CANDY VAN

There's nothing better than to hear the "Ice Cream Van" drive around the neighborhood playing happy tunes on a hot afternoon.  Yep, you know what I'm talking about.

This afternoon as I was working on the computer, I heard the most happiest tune playing in the distance.  Sounded like the tune of  "It's A Small World" and the tune seemed to get closer and louder at the same time.  Then I heard all the excitement outside....."It's the Candy Van!",  "No, it's the Bubble Gum Van!",  "Not, it's the Ice Cream Van!"......We all ran out of the house and look at what we found waiting for all the neighborhood kids.....the cutest little brightest yellow "Candy/Bubble Gum/Ice Cream/Treat (and so on) Van" with every ice cream and sweet treat you can imagine:

Just in time to cool down during a hot Hawaiian afternoon.  Here are the yummy treats before they were gone:



Yummy rainbow snowcone



Layered pop ice cream sprinkles treat

 We all get excited whenever we hear the Ice Cream Van come around.  It's always a pleasant surprise as it shows up unexpected and always at the perfect time.  Apparently we are one of the lucky ones that the van comes thru our street.  Word got out about the van making its way around the neighborhood only to find out there were only a few that knows about it.

Thanks for coming!  Come back again!

Did the "Candy Van" visit your neighborhood lately?

RECIPE REVIEW - PESTO

This week is fall break for most schools in our area and so school kids are home and my refrigerator is working over time!  For lunch my daugher wanted to eat one of her favorite things, pesto....Yummy!  Told her I'd help her make it if she picked the basil and get the rest of the ingredients out....which brings me to today's post.....

This is a picture of a book my mom picked up at a recent garage sale and let me tell you, it contains lots of old-school homey comfort food!
 


Recipe Book Front Cover

 

Inside Front Cover and first page



My recipe library consists of about close to 200 cook books and believe me, every page of those books have been read and  many of them recipies tried and became our family favorite.    I remembered seeing a pesto recipe in this book and thought to put my other pesto recipes on the side and give this one a try.

PESTO SAUCE

Ingredients:  4 garlic cloves, 2 cups fresh basil leaves, 1/4 cup pine nuts, 1/2 cup parmesean cheese and 1/2 cup olive oil

Put all ingredients in a processor except the olive oil

It should look something like this.  With machine running, slowly, add oil through feed tube in a slow, steady stream until mixture is the consistency of thick mayonnaise.

This sauce can be stored in a refrigerator for several weeks.  It is good on soups, salads, pasta or french bread.

 

We tossed our sauce with 1 lb. al dente penne pasta then added some shredded smoked turkey just for the heck of it.



Served it on a romaine lettuce w/a few peices of baguettes, olive oil and balsamic vinegar...

Glad my daughter made the suggestion for pesto!  We all sat around our dining table dipping our little slices of bread and ate our lunch....Yep quality time at the table eating what we all helped to prepare is definitely priceless!

Recipe review, thumbs up!  How can you go wrong with fresh ingredients and great company...

What did you make for lunch?

PRACTICAL BAG

Do you flickr?  Well, I do...it's a place where people showcase photos and there are a bunch of ever-so-talented people that share their pictures and creations in all areas that you can think of.  In one of my "groups", a rainforest catch all bag caught my interest as it is a rather large size and the simple style of it, well, I found it attractive.   Well, that's when my hunt for a copy cat rainforest bag started and found this cute PRACTICAL BAG pattern from Grand Revival  at Emerald City Fabrics on e-bay:

Pattern front

Practical Bag

Used some  left over fabric from another project.  It is another perfect project for the beginner sewer.  I always look for beginner/easy patterns as I consider myself an "advanced beginner" until I can master a few more things w/out struggles (i.e. zippers, etc.).  With just two pattern pieces and  only four fabric pieces total, this baby was cut and finished in record time.  However, there are two things I did outside of the instructions which was was fuse woven interfacing on the exterior fabric to support the weight that the bag will carry as well as add an interior pocket as I find myself in need of pockets in all of my bags.  LOVE this! I'm afraid to use it, I might dirty it (wink)!

Interior pocket of Grand Revival's Practical Bag



Grand Revival Practical Bag

Do you have a favorite PRACTICAL BAG of your own?

DAY BAG

Have you heard of Nicole Mallaieu?  Well, she's a talented bag designer out of Australia and I visit her blog, YOU SEW, girl! for valuable tips on constructing the perfect project.  In one of my flickr groups, I saw a bag made from one of her patterns and it was aboslutely simple and so chic.  Had to make one....(of course!)......Here it is, the DAY BAG made out of the last of my daughter's Japanese Fabric from her GIRLS TOP and BACK TO SCHOOL BAG projects. 

I went ahead and added a few "blings" from CREATIVE CRYSTALS randomly adhered them around the fabric to give it that extra "bling".

This was my first time making an interior zipper pocket and a zipper gusset on the top rather than a magnetic clasp. 

The directions were very easy to understand and this Day Bag is probably one of those practical bags we all should have.  I had fun with this, finished it in one afternoon.  My fear of zipper has lesson with this project.  Thank you Ms. Mallaieu for sharing your wonderful tips and making your wonderful patterns available! 

Ya think I can get away using this as a "night bag"?

CROCHET BEACH BAG

Goodness gracious, where has the time gone?  No one told me that having a teeanager and a pre-teen would be so busy! I can only imagine what parenst go through that have more than two actively involved kids....We've been busy with sports, music lessons, and the plain old simple day-to-day activities that consumes so much time.  Would I have it any other way, NO WAY!  Love being busy...keeps me out of trouble (hee, hee!). 

Anyways I want to share with you my recent crochet project.  Thinking back, my first crochet project was probably when I was about eight years old.  Think it was a little lap blankie.  My mom is a self-taught crochet genius that can crochet almost anything just by looking at it and taught me the simple stitches to get me by little projects.  Over the years, she's made tons of blankets (baby blankets up to king size blankets) as well as house slippers, hats, beanies, gloves, ponchos and the list can go one and on.....Luckily, I inherited a few and my kids got a few of their very own "grandma's yarn blankies".

In one of my travels to visit her,  my mom gave me some colored twine she picked up from the local thrift store.  She actually picked them up from a "FREEBIE" bin and insisted I take them.  The only place I can recall seeing this type of twine was at Chinese bakeries where it is used to tie up boxed take out orders.  Here are a few pics of the colorful twine, very pretty:

Just a few weeks after, I saw a cute crochet bag at a popular surf shop and the material reminded me of the twines from my mom sitting in my closet.   As always, I took a close look at the bag, studied the stitches and concluded it was mostly done in chain and single crochet stitches.  EASY (I think)!  When I came home, I went straight to the computer and searched for a crochet pattern.  Wadda you know, I found the perfect bag.....and even had the almost exact color as the bag in the surf shop and instructions.  Found the pattern here at knit-o-matic.

Although the pattern calls it a grocery bag, I think it will do just as fine as a beach bag.  The twine is like a plastic yarn texture so if it gets wet, don't think it will hurt it.

Crochet Beach Bag

Love the fact that the bag is "airy" for those wet swim suits and soggy towels.  There's nothing worse than the smell of that wet beach towel that was fogotten in a plastic bag, uh, maybe last week...eeew!

Beach anyone?

GIRLS TOP

Yesterday was one of those lazy Sunday's for me.  My husband and son had to drive to the east side of the island for an athletic function and my daughter and I opted to stay home and "relax".  About 15 minutes after the "boys" left home, I got a sudden urge to sew.  But I wanted to sew w/my daughter and was trying to think of away to get her involved and away from those little electronic gadgets that consumes time away from the "real world"....Sitting in the distance I saw that fabric that my daughter purchased for her BACK TO SCHOOL BAG we made together just a few weeks ago.   Bingo!  I called her in, we sat togehter and brainstormed what would be worth both our time to make out of her fabric.  I suggesed a top for school....She gladly obliged.... Off we went, cut, snip, trace, pin, etc., etc...In just a few hours, it was done!  Pattern is McCalls 5573, blouse A.
She's so proud of it!  The cute top was worn to school today....with the matching bag:

Job well done!

Oh, she's already thinking what to make the next time the "boys" are away....What did you make today?

ORCHIDS FROM MY GARDEN

I haven't been sewing much lately.  Yardwork has been calling my name to tend to those "I'll do it later" projects. This is one of my zen things that allows me to spend time to myself and be productive in a way that I can share with others....  My orchids actually have been consuming most of my time in the yard and garden.  Keeping them happy allows them to bloom and provide me with beautiful blooms. 

I remember my first Orchid gift came from an amazing person I worked with "Theresa" whom we all call "Gramma".   I believe it was a gift for my wedding shower about some 18 years ago and was quite amazed how long the beautiful delicate flowers lasted....get this, for three months!  This is when my Orchid addiction started.  From there, I've visited Orchid shows, purchased orchids from the local farm and garden shops where flowerless Orchids were sold for almost nothing.  My goal was to revive them and surprise myself with a bloom.  

Orchid farmers have educated me and inspired me in the care of these precious creatures...the less you do, the better!  Here are a few of my plants that have given me blooms this year:

Mrs. Joanz blooms

What kind of flower do you treasure?