Status Update

I know it’s been over a month since my last post…

• Went to LA to celebrate March family birthdays. My nephew, Sebastian, was one of the celebrants, celebrating his FIRST birthday! Too cute! Got to hang out with my family (and some friends that I also consider family). Went to a couple of my favorite eateries, of course (Daikokuya, Jessie’s Mexican Food
• When we got back, some cousins came for a visit. Despite having just received our new couch and ottoman, making the sofa uber lounge-comfy, we managed to keep them active the whole time they were here. The threat of rain pushed us to get out and go out and see the sight “before it rain(ed)”, but it never did rain and we managed to see a whole bunch of the San Francisco tourist highlights (Chinatown, Lombard/Crooked Street, Union Square, Painted Ladies, Golden Gate Park, Golden Gate Bridge, Fisherman’s Wharf, Haight/Ashbury) along with a couple of our new favorites (Coffee in West Portal; 9th & Irving; BiRite Creamery). We even made it to Muir Woods and Sausalito one day and San Jose on another day!
• Then, last week, I went to Crafty Crafty night at Counterpulse and crafted with a bunch of strangers for a couple of hours. VERY PRODUCTIVE and fun to meet new people. Beats crocheting in front of the TV for a while.
• The following day, I went to Make SF and took my first Arduino lesson. We made a temperature clock (details on the MakeSF Wiki) and I got to play Rock, Scissors, Paper with a computerized glove.

I WAS going to round out the week by going to Forage SF‘s Underground Farmer’s Market, but when driving up to the place, the line pouring out of the building and nearly wrapping around the closest corner was enough to convince me to keep moving and just wait for the next one… I’ll be there earlier next time.

Somewhere between all of this I also found a drop spindle at the thrift store and made my first yarn (still debating taking a picture or using it for stuffing); I’ve been making some hair accessories (soon to appear on Esty, I hope), I made my first (and second) Shepherd’s Pie; and made it through an iPhone Hello World tutorial. My food log has been slack since the last LA trip and I have been unmotivated (I’d say too busy, but I would be lying) for anything more than Sun Salutations. I am grateful, overwhelmed and excited.

TAD 2010-09 Meet MakeGyver

Brought a date to Make SF tonight and together we made MakeGyver (more video and pics on the Make site soon, I hope!):

It’s actually a Valentine’s Day card with a recorder and speaker inside. You can record up to 20 seconds on audio on the recorder and it includes a triggering device that turns the recorded audio on. I made a belt around another card inside that connects the legs and head to move them together and attached the speaker trigger to that so that when you pull on its legs, his head pops up and he says something! (If I’m lucky enough to have done it right, there’s video included with this post! Just in case, here’s another link: http://www.flickr.com/photos/karizmatic/4345048489/ )

from karizmatic’s posterous, thing-a-day

TAD 2010-06 Paper Hearts

Just went through my paper stash to see what I had in there and I found this Japanese food zine I picked up in a Japanese market a couple of years ago. I never did use it for the recipes (I mostly just look on the web for that), but I kept it to use the pictures and I just ripped a couple of those pics out and cut some hearts out – I thought it appropriate since I truly do heart food. I have a project in mind and tomorrow is an all day craft in my pajamas day (that is, if I don’t sneak out to the fabric store) so these images may have a repeat TAD display. anyway, meanwhile in raw form:

from karizmatic’s posterous, thing-a-day

TAD 2010-05 More Food

Chicken Pan Pie

(Ingredients indented with instructions)

We had a late lunch today and we started chowing almost as soon as I pulled this out of the oven, so I don’t have a picture of the whole thing out of the oven… I also realized that the soup was a little watery (or maybe it was just because it was right out of the oven), so it’s a bit sloppy 🙂

(PREHEAT YOUR OVEN TO 375 deg F/190.5 deg C when you’re ready to bake the pie)

Crust

I use this recipe (http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/perfect_pie_crust/) to make my pie crust (I substitute half of the butter with crisco), but you can also use pre-packaged crust. If you are making your own, roll out your crust before you start cooking and put it back in the fridge to keep it cool while you make your filling.

Filling

Sautee in the following order, seasoning with salt & pepper as you add each ingredient (adjust quantities to your preference):

3c chicken, cubed

(I like to use the pre-cooked frozen chicken breast, then I cut it up after heating)

2 large potatoes

family-sized bag of mixed vegetables

(add when the potatoes are mostly cooked)

This is what it looks like mixed:

When ready, add

Family Sized can of Cream of Chicken Soup

and any other ingredients the can of soup calls for to make the soup (this one asked for 1 equivalent can of water)

Mix and let it simmer (now’s a good time to pull your crust back out of the fridge)

Find a casserole your filling will fit into and pour the hot filling, then top it with the crust

Brush the top of your crust with

Egg Wash (Mix 1 Egg with 1tbsp water)

Bake for 30-45 minutes (until crust is golden brown)

Let cool before serving.

from karizmatic’s posterous, thing-a-day

TAD 2010-04 scraps and slippers

flowers from fabric scraps of projects past…

(not really sure how much i like any of them)

and, i made these a while ago as a christmas gift for my grandma.

haven't had a chance to visit my LA family for christmas, so i still have everyone's presents and good thing since it gave me a chance to fix the cuffs on these slippers today. here's a closeup:

from karizmatic’s posterous, thing-a-day

TAD 2010-03 Knickers? Boxers?

Almost done! My very first pair of boxers using this pattern!

FRONT VIEW:

BACK:

Since I’ve never made boxers or any pant-like clothing (clothing is not my strongest sewing skill, but it’s why I learned to sew in the first place, so I’m trying to conquer that this year), I didn’t want to use good fabric. Last year when cleaning out the garage I found some water-damaged shirts. After a few good washings, some of them turned out partially salvageable. Unfortunately, the pattern I had did not quite fit on one shirt, so I first had to make fabric that my pattern would fit onto THEN cut the pattern out of my “made” fabric. Here it is in progress:

(I think making and cutting that fabric actually took up the allotted 30 minutes, but I always thought that time was a minimum, not a maximum ;). Anyway, I still have to put on the elastic and hem it, but I’m kinda tired and definitely hungry now.

Just so you can see where they came from (well, the red one, at least…I realized that the white shirt had too many moldy spots to be useable so I found another striped shirt in the pile, which is what you see in the shorts above.)

Day 4, 2AM Update: I finished!

from karizmatic’s posterous, thing-a-day

TAD 2010-02 Dinner! (Pictures)

Potato Spinach & Cheese Enchiladas

Note: Ingredients are indented in the instructions

(hopefully, Posterous and Gmail will get along and accept my formatting)

Seasoning

– Mix, using the same unit of measure for all ingredients and mix with these proportions

.75 Cayenne

.25 Black Pepper

2 Paprika

4 Coriander

4 Oregano

8 Cumin

Enchilada Sauce

– Mix

1tbsp flour

.5-1 tsp seasoning

– Toast over medium-high heat

– Add and blend to sauce

1tsp oil (i like olive oil)

– When fully blended add

1 can of tomato sauce

– Keep on heat for another 5-10 minutes to fuse the flavors

(it's really best when used the next day, but i wanted them TONIGHT!)

Enchiladas

– Preheat oven to 375 Degrees Farenheit (190.5 Celsius)

To make the potato and spinach filling,

– Sautee (adjust proportions to taste, these portions are what I used today)

.25 clove garlic

2 large potatoes

8 cups uncooked spinach

  adding one ingredient at a time and seasoning with each addition

– Line a baking sheet/pan with Enchilada Sauce

For each enchilada,

– Heat one of the 

6-12 corn tortillas (less or more, depending on the size of your baking sheet/pan)

– When warm, sprinkle some of the

2-4 cups shredded Mexican Blend Cheese (also good with Mozarella!)

  and add a spoonful of the potato and spinach mix

– Rub a little bit of the enchilada sauce on the inside of the tortilla and roll it up to encase and seal the filling

– Add to the baking sheet with the seal side facing down

When the baking sheet is full,

– Add enchilada sauce and shredded cheese to the top of the enchiladas

– Bake for 20 minutes or until the consistency of the cheese is to your liking

  (maybe even broil it at the end if you want the top crunchy)

Final Note: I like this with Mexican Rice (maybe another day) and some refried beans (from the can). Someone else who eats my food also likes it with sour cream and shredded lettuce on top.

from karizmatic’s posterous, thing-a-day

TAD 2010-01 Imitation Preparation

Happy 2010!

As I develop my sewing skills, I've been learning how to analyze and (more particularly fun!) copy patterns of clothing (and other such items) that I like. Unfortunately, it isn't always possible by taking something apart (I'd otherwise have some angry people, myself included, at home wondering things like, "what happened to my hat?" and "will you be able to put it back together?". Questions that I can only insufficiently answer with, "I don't know").

So, to try and bridge that gap, I find a garment with a grid pattern on it (plaids or chekers or something with straight lines) that I can use to measure whole blocks on the grid. I measure where the curves and angles begin and end by calculating their distance to "grid" lines. I then transpose these measurements/points to paper and "connect the dots" to draw a pattern. Add .5" for seam allowance, mark the angled cuts and I'm ready to make a pattern.

I've been wanting to try making boxers for a while – that opening in the middle looked so tricky to me. So, I found a pair with a nice checked pattern on it (sorry – I'd get in trouble if I showed you pics of THAT) and voila! I've included a pic of the measurements if you want to have a go at it. Maybe tomorrow I can actually make a pair. Until then…

See the full gallery on posterous

from thing-a-day 2010, thing-a-day

2010 Personal Goals

Seriously, It’s been too long. My fear of blogging came back and all I could think of was, “what if people read this?!”. Oh, wait – people already have and I didn’t disintegrate. So, back to it. (oh, and the dog ate my last couple of posts)

2010 is shaping up to be a pretty incredible year and it would seriously be too long a post to try and catch up on 2009. Instead, I’d like to take lessons learned from last year and get organized for the year ahead. Last year was great in getting my creative battery recharged and meeting a lot of wonderfully awesome folks. I did, however, neglect my health a bit and rejected the idea that my obsession for organization would somehow be useful in my creative pursuits – I feared that it would interfere with the flow and eventually realized that it is part of MY flow. Lesson learned. I will be healthier this year and am grateful for my organizational compulsions because it is what will keep me on track, on task with my growth and accomplishment as an artist (OMG, did I just call myself that?!). Anyway, before this part of the post gets any longer, here are my personal goals for 2010:

28 Thing A Day Entries: Last year I participated in a month-long event called Thing-A-Day where makers of all kinds tried to make something everyday and logged it on the Thing-A-Day site. Much like any other collective or group, there is something motivating about seeing others make things and sharing your own made items. There were a couple of days where I’d say my “made” items were questionable (like the day I made a friend). Anyway, I’d really like to try and shoot for a solid 28 on time this year. I was actually hoping to get some local folks to join me in this effort this year for maybe some ThingADay weekend updates? Who’s with me?

156 20+ Minute Workouts Logged: OK, A couple of years ago, I got really tired of being unhealthy, decided to get healthy and actually lost about 35 pounds and felt great. I’ve since gained a good bit of the weight back, I can feel my lethargic asthmatic lungs working hard when I’m going up these San Francisco hills. So, I’m getting back to it. I’m using the same tool that got me there before, Spark People. It’s a great website with a lot of good information on how to get started, tips on strategies for finding ways to get healthy. The best part is that it’s free… and they now have an iPhone app for it, too!

300 Food Log Entries: More than the weight loss, I want to try and stay healthy and keep the ratio of healthy eating days to indulgent gorging days at least 5:1. The best way for me to do it is to SEE what I’m eating as I go throughout my days and I’ll be using SparkPeople to track that, too.

24 Blog Entries (23, after I publish this one!), not including ThingADay entries: To try and keep myself disciplined in blogging, I’m going to try averaging 2 per month. I’m hoping the surge in February will help me exceed this one.

52 New Craft Projects Started (New Activity/Technique/Patterns): Last year I found myself repeating a lot of projects over and over because I just really wanted to make something. At the end of the day, I was somewhat relieved that I’d made something, but a little unsatisfied with the repetition without learning something new. So, I’d like to learn at least 52 new things that I can apply to making something. This week, I went to my first Make:SF meeting, used a soldering iron for the first time (Kariel – you would be proud!) and made a Bristle Bot:

12 Craft Projects Completed: So, out of all the stuff I’m learning, I’d like to have 12 completed, tangible things. Last year, I focused on knit, crochet and sewed items and I think I finished more than 12 pieces, but I didn’t document, so I’m not sure. My aim for this goal is simply to document at least 12 of the things I finish.

4 New Designs (of my own): Out of everything I’m learning and making, I have been the least disciplined about documenting the steps to things I make up on my own. This has happened in the kitchen often when I experiment. It turns out great, but then I can’t repeat it. So, I’d like to make sure I document at least 4 of these events from start to finish (in the kitchen, craft room or elsewhere). Ya, starting small on this one.

There you have it. Now that I’ve told you, I have to do it. I’m looking forward to what’s already starting out to be a great year and excited to be checking off and raising these goals this time next year.

Can I Be Your Favorite Contestant?

So, HP Space is hosting a Singaporean TV game show that is looking for creative talents in their contestants and they’ve asked contestant hopefuls to send them a 1 minute video, which they post to their site for the general audience to view, rate and comment on. I was able to put together said video, which you can find here.

Besides the excitement of going to Singapore, I’m looking forward to engaging in new creative challenges so I would love the opportunity to participate in this show and would really appreciate your vote by viewing my video (as many times as you want), adding a rating and a comment, then sharing the link with others.

To rate and comment on the video, please register on the HP site. There is a “SIGN UP” button on the top right corner of the screen that looks like this:

Thanks for all of your support and A VERY BIG THANKS to those who already viewed, rated and added their comments!!!

http://www.hpspace.com/videos/video/1789-p