More Necklaces

I found pictures of necklaces I took in March and somehow forgot to mention on a blog.

These lampwork beads are larger than what I normally make. 

When I was organizing craft supplies, I found a necklace I made long time ago(below).  I made a mistake of leaving this necklace where my cats can get to and one of the cats chewed off the cord.  I'm grad that he didn't accidentally swallow the rock!

Things That Kept Me Busy in April

April is usually one of the most pleasant month in Arizona, but it wasn't a case this year at least for first two weekends.  The first weekend happened to be the 4th avenue fair weekend in Tucson and it felt like in June.  One of the vendors at the fair told me that it was so hot that people weren't even stopping to see merchandise.  Only the hat shops and drink vendors had great sales during the fair.  The second weekend was insanely cold and it felt like back in February.  I volunteered at Spring Shearing Festival at Kathy's ranch in cold drizzle.  I was really looking forward to see shearing of animals but I was too cold and wet to stand in a rain.  I was spinning with a drop spindle in a garage where three other people were demonstrating wet felting, continuous strand weaving and needle felting until I could no longer feel my hands.  I spun rest of the day in a shop.  Call me a wimp, I don't care.  I can't stand cold weather.

I went back to the ranch on Monday to see the rest of the animals (who got too wet to be sheared on Saturday) getting sheared.  By the time I arrived, all alpacas and llamas had been sheared and they looked pretty strange with their new haircuts.

I saw angora goats and sheep sheared.  I didn't know the brown hair on sheep was actually sunburn and hair inside was a beautiful black color.  Another surprise was that how fibers from each sheep differ.  Just like our hair feel different from each other, wool from one sheep was much softer and finer than the fiber from her barn mate.  It was nice to see how fibers I spin were collected from animals.  It requires continuous hard work to raise animals for fiber and then process them (wash, color, make roving/batts, spin) for sale.

We had our Easter dinner at my brother-in-law's house and I was in charge of veggies and rolls.  I baked plain dinner rolls and herb-cheese dinner rolls on Easter morning.  I served asparagus with roasted garlic-lemon sauce and it was a hit.  All the veggies including sauteed broccoli and broccoli stem and cucumber salad were all gone and it was a happy surprise in a not-so-veggie loving crowd. 

I started volunteering for Humane Society last December and I've been enjoying working special events such as Cover Dog Photo Shoot and Doggie Fashion Show.  The largest fundraising event for Humaine Society is Puttin' On The Dog (P.O.D.) and it was on April 29 this year.  I helped baking dog biscuits before the event and kept filling coolers with drinks and ice for other volunteers during the event.  I just realized that I forgot to take pictures!  It was a fun event with lots of dogs, food from local restaurants, and animal lovers.  I met Maya, a therapy dog who is a pitbull.  We don't usually expect a pitbull to be a friendly visitation dog who visits nursing homes and children's hospitals.  Meeting someone like Maya reminds me that we're product of environment and even certain bleed of dogs commonly believed dangerous can have a nice temperament when they are raised in loving environment.  I'll be volunteering for P.O.D. every year.  Now I understand why this event is nominated in various local media's favorite charity event polls.

Horseback Riding in Sonoita

My husband had a surprise for me on March 20.  He told me not to plan anything that day so that we can go hiking.  A hiking wasn't exactly what he was planning to do---he took me to my first horseback riding in Sonoita, Arizona.  First, we had brunch at a small restaurant called Canela Bistro with pleasant ambiance.  We both enjoyed house made smoked machaca & eggs.  

He booked horseback riding with Arizona Horseback Experience.  There were 7 others (5 from out of state) riding that afternoon, but I was the only person without prior riding experience.  The lucky horse who had to let the beginner ride on his back was Chief, a 23 year-old horse. 

Chief didn't act like an old man, I mean horse.  As his name suggests (although that's not why he was named Chief), he wanted to lead the group and he followed right behind the horse a guide was riding.  He made my first 3-hour horseback riding very memorable.  I really enjoyed riding on a beautiful sunny Sunday.  It was truly a nice surprise.

Next day, my inner thighs were sore from riding as my husband predicted.  It was well worth the pain!

Things That Kept Me Busy in February-April

I haven't been able to update my blog as much for last three months or so.  It's not that I didn't make anything---I have to be really sick to put away my craft tools and kitchen knives---I've been busy running around and I didn't take my time to share what I was doing. 

I took a diving trip to Bonaire for a week with my husband in middle of February and got my diving fix.  It was my first shore diving experience.  Diving whenever I feel like was nice, but we both missed diving off a live-aboard boat.  All we have to think about on a live-aboard boat is next dive---we don't have to worry about what time a supermarket closes on Sunday or which restaurant to go out for dinner.  Bonaire and other shore diving destinations are for people who can stay two weeks or longer and rent a condo.  The picture above shows slave huts where slaves who harvested salt used to sleep.  The huts are so small---I can't imagine how it was like to come home from hard labor to this little hut and to be crammed in there with other slaves like sardines. 

After northeastern Japan suffered earthquake and tunami on March 11, I joined Japanese Association of Tucson's fundraising and helped with two events.  The first bake-craft sale was on March 19 and I was there selling baked goods for almost 12 hours. Members of Odaiko Sonora entertained us with their strong performance in the evening.  Some people waited three hours to dine in at Sushi Yukari who donated 50% of the sales of the day. 

Another fundraising was held on April 10 instead of association's semiannual picnic.  We had yard sale and craft sale outside and Japanese food sale and bake sale inside Sushi Yukari.  It was an unusually cold weekend in Tucson and I was still a little cold even in my heavy leather jacket and long boots during craft sale.  I sold some of the earrings and polymer clay beads I made.  This fund raising was a great success as well.

More Local Soaps from Southern Arizona

Last Saturday, I went to 4th Avenue Fair in Tucson mainly to get soap which I became addicted to since last year.  Since I knew that the temperature would rise to 90's in the afternoon, I decided to be there when the street fair opened at 10am.  By the time I got to the Network Navigator LLC's booth, it was pretty hot and display soaps were getting soft.  Luckily, soaps for sale were stored in much cooler shaded area.  I bought 8 bars all in different scent.

Just like SoAP's soap, these soaps don't have overpowering fragrance and they smell very natural.  I do miss SoAP's coarser soap for hand washing, but the texture of these soaps are great for bath or hand washing.  The price is reasonable: 4 bars for $10.  I'm looking forward to use a lavender soap as soon as a sage soap I'm using right now is all gone.

Bees!

I'll be posting bee pictures on my picture blog site for a week or so to personally celebrate and thank what bees provide us.  Also, Animal Planet in Canada is showing a documentary film The Last Beekeeper on April 18 (8pm EST) and April 19 (12am EST).  This is a shocking film for many of us.  I wish Animal Planet in the US had the same schedule as Canadian AP but they only show shows like The Haunted and I Shouldn't be Alive over and over.  Anyway, here's a trailer:

As I have mentioned before, one of my favorite things to do in Southern Arizona is to go to farmers markets.  Local honey is sold at most of the farmers markets in area and it comes in variety of flavors depending on what flower the honey came from.  Honey is the most obvious product we'll miss without bees, but there are so many other crops we'll lose if bees are not there to pollinate.

Wine Glass Charms

When I made wine glass charms for my sister-in-law, I totally forgot to take pictures before dropping them off at her house.  That's why I'm posting these pictures 2 months later.  I used mostly odd beads I can't really use with other beads for jewelry.  These beads are perfect for wine charms since their unique appearances are easier to remember than 'just pretty' beads.  I also used stone and glass beads I purchased long time ago and had no other use for.  I think I missed a few but the charms with my handmade beads were all photographed. 

The charms are now displayed on a wire tree along with other wine accessories.  She got this tree (with round ornaments to hang) from her friend for Christmas but she liked it so much that she decided to hang wine glass charms year-round.  What a great idea! 

What did I get in return?  Free room and board (including daily litter scooping!) for my kitties in her guest room while we were on vacation.  Guess who got the better end of this deal?

Roasted Garlic and Rosemary Bread

My husband took me to a restaurant for my birthday last year where each table gets a whole head of roasted garlic to spread on bread.  I've always liked garlic, but the experience at this restaurant got me hooked on roasted garlic...now I use roasted garlic for almost everything!

When we were having our friends over for dinner, I wanted to serve bread that compliments my homemade Italian-inspired food.  One of the breads everyone in my extended family loves is rosemary bread made with fresh rosemary from my yard.  Why not combine rosemary and roasted garlic?

It was a hit and everyone at the table devoured them---I only got one piece!  The combination of fresh bread and roasted garlic dipping oil was hard to beat. 

This bread is easy to make.  First, roast a head of garlic.  Mash about half of the roasted garlic cloves and mix with 1/4 cup of your favorite olive oil.  Add chopped fresh rosemary to your favorite pizza dough or plain Italian bread recipe when you mix in flour.  After rising, place a baking stone in lower 1/3 in oven and set the temperature at 450F.  When the oven is preheated and ready to go, divide the dough in halves and flatten each dough---thick disk if you like doughy bread, thinner if you prefer crispier bread.  Stab the dough with a fork about 20 times.  Place the dough on pizza peeler.  Spread roasted garlic-olive oil to the top and sprinkle with sea salt.  Bake until the bread turns golden brown. 

 

This bread is great for sandwiches, too!  The sandwich in a picture above is a spicy hummus and sunflower sprout sandwich.  

Necklaces with Little Lampwork Beads

My preteen niece asked me to make 14 necklaces to hand out to her friends on her birthday.  I agreed to make only simple beads since I had less than a week to work on them.  I'm grad that she didn't ask me to make 14 amigurumi! (which I would have said NO).

Her mom offered to pay me for these necklaces so I asked her to go to Red Cross website and make a contribution to Japan tunami relief fund.  It's not a large amount, but small grains of sand can accumulate to form a huge desert, right?

Hedgehog Amigurumi

It's been already a year since I started crocheting amigurumi.  I made this hedgehog about 2 months ago and forgot to introduce him. 

I'm not sure if it would look better if I stitch a little brown nose on this guy...

There is no pattern to share at this moment...I didn't write down exactly how many stitches I crocheted for his body.  That's what happens when I crochet in a car.

Earring Rack and Earrings

The necklace stand is still intact and helping me stay organized.  My earrings were next things on my "things to organize" list.  I found a simple photo frame with a slot for two sheets of glass in the middle at TJMaxx.  The generous depth of this frame allowed me to run three lines on one side and two sets on the other side to accommodate earrings with various lengths.

After attaching eyelets, I realized that I didn't have suitable wire for this project.  I could have ran to the hardware store nearby...but sometimes it's fun to experiment and try to use what I have at home.

After trying everything in my toolbox and supply box, I decided to go with hemp string and polymer clay beads I made about the time I bought the hemp string years ago.  The Gorilla glue was used to keep strings and beads in place.
 

 This baby blue-red pair was the first pair of earrings I ever made with my own glass beads.

 The multi-colored cube beads came from a craft supply store. 

These polymer clay beads were coated with away too much shiny coating.  I learned that I prefer polymer clay's natural look.

I've had these beads (top and bottom) for a long time.  Right after purchasing these beads, I found out that some people make their own beads(!!!) and jumped right into the wonderful world of lampwork beads. 

Coffee Soap

My coffee supplier brought his new and improved version of coffee soap to the farmers market last December.  This soap is huge, it's about 4x2x1 3/4 inches!  It contains coffee grinds and brewed coffee from his popular Cowboy Joe's blend and was manufactured by local soapmaker Back 2 Botanicals. 

 

This soap is much darker than the soap I bought from him last summer (pictured below on top of rocks) and it almost looks like a huge chocolate bar!  It foams nicely and has irresistible smell for a coffee addict like me.  The coffee guy said it was designed to be a bath soap but I love using my coffee soap in the kitchen sink.

Just in case anyone wonder why my soap rests on a bed of rocks, the river rocks are not just decorative.  The rocks keep the soap from getting slimy.  It works great on a flat soap dish like this one in the picture. 
I hate slimy soaps!

Glass Plates

A week before moving to Arizona last year, I took a plate making class at Wired Designs Studios in San Antonio, TX.  I needed a way to relieve stress associated with moving and selling a house.  Making things and exercising are definitely my favorite stress relievers.  When I was looking for a large plate to serve tart bites, I saw the plates I made last year and realized that I haven't blogged about them. 

The small plate is 5x5 inches and the large plate is about 9x9 inches.  I nicknamed them red avocado or devil's avocado plates.  I'm still not so sure what kind of food will look appetizing on funky plates like these.

Itty Bitty Nutty Treats

About three hours before a hobby-related meeting both my husband and I had to attend, I found out that everyone was bringing a snack to share.  My husband forwarded me all emails except the one with important details about the meeting.  It figures.  I looked in my fridge and freezer and came up with an idea: little citrus-mixed nuts tarts.  The short dough I had in the freezer and stewed grapefruit zest saved my day!

The same short dough I used for apple-cranberry tarts were used again.  What I love about this sweet short dough is that it tells when it's ready---it's done when the edge turns golden brown.  For the stewed grapefruit zest, I scraped off the zest of 5 grapefruits using a julienne peeler (not a zester) and cooked the zest with sliced flesh from one grapefruit, water, sugar and honey until the zest is softened a little.  I confess, I didn't measure any ingredients.  The only reason I made this zest stew is to save the grapefruit zest for later use when I made grapefruit sorbet.  I hate wasting anything!

I blended about 1 1/2 cups mixed nuts (mostly almonds and some brazil nuts, cashews and pecans) with 1/4 cup sugar and approximately 1/3 cup sweetened zest in food processor at fine-chopping (mincing) setting.  I tasted zest-nut paste to make sure it doesn't need more sugar or zest.  After lining a mini-muffin pan with short dough, I added one scoop of the filling in each well using a small melon ball scoop.  The tarts were baked at 350F for 25 minutes. 

These little tarts are dangerous for someone like me who loves citrus and nuts.  I had to ask my husband to take the leftovers to work.  Otherwise, we'll end up on Biggest Loser!

Grapefruit Sorbet Recipes

Last Sunday, my bro-in-law gave me 15 huge grapefruits off his tree.  Although my original plan was to juice them and keep it in freezer for later use, I had to (yes I HAD to) experiment with some grapefruit (that's what I do when have a lot of ingredients to play with).  When it's possible, I try to make something my husband can eat using ingredients he wouldn't normally go near.  This time, I decided to make grapefruit sorbet.

Those grapefruits were juicier than I expected!  It only took 4 of them to get 3 1/2 cups of grapefruit juice.  I used both sugar and stevia to cut down on sugar while sustaining the desirable consistency.
Result? My husband loved it!

 

I was satisfied with the way sorbet turned out, but I wanted to make another grapefruit sorbet recipe with a little twist.  How about a 'pink' grapefruit sorbet without artificial food coloring? 

Click on "Read more" for recipes.