Fat and Crafty.com

You don’t need a kitchenaid to make mayo.
You don’t need a mixer to make whipped cream.

This is the unsung hero of my kitchen
 

This is a pastry blender. Sure its used for cutting flour and butter together but it’s got more uses then that. It can be used for combining any soft ingredients together. Mashing potatoes,  making compound butter,  or even making deviled eggs.  It works seamlessly, doesn’t require a plug in, doesn’t require anything special . I can use a bowl or a cutting board depending on the application.  I like the simplicity and reliability of it.

Its used for my favorite deviled eggs.

Bacon Deviled Eggs
18 Eggs, hardboiled
1/2 lb bacon , fried, cut into small pieces.
Salt
Pepper (smoked is nice)
Paprika
Garlic powder
Mayo

Shell eggs, cut in half. Chop up yolks together in a bowl with the pastry blender. Add chopped bacon. Add spices and mayo to taste. Fill eggs.
Let chill and eat

mmmmmm

(Photo originally by D’Arcy Norman)

More companies are using Earth day as a marketing opportunity
My suggestion for earth day? Don’t buy crap.
Don’t buy nifty little bags from Delight
Don’t buy Earthday Greeting Cards
Don;t buy earth dinner cards.

To be honest? Don’t buy anything you don’t need. Use recyclable materials. Use your ceramic cup.  Eat at home. Use silverware and a napkin. 

So I had a Tupperware party this weekend.  When we were in the planning stages, my Tupperware pal Barb shared with me  a clip of Ice-T talking on Conan O’Brian Basically what he said was that Tupperware is old school real, and that rich people don’t understand Tupperware because they don’t eat left overs. 

Having a Tupperware party really is old school, but not just because Ice-T says so. To be honest, I wonder if the whole party genre is on its way out. Other then a Pampered Chef party that I was invited to years ago, I can’t remember the last time I was invited to this kind of party. Whatever happened to Mary Kay and Tupperware, and even Party lite? Do I just not get invited or are folks just not doing it anymore? 
My dear friend Jerilynn (Stampnig up Demo) was lamenting  with Barb about the difficulty they have in getting people to come to parties.  I wonder if the trend is that we don’t want people to feel pressured to come to these sort of events? I wonder if part of it is the passive northwest, where we have a hard time committing to events?

Anyway I find it interesting, and I found hosting a Tupperware party to be enjoyable.   I’ve considered signing up, but with other recent changes, my budget just can’t take the hit. Maybe in a couple of years, then you all can host parties for me, right?

I love office supplies. You might even say I’m an office supply slut. I love notebooks, file folders, pen , pencils (mechanical pencils are a current obsession of mine) and organizational bits. Need binder clips? I’ve got a box full at home. Stapler? I’ve got both the staple less and the metal staple kind. I love going into Kinokuniya Bookstore
at Uwajimaya and buying Asian notebooks. (something about the paper quality is better)

Sometimes though I have to stop myself and realize I can replicate what I’m wanting to buy. At this point its a set of 12 eco-friendly file folders
Go ahead take a look, ooh and aah Cute huh? I’m not buying it though. I have a box of file folders sitting at home that I could decorate and design to make look as cute as can be. Instead of buying more stuff, I think its probably much more ecologically friendly to  use up what I have in a creative fashion. Win win situation for me , and better for my wallet.  (That said if you don’t have a box of file folders at home, You should go get these they are really cute.)

I also can’t imagine buying a duct tape wallet kit. Is that for the person who wants to feel crafty without going through the effort?
Its like trying to be a painter when all you’ve done are paint by number kits. Sure it looks great, but it doesn’t show a whole lot of you in the effort.

I read a great blog post about “What would Jesus Sell” by Jean Railla, of Get Crafty
Of particular interest to me is that Craft Magazine chose not to print it with reasons varying from it being considered anti-religious to time and spacing issues. My take on it? Craft was a sponsor of the Buy handmade pledge and didn’t like  her more critical look at it.

Making Lunches
I’ve been making lunches all this week. Not for me, but for Miss Bit who is in kid care this week, as its spring break. I intellectually know that I should be making lunch for myself. The food in the University district gets old after a while, and it gets expensive. Burgers, Sushi, Teriyaki, Gyros, Fish and Chips, Mexican and Indian are all represented, but each day its a battled to decide. How much to I want to spend, how much time do I have,  and what am I craving.    And yet as I’ve made lunch this week for Miss Bit, I’ve not bothered to toss a second lunch together for me. I need to get back into this. Over the summer the dining establishment at work closes and we’ll be busier so I’ll want to go out less. I  just need to get back into the lunch groove.

Today I did end up bringing lunch, but thats because I had special leftovers from last night. (I dont typically like leftovers for lunch. After I’ve made dinner  and eaten dinner I dont want to look at it again.)  Last night was different.

Tossed Meat Salad.

A couple of weeks ago I picked up a spicy smoked sausage from the farmers market. They called it a “German sausage”  and I was immediately taken with the idea of a German potato salad with this fantastic sausage. I purchased some baby potatoes and decided it would happen shortly. i’d have a salad that was sausagey oniony and vinegarry with potato goodness.

That didnt happen. the baby potatoes went into beef strew and I waited for the right time to use the German sauasage. That time was last night. I pulled  out my copy of Joy of Cooking and went to work
 
3 potatoes cut up went into my micro steamer for about 15 minutes.
While those cooked  I fried up a couple of chopped slices of bacon in the cast iron pan.
To that I added  half a chopped onion (should have used the whole one) then the sliced sausage.

In a measuring cup I measured out 1/2 c of chicken broth, 1/4 c vinegar, 1 tsp paprika, 1 tsp sugar. 
I added this to the pan on the stove and let it come to a boil, making a hot meaty dressing. 

I put the hot potatoes in a bowl and poured the dressing over it and tossed it all together.
voila Tossed Meat Salad.
Overall it was meaty, vinegary and hot. Yum. I made way too much, so I’ve got  lunch today.

Simple Carbs
I just finished reading Good Calories Bad Calories by Gary Taubes.  First off , its a dense dense text with lots of  references to scientific studies that have been done over the years in relation to what we should eat. It also explained some of the history of why the low fat diet has been so highly recommended. I’d recommend you read it if you are interested.

For me it was a reminder that I feel better  when I avoid the sugar load. It’s why I get so frustrated with the cafe culture.  I’d love to see more places offer  unsweetened yogurt, hardboiled eggs,  or other  less sweetened  more protein filled options.  Reading the book was interesting, but was not an initiation to put myself on a diet, more like a reminder that i should do what works best for me. 

(Photo by Andie712B on Flickr)

When I originally set up my sewing class at Bernina NW I was hoping for their 6 week sewing basics class.  Unfortunatly the class was full. I looked around for other basic sewing classes and had difficulty finding something that would fit. Nothing at the Experimental College  , Pacific Fabrics, or   North Seattle Community College’s continuing education center seemed to fit. So I began looking at other areas and found that Stitches does a beginning class. I signed up  thinking that I’d try to use my machine before the class to see if I could not take the class.  I scheduled the class, was charged for it an went on my merry way, forgetting about it.

They emailed me this morning reminding me of my class tomorrow. Whoops! Suppose I should have kept on top of it. I sent Leah an email. Help! Do we have the supplies I need? Of course being the seamstress that she is Leah was able to provide me with the bits and bobs i need, except for a seam gauge checker, a seam ripper, and the pattern.  She would have gotten the pattern, except there is some debate about what I want. I should trust in Leah as the sewing goddess, but I also want to   trust in Stitches to actually teach me to sew something I can wear.

The pattern? Pajama/casual pants. They’ll be done in a chili fabric that is so me.

Anyway, I’m prepped to go and am a little excited now.I’ll post an update Wednesday after the class, and hopefully will share photos.