pilliebee

Sleeping Masks

2012-01-14T07:42:00.000-08:00

I had been thinking about making sleep masks for about three years now. Last week the day finally came.

It was really just a matter of tracing a sleep mask I already had (from a long haul flight). I looked over a tutorial (that I can't seem to find) to make sure there weren't any little tricks I was missing. But nope, it was really that easy. The masks are reversible and I made sure to use especially soft material.

I wrapped the masks up and gave them to Hannah for her birthday. Everyone likes a good night's sleep.

Pink and Purple

2012-01-11T03:09:00.001-08:00

Last night we had a little pre-birthday party for a friend. The theme was shades of purple and pink.

I had been dying to make these floral party hats for a few months and this seemed like the perfect occasion. I couldn't find any thin wire (or wire at all) so I had to settle for plant ties. Not ideal but it got the job done.

I also made a few banners by sewing strips of paper together. I also made a banner with paint chips and I especially liked the way it turned out.

Molly cooked up a few delicious salads and I especially liked this one.

Happy Birthday, Hannah!

Three Pouches

2012-01-10T03:54:00.000-08:00

When I was digging around for craft supplies to make Christmas gifts, I pulled out what I thought to be the last of my zipper stash. I quickly sewed up three pouches for three friends. I didn't mean for them to be so square, but oh well.

I think I spotted Molly's in her bag the other day. So that's a good sign. I've discovered a few more zippers since then... so I guess I'll be making a few more!

I used this tutorial again.

Pincushion in Blues and Greens

2011-12-16T09:21:00.000-08:00

A friend has recently taken up sewing so a pincushion seemed like a good gift for her this Christmas. Like the note cards, it didn't use up too much fabric but it was fun and easy to make.

These prints are a few of my favorites and I'm glad they look so nice together. I probably should have put a few pins in the cushion for the photo... but you get the idea.

Rainbow Fabric Note Cards

2011-12-15T08:13:00.000-08:00

For Christmas gifting this year my goal was to work with what I had. I have way too many craft supplies that I will soon no longer have space for. While this project didn't use up very much fabric, it helped me deplete a good chunk of my blank note card supply.

I liked making these note cards so much before that I decided to do them again, just a little different. Instead of sticking to one color palette, I used them all! Rainbow style.

I made two sets of six cards each. I hope the recipients like them as much as I enjoyed sewing them.

Oh, and please ignore my dirty windows. That's the desert for ya!

Pottery

2011-12-13T03:52:00.000-08:00

I'm turning my apartment upside down right now and came across a few projects I don't think I ever shared.

Almost two years ago I took a few pottery classes at Abu Dhabi Pottery. I enjoyed the class and the instructor, but the cost kept adding up. After about three months I decided to call it good.

In all I made six pieces, but these two are the only ones I actually like.

UAE Cookies

2011-12-03T06:48:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was the United Arab Emirates' 40th birthday. I had some frozen cookie dough on hand so I made cookies for a little get together Mike and I attended last night.

I improvised the frosting this time by mixing a dash of vanilla and 3/4 cup powdered sugar with a few tablespoons of cream. (Soymilk would have been my first choice but strangely all I had was the cream.)

I love vanilla refrigerator cookies*. Vanilla cookies with vanilla frosting. I guess that's a bit boring but I love them. Every time.

*I've always used Betty Crocker's recipe from my Mom's cookbook until I moved so far away. Many of the recipes online are missing ingredients (which is really weird) but this one seems to work just fine (even with egg replacer).

Cubes of Pesto

2011-11-29T05:27:00.001-08:00

I can't remember where I first heard this idea, but I like it.

Make up a big batch of pesto and freeze the leftovers in an ice cube tray. Once solid, pop them out and seal the cubes in a freezer safe bag. Now you can have single servings of pesto whenever you want! Perfect for dropping into a bowl of tomato soup.

My basil plants were getting over loaded a few weeks ago so I thought I'd give it a go. Worked like a charm.

Zipper Pouch / Flat Bottom

2011-11-26T06:30:00.000-08:00

A friend's birthday was a the perfect occasion to get my sewing machine back out. It had been too long, especially since I have so much fabric sitting idly in my drawers. (And zippers too!)

I decided to sew up a flat bottomed zippered pouch but I elected to follow this tutorial instead of just winging it like I did before.

The lining fabric is one of my favorite prints. I like how the two fabrics look together.

Happy Birthday, Jen!

What's for Dinner?

2011-11-10T08:07:00.001-08:00

Last week it was my turn to host Hump Day dinner.

I decided to recreate my favorite sandwich from one of my favorite Portland food carts, The Grilled Cheese Grill. My favorite part of eating at The Grilled Cheese Grill is that you get to eat your food while sitting in a converted school bus! It's such a fun feeling to be eating a childhood favorite on a bus!

Beverage: Soda water with lemon/lime and Capri Suns (you know to go with the grilled cheese!)

Salad: Apple and sunflower seed with honey mustard

Soup: Tomato with homemade pesto

Sandwich: Havarti cheese, tomato, and dijon mustard grilled on a whole wheat baguette

Dessert: Peanut butter chocolate covered bananas

I was laughing at dinner about how all of the foods I prepared don't exactly photograph well. Soup, melted cheese, and lumps of chocolate aren't the prettiest of things, but at least they taste good!

Baby Turbans

2011-10-22T04:36:00.001-07:00

A few weeks ago I arranged another trade with Julia. I was in the mood for a new header (have you seen it?), and she suggested I make a baby item for her new little girl.

I browsed through a few archives and finally found the perfect project, a baby turban. It sounds silly, but they are pretty cute.

I made a simple pink version and a purple and red version that's a bit more fun.

I found the directions here (which refer to it as a headband, psh!). The turbans themselves are actually made from a pair of tights so they are stretchy and smooth on the baby's skin.

A quick and easy project with pretty cute results.

What's for Dinner?

2011-09-28T09:40:00.000-07:00

Last night I hosted my first Hump Day Dinner of the year.

Beverage: Strawberry lemonade Italian sodas, or soda water with lemon or lime

Starter: Avocado Chimichurri Bruschetta

Salad: Caprese, fun way to serve but actually provides too much salad per person in my opinion.

Main: Nectarine pizza

Dessert: Chocolate cake, just upside down cupcakes with warm frosting poured over the top

I can't speak for everyone at dinner, but this meal was kind of awesome. I loved the pizza and felt a little sad when the leftovers were finished off this evening. I was also sad when I realized the avocado mixture didn't make it into the fridge. Luckily, I have about a bajillion more cupcakes chillin' in the freezer.

Microwave Popcorn

2011-09-21T00:06:00.000-07:00

When Molly clued me in that you can make microwave popcorn without a packet of "microwave popcorn," I was amazed. What a cool idea!

Then, the more I thought about it, I became a bit frustrated. Why didn't I know about this before??? It's so simple. It's so easy. And it actually makes a lot of sense. How did those commercial microwave popcorn brands have me so convinced?

All you need is a paper bag (which can be used many times), a piece of tape, popcorn kernels, and of course, a microwave. The rest of the directions are here.

2011-09-18T05:19:00.000-07:00

With the start of the school year, not too much is happening over here with cookery and crafts. I've been making a few new flavors of Italian sodas (cherry-lime and strawberry), but I thought it might be too boring to keep sharing essentially the same thing!

I did finally join Pinterest though. I can't say I'm obsessed yet... but I did dream about it all night. Right now I'm just working on pinning my bookmarks so I can actually see all the recipes I've been wanting to make.

Come find me!

Birthday Pie

2011-09-11T05:14:00.000-07:00

Mike's birthday was yesterday.

It was the perfect excuse to eat apple pie for breakfast.

I've posted about my favorite pie crust recipe before, but I'll do it again.

2 cups flour
1/3 cup water
2/3 olive oil
pinch of salt*

Mix all of that in a bowl until a ball forms. Divide the ball in half to create the top and bottom. Bake at 425 for about 45 mins, covering the crust until the last few minutes.

So easy.

*I decided to add a bit of salt this time for flavor. I think it was a good choice.

Lime Italian Sodas

2011-09-05T05:44:00.001-07:00

Last night while waiting for my rental car to be delivered (only took 2 days!), I decided to make lime syrup. I loved the raspberry Italian sodas I made this summer and was eager to make another version... but with fruit that is accessible and cheap in Abu Dhabi. Limes!

To make the syrup I boiled 1 cup of water with 1 cup of sugar. Then I removed it from heat and added two sliced limes. I let the limes steep for about an hour and strained out the pulp. I sealed the syrup up in an old lemonade bottle so it was ready for me after work today.

Now I'm thinking of other flavors? Kumquat maybe?

The Dopp Kit

2011-08-17T15:43:00.000-07:00

This project was in my sights all summer. It's a dopp kit. Or I suppose you could call it a toiletries kit, but that's not as much fun.

I followed a tutorial at Purl Bee and then went off in my own direction. The tutorial creates a bag that's not lined or waterproof. A toiletries kit that won't survive a spill didn't seem like a very good idea. To fix that problem I created a liner for the inside. I used iron-on vinyl to make the liner waterproof and hand stitched it in. Now, if something spills inside I can just wipe it out.

I think it worked pretty well. The liner made the shape a bit funky but that will change when it's filled with soaps and shampoos.

I'll be testing it out on my travels this summer.

Vegebration Thank You

2011-08-15T00:00:00.000-07:00

Ok, this is my last Vegebration related post. But I had to say thank you to this year's hosts, Jenny and Kevin.

We took these photos late after everyone had left. It could have been a 2am thing but playing them back on the camera kept making us laugh. Prime opportunity for another stop motion.

Thank you, Jenny and Kevin!

Vegebration Video

2011-08-14T08:19:00.000-07:00

Since 5 years of vegebrating is kind of a big deal, we made a little video to commemorate the occasion. Let me just say, setting up a stop-motion shoot in the middle of a party... slightly challenging.

One thing I love/hate about projects like this is that you always think of better/different ways to do it after you finish. Like maybe including some of the guests in the video? I swear, it wasn't just Jenny and me there. We weren't the only ones eating cupcakes and pie.

Thanks to Kevin for doing all the photography and taking my direction like a pro. And grr to vimeo. The synchronization keeps getting messed up during the upload.

Vegebration #5

2011-08-13T00:00:00.000-07:00

This year's Vegebration (Vegetarian + Celebration) was full of good food and good friends.

This year's soup was a mild black bean and the salad was spinach, mango, and avocado. Kind of incredible. Everything on the table was delicious and well prepared. Unfortunately, I didn't get photos of every dish.

Jenny and I made little flags for people to fill out so that every dish could be proudly labeled.

Custom soda labels were also essential.

I was happy to catch up with old friends and make new ones too. Scheduling was a bit tricky this year and the festivity ended up being on a weeknight. That meant a few friends couldn't make it from out of town, but they were in my heart nonetheless.

5 years later and being meat-free is still one of the best life decisions I've ever made. That feels pretty good.

Nectarine Pizza

2011-08-12T15:09:00.001-07:00

Jenny and I made this pizza last night. It was pretty good but with a few more tweaks I think it could be really really good. I'm looking forward to making it a few more times and getting it just right.

Fruit on pizza is definitely something I've warmed up to over the past few years. I don't usually like my sweet and savory mixing, but pizza is a pretty good exception.

We paired the pizza with homemade raspberry Italian sodas and Bob Dylan on the record player.

A good night.

Circle Skirt Take Two

2011-08-11T09:16:00.000-07:00

I loved my first circle skirt so much, I figured I better make another one while my sister and her serger were still close by.

This time I chose a Denise Schmidt fabric that I like quite a lot. I wish I had a close up shot.

Sewing up this version was a lot faster. The only change I made was to reduce the waist measurement by a few inches so it would hit at my natural waist. We didn't use the tutorial this time but if you're interested, it's here.

My sister did the parts I didn't really want to do. Like fixing my mistakes and sewing the elastic on. It turned out to be a pretty good deal for me. I thanked her by letting her win at rummy.

Thanks for the photos, Jenny!

Circle Skirt

2011-08-10T00:00:00.000-07:00

I bought fabric back in April with the intention of making a circle skirt. Didn't happen.

I brought the fabric home hoping to use my sister's serger to get the job done. I was smart enough to rope her into the project as well.

We followed this tutorial loosely but mostly I just did what my sister told me to do. She knew the way. She knew the way so well that I let her finish the job.

I kind of love my new skirt. Nice and breezy but an appropriate Abu Dhabi length.

And don't worry, I thanked my sister with a homemade Italian soda.

Raspberry Italian Sodas

2011-08-09T16:38:00.000-07:00

Lemonade and iced tea are usually my favorite summer drinks, but today I was in the mood for something different: Italian Sodas!

They are so simple to make, I never realized.

I made a simple syrup of 1 part sugar and 1 part water, added raspberries, and strained the seeds. Pour about 1/4 cup in a glass, fill it up with soda water, and top off with whipped cream.

Pretty sweet!

Rainiers

2011-07-30T20:46:00.000-07:00

Cherries taste better when you pick them yourself using your shirt as a basket.

It's true.

Sugar Snap

2011-07-29T20:16:00.000-07:00

It's getting a bit late in the season for snap peas but if you can find them I highly suggest you try this recipe from Lottie and Doof. It was the first thing I made when I arrived home this summer.

Yum.

Hump Day Recipes

2011-07-18T08:48:00.000-07:00

The end of the school year was all about surprises. I had to keep so many secrets that sometimes it was easier to just stop talking.

One of the bigger secrets started out as a going away gift for Molly. We knew that she'd miss our weekly Hump Day dinners. Creating a cookbook of our recipes for her to take with her seemed like the perfect solution.

front cover, back cover

Everyone contributed recipes for side dishes, main dishes, and desserts.

Of course, midway through this secret mission, Molly's plans changed! At that point the going away gift turned into a "we're so happy you're not going away" gift!

Compiling the cookbook was a lot of work. I couldn't have done it without the help of the group and Sarah in particular. That being said, the outcome was well worth the effort.

(photos by Molly)

[I used blurb.com and would recommend the site to others. The software you use is pretty good, although it does have a few formatting bugs that made me want to rip my hair out. Subsequently there are a few formatting errors in the book.]

Happy Fourth of July

2011-07-05T03:52:00.001-07:00

Last night Mike was kind enough to host a little barbecue to celebrate Independence Day. We did our best with the grill on his mini balcony which later served as the fireworks site. We all laughed when we realized the Americans were the minorities in the room. So thanks to the Canadians and Lebanese for helping us celebrate.

Like always, delicious food was on the table, decorations were up, and fun was had.

Of course we needed face paint.

And the sparklers finished off the evening quite nicely.

Hope you enjoyed the holiday!

Yes, that is a bald eagle waving a flag across my face.

xo, jill

Frannie's Pancake Surprise

2011-07-03T22:51:00.000-07:00

Molly and I threw a little surprise pre-birthday party for Frances. The original inspiration for a pancake breakfast came from here. That plan had to be amended when we realized the guest of honor was departing the country earlier than we expected.

After some reshuffling it turned out to be a pancake dinner. Usually, breakfast for dinner is a huge bum out for me (not the biggest breakfast foods fan), but Frances was worth the exception.

We served mini stacks of pancakes, lots of berries, strawberry vanilla tea, and a strawberry lemon smoothie. Nice and light.

Party hats were a must.

Happy Birthday, Frances!

What's for dinner?

2011-07-02T22:24:00.000-07:00

I hosted Hump Day dinner last week.

Here's what we ate:

Beverage: Strawberry Lemonade Slushy

Salad: Apple & Seed Salad

Main: Pasta with Asparagus & Avocado Walnut Pesto (was supposed to be homemade ravioli but that didn't pass two test runs)

Dessert: Peach Melba

I hoped to cook a more impressive meal for my last Hump Day of the season, but oh well!

More Bibs

2011-06-24T05:25:00.000-07:00

A friend in Abu Dhabi had her baby shower this afternoon. I was super excited for the opportunity to sew a few more bibs.

I decided to use these coordinating prints for bibs that would be appropriate for a boy or girl (the sex is still unknown.) Do you remember the apples from this project?

I also made up a little fabric-sewn-on-paper card.

She was a very happy mom-to-be today!

Goodie Bags

2011-06-20T05:13:00.000-07:00

I definitely overwhelmed myself this year with all the projects I took on during the last few weeks of school. One of the bigger projects was my end of the year gift. I decided to make each of my students a little drawstring bag and fill it with goodies from the year.

Luckily, I found a very simple tutorial to use. Making 23 bags took a while, but I did it!

For a little bit of decoration I stitched the girls' first initial on their bag.

Unfortunately, I didn't get any photos, but I know the girls were happy to receive them!

Here's the gift I made my students last year.

Bibs and a Bag

2011-06-15T02:13:00.001-07:00

When Julia designed my mom's birthday card this year, she requested "anything baby" in return. I was happy to oblige her.

Because I wanted to make something practical yet simple, I decided on bibs.

There are several patterns out there, but I selected the Best Bib pattern. The bibs were easy enough to sew up and the perfect way to use small amounts of the cute print fabrics I've been saving. I would have liked to try a more prominent quilting design, but I couldn't find batting anywhere. The flannel I used instead didn't do much to plump the bibs up enough. Oh well.

I wanted to throw in a little something extra for Julia's birthday so I sewed up a hobo sack. I had been wanting to try this project for a long time. I've since found a similar pattern with less steps to follow that I like a lot better.

Hope you like them, Julia!

Breakfast in Bed

2011-06-12T11:14:00.000-07:00

Sometimes you just have to enjoy a special breakfast.

I made cinnamon rolls at midnight and Mike whipped up a delicious fruit salad in the morning.

It definitely beat running off to the grocery store on an empty stomach, which is the usual Friday morning routine.

What's for Dinner?

2011-06-01T03:57:00.000-07:00

I hosted Hump Day Dinner last night.

Here's what we ate:

Beverage: Mint Iced Tea with Agave Nectar

Starter: Homemade hummus with vegetables

Snack: Pappadum

Main: Red Lentil Dal with brown rice

Dessert: Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups

It was a tasty dinner! Only a few more Hump Days left until summer break...

Robotic

2011-05-20T05:29:00.000-07:00

Last week Sarah came over for some crafting. I helped her make a few tokens and took up my own little project once she got the hang of it.

I especially like this little guy.

It was nice to pick up the needle and thread again.

Pattern is "Robots and Spaceships" from Tigerpup Embroidery. I just noticed her free patterns page. Love them.

Pappadum

2011-05-06T00:00:00.000-07:00

While in Sri Lanka Mike and I talked about making our own pappadums. (Pappadum is the crispy flatbread served with most meals from the Subcontinent.) The other night I prepared a delicious dal dish, and Mike helped me with the pappadum making.

It was so easy! And exciting! I loved watching the dough flare up into crazy bubbles and shapes.

These were delicious and didn't have the spicy aftertaste I dislike in most pappadums at Indian restaurants. Looks like I have a new carb to add to the rotation!

What's for dinner?

2011-05-05T10:57:00.001-07:00

There hasn't been too much crafting happening around here lately. Hopefully that turns around soon. I had three sewing projects lined up but the time and motivation both disappeared somewhere. (But soon, I promise Julia!).

In lieu of sewing projects, I've decided to try to share my Hump Day dinners from here on out. (Only a few left this year, sad!).

Beverage: Lemon and cucumber water

Salad: Spring Salad with Radishes and Pumpkin Seeds

Main: Macaroni with Asparagus, Fava Beans, and Pesto

The recipe calls for arugula pesto but I used basil instead. I also had trouble finding fresh fava beans. The frozen broad beans passed but were not delicious when reheated the next day.

Dessert: Raspberry Sorbet with Cream and Fresh Berries

Each of these recipes I would recommend and make again.

And ever since I overhauled the look of my travel blog, I've been itching to clean this one up as well. These are just quick fixes until I have more time (probably this summer), but resurrecting this masthead from a few summers ago instantly cheered the place up.

Giveaway!

2011-04-27T10:40:00.000-07:00

Don't miss the giveaway happening on my travel blog. There's still a day left to enter.

You could win a small tote bag from Sri Lanka and a few novelty snacks!

The Klinskidorn Wedding One More Time

2011-04-22T00:00:00.000-07:00

photo by Ben Blood

This is the last of my gushing (for now) about Jenny and Kevin... but I just found out they were also featured a few weeks ago on 100 Layer Cake!

The Klinskidorn Wedding

2011-04-21T12:02:00.000-07:00

photo by Ben Blood

Last July I was lucky enough to be in the wedding of my very good friends, Jenny and Kevin. The day was perfect with so many special little touches. Today their wedding was featured on Green Wedding Shoes! Go check it out here. Their photographer, Ben Blood, shared more wedding photos and their engagement set on his blog recently. Take a peek at those too!

Spring Top Sewalong

2011-04-16T07:52:00.000-07:00

The Spring Top Sewalong (previously Spring Top Week) is starting again over at Made by Rae.

Last year my top was a finalist (Hello, most exciting thing that happened all spring!!!) but I haven't decided if I'll enter this year or not. I have a few sewing projects that take precedent over a new shirt for myself and not too much spare time on my hands.

Whether or not I participate, I hope you will consider giving it a try!

New Favorite Sandwich

2011-04-09T05:18:00.001-07:00

On my last visit to Dubai I ordered a pretty delicious sandwich. I had a hunch that I could make it even better... and today, I believe I did.

Behold the Cucumber Avocado Pesto Sandwich.

The pesto on the sandwich in Dubai was a bit bland so I decided to make my own. This is the recipe I usually follow pretty loosely. It always turns out pretty tasty.

The bread was homemade too. I followed my usual recipe but added some herbs, nutrional yeast, and sunflower seeds.

Before you close up your sandwich, make sure you sprinkle on just a tiny bit of sea salt.

So good.

Kumquats

2011-04-08T07:00:00.000-07:00

Kumquats are so beautiful... but so sour.

Anyone have any kumquat tips?

Cookies

2011-03-14T06:58:00.001-07:00

The internet can be such a dangerous place. It only took one look at the photo in this post to make me remember I had leftover frosting in the fridge. I had to make my favorite cookies.

Vanilla refrigerator cookies with vanilla frosting are the best. What's your favorite cookie?

Pretty Sweet

2011-03-05T07:19:00.000-08:00

Anyone sick of birthdays yet? Not me!

These cupcakes I baked for Molly's birthday turned out so pretty. I love the little swirls on top!

Carnival

2011-03-04T01:05:00.001-08:00

or Adventures in Deep Frying

The birthday posting continues over here.

To celebrate a few birthdays last week, Hannah and I teamed up to transform our weekly dinner party into a carnival.

Planning the menu was a lot of fun, but eating it was even better.

We served an appetizer of popcorn then moved on to the main course of homemade corndogs, baked beans, and curly fries. To balance out the grease, a veggie tray was on hand as well. Drinks were customized sodas honoring the birthday girls (Sarah's Special Grenadine Soda and Molly's Marvelous Mandarin Soda).

With the first round of eating out of the way, we moved on to the carnival games. We had a few rousing rounds of balloon darts and ring-toss. Winners enjoyed prizes of cotton candy and other such goodies.

Finally it was time for the dessert... birthday funnel cake!

I'm sure everyone was ready for a grease detox the next day, but that's the way carnivals go!

One More

2011-03-03T23:27:00.000-08:00

March 3rd is a very special day for a very special person. My sewing machine was still out from making the quilted notecards so I decide to make one more.

Happy Birthday, Molly!

(Look, it's rainbow but not ROYGBIV. She'll know what that means.)

Quilted Notecards

2011-03-02T09:15:00.000-08:00

I saw this tutorial for quilted notecards a few months ago. Like usual, I started thinking of all possible occasions that might justify a new craft project. Two special birthdays seemed like the perfect opportunity!

The first step was to request blank notecards be sent over from the States (a difficult item to find here). It's so nice to have such a willing assistant in the form of my mom.

The cards arrived a week or two ago and it was time to get started. It was fun to pair up the pieces of fabric and each set only took maybe twenty five minutes total. This is definitely a project I will try again.

It only occurred to me later that if the recipients want to mail the cards internationally the fabric will probably bump up the postage! Oops!

More Yellow

2011-02-26T04:24:00.000-08:00

I brought these tulips home from the market today. I had to.

I miss having easy access to fresh flowers. Buying them from the shop will never be as satisfying as opening my back door, pair of scissors in hand. Nonetheless, I needed something fresh in my apartment after two days of feeling sickly.

Other fresh items include the new layout on my travel blog. I hope you'll check it out!

A Simple Meal

2011-02-24T07:06:00.000-08:00

I'm pretty sure quinoa was invented for me. I don't think you can pack anymore protein in a carb. Which is perfect considering I love carbs and hate the "vegetarians can't get enough protein" fallacy.

My last Hump Day dinner I cooked up this easy recipe from Vegetarian Times and served it over quinoa. I liked it so much I made it again a few days later. Broccoli, sun dried tomatoes, pine nuts and quinoa... a delicious and simple combination.

[Goat cheese does not suit me so I used feta instead.]

Lucky Lady [part 2]

2011-02-17T00:58:00.000-08:00

The birthday fun continued with a very yellow birthday picnic extravaganza.

I was delighted with all the special touches Molly and Frances put on the day.

Delicious food spread across a blanket, sweet music, and two great friends... it couldn't have been any better.

My only sadness is the absence of Molly in the photos! (How did we let that happen???) She's the one to thank for these very pretty images.

Other birthday highlights included my door at work, dinner on the Corniche, a Kiva loan, fancy Vietnamese, the best stop motion movie ever, and getting my family on the phone.

26, you've got a lot to live up to.

Lucky Lady [part 1]

2011-02-16T00:34:00.000-08:00

I recently entered the realm of being 26. This year I was lucky enough to have several fantastic birthday celebrations. Being away from family at these special moments is definitely the downside to living abroad, but the efforts of my friends here did a lot to take my mind off that sadness and focus me on the fun!

First up was a very purple Hump Day Dinner Tea Party Birthday Edition! The girls did such an amazing job of preparing decorations and food that I didn't even mind being made to wait in the hallway while the final touches were being done.

How awesome/hilarious is this banner? It's a potato, tomato, cheese, carrot, and banana.

I'll let the photos speak for themselves but as you can see, every detail was perfect. Right down to the raspberry ice cubes and the sugared grapes.

More birthday celebrations next!

(Thanks to Hannah for the photos)

Tissue? I hardly know you.

2011-02-15T00:24:00.000-08:00

Something unexpected about moving to a new place last year was the frequency of getting sick. When you combine new germs with being in the classroom... you end up with a lot of sniffles. The bright side? Tissue sachets.

Behold my valentines this year:

After cutting the fabric, each pouch only took a few minutes to sew. A very quick and easy project I found here.

I hope everyone enjoyed their V-Day!

Happy V-Day

2011-02-14T00:00:00.000-08:00

Happy V-Day!

Heartstrings

2011-02-06T06:55:00.001-08:00

With Valentine's Day just around the corner and my sewing machine out for other reasons... I couldn't resist a quick little project.

I scrounged through my craft box for pink and red paper, cut out a few hearts, and sewed them together randomly.

Let it be said: I can't sew on paper without thinking of this girl.

Camera Bag

2011-02-05T02:22:00.000-08:00

A while back I promised to make a friend a soft case for her camera. It took a few months... but it's finally done.

She picked out the fabric from my stockpile and I did the rest (using this tutorial).

Happy 2011!

2011-01-01T04:24:00.000-08:00

It's a whole new year! How lucky we are!

2010 was not a very productive year for me in terms of crafting, baking, and cooking... but here's a look at a few favorite projects.

Snacks:

Crafts:

Hoping for more craftiness in the coming year!

Merry Chirstmas!

2010-12-25T00:00:00.000-08:00

Click through to watch it big!

Snowflakes

2010-12-19T04:53:00.000-08:00

The absence of snow has always been pretty standard for my Christmases. With just a few exceptions, it's a pretty green holiday season in the Pacific Northwest. And these days it's a pretty beige holiday season in the Middle East.

So why did I get so obsessed with making snowflakes this year? I even woke up early on a Saturday eager to get out of bed to pick up my scissors. I probably shouldn't have told you that.

I even hosted a snowflake making contest.

I blame this tutoria l.

Christmas Stitching

2010-12-18T01:09:00.000-08:00

Have I mentioned my Hump Day dinner group before? Every Tuesday a few friends and I gather for delicious food at one of our homes. This past week we had our Hump Day: Christmas Edition, and I was so excited to pass out the little secret project I had been working on (and staying up way too late to finish).

Like I hinted before, my amazingly talented friend Julia designed me 6 unique embroidery patterns. It had been awhile since my last stitching, but I fell back into the habit fairly quickly.

I didn't have much of a choice for the tea towels, but I like how each color turned out. The plaid cloths were especially difficult to stitch. I traced the design onto thin paper, stitched right through, and carefully ripped the paper off. A few of the stitches went wonky as a result... but it was my best solution with my resources on hand.

Happily, each design matched perfectly to a recipient:
... Shera made us delicious hot chocolate so the mug went to her
... the loaf of bread to Molly for her creative vegetarian "beef" wellington
... Hannah bakes pies frequently so the pie goes to her

... Sarah baked chocolate cupcakes last year (that Molly sat on in the back seat of my car, which I still find hilarious)
... Jen's strawberry dump cake made her the obvious choice for the strawberry
... and the veggie for me, the veggie of the bunch!

Oh, and in case you're slightly confused... our work week falls Sunday to Thursday, that's why we call Tuesday "Hump Day" and not Wednesday!

Merry Christmas, Hump Day Ladies!

Christmas Sewing

2010-12-17T00:49:00.000-08:00

Sadly, my sewing machine has been living in its box under my coffee table for far too long. I was worried it was getting a little too comfortable in there, so I pulled it out last week.

I needed a gift for a Secret Santa exchange and I had a feeling the recipient, Sarah, would appreciate something handmade. And if not, she'd probably like the tiny fondue set that I paired with it. And if not, she's certainly like the milk chocolate that was also included!

The fabric is from Ikea. I love the little houses but I'm so over the textile selection in Abu Dhabi.

Unfortunately for Sarah, her and her husband share initials... which surely means Skylar will be fighting for his chance to wear it too.

Merry Christmas, Sarah!

Applets and Pouchlets

2010-12-07T09:14:00.001-08:00

I have a secret project in the works that called upon the talents of my go-to design friend. I knew she'd conjure up a wonderful design for me... so I wanted my item to exchange to be something great. Unfortunately, I was not feeling inspired. I was resolved to do something easy that didn't require fancy supplies but looked extra special.

Finally, I found it. At first I was bored with the idea of making another zipper pouch... but this one is different.

There's a ruffle!

I used some fabric I bought on a whim from Daiso (love that place too much, much much). Happily for me, the edges were already surged... making it easy for me to make my own ruffle (instead of reusing as the tutorial suggests). The exterior fabric is from Ikea, leftover from previous projects.

I felt like the pouch needed something extra... a scrap of red felt did the trick.

A few days later I made a cousin pouch in a different color way for a friend's birthday.

It felt good to get the sewing machine out.

Required Eating

2010-11-21T04:43:00.000-08:00

I think a bowl of homemade soup with homemade croutons should be required eating when returning home from a trip. Comfort food.

... almost as good as sleeping in your own bed after 7 nights in strange sheets.

In other news, I'm back from Nepal.

Happy Halloween

2010-10-31T09:08:00.000-07:00

I love homemade costumes. They're the best. Costumes that require minimal purchases? Those are great too. This year's costume required a piece of foam board, craft paper, yellow poster board, and a brown marker.

Et voila!

French toast! (Accompanied by that one ultra annoying backpacker at your hostel).

If I'm counting correctly this was my third food costume. The first was a candy bar in childhood and an ice cream cone the year before last.

Bulgur Chickpea Salad

2010-10-27T08:26:00.000-07:00

Do you say "chickpea" or "garbanzo"?

I grew up saying garbanzo, but everyone over here seems to prefer chickpea. Both are nice, I suppose. Last week I made a bulgur salad to use up some left over bulgur I had sitting around. Turns out, it was delicious. The original recipe is here, but I'll write out my changes below:

Added 1 small cucumber sliced into coins
Half the amount of oil
Half the amount of lemon juice

If you add just a bit of (soy) feta, that's delicious too!

World Go Vegan Week

2010-10-24T06:56:00.000-07:00

This week, October 24-31, is World Go Vegan Week!

Curious to try out being a vegan but not ready for the commitment? Now's the time!

Check out some delicious vegan recipes at:
Vegalicious
VegWeb

And a few of my favorites:

Vegan Zucchini Brownies

Bean Dip Provencal

PS: I'm not vegan myself... just a vegetarian walking pretty close to the line.

A Bit of Summer

2010-10-21T22:47:00.001-07:00

I wasn't in town for Father's Day this past year. Although I had a few books sent to my dad, I wanted to do something more personal for him as well. I included a note saying I'd make him the baked good of his choosing while I was home for the summer.

I had a hunch he'd choose the granola... instead he asked for the same pies I made him last year.

Maybe it will become a Father's Day tradition.

First Forays in Quilting

2010-09-27T05:50:00.000-07:00

I have admired modern quilting for a long time. Every time I see a new quilt by Ashley from Film in the Fridge I get inspired to try one for myself. There are so many amazing designs out there to choose from. Feeling a little brave this summer, I took my first little step towards quilting.

When Julia requested placemats in exchange for my beautiful new masthead, I thought this would be the perfect chance. I could make four small little quilts giving me plenty of practice with piecing, quilting, and binding.

In hindsight... not so sure that was a good idea.

I loved piecing each placemat. This phase of the project actually went quite smoothly and quickly. The quilting bit only required straight lines, no problem.

Unfortunately, when it came to the binding... things were pretty horrendous. The vision I had turned out to be ugly. Like, U-G-L-Y. But you know this was only decided after cutting and attaching the binding to all four placemats. Special thanks to my sister for teaching me the proper way to use a seam ripper (what had I been doing all these years???). After the ripfest and the purchase of new binding, the motto became "I don't give a _____!" until the job was done.

Did I mention I was operating on a strict timeline? I finished the placemats the day prior to returning to Abu Dhabi.

It was a high stress situation.

The only redeeming factor was the very gracious recipient who set them to work straightaway.

New Masthead

2010-09-13T06:31:00.000-07:00

Did you notice my pretty new masthead? Thank you Julia!

More Color, Less Nikon

2010-09-12T02:42:00.001-07:00

I always feel a bit weird advertising my camera brand on my strap. Plus, it's just not all that pretty. This quick and super easy camera strap cover tutorial was just the ticket.

My only complaint is the wrinkles in the fabric after lugging my camera around Scandinavia this summer.

Luggage Tags

2010-08-22T00:33:00.000-07:00

It's a very lonely feeling to be the last one standing at the empty baggage carousel after a long international flight having only collected one of your two checked pieces. And it's a very frustrating feeling to realize that you did not put ID tags on your luggage.

But it's a very happy feeling to have your luggage delivered directly to your door the next day.

In order to avoid repeating a very foolish mistake, I decided to sew up a few luggage tags for my return trip. Originally I planned to use oil cloth and clear vinyl, but ended up using the same material used for reusable shopping bags. The clear vinyl proved too finicky to work with, so it went out the door as well.

I printed out a sheet of address labels from The Small Object onto a thick cardstock to serve as the informative bit. I filled out my details, tucked the paper snugly inside, and attached the tag.

I'm very please to report that the tags survived their maiden voyage to Abu Dhabi, keeping my luggage identifiable the entire ride.

Stopping Motion

2010-08-18T23:37:00.000-07:00

A highly anticipated goal for the summer was to make a little stop motion film with this lady. With only days to spare we jumped into production. It's amazing how much time and effort goes into what boils down to just a few short seconds. Not to mention all of the scaling back we did during the creative process.

Considering all of our challenges (like working outside on a windy day under a tree pelting you with hard fruit of some kind), I think we produced a pretty cute little film.

Click through to view it larger.

Adventure Awaits Apron

2010-08-15T20:04:00.001-07:00

When I saw this fabric at Bolt a few weeks ago, I knew it I had to use it for something. It didn't take me very long to decide just what to sew. My friends who were married earlier this summer are heading out on a three month honeymoon through Europe... so an apron featuring travel destinations seemed like the perfect shower gift for the bride.

I didn't complete it in time for the shower... but since I had already made her the picnic sets, I figured that was okay.

I followed the basic measurements from Bend the Rules Sewing and added a quick little square pocket.

The bride liked it... and someone else did too!

Embroidered Pouches

2010-08-07T07:59:00.000-07:00

This past spring I had a lovely surprise package of fabric show up in my post box. Two sweet friends from home drove all the way out to the mighty Fabric Depot and picked out fabric in my honor. I was incredibly excited to open that package!

I just had to sew them a little something to say "Thank you!" for their thoughtfulness. I decided to make these pleated pouches from Skip to My Lou. Very simple but still offered a step up in skill from the pouches I made last summer.

Darby picked out the light pastel fabrics.

And Nikki picked these bold prints.

To add more texture and make it all a bit more interesting, I embroidered the design on one side of the pouch.

Thanks again, ladies!

Pretzels

2010-07-31T12:24:00.000-07:00

In search of a new baking adventure, I decided to test out my pretzel making skills. No, not the soft pretzels... I've never really liked those. I'm all about the hard and crunchy kind.

After searching a few blogs for recipes, I came across this one here. It called for a beer bath, but I wasn't up for that this time. I also just used a baking spray on the bites instead of the recommended egg wash. And although it doesn't look like it, I did top the pretzels with sea salt. It's been a few days and the grains have crumbled off.

The next time I bake these I want to experiment with nutritional yeast and make cheesy pretzels. We'll see... it was kind of an all day event!

Vegebrate!

2010-07-25T16:32:00.000-07:00

Last night we celebrated the fourth annual Vegebration (Vegetarian + Celebration)!

The event marks my anniversary with vegetarianism and is my gentle way of encouraging others to make the commitment as well.

Like always, incredible food was on the menu. Everyone brought delicious dishes to share and enjoy. I was giddily hovering over the table in anticipation.

Even the chickens had a good time knowing none of their buddies were up on the table.

Thanks for making it another incredible meal, friends! (And super special extra thanks to the hosts, Ashley and Joel... and to Taune, for coining the term "vegebration").

Picnic for Two

2010-07-23T20:31:00.000-07:00

I really like picnics. Food just tastes better when you eat it while sitting on the ground. Since picnics make me happy, I decided I should pass some happiness over to my soon-to-be wed friends. You can never have too much!

Hopefully they will take many picnics together with their new placemat/utensil/napkin rolls.

I really enjoyed sewing this project. First, because it's always more fun to sew for the ones you love, and second, because it was easy but involved enough to keep me interested. I think I'd even like to make myself a pair...

I looked at a few different rolls before deciding to read through this tutorial. The brown stripe on the outside I added myself to break up that big chunk of tealy blue. I like it.

So did the bride.

Hanging Bits

2010-07-21T21:25:00.000-07:00

One of my loveliest friends is getting married this summer. We had her bridal shower tea party this past weekend. My job was to think of some sort of decoration.

My first thoughts went to this link of colorful goodness. The Matron of Honor gave her approval and I spent the night before slicing and sewing paper.

I can't lie, the mobiles looked pretty awesome during the shower. The photos don't capture it.

And I'm just going to pretend that they didn't start dropping one by one as the clock ticked on...

Look, it's me and the bride!

Jars

2010-07-19T19:28:00.000-07:00

I love jars! They are so handy and useful... and good for so many things. I love using jars to drink from or to store my favorite bean salad. My sister uses jars of all sizes to keep her knitting needles organized. What do you use jars for?

And I love having a mom with such a super jar collection... who doesn't mind too much when I sneak a few away for a picnic.

Between Child and Adult

2010-07-17T00:08:00.001-07:00

I've briefly mentioned this salad before. It deserves the credit for inspiring me to be brave and add fruit to my salads. When my mom and I picked an abundance of blueberries this past weekend and we just happened to have goldfish crackers in the house (part of my welcome home swag), I decided to concoct my version of my co-worker's original.

Ingredients:

Spinach
Sprouts
Red Onion
Blueberries
Feta
Goldfish crackers
Balsamic vinegar
Olive oil

It's fun because you are eating a nice and healthy spinach salad which makes you feel like a grown up... and then you find the crunchy cheesy goldfish crackers that make you feel like a kid.

Good combo.

Thank You in a Bag

2010-07-16T07:41:00.000-07:00

The cleaners at my school work extremely hard. They are the first to arrive in the morning and the last to leave at the end of the day. In addition to working so hard, they are also incredibly sweet and kind ladies. It amazes me that they can maintain such positive attitudes! Every morning I'm greeted with a smile.

When I noticed that the ladies carry their belongings in shopping bags, it gave me an idea of how to say "thank you" for all of their efforts this year. The idea began to grow when I realized that I could also turn the situation into a sewing lesson for Ms. Sarah! How perfect!

We got busy on our project of sewing four reversible market bags. It was a process involving a broken sewing machine, absent straight pins, and multiple hours... but it was successful! And I must say that Ms. Sarah's sewing skills are coming along quite nicely... if only we could get her sewing machine to function properly!

My favorite bag is the blue with yellow stripes, but I think they are all fun patterns and colors. Thank you Ikea textiles department.

You wouldn't know it from their smiles here... but the maids were really excited and grateful for their gifts.

I'm looking forward to seeing them again this fall!

Mini Banners

2010-07-03T10:19:00.000-07:00

A few housewarming gifts were in order.

Using the same material I used for Julia's banner, I quickly pieced a few triangles together to make two mini banners. You'll just have to excuse the blurriness of the pictures.

In a few short days I'll be home for 5 weeks and the baking, sewing, and crafting will hopefully return to my usual pace. Can't wait.

Needlecase

2010-06-28T00:36:00.000-07:00

I made this little needlecase for a friend so long ago that I completely forgot about it. It was resting on my coffee table for a few months.

Thankfully, I remembered it just as I was about to seal up the package in which it belonged. Close call.

It's just a bit of felt stitched together with what Amy Sedaris refers to as "crazy stitch." A nice mug of tea on the front and plenty of space to store needles inside.

Banner in Action

2010-06-11T23:40:00.000-07:00

Julia was kind enough to send me a photo of her banner hanging up so cheerfully in her office. Not only is it fun to see the banner in action... it's fun to get a glimpse of where she makes her design magic happen! Look at that computer set up!

Herb-Fantastic Ciabatta Bread

2010-06-08T05:27:00.001-07:00

It's really hard for me to make homemade soup without making homemade bread. The two go so nicely together. Thankfully, an old friend from Sarah J Anderson days shared a recipe for ciabatta bread that requires only one minute of prep time. It's amazing how easy and how delicious it is.

Yesterday morning, since I hoped to make soup in the evening, I prepared the dough and headed to school. Eight hours later the bread baked while the soup simmered, and I shared it all with a special out of town dinner guest who happened upon my doorstep.

[Oh, and it's vegan. The topping is nutritional yeast, garlic powder, sage, thyme, and oregano. The soup was split pea.]

Spring Pouch

2010-06-06T00:23:00.000-07:00

I have such a backlog of bits to post that I overlooked this little pouch.

I sewed it up to include with my package to Julia. I mean, I couldn't send it off without sneaking in a little something to celebrate her birthday! I used two of the fabrics from the spring banner and slipped in some Arabic candies.

Happy Birthday Julia... you know, back in April!

Broaches

2010-06-04T22:39:00.000-07:00

When I sewed up my spring top back in April, the accent broach was my favorite part. It's so simple, but really pretty (in my opinion!). All it takes is cutting out a few circles, making a few folds, and stitching it all together. Total time commitment: 20 minutes.

I wore the broach everywhere for the next few weeks. I even made a new friend when it fell off my sweater on my way to dinner. The chap that found it put it in a safe place until my return. After that, I decided he's my new best man-who-sits-on-the-corner-in-a-comfy-chair friend, but I haven't told him that.

Thinking that my students might like a broach of their own, I decided to make 19 mini versions as an end of the school year gift. I didn't know how well received a handmade gift would be in this culture... but they liked them!

Unfortunately, I couldn't capture any photos of the broaches on the girls because they left in a chaotic swirl of Arabic screaming the last day of school.

Spring Banner

2010-06-02T10:19:00.000-07:00

Way back when, I said there would be more banners. That was the truth.

I set about making a version of this lovely little banner from the Purl Bee as part of a swap with Julia. I sent her this sunny string full of oranges and pinks. I liked it so much I kept it up in my apartment for a week. Cheerful.

In return, she designed me the perfect notecards to use while I correspond from the desert. ~~I'll scan them soon so you can see~~ You can view them here... or maybe you'll receive one in the mail?

Vegan Rice Krispie Treats

2010-05-30T06:24:00.000-07:00

I love being a vegetarian. Not only do I feel healthy and happy... but you get to be silly excited about the simple things. Like marshmallows.

I love marshmallows. Most of the foods I miss (there are only a few!) from my pre-veg life include marshmallows. (Rocky road ice cream and the Rocky Road candy bar are the most prominent.) As you can imagine, the gelatin free marshmallow making process is a bit of an ordeal. Several manufacturers have attempted to produce a yummy veg-mallow with varying degrees of success. There was even a scandal, people! Having sampled a few different brands, my absolute favorite are Dandies. Like, whoa. So good. (So expensive). But so good.

Having sent out a plea to my lovely friends and family, I received two packages of Dandies in the mail just in time for camping season. Delicious s'mores ensued. Now that it's far too hot to camp (or even be outside during daylight hours), I decided to use up the Dandies in a batch of rice krispie treats. The best part is that you can follow the recipe on the box (ok my box had a weird recipe for cereal fruit cake but I'm pretty sure that's regional, yours should be normal) without any of the adjusting often required to veganize.

I totally made a half batch a few days later to use up the remaining marshmallows. They are definitely on my list of specialties to collect while stateside this summer.

Spring Top Follow Up

2010-05-09T11:03:00.000-07:00

Thanks to those of you who voted for my top! Nearing the end of voting I had about 12% of the votes... which put me in third for my batch of 12 finalists! Not bad for a very amateur seamstress!

The finalists are up now so pop over and vote for your favorite! (If you can choose... they are all quite impressive!)

Spring Top Week Finalist!!!

2010-05-07T10:43:00.000-07:00

Oh my goodness! I just found out that the blouse I entered into Spring Top Week over at Made by Rae was selected by the judges to be a finalist... out of 368 submissions! I submitted my top with only a few hours to spare and zero expectations. But yep, my simple little top is right up there with the blouses made by some very talented seamstresses. I am completely flattered.

You can vote for my top here! Go on, vote vote vote! Tell your friends and family! Post it on your blog! Rally the troops! Voting ends early Saturday morning.

So let's talk about the top.

I knew I wanted to enter a top in the contest, but to be honest, my garment sewing skills are quite limited. Having only ever made two shirts before, I went back to the tutorial that started it all published by the lovely Rae herself.

As I have mentioned, fabric selection is pretty limited here (although I did find a Liberty retailer and just about forgot to breathe as a I browsed the rolls and rolls). I knew I wanted to use stripes and I was pretty intrigued with a combination of gray and red. In the basement of Cairo (fabric shop), while chatting with the attendant about life in Abu Dhabi and India, I selected this gray and white striped print. I didn't realize until I brought it out into daylight that it's not cotton. I was distracted... ok?

It's a bit silly that although my top is called Spring Ruffle Top... it doesn't actually have any ruffles! I decided to leave them off and keep the lines simple.

Then I needed to add a bit of red so I whipped up the broach with wool felt. (More on that later!)

I ended up with a top that I love. It's quite thrilling to know that a few people out there love it too! Don't forget to vote (for me...hehe)!

Thanks to Molly and Frances, my photographers!

Toiletries Bags and Fused Plastic

2010-05-04T07:45:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago a friend passed on some information about a church group collecting items for women in our local community. When you live in a place with a high rate of domestic staff (nannies, housekeepers, cleaners, etc), especially ones who are sponsored by their employers, come from impoverished countries, and may not speak the local language fluently, there is, sadly, a high rate of domestic abuse and mistreatment. I won't go into detail about it here, but you can read about a few cases in particular here, here, and here.

The group I was recruited to help supports the women who have luckily escaped abusive employers and are currently living in safe houses around the city. The current focus is to collect toiletry items and undergarments for the women.

Normally, I prefer to support independent organizations. (I'm defining "independent" as "no affiliation whatsoever to a religious group.") Otherwise, there just always seems to be a caveat involved, as I felt there was in this present option. However, choices for charities or support groups are quite limited in my present locale. After an email plea to a couple of ladies back home and reading their thoughtful responses, I decided that the need of the women outweighed my own personal discomfort.

So let's get on with it!

In addition to collecting toiletries and undies, I also made a few toiletry bags. For some reason, toiletry bags are difficult to find here so I ended up making four in total (though only three are shown).

To construct the bags I put my brain to work and combined my sewing knowledge from two projects. The zipper pouches from Bend the Rules Sewing, and the beloved Market Bag tutorial from Film in the Fridge. (I also made a weird and lumpy box bag, but you should just ignore it).

My favorite part of these bags is the lining. I decided to use up a resource that I have plenty of... plastic bags! Oh good grief... it pains me to see how overused plastic bags are here. If you go to the market to buy 15 items, the attendant will bag them up in no less than 5 bags! Not an exaggeration. There is a movement by the government to reduce the use of plastic bags... but someone needs to relay the message to the supermarkets. Seriously. As much as I try to remember to bring my reusable bags, I still end up with plenty of the plastics. Thankfully, I was able to put a few to good use.

So you might be wondering how I did it. In that case, you should check here and here. Both are awesome resources for fusing plastic. Basically, the process I followed was:

1. cut open the bags
2. layer 3 or 4 bags on top of each other (depending on desired thickness)
3. put plastic between two sheets of parchment paper (baking paper)
4. run a hot iron (you have to experiment with the heat) over the parchment paper, paying close attention to the edges

Eventually you'll end up with a sheet of material that is surprisingly easy to sew through. Treat the plastic just as you would a regular fabric lining and sew your project as usual. Pay special attention to any wrinkles you're adding to your outer fabric. You won't be able to iron them out very easily once the plastic is sewn in.

Pretty easy. Pretty neat. Don't forget to crack a window.

Tofu Sushi

2010-05-03T04:49:00.000-07:00

Always have friends who can cook and cook well! An important life lesson, I believe.

This past weekend I headed out to the desert to visit Frances and her culinary skills. For dinner she readied all the bits and pieces for sushi while I pan-fried some tofu. We rolled it all together and had delicious vegetarian sushi.

It was so good we ate it again for lunch the next day. These pictures are from my rolls which were a bit heavy on the rice. I actually cut them in half to avoid that unpleasant "Oh my I might just choke on this little bundle of yum" feeling.

Cinnamon Raisin Bread

2010-05-02T05:46:00.000-07:00

For all my talk about how I don't like to mix sweet and savory... I suddenly needed to have cinnamon raisin bread a few weekends ago. Weird.

I followed this recipe and even though it required a bit more from me than my standard choice, I really enjoyed the mixing, kneading, rising, and baking process. Just like the instructions said... this recipe makes a lot of dough. I ended up with two loaves in bread pans and one free form "masterpiece" baked in a foil takeway box. It worked!

The picture quality isn't fantastic, but you'll notice that I used golden raisins. Fancy.

Another Nest Tote

2010-04-27T23:59:00.000-07:00

I started knitting this bag on the beach back in January. That's right... January is the perfect beach weather over here.

I put the bag down for weeks and weeks and finally got around to finishing it earlier this month. It comes in handy when I walk across the block to "Adbul Salam Vegetable and Fruit Shop".

Thanks to my sister for sending me over some cotton yarn.

Kapow!

2010-04-18T07:23:00.000-07:00

One of my of favorite things to do is to punch down bread dough.

Sunflower wheat bread in the works.

Yoga Mat Bag

2010-04-17T06:40:00.000-07:00

I tried to be so sneaky with this birthday present. I knew I wanted to make Molly a bag for her yoga mat... but you know, it had to be a surprise. I went to the shop where she purchased it and took a few measurements. I was so excited I got right to work on it using this tutorial.

As I was attaching the bottom circular piece I suddenly had a feeling the circumference of the bag was too small. I debated what to do and decided to play it safe. I would have to borrow Molly's mat so I could be absolutely sure the bag would fit.

The good news is that the bag fits. The bad news is that because the mat is a bit tacky, it's difficult to slide it in and out (not to mention the gift was over a month late!).

But you know, I think it gets the job done.

Growing Up with Salads

2010-04-14T08:44:00.000-07:00

In general, I'm a savory person. And I certainly do not like my savory getting all mixed up with the sweets. For example, fruit bagels? What? Naturally, I was always a little put off by fruit in green salads. I usually just skipped on by... but at some point in the last year or two I became an adult. Adults try new things and develop sophisticated tastes... don't they?

I sampled an especially intriguing strawberry and spinach salad last spring and watched with awe as a co-worker ate a blueberry-spinach-goldfish cracker salad (seriously!). I think I've been won over.

All that to say I made a delicious green salad the other night... with fruit. You should make it too:

baby spinach
half cup of chopped walnuts
fourth cup alfalfa sprouts
fourth cup thinly sliced red onion
fourth cup of feta
pomegranate
balsamic vinegar and olive oil

Or something like that...

Smepic Cookies

2010-03-29T06:26:00.000-07:00

The chocolate marshmallow cookies from the Cookie Cutter in the Vancouver Mall have been haunting me since around age 8. Did you ever have one? A warm thick chocolate base with a generous smear of marshmallow topped with a fudgey frosting. Oh my goodness. That was a cookie.

All good things must come to an end and the Cookie Cutter closed down... 15 years ago? Ever since I've kept that cookie in my heart. A few times I've tried to track down a similar recipe online and discovered that I wasn't the only one on the hunt. No luck.

Instead, last week I decided to do my best to make my own version of the classic deliciousness. I'm not too proud to share that my first attempt was an absolute fail. Completely. I used this recipe from 101 Cookbooks and fiddled with it too much by replacing the eggs. Check it out:

My next attempt I was much more logical and used a recipe that started out vegan from the Post Punk Kitchen. I actually made this recipe twice. The first time I followed it pretty closely and had good results. The second time I diverged just a bit and had fantastic results. These are the changes: sunflower oil instead of canola oil and poured out just a bit less, added an extra dash or two of soymilk, used a tablespoon of water and a teaspoon of egg replacer instead of flax seeds.

The next step was to slather on the marshmallow cream. If you do this while the cookie is still warm it will melt nicely and have a smooth look on top.

Finally, I did my own take on the fudge frosting by using the chocolate ganache recipe from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World. I only used a touch because the marshmallow topping already sweeten the cookie to the max. My final batch came out the best... but here's a look at the first:

I really loved these cookies but I decided they weren't up to "epic" standards... a label I've been enjoying for my baking lately. Instead, I settled on "smepic" ... "a smidge below epic" ...

And you know, these cookies really wanted to be vegan... but the grocery stores here in the Middle East didn't want to play along. Use Ricemellow if you can find it and you'll be off to a good start. The other animal product to sneak in was some milk fat in the chocolate I melted for the ganache, but vegan chocolate should be easy for you to find.