1 yard tulip shopping bags!

one night at about 11 pm I had the need to make some shopping bags, and I only wanted to use one yard total for a lined bag. This design came to me.

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The Tulip Bag

These can fold flat, they have a square bottom, and use one yard of fabric total. As you can see one can hold the industrial sized box of cheez-its and the double pack of buns from Sam's Club.

You can make these out of one yard of fabric, or recycle old men's shirts, sheets or just find fabric in the remnant bin,

Sprouts!

I used to sprout a lot when I was single. I never could quite eat all of the lettuce before it went bad in my fridge. So sprouts seem like the perfect solution. I only needed to sprout what I needed and all ways had fresh greens for a sandwich.

Now with a family, sprouting is a great way to have fresh organic greens anytime. My favorite place is the sprout people. They have organic seeds and some fantastic blends. They also have a selection of sprouting containers, but I like the wide mouth jar and sprouting lid.

Little Vikings

Ready for the Viking Festival

Finished Will's Viking tunic today. The body is made of a linen blend from JF that washes and is durable with lots of wear and washing. The yoke is made or rust ultra suade. Will had outgrown his other tunics and was ready to hand them down to little brother Henry. Henry tunic was made of the linen blend.

Had a week and a half off between semesters.... and I got out the sewing machine. I feel like I am rediscovering all the the things that I loved doing so much. Sewing on Sat morning. Midnight soaping.

Sweet & Spicy Pecans

Ingredients
1/3 cup sugar
3/4 teaspoon cayenne
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground allspice.
1 large egg white
2 teaspoons vegetable oil.
2 cups pecan halves.


Preparation
1. In a bowl, mix 1/3 cup sugar, 3/4 teaspoon cayenne, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander, 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon, and 1/8 teaspoon ground allspice. Whisk in 1 large egg white and 2 teaspoons vegetable oil. Stir in 2 cups pecan halves.
2. Spread nuts in a single layer in an oiled nonstick 10- by 15-inch baking pan. Bake in a 300° regular or convection oven, stirring occasionally, until nuts are crisp and lightly browned, 20 to 25 minutes.
3. Let cool about 5 minutes, then use a wide spatula to loosen nuts from pan; cool completely. Serve or store airtight at room temperature up to 2 weeks.

Petrena's Oreo truffles

Oreo Truffles
8 oz. pkg. cream cheese (full fat version, please)
16 oz. Oreo cookies (I like the ones with the chocolate cream centers), crushed
12-16 oz. semi-sweet fine chocolate, chopped
1 T. shortening

Let your cream cheese get to room temp....either place in food processor, kitchen aid or bowl for your hand mixer...whip til broken up. Add half your crushed oreo cookies, mix up well.....add last half of cookies, mix well again. The mixture will begin to look like a solid chocolate color, this is what you want. Chill mixture til very firm (about 2 hours). Roll into 1" balls, chill again. Melt up your chocolate with a tablespoon of shortening for a more smooth coating. Dip chilled truffles into chocolate and rest on wax paper. Chill again. You may drizzle white chocolate or milk chocolate over the tops if you'd like. makes about 3 dozen truffles. They taste like chocolate covered chocolate cheesecake. yum...

The Turks are Coming!

Domatesli Patlican
Eggplant Stew with Tomatoes

2 eggplants, washed and peeled
2 tomatoes, diced
1 ½ cups diced tomato in a can
1 big onion, chopped
1 tsp tomato paste (optional)
1 green pepper, chopped
3 tbsp olive oil1 tsp salt
¼ tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp basil (optional)
½ cup hot water

Cut the eggplants in cubes and place into a bowl covered with water. Leave for 15-20 minutes. Then rinse and drain.In a pot, sauté onions with olive oil. Then stir in tomato paste (optional) and peppers. Saute them over medium heat and then stir in eggplants. Saute for 3-4 minutes. Finally add salt, hot water, basil and tomatoes. Do not stir, just leave tomatoes on top and cover the lid. Cook for 20-25 minutes over low heat till eggplants are tender.Sprinkle black pepper on top and stir.
Serve Eggplant Stew with Tomatoes warm or cool, with yogurt or cacik as you like.

Sut Corbasi
Milk Soup

1 cup vermicelli
2 cups water
3 cups milk
1 tbsp salt to taste
1 tbsp butter
1 tsp Good Fresh Paprika

Boil 2 cups of water in a pot and add vermicelli. Cook for 8-10 minutes over medium heat till vermicelli is soft. Then add salt and milk. When it boils, simmer for 6-8 minutes, stirring occasionally.For garnish, place the butter in a small frying pan and melt over low-medium heat. When spitting starts, stir in paprika and a pinch of salt. Then pour on the soup and serve warm.


Cooking Eggplant for Babaganoush

Cut slits on med sized eggplant.
Bake @ 400ºF for 1 hour.
Place eggplant in plastic bag to wilt for 20 min.
Peel off skin and use flesh.

Gooseberry Jam

Ingredients
1.3kg (3 lb) fresh gooseberries
1.3kg (3 lb) caster sugar
75ml (3 fl oz) liquid pectin (Certo)

Preparation method
Remove blossom and stem ends from gooseberries. Force berries through food mill. Measure 4 tea cups of the berry mash into a large pot. Stir in the sugar. Bring to a full rolling boil over high heat, and boil hard for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat, and stir in pectin at once. Skim off any foam with a large metal spoon.

Sterilize jars and lids in boiling water for at least 10 minutes. Take turns with skimming foam, and stirring the berry mixture for 5 minutes to let it cool slightly. Ladle into hot sterile jars, leaving .5cm (1/4 in) headspace.