f u l f i l l m e

announcement

2009-01-16T01:19:45Z

I should have announced this a while ago, but I've been secretive. I'm moving off LJ onto my own site. I'll post a link here when everything is ready.

deep fried shrimp balls

2008-11-13T17:15:20Z

After some random Googling, I stumbled upon this recipe for deep fried shrimp balls at a blog called Tastes of Home. We happened to have all the ingredients except green onions (and fish sauce, which I don't use), so I decided to make it. I substituted finely minced yellow onion for the green onions and put them in the food processor bowl with everything else.

DH fried them while I took a shower -- he's better at it anyway. The recipe only made 9 balls, so I decided to add a salad in additional to the fries. The shrimp balls went well with the JD sauce I made (again substituted the yellow onion with no discernible difference), but I could imagine serving them with a multitude of sauces, including soy, chili, or sweet & sour. They were delicious, with the smooth texture of shumai stuffing, but next time we'll have these as snacks or appetizers instead of a main course. Maybe next time we host a game day I'll add these to the arsenal.

x-posted.

lasagna-style enchiladas

2008-11-12T19:51:58Z

A coworker suggested making enchiladas lasagna-style instead of rolling them. So I layered the meat, salsa, cheese, and tortillas in a baking dish. I based it on a recipe at posie's place, but made the following alterations:
- Chicken was from the meat counter and steamed
- Omitted passata and red pepper
- Skipped garlic & herb cream cheese
- Was too lazy to convert 25g, but I'm pretty sure I used way more cheddar than that
- Used 2/3 lb of chorizo (because they come in casings and are about 1/3 lb each)

For future reference, 200*C is about 400*F.

I also added a little water to the fajita seasoning and mixed it in with the meats. I only used the seasoning on the bottom of the pan so it wouldn't stick -- nothing in the layers except what was on the meat.

x-posted.

pulled pork sandwiches with jack daniels sauce

2008-11-12T19:05:31Z

Last night we had pulled pork sandwiches with Jack Daniels sauce. So good. I bought Kaiser rolls with cheese on them and made some (freezer) fries.

Slow Cooker Pulled Pork Sandwiches

Ingredients
1 (2 pound) pork tenderloin
1 (12 fluid ounce) can or bottle root beer
1 (18 ounce) bottle your favorite barbecue sauce
8 hamburger buns, split and lightly toasted

Directions
1. Place the pork tenderloin in a slow cooker; pour the root beer over the meat. Cover and cook on low until well cooked and the pork shreds easily, 6 to 7 hours. Note: the actual length of time may vary according to individual slow cooker. Drain well. Stir in barbecue sauce. Serve over hamburger buns.

Notes:
I used a 3 lb pork shoulder for my 4-quart slow cooker and layered onion slices on the bottom of the crock. This made enough for about 6 sandwiches, not 8, though our Kaiser buns were bigger than a regular hamburger bun. The pork was soaking overnight in two 12 oz. bottles of Henry Weinhard's rootbeer and cooked for about 9 hours the next day.

I started making the sauce first and when it was almost ready I took the pork out, separated the onions, and shredded it. Then when the sauce was ready, I mixed about half of it in with the pork and stirred it up.

T.G.I.Friday's Jack Daniels sauce

Ingredients
1 head garlic
1 teaspoon olive oil
2/3 cup water
1 cup pineapple juice
1/4 cup Kikkoman's teriyaki sauce
1 teaspoon soy sauce
1 1/3 cups dark brown sugar
3 teaspoons lemon juice
3 teaspoons minced white onions
1 teaspoon Jack Daniels Whiskey
1 teaspoon crushed pineapple
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Directions
To roast garlic
1. Cut about 1/2” off the top of the garlic.
2. Cut the roots so that the garlic will sit flat.
3. Remove the papery skin from the garlic, but leave enough so that the cloves stay together.
4. Put garlic in a small casserole dish or baking pan, drizzle with olive oil and cover with a lid or foil.
5. Bake in a preheated 325 degree oven for 1 hour.
6. Remove and let it cool until you can handle it.

For glaze
1. Combine water, pineapple juice, teriyaki sauce, soy sauce and brown sugar in a saucepan over medium high heat.
2. Stir occasionally until mixture boils, then reduce heat to simmer.
3. Add remaining ingredients to pan and stir.
4. Squeeze out 2 t of roasted garlic and whisk to combine with pan mixture.
5. Let simmer for 35-45 minutes or until sauce has reduced by 1/2 and is thick and syrupy.
6. Make sure it doesn’t boil over.
6. To use, grill meat until almost done, then use the glaze otherwise it will burn.

Notes:
I bought pre-roasted garlic, so I just used a handful from the jar. The reduction took closer to an hour than 45 mins. I didn't like that this recipe used small portions of certain ingredients; then I didn't know what to do with the rest of it. For example, I bought a 14oz. can of crushed pineapple, but I only need a teaspoon. Also, the grocery store I went to only had medium sized bottles of Jack Daniels, so I had to buy the whole bottle and only use a teaspoon of that. At least with the pineapple I could always eat it, but I doubt I'll ever drink the remaining whiskey.

x-posted.

carrot cake by my culinary hero

2008-11-11T03:23:50Z

I know I'm totally lame for not taking a picture, but I made the cake last Thursday and it was late by the time I finished so I didn't have any natural light left. Also it wasn't that pretty and we ended up eating the whole thing within three days or something like that. The recipe was so delicious that I had to post it here.

The cake had a wonderful balance of spices, and the cream cheese frosting was a fantastic compliment. I was a tad bitter about the frosting. We don't have a stand mixer or even a hand mixer, so I had to make the frosting by hand. I do have an immersion blender, but the whisk attachment is crap. It was still tasty, but just a bit lumpy.

Also, the cake was dense and a bit of heavy, so if you like your carrot cake light and fluffy, this isn't for you.

Carrot Cake

Ingredients
Unsalted butter, for the pan
12 ounces, approximately 2 1/2 cups, all-purpose flour, plus extra for pan
12 ounces grated carrots, medium grate, approximately 6 medium
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt
10 ounces sugar, approximately 1 1/3 cups
2 ounces dark brown sugar, approximately 1/4 cup firmly packed
3 large eggs
6 ounces plain yogurt
6 ounces vegetable oil
Cream Cheese Frosting, recipe follows

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

1. Butter and flour a 9-inch round and 3-inch deep cake pan. Line the bottom with parchment paper. Set aside.

2. Put the carrots into a large mixing bowl and set aside.

3. Put the flour, baking powder, baking soda, spices, and salt in the bowl of a food processor and process for 5 seconds. Add this mixture to the carrots and toss until they are well-coated with the flour.

4. In the bowl of the food processor combine the sugar, brown sugar, eggs, and yogurt.

5. With the processor still running drizzle in the vegetable oil. Pour this mixture into the carrot mixture and stir until just combined. Pour into the prepared cake pan and bake on the middle rack of the oven for 45 minutes. Reduce the heat to 325 degrees F and bake for another 20 minutes or until the cake reaches 205 to 210 degrees F in the center.

6. Remove the pan from the oven and allow cake to cool 15 minutes in the pan. After 15 minutes, turn the cake out onto a rack and allow cake to cool completely. Frost with cream cheese frosting after cake has cooled completely.

Cream Cheese Frosting
8 ounces cream cheese
2 ounces unsalted butter, room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
9 ounces powdered sugar, sifted, approximately 2 cups

In the bowl of a stand mixer with paddle attachment, combine the cream cheese and butter on medium just until blended. Add the vanilla and beat until combined. With the speed on low, add the powdered sugar in 4 batches and beat until smooth between each addition.

Place the frosting in the refrigerator for 5 to 10 minutes before using.

Yield: approximately 2 cups

been a while

2008-10-21T02:24:05Z

Fresh-baked cookies with ice cream. Delicious.

a good show of my outfit

2008-10-11T17:23:53Z

I haven't gotten the photographer pictures back yet, but here's one taken by a friend.

just cause

2008-09-15T16:45:39Z

~~Bouquet and boutonniere (plus boutonnieres and corsages)~~
~~Shawl~~

Much to my surprise, I ended up redoing the tail of my shawl on Friday night. At first I only shortened it, but the seam was bothering me too, so I pulled it out to reattach. I've never been very good at attaching crochet pieces together, so after a few minutes of frustration, I decided to just screw it and redo the whole thing.

The shawl ended up 4 rows shorter than it was, and while I liked the length of the original one, it seems a little more proportionate to my height this way.

I can't wait to see all this stuff come together in 3 days!

the shawl to match my brown shoes

2008-09-12T01:05:39Z

You can tell I'm burnt out because I decided not to redo the tail as I was originally planning. As soon as I finished attaching the hoop, I just felt finished. So I got up, took pictures, and here I am.

Not sure how I feel about it yet, though. I don't think the tail is going to bother me, but I'm not sure what the feeling I have is. Possibly the same feeling I had when I finished the corset: a mixture of fatigue, relief and slight dissatisfaction.

The pic on the right is a little caped crusader, but it shows the contrast and pattern clearly.

rationalizing

2008-09-11T14:55:42Z

Last night FH said, Just forget the purse. You don't even need one that day; you're not going to be carrying around your stuff anyway.

I knew he was right. I had already realized that my half-assed attempt at sewing a purse wasn't going to fly. And I had basically just wasted two nights of hard work.

The real kicker was that the shawl hoop was in yesterday's mail, but I didn't get the mail till this morning. So I am annoyed that if I had only checked the mail yesterday afternoon, I could have been working on the shawl last night instead of wasting my time on a purse I wouldn't even end up wanting.

Oh well. At least I'll be done with all my stuff tonight. With the purse 86ed, the shawl is the only thing left to finish. I'll fix the tail tonight, attach the hoop, and be done. With everything. Now there's a concept!

confession

2008-09-10T03:48:17Z

I'm not at all pleased with the corsages and boutonnieres I made for the family members last night, but they'll have to do. What bothers me most is that I know I could have done better, but I didn't. I was so proud that I haven't had the eff-it attitude I've always had, yet something just wasn't the same when I made these. I didn't realize it last night, but I figured out what the problem was when I came home today and started on my purse.

I'm running out of steam.

I've been working nonstop since we got back from Europe, and I'm just... done. I started new duties at work; that combined with the crafty wedding things have exhausted me. On top of adjusting to my new duties, I put in at least 4 hours on wedding stuff when I get home in the evening, plus full days on Saturdays and Sundays. I'm tired all the time, and I'm sort of just waiting to snap. Last week I told my boss that I am at a point where I will stop and give myself a break if I don't think I can finish, but I will be sad if I can't. I realize now that what that meant was, I'm going to finish, period. I'm a completist, and I want to cross the items off my list from finishing the task, not from giving up.

Projects I need to complete this week:

~~Bouquet and boutonniere (plus boutonnieres and corsages, above)~~
Purse
Shawl

I may skip the embroidery I was planning to do on my purse in the interest of time and sanity. It would have looked really pretty, but we'll see how I feel tomorrow. I'm done for tonight.

The shawl is technically ready except for the hoop adornment (which is important in terms of both design and structure) I'm waiting for in the mail. I had to buy the part on eBay because I could not find anything locally. The seller said she shipped on Monday, so I'll have it later this week. I'm hoping it arrives sooner than later. The catch is, I'm not exactly happy with the shawl: I want to redo the tail. Doing so wouldn't take more than an hour or so, but that means undoing work I've already done, and that is a little depressing.

button bouquet

2008-09-06T18:43:15Z

Alright, here it is. The bouquet I didn't even want. ~_^

I was originally planning to use orange, yellow and goldenrod felt as well, but when I had everything together, the off-white and white felt with orange and yellow embroidery thread looked better. The felt colors were too strong for what I wanted -- it was inmate orange and really bright yellow. I wanted softer tones, so I stuck with my orange and cream. I was also going to add some dark green to the mix, faux fern leaves with ivory embroidery, but the forest green was too dark for the colors and I didn't have another green.

In any case, I'm pleased with how it turned out. I've never done anything like this before, and it was actually a lot of fun. I was thinking of offering to make some for some friends who are getting married soon, but I don't know if button bouquets are their style.

button boutonniere

2008-09-06T04:34:38Z

As I have been prone to do lately, I unfortunately underestimated the time I would need to complete the bouquet. I made the boutonniere and 24 stems in considerably more time than I thought the project would take. I just finished arranging them, but we don't have any natural light right now, so I'll post pics tomorrow. I did make the boutonniere earlier in the day, so I can post that, at least.

Hopefully I'll finish the shawl this weekend, but we'll see. A while ago, I finished the poncho I made for my mom in a few evenings of frantic crocheting, but the way my estimates have been, I'll probably finish closer to next weekend T_T

on a whim

2008-09-05T04:26:13Z

I read somewhere that imitation is the best compliment. I hope that's common knowledge, because I decided to make a button bouquet suspiciously similar to those I saw on Offbeat Bride by princesslasertron. I usually like to support the original creator and purchase from the artist whose work I like, but I can't spend $250 on something that will just sit around after the wedding. If I haven't already said this, one of my rules of thumb is If it's going to be useless after the wedding, don't spend money on it. That was why I didn't want a bouquet. It will just sit around after the wedding, and we don't need more stuff.

But today, during the brief moment I could spare a thought for myself, I realized I want a bouquet. Not a floral one, though -- I don't like cut flowers -- a button bouquet.

What's funny about this whole mess is that I chose a button bouquet, rather than origami or pom poms or what-have-you, because I have a tin of orange buttons leftover from my orange blossom crochet hook case, yet somehow I ended up at the store buying MORE buttons.

The even more funny thing is that I had several good, logical reasons for not wanting a bouquet from the get-go, and now at the 2-week marker, I changed my mind for a very silly reason.

As I bucked more and more traditions, I also deprived myself of many bride-y items, and I realized I want a bridal identifier. If we were to walk into a Jamba Juice after the ceremony, nobody would be able to tell we just got married: he won't be wearing a tux, and I won't be wearing a white dress or veil. Not to say that all weddings have these elements, but they are universally recognized as wedding garb. A bouquet is something so unique to a bride that even a non-floral one would identify me as a blushing beauty that day.

I'll post pictures tomorrow when the lighting is better. The bouquet and boutonniere should be done by then. *knock on wood*

to valleyviolet

2008-09-02T21:47:34Z

Big, big thank you to valleyviolet for all her advice, support, and cheerleading through the process of making my first corset. I couldn't have done it without you!

timeline of my corset

2008-09-02T04:18:24Z

June 5, the decision

June 10, the design

June 11, mock-up 1

June 16, mock-up 2

July 27, practice corset

August 12, mock-up 3

August 15, mock-up 4

August 19, mock-up 5

August 22, mock-up 6

August 23, mock-up 7

August 26, bridal shell

August 30, final fitting

September 1, finished corset

zomg finally!

2008-09-02T01:49:27Z

My fingers are killing me. This is the first time I've sewn bias tape. I tried to make my own, first trying to cut straight lines, then using the rather ingenius continuous bias method, but neither worked for me since I can't seem to cut straight. I decided to use the remnant of my skirt from when it was shortened, which was not only already cut to the appropriate width for bias tape, but also ended up adding nice texture and dimension to the piece.

The two parts of the sweetheart neckline don't look symmetrical, it's more wrinkled than I'd prefer, the modesty panel kinda scrunches up and is a bit difficult to position. Yada yada yada. All I can say is: huzzah, it's done! I'm too incredibly tired right now and can neither believe that it's actually finished nor feel much relief; I'm sure that will come later. Tomorrow I'll start on the shawl, but later tonight, I'm going to relax with some KotOR.

not perfect, but it worked!

2008-08-31T18:14:11Z

Alright, there it is. Without the binding, but that's pretty much what it's going to look like. I don't even care that it's so wrinkly, or that it looks kinda janky in the back. I'm just glad it worked, looks semi-decent and it's almost done! Finally!

I might take the sides up a bit, but for now I'm taking a break. I've been working since 7:30am.

too tired to think of a good title

2008-08-31T05:53:51Z

I've been working on the corset all day:
8:00am - 10:00am
1:00pm - 7:30pm (including two short breaks)
8:30pm - 10:45pm

I wanted to finish it, or at least finish what I was doing, but I'm too tired. I'll finish it tomorrow. I'm so worried that it won't fit. If it doesn't, I couldn't fix it without picking the whole damn thing apart, and that would just about destroy me at this point.

I hope this works. Will report back tomorrow. Hopefully it's good news.

kind of freaking out

2008-08-27T02:17:39Z

I cut and sewed the shell fabric today. I'm really worried because the shape of the top looks really different from the mock-up and I don't know why. Damnit. I don't know how to fix it, and it doesn't seem like it will fit right either. I checked the seams and they look like they're where they're supposed to be. Maybe I'm just being paranoid. I was planning to work for another hour or so, but I can't seem to find the motivation now that it's not looking like it's going to work. I shouldn't get discouraged so easily =/

*edit* @ 8:11pm - I decided to just keep going. I'm going to have to do it anyway and the neckline is easy enough to fix if it turns out to be a different shape than I wanted. But I took another look and think I may just be paranoid. We'll see.

I sewed the coutil together to make the lining. The good news is, the lining looks like it matches up with the shell. The bad news is, I'm still worried about the neckline. But like I said, it's easy enough to fix.

Now I'm trying to decide the boning channels. I don't want the boning channels to be visible on the outside. Nor the stitching, if possible. I can get away with not having any boning channels or stitches visible just by sewing all boning onto the lining before sewing the lining to the shell, but now I'm wondering if that's the best of ideas. The shell fabric is going to wrinkle if it's only anchored to the lining by the back, top and bottom. I'm thinking of doing external bone casing to cover the seams on the outside, like this, which will do double duty to attach the shell to the lining -- but I don't know if that's smart since my last attempt at making my own casing ended abruptly with an "eff it." But I don't know how else anchor the two layers together, so that's my only option as of now.

Damnit, I should be playing KotOR.

cutting the coutil

2008-08-26T04:51:34Z

This is the final version. Or the version before the final version, I can't remember. Close enough anyway. I decided to go straight to the real one instead of putting extra bones in the mock-up; unfortunately, I made this before I read that comment.

In any case, I tore apart my mock-up and used it as a pattern to cut my fashion fabric. Now it's time to cut my base fabric, but I'm a little scared of cutting the coutil. I know that's a bit silly since this is why I bought the coutil, and I won't use it for anything if I don't use it for this. I'm still afraid that it won't turn out right -- even after all the work I've put into making it fit nicely.

Tomorrow I'm going to just do it. I bought it for this purpose and it seems like more of a waste to have good fabric just sitting around than to try something and have it not work. At least I tried, right? And I can always use the twill in my cabinet, if need be.

more of the mock-up

2008-08-23T04:58:11Z

Before

After

Okay, I made the bust a little smaller because it was too big, but it still seems a bit loose. Kinda hard to tell in the pic, though. I still don't like the way it looks from the side, but I think that's just how I look from the side, so I can't do much about that ;-)

Also, I'm not sure why I'm getting all that wrinkling on the right (as you face the pic), especially underneath the bust. The wrinkling is much more visible in the side view picture, and it looks like it's all on the side front piece. I wonder if it's the way I sewed it, or maybe the way I cut it. I hope I don't have wrinkling like that on the real corset. I can accept the horizontal wrinkles, but that one would irritate me. (Well, the horizontal ones will irritate me too.)

I haven't worked on this practically all week. These mods are really wearing me down. I should just get to them because I need to start on the real thing. We're going to be really busy tomorrow, too, so I won't have much time to work this weekend except Sunday, and I want to finish the real one before next weekend so I can relax during the three day weekend and work on some other projects.

lemon-baked cod

2008-08-20T02:29:36Z

Not too impressed with this recipe. The flour ended up just getting squishy, not crispy. I don't think I did it right, but if I do use this recipe again, I'll probably just season the fish and skip the flour. Also, it does not make 4 servings. At least not 4 servings in my house! It didn't taste like much, either, which is why I'm not too impressed. FH liked it, though, and it was easy, so that's some plus points for it.

Lemon-baked Cod, Recipe #135272

Ovnsstekt Torsk med Sitron
by Kymmarie

Ingredients
1 lb cod fish fillet
1/4 cup butter or margarine, melted
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon white pepper
paprika

Directions
1. If fish fillets are large, cut into serving pieces.

2. Mix butter and lemon juice.

3. In another bowl, mix flour, salt and white pepper.

4. Dip fish into butter mixture; coat fish with flour mixture.

5. Place fish in ungreased square baking dish, 8x8x2 inches.

6. Pour remaining butter mixture over fish; sprinkle with paprika.

7. Cook uncovered in 350 degree oven until fish flakes easily with fork, 25-30 minutes. Garnish with parsley sprigs and lemon slices if desired.

Alterations:
- Black pepper
- Added paprika after baking (cause I forgot about it)

I read somewhere that watermelon is iron rich, so I decided to buy a couple at Whole Foods today. I don't know how to pick a good watermelon, so it ended up being a bit mushy. Edible though, and a lovely red color.

Also, in case I don't get to posting the new one, this is the old mock-up I made over the weekend. I made the front piece into three pieces so the middle would be smaller and I could make it a contrasting color. I decided I don't like it, though, so I went back to the way it was the first time. Tonight I'm going to make what will hopefully be the last of the modifications before cutting the real fabric. I hope this works.

mock-up practice corset

2008-08-13T02:16:05Z

Alright, here it is. A pic of me in the corset practice.

Not sure about the robo-boob thing, though when I put it on today, it didn't seem as bad as it looked over the weekend. Maybe I had just been staring at it too long.
I'm pretty specific about where I want the sides to be: like the one I linked in my other post, but I'm not sure how long they should be to achieve that. Somehow one side ended up longer than the other. I'm thinking I'll go with the longer side -- I can always trim.
Might take in the waist a bit. I wasn't originally planning to use the corset for waist reduction, but it seems like reducing a small amount might be a good idea.

Also, my original idea to have the center front panel and the back panels in orange and the rest in ivory may not work with such a wide front panel. I'm thinking of just making the entire thing ivory except the back and modesty panel. Haven't decided yet. Since the skirt is orange, I don't want the outfit to be overbearingly orange. If I did the front center panel and back panels in orange, I would bind it in ivory, but if I did only the back panels in orange and the rest in ivory, I would bind it in orange for contrast.

This is a pic from the side. My seams are coming undone because one of my settings was off when I sewed the seams on this. I was sewing the boning channels into the seams by the time I figured out what was wrong. Anyway, I don't have boning in the center front, but when I get it in there, my tummy won't look so bumpy.

omg so good

2008-08-12T02:29:49Z

This is officially my box mix of choice for everything.