In a constant attempt to procrastinate on my comprehensive exam readings, I have picked up my sewing hobby again. In all seriousness though, my friend Sashila asked me to make her a bag which was the real reason I got back to it.

I asked her what colors she would like and went shopping at my favorite fabric store, Crafty Planet. The fabric there isn’t cheap, but it is all beautiful and unique. She requested browns and greens, so this is the fabrics I found:

 

Here is the bag coming together–the outside and the lining here:

 

And finally here is my friend enjoying her new bag!

 

I have also been making some hipster bibs, here is one I made for our new niece Wrenley. I plan on sending it out once this snowstorm ends…

And here is Emory wearing one I made out of an old t-shirt. It ended up being a little big, so I made the next ones a bit smaller.

On another topic, I made some pork wontons yesterday. While I was frying like my fifth batch of them I said I would never make them again, but boy they ended up being good.

 

So this is how I made them:

1.5 pounds of ground pork

about 4-5 mushrooms chopped

1/4 onion chopped

Cook that until the meat is no longer pink. Add in:

about 1 teaspoon of grated ginger

2 cloves garlic chopped fine

2 teaspoons rice vinegar

1 teaspoon sugar

1 teaspoon oil

a handful of chopped cilantro

Add this to the pan until fragrant. Pull off the heat and wait until cool enough to handle. Fill the store bought wonton wrappers, fold them into the normal wonton shape, and fry them in oil. I used vegetable oil. Peanut oil would probably really good, but I didn’t have any. The oil temp should be about 350 degrees. I couldn’t find my thermometer so I just let the oil heat for a while at a little above medium heat and then tested to make sure the wonton started to fry (makes the sizzling sound) once I put it in. I know, real specific instructions.

Obviously this recipe is flexible. You could use shrimp, bamboo shoots, anything really, but this combo did taste REALLY good.