Quilting: Mermaid Quilt

I attempted to make rows of waves to sew between panel rows of Mendocino fabrics: epic fail.

It was starting to look terrible and become even more difficult to square up into a rectangular quilt, and so I decided to give up and return to the drawing board. In concept, I like the rows of gentle curves or waves, which would work for a smaller accent piece like a pillow.

However, I was going to start over with the solid fabrics I had left after my minor disaster. I love these fabrics and still don't want to cut up the big panels and lose the print.

I once sewed panels of my favorite Amy Butler and Cotton and Steel fabrics into a quilt.

I envisioned doing the same with the Mendocino lines but change it up a little like in the quilt patterns below.

But that would still entail cutting up the fabric, which I was determined not to do. And so I'm going to border it with traditional blocks: I found two, one called the Lost Ship Block and the other called Ocean Wave.

Last night while cutting and putting together the solids, I was not liking the clash of the medium pink, which looked neon against the other blocks. 

Aaargh. I feel compelled to edit those jarring pink blocks out even though it was so much work to sew all those friggin' half-square triangle blocks.

Cooking: Fajitas

I was never really into fajitas, and the last time I cooked the dish, I cooked the peppers and onions atop my bbq grill along with steak. Disastrous as the oil on the vegetables caused flames and they then tasted like lighter fluid. And so this time around, I still grilled the flat iron steak in my Weber, but I sautéed the bell peppers and onions in my cast iron on my stove top.

And maybe because I love Mission-style burritos because I love refried beans, I'm not as fond of their cousins, fajitas. However, this time, though I didn't have charro beans and yellow rice to eat alongside, I had lots of condiments of guacamole and sour cream and salsa to put into my fajita made with my favorite brand of tortillas.

What a difference.

Usually the hubs adds cheese to his tacos, for which I usually use corn tortillas. I noticed this time, he didn't add cheese like he does with tacos. And those other condiments made a difference and made me enjoy Southwestern cuisine more.

Cooking: Fish, And It's All about the Peanut Dipping Sauce

I've been craving leafy greens and also fish. I dashed to my warehouse and Japanese grocery store for a couple of poke and sushi lunches. Found kimchi and sake in my fridge and pantry.

I had also been wanting tuna salad.

And my tuna fish sandwich has me wanting to cook a scratch-made tuna casserole with a roux of butter and cream, green peas, onion, celery, and more of that wonderful tuna packed in olive oil. Next week methinks. I also had some poached shrimp in the fridge. My usual go-to of spring salad shrimp rolls wrapped in rice paper. Thai chili pepper, green onion, shrimp of course, basil and mint leaves and lots of cilantro. But with Asian shrimp rolls, you gotta have a delicious dipping sauce: peanut butter, coconut vinegar, soy sauce, mirin, and coconut milk, lime, calamansi and garlic. 

And while I'm at it, zest the lime with ginger and add palm sugar and Sriracha and fish sauce to the dip too. Lip-smacking tasty.

And the madness for fish and shellfish ain't over. My last shipment of oysters is coming soon.

Style: Pre-pandemic and Pandemic

Prior to lockdown in March of last year, my outfits were always pretty casual even for a teacher librarian. I usually wore jeans and a top--sometimes plain, sometimes embellished with feminine details like a tiny ruffle trim and darts or bell sleeves or in floral or fun polka dot print, booties but sometimes sneakers and backpack. But jeans are not comfortable really especially if they make you look good. I discovered leggings. Omigosh they're presently and will always be my go-to for bottom wear. And my low booties or knee-high leather boots coordinated well with them as with jeans. 

When the pandemic hit, I basically stopped wearing jeans and wore either leggings or yoga pants or athletic workout pants for running or the gym. And t-shirts or hoodies, but sometimes sweaters and still athletic footwear. But there are days where I wear my running shoes instead of my street shoes from Adidas and Puma . I don't think I've worn my leather or suede booties for at least a year. 

But my look is getting sloppy. And so I bought a new tote from Portland Leather.

I love my new purse, which is forcing me to abandon the backpack and winnow down the stuff I bring in addition to keys, phone and wallet. It just plainly ups my style quotient. And so my new year's resolution is to start wearing booties and scarves again and less schlumpy sweaters and tops.

New Year's Resolutions

Like many, I make new year's resolutions only to let those good intentions and efforts go by the wayside, and so I stopped making empty promises a few years ago. I still set goals and make task lists, but for the most part when I set intentions, I try to make changes that are small and doable. And if I don't follow through with an intention, especially if it really was too large to make a habit and stays with you as a regret, then I've tried to think that's okay and just try to be better the next time. It's why I like meditation. You can forget or think you're too busy to do it, but it's okay to come back to it and do it again. I have to ponder that beginner's mind and what that means.

Emerson's quote makes me remember why I love mornings and why I wake up optimistic. And that renewed hope is what I tried to regain when I went through my nervous breakdown a couple years ago.

Seriously, I was in a bad place. I thought I was gonna go through two breakups--one with the husband and the other with the boyfriend with whom I had an extramarital affair. I just wanted CHANGE. I was in a rut at work and wanting to run away, and I almost did to Washington where the on-again, off-again ex-boyfriend, now-boyfriend, now ex-boyfriend lives. But reason ruled the day. I decided to break up for good or as much as I could from a past that needed to not be resurrected. And I wanted and tried to reconcile with the husband, who almost, and rightfully so, was not gonna let me back into his heart. But I want to let love rule, and if I'm grateful for anything in this pandemic, it's him. Having a partner even if that reconciliation was fraught with challenges of hurt and grief has been a salve in this trying and unprecedented time. Our relationship has also been a lesson in empathy and compassion, and thankfully we share a a gallows humor that still connects us.

And after my annus horribilis and an agonizing summer of crying and fits of rage and of not making or creating, I came back to my job and cared again about keeping my job and making the work interesting again. Work is still a struggle. There are stretches of boredom and an inability to concentrate and disillusionment for whatever reasons and emotional sturm und drang, BUT there are also these fulfilling moments because I'm in a helping profession as a teacher and have been told or have seen that I really taught something valuable.  As a teacher librarian, it's my job to be surrounded by intellectual stimulation and having done it for a decade plus, I've survived and thrived and become able to control what kind of work I do. My personal hobbies are no longer in that imbalance where I use it to make myself feel better about my job. I think my hand building and sewing complement what I do for a paycheck. And yes my day job pays for that creative outlet. I'm okay with that. I've no wish to be a starving artist. I think I have evaluated my larger concerns and have dealt with them enough to now tackle some smaller resolutions. And I want to be able to sleep well. That's my resolution for 2021 which entails no more heavy drinking.

And really that one glass of wine which turned into three more afterward where I basically finished the whole bottle of Chardonnay really messes up a good night's sleep. And drinking was a way to be able to take in the local and national news in the evenings. And so this past new year's, I drank one margarita and then the next day one bloody Mary and that was it. I'm incapable however of being a teetotaler, and so I'm gonna experiment and see if I can just get away with sipping one glass of wine while cooking and with dinner and mainly on the weekends. And to make that habit of drinking in moderation stick, I've been finding alternatives to imbibing: herbal tea, sparkling water, lemonade, mulled cider, passionfruit juice, etc.

Cooking: Asian-Marinated Flank Steak, Bok Choi and Jasmine Rice

Uh oh. I think I'm already in a cooking rut because didn't I just cook and blog this dish just a few weeks ago? This time, I didn't turn to recipes online but just to my memories of what constitutes an Asian flavored menu. I shopped my freezer for the flank steak and removed from the fridge every Asian ingredients I had: mirin, black sesame oil, oyster sauce, Worcestershire sauce (okay not Asian but it does have a fish element like anchovies), Gochuchang, soy sauce. Chopped some garlic and squeezed a Meyer lemon and put into the Ziploc bag of meat and all the sauces and back into the fridge until grilling time.

I also had bok choy from a couple weeks ago; it's a cabbage and doesn't wilt as easily as other delicate greens. I removed the stem ends and chopped the whites from the greens. I decided to make another sauce to dress the cooked cabbage with oyster sauce, chili oil, soy sauce and mirin and of course, chopped garlic. Hubs said bok choy is not his favorite vegetable. Harumph. Too bad. But next time I will just sauté the greens with chopped garlic and salt in peanut oil in my wok. There's a lot of water the vegetable and was flavorful enough.

I did vary my steamed jasmine rice and used a cup of water and 1/4 cup of coconut milk to cook the one cup of the grain.

And then it was time to light it all up. 

And then serve it all up. Pour myself a cup of warm sake on this chilly January evening.

And the meal may be boring.

But it was fast, simple, comforting and nourishing.

Cooking: Sunday Mezze

I made hummus last week, but I lazily did not soak chickpeas. Instead I opened a can and was going to boil right away with baking soda, but then changed my mind and started peeling the skins by just rubbing them off and THEN boiled them for 15 to 20 minutes before whirring them with tahini, garlic, juice from a Meyer lemon, cumin, and coriander. And a wee bit of ice water. Unfortunately my pita bread went moldy. But I’d read somewhere that hummus is the vehicle for many a Jerusalem meal and not a side for dipping. I nestled leftover Greek salad, Spanish and Kalamata olives, tzatziki, shatta, feta and half a gyro kebab.    

The absence of pita made no difference to a satisfying lunch.