyway. I made so many mistakes. I even ripped out the lining because it seemed to hamper the stretch of the cotton (and what is the point of using stretch cotton then, right?). Yes, it's a mess inside. It was a good learning experience, though. One I have yet to tackle again. I made this a couple of years ago, maybe three.

These pictures were taken back in February, before my oldest son bought me a new camera, and they sat on the old camera until today. That must have been when I made these crocheted goodies. My oldest daughter was just learning the intricacies of crocheted lace after being inspired by the book Romantic Style: Knits And Crochet to Wear or Display. Apparently I was inspired, too. I made one choker, secured with a vintage button, and one flower to wear as a pin.

Okay, I take that back, I just remembered that this is the first jacket I've made. I made an unlined jacket last year for my middle daughter. It was a loose boucle type of fabric, and I bound the seams with seam binding. That one turned out much better. And it didn't hurt that the texture of the fabric hid every last thread and crooked topstitching.

Shabby Apple Dress Giveaway

2009-06-05T10:10:00.000-07:00

Okay, another giveaway, another wonderful company. Shabby Apple has some absolutely gorgeous dresses! But gorgeous dresses abound today with all the great designers; what sets Shabby Apple apart? From what I read, their goal is to design clothing that covers. In other words, not too short or low cut. For someone like me, who is constantly looking for modest, yet stylish clothing, Shabby Apple has some truly wonderful designs.

I. love. this. store.

They also have adorable little girls' clothes and maternity, too.

Grosgrain, a blog I only recently discovered, is having a giveaway of a Marseilles Dress. Please do go visit and give yourself a chance to win!

I know what I want for my birthday.

Lilly Dress

2009-06-02T20:42:00.001-07:00

I made this dress around Easter and didn't get around to blogging it until today. There is piping along the neckline and armholes. The fabric is a lovely vintage sheet. It reminds me of the dresses on the Lilly Pulitzer website, at a fraction of the cost.
No, it wasn't the Easter dress, but only because I didn't finish it. I made her a skirt instead.

Sewing

2009-06-02T20:26:00.000-07:00

V is constantly sewing, and it has earned her a job! She's sewing costumes for a ballet recital coming up in a couple of weeks. She's very excited to make some money doing something she loves. Here are her latest projects for herself:
Above is the Marie skirt from Burdastyle. It's made with a portion of the motherload of yard sale fabric finds from Mother's Day last year, and trimmed with red ribbon.

We were really excited about these shorts. They are her dad's old shorts and she was on the way to making them her own, but, sadly, she realized they were too small. She is either going to add a stripe of fabric or make them smaller for a sister. I'm hoping for the latter. I love the way she used the label and pocket linings for detail!

Layers

2009-05-29T20:09:00.001-07:00

I just found out about a terrific giveaway over at Frugal Girls. Go there to leave a comment and you could win a $25 gift certificate from Layers Clothing! Layers has some great modest swimsuits and higher neckline/longer camis, as well as other cute tops. Definitely worth a look!

Hurry though, the giveaway ends at 3 pm EST on Wednesday, June 3.

Tri-tip Salad (Yu-hum)

2009-05-26T19:21:00.000-07:00

Does this not make you want to lick your screen?
Leftover tri-tip from Memorial Day, bleu cheese, red onions, tomatoes, croutons, Kraft Honey Dijon, and lettuce from our garden. Mmmm.

We were trying to mimic the Black and Bleu salad from Quiznos. The tri-tip takes this a giant step up from the restaurant version. Next time I'll try a balsamic vinaigrette - not all kids liked the Honey Dijon. We are trying to stay away from store bought dressings, but after cleaning the lettuce for an hour (five kids + two adults = a lot of lettuce to clean), I wasn't in the mood.

And we had a milestone tonight! Our youngest, N, ate and liked raw red onions. They all enjoyed the bleu cheese, too. I wasn't sure how that would go over.

For the longest time, I wouldn't touch bleu cheese. I mean, moldy cheese; come on. But one day my husband and I were at a fancy restaurant for our anniversary and ordered a tomato and onion salad. We didn't realize it came with bleu cheese. What was I going to do? I couldn't be a baby about it, so I ate it. And loved it.

Anakin's Uncle

2009-05-24T22:30:00.001-07:00

The conversation went something like this:
Upon watching Star Wars Episode One yet again -
Dad: "Hey, guess what? The kid who played Anakin as a boy, I knew his uncle in real life."
N: "How do you know him?"
Dad: "From when I used to work in Bakersfield."
N: "Was Anakin's uncle in the movie?"
Dad: "No, he wasn't in the movie. He was the actor's uncle in real life."
N: "What did he look like, did he have a beard? Was he old? What did he look like?"
Dad: "He's just a normal looking guy. He had blond hair and he was a younger guy. He kind of looked like a grown up version of the actor."

A couple of minutes later...
N: "Is this what he looked like?"
Meet Anakin's uncle.

The Mystery of the Muddy Pawprints

2009-05-09T09:25:00.001-07:00

Is not so much of a mystery.

The Evidence:

The Culprit:

He has discovered the kitchen counter. Two partial sticks of butter, one serving of Dutch Babies, one chicken quarter bone that I literally had to reach down his throat to retrieve...

Forget the trash can, he's goin' for the good stuff.

This is Hoss, the European Labrador Retriever.

Alabama Stitching

2009-05-07T19:50:00.000-07:00

More recycling from my daughter, Alabama Stitch Book style:

Bible Cover

She's at work on the second Bible cover, a commissioned project. Who knew just carrying a Bible to church would make a sale?
That blue fabric is an old Vacation Bible School t-shirt. If you find yourself with unwanted VBS shirts laying around, now you know what to do!

This last picture is my middle daughter's project, a dress from fabric she scored at a yard sale this past weekend:

I do have finished refashions, I just tend to not think of taking pictures when I should.

Refashion: Top to Cami

2009-05-05T22:00:00.000-07:00

My oldest daughter made it! I have been sewing lately but not doing any posting (as you can see). She is refashioning faster then I can keep up. She just finished another top not five minutes ago.

See Devil Dog there?

See the rain drops?

So anyway, it was a raglan with elastic through the whole neckline. She just cut off the sleeves, leaving only the elastic at the shoulders, and then took the sides in. I think she even left the edges raw.

Very nice, if I may say so myself.

Tea Partying

2009-04-16T12:57:00.000-07:00

We had a blast in Fresno at the Central Valley Tea Party! 7500 people - woohoo! Unfortunately, I did not take many pictures. I think it had something to do with getting in front of people, and facing them - something this stay at home mom does not do ~~often~~ ever.

I did get one good picture, a picture similar to the many that were taken of this dude:
Isn't he cute? I lost count of how many people came to take photos of him. He's our beloved Hoss.

Hubby and I were also interviewed by the local news and our interview and entire family were shown on the evening edition. Ack!

We joined ~~thousands~~ ~~hundreds of thousands~~ almost a million people across the nation in protest of the out-of-control spending in Washington. Enough is enough. For us, it is not just about President Obama, this started way before he took office. We certainly believe that the policies of Obama and our current lawmakers are going to pull this country down into socialism, though, leaps and bounds faster if they get their way.

After watching the Congressional Black Caucus pander and drool over Castro and look longingly at Cuba, I truly believe that socialism is the direction some people are trying to take our country into. Believe me folks, you don't want to go there. My mom fled Cuba just before Castro took over and I can say with 100% accuracy, if this is what the CBC wants for African-Americans (and clearly, they do), the CBC is no friend to the black man, or any American for that matter.

Sorry, lately my political conversations always turn to Cuba, ever since the whole CBC episode.

Anyway, contrary to what some people might believe, I love the United States, I love America, and God bless America.

Back

2009-02-16T10:44:00.000-08:00

I guess it's time to start posting again. I am done pouting about deleting my blog and am itching to share things. This whole CPSIA business is really heartbreaking, especially the effect it will have on children's books if left as is. I am a serious bibliophile who frequents thrift stores and yard sales, and even antique shops for books for my children to read. They do not eat the books, nor do they suck on the books. They also do not lick the covers of the books. A fork or chicken bone poses more danger to my children, yet vintage children's books are outlawed. I better hold my tongue, or they might decide to outlaw forks and chicken bones, too.

And wouldn't you know, some of my very favorite finds, and some of my children's very favorite books, are now illegal to sell (and hence difficult to buy) thanks to the CPSIA.

Nice.

But that's not all I want to share. There is quite a bit of knitting going on around here. And some sewing, too. And baking, there is always baking and cooking going on.

The Dog Ate It

2008-08-20T13:25:00.001-07:00

Yep, Chief ate my blog. Well, actually, that would be impossible since this picture was taken sometime around 1983. You do the math. But yeah, this was Bad Boy stage, or so I hear. Mike's dog, not mine. When I met Chief, he was perfectly polite.

Oh yeah, about the blog, I deleted it. Accidentally.

I know.