So I haven't been sewing much lately, but I have been baking. I got a sudden urge to buy a bread machine. Yup, I'm way behind the times but that's OK. So, I've been making bread just about every day for the last two weeks. However, in order to do so, I've pretty much had to give myself the equivalent of a college course on wheat, yeast, all the various ingredients and the history of bread making in general.  I've obviously underestimated bread all my life. Today, I actually made this bread in the KitchenAid mixer and baked it in the oven, but the recipe was from the bread machine recipe book I got last week.  The bread machine was already occupied with another bread treat I'm going to try to freeze for Christmas. Maybe it's because I'm Hispanic, but I don't understand why cake is called bread just because it's baked in a loaf pan.  "Pan", "queque", "torta". "Bread", "cake", "cake...

Pattern: Ottobre 6/2012  #31 Prikka Blouse Fabric: $2 Dollar Fabric Store (Home Fabrics) unknown fibers on clearance Total Cost: $2.00 Size: 128cm Child's Age: 8 --------------------------------------------------------- I bought this fabric at, what I still call the $2 Dollar Fabric Store. I think it's called Home Fabrics now. They mostly carry discount upholstery fabrics and rugs.  They had this fabric on clearance in a cart outside the door.  It's very cheap and who knows what questionable, synthetic material it's made out of but hey the pattern, drape and price was right!  Especially considering the overpriced quilting cottons or psychedelic, old-lady synthetics available at my local Jo-Ann's, all of which are such poor offerings for kids clothes. This was a pretty easy blouse to make. The only thing that was difficult was gathering the edges of the neck and sleeves because the fabric frays like crazy.  This was also my second attempt at ...

Pattern: Ottobre 6/2010 #27 Vest Fabric: jersey knit in moss green from JoAnn's I think Notions: brown buttons Total Cost: don't remember Size: probably the smallest one Child's Age: 5 [Shirt: Janie & Jack; Pants: previously made Ottobre; Shoes: Gap Kids: Hat: Gap Kids] --------------------------------------------------------- So I made this a while ago but didn't post it because, I purchased the material and intended to make the whole outfit, pants and shirt.  Of course, that didn't happen and then a bunch of months go by and that's the story of my life. The vest has gone unused because, in mind, he couldn't wear it without the rest of the outfit.  Anyway, on the day of this photo, he actually put this ensemble together himself because he felt the need to be dressy. I was pretty impressed with it and didn't know why I hadn't put this together myself!  (Minus the gym socks, though).  The vest was pretty easy to ma...

I know. A half-eaten plate of food probably doesn't photograph as that appetizing.  I always decide to take a photo of my plate after I get a taste of it and it's so delicious, I want to preserve it visually. Zucchini is about the only thing that is thriving in my little square foot garden, probably because the huge leaves are killing everything else off. I had leftover lamb and rice from my husband's requested birthday dinner and I thought I would add some zucchini fritters to it. I just Googled a recipe and kind of modified it for what I had on hand. These are sooooo good. Probably too good. Everything fried is good, isn't it. I don't fry stuff often. I even pulled the never-used iron skillet out for these. I shredded the zucchini in the Cuisinart. Super easy. Everyone loved these. I also made the Savory Zucchini Pie last week. Probably a little more healthy and super delicious too.

  So this past weekend, I thought we would dedicate some time to the long list of neglected house repairs: re-painting the garage man door and trim, stripping and re-staining the front door, WEEDING, there's always weeding, replacing light bulbs in the outdoor garage light fixtures, etc.  Instead, while picking up supplies at Home Depot, I remembered one of the items in my long running, mental to do list & ideas --Replace the hideous chain link fence on my parent's side yard with a gated fence.  I've been scheming to do this at some convenient time that they are out of town (you can't do anything with my dad around, it's not fun) and we have plenty of time and the inclination to do it.  Well, it dawned on me, while carting the kids around in Home Depot, taking turns going to the bathroom, and trying to remember everything we needed for out little chores, that --Hey! They are out of town! And, we have maybe two days to do this. ...

Yes, I've been a zucchini bread making machine this week. Here's blueberry, banana, and banana with almond butter.

I got this special German edition of Burda magazine a few weeks ago, and look who's in it. This is the Godet Skirt I made last December in a fuscia stretch velvet. I left the magazine out to see if anyone would notice. Yes, people (regular, normal people that don't sew) actually do pick it up to peruse it at my house. Yeah, no one noticed. My kids were pretty excited about it though.

This is our third year of our square foot garden. It's a fun thing to do with the kids. Teaching them where food comes from. They think it's pretty much akin to magic when they see it grows from a seed and doesn't come from a box. So this year, we planted a couple of zucchini. I don't eat zucchini. I was born a finicky, picky eater. You know, like those weird people on that TLC show Freacky Eaters that only eat potatoes. It's only been a couple of years that I started eating lasagna (before this, it kind of struck me like vomit) and most recently, I've learned to eat oatmeal. Yes, oatmeal. This took several tries as I couldn't get over the slimy texture at first. I'm still not that fond of water. Enough of my weird eating habits. I could go on and on. The point is, I don't want my kids to turn out this way, so I try my best to introduce them to healthy foods. OK, and in this case ... chocolate. Anyway, now the zucchinis are reall...

This is currently my favorite breakfast: - Kodiak Whole Wheat Flapjack mix pancakes - with fresh mangoes - and Kodiak Raspberry syrup (there's also a Marionberry syrup that is equally good) Delicious! And if you eat this outside, it's even better. If you're trying to make the switch from white flour baked goods to whole wheat, like I've been trying to do for a few years now, this pancake mix is a sure winner. This also helps explain, why there are less posts about sewing and crafting. I've been concentrating my efforts on eating yummy things.

Pattern: Explorer Vest Little Things To Sew by oliver + s ------------------------------------------------------------------- This is an oldie I made last year but it's a super favorite that he still wears all of the time. It's also been very popular among the guys. More than once, we have been out somewhere that a guy will comment to him about his vest, how cool it is, and how they wished they had one! This was pretty easy to make up. The pockets take the most time obviously, you can omit some, but then, what would be the fun in that. It is lined with another cotton on the inside. The binding around the arm openings makes it so you don't have to do any tricky turning of the vest. It's just about ready to hand down to the little brother, but first I'll have to make him a new one.

Sew Mama Sew is sponsoring an online sewing contest. I just got wind of it so I was too late to try for it, but there is a Community Bee for those interested in sewing along with the weekly contest challenges.  

Summer has been getting in the way of blogging and well, uh, sewing lately. I have, however, been making plenty of use of my Blendtec for healthy smoothie snacks. I was even motivated enough to buy a popsicle mold and make semi-healthy fruit pops. My kids are always begging for treats like this in the summer and I'm pretty stingy when it comes to buying candy, junk snacks, ice cream and anything else kids really like a lot. So I thought I would pre-empt their whining for popsicles by making them in secret. I've made the pineapple ones from this Blentec recipe and yesterday I concocted my own mango recipe. This is what I used, it will make more than you need, but you can always drink the rest. My three-year-old, Super Disgusting, kept asking me for these one day for about two hours. I couldn't figure out --What the hell he wanted!!! - "Mom, can we have some pachios?" - "What?" - "Mom, can we have some pachios?" - ...

Pattern: Ottobre 1/2013 #31 Passenger Trench Fabric: tight weave cotton; lining light green dot cotton Notions: gray buttons Total Cost: ~$18.00 Size: 128cm Child's Age: 8 [Tights: White pin dot Old Navy; Shoes: Mud boots Walmart; Raaf en Vos] --------------------------------------------------------- It's taken me a while to post this one. Spring has gotten in the way. Weeding, biking, mostly weeding. But I'm so glad I got it done in time for the season. I've been wanting to make Monkey Pants a trench coat for several years now.  I bought my first issue of Burda just for the child's trench coat. I painstakingly traced the pattern, bought the fabric and never made it. She had a trench from the Gap I loved so much, she wore it for about four years which is like wearing something for half your life when you're child. When I saw this in the Ottobre issue, I was determined to make it before she got to old for the cuteness of it. I had a heck of...

Blendtec is having a Smothie Stash Contest on their facebook page.  Vote for our photo or enter your own for a chance to win a Blendtec blender. I've been making smoothies for the kids for about a year and recently ventured into hummus. I even made my own tahini yesterday (for the hummus). Ironically, I didn't even know what tahini was before yesterday. I also made sun butter for my nut-allergy guy. It's a great way to ease your way into a healthier eating lifestyle.

Pattern:   Ottobre 6/2012   #33 Peilisali Dress Fabric: 1 1/2 yds camera fabric Hobby Lobby; pin dot fabric Hobby Lobby Notions: aqua piping, invisible zipper Total Cost: ~$14.00 Size: 128cm Child's Age: 8   [Tights: White pin dot Old Navy; Shoes: Raaf en Vos ; Cardigan: Target] ---------------------------------------------------------   When I spotted this camera fabric at Hobby Lobby, I couldn't help myself, I had to make something with it.  Why not a dress. I picked out the white with black pin dot fabric for the yoke for a bit of contrast and also decided to add the aqua piping in between the yoke and bodice for a bit of color interest and playfulness to the black and white. I think it's a fun dress, perfectly complemented by these shoes I was finally able to snag up from Raaf en Vos for the small price of an arm and a leg. I made the size 128 cm which is probably still a bit big on Monkey Pants' slender frame but that's OK...