Sanuki udon

When we were in Japan last month, we visited a friend in Okayama, who drove us across the Seto-Ohashi (aka big-ass bridge) to Kagawa Prefecture, the smallest prefecture in Japan. Kagawa is known for its noodles, namely udon! Supposedly Kagawa has about 700 independently owned noodle shops. Woohoo!

The udon noodles are made with a “special” (Japan is all about “special” things) flour that is the magic behind the toothsome texture of the noodles. Our friend told us that in the school cafeterias they serve udon instead of rice. That’s crazy talk! Anyway, we went to one noodle shop, and it wasn’t insanely crowded as it usually is. You order by size and then go with hot-hot (hot noodles and hot broth), cold-hot (cold noodles and hot broth), and so on. It’s super cheap and yes, super delicious.

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Matcha parfait

Delicious matcha parfait from Toki in Osaka. The place specializes in matcha treats and is located in some “gourmet” underground restaurant area in the JR Osaka station. I have been dreaming about this place since I first went there several years ago.

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Dango

Yum

Posted in food | 3 Comments

Magic Marshmallow Crescent Puffs

When the chicken told me about these I could hardly believe the utter genius of them. Pop ‘n fresh crescent rolls filled with a marshmallow rolled in butter and cinnamon sugar. Bring it on! The crazy thing is the marshmallow totally dissolves, so you can’t even tell there’s one in there.

You can find the recipe here: http://www.pillsbury.com and search for Magic Marshmallow Crescent Puffs (I can’t do links on this device. Sorry!)

Posted in Uncategorized | 11 Comments

Soon to be renamed “the t-shirt blog”

Hi! Yes, it’s another t-shirt. Right now I am all about the quick & dirty, one-day sewing jobs. I wear t-shirts pretty much on a daily basis, so I am gearing up for the winter. This is the same pattern I have used a couple of times–the Tamanegi Kobo t-shirt Fujiko. This is size medium, and I brought the neckline up a bit (I don’t really do scoop necks). I got the fabric at the Fabric Depot outdoor sale for a couple bucks. It’s very stretchy and drapey, so I’m sure the polyester content is up there, but hey, it is very soft and cozy and surprisingly warm.

The cool thing about this pattern is it is raglan in the back and looks like a set-in sleeve in the front. The pattern itself is for a bodysuit style, but you don’t have to do the whole snap crotch thing if you don’t want to (and I certainly did NOT want to). I plan to make a couple more of these shirts. Dull, perhaps, but I will be cozy!

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Hood-scarf hybrid for Megan

My friend Megan, whom some of you may remember as cancer-fighting Megan, is in town visiting, and since she has no hair again (keep reading), she needs headwear! I haven’t been the best knitter (though I AM working on a hat for Megan) lately, so when I saw the hooded scarf on the Bolt Neighborhood blog (thanks, Frenchie), I knew I had to whip one up. I wanted it to be super soft, so I used double gauze for the exterior and T-shirt fabric for the inside (scraps of the rayon jersey knit for the hood lining and washable wool jersey for the scarf lining). I think now maybe the drawstring one might be more practical, since you could actually have some peripheral vision with it, but hopefully Megan will get some use out of this one!

Okay, so cancer-fighting Megan is back to fighting cancer again. She had breast cancer 7 years ago when she was in her late 30s. It had been diagnosed as triple-negative breast cancer, but it turns out it was misdiagnosed, which means she has been walking around for 7 years with this crap still growing inside of her. Megan actually has HER2+ breast cancer. The cancer was misdiagnosed because of the standard testing protocol. Basically, and I may not have all my facts totally straight, so please forgive me, when they test the cancer cells to determine which type of cancer you have, they do an IHC test. If your results are within a certain range, they call it good and say you have HER2+. If your results are NOT within the range, however, they don’t do additional testing. They just figure that if your results are not within the range, you have something else (like triple-negative).

IF they had done FISH testing, they could have determined that Megan did indeed have HER2+ breast cancer, and they could have given her a treatment specifically designed for that type of breast cancer. She isn’t the first person to have produced results that weren’t within the standard range and thus receive a misdiagnosis.

What is so maddening is that Megan is not the type of person to sit back and just let the doctors tell her what is happening. She is very involved and the strongest advocate for her health care. She is not afraid to ask questions, and she does extensive research. But, she was still misdiagnosed. This can happen to anyone. Please remember to fight for FISH or additional testing if you or anyone you know is ever in a similar situation, and let’s find a stinkin’ cure already!

Posted in sewing | 6 Comments

more shirts

Okay, so I didn’t even bother to put on actual pants for this photo. It was one of those days. I was anxious to get some sewing in because I hadn’t been at my machines for a while. Needless to say, it turned out to be a Bad Sewing Day where things did not go very smoothly, and if I could have selected a third appendage it would have been a seam ripper.

But, let’s not focus on the negative. The plus is I did manage to finish two slightly mangled yet still wearable t-shirts. The one on the left is made of a rayon knit that I picked up at Bolt some time ago. It is drapey and hefty, so I was somewhat concerned it would pull at the seams, but it’s actually super comfortable. I know you can see the outline of my bra, but I don’t really care. I used the pattern from Tamanegi Kobo, which I discussed in this post. I used the size M instead of S, and I have to say that I prefer the M. It provides a bit more ease, which makes it more comfortable.

The other shirt is yet another running shirt. The fabric is from Rose City Textiles and is a buttery-soft wicking jersey. I tried to make a less fluttery sleeve, but to be honest, I haven’t even tried the shirt on yet, so I don’t know how successful I was. Aren’t I informative?

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We all scream

Okay, so this isn’t the best photo, but I am telling you, if hearing “salted butter caramel ice cream” makes you start to drool, and you have an ice cream maker, you really need to try this.

David Lebovitz, in case you don’t know, is pretty much a genius when it comes to anything sweet, so when I landed upon his recipe when searching for salted caramel ice cream recipes, I knew I had to try it, even though it was more involved than other recipes I found.

When I first tasted it, I thought, okay, super good and very intense, but I don’t know if I would make it again. It was almost TOO intense. But then, after a couple days, I tried it again, and hello, the flavors had time to develop and smooth out, and oh yeah, I would TOTES make this again. And again. And I don’t care how sweaty I get making it.

Posted in food | 4 Comments

The indisputable awesomeness of cream cheese pie

It was Peter’s birthday the other day, which means we had to have cream cheese pie. I don’t know how many years ago his mother started making cream cheese pie, but it’s been Peter’s favorite pie ever since he can remember. It’s a good choice, too, because it is delicious–smooth and creamy and luscious.

The thing with cream cheese pie is it’s a crowdpleaser. I have not met a single person who does not like cream cheese pie (well, maybe Frenchie, but she does not like cream cheese frosting, so clearly there is something wrong with her to begin with). It’s simple to make, and it keeps. In fact, the secret is it gets better with age. It is the perfect after-school snack, for days and days.

CREAM CHEESE PIE

Crust:
1 package graham crackers (there are usually, what, 3 packages per box?)
1/2 stick butter at room temp

Filling:
12 ounces cream cheese, softened and whipped (I often “cheat” and use one brick of regular cream cheese and half a brick of the low-fat stuff)
2 eggs, beaten
3/4 cup sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp lemon juice

Topping:
1 cup sour cream
3 1/2 tablespoons sugar
1 tsp vanilla

First make the crust. Here’s my method: crush the graham crackers (I break the crackers up into pieces, put them into a ziploc baggie, then gently whack and roll with a rolling pin. I leave a little bit of the baggie unsealed so it doesn’t pop and explode). Dump the crumbs into a 9″ pie dish. Plop the softened butter into the crumbs, then smush together with your fingers (I wear surgical gloves. Really) until it holds together. Press along the sides and bottom of the dish.

For the filling, combine all the ingredients, but make sure you have whipped the cream cheese until light before you add everything else. Beat the mixture until light, then pour into the prepared crust. Bake at 350F for 15-20 minutes. Leave the oven on but take the pie out and let it sit for about 10 minutes. In the meantime, make the topping by combining the ingredients. Gently plop the topping onto the pie by the spoonful. Spread evenly. Bake an additional 10 minutes. Cool then refrigerate about 5 hours.

Posted in baking | 9 Comments

Running shirts; or, the neverending saga of the running shirt

I have been working for some time on achieving the perfect running shirt pattern. So far I have made at least a dozen running shirts, and none of them are perfect. It has gotten to the point where I am not quite sure what the perfect running shirt would even be, since it varies according to my mood or the weather.

What I do know is that I like a short little sleeve, and I don’t like a gaping neck. I like having extra room by my armpit so I can freely swing my arms and not get chafed in the pit. This is where the running shirt varies from a regular T-shirt. Now, in the striped example above, the sleeves were a little too big and fluttery, and the shirt just a smidge more slim than I like. Still, it’s very comfy for running.

So then I just made this flowery one. I like the fit quite a bit except once again the sleeves kind of wing out. Also, the armhole looks kind of huge, but the shirt itself is comfortable. I think the next modification will be to lower the neckline just a hair and try to de-wingify the sleeve. It’s a good thing I have a lot of wicking jersey knits in my stash.

It’s been several days now since the unknown assailant stung me on the trails. I don’t know if you can tell from the photo, but there is a large, red welt on my calf. It hurt like the dickens the first day, then it started itching like crazy. It still itches and is still hot and raised. It is gross, and it is not like my calf needs to look any bigger than it already is. A friend warned me to make sure it doesn’t get any larger; otherwise, it could be cellulitis or, I don’t know, a flesh-eating infection.

Posted in sewing | 13 Comments