Apple Cozies

Today was an R&R day.  It's been non stop packing stuff up, moving boxes and furniture. Patty (one of my good buddies who helped with all the moving) took me over the hill (Santa Cruz) to visit a way cool fabric store called Hart's.  I don't sew well but  I'm always up for a new shopping opportunity and of course a reason to eat at Gayle's. There was a craft show at the fabric store with handmade esty stuff.  I just cracked up when I saw this Apple Cozie. In theory it's suppose to keep your apple from getting bruised while you carry it in your purse. I think it's so funny that I'm going to see if I can talk any of the knitting club ladies at the Wellness Center into making some.
It was a fun day with nothing really planned but to get creative and eat. :)  Thanks Patty!!!!

Comfort food for a stressful week.

Anahole Cookies from Gayle's

It's been a stressful week and comfort food is always good. 
I had to closed down my booth at Cottage Crafts, which was sad but something I had to do.  Working full time I don't have time to go to all the auctions. I just can't keep it stocked with

Berry Pie

cool stuff. Two of my buddies (thank you Debbie and Patty) helped me pack up, load up the truck and unload everything at my house.  I could not have done it without them help. Now it's the slow process of going through everything and deciding what to keep and take to my booth at Cranberry Hill.  On top of all this I'm also remodeling my office now that I'm officially a permanent employee.  I've been waiting for the green light to change things around.  It was a very stuffy sterile office. Hope to have it done by the end of the week and make it my own space. I didn't take before photos but I will post when I get it all done.

Rando's Fried Rice

One of the interesting things about working for the Yu Ai Kai is how many of the guys are good cooks.  One time I had a ton of  uncooked food left over from an event.  I called over to the other building and asked if there was anyone who could cook it.  Well, three guys came over and looked at everything and just started cooking.  It was amazing what they came up with even with the limit supplies I have in the AWC kitchen.  Rando (real name is Randy) always makes super good stuff.  For my going away/welcome aboard breakfast he made fried rice, which is so good we are lobbying hard for him to make it every Friday. Here's his recipe (you know any recipes good when it starts with "fry bacon")
Fry bacon – set aside. Fry Spam – add teriyaki sauce. Cook until absorbed into Spam. Dice up Spam – set aside. Teriyaki sauce: place equal amounts of soyu, sugar, sake and approximately 1/8 tsp of ground ginger or ginger powder in sauce pan. Heat until sugar melts and sake gets cooked.
Let cool and adjust to taste. Store leftover sauce in an airtight jar in the frig.
Place approximately 1-2 Tbsp of oil in heated wok (or similar pan) and coat sides. Medium-low heat, add the day old rice and add soyu. Mix until even brown color. Once heated up, reduce heat add defrosted frozen mixed veggies, add to rice and mix. Sprinkle approximately 4- 6 Tbsp of Mirin, mix. Taste check and adjust with soyu, Mirin.
Crumble bacon, diced up Spam and mix in. Taste check again.
Forgot the last step: scramble 2 eggs and fold in.

"The Help" Movie

Had a great "girls night out" last night!  Went to see "The Help" which is a great movie.  I read the book three years ago (which I liked) and was looking forward to seeing the movie.  Of course the book was better but the movie wasn't bad with the limited amount of time they had to develop the characters.
Down at the YAK (Yu Ai Kai) we have some great volunteers.  We have two men who are so good, we now have code words for them - "boy toy". The word has gotten out in the non-profit world about how hard these guys work or about the complicated projects they take on. We can't use their names in public anymore for fear of someone poaching them.  We are all about sharing but we like to make sure they are not over whelmed with requests for their volunteer services. We take good care of our boy toys. :)

Peach Sake

I'm not much of a drinker but I do like sweet things.  Working down in Japan town drinking sake is just something that happens at all important events.  Toasting with sake is a tradition. 
I have some bottles of peach sake hanging out at my house so when the neighbor across the street gave me a bag of mini peaches, thought I would combine the two. It turned out better than I thought.  Really I could drink peach juice and be happy. Peaches infused with peach sake make a super summer time cocktail.

Chocolate

Chocolate makes everything right!

I was having a bad week at work. Tons of stuff that just stresses you out. I have some great co-workers and on Friday they dropped off a box of See's chocolates as a little pick me up.  Since I'm in a different building from the other staff most of our communication is by emails.  When they plan to come over to my building they call to make sure I'm there and ask if I need anything from the YAK building. When I say "chocolate" they know it's been a rough day.  It was very thoughtful of them to feed me chocolate. :)

Quick Sympathy Card

 
I've had this Stampin Up set for awhile and I finally unearthed it on my studio table.  It was buried under piles of paper and punches. Any paper crafter knows what I'm talking about.  I think today is a first for me - I have all the cards done for my class down at the Senior Center.  It's been a while since I've had everything prepped this far ahead.

Birdhouse Stamp

I got this stamp at one of the used rubber stamp sales.  It's been floating around my work table for months now and I finally decide to use it.  This will be one of the cards (3 -4) for my class down at the Akiyama Wellness Center.  I wasn't too sure if I should use it for the ladies since it has a lot of fine lines and shading but I know they like a challenge.
I'm not sure why the photos of this card looks like a square when it's not.  I don't think I have my camera set on "square" mode and I don't even know if you can do something like that.  Hope someone knows the answer to this mystery.

Quick Card with Hero Arts Stamp

This is another of the cards I will be doing for the ladies down at the Senior Center on Friday.  It's a new stamp from Hero Arts.  I wanted to do a modern art type of card, so I went with funky colors.  I was going to add weird angles and shapes but then thought it would take to long to make in class. In the first draft I used a Stardust pen to add some shimmer but it just didn't look right so that one got tossed out.  Yes, I do throw out a lot of samples.  It takes several rounds to get something that looks nice but still be able to teach.  That's one mistake new rubber stamp teachers make.  They come up with great cards but when you have a classroom full of people it's hard to translate and teach.

Memory Box Tree Dies 2011

This will be one of the cards I will be doing for the ladies down at the Akiyama Wellness Center this coming Friday. It's simple but requires a lot of tools. First there are two dies to make the tree (leaves and trunk) then you need a cutting machine (I used a Cuttlebug). To make the background I used my Copic airbrush machine and Copic pens. Glue pen, black ink and happy birthday stamp. I know the ladies will have a fun time with the airbrushing the background. I better stock up on ink refills for my Copic markers.  

Mini Veggies



Cherry Tomatoes and mini cukes


Took this photo with my cell phone so the picture is not as clear as I would like. One of my buddies (thank you Emily) drop off some mini cucumbers along with her world famous cookies. We had a discussion if they were small pickles, but her husband is 100% sure they are cucumbers. I had them for dinner last night along with some cherry tomatoes from my garden. What I like about these tiny cukes besides tasting good, is that they are the perfect size for just one person. I don't like to put half cut up anything back in the refrigerator. Since working down at the Senior Center I can see these being a popular veggie for those cooking for one.

Movie Night with Annie

During the summer my neighborhood group hosts a movie night down at the park. It's a huge screen they spend all day setting up. I've taken Annie before but she's not much of a night time dog so every shadow makes her bark. This time a took her tennis balls and sat up on hill away from the screen. When Annie started to get barky I would throw a ball. I felt sorry for the guy who ran by me out of the shadows. Annie went German Shepherd and made sure he wasn't getting any where near me or her tennis balls. Yes, I take my dog to the movies.
There have been reports of coyotes and bob cats in our area. A few people have lost their cats to them. Annie has decided she wants to sleep outside. I thought maybe because it was cooler but now maybe because something in roaming around.