Sew excited.....

I bought the simplest and most inexpensive sewing machine (USD59 at Ocean State Job Lot) just to start myself off. While I'm not new to machine sewing...my past works have been more utilitarian in nature - often with exposed seams, unfinished edges that experienced sewers would frown on.

I really want to try to improve my machine sewing skills...and I aim to make useful AND yet beautiful pieces that are more professionally sewn. TP has invited me to join her at this year's craft fairs....and I really hope that I can produce some worthy pieces to sell.

That's my new sewing machine...I've set it up in a bright and cheery spot in one of the bedrooms that we aren't using currently. I just need to pick up some fabric scraps from Joann's and I'm ready to go!

Baked pasta shells with stuffings....

I was at the supermarket last weekend when I chanced upon these jumbo pasta shells. They look so cute! Each pasta shell is slightly bigger than the size of a tablespoon. So I bought a box...not really knowing what to do with it yet.....

I googled online for some recipes using these jumbo shells. Most recipes have recommended stuffing cheeses in the shells. While I don't mind some cheese in my food....stuffing the shells with nothing but cheese sounds too much for my liking!

So I discontinued my search online and decided to just make use of whatever ingredients I have in my refrigerator. I found some leftover roast chicken, frozen spinach and some mozzarella cheese.

I chopped half an onion, shredded the roast chicken (about 1.5 cup) and thawed the frozen spinach (about 1.5 cup). I also brought some water to boil in a pan and added in 6 pieces of the pasta shells to cook till quite soft.

To prepare the stuffing, I heated a pan and added some olive oil to it. First I fried the onions till soft and translucent...then I added in the shredded chicken...followed by the spinach. I also added in some chicken stock to give it some moisture....for seasoning, I added 1/2 tsp of dried oregano, 1/2 tsp of dried basil and some salt/pepper. Finally, I added about 1/2 cup of mozzarella cheese to the mixture and stir till well mixed. I then removed the pan from the stove and allow the stuffing to cool for awhile at room temperature.

When the pasta shells were cooked, I drained out the hot water and then ran some cold water through the shells. I took each shell and stuffed it with the chicken/spinach mix. I had two small baking dish and I added 1 heap tablespoon of pasta sauce to coat the bottom of each dish. Then I placed the stuffed shells into the dish...3 in each.

Then I topped off the stuffed shells with another 2 tablespoons of pasta sauce and sprinkled some mozarella cheese on top.

My oven had already been preheated at 350F. I covered the dishes with aluminium foil and then popped them into the middle shelf to bake for about 45min. For the last 5min, I had removed the aluminium foil so that the cheese would get slightly browned.

Well, here are my baked stuffed pasta shells. RG gave 2 thumbs up....and that's good enough for me! =)

Familiarity breeds comfort....

When I first put up the bird feeder....I noticed that the birds were not coming. Or I'd see them flying towards the bird feeder but on seeing us in the kitchen...they'd pause, flap their wings in mid-air before flying away. I guess they must have been afraid of us then.

However, more recently, I've seen more birds coming to feed at the feeder. At first, they'd do so only when nobody was in the kitchen....but these days, I'd be cooking/preparing food in the kitchen and they'd still come and feed...oblivious to my presence.

All animals are alike I guess....once they don't feel threatened, they'd be more comfortable around people. And we've probably facilitated their ease by leaving food scraps out on our back porch for the birds and squirrels all the time.

These days, the squirrels would come daily to check if we've left a little something for them as treats. Occasionally, I'd see them coming up to the kitchen windows and peering in....even when I'm standing very near the window. Really cute little things. Such a hoot to watch the little birds and squirrels.

Almost like Mrs Fields Brownies....

My all time favorite brownie has to be the double-chocolate one from Mrs Fields - slightly chewy, very fudgey but yet extremely crusty at the top! Hmmmm...hmmmm...hmmm

So I've been experimenting with different brownie recipes over the years to try to achieve a texture that's similar to that of Mrs Fields.

And I think I might be getting closer.....not quite yet but closer...

Ingredients
3 oz Hershey's unsweetened baking chocolate (chopped)
1/2 cup of unsalted butter (chopped)
1/4 tsp of salt (omit this if you are using salted butter)
2 eggs
1 cup of fine sugar
1 tsp of pure vanila extract
1/4 cup of all-purpose flour
1/4 chocolate chips

Method
Preheat oven to 300F.
Melt butter and baking chocolate in a saucepan over medium heat. Keep stirring and lift the saucepan off the stove even before all the pieces are melted to avoid burning the mixture. Continue to stir until everything is melted and smooth.
Beat the eggs on medium speed with an electric mixer for a couple of minutes.
Then, add in sugar and continue to blend at medium speed until well mixed.
Add melted butter+chocolate mixture to the egg+sugar mixture. Also add in the vanilla extract and blend on low until well mixed and smooth.
Fold in the flour until thoroughly combined.
Grease a loaf pan and pour the batter into the pan.
Gently spoon the chocolate chips onto the surface on the batter.
Place into the oven to bake for 45-50 minutes.
Do not overbake as the brownie might become too hard/dry.
Test with a toothpick inserted into the centre and it should come out slightly moist or with some crumbs stuck on it.
Cool to room temperature.

NOTE: This brownie would taste much better slightly chilled.

Recycling...

In the states, throwing away trash is not as convenient as back home in Singapore....where you need only to pull open the rubbish chute located in your kitchen, shove your rubbish right in and it gets collected at a central location for pick-up later. We've been spoilt!

Here, we'd need to bring out the trash cans and put them on the sidewalks for curbside collection by the waste management folks who'd come in their huge truck. Trash collection in my town only takes place once a week (every Monday)....so if you are a big family of 6, your trash can(s) could fill up so much that it's not going to be an easy task to drag/carry it out onto the sidewalk.....especially in bad weathers.

If your house is located on a small dirt road where the sanitation truck can't enter....you'd have to lug your trash cans out onto the main road. Tough luck if you are located right at the end of the dirt road which might be a far distance away. Imagine you'd have to lug your trash cans both ways down the long dirt path.

In some towns, there aren't even curbside collection. Residents would have to bring their trash to the town transfer station on their own for disposal. If that's too much of a hassle, you could always pay for the private disposal companies to come pick up your trash. The cost is usually around USD30+ a month.

Our town also provides curbside collection of recyclables on the first and third Wednesday of the month. I've been diligently sorting out my trash into the recyclables and non-recyclables. I have 2 trash cans in the kitchen - one for each type of trash...and it's much easier than we think it is.

We used to sort our trash too back home in Singapore and would use the appropriate recycling bins that were provided in our condo....however, we found that some residents/cleaners were not using the recycling bins as they were meant for. So we'd find all kinds of trash in the bin that was meant only for paper. After awhile, we too gave up on recycling as we always ended up being disappointed to see all our efforts in sorting out the trash going to waste as everything - recyclables & non-recyclables...just got dumped together in the same load into the waste management trucks!

But here, recyclables get picked up separate from non-recyclable trash...so I'm happy to be recycling again. Actually, most trash can be recycled. And 'cos my sink has a built in waste garbage disposal unit which shreds the food scraps into tiny bits small enough to be flushed through the plumbing and into the sewer....I'd usually end up with very little non-recyclable trash (1 medium size bag of trash per week). ..and I'd usually have 2-3 containers worth of recyclable trash per collection.

Being organised....

I was getting really sloppy and messy....pieces of threads, fabrics, buttons everywhere whenever I'm doing my crafts.

Was at Ocean State Job Lot yesterday and found this sewing/craft organiser for 4 bucks. Not the most aesthetically pleasing piece of thing but I bought it anyway 'cos it meets my needs.

Took me just a couple of minutes to fit everything into the little compartments...and everything looked more organised already =P

And once the 2 flaps are in place....everything is now neatly hidden in the small compact organiser. Good thing too that I can carry all my tools/materials everywhere I go.

In case you are wondering what's that freaky thing that's posing with my organiser....it's the latest sock toy that I'm working on..and it's supposed to be a monkey...but I have yet to sew on the eyes, nose and mouth. It looks pretty crazy huh!

Hae-bee frenzy.....

It's all about hae-bee recently! =P

Today, I blended some hae-bee with garlic, chilli paste & a few tsps of soup stock....and then used it to stir-fry with some green beans.

Just this dish alone with some white rice is already very satisfying.