August 31, 2009

Plantains And Pork Stew

Over the weekend, we went to dinner at my husband's ex-classmate's home. She's from Jamaica and she cooked us the most fantastic Jamaican feast. There are no pictures from the evening because it's difficult to work a camera while you're being a pig.

The hubs really loved the plantain, so she gave us one so we could take it home to fry up.

It needs no spices, just a spray of oil and let it cook till it's got a lovely crust. So yummy!

And for dinner I made pork stew, one of my cool weather staples. It's easy to make -- it just takes time to simmer.

Pork Stew
1.5 lbs pork, cubed
2-3 onions, roughly chopped
2 tbsp rosemary
2 bay leaves
1 tbsp paprika
1 (6 oz) can of tomato paste
1 cup red wine
1.5 cups chicken stock
Salt and pepper
Olive oil
2-3 cups carrots, cut into large chunks
- Cube the pork and season with salt and pepper. Brown in a large pot in batches on high heat.
- Lower the heat and add the onions to the pot and return the pork to the pot. Cook for a few minutes, allowing the onions to soften.
- Add the wine and allow to cook for a few minutes before adding the herbs and spices, tomato paste and chicken stock.
- Bring to a boil, then lower to a simmer and cook for approximately 1 hour. You'll need to cook it longer if the pork was cut into larger pieces.
- Approximately 20 minutes into cooking, add the carrots and stir in.

I Approve This Weather

After the scorching few weeks we've had here in CT, I am absolutely delighted by this forecast. I'm going to dance around now.

August 30, 2009

CupCakeGenius

My sister has just alerted me to the awesomeness that is the Debbie Meyer CupCakeGenius 2-piece set. (They need to rework that name I think... it doesn't quite roll off the tongue.)

I was just talking to the hubs about making cupcakes and filling them with Nutella... this would come in very handy! Not like I need more rubbish in my kitchen...

New Studio - Part One

I started moving into my new studio space today. Of course I'd choose a day when the weather decided to be all warm and sunny.

It's pretty bare at the moment because pictures need to be hung, curtains need to be made etc.

This is what it looked like a few days ago.

And then without the curtains. I also removed the little cross things because I thought it looked better without. The display case is now at the opposite corner of the room since it doesn't quite match my white furniture. Not that this room matches at all!

The sunlight bouncing off my sewing machine is pretty insane, no? It's not quite so bad in real life, and when I get the curtains in, I'm sure it'll stop the glare. If not, there's always that frosted stuff you put on your windows.

I did put up one picture since there was already a hook there.

A bunch of the pictures that need to be hung. Can you tell I really like that shade of pink? Well the top one I bought, the bottom left was a gift to me for my birthday, and the bottom right was a gift from my sister.

There's lots more to be done, so I'll update my progress every now and again. Let's hope there'll be curtains the next time you see this space!

Anthro Love

I love plaid, I love dresses and coats, I love grey. Hence, I love these new arrivals at Anthropologie.



Want, want, want.

August 28, 2009

Scenes From The Backyard

I'm not a fan of the outdoors, but I kind of like the stillness after a rain. Plus it's actually much cooler now (please let this mean Autumn's upon us!) so walking around outside isn't so horrid.

The tomato plants have gone berserk. Those three pictures are of different parts of one plant, no repeats. That's a lot of tomatoes for smallish plants! My mum-in-law told me a lot of tomato plants failed to produce fruit this year because of blight brought on by the abundance of rain. So now I'm quite thankful I decided to plant mine in pots.

I get between four and seven cherry ripe tomatoes daily, and all the ones I picked today went into my niece's lunch (I cooked some ditalini, put some butter and threw in chopped cherry tomatoes). She was very excited to see them go straight from the plant into her bowl (I washed them, of course).

Playdate With Ava

I'll be babysitting my niece Ava for most of the day today while her parents take care of moving to their new home. I just love this kid... she's hilariously funny and is insanely clever.

I've got her lunch and snacks covered, set a recording for Sesame Street so she can watch that, and I've prepared my cats for the chasing and "KIIIIIITTIIIIIIIIIIIIIES!!!" that will take place.

The picture is horrific, I know. It was taken last Saturday at a restaurant with orange walls. Yes, orange. Soooo not my colour. But she was wearing the dress I made her :) How much do you just want to squish her? I know I do.

August 27, 2009

A Pinwheel Quilt for Maura Jane

I'm done with the Happy Campers Pinwheel Quilt! I really, really love this one... it'll be a little painful to send this one off, I'll admit. Everyone feels that way though, right?

Initially I wasn't too sure about the fabric choice for the binding but I kind of like it now. Well, I really have no choice, do I? :P I'd initially chosen a darker red dot fabric to go with the red in the border, but I didn't like that in the end, so I used the brighter red to reflect the red within the pinwheels.

I wanted to hand quilt this one, but then I ended up returning to stippling. My name is Audrie, and I'm a Stipploholic.


The back of the quilt.

I really love that backing fabric. I think an entire quilt revolving around that fabric and its colours is in order.
It's in the wash now, and once it's dry, it'll be off to live with little baby Maura Jane. (Maura is Mary in Celtic / Gaelic -- the family's Fighting Irish and bleed green hehe -- and Jane is for her paternal grandmother who unfortunately left us earlier this year.)

Step Into My Childhood

When I look at Milo and Nutella, I immediately think of my childhood. Everyday before school I'd have a mug of warm Milo... and for a snack, Nutella spread on bread. My love of chocolate was cultivated from birth apparently, and I was not a thin child. Nope, not by a long shot.

Yesterday, I found Milo at the Restaurant Depot (my in-laws are opening a creamery so I'm helping out) and I believe I did a little dance. Yes, there were people around. No, I didn't care.

It's very similar to Ovaltine but faaaaaaaar superior in my opinion. I really hope they continue selling it because knowing my future children will grow up on Milo makes me all warm and fuzzy inside.

My husband was the first to crack open the tin and I believe I'm going to have to hide it from him because he's now addicted. Sometimes it's not good being married to a chocoholic of the same calibre.

August 26, 2009

The Cats Have Taken Over

We cleared out the dining room and it's now empty of the dining table and curtains. I folded up the rug that was under the table, and my cats have decided it's now their bed. They've basically been on that rug ever since.

I don't know how to break it to them that the rug's going byebye. Perhaps I ought to make them a cat bed for the sewing room and put it in the corner. But just watch them turn their noses at it... they only like things not intended for them. Little rascals.

Oh J.Crew

J.Crew needs to just stop. All these ruffles and textures and cuteness... must... resist...

I need to go lie down.

August 25, 2009

Meatballs, I Has It

We were supposed to have dinner with my husband's cousin and his family today but it got postponed till tomorrow. My husband was pretty upset because he was really looking forward to going to our favourite Japanese restaurant... he's been dying for sushi the last couple of days.

I interrupted his whingefest to inform him that I was making meatballs for dinner. That shut him up good.

Meat, glorious meat.

Sprinkle some Parmesan over it and it's just heavenly.

By the way, when my husband came home to this sight, he turned to me and said "So what will you be having for dinner?". Oh the cheek of that man.

Here's the recipe I use:

Meatballs
1.5 lbs ground beef
1/2 cup Parmesan
1/3 cup milk (I use fat free)
1/3 cup breadcrumbs
2-3 cloves minced garlic
1 large egg
Salt and pepper
1 tsp dried herbs (I used oregano, basil, marjoram etc)
1/4 cup fresh parsley
- Preheat the oven to 350F.
- Mix all the ingredients together, and form meatballs, approximately 1.5" in diameter, and place in a baking dish.
- Bake for about 20 minutes.

(I add it to my pot of pasta sauce and cook for a few more minutes. I make a simple marinara sauce but you could easily use a bottled sauce if you want to bypass the tediousness.)
(Oh, and remember to top with Parmesan or you'll regret it.)
(I'm serious.)

August 24, 2009

Happy Campers Pinwheel Quilt WIP

The Happy Campers pinwheel quilt is coming along nicely. I finished piecing the pinwheels last night, and it wasn't nearly as tedious as I thought it was going to be. I decided to put sashing in between each pinwheel because I'd decided to use different colours so I figured the sashing would define each a little better.

Here's the finished quilt top later in the evening before ironing.

At first I didn't quite like this quilt but now that the top's all done, I think it's growing on me. I think I might make one for the shop... what do you think?

Oh and the baby it's meant for, she might actually have arrived :) My husband's boss (who is the proud grandpa) got a call this afternoon that the little bundle might be greeting us sometime in the night. I'm so eager to know!!! Little wee babies are just so precious!

Free Shipping at UO

Free shipping at Urban Outfitters through till 31 August 2009. Just enter the code "FREESTYLE" at check-out.

Domestic shipping only though... sorry Aurelia!

Shopping For A Lamp

I'm in the process of taking over the dining room and turning it into my studio. I've been sharing the guest room and since my sister came to visit, I'd moved downstairs to the kitchen dining area... and I realised I quite like sewing downstairs. Plus we'd intended on turning the dining room into my studio when the time came to start a family and the guest room would be turned into a nursery.

So I figured, why not just turn it into my studio now? In the year and a half we've lived in this house, we've used the dining room possibly a total of five times. We have the kitchen dining table, plus we normally eat in front of the TV like sophisticated adults.

Anyway, there's a really ugly chandelier thing in the dining room, which I've managed to ignore all this while since I hardly spend time in there. But now that I'll be spending most of my waking hours there, I'm pretty sure I'll set it on fire before long.

I don't know what kind of light to put in that space... something boring and simple would probably be best. But wouldn't this Glansa pendant lamp be so awesome?

I even found it made into a baby mobile. So cute!

And then here it is in a couple's wedding. Lovely :)

August 23, 2009

Pretty, Pretty Bunting

Bunting for my sister, all sewed onto some light purple binding. She'd wanted purple fabrics too, but unfortunately I couldn't find any that looked good with the rest of the fabrics, or that she'd like. So I figured purple string would be nice.

She asked for two lengths of bunting, and was very adamant that they not touch when strung up. I did my best... she'll just need to adjust it a little if necessary.

I'm really hoping she doesn't think there's too much pink in here. I added in the strong pink because I couldn't find any purples or reds that'd look nice in the mix. If it turns out she doesn't like this, I'll probably just keep this for myself and make another set for her.

Ooh there's the tippy top of the tomato plants on the side of the back deck. I'm going to check them for ripe tomatoes... every day I'm able to pick about five or so, and they make a great snack :)

Homestyle Inspiration

Just a few bits of inspiration that caught my eye at Home Sweet Home.

I like collecting things, can you tell? :)

WIPs... So Many WIPs

My sister left yesterday and within a few hours, I suddenly had three WIPs. I believe it's a coping mechanism so I don't miss her too much. Can't say it worked a whole lot.

My other sister asked me to make her some bunting for her bedroom because it was sorely lacking in colour. This made me want to kick her a little because I could've easily put colour into her quilt! Oh silly goose :)


I've since finished them, but these were taken in the afternoon before I got some light purple binding to string them together. I made them so that they have fabric on either side in case she wants to drape them across her room instead of just hang them against the wall.

I kind of want to keep them now. They turned out way cuter than I thought they would. Perhaps I'll make some small ones out of the scraps?

This Happy Campers charm pack will become a pinwheel quilt for my husband's boss' grandchild. She's expected to arrive in just a few days, so I have a bit of time to finish it.

And here's what will become an Arcadia stacked coin baby quilt. I love these fabrics so much.


This isn't a WIP, obviously, but I found $1 gloves at Joann's and bought two pairs because they actually fit my tiny hands! I've never in my life found gloves that fit me. (Well, one pair came close and of course I left those on the T in Boston.) My husband thinks I'm nuts for buying gloves in August, but it's not like I'm prancing around with them right now. Aside from in the picture of course.

Oh, and when I told him I'd bought one grey, one black, he thought I'd bought one pair with two different colours. Yep, my husband pretty much thinks I'm certifiable.

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