Garden Chef's Needle and Pen

In my previous post entitled " Crocodile Stitch Bracelet ," I featured a link to Tia Davis whose pattern I used in making a crocodile bracelet for the first time.  Towards the end of that post, I mentioned about my desire to make a handbag made of crocodile stitches. Well, to this post, I still haven't done that but I have made two necklaces out of this stitch already. The first one I made especially for an old friend who spent her vacation at home early this year. I made it in such a hurry that I failed to photograph it before giving it away.  Here's the second necklace I made using purple variegated thread. Look at what Ayana Grace did to Ana Cristina's huggables!    Cuddly                                and                   ...

"Repetition is the key to mastery...," a high school teacher once said, and from then on, I have always remembered that quote which I often tell my own students. My husband who is a professor of Mathematics also applies the same principle (he refers to it as redundancy) in teaching. Well, today, I applied the principle in the kitchen as I cooked  two dishes for the second time: Sinigang sa Mangga (Pork Rib Stew in Unripe Mango) and Baked Pompano in Orange Balsamic Vinaigrette .  Last week, I featured Shrimp Stew in Unripe Mango (Sinigang na Hipon sa Mangga) , a modification of the original Sinigang sa Mangga (Pork Rib Stew in Unripe mango), a recipe I got from the September 2012 issue of Yummy Magazine . I'm still bothered by allergic cough that explains my craving for something sour so I decided to give the dish a second try. This time, while I followed the original recipe by using pork ribs, the only modification I applied was, instead of sauteing, I just boiled th...

"A delectably new welcome," Billy, my husband, said as he sipped the soup from my newly discovered dish, Sinigang na Hipon sa Mangga (Shrimp Stew).  I cooked this for dinner. I saw the recipe from the September 2012 issue of Yummy Magazine this morning before I went out for my usual Saturday routine. The original recipe calls for pork ribs but it was too late for me to find one of good quality from my favorite meat vendor as it was already late in the morning, so I bought shrimps instead. (I was too lazy to rise up early today. Not feeling well for the past days. Called in sick the other day after having trouble sleeping due to my allergic cough. Same thing happened last night that I woke up feeling so weak this morning. Good my husband went to attend the Men's Fellowship in our church and wasn't home 'til 9:30 am.) I've been coughing on and off and the itchy throat caused me to crave for something sour. This dish is just perfect! This was the first ...

Looking for an explosive? in crochet bloggerdom, I mean? Search the net, if you will and find there's only one... that's Jaime Maraia. I'm a follower of her blog site, Crochet Dynamite . Last month, she featured her Recycled Rose Necklace which has caught my attention. As I was looking for a gift for an old friend, I just found the necklace very enticing! Who wouldn't be? Look at this! Photo of Jaime Maraia, the Crochet Dynamite For my work, I also used yellow and pink yarn because I really love the one Jaime was wearing!    But I didn't recycle the yarn... promise! Look, I still have plenty in my stash...   And I didn't have an old necklace string so I decided to use silver and gold elastic bands which I just tied at the ends.  Thanks to your post, Jaime, a product of your explosive mind. I really love this! I just hope I'd see Gerald (short for Geraldine) wearing this one of these days. She said she will look for a perfect match s...

I've been a follower of Fiber Flux... Adventures in Stitching by Jennifer Dickerson. I find her patterns for neckwarmers, scarves and cowls simple and very easy to follow. The very first crochet project I did using her pattern was the Butternut Squash Neckwarmer that I gave away as a gift to an officemate who left the country to work in the U.S. last year.  Just recently, I came across her post entitled, " Crochet Yourself a Hug! 10 Crochet Neck Lovelies Just for You ". This features 10 scarves of different patterns and colors. Among these, the Fiona Button Scarf caught my attention. Oh, I so love the royalty of purple! The Fiona Button Scarf by Jennifer Dickerson The pattern gives instructions for two scarves, one for a 45-inch and another for a 60-inch long scarf. I made a 45-inch long scarf and it made another perfect gift for a friend. Here's the Fiona Scarf I made using variegated yarn.  I gave away the scarf without fastening the buttons a...

A very timely post for this month's lover s' day celebration. For this post, I am featuring the Pink Meringue Cowl by Jennifer Dickerson. When I saw this cowl, I fell in love with it in an instant. I simply love its color!  Pink Meringue Cowl Reading through th e blog led me to the Free Crochet Pattern... Meringue Cowl , another blog which features the pattern  Jennifer Dickerson used for the Pink Meringue Cowl.   Free Crochet Pattern... Meringue Cowl The pattern is easy to understand and the steps very simple, one could finish it in jiffy! But wait... I don't have that very same color as th e pink meringue cowl in my stash :(( I would have wanted to make exac tly one like that but I ha d no choice but to make do with the best variegated yarn available from the nearest craft store. The rainbow color, I thought, would match any shade of tops. Well, I had to start working as time wa s running short... My, my , my , time indeed has run fast... s...

Hello there! Couldn't allow this weekend to pass without posting anything. Let me, however, veer away from the usual food and craft posts. This time I'm featuring my first ever original abanico (fan), pair of castanets and key holder --- all from Spain. Yes, Virgilio, my husband, just arrived after attending a week-long conference in Spain and brought me these stuff (actually, there are still others not included here).  Hmmm... I'm excited to use my new Spanish fan :)) and the castanets! I remember wearing them when we performed a Spanish Dance number in grade school. Look at me (with Alice, my classmate) in our costume (mine was pink and Alice's was green) just before the performance! Would you believe that this photo was taken 46 years ago, when I was 6 years old?!! Old but don't you think it's cute? Well, this picture simply reminded me of the Spanish Dance. The tune still reverberates in my ears. Click to watch video and dance to the tune.   ...

In today's (February 4, 2013) Our Daily Bread Devotional , Julie Ackerman Link's "Just Enough" reads: I love writing for Our Daily Bread. I confess, however, that sometimes I whine to my friends about how difficult it is to communicate everything I would like to say in a short devotional. If only I could use more than 220 words. This year when I came to the book of Matthew in my Bible-reading schedule, I noticed something for the first time. As I was reading about the temptation of Christ (Matt. 4:1-11), I noticed how short it was. Matthew used fewer than 250 words to write his account of one of the most pivotal events in all of Scripture. Then I thought of other short yet powerful passages: the 23rd Psalm (117 words) and the Lord’s prayer in Matthew 6:9-13 (66 words). Clearly, I don’t need more words, I just need to use them well. This also applies to other areas of life—time, money, space. Scripture affirms that God meets the needs of those who se...

Hello everyone! It's been more than a week since my last post and I've been dying to share my latest works (both in the kitchen and crochet)! Well, since I can't feature both here, let me deviate from Olive and Yummy Foodie Mags for a while and share one of my re-make dishes from my favorite kitchen buddy, Del Monte Kitchenomics, which I also featured in two posts last year ( Stories from the Cupboard 1: My Kitchenmates   and Stories from the Cupboard 2: Vegetable Pastel ).  Cheesy Eggplant Layers by Del Monte Kitchenomics is a lasagna-inspired dish. Here are the ingredients: 4 medium eggplants 1 egg, lightly beaten 1/2 cup bread crumbs (which I combined with Crushed Graham) 1 pouch (250 g) Del Monte Sweet Style Spaghetti Sauce (but for my own version, I just used Del Monte Tomato Sauce) 1 cup grated cheese (I made a combination of Queso, Magnolia Quickmelt and Mozarella) 1 medium green bell pepper, diced The original recipe calls for the ...

Preparing for a Rummage Sale sponsored by our church two Saturdays ago caused our whole family to search for books, clothes, CDs, kitchenwares, etc. from the bookshelves, closet and wherever. Doing so brought to my attention a recipe book given to me as a birthday gift by my youngest daughter, Ana Cristina, a few years back. It's a Del Monte Kitchenomics Cookbook Volume III issue in celebration of their 20 years of creative cooking. Page 64 of the cookbook features Samosas , a dish my husband and I ordered when we went out for a family dinner at Banana Leaf last Christmas season. I mention this in my post entitled, New Year Greetings from my Family to Yours . My Del Monte Kitchenomics Cookbook In my excitement to try it, I immediately bookmarked the recipe and prepared the following ingredients: 8 pc large square lumpia wrappers, each piece cut lengthwise into 4 Filling: 1 pc medium onion, chopped 350 gms ground pork (but I substituted chicken) 1 pc medium...