Garden Chef's Needle and Pen

It's been a busy long weekend, indeed! Cleaning up household mess (partially, yes, but more to be done), clearing the laundry baskets, preparing meals for and bonding with the family. Last minute gift packing (deciding which goes to whom?)! Finishing all my WIPs, yehey! Movie marathon tonight (in my part of the globe, that is) --- the large pack of chips is waiting :) for the goodbye 2012 - welcome 2013 big bang! Multitasking to the max! As I prepare to go to the market to claim my fish and veggie reservations from my favorite vendors, allow me to leave our family greetings to you all.  This is a product of our simple bonding yesterday consisting of a few-minute family date at a photo studio, then me and my hubby headed to the groceries while our two daughters did their own last-minute shopping. This was culminated by a dinner at Banana Leaf Asian Cafe. I enjoyed the Pomelo Salad Thai Style, Vegetable Samosas and Steamed HK Fish Fillet with Garlic which I shared with m...

In one of my posts as a new blogger last year, I featured the crochet works of my younger daughter, Ana Cristina when she was still a college student. Click here to view post entitled, " Does it Really Run in the Blood? " Well, many things have changed now. At 20 and having landed a job ( a month after graduating from college) in a marketing company ( Focus Global, Inc. ) that is an e xclusive Philippine distributor of several well-known international brands including consumer goods and home furnishings, there had been a shift of her interest from volleyball and entrepreneurship into products showcased by her company. Quite noticeably lately, she has gotten into the habit of bringing home food magazines that I didn't have time browsing until last Saturday. As I entered the door coming from the market, she excitedly showed off a page from the Olive Magazine telling me, "You make one like this! You make one like this!"    The remark seemed like a ke...

In my post entitled, " The Birth of a Hobby " I featured about how I became enamored with plants.  In that post I said I'll share about the plants I have in my coming posts. Well, it's been more than a year now and I'm sorry I haven't posted any sequel to that. I'm afraid I haven't been a good mother to my plants for months now.  Oh, I'm so guilty of not spending much time with them the way I used to in the past. I'm so glad the Christmas holidays allowed me to give them a shower twice a day. Every time I do, I couldn't help but notice the flowers in one of the pots, that remind me of a photo I took more than a year ago. Inspired by Psalm 17: 8 that says, "Hide me under the shadow of Your wings..." I wrote the caption.   

I arrived home one day to the smell of cumin. I asked my daughter, Ayana Grace , "Why the Mexican smell?" Well, her seeming invasion into my kitchen laboratory is fast becoming a habit!  (Honestly, I like it especially after working more than eight hours in the office. What could be a better relief than going home to a hearty meal?) An avid fan (errr stalker?) of the Divas Can Cook YT channel and website, she was into another experiment. Oh yes, she's living up to her profession as a chemist, indeed! Last month, I posted about the Pepperoni Pizza Quesadilla dish she made, also from Divas Can Cook . This time, I'm featuring her Tuna Flautas wrapped in tortillas. Ayana Grace used the Chicken Flautas recipe (minus the cayenne powder and cilantro which were not available in our laboratory) from the Divas Can Cook but used tuna flakes instead of chicken.   Well, it was my first time to get a taste of Tuna Flautas   and truly, her stalking the Diva Channel was w...

For this post, I'm featuring the  Crochet Necklace by Creativeyarn from Crochetme.com. Photo from Crochetme.com I made one like this last year which is featured in my post entitled, " Holiday Season Crochet Marathon Part 3 ." I used black so that it would match any color of blouse or dress. I like this crochet necklace so much that I couldn't resist making another one now. This time, of similar color as the original design as featured by Creativeyarn. Forgive me for the photography...  For its embellishment, I used the pattern of Art Threads in making large and small petals. It's the same pattern I used for the flowers I featured in the Flower Necklace . Then, instead of using a button at the center of the flower (see original design from first photo), I crocheted an apple green bud using the pattern from Crochet Flower Fridgies to enhance the effect. I also sewed a small bead from a broken bracelet to fit into the button hole.    So ho...

Last year, I posted about the crocheted gifts I gave away for my friends (click  here to view post). These are the Rainbow Coasters, the Lacy Hair Scrunchies, the Crocheted Necklace, Coffee Sleeves, Flower Basket Corsage, Beverage Cozies and the Retro Neck Band. For the past weeks, I've been posting also about the making of each of these crocheted gifts.  So far, I have featured individually the making of the Retro Neck Band , the Lacy Hair Scrunchies, the Rainbow Coasters and the Flower Basket Corsage . I haven't posted yet about the making of the Coffee Sleeves and the Beverage Cozies. But I will, yes, very, very soon! For this year, I've been thinking of making floral give-aways. In fact, I have already started another flower crochet marathon! To start with, I made a rose which I featured in the post entitled, " Rose Buds as Identifiers ." Click here to view post. And now, for my second flower project, here, take a look... ...

As a week-ender, let me feature one of my favorite native recipes, a very popular dish among Negrenses in the Visayas region of my country, the Philippines. Bamboo shoots are best cooked with shrimps and saluyot (jutes or Corchorus Olitorius). I can still vividly remember the first time my parents asked me to taste this dish. A preschooler I was then. Imagine the usual drama at the dining table as my mother and father would repeatedly and alternately say in our native Ilonggo dialect, "Tilawi lang bala!" ("Just taste it first!") . It wasn't easy... I mean, on their part, because it was with much resistance before I would succumb to their prodding. And, take note, only after my father would start rolling his belt on his hand, ready to strike anytime his temper is provoked any further!   But wait, again, I remember how I would continue, in disguise, the tearful drama as I consumed the serving, concealing the truthful realization that the cre...

This is my second mobius. The first one I made, the  Neckie Mobius Cowl , is featured in one of my previous posts last month. This time it's another mobius but a headband and earwarmer in one, the pattern for which I got from PDDesigns: Crochet Patterns, Crochet Accessories and More . I believe I was love struck the moment I saw this headband.  The original pattern from PDDesigns I love the color, yes, and the design at a glance. I didn't look for a similar color though, because I had left-over yarn from my stash. I had somebody in mind when I first saw this and so I didn't waste any time.  The pattern was very easy to follow although in this pattern, I discovered another way of making the twist needed to form a mobius compared to the one featured in my previous post , that which I followed in making a cowl. In this pattern what I enjoyed most was doing Round 3 where the directions required one to make DCs that cross each other.  See the DCs ...

Towards the end of my previous post entitled, " If Music be the Food of Love, Play On " , I mentioned about the cupcakes made by Ayana Grace, my eldest daughter. One time at work, I would read her text message asking me where the muffin pans are. Her text message yesterday was to tell me she's going to the grocery store to get some ingredients for the new recipe she was preparing for. Oh, yes, indeed, she's growing up fast in my kitchen laboratory! Real fast that last night, she ventured into another experiment, a result of her stalking the Divas Can Cook YT channel.  She got this Pepperoni Pizza Quesadilla recipe from the Divas Can Cook , a food network (and blog site) that features "old fashioned cooking for the modern super woman". So this was what we had for dinner last night. Late dinner but not too late to celebrate the birthday of my husband who is away at work and won't be home till the weekend. Well, I had two servings myself f...

I promised myself I won't blog about my work. Yes, I made it Rule No. 1 when I got myself hooked in this blogging world. Since writing is my way of relaxing from the hurly-burly of my job, I told myself my blogs will only be about  my hobbies --- cooking, crochet, dogs, plants, (family? maybe...) and personal journeys. I've mentioned that in my notes About this Site and About the Author .  Well, I can't help mentioning how my involvement in a government project has kept me real busy the past weeks (months actually!) almost bringing me to panic mode at times, enough to set me scratching myself all over, that would call for some doses of antihistamine.  Last Friday, we finally celebrated the launching of the project although in reality the real work has just barely begun! And so that day, I had to go home earlier than usual to take that much needed rest. I enjoyed a bit of luxury by sleeping from 7:00 pm till 5:00 am! My first after a long while!  But the...

In my previous post last week, I featured the Retro Neck Band I made during the Christmas holidays last year. It was in keeping with a promise I made almost a year ago to talk about the making of each item I made as part of the holiday marathon 2012. Click here to view post. Today, the Lacy Hair Scrunchies by Emilee Gettle that was featured in Crochet Spot will be the highlight. This, too, was one of the give-away items I made last Christmas which I featured in my post entitled, " Holiday Season Crochet Marathon Part 3 ." It was very easy to make this hair scrunchie. Following the pattern from Crochet Spot, all you have to do is make 1 sc into the hair band / elastic to get started. Then, make 55 repetitive cycles of  "ch 8 - 1 sc" into the elastic ring.   But wait, instead of making a whole bunch of ch 8-1sc 55 times into the elastic band, I actually made alternate cycles of "ch 8 - 1 sc; ch 5 - 1 sc" pattern to cover the whole ring. A...

Happy weekend to all! I had a heavy week so what could be more relaxing than crocheting a new project on a Saturday? I declared this day as a real rest day for me. No marketing, no cooking (except for a very light brunch --- Tuna Chow Fan side dished with cucumber-tomato mix and left-over chicken nuggets) but how could I say no to crochet? It will always be a perfect relaxation for me! And so, in between sleep periods throughout the day, I found myself working on a cowl. I used a combination of two patterns. One pattern was the Unisex Cowl - Neckie Crochet from The Sunroom, The Unisex Cowl - Neckie Crochet  and the other one was the Mobius Infinity Cowl by Michael Sellick. I started working using the Mobius Infinity Cowl pattern by Michael Sellick, from Step 1 until after the first part of Step 3, where the direction to start a mobius says, " Turn the work so it has a permanent 180- degree twist. " Then, instead of making DCs all the way back to the beginning ch...

I joined a holiday season marathon last year.  Who kept me company? My crochet needle, yarn and me! :) Well, it was a crochet marathon featured in my blog post entitled, " Holiday Season Crochet Marathon Part 3. "  In this post, I featured some crochet projects which I gave away as gifts. Among the gifts I gave away was the " Retro Neck Band in Manos Silk Blend ." I found the   4-step pattern for this nice and snug neck band from Ravelry as a free download. Very simple and easy-to-make, this neck band could provide warmth during cold weather. Here is what I made using variegated yarn. I found a stone from an old bracelet and fastened it as button. Here's how the original Retro Neck Band by Ann Linderhjelm   looks like.  Well, what are you waiting for? Why don't you try making one yourself?

I like green, so when I saw this bracelet, I was instantly attracted to its color. The original pattern for this bracelet was made by Tia Davis (click here to view). Photo from www.craftown.com  I've seen and read about Crocodile Stitch from various crochet patterns but haven't crocheted anything of that sort yet. As they say, this kind of stitch could look quite complicated   but then I realized after making two or three stitches in a row, it was not difficult at all! Well, now is the first time to make my very own. Yes, anybody wouldn't ever miss the great semblance of the stitches to crocodile scales, hence the name, Crocodile Stitch.   For my first venture on a project made of crocodile stitches, I used variegated yarn for a bracelet  although crochet literature would tell that the stitch would also make very nice and elegant scarves, shawls, flowers, and many other projects. Name it, the crocodile can make it! Following the tutorial of Tia ...

Look what I found in my crafts archive, two pieces of bookmarks I made last year. I was not into blogging yet when I crocheted these so it's only now that I get to feature them here --- The Peacock Fan Bookmark by Mary DuBois from the Crochet World April 2008 Magazine .   Here are the Peacock Fan Bookmarks I made.     My Peacock Fan Bookmarks side-by-side with the original I hope to make more of these in the coming days. Gift-giving for the holiday season! :) How about you? What patterns of bookmarks have you used? Please do share in the comment box below. I would love that!