wk56: drawn to life

Yesyes, I’m behind. I actually did craft something this week while watching the new Sherlock episodes on netflix.

So I just ordered these welding goggles b/c I just saw a steampunk rendition of Jekyll and Hyde, and now must have a pair of steampunk goggles. Perusing the interwebs, it is pretty clear that they are the base for this pair, maybe this pair (possibly my favorite), these pairs, and this pair. I debated just buying a refurbished set as such listed (b/c of course I would want leather straps), but decided it would be more fun as a DIY project.

Something to look forward to, aside from the husband’s return.

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September 26, 2012

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wk52: not as done as i’d like to be

Really this should be my last week, and my husband should be driving home this weekend. Instead he’s going on to Art Farm in Nebraska. More solo crafting for me in the interim.

So I’m not as done with my solo time as I’d like to be, like I’m not quite sure this dress is as finished as it could be.

A tall male friend got this dress for the annual Sun Dress Fest this year and I liked the pattern so kept it afterwards. Plaid’s in this year, right?

wk51: baked and org-ed

I’m working on a dress hack but doing it slowly b/c I’m not quite sure what I want to do with it.

Working slowly in general this week, doing that procrastination that involves doing non-essential tedious tasks instead of new and exciting ones.

ie. I spent a night watching TV and reorganizing my newspaper-clipped recipes which I’d had in a file box. I got a giant accordion file, added tabs to it, and sorted the recipes into the tabs (COOKIES etc. [surprised it’s cookies and not pie? The WaPo has a wonderful cookie collections every winter, which are the core of my collection], Breakfast, Soup, Veg & Small Plates, Meat & dinner, Drinks). I tossed some of the things I was pretty sure I was not actually going to attempt.

I did find a “I should make this right now!” one: the Whole-Wheat Date Bread from the NYT.

Peeps, it is delicious. I may or may not reduce the olive oil a smidge, or even to 1/2c. It’s got a wonderful crumb (better than one would expect with even partial whole-wheat), and the dates are so naturally sweet so it’s just great and tasty.

I baked a banana caramel bread at the same time too. An old banana bread recipe that I’ve had, and replaced the oil with caramel sauce that’s been languishing around. It’s RICH.

ALSO have you seen the new spinach and kale greek yogurt dip at Trader Joe’s? I found a few recipes on the web to recreate it, but none really caught my eye so I made something up. (and you can too!) I cooked down some fresh kale in a dollop of olive oil (do it with high heat and get a nice little burn for extra flavor), thawed frozen chopped spinach, added chopped carrots for color and crunch, zipped them in my favorite kitchen helper the food processor with smoked salt, mixed it up w a bit of mayo and fat free greek yogurt with trusty Old Bay. Took it to a board-game-nite w/ chips, and yum yum yum. The kale really ups the ante vs plain old spinach dip.

baking, cooking

August 23, 2012

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wk50: hauptsache haut

I’ve piled on shorts and a shirt to my chopping block of modding things.

So I took these Liz Clairborne khaki? trousers off my mother’s hands because they fit at the waist. They were vaguely skinny, and high-waisted. Totally in right? Right, not quite skinny enough.

Instead of doing the weird, semi-successful pants narrowing thing I’d been doing a lot of lately, so took inspiration from pinterest for DIY cut-off shorts! The key is apparently to cut at an angle.

cutting on the conservative side

I rolled them up once, used hemming tape, then rolled them in again. We’ll see how they hold up in the wash. I may or may not want to add an accent button on the side of each cuff to 1) hide the slightly wonky crimp at the side-seam, and 2) keep the fold tucked.

High-waist pants tend to bunch funny at the crotch, but maybe it’s not too bad?

It’s best to stay on a roll with these projects, so I kept on. I’d gotten this big button-down at a clothing swap because I liked the pattern and knew what I wanted to do with it.

I cut off the sleeves to start, of course, then (using another shirt as a template of course) tightened up the sides. Then, using another sleeveless collared dress as a template, I cut off the shoulders. Then did it another one up and cut off the back.

i always forget to take a “before” picture, but you know what a short sleeved shirt looks like.

Then I actually finished the edges. OMG I never do that! So, it’s quite nice. It would be better if I had elastic for the back to make sure it stayed up, but the bodice is actually rather snug, so I think it’s probably ok.

 

I am ready for a nice cook out party, oh yes.

mod, sewing, upcycling

August 15, 2012

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wk49: spicy yet sweet summer goes meat free!

I don’t really remember the last time I cooked meat for myself. Especially in the summer, it’s just not much fun (unless it’s s/thing really quick cooking like bacon). I like meat and I heart BBQ, but I’m old-fashioned and believe cooking meat proper is men-folk work. So I’ve been one of those annoying quasi-vegetarians who likes to talk about the carbon footprint of meat eating, but will do it anyway if it’s organic, or actually if you cooked it for me so I didn’t have to bother, etc.

I picked up grapes at the store the other day, but just cannot get in the mood to eat them in the normal way.

So I found a recipe for sausage-grape pasta. I used veggie chorizo and omitted most of the rest of the seasonings, and used some sweet white wine in place of the broth. This recipe went super quick because I chopped the grapes in the food processor first, cooked the onion which I chopped rather fine first, added the veggie chorizo which just needed to heat a bit, then added the grapes and wine, and it all came together. Of course topped it with basil from the window garden.

Hello, new pasta recipe for the summer, and maybe, probably, forever.

With a nice cool glass of my summer drink of the summer, Campari and soda, and OH MY. The spicy spicy chorizo (actually it bordered on too spicy for me, next time I’ll be slightly more judicious with it) and the sweetness of the grapes with the bit of soft crunch from the mildly sauteed onions…. and it all came together so quick.

Next day, I went to the other hemisphere: I don’t much like eggplant, but I love it with miso (or baba ghanoush). I nuked a pierced eggplant in the microwave for 6min, stripped the skin, zapped it in the food processor. I sauteed the onion again, added the veggie chorizo, then the eggplant mush. I seasoned it with a mix of miso and mirin (sweet wine would do) and some sugar. The chorizo of course overpowered the miso taste! I didn’t want to add too much more though, but good to know for next time. Or maybe I should have let the miso cook longer to bring out more of its flavors? Still, delicious. I ate it over more pasta, but I’m having the leftover sauce with crackers tomorrow.

This would actually made a great dip for a party, fyi.

cooking, original creation

August 8, 2012

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wk48: beans, beans, the muffiny fruit

Had a lovely time in New Mexico!!

We had a wonderful reception at the Anderson Museum: heartfelt thank you! It was so so so nice to see my husband again. We had a great little trip to Santa Fe as well. Two more months until we’re really reunited!!

 

So, came back and cleaned out the fridge. And made banana/yogurt/OJ muffins. And created BEAN & KALE MUFFINS.

OK, they are way more tasty than they sound.

Essentially they are savory quick breads in muffin-form. I pureed a couple cups of beans. I wilted some kale in a pan with a lot of olive oil and whirred that a bit in the food processor w the beans too. I used that in place of the amt of bananas in a banana bread recipe (sans the sugar, upped some salt and seasonings, half/half whole/white flour). Added more olive oil and some balsamic vinegar to make it a little wetter, and pop! into the oven.

OMG THEY ARE SO GOOD.

The kale burnt a little so had this lovely almost kelp-like umami to it.

Sage would be a great addition, but I thought it was amazing as it was too.

Totally my new favorite savory muffins.

(I left the banana yogurt OJ ones in the oven too long so they got a little dry, but were good with milk)

baking, cooking, original creation

August 1, 2012

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wk47: breezing back in the stone jungle

(I’m going to go see my husband on Friday!!!!!!!! Just saying.)

Soo, nobody told me that Threadless shirts shrink like it’s their business. I really like them, but can’t wear the ones I’ve gotten b/c well, they’ve shrunk.

The last time I tried to wear this one, I was uncomfortable, self-conscious, and sad b/c it was so tight and ill-fitting. But I love the design.

Attempt to widen said shirt! I wanted to make something with an open back. Those seem to be in these days, keyholes and stuff.

I cut off the sleeves, which is usually a good place to start.

Then cut off the back, and cut the rectangle in half diagonally. I trimmed them down a bit so they were neater-looking.

Flipped them so the corners met, which added a few inches to the original width, resewed the sides up and reclosed the sleeves, then sewed down the flaps as they overlapped naturally:

the asymmetrical geometrical thing that’s in right now, right?

The shirt is not done but I’m stuck. I am not sure what to do with the front/collar, which I haven’t modded yet. Am not even quite sure I’m happy with the back, it’s not what I originally had in mind, as it’s now too wide at bottom, but maybe that’s a fun boho look? Thoughts? Debating just adding an elastic band and making it a tube top.

mod, upcycling

July 25, 2012

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wk46: when life gives you lemons, make a gin and tonic

Not that life is giving me lemons, mind.

I was invited to a casual BBQ on Sunday by some college friends, and decided it was the perfect occasion to make this Gin and Tonic cake I stumbled upon on How Sweet it is (probably via pinterest). I’ve had some lemons on hand that I was at a loss as to how to use. And as you may know, lemons, not limes, are the traditional star of gin and tonics.

I had a lot of lemons on hand, so used them agressively (I used a whole lemon, when the recipe only calls for one lime, which is the size of half a lemon).

Thus, it ended up being a delicious, summery lemon cake I took to the BBQ, that did not taste or even smell like booze at all. What I should have done was only used gin for the glaze (I didn’t have enough powdered sugar to make icing, and only just now remembered I could have made some in the food processor).

It’s a lovely cake though, light yet moist, and the lemon really was good for the BBQ.

let them drink cake?

baking, cooking, dessert

July 19, 2012

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wk45: i know i need unique new york

I spent the wkend and this half of the week in New York City, playing hard during the wkend and working hard in the NYC office during the week.

It was a lovely time, with nice summer weather, good conversation and satisfying work.

My dear and dearer friend PRoS put me up on her pullout couch over the wkend.

As a hostess gift I took her the Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cake from Baked Explorations (yes, me in DC making/taking my friend in Manhattan a baked good inspired by the shop in Brooklyn… there’s something to that, and yes, the recipe is included in the preview: MAKE IT). Since I was transporting it, I omitted the frosting. It didn’t really need it. You can always spread cream cheese (or cinnamon butter, or both) on it directly if you’re having it for breakfast.

I’ve baked a few other of the simpler recipes from the book, and have loved them all, and they aren’t too sweet.

Of course since it was the first time making the recipe, I had to taste first it to make sure it was okay. Lovely, lovely chewy texture, but with still a nice cakey crumb, so it’s not too quickbready. Perfect bc oatmeal cookies are tied for my favorite cookies (vying with m&m cookies), so it’s like having a super chewy cookie/cake for breakfast. Much less fussy than coffee cake. Next time I’ll make it with raisins added to enhance the oatmeal-cookie feel.

Also perfect bc it’s a 9×13 recipe, and I wanted to take a lot so she could share with her roommates, since technically all of them let me stay on their living room.

While in NY I tasted from the famed Magnolia Bakery (underwhelmed, then again I don’t really love cupcakes anyway), and the Momofuku Milk Bar. I asked for, and received, the shop’s cookbook, mainly drawn to the name/photos/crack pie recipe that I stumbled upon in the LA Times a few years ago (which I haven’t even made yet).

Despite myself, the book is a little intimidating, altho Tosi is a great writer, grew up in NoVa, and I want to be friends with her. In some fortuitous twist of fate, the WaPo also recently ran an article/recipe about building up the courage to take on the recipes in the book. So, I resolved that I needed to eat something from the actual store to get a benchmark idea of what “milk crumb” is supposed to taste like. And try some cookies while I was at it.

Needless to say after the taste test, that I will be baking thru the entire book in the near future.

I’m in love with milk crumb. And LOVED the cornflake-choco chip-marshmallow cookie. The cornflake bits are like coconut, in that chewy but crunchy kinda way, but not. It’s v weird. And delicious.

baking, experience

July 11, 2012

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wk44: pinned to my heart

Happy July 4th!

I spent my Wednesday off catching up on sewing projects. Like the red pants I skinnified a few months ago, I hacked a black pair of trousers thinner today (hoping to get the “Audrey pant” look, but…. was not quite that successful). I finally got around to fixing a few minor things, like trimming tanktop sleeves or narrowing the arm-holes of some similarly sleeve-less things.

The major hack of the day however was pintucking a shirt that’s gotten slightly big on me. Maybe it was always big and didn’t bother me as much as it does now.

Adding pintucks seemed like a cute way to make it smaller around, compared to augmenting the tucks in the back or just sewing up the sides.

Luckily said shirt is striped.

I few weeks ago I shortened a skirt with polkadots and thought I wouldn’t need to actually mark the line I wanted to cut along, because I could connect the dots. It didn’t work that way… so, yay straight lines!

I’d read a how-to pintuck a year or so ago somewhere and didn’t bother to brush up before I started the project. It’s pretty straight forward. Just decide where you want the tuck, fold the shirt along that line, pin it (even with straight lines, one gets cross-eyed), and then sew.  (I bet you’re really supposed to iron the crease straight, except I would be liable to iron a giant wrinkle, so I did not bother) I placed the needle as close to the edge as possible. It took a few lines to internalize how slowly I had to sew to actually sew a straight line.

Also, it’s much easier to sew on along the edge of a colored stripe than a white one [with white thread] because I kept losing track of where I was sewing, until I waved into a colored stripe, of course.

I placed the tucks starting at where the chest-tuck ends to the bottom of the shirt. I put the shirt on after every line to see how the shirt was shrinking. It is not a drastic change.

I had a system of counting lines after the tuck to place the next line. I did three lines on the right-side of the shirt, then decided that I should see how narrow the shirt would be with three lines on the left before adding more.

So I sewed three lines down the left, with my trusty line-counting system.

Of course I did something wrong. The lines on the left came out much closer together than the ones on the right. OF COURSE.

(I think I hadn’t accounted that, for the right side [as in the photo] I was sewing new tucks with the old ones visible. To start at the top of the line on the left side, I was sewing with the old tucks on the underside, and should have counted more lines between tucks, the way I was folding them down. If that makes sense.)

Faced with the dilemma of “equal number of tucks but unequal width of pintucked shirt space” v “unequal number of tucks but equal width of pintucked shirt space,” after brief deliberation I chose the latter. The shirt looked really lopsided with the well-spaced tucks on one side and the bunched-together tucks on the other. And there was no way I was going to rip out all of those lines to redo them.

Since the shirt is so stripy, the tucks actually are more subtle than they would be on a non-striped shirt. Soooo can’t really tell that there are 5 lines down one side and just 3 down the other.

Right?

Well, if you can tell, I’ll just say it’s “designer.”

mod, sewing, upcycling

July 4, 2012

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