Three of three

Why must people always wait until the last minute before giving me a huge bunch of edits? Why?!

Lunch was more leftovers: curry, rice, salad, tomato cookies.

Last day of work this week! Yay!

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Technorati tags: lunchtime, bento, mrbento

Dogs do not enjoy holiday decorating

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Technorati tags: dogs

Two of three

I am now halfway done with my workweek! (Though I fear I may have to come in on Friday. That's when a big deadline is and my part has been done for days, but there are other people who apparently not so eager for it to be done, and I have to wait for them to decide page numbers so I can make up tables of contents...)

Lunch is more leftovers of salad, roasted red pepper & tomato soup, bread with three different types of melted cheeses, and steamed carrots.

I was feeling to lasy last night to even make grilled cheese, so I made these little things.

And I just realized I forgot to put the rice on before I left this morning, so we may be eating a late dinner tonight...

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Technorati tags: lunchtime, bento, mrbento

Decorations!

We put up the holiday decorations this past weekend. We keep it pretty much confined to one room, and we don't go overboard. I say "holiday" because we aren't religious, and, in fact, we celebrate Christmukuh.

No, we're not Jewish or Christian, but, as Seth Cohen pointed out, it's eight days of presents followed by one day of lots of presents - who doesn't like that?! :)

We have three little trees: a silver tinsel, a red tinsel and a black one. The silver one is the only one with lights, and it has our glass ornament collection on it. The other two hold our "personal" ornaments - like the ones my sister has made, ones from when we were kids, and non-glass ones that people get us. We still have about three to four more years worth of space left on the black tree, so I'm hoping to get some more ornaments. :)

We have a few odd holiday decorations. One is the rubber chicken vs. Santa. I found this in my stocking a few years ago and this little tableau has been a part of our decorations since.

We also have Quoth, the raven. He comes out of hibernation just before Halloween and hangs out with us until the new year. He wears his hat after the decorations come out.

Then there are the rats and the frogs. We like them. And they're festive. So they join us and hang out on the mantle. There are also frogs on the red tree - happy poison arrow frogs being all festive. Also note that Quoth gets along just fine with the rats. One hangs out with him, even.

So that's what we do. Not much, but we enjoy it.

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Technorati tags: holidays

One of three

Borg lunch! :)

No, seriously. It's leftovers.

Salad, balsamic steamed greens, garlic roasted veggies with parmesan, and chocolate meringues.

The greens were a whim that worked out wonderfully. I'll definitely be making them again. The roasted veggies were great and made the house smell (nicely) of garlic.

Only two more lunches left this week! Yay!

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Technorati tags: lunchtime, bento, mrbento

Apologies to Stephanie

It's going to take me longer to make Katrina's stocking than I had planned. I had hoped to have it in the mail this evening, but that's not going to happen.

I finally found a pattern I liked, but I should have spent more time in the shop reading it. Once I started to work on it, I discovered that it was - to put it mildly - poorly written. I've had to rewrite it, and I still need to fix the cuff (that won't be any problem to do, just an annoyance that I actually followed the directions for that part).

So I'm not nearly as far along as I'd like. Sorry!

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Technorati tags: crochet, crafts

Embroidery

I've been into embroidery lately. It's one of those skills that I taught myself and I just really enjoy doing. I'm not particularly great at it, but I find doing it to be quite satisfying.

When I went to JoAnn's on Black Friday, I picked up Sublime Stitching. I didn't expect to like it, but I really, really did. I probably wouldn't have bought it without a coupon, but with 50% off, it was well worth the price. It had a bunch of modern patterns that I mostly liked, including this cute little cupcake. (I never use the iron-on function of these types of transfers. I make my own iron-ons.)

If you like embroidery, you might like this book. If your library doesn't have it (mine didn't), pick it up when you have a coupon.

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Technorati tags: crafts

Busy, busy!

We've had a busy few days around here with family and shopping and all sorts of stuff going on. It's been quite tiring, as you can tell by Kaylee's reaction to the whole thing. At least I'm pretty much done with the holiday shopping now. Just little things to get now - and then to mail everything out!

We've been having some unseasonably beautiful weather, which we have been enjoying immensely. The dogs have been spending a great deal of time outside. Cordy's having a little trouble finding shade now that our giant maple has lost most if its leaves, but if she gets right up against the trunk, she has a nice little band of shadow. Kaylee, on the other hand, sunbathes on the porch.

Even though it's not very winter-like weather, we did our holiday photo shoot with the dogs yesterday. While Kaylee was perfectly happy to model for us once we gave up on having her sit, Cordy was not so keen on having to hang out with her bratty sister. She tolerated it for a bit, but then decided that enough was enough. We got a few good photos, though. I'll post the final version nearer to the end of the month.

I've been working on other things, too. More on that later. This post was mostly an excuse to show pictures of the girls. :)

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Technorati tags: misc

On my first day off...

I made two dresses for my niece(s).

Both dresses use a vintage napkin that I found in a drawer when I helped clean out one of Jeff's grandmother's apartment after she died this summer. The moment I saw them, I knew that I wanted to make dresses for Eve. Hopefully, when Eve outgrows them, her mom will keep one for Cora, then pass one along to Ella. That way, they'll both have something of their great-grandmother's.

Hopefully, this is just the beginning of what I will accomplish on my time off!

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Technorati tags: crafts

Last lunch of the week!

Only Tuesday and my last day of work this week! Fabulous!

This was a thrown-together lunch of prunes & sultanas, chili sauces, rice crackers, rice with three different kind of peppers & some green onion, and stir-fried greens with spicy chili tofu.

Back with lunches next Tuesday!

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Technorati tags: lunchtime, bento

Boring bento

With Thanksgiving coming up, I didn't really bother to do any grocery shopping. Gotta empty out the fridge for the leftovers from the in-laws.

Stirfry and rice, apple slices, and chocolate meringues.

Also very ... brown. Oh well. It was just fine tasting.

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Technorati tags: lunchtime, bento, mrbento

Bones

Oh, never mind. Our TV lied. It was just one hour.

(And yes, I could have bought it off iTunes, I know, but I was hoping not to have to do that. :)

Does anyone sill have the second hour of this week's Bones on their DVR? Ours didn't record the second hour! It's usually pretty good about those things, but it missed this one, dammit.

I'll send you a present if you could send me a copy! Please!

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Technorati tags: TV

Mmmm. Pizza.

It's Friday, so pizza, right? I've quit making my own dough at the moment due to KitchenAid difficulties, so this is one of those Boboli-type crusts from the store.

Toppings are the rather gourmet-sounding olive oil, minced garlic, fresh spinach, slivered red onion, sliced grape tomatoes, and goat cheese. (Yes, I could have used the pizza stone, but it was under the wok in a drawer. Plus, it works best with fresh crust, not store-bought. A foil-covered cookie sheet works just fine.)

Mmmm. Yummy.

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Technorati tags: food

Soup & salad again

Spinach, creamy root veggie soup, salad toppings, and black bean & salsa bread.

I decided on the spur of the moment last night to make soup. So I tossed some onions and root veggies in a pot with some broth and various herbs, cooked, pureed, then added some half & half. Turned out pretty good, I think!

Of course, I made a huge amount as usual, so we'll be eating it for ages. I'd better see if I can find some containers to freeze it in...

Oh, and the next couple of weeks will be sparse on lunches. I'm only working two days next week, then three the week after that. I imagine you will survive somehow.

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Technorati tags: lunchtime, bento, mrbento

Box I haven't used in a while

I don't often use this box because it doesn't easily fit in my bag. But I forgot to run the dishwasher last night, so Mr. Bento's bowls didn't get cleaned. Oops!

Faux-chicken nuggets with sweet chili sauce for dipping, salad with rosted tofu, cucumber-tomato salad with balsamic vinegar, canned tropical fruit salad with stout bread, and and extra-special treat of chocolate meringues.

It was a mighty tasty lunch! Just one of those that hits the spot, you know?

And I know that my lunches must look huge, but they're the biggest mean of the day for me, and they're usually full of veggies. So really, I'm not a huge pig, I swear! (Though our new scale says so. I hate it. It made me gain seven pounds in an instant. I despise the thing. I call it names, too. And yes, it's accurate. I tested it. Dammit.)

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Technorati tags: lunchtime, bento

Mmmm. Soup.

It's definitely soup weather. Cold and gray. Yuck!

Tomato soup with artichoke tortellini, salad, a spicy faux-chicken patty, and carrots.

The tomato soup is the creamy tomato from Trader Joe's, with the addition of a teaspoon of shallot pepper and a quarter cup of balsamic vinegar. So very tasty! This is leftovers from last night when we had it with fancy-schmancy grilled cheese sandwiches (and without the tortellini).

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Technorati tags: lunchtime, bento, mrbento

Boring lunch

So much like many of my others. On the other hand, it was fast and easy to make, and that's really all that matters on a dreary, cold Monday.

Stir fry with roasted tofu, canned tropical fruit salad, spinach salad, sweet chili sauce for the stir fry, and stout bread with Smart Balance.
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Technorati tags: lunchtime, bento, mrbento

Today I have...

• Made two collars to post in the shop
• Finished a bespoke onesie
• Perfected my trade paperback book cover
• Tidied my craft room
• Called my mother
  
• Started the process of making lemon and lime liqueurs
  
• Run errands
• Gone to the library
  
• Made stout bread (over there on the right)
• Cleaned the fish tank

And it's not even 4:00.

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Technorati tags: misc

Squash pincushion

I needed a new pincushion, so I made this one in about 30 minutes this evening.

It's about 4" wide and about 2.5" tall. The leaf holds pins so they don't get lost in the body of the pincushion.

It was nice to accomplish something so quickly and easily. Plus, it works as my entry into November's Month of Softies. Since I've got ideas for some other softies this month, I may even do another entry this month, too. :)

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Technorati tags: crafts

Another Asian-inspired lunch

Because I wanted to use up the rest of the TJ's frozen veggies and faux-chicken. :)

Crackers, sweet chili sauce, lime & peanuts, rice with veggies & faux-chicken, and dumplings.

Simple, but good.

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Technorati tags: lunchtime, bento

Much better than last week's curry

We bough coconut milk this weekend, so I made curry again since last week's was so disappointing. This one was much better. I had it over rice with coconut, peanuts, and homemade chutney to top it.

The salad was topped with cranberries and walnuts - one of my favorite combinations!

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Technorati tags: lunchtime, bento, mrbento

Election day lunch

Remember, if you don't exercise your right to vote, you don't have a right to bitch about the result.

A simple soup and salad today. The soup is homemade pumpkin soup with black bean & salsa bread. The bread was good, the soup, not so much. I've trided several different ways of making fresh pumpkin into soup now, and I've not been impressed. I think I'll stop trying.

Also featured today is my new large-format paperback cover. This is my test version for myself; the actual cover will be one inch wider to accomodate slightly thicker books. Also, as it's doing in this photo, it can hold smaller hardbacks. The fabric is from a thrifted skirt that made my ass look huge. I think this is a perfect end (ha!) for it.

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Technorati tags: [tagname]

Asian-inspired lunch

Soba with veggies, stir-fried Swiss chard with garlic, dumplings, wontons and an extra container for the sweet chili sauce.

The veggies with the soba are from Trader Joe's freezer and they're actually pretty good! Since the local fresh produce season in Ohio has pretty much ended, I'll be experimenting with frozen veggies to tide me over until spring.

The dumplings and wontons were a little freezer burned, but edible with sauce. The Swiss chard is one of the few things still growing in the garden and it's still wonderful!

And hey, it's Secret Paws time! Don't forget to sign up!
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Technorati tags: lunchtime, bento, mrbento

Fat bottomed girl

You make the rockin' world go round!

Hee. OK, she's not quite that pudgy. Perspective's fun. :)

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Technorati tags: dogs

Dog collars in the shop!

I finally got dog collars made and in the shop. There are only four at the moment, but I will be making more.

These are martingale collars, also known as greyhound collars. They are great for dogs with thick necks (like most hounds), with loose skin (like shar pei or bulldogs), or any long-haired dog (much less matted fur!). Both of our girls wear martingales, and we all love them.

I have small, medium and large sizes available in two cotton fabrics. They are reinforced with polyester ribbon for added strength, but are completely machine washable.

If you're interested, please visit monkey sew, monkey do!

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Technorati tags: msmd

I'm officially old

No, I didn't have a birthday. But someone broke into my car and didn't steal my CDs. Come on, they don't suck that much! Oh, and they weren't interested in the leashes and dog cookies in the glove compartment, either.

What did they steal? A package of toilet paper that I had forgotten to bring inside. Maybe it was a toileting emergency, not theft.

(The car's fine. One of the doors just didn't latch. My own damned fault.)

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Technorati tags: misc

Quick lunch

This is just a quick lunch of leftovers and stuff in the fridge. Nothing too exciting.

Pasta with homemade chunky sauce and faux-chicken; steamed carrots with honey & balsamic vinegar, salad, and apples.

The faux-chicken is from the new Asian market and it's pretty good. In other words, it doesn't taste like much and soakes up the flavor of what it's in, but provides protein. Maybe in a quesadilla tonight to see how that goes.

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Technorati tags: lunchtime, bento, mrbento

Misc. lunch

I didn't cook last night, and this morning I really didn't know what to make for lunch.

A salad, cute little baby dumplings, cauliflower with cheese and pepper, and carrots.

The dumplings are tasty as well as cute. They came from the freezer. The cauliflower is the last of it from the CSA, and the cheese is the homemade stuff. It doesn't really melt at all, which is interesting. It wasn't fabulous, but I didn't not eat it, either. The carrots ought to have been steamed, but I was running out of time - and inclination.

Much like all of my cooking this week, it was an "eh" lunch. Maybe I'll get my cooking mojo back over the weekend. Or maybe I'll take Regina's suggestion and write a cookbook. :)

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Technorati tags: lunchtime, bento, mrbento