September 01, 2005
Purses Galore
I’ve made a couple more tote bags- one for my sister’s friend and one for a friend of Nate and me. Autumn’s friend is a Mary Kay rep and likes butterflies, so hers is mainly pink. It turned out well, though I don’t prefer pastel accessories. I made a little felt rose to accent it, which also came out nicely even though the leaves look black in the photo (at least they do on my monitor).
The bag for our friend is probably the best bag I’ve ever made. The fabric is a heavy canvas that holds its shape better than the lighter quilting material I’ve used so far.
The colors are bright and summery and I even went a bit farther by adding a beaded trim. It looks fantastic, no? I’m thinking about making bags and selling them to make some extra money. I’m stymied when it comes to figuring out pricing, though. We’ll see, we’ll see.
Posted by April at 04:38 PM | Comments (0)
August 18, 2005
Getting Crafty
I mentioned before that I wanted to get my sister something handmade for her birthday. I couldn’t find anything really cool and affordable online—there were expensive items that were super neat, and cheesy items that were, well, cheap. So I decided to make her a bag. Below is a picture of the trial version I made first. It came out okay, but Autumn’s is nicer. It’s lined and has fewer mistakes. I had fun making the bags and they didn’t take much time—so you might be getting one in the future.
Another recent project was to do something fun with a window shade I purchased a few months ago. I mis-measured the window we needed covering (and still today there is a sheet hanging over it, taunting me with its tackiness). So I’ve had this shade in an opened package with no receipt for a while- what to do? What to do? The other night I was lying awake in bed, which describes most nights, actually—and I decided to paint something pretty and decorative on the shade.
It’s supposed to be cherry blossoms, which I don’t think really comes across, but in any case it looks pretty. I’ve hung it in our hallway for now. Hopefully someday we’ll have a window that it will fit in. In the mean time it looks okay as it is, don’t you think?
P.S. I took this picture last night when I was teasing Nate with the camera (we were eating dinner and I kept taking pics of him with his mouth full). This one actually turned out good:
Posted by April at 12:25 PM | Comments (1)
July 26, 2005
El cocinar es diversión!
Cooking is fun!
Our cherry tomato plant is more prolific than I can manage—leaving me with an extra pound or two of tomatoes every week. (I only wish the other tomato plants would do as well. I’m still in denial but will discuss it when I’m ready.) My solution to the overabundance of tomato fruits? Make salsa! I’ve been experimenting with ingredients and proportions and following is the best to date. Next time I think I will try making a mint salsa. If it’s good I’ll post the recipe.
Mango Chipotle Salsa
6 cups cut up tomatoes
1 bunch cilantro, cleaned and trimmed of lower stems
1/2 a red onion, cut up
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 mango, cut up
Juice of 2 limes
1 can chipotle peppers in adobo sauce (see notes)
Hefty piece of ginger, peeled and cut up (see notes)
1/4 teaspoon tumeric
salt to taste
Combine all ingredients in food processor, pulsing to combine. Be careful not to over process or you’ll just have liquid. If you don’t have a food processor you can still make a great fresca-style salsa, it will just take you longer to chop everything up.
- I used 2 peppers in my salsa. I suggest starting with one (or even half of one, if you’re especially spice-timid), and working up to more as you taste test the salsa. The peppers are easy to work with if you remove them from the can with a fork and then cut them up with a fork and sharp knife. Put everything into the salsa (sauce, seeds, all of it).
- I used a piece of ginger about as long but thicker than my thumb. Press the peeled pieces of ginger in a garlic press over your salsa—let as much juice drain out of the press as possible. Remove the pulp from the press (don’t add this to the salsa) and repeat until you’ve used all the ginger.
Vegetarian Enchiladas
Vegetarian enchiladas are fun and messy to make. They call for salsa to marinate tofu—I suggest using a canned store-bought variety. The flavors seem to penetrate the tofu better than with fresh salsa. Save your fresh salsa for chips or salads. I use canned enchilada sauce and am satisfied with the results. I know homemade sauce would be infinitely better, but this already takes some time to make. If I ever find and use an enchilada sauce recipe I’ll let you know how it goes.
1/2 package firm tofu
1 cup salsa
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 small potato
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 cup corn (fresh or frozen)
1 head broccoli, trimmed and cut into small pieces
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon ground cumin
salt to taste
45 oz. enchilada sauce
Corn tortillas
Fresh spinach
Cheddar cheese, grated
For filling:
Mix salsa and olive oil in large mixing bowl. Cut tofu into cubes and place in bowl, stirring to combine with salsa mix. Marinate at least one hour covered in refrigerator, stirring once.
While tofu marinates, cube and boil potato for about 5-7 minutes, until barely cooked. Rinse under water to cool.
Add potato, beans, corn, and broccoli to tofu mix and combine well.
In dry pan toast coriander and cumin until fragrant. Add spices and salt to mix, combining well.
To make the enchiladas:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Pour about half an inch of enchilada sauce into a 9×12 baking dish.
Pour some sauce in a pie pan or other deep dish. Place a tortilla in dish and coat both sides with sauce. Transfer to a plate and add a heaping tablespoon of filling. Add a few spinach leaves and roll up. Transfer to baking dish - seam side down- and repeat.
When baking dish is full pour sauce over enchiladas to coat thinly. Sprinkle with grated cheese. Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes. Remove foil and bake another 5-10 minutes until cheese begins to golden. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.
Posted by April at 11:38 AM | Comments (0)
May 11, 2005
I like this image...
But I can’t figure out how to put it in my main title. In fact I haven’t figured out much at all. Except that the CSS For Dummies book I wanted sucks. I was about to order it but decided to read some customer reviews beforehand, and boy am I glad I did! The kindest reviewers said it was at times confusing, the harshest reviewers questioned the publisher’s sanity for ever printing it at all.
Posted by April at 03:51 PM | Comments (0)