Say hello!

Archives
September 2006
August 2006
July 2006
June 2006
May 2006
March/April 2006
January/February 2006
November/December 2005
October 2005
September 2005
August 2005
July 2005

www.flickr.com

I am not always the earliest adopter of things. I hem and haw, consider and gather information before trying something new. So, I'm a bit slow on the draw with the bias tape thing that's been happening for awhile now. I bought myself a Clover bias-tape maker months ago, with an eye to making a cute little bias tape handled bag out of the painfully cool Japanese fabric I got at Purl Patchwork in March.

The bias tape maker sat in its packaging in my sewing box for ages. I'd look at it and think about it and then decide that it was sure to be one of the fiddly gadgets that make me curse and throw things and decide not to sew for weeks afterwards. Finally yesterday evening I decided to give it a shot. And I am a total convert. Not only was making the bias tape a total breeze, I drafted the pattern, cut out the fabric and made 3 bags before lunch today (the fabric that inspired this whole thing is the one with the bird on it).

Then I drafted a pattern for a bigger one and made that too.

After I raved to my mother about the wonders of my new little crafting friend, she wanted to see pictures, so I'll share a few illustrations of how it works

My lunch was another example of "things I come to late," in this case, eggs:

Believe it or not, I would not touch eggs (unless they were unrecognisably cooked in something like a custard or a cake) until after I graduated from college. Since then I have been converted, and the dish you see above, which I had for lunch, was the catalyst for my conversion. It is my mother's wonderful frittata, which she managed to get me to try when I was about 22, at which time it became the only nutritious thing I knew how to cook for about three years. I've since branched out, even to other kinds of egg dishes, but the frittata holds a special place in my heart.

Mom's Frittata
4 eggs
4T milk
1-2 T butter
1T olive oil
1 plum tomato, thinly sliced (re-hydrated sun-dried tomato will do as well)
1/2 c
grated cheddar cheese
salt & pepper
Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees. Put olive oil and butter in an ovenproof skillet over medium heat. Combine eggs and milk in a bowl with a dash of salt and pepper and beat with a whisk until nice and frothy. At this point your butter and oil should be hot and bubbly, so pour in the egg mixture and push cooked egg from the outside to the middle. You don't want it to cook too much on the stovetop, just enough that you have a little bed of egg in the center of the skillet for your goodies. Artfully arrange your tomato slices, then scatter the cheese over the whole thing. Carefully place the skillet in your hot oven, and cook for 15-20 minutes, or until it is puffy and golden, a bit brown around the edges and the cheese is all nice and melty. It will fall when you take it from the oven and cut it, but it will still taste good. Cut into pieces and serve. Yum!

I'll be off in Napa for a wedding this weekend, and hopefully back with stories and pictures of wine and roses (or other Napaish things) when I return.

Daily Blogs
Loobylu
Wee World
Posie Gets Cozy
Yarnstorm
angry chicken
boy girl party
bara+design
Love Forever
inside a black apple
Coquette
disdressed
sunberst
bits and bobbins
Lemon Tree Tales
Penelope
Theo Design
Pookie&Fig
Wise Craft
Twelve22
Craft Log
Wee Wonderfuls
abby try again
little birds
thimble
not martha
shim and sons
buzzville
simple sparrow
needle book
inspire co.
Bella Dia
Bluepoppy
La Coquette

Shopping
My Etsy Shop
Crafty Planet!
Meg
Studiogems
Tiny Showcase

Hilarity
Miss Doxie
Crazy Aunt Purl
Otter
The Manolo
Pink is the New Blog