My Sewing Machines

I do have a story to tell,and this is how it goes. When I was just stepping towards my teenage years. My best friend made a very cool zipper pouch to store pencils in other words a pencil case. I can vaguely remember it was quilted, had an odd shape, but was made with a beautiful fabric. Don’t know much about the odd shape. This lead me to explore my mothers sewing machine. 

I made the same odd shape pencil case. During this course I manage to break few needles, learned how to change needles, learned to attach a zipper the best I can, and above all I learned to work on this project without my mother’s permission. She did had a difficult time to understand why her machine would not work properly for a while. 

Then I learned how to do patchwork for a brief time through my mother in - law. I borrowed a sewing machine from a friend during my first years in US. 

Finally, I bought one for my self. I was not happy with the machine at all. After two attempts on machines. I invested on a Viking. I was so happy with the brand and decided to up grade I have done it twice and I am doing it again this Summer. I still LOVE my current machine (which is on this picture) very much but I am ready for the next level. More to come on my NEW Machine on future posts. 

Dosa, The thin indian pancakes...

This is a well known, widely spread, and staple dish in South India. It is popular in Sri Lanka as well. How did I came to know about this yummy dish is through my mom. She would take the time to make this at home. I remember this is not something we made often because, it is much easier to go out to have this meal. We use to go to a special restaurant call Shanthi Vihar in Colombo, Sri Lanka it is still there but gone through many ownerships I guess. 
How I got my hands around this dish was I had a parent from North India in a school I taught in VA , she was kind enough to give the recipe, and get some of the ingredients to make the dosa. 
I have to admit with time and practice I have gotten better making this at home with an ease now. Not only that, I have made some changes to this as well. I have recently discovered that fermentation does add a twist to this pancakes. 

This is how I make them... 
1 cup Urad Dhal (skinned, white)
2 cups rice (white rice)
1/4 cup masoor dhal
1/4 cup split green moong dhal
1/4 cup split yellow moong dhal
1/2 tsp fenugreek seeds 
1 tsp salt
2 tsp sugar
non stick spray (pam)

Wash and soak all lentils, rice, and fenugreek. Add water about 3 to 4 inches above the grains and let is soak over night. Next day morning using your blender grind the soaked grains using less water to make a paste not so runny and not so thick. After all the grains are grounded add enough water to make it  pancake consistency. Now add the salt, sugar, and let the mixture stand on your kitchen counter for several hours. I usually have this for dinner. Recently, I found out if it is fermented it will add a different taste to the Dosa’s and it be comes more crispier too. 

Heat a pan, spray non stick, and ladle the mixture. (when you spoon the mixture to your pan you should hear a sizzle). Now, using the back of your ladle/spoon spread the mixture on the pan, starting from the center making a circular movement towards the rim of the pan. In other words you are spreading the mixture on the pan to make a thin pancake. Now cover it with a lid and cook it for about 30 seconds or so; until the back of the pancake becomes golden brown. Then remove the pancake using a spatular and cook the other side for few seconds and transfer it to a plate. Serve warm with sambar or potatoes. I will write a post on that later. 

I hope you will give a try to this wonderful dish. It is very light and you can make the mixture and use it several times. I make different masala’s, sambar, and curries to go with it. It does take some prep time but once you get the hang of it it is not too bad. 

Sewing with Scraps...

I always want to work on quilting. I have painstakingly taken every possible step towards it. I love quilting and have done few projects for my kids and even for ourselves. I remember creating few quilts for my little one from used baby blankets. 

The other day I had few pieces left from a project and I was playing with them. Little Nicolette like to sip my water, tea, sometimes she will get to juice if I am having something at my table. I care less using a coaster at this table; my bits of fabrics lead to creating a small coaster I can use at my craft table. 

At this moment this is how it looks! I can see my self getting hook on this track! 

DIY Self Fire Pit for Less ...

 

I have been bit busy working in my yard with my son. We inherited couple of old trees with our home. We had to take few off with much reluctant. However,the ones we have will drop few dead branches in our yard. We have been collecting them in few piles behind the pantry and mainly behind the garage. I decided to make a fire pit mainly to burn the few branches we collect, could add a little bit of ash to raise bed to improve/condition soil, same goes to the compost to improve conditions, for us to hang out by the fire, and mostly to toast marshmallows in FALL! Bit of camping in our own backyard.

Of course safety first! Nicolette is young we have gone through many rules when we have fire at camp sites. Same rules works at home when the fire is lit we sit around and no running in the yard. 

The Total cost for the project not including labor was $ 88.81 this does not include the gravel and the edging because we had those items at home from another project. Few trips to Home Depot was all it took. I cannot wait till Fall! Extra bonus yard getting clean up from debris! Which will lead to few more projects, later on those. 

Jam...

Finally, we made our jam. I was so happy to dress them up for gifts. Some even flew out of state all the way to the west coast! I bought this stamp from a an ETSY Seller which was really cool more on that later! These 8 oz jars are like little jewels; part of me feels sad to give them away. 

It is better to give than receive. I wonder who came up with that. So far I have received many good comments on my Jam. Few think I should go into business but not me. We had so much fun encapsulating local blueberries. It would be totally cool to spread these jams on bread during winter months. Hopefully it will cheer up the winter blues we often go through. 

Homemade Granola

Now that we know how to make yogurt at home we needed to be more creative to find ways to consume all that delicious yogurt. We did made sweet vanilla yogurt. Which was delicious but we want to add granola which was not at home. 

I found this wonderful recipe from a friend. Now we can make this at home and can have a fresh batch always. I love this more than the Trader Joe brand because this had toasted almonds and coconuts yummy. Kids loved it, this was a perfect treat for them in the afternoons. 

It was so easy to made. I did add some dried cranberries to make it a little sweet!
To make it healthy I add olive oil instead of butter few changes to the original recipe but it was GREAT! 

Canning Stage 2

We went again blueberry picking and this time we want to get it right. I am doing one single batch at a time, not picking a very hot day, and measure all ingredients properly.

Yes, we finally did it! I was so impressed the second time around it was much easier and knew exactly what to anticipate. I believe the first time around it was doubling the batch and not measuring the sugar was the deal breaker. But, we love the blueberry syrup, it was a great hit around the house whenever we have pancakes. Neat gift for some of my friends. Not only that I was able to inspire few to make the sauce at home! 

I was blessed with my domestic bliss of making blueberry jam. This is something I wanted to accomplish for a while. Seeing the 9, 8 oz bottles of jam which we made from picking to canning was so fulfilling! This winter we will be having many snacks. 

Finally, it is not too bad to do canning at home. It does not take an entire day, the process is very simple and straight forward once you get the hang of it. 

Tomatoes...

Tomatoes are in peak. We had few ripe tomatoes we have been using in our daily cooking. I will be canning some this Summer for winter months. I am thinking of sauce. We have many varieties in our yard and cannot keep track of them. Their are few heirlooms in this collection as well. Last year we had tomatohorn worms attacking our plants. So far I have not seen them in our yard yet. That does not mean we will not be attack this year. We are always looking for bugs. 

We did had some kind of a bug earlier in the season which was eating almost any kind on leaves. We thought it was a beetle but could not find the source. 

Are you growing tomatoes, if so what kind do you like most. How do you condition them to get more crop through out the season. Do add the compost and wait or give a supplement. I would love to hear. 

Homemade Yoghurt

After reading few posts on how to make homemade yogurt. I decided to take matters to my hand. Some would ask why do you make yogurt at home? when you can easily buy this and readily available in any grocery store. 

Well, to answer to that question depends how much are you willing to go through the process to make sure you can save money and have good quality organic yogurt at home. If you do the math organic yogurt could run between $ 4.00 - $ 5.00 depending if you hit the sales at your local grocery store. However, homemade could be far less expensive.

Less additives and pure yogurt. Not only that you make a big batch and save itin containers. Homemade yogurt could stay in the refrigerator up to a month un-open.

Canning Stage 1

In my to do list for this Summer was canning. I rolled my sleeves up got busy with my kids! I thought I have successfully finished canning but I ended up with canning a sweet blueberry syrup. Yes, it did not work for me. I was heart broken but I learned a lesson. It is super necessary to measure all your ingredients for canning. I was relying on my kids for measuring and I decided to do double the batches. I don’t think it was a great idea. 

We will be canning again this summer for one last time but we are not going to double the batches next time and we will do a better job in measuring. We are happy to use our blueberry syrup with pancakes it was yummy. 

My leisure readings

I have few books that I would like to reading this Summer. Which means somedays we have to give up swimming because it could take a nice chunk of the day. On the other hand it is the time that little Nicolette gets to play with me in the pool. I know she deeply enjoys it. Because, at times she refuses to go for her lessons but rather hang out with me in the pool.

These are few of my Summer fun picks.

I love this book Stitch Savvy by Deborah Moebes, there are few projects that I would love to do. 

Simple Sustainable Style by Randy Florke with Nancy J Becker is another that I enjoy lovely way to make your house a home.  

There is a few more I have and I will share later. Some related to work and few are for pleasure!

Swimming Lessons...

 

Little Nicolette has been busy this Summer taking swimming lessons. She is so adamant to swim just like the rest of the family. Her little observations on swimming make my heart swell in pride. I have been taking her to the pool and she enjoys showing of her strides. 

I know deep inside her she wants to get rid of the noodle and swim on her own. She was so afraid to jump I cannot even believe what she has accomplished from these lessons. 

When I asked her can I sign her up for another class she was so happy. She is taking another class which will be Pike 2. We will see how she is going to take her swimming skills to the next level. Her last lesson was fun to watch! 

Knitting

I have collected yarn and I have been housing a yarn stash. I guess we crafters like to collect, at least I do when it comes to fabric and yarn. But, I wanted to use my stash. I am knitting a cowl for little Nicolette. Because, here the New England weather could get pretty cold during winter months. However, this yarn is not very giving. In other words not very stretchy. 

It is a Lion brand, Suede, and the color is named as Fuchsia. I used my hat patterns and totally made this up. I want to say this is so soft and hope it will keep her warm at play outside. She will be a kindergartner next year. I am excited for her!

Our Garden under a heat stroke...

We have had couple of thunderstorms with a sprinkle of rain. We have had not  received a good rain for a while it not like very New England weather that I know during my time here. However, the garden is going through a heat stroke and we have had few bugs munching leaves and flowers. I am very reluctant to use any pesticides. 

I guess I have to take a trip to a nursery to find out whats happening to some of the plants. I was able to snap few pictures before the rain which has been forecasted during this week we will see when it comes down. Watering has been a priority in our household since we have replanted few of our evergreen trees due to our new fence. 

Lamb Curry...

This is something we often had growing up in Sri Lanka. However in Sri Lanka we would have mutton. Sunday lunch is something special at our home. I did not like much of that due to the heavy use of spices. I created some of these for my extended family and friends and they love and crave these, which was our Sunday dishes. I would like to call.

I have never seek out to buy mutton in US. However I would substitute it with lamb. I do not eat meat any more but do cook them for friends. So when we were invited for a friends dinner. I simply offered to make this dish for them. 

As you can see it has many spices, cooked in tomato, and in a yogurt bath. 

Blueberry Picking...

 I took the kids for blueberry picking. I was surprised that my older one did not mind joining this. It was really a hot day for easterners but we still decided to work on this. To be honest, it was my very first attempt in blueberry picking. Now that I like it, I am all in to planting a blueberry tree in my yard. I do not know how this is going to work but worth giving a try. 

Little Nicolette was elated when I explain that she can eat the blueberries while she is picking. So the first couple of minutes she was eating them while I was filling her basket. Meanwhile the older one vanished I knew he is going to be close by as I asked him not wonder too far.

I had fun picking the berries as well. They were so yummy and looks beautiful and we were tired and head inside the farm stand. While I was there I picked few things. Like baskets, I have to come up a way to use them.