Shaking my Spoon

Buttercup in Action

Kristin and I waiting for the TTC with our friends at Nuit Blanche 2009.

Something I’ve been listening to lately:

Dick and Jane Buttercup

Made this one for Lauren.

First Sale!

This one is my favourite so far. It was fun sewing the flower on the bag. Not an original idea by any means but I felt like a genius anyway.

I’m working on a couple more orders for this bag this weekend and hopefully will be getting more colours soon. Stay tuned!

Buttercups for Fall

Since it’s the first day of Autumn why not get a butter cup?

Brown and Pink

Grey an Blues and Teal.

Another Buttercup…

Buttercup Bags

I’m making more to sell. Any takers?

Stuffed Pork Chops

I had some super thick boneless pork loin chops that I got at Costco back at the beginning of the summer. They were good but hard to balance getting them cooked through without drying them out. I’ve tried various methods, brining, smoking, braising all with the same basic result. Boring. Chris thinks the bone-in chops would be better, I’ll have to try them next and see.

These were the last two, so I really wanted to do something good with them. I figured stuffed would be a nice seasonal thing to try.

Most of the basic recipes online used chopped apples, onions, celery and toasted or stale bread cubes tossed in apple cider. Sounded good to me until Chris suggested I caramelize the onions as well.

I am married to a genius.

Pam’s (with Chris’ suggestion) Apple and Caramelized Onion Stuffed Pork Chops:

4 Pork loin chops 1 1/2-2 inches thick.

1 large onion sliced.

1 granny smith apple chopped.

1/2 cup of apple cider or apple juice.

2 slices whole wheat toast chopped.

1 tbsp or so of chopped fresh sage.

1 tsp poultry seasoning

salt and pepper to taste.

1 tbsp unsalted butter.

1 tbsp canola or olive oil.

In a large skillet, caramelize the sliced onion in butter (I added a bit of olive oil in case the butter might burn) for half an our on medium-medium low, or until the onions have reduced and are golden brown. Toss in the apples and sauté until tender. Stir in sage and poultry seasoning, salt and pepper, bread pieces and half the juice (or enough to moisten bread) cook for a minute and remove from heat.

Slide a paring knife into the side of each pork chop, pivoting the knife to create a large cavity inside but keeping the opening fairly small so that the stuffing doesn’t squeeze out. Stuff each chop so that they are fairly packed.

Heat oil in skillet and brown the stuffed chops on each side (about 3 minutes per side) then transfer to baking dish. Bake in 350F oven for 20minutes covered in foil and then another 20 minutes without the foil or until the pork has an internal temp of 160-170F.

I then used the remainder of the apple juice and some more butter to make a bit of a glaze, however I kept throwing in more things like gravy browner to get it to taste right. Can’t remember what I did but it was good. But really everything is good with caramelized onions. Next time I’ll try some goat cheese in there…I expect it to be mind blowing.

Enjoy!

Soon I’ll Start Using Rollers in My Hair

McCall’s circa 1958.

Obviously (to me) this one is need a crinoline (that or a really tight girdle underneath), but it turned out not too bad in spite of the major altering job. Maybe I’ll just pad my hips to increase my waist to hip ratio.

So did women in the 50’s have way bigger boobs or something? Because this was a 36 bust and I measured mine and it’s definitely 36 but I had to take this in about 2 inches. Very frustrating what with the gussets under the arms and re-cutting the back neckline, you know what I’m talking about right?

I’m not sure if I like the yellow sash but it looks ok in the picture (Caroline I know you are jealous of my awesomely tanned legs) so maybe I’ll wear it to work tomorrow and if I don’t get any “wow Pam, that dress is really…something.” comments I’ll allow it in my closet.

Where can I get some little white gloves?

Btw: Dress #4 didn’t quite work out as I’d hoped (in case you were wondering).

something else from 1958.

When the freezer is a Disappointment…

Thought I’d try making my own tortillas for fun the other day, plus I was in the mood for Black Bean Quesadillas and didn’t have my usual stash in the freezer.

They turned out really tasty and easy to make. For me, it was a lot of babysitting over the stove that my back doesn’t agree with, so next time I’ll get one of those machines they use at the Lone Star (or a strawberry daiquiri instead).

Here’s the recipe (from shinycooking.com):

2 cups (8 ounces) white whole wheat flour or traditional whole wheat flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons (1-1/4 ounces) canola oil
2/3 cup (5-3/8 ounces) warm water

Combine the flour and salt in a medium mixing bowl or a food processor and mix together. I used the food processor and it worked great. Add the oil and mix into the flour thoroughly. Mix in the warm water (with the machine running, if you’re using a food processor). Depending on the flour’s moisture content, you may need to use more or less water. You’ll want a dough that’s a bit softer than the ones you make with white flour; the whole wheat will absorb some of the liquid as it sits. Once you’ve mixed the dough, let it sit, covered, for 20 minutes.

Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured surface, knead it a few times, and pat it into an even disk. Cut the dough (a pastry scraper works well for this) into 10 to 12 pieces, and roll each piece into a ball. Cover the balls and let them rest for 20 minutes.

Heat a heavy, ungreased griddle or skillet over medium-high heat. If you have a tortilla press, use it to flatten each ball. If you’re rolling out the tortillas by hand, take one of the balls and flatten it into a small disk. Using a floured rolling pin on a lightly floured work surface, roll the tortilla into a very thin, flat round about 6 to 8 inches in diameter. Toss a tortilla onto the griddle or skillet and let it heat on one side for about 1 minute, (its normal for the tortilla to balloon out as it cooks) then use a spatula to lift and flip the tortilla to bake it on the other side, about 1 more minute.

While the first tortilla is baking, roll the second one. Transfer the baked tortilla to a plate and toss on the next tortilla. Repeat until all the tortillas are rolled and baked. You may stack the tortillas and cover them with a towel to keep them soft and warm until you use them.

I’m Walkin’ Here!

Just got back from a road trip to NYC. Had a great time with friends, laughed a lot, saw some weird folk, ate some great pizza and had expletives yelled at us by a cop. A full New York experience.

I guess this picture would be a worms eye view of the Apple Store on 5th Ave.

This song was discussed at length during the 20 hours or more of driving there and back. No conclusions were made…I think.