Garments #4 & #5 of the year for my Ready To Wear Fasting Challenge

Well, I have been sick, with a really bad cold, for the past 2 days but TODAY, I was determined to sew. I cut these 2 garments out the day before I was taken down with this cold so all I had to do this evening was sew, sew and sew. The top is a McCall's pattern # M6563 and the leggings (which is going to be one of my staples) is also a McCall's pattern, # M6173. I completed both pieces in about 2 - 2.5 hours. I will post pictures of me wearing the garment when I wear it. Hopefully, it will be this weekend to someone's Super Bowl party. Hail to the Redskins!!!!!!!!!  I have a little extra fabric left over so I'm going to make a little night gown maybe tomorrow evening.

Until next time....

Crochet Hat I started on Sunday, 1/25th is done.

It is 12:55 am Tuesday morning and I just finished crocheting the hat I started working on this past Sunday (see the previous post).  I can't hardly wait for my friend to see it. I will be making two additional hats for this particular person. Not sure what designs or colors yet but I will complete them by this weekend. But tomorrow, I must sew my garments #5 &#6 for the year. Stay tuned....

Until next time my friends...

A Sunday Afternoon with My BFFs :-)

Me and my BFFs (Shalonda & Renita) and Renits's daughter Daija spent a nice, Sunday afternoon watching movies, eating pizza, chips & salsa and homemade cupcakes (by me) and crocheting hats. Well, in Renita's case, since she doesn't knit or crochet, she started on a tulle skirt. I'm making hats for clients and friends, Shalonda's making a hat for her Nanna and Daija is making a hat for a client. I will post pics of our finished projects as they become available. Here, take a look at us!!!

Renita and her daughter Daija.

Shalonda in deep thought!

Renita and daughter Daija. 

Shalonda contemplating tossing this project out the window. LOL!!

Me laughing at Shalonda and her facial expressions as she counts her crochet stitches aloud. 

Shalonda..."You ain't about this crochet life!!" LOL!!!

Me happy that my besties are here with me!!!!!

Shalonda measuring her work and Renita getting that tulle skirt together hunty!!

Renita ALWAYS got her rump up in da air!!! LOL!!!

"Really mom? You got your rump poked out AGAIN?" thinks Daija. Yes, I'm a mind reader. 

The colors I'm using to make my friend's hat.

Renita cutting her tulle in strips for her no sew tulle skirt.

Me showing Renita how to tie the tulle around the elastic that I sewed together for her.

And there you have it. The 1st strip, of A LOT of tulle, complete. Your turn Renita.

Yeap, yeap. There you go girl!!

Yeap. That's it....

"Right there, right there..."

And there you have it! Go Renita. Go Renita.

My butter cupcakes with milk chocolate frosting. Oh yeah, I was short 1 of 3 eggs so I used 1/4 cup of greek yogurt as a substitute. They cam out sooooooo good.

Me and the ladies had such a good afternoon. 

Until next time my friends....

Such a gloomy day...perfect for sewing garment #4 for the year!

Hi Everyone.

Regardless of the weather, I love me some Saturdays. On Saturdays, I get to sleep in  little longer, get up and go to taekwondo class, after which me and my two sons may ride to the Amish Market and pick up some groceries and a eat nice lunch. Then, I get to come home, do my housework, take a nap and then SEW!!!!!!!!  Today, I made a beautiful "Date Night" dress (although dates for me are few and very far between). I'll be ready when it comes :-). Here are a few pictures I took outside my 3rd floor apartment. Photograph is another one of my favorite pastimes. I'm not an expert but I love taking pictures nonetheless.

50 Shades of Gray Skies

I love this tree right outside my bedroom window. It's even more beautiful when it snows.

Enough of the gloomy days pictures. On to my dress. But first, I had to do a little maintenance on one of my sewing machines; the one I use most often. My ex-husband, then boyfriend, brought me this sewing machine when I graduated from college in 1994. This machine has stood the test of time honey. Although I have a computerized sewing and embroidery machine, this mechanical sewing machine is my favorite. Why? Because I just love the way it sounds, it stitches, it vibrates as a sew. It's something very soothing about this machine.

My very 1st sewing machine.

 Here, I took the top off the blow out the dust and oil all of the moving parts.

Top view of the inside of my sewing machine.

Here is my computerized sewing and embroidery machine. It's a Babylock Esante. I've had her for since about 2004. She can do some amazing things I tell ya.

Now, for my dress.

Keep your finger's crossed that I'll be asked out on a date so that I can wear it. :-)

Until next time my friends....

My Birthday Dinner - NY Strip Steak, Crab Cake with Cajun, Seafood Sauce

So, a few weeks ago, I saw this BEAUTIFUL picture of the steak with a crab cake and lobster sauce and I was like, OMG, I have GOT to make that!!!! So, I search high and low for a recipe for a lobster cajun sauce and found it. I went to 2 grocery stores and could not find the lobster base needed to make the sauce. So, what I did was improvised. I made a sauce using clam juice, seafood stock and tomato paste in lieu of the lobster base. Below, you will find the list of ingredients and directions, along with a few pictures of how to make this DELICIOUS dish!!!

Ingredients:

NY Strip Steaks (or any cut of steak you desire)

Baking potatoes

Ingredients for your favorite salad

Steak Seasoning

For the Crab Cakes:

1lb of lump crab meat

1 tablespoon of black pepper

Lawry's Seasoning Salt

1/2 cup of Mayo

2 tablespoons of Olive Oil

1/2 medium red onion

1 celery stalk

1 bell pepper

1/4 cup of Seasoned Bread Crumbs

For the Cajun Seafood Sauce:

1 green onion

1 pint of heavy whipping cream

3 tablespoons of Cajun seasoning

2 tablespoons of Worcestershire Sauce

4 tablespoons of butter

1 tablespoon of hot sauce

1 tablespoon of Paprika

1/2 cup of clam juice

1/2 cup of seafood stock

3 tablespoons of tomato paste (get the squeezable tub so that you can refrigerate un-used portion easily.)

Directions:

Here's a picture of most of the ingredients.

1. Preheat oven at 350 degrees. 

2. Get a baking sheet and line it with parchment paper.

3. Open and spread the crab meat onto the lined baking sheet and place broil, in the oven, for about 5 minutes.

This is how it'll look once taken out:

I discovered something when I broiled the crab meat.  The shells and cartilage became easily distinguishable and made it easy to pick out. Notice where the tip of my knife is in the picture below. The shells are glowing almost. All of the white specks, throughout the meat, were shells. I was able to pick out almost all of the shells and cartilage.  

4. Chop up the red onion, bell pepper and celery stalk.

5. Add olive oil to pan and saute the vegetables until they become soft and translucent; about 10 minutes on low heat.

Before

10 Minutes Later

6. Take the veges off the heat and set aside to cool off.

7. Add cooled veges to the bowl of crab meat.

8. Add mayo, pepper, Lawry's, seasoned bread crumbs and mix well.

I know you laughing that my I'm using a low fat mayo. LOL

9. Use a spoon to scrap up the crab meat and form into tennis ball sized balls (or larger if you like). This recipe will make approximately 8 tennis ball sized crab cakes.

10. Place crab cakes in the oven and back for about 15 minutes. THEN, broil for an additional 3-5 minutes until they have a nice brown color. Don't burn 'em now. Keep a close eye on them. :-)

Here's how mines looked when I took them out the oven:

11. Pour the whipping cream into a sauce pot, whisk on low heat for about 10 minutes AND WATCH CAREFULLY.

If you do not keep an eye on this cream, it will boil over like mines did. It was all over the sides of the pot and the stove. I cleaned up most of the mess before taking this picture. :-)

12. Add Cajun seasoning and whisk vigorously and constantly.

13. Add Worcestershire, paprika, hot sauce and whisk for a few minutes.

14. Add clam juice, seafood stock, tomato paste and butter and whisk. Let sauce simmer (and whisk) for another 10 minutes.

15. Taste your sauce. If it's too salty, add more cream (or milk if you are out of cream) and add 1 teaspoon of sugar. If it has a slight, weird after taste, add more acid (tomato paste, apple cider vinegar or lemon juice.) 

16. Turn flame off and let sauce sit. The longer it sits, the thicker it gets. Taste again after it has been sitting because it sauces tend to get saltier and spicier the longer it sits.

This is how my finished sauce looked like:

17. Turn a pan on and add olive oil for the steaks.

18. Tenderize your steaks. I used a fork to poke several times, in both directions, on both sides.

19. Season both sides of the steak with the Steak Seasoning.

20. When the pan begins to smoke, place one steak at a time in and cook for about 4-5 minutes on 1st side.

22. Flip steak over and cook for an additional 3-4 minutes.

23. Take the steak out and set aside until all the other steaks are done.

24. Place steaks on a cooking sheet and place in the 350 degree oven and let it cook until your desired state of "doneness." I like my steaks cooked medium to medium well so I baked in the oven for an additional 7-8 minutes. You're frying the steaks in the pan to get a good sear on them. Put them in the oven to finish cooking.

25. Pull steaks out of the oven and let them REST for at least 6-7 minutes so that the juices can re-distribute throughout the steaks. If you don't wait, and cut into the steak, all of the juices will run out leaving you with a dry steak.

26. Place steak on your plate, place a lump of crab cake on top of the steak, ladle the sauce over the crab cake and steak, fit up that baked potato of yours, fix your salad baby, you have yourself a beautiful meal.

Enjoy and please let me know how yours turned out. :-)