Kippah Fevah- DIY Yarmulke East LA Style

Passover is racing towards us and I need 10 awesome kippahs (yarmulke) in time for Seder on Tuesday. In honor of my roommate moving to East LA, I decided to include the flavors of our zip code with mole brisket, matzo meal tilapia, and chipotle cauliflower tortilla. With all that flavor we need spicy kippahs. Mom bought me some killer Guatemalan style fabric downtown, only kicker is that it wants to fray so bad. To combat this I spray glued cotton to the back. 

Attempt #1- Four pie pieces.

Ouch this looked dumb. Square and warped. 

Attempt #2- I tried cutting a Pac Man shape. Weird and flat. So I add a few darts. Better but still not great. 

Attempt #3- (more like 5 but let's be brief) I stitched two curves. 

Yeeeeah!! This was it. Trim the seams. 

Ok all that success was exhausting. We need a Piggie Break!!. Also known as, photos of ridic sleeping chihuahuas. 

Phew I can work again. I zigzaged the edges to keep it from fraying. Then turned up the edge. 

I flipped it over and and cheered. 9 more to go! 

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Tots & Water Waste: Life in a Land of Drought Pt. 1

A recent interview on KPCC touched on the concept of teaching toddlers more about water conservation. The point being that when a child demands the family conserve water, they tend to follow orders.

So, with this drought firmly entrenched into our ecosystem, we probably ought to make a better effort to stop letting our taps run when we wash dishes and brush our teeth. Taking this a step further to teach kids more about water use is even a better idea. Let them do the policing and we will all be better off for it.

Resources

5 Tips for Teaching Toddlers Water Conservation: KPCC interview

Water Conservation & Kids: a link fest of resources for teaching kids water conservation

Save Our Water: big water conservation website with lots of good resources & tips

Water: Use it Wisely: from Arizona, this is the biggest & the best, an encyclopedia of water conservation

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Creamy Vegan Jalapeño Grits.

This dish was a delicious surprise inspired by my caterer friend Camille who makes a jalapeño grits with cheese. Being a lactose intolerant cook, I'm always looking for a replacement recipe. I used Daiya mozzarella shreds for this because it melts so well. 

I started with grapeseed oil in a hot pan. Fry diced fresh jalapeño and chopped garlic until the jalapeño is a little charred. Then add the dry grits and toast them a bit. They'll start to smell like toasty tortillas. Then gradually add water, stirring  constantly to avoid lumps. I added water until the grits became a creamy pudding and the texture was gritty.  Once your grits are creamy add salt, pepper, and daiya mozzerella shreds. 

This is rich and yet light. I ate way too much of this. 

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Roasted Butternut Squash Orzo

I'm seriously wishing I had taken more pics as I prepared this because it's killer. Instead I'll just spin you the tale and let you imagine the details. 

I cut the skin off of two butternut squash, cubed them, and then tossed in grapeseed oil, salt and pepper. They roasted in a 375 degree oven for about 30 min, until the chin is were brown. I left them in a bit too long and some burned but not a total disaster. 

I added butter to cooked orzo, along with chopped fresh sage and threw in the squash. That's it. T'was so good I had two bowls that I instantly regretted as the empanadas we ordered for the crew arrived. I gotta eat at least one of every flavor of those right?!

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Vegan Chimichurri Farro and Green Beans

Whoa. This is one tasty flipping dish! Fresh green beans and farro with a tangy dressing and walnuts. Chimichurri is a powerhouse of a sauce from Argentina made primarily as accompaniment for steak. The sauce is vinegary and the parsley and garlic are the key players. I saw the Badia brand jars at Target and nearly squealed aloud in the aisle. 

To make this one pan dish boil water with salt or vegetable bouillon, side note: I added mrs dash to the water also to replace my missing bouillon.) I admittedly don't measure the amount anymore but according to package it's 2-1 water and farro. Once the water is boiling add farro and reduce heat to medium.  After about 10 min of simmering I add the green beans, you don't need to stir them in since they basically steam on top. When the beans are bright green the farro should be tender. Drain the remaining water. 

In your pan add a handful of walnut pieces, and about a cup of the Chimichurri(depending on how much farro you are making.) I threw a bit of pepper on it to give it kick. 

Dang this was delicious and full pretty well balance dish with protein, fiber and greens!

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Crafty Cinema- Downton Abbey

There's something I truly love about crafting while catching up on my Netflix. This week I decided to try making a steampunk inspired cuff and for the "soundtrack," if you will, Downton Abbey. I've become terribly behind on all the doings and let me just say this season, Season 3, has been a real tear jerker. So today I settled in for a bit of leather, lace, lords and ladies. 

First I measured the leather out for a nice overlap and then sewed my lace edging on both sides and the top edge. With a few screw backed gold studs added for some edge and tiny teeth studs for the stitching border. As for closure, I employed screw backed posts. 

Tools: leather punch, needle nose pliers, sewing maching, and scissors

Materials: 12" long by 1.5" wide leather, 26.5" lace, two screw posts, 

5 screw studs, and 16 tiny square studs

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