Sunday, November 30, 2008

Sunday Brunch

Today I dropped off all of the softies for the craft fair. Now they are out of my hands. I feel a bit sad to let them all go, but yet I really do want to have them sell out! I guess I will be a bit dissapointed, and a bit happy each way; if my favourites sell, I'll be sad that they are gone forever but happy that they sold, if they don't, I'll be sad that they didn't sell but happy that they aren't gone forever.
Anyways, here is the last of the softies I sewed up for the Magical Christmas Craft Fair at Pearkes Arena (see previous post for all the details).

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I present, Little Red.

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She took a whole lot longer to sew than I had anticipated, as the work was a bit fiddly. I have already thought of a few ways I could make her easier to sew when I make more in the future. My vision is to have Little Red dolls in many different skin tones, and hair colours. Not shown here are her polka-dotted undies, which is an extra detail that I love. I know I would have gotten a kick out of it as a kid.

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She is approximately 18-20" tall.

And because I love to share... here is a recipe for brunch.
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I have a love-hate relationship with eggs. As a toddler, my mother had to force feed me the stuff, some of which invariably ended up down the bib in protest. As a teen, I tried to like eggs. It just seemed like such quinessential breakfast food that I couldn't really believe I didn't like them, although when I did eat eggs I usually had to choke them down. As an adult, I have come to learn that there are a few different ways I do like my eggs.
One is poached eggs, fabulous! If it is eggs benny, even better, bring on the Hollandaise!
Sunny side up eggs, with peanut butter toast. Similar to the poached egg in flavour and texture, and the pb toast for dipping. I know what you're thinking, "peanut butter toast? And EGGS? Seriously?", Seriously. It is so good.
Oh & of course to round this out, I do like soft boiled eggs with buttered toast "fingers".
Eggs are also delicious when made into French Toast, or as egg salad sandwiches.
Other than that.... all bets are off.
So today, when I dreamt up this brunch food, I was in that hopeful naive place where I forget that I'm not really "that" into eggs. Luckily, it turned out fabulously! Do you like omlettes, grilled cheese sandwiches, or french toast?... then you will likely enjoy this delicious brunch toast! Don't like mushrooms and onions? Substitute your favourite omlette veggies, or meats! Having guests over for brunch? Grab a large pan and make a batch!

Nessa's Brunch Toast: (serves 1)

1 piece of rye bread (or your favourite bread)
1 egg
4 slices of sharp cheddar cheese (or strong cheese of choice)
1 green onion stalk, chopped
1 button mushrom, sliced
olive oil for the pan

heat up your oil in a pan, and lightly sautee the mushrooms and onion.
remove mushrooms and onion and set aside.
place bread in the pan and let heat up on one side, remove from pan.
immediately break an egg into the pan, and cover with mushrooms and onions, place bread on top. (I broke my yolk at this stage)
let cook until the egg seems done, then flip toast over and place cheese strips on top.
Cover, and let sit until cheese is all melted.
Serve immediately!

(this is a tweaked version, as I placed the bread in the pan first, then broke the egg onto the bread... it required a spatula to hold the raw egg on the bread until it was cooked enough to flip over. I think the version above should avoid that problem.)

Saturday, November 29, 2008

Magical Christmas!

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As many of you already know, the fabulous Arika from my knit group has so graciously given me some space to showcase some of my softies from the Coy shop!

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The Magical Christmas Gift Show is running from December 5th to 7th at the Pearkes Rec. Centre.
The hours are 10am-8pm Friday, 10am-5pm Saturday & Sunday.

So if you are in the area, please stop on by and check out the fabulous items on display at Arika's booth! She has knitted some adorable punk-baby sweaters, legwarmers, and more, a couple of other knit group friends will be selling at the booth too. Tiffany will be selling the most adorable kids hats, such as a dragon hat, and a viking hat *tooo cute*, and Sylvana is selling some crocheted goodies.
**The address is 3100 Tillicum Road, right beside the Silvercity theatre. **

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I found my mind exploding with new creative ideas after the never ending mid-term exam train, so this project was incredibly cathartic.
I would wake in the night with the schematics for a new softie, and have to run to my idea book so I could capture it for later use. I still have loads of ideas that have not yet been used, and you can look forward to seeing them around Christmas and in the new year.

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I actually spent time sewing while studying for exams (I took creativity breaks), and had a couple of days of solid sewing a few weekends ago to get ready.

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I think the Yetis are my favourites by far, they are just so unbelievably soft! It is truly difficult to send them away. I will definitly be making up more of these cuties during the holiday break, so stay tuned. I might even try out making some BIG yetis. These are around 11" tall.

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This one is my favourite yeti, he is grumpy. I always choose the grumpy character. Grumpy dwarf, the Grumpy Carebear, Oscar the Grouch... I dunno, grumps just make me wanna cuddle them & cheer them up!

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Here is my sewing desk (aka my "kitchen table")mid-way thru the sewing. It now looks like a major disaster zone, but we'll not talk about that...
Mess indicates creativity right??

~Nessa

Sunday, November 16, 2008

create-ivity

I was perusing through some of my photo albums on my computer, and I found some great pics I shot & edited last fall around this time.

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This is Roo, our loveable, naughty, chubby cat-who-thinks-he's-a-people.

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This shot is of the fire in our woodstove, which we just got last year. I absolutely love it! The smell of woodstove fills up the house with this warm, sweet pine filed, winter fragrance. We don't actually use that much wood because it heats the house so well. We haven't fired it up yet this year, but with that November chill in the air I sense it will be soon.

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These last two shots were used as a part of an online presentation for my bio class last winter. The top eye is my hubby's, and the bottom one is mine. Can you see the camera in my eye?

I've been swamped here with studying for midterms, and feeling slightly hopeless, but I've been taking creativity breaks so that I don't go crazy. So far I've sewn up about 10 items for the impending craft fair in December, and I have loads of ideas in my little idea book for more. I've also got some tricks up my sleeve for presents this year... he he he... you'll have to wait until after Christmas to see~

~Nessa

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

a cure for the blues

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The above pic was taken a couple of weeks ago when fall was in full swing. But now it is almost beginning to feel wintery! And by wintery I mean West Coast BC wintery ie.cold, wet, and grey.

So I have been making some cheerful stuffies to chase the winter greys away.
It is impossible to have the blues when you've got a fluffy frosted cupcake with rainbow sprinkles, and a maraschino cherry on top!! It is like happiness incarnate!


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These little guys will be for sale at the Perks Arena Christmas craft fair (more details to come closer to the date).


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When I showed these to Jeffy, he asked "but can I eat them?"
Sorry Love, they're full of the wrong kind of fiber.

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These little fluffies make me hungry for the real thing, which I admit I've been indulging in quite often this season :-) Can you blame me though?

I've also been working on some other more festive stuffies for the Christmas craft fair, but no pics of those yet.


And what is late Fall/ early winter without some hearty warming soup? Here's what we ate for dinner tonight...

Minestrone With A Colombian Twist

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Ingredients:
1 can diced tomatoes (796 mL)
3 stalks of celery chopped
1 handful of cilantro chopped (about 10-12 sprigs)
1 can of beans rinsed, I used white kidney beans (540 mL)
1/2 pkg Mrs.Leepers Corn Rotelli (one pkg is 340g)
2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 cup vegetable juice (like V8)
1/2 tsp cayenne powder
2 tbsp sugar
1/2 medium onion, diced
1 cube boullion (I use veggie boullion)
Shredded cheddar cheese for topping
Sour cream for topping

Mix all ingredients together except for noodles, sour cream, and cheese. Heat in a large pot on medium.
Cook noodles according to pkg directions, set aside.
Once celery is cooked, add the noodles.
Serve with a dollop of sour cream, and a sprinkle of cheese on top. Cheese quesadillas, or corn chips would be a tastey side :-)

Happy November!
~Nessa