Saturday, November 7, 2009

Update

Yes! It's been a long stretch between posts... and since the baby's been born, it's been a long time since I've had ANY time to make much of anything. In fact, I tried picking up a knitting project a few weeks ago, only to discover that the more I wanted to knit, the more my little boy wanted to be held by mommy and given her full, undivided attention. ;)

I figured I'd put some of the projects I worked on with links just for reference... and to get myself motivated to work on more once Caleb can entertain himself for an extended period of time.

During the latter half of my pregnancy I decided to pick up sewing because it was too painful watching everyone have fun on the surf while I sat on the beach with my crochet and knitting projects. As beautiful as the beach was, I couldn't help but wish I was in the water surfing with my husband and our friends.

One of the big projects I worked on while I was in the final months of my pregnancy was creating homemade cloth diapers. Wow... that was a nice crash course in Sewing 101. I wish my mom showed me how to sew when I was a teenager, but looking back at how I was back then (more focused on school and sports than on anything else), it probably wouldn't have worked out if she tried. Sewing cloth diapers is a great, simple project, though... especially since you get to sew (dun-dun-dun) elastic with casing! Here's the original model I tried: the Rita Rump Pocket, available (graciously) free online!


A diaper I made-- note the soft microfleece inner and the cute flannel print outer layers!


An early picture of my diaper stash... complete with homemade microfleece/flannel wipes from the scraps. :)

I first tried them on the baby when he was only a few weeks old (I believe about 6 weeks old... after his circumcision looked fairly healed), and they fit nicely with a small diaper cover (Thirsties Duos-- a very good and affordable PUL diaper cover for babies with skinny legs!) which allowed me to avoid using safety pins (yeowch!).

One fun thing I got to try was using the Wonderwash, a neat little hand-powered pressure-washing device that allowed me to wash the diapers a couple of times while using minimal power (basically Karm-powered!), water, and soap. I would dry it with a small countertop spin dryer, and then hang dry the rest.

I normally sun dry the diapers on our tiny little apartment... porch (for lack of a better word, since we live on the first floor, so it technically isn't a balcony) whenever I can. Unfortunately, given the design of the apartment complex we live in, we get very little sun during the day (normally in the early, early hours of the morning), so I end up doing some of the drying indoors in the bathroom... haha!


Drying diapers with my $1.50 contraption from Marukai Daiso. Woohoo!

We've been house-hunting, though, and hopefully we'll get (at the very least) a nice condo or townhouse in Encinitas or Carlsbad with ample sunlight for sunning diapers. You'd be amazed at how well a little lemon and a lot of sunlight can get rid of baby poop stains on a cloth diaper.

When I was about 34 weeks along the way, my OB-Gyn told me during one of the weekly checkups (they become weekly once you're in that window of opportunity) that I had a small baby. At first it seemed like a relief to me-- I mean, I gained about 40+ lbs (I started out at 98lbs) during my pregnancy, so I was certain the baby was going to be big... but then I realized that I bought (one-size-fits-most) cloth diapers that were good for 8+ lb babies, and a tiny baby was going to need smaller diapers. Thus, I started making newborn-sized diapers for a newborn-sized baby... and knitting wool newborn-sized soakers (that I found on a nifty little site called Ravelry)to hold them up.



Needless to say, I popped out a 7lb5oz baby who wouldn't even fit into the newborn-sized diapers when he could finally wear them (after his circumcision site healed and we didn't have to use aquaphore on it anymore). =P

....annnnnnd I hear someone yawning. Baby's awake! I'll put up more of my crafting projects soon. In the meantime, that's it for now. :)

Friday, November 6, 2009

(Modified) Pineapple Curry With Shrimp

This is a very easy favorite of mine that I make when I'm low on time to prepare a decent dinner. The key thing about this recipe is the Pineapple Curry. The shrimp is usually just extra in the end, as the super-yummy pineapple curry can honestly be used as a tart-and-spicy sauce on just about anything (we've used it in pork chops and chicken most recently). I usually serve these with green tea soba noodles that we purchase at the local Japanese market. :)

I got the original recipe from an impulse-buy cookbook I picked up randomly one day called Quick & Easy Thai Cuisine Lemon Grass Cookbook (from Joie, inc). I highly doubt that the recipes are 100% authentic to the very last detail, but the book gives very simple & basic instructions for making wonderful meals that are just about as good as the real thing. It serves its purpose, especially since I like to modify recipes to my taste anyways... and it has pictures not only of the finished product: it provides pictures of the ingredients AND of various steps in making the dishes. Great resource for someone who doesn't want to deal with super-complicated recipes but also wants room to be creative.

Okay... here's the recipe!

Ingredients

14 oz. (400g) coconut milke (I always use coconut CREAM instead..)
1c crushed canned pineapple
2T red curry paste (if you want a milder flavor, try green curry paste instead)
1/4c fish sauce
1 1/2T sugar
2T lemon juice

1/2lb (225g) shrimp, shelled and deveined*

(optional) garnish: fresh lime leaves

*I use coconut cream instead of the originally suggested coconut milk because I prefer the thick creaminess of coconut cream. The curry sauce ends up having a thick texture. Coconut milk is perfectly acceptible if cream isn't available.
**I actually used 1lb of shrimp, being the carnivore I am. ;)

The almost TOO simple directions :)

1. Combine all ingredients except shrimp and bring to a boil.
2. Add shrimp and cook until done.

Yes, that's it! All you need to do is mix it all up, boil it, add the shrimp (and cook it), and you're finished! Better yet-- don't add the shrimp... just use the sauce to coat some grilled pork chops or chicken. It tastes great all the same!

A very rough pic just for your enjoyment (the book has a way better picture with the lime leaves for a garnish and a super cool-looking pot... so you'll have to deal with what I ate):



We ate this with a very simple side cucumber & tomato salad... and used the leftover pineapple curry sauce over pork chops the next day with some stir-fry veggies on the side & rice. :)

Wednesday, April 1, 2009

Slowly but surely making progress...

...with an emphasis on "SLOWLY" because progress has been slow!

I'm kind of, sort of in the middle of two projects that I picked up over the past few weeks... the first of which is almost done, the second of which is almost past beginning, and the third of which is... a major learning experience.

Project #1 is a free project I found on my favorite website these days (Ravelry) called the Lacy Crochet Kerchief. After completing my attempt at making a very basic baby blanket, I decided I needed a new challenge that would force me to learn how to read a crochet pattern... and this was a very good challenge for me. The first try came out... so-so. It was a bit asymmetrical (due to some confusion with the wording), but it still looked okay. I took a picture of it on my head, just to show how it (somewhat ideally) should fit on my (irregularly-shaped) head:



I took a quick look at it and hen took a quick look at what it should *REALLY* look like... and realized that my approach wasn't the most effective one I could have taken... which took me back to the drawing board. I mean, come on.. I was an engineer, and I used to design communication networks for the military... this couldn't be THAT difficult to decipher compared to complex network charts, right?!?!

Right. So I sat down at my desk-turned-temporary kitchen table (at least, until we own a nice enough place of our own to justify getting nice furniture) and started mapping out the design into a visual diagram. From there, I made some adjustments to (my interpretation of) the pattern and tried once again, starting from leftover blue yarn, which I realized wasn't enough to complete the project... so, once again, I had to improvise:



Ah, much nicer... and the contrasting colors added a great added touch to the "aesthetics" (for lack of a better term) of the kerchief! These are just about finished, but I wanted to add a little embellishments to them before I sent them off to my sisters (who probably won't wear them).

Project #2 is an attempt at making an amigurumi-based mini acorn purse/bag. Kinda totoro-esque, in a way, in anticipation of our baby boy arriving in July. I was hoping to go with a forest/animal theme for his room, with hopes of figuring out how to decorate it Totoro-style. Unfortunately, Totoro didn't reach much popularity in the US, so it's difficult to find Totoro-themed baby items. *sigh*

Project #3 is my attempt at self-teaching myself knitting: a very basic cabled scarf, which combines the basic knit and purl stitches with a little cabling. I was planning to take a knitting class, but I haven't been able to schedule one since my schedule is up in the air for the next month. I'm switching from being a NOCS-shift nurse on my floor to a day-shift nurse, which means that I finally get to enjoy a semi-normal sleep cycle and the comfort of being able to sleep with my warm (and cuddly) husband every night of the week. :)

One thing I'm definitely learning is the fact that while being a self-taught crochet-er (mom taught me how to make a chain when I was tiny, but I never really got far past that) is pretty difficult, being a self-taught knitter is INSANELY DIFFICULT!!! Wow. Thank goodness that youtube has free how-to videos on each of the stitches because it's almost impossible to learn it while reading from a book. ><

Maybe I'll update this with a recipe next week... I've been cooking without giving much thought to posting recipes on the blog (which kind of sucks because this is partially my way of saving/bookmarking my recipes as a backup to them being saved on my computer), but I'll try to find some time to put up another one. :)

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Who's lucky, niao? ;)

I think it's become obvious to everyone who works NOCS with me that I've been bitten by the crafting bug-- practically every break I have, I'm working on any of the multiple projects that I've chosen to (somewhat) commit myself to. My most recent one is this little kitty, who is lounging in my hubby's favorite "office chair":



The design is almost directly out of the book that started this whole crafting craze in my life (and a major reason why I shouldn't wander into bookstores alone), Stray Sock Sewing, by Dan Ta, which has a catchy little kitty cat on the cover page that I'm sure someone can figure out how to make after building up some major doll-crafting XP over time:



I won't post directions on how to make the doll here, but I will show you the basic supplies I used (minus a needle and a nifty little pen that writes on fabric and "disappears" after a day or two or a simple washing).



As you can plainly see, it doesn't take much to make this cute little doll. ;)

Some closeups of the kitty cat... starting with the front...



...and then the caboose. ;)



Isn't it cute? Don't tell my middle sister yet, but I really made it as a housewarming gift for her (she just moved into a new apartment). Shhhhh! :D

Sunday, March 15, 2009

Peanut Butter Dark Chocolate Chunk Cookies =)

My husband and I admit to having (dessert-based) weaknesses to quite a number of common things, two of them being peanut butter and dark chocolate. One morning after work, I found a pleasant (spammish) surprise in my e-mail inbox: the Martha Stewart Cookie of the Day was a recipe for peanut butter chocolate chunk cookies. :D

I decided to try making these with (of course) dark chocolate chunks (instead of semisweet), and they were DELICIOUS! Unfortunately, our oven is super-quirky, so it took a couple of guesses of heat/time combinations to figure out what works best for our kitchen... Here's the (ever-so-slightly) modified recipe:

Peanut Butter Dark Chocolate Chunk Cookies

Ingredients (for 36-ish)

1.5 cups all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled)


1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup peanut butter (smooth or chunky)

4 tablespoons (0.5 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
0.5 cup packed dark-brown sugar
0.5 cup granulated sugar

2 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

8 ounces dark (or semisweet, if you wish) chocolate, smashed into chunks




Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a bowl, whisk together flour and baking soda; set aside.
3. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat peanut butter, butter, and sugars until light and fluffy.
4. Add eggs and vanilla, and beat until smooth. With mixer on low, gradually add flour mixture, beating just until combined.
5. Stir in chocolate chunks.



6. Drop dough by heaping tablespoons, 1 inch apart, onto two large baking sheets.



7. Bake until golden, 13 to 15 minutes, rotating sheets halfway through.
8. Transfer cookies to wire racks to cool.


Finished product:



Don't the big, random globs of chocolate chunks look nom-tastic?

Chicken Jalfrezi... slightly modified ^_-

While trying to find something a little exotic to cook for dinner (we had burgers with the guys last night), I finally decided to make something I found awhile back on Allrecipes that didn't require much traveling (outside of Carmel Valley, which practically has as un-ethnic a variety of stores as you can imagine) in order get a satisfactory amount of the ingredients necessary for creating the meal: Chicken Jalfrezi. Because I'm not altogether familiar with how to get the basic ingredients needed for Pakistani food, I'm not much of a judge on how close my version of the recipe comes to the original, and I have no idea how to get my hands on ghee, which appears to be a very important part of South Asian cooking... however, someday I hope to become more familiar with the South Asian happenings of San Diego so I can explore that region's cuisine more thoroughly (especially in my kitchen).

Chicken Jalfrezi

Ingredients

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

2 cloves garlic
1 onion

1.5 lbs boneless, skinless chicken thighs (cut in half)

3 teaspoons ground turmeric
1 teaspoon chili powder
1.5 teaspoons salt

1 (14.5 ounce) can peeled and diced tomatoes

2 tablespoons ghee (clarified butter)
3 teaspoons ground cumin
3 teaspoons ground coriander
2 tablespoons grated fresh ginger root
1/2 cup chopped cilantro leaves

Note: Instead of ghee, I ended up using creamy butter... which always seems to work out, flavor-wise, to the un-discerning (aka "ignorant") tongue's taste buds.



Directions

1. Heat the oil in a large deep skillet over medium-high heat.
2. Add onions and garlic, and cook for about 2 minutes.
3. Add the chicken, and season with turmeric, chili powder and salt.
4. Fry gently, scraping the bottom of the pan frequently and turning the chicken.


5. Pour in the tomatoes with their juice, cover the pan, and simmer over medium heat for 20 minutes.
6. Uncover, and simmer for another 10 minutes to let the excess liquid evaporate.


7. Add the ghee, cumin, ground coriander, ginger and cilantro, and simmer for another 5 to 7 minutes.
8. Serve the chicken pieces with sauce spooned over the top.




Additional Notes

Some good accompanying starches are basmati rice, chapati, or naan. My husband loves the naan you can buy Trader Joe's, so we usually eat it with that.

Additionally, many of the reviewers on Allrecipes noted that the traditional way of cooking this dish is by letting all of the spices cook in the oil FIRST. This is the only way I've tried cooking it, and the taste of the spices is very strong (which I like)... I haven't tried it in the order listed above.

Lastly, I added cayenne pepper to this recipe to give it a little "kick" (I *looooooooooove* spicy food). ;)