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

(28) What is this?

It’s not quite done, but I am hosting a party today and I really won’t be doing anymore for it today, so I thought I’d get it in here now and maybe post some updates later…
I was inspired by a scarf I saw somewhere on the web, and ended up staying up all night to make this: Using mostly the free fabric I got this week I cut the flower shapes; used some other fabric I already had as the spine/scarf-ish part; used my new sewing machine and some fancy stitches and now I just need to attach the flowers (all but 2 are still just pinned) and bead the centers.
We were watching a movie last night and I fell asleep. When I woke up, I went to check my email; one thing led to another and now here I am. It’s one of those projects where you just let the voice inside take over and you don’t really focus on what you’re making, so now I have this THING and I’m not really sure what it is or what it’s for…It’s about scarf length and width, but I’m not really convinced it makes a good scarf… thoughts?

(27) A cheesy greeting card

I put together some origami just to have a TAD for Friday. I am, however, very curious about 28 and must give it its own post…

(26) More Flowers

More of the same fabric. A flower pin (a little messy on the back)… Maybe someone’s birthday present. MAYBE a better rendition.

(25) Fabric Roses

I answered a Craigslist ad for some free fabric. WOW!!! I got A LOT of frabric. So, now I can play with it without being afraid fo running out. really.