BBQs and Party Dresses

So things already seem to be taking a turn for the boring here. I've been unusually occupied the past week or so, between pet/house sitting and actually getting work and having a social life every now and then (thanks to incessant whining to my friends and boyfriend... not that I promote that). Amidst all that, I've still been doing a fair amount of sewing, and baking, and even some cooking, but it's too late to photojournalize the cooking and baking adventures and I fear the sewing may get redundant. So, I'll just try and give the lowdown on a couple different things to keep it fresh.

1) BBQing

Yes, I am that girl. The portrait of a female stereotype, incompetent down to what is arguably the least manly of the manly tasks (only because it's food prep related). Ever since I was a child, it's always been my dear father firing up the grill, delivering us those most glorious of meats and proving his ultimate leadership in the familial hierarchy. For that alone I would have remained ever submissive, but alas, my independence has been granted, and learning to navigate this bull of a contraption takes me one step closer to validating my own authority over the ones that I love and care about. Also, I was house-sitting and really wanted a barbecued hot dog, so it had to be done.

There's not too much knowledge or technique I can impart for a hot dog. Lighting up the BBQ was simple enough, much like lighting a gas stove, only you have to remember to turn the gas on, and more importantly, off, when you're finished. I waited for it to heat up a bit, plopped some dogs down and played the waiting game. I generally enjoy my hot dogs blackened so there was really no way I could go wrong. I checked them every few minutes and flipped them around to get all the sides, and once I deemed them dark enough, they were as tasty as animal entrails in intestinal casing ever were. I like the classic mustard and relish on my dog, but on occasion, some fried onions or sauerkraut or cheese and bacon or chili and mozza will do nicely. Just for an extra dose of healthy.

Next stage: Kebabs.

2) Dressmaking

This wasn't really my idea. I got it from this person who probably got it from someone else. But she clearly knows what she's doing, and has a lot of great pictures to go along with it as well. So take a gander at her website. Things basically went according to plan. Get a fabric that has at least one way stretch, if not both, and is the same front and back, because a lot of twisting is involved in the final product. Cut your lines in the fabric as even and snag-free as possible, because they won't be getting hemmed.

One part that I remember reading and yet don't seem to see on the Rostitchery page is how to calculate your measurements. So, what you do is: Take the measurement for your natural waistline (the place where your waist is smallest), and divide that by approximately 3.14. That's the diameter of the circle that you're going to cut out for your waist line on the skirt. The size can be approximate but try to make it an even circle. I made a paper template to start, pinned it to the fabric and cut around that. Be fairly precise with the waistband as well, you can put an elastic band in there later if your measurements were off. I did that, and it seemed to turn out just fine!

Waist circle... pin fabric around the edges of the circle.

I would only recommend machine-washing this one if you put it in a laundry bag. Otherwise, the straps may get wound up and tear (far more likely if you're an amateur seamstress like myself), but it should be okay in a dryer. As usual, wash and dry your fabric before sewing to see what happens to it.

It's not actually uneven, i just threw it on the floor with little care of appearance.

3) Improvise cooking

I was told the other day that there's actually a Youtube channel dedicated to this same subject: the task of making dinner when you're low on groceries. I can't remember what the channel is called, but hearing about it reminded me very much of an experience I had earlier this week.

I had worked a 12 hour day in sweltering heat and came home ready to prowl the cupboards like some kind of ravenous beast, ingesting anything readily edible. But lo and behold, I opened the cupboards and there was barely anything there that could be willingly consumed without some kind of basic preparation. Largely because I wanted meat. And there was no way I was dragging myself out to the grocery store.

So, after some scrounging around in the freezer, I discovered a half-used package of ground pork and thought, "What can I do with this?" I had used the first part to make gyoza, but I was fresh out of dumpling wrappers, green onions, cabbage, and most everything else that would have allowed me to recreate that delectable dish. So then I thought tacos, but I didn't have taco shells. I DID, however, have a couple tortillas, so I decided to pursue something along those lines.

To be honest, I've never really made tacos that weren't founded by an Old El Paso Taco Kit. So I didn't really know what I was doing. But I knew that I had to use up the green pepper in the fridge, and I love onions, and pork and lime is a winning combination, and thus the basic formula was born. I cut up the green peppers and onions while letting the frying pan heat up with a bit of oil, then plopped the pork in and let it brown before draining some of the excess fat with a spoon. Then I chucked in the green peppers and onions and figured it could probably use some spice. So I hit up the fridge and cabinet. Lime juice? Defs. Garlic? For sure. Slightly aged tempura sauce? Why not? Add a pinch of salt, a blast of oregano, some chili powder, celery seed, cumin, and whatever else smells good and you will have yourself a delicious, meaty concoction.

After everything in the pan was done doing whatever it did, I still wasn't really sure how to go about consuming it. It seemed like there should be lettuce in the tortilla, but there was none of that around. Instead, I found some acceptable looking salsa and smeared that down the center, and it might have been perfect, had cheese been present. Alas, I was also sans fromage but still desperately required that cheddary zip to complete the mock-taco (maco?) combo.

Fortunately, for SOME REASON there was a large container of that disturbing cheese-flavoured powder hiding behind the milk. It is essentially like pouring the contents of the white package in Kraft Dinner directly onto your food. Only saltier. Ordinarily, I shudder at the thought, but at that moment, it was just what I needed. So I applied it (sparingly) over the salsa, hid it underneath a layer of meat, onions and peppers and dug in.

And you know what?

I'd say the green peppers actually brought it down. Yes, it was the one moderately healthy part of the meal, but (potentially for that reason) the flavours just didn't work together. Everything else tasted surprisingly fantastic (though real cheese would still have improved the situation). Since I had to use up the green peppers anyways, they were okay, but if I tried this again, I would just avoid falsely convincing myself of anything healthy about this dish in the first place.

You can tell I'm all about eating healthy.

Regardless, I still feel that I've learned something here. And I hope you have too. Even if that lesson is simply not to buy cheese-flavoured powder.

Happy Birthday! (whenever you have one)

Beating the heat

Last week, the Vancouver region was staring sullenly at the thermometer, watching the clouds roll by, layering clothing in naive anticipation of partial removal, and patiently wondering whether or when summer would come. And just as we all gave up on the idea, pulled out our Christmas sweaters and decided to wait for next year, summer seems to have jumped out of nowhere fallen flat on it's face at our doorsteps.


The 15 degrees Celsius of last week has more than doubled, and the air is thicker than this dog's fat skull.

That, by the way, is my sister's bullmastiff Kato, and best bud Delaney.

Anyways, for someone like me, who adjusts rather poorly to hot weather, it is necessary to find as many ways as possible to keep cool. So today I simply offer some suggestions.

Yesterday turned out fairly well for me. I started the day off with a cool shower, avoiding drying my hair despite the frizztastic quality it gets (fortunately it's long enough now that I can tie it up). I got in my non-air-conditioned vehicle for a grueling ride with a friend to Lynn Canyon, a heavily forested and deep trail within the mountain, serpentining alongside a wonderful, frigid river that I couldn't resist soaking my legs in for a while. We took some sandwiches and buckets of water along, and charged up as the clear, fresh water flowed past our feet.

After that, and another grueling car ride back home, we stopped for slushie beverages which I thoroughly enjoyed for about 4 sips before I proceeded to take a sharp turn and spill it all over my car. Fail. Good while it lasted, though.

When I got home, I stripped away the sweaty mountain clothes and wiped myself down with a cold towel before getting into a nice, well ventilated dress, and found a shady place out in the yard to veg out and read. By then, it was coming up on sunset, so my boyfriend came over and we grabbed some more icy-cool drinks and headed down to the beach to watch the sunset. It was a spectacular experience; we arrived just in time to see it creeping below the mountains. Then we walked down to a secluded sandy spot, shielded from the wind, where we again soaked our legs in the perfectly cool water, and laid in the sand until the sky was filled with stars.

At that point, being far less suffocated by the overwhelming humidity, I suddenly realized how hungry I was, so we went home. I ate a leftover half sandwich from earlier in the day, had one more cool drink, washed off my legs from the ocean, and went to bed with a fan in my face.

I woke up feeling good this morning, and wanting to repeat it all again! But I think today might be an indoor day. Most indoor activities seem to be air conditioned these days anyways. For example:

Movie theatres

Karaoke

Bowling

Indoor roller rinks

Shopping centers

Fitness centers (+swimming pools)

Restaurants

Furniture stores (I like to go pretend I'm buying a couch, and test all of them)

And more! Maybe. In any case, I need to turn off this computer. It's not very happy operating in this weather either. Best of luck to all of you, warm weather or otherwise, in enjoying it however you see fit!

Invent a recipe: Chuckleberry Chili Cakes

Baking is another thing that I've already had a fair bit of practice with. My abilities have gradually improved by many hours spent in the kitchen making batch after batch of assorted goods, largely for my banana-bread loving host family in Germany. And whenever I bake now, I'm always reminded of a brief conversation I shared with the father there, who said that, despite being one of my biggest muffin fans, he preferred cooking over baking, because cooking was less precise and formulaic... he didn't like following recipes.

I think that's a little unfair. I am, as you may already know or will come to know shortly, not at all precise, and my measurements, if I measure at all, are best described as vague. I think both cooking and baking require some form of instruction at the beginner level. I know I can't cook much without a recipe, so I definitely need a helping hand, if only to get the feel for where to start. Granted, you can boil, broil, fry or barbeque a potato, and you can pretty well only bake a muffin, but once you've got those proportions down, the opportunities for freestyling your recipe are endless, easy, and unlike cooking, nearly always foolproof.


So today, I took my favourite cakey-muffin proportions and decided I needed to do something with the nearly-too-ripe huckleberries in the fridge. I love huckleberries, and this is the first year in a long time that the plant seems to have thrived in my area. I slaved away in the forest for hours picking the tiny buggers, so it would be a terrible shame to waste them.


For those of you that don't know what huckleberries are, they come from a small(ish), oval-leafed plant that grows along the west coast of North America, particularly on dead cedar trees. I'm told there are multiple varieties, but the red ones are the ones I like; small, sour, and succulent! Lingonberries would probably be a good substitute, but if they're too tart (as in, totally unpleasant to eat fresh), you might need to boil them in sugar-water for a couple of minutes. I'm sure halved raspberries would be fine, too.


Anyways, huckleberries are always tangy, and sometimes very tart, so I wanted to have a muffin with a stronger flavour to balance the bite of the berry. Thus, I decided cocoa powder would be a nice addition. And being a huge chocolate fan, I didn't think a few tiny chocolate chunks would hurt. A little chili powder for some kick, and my recipe was born. So here it is in writing, and remember: The measurements are very approximate! In Germany, I used a teacup and a dinner spoon to bake, so like I said, as long as you have everything roughly in proportion, it's not a big deal.


Chuckleberry Chili Cakes
Makes 10 muffins


1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup white sugar
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg




1 egg
1/4 cup vegetable oil (1/2 cup if you don't use banana)
Optional: 1 old mashed banana
Water/milk




1/2 to 3/4 cup huckleberries
1/4 cup chopped semi-sweet chocolate bits




So, first things first, heat up the oven to 350 degrees Celsius. If you've got an old banana that needs using, mash it up in a little bowl and set it aside. Then get out a bigger bowl and combine the dry ingredients. Mix them all together and you should have a light brown, chocolatey-chili scented powder. Please note: I don't actually have any idea how much chili powder ended up in my muffins because my container had a salt-shaker type lid, but I'd imagine not much more than 1 teaspoon. Use your best judgement.


Then dump your almost-liquified banana in, followed by the egg, the vegetable oil, and maybe a half cup of milk. Again, note: I used canola oil because I had it on hand, but it just occurred to me that chili oil might have been brilliant... could have even replaced the powder. I'll try that next time. Anyways, then just take a spoon (you really don't need an electric mixer) and mix it all together until it's a thick paste. It'll probably still be a bit dry at that point so add milk or water until it's just right. If it's still looking just a little dry, put the berries and chocolate in first. Sometimes the water on the berries (from washing them) is just enough to get it where you want it. The mixture shouldn't really hold its shape, but it shouldn't just pour out either, so be careful not to get it too runny. But if mistakes happen and you do over-water it, bake it anyways. It's likely that it will still taste good, the only problem might be the berries and chocolate sinking to the bottom and burning.


So, then you take your greased muffin pan and start emptying the mixture into the compartments. I usually start with a heaping spoonful in each of the ten and then spread around and even out whatever is left at that point.


Then just pop them in the oven... 12-15 minutes later they should be done! I usually check every 2-3 minutes after the ten minute mark to see how it's going. To make sure your muffins are done, you need one of these little metal prods (or a toothpick, if it's long enough), and when you can insert it all the way into the center muffin, and it comes out dry, your muffins can come out and start to cool! After you've taken them out, leave them in the pan for at least five minutes before putting them on a cooling rack. This keeps them moist. After another ten minutes or so, you can either put 'em away or chow down!





Mine were quite delectable, if I do say so myself. If you find them dry, try slopping in a bit more oil next time. Any problems or successes, let me know!