1. Singaporean Tender Pork Spare Ribs (recipe here)

Marinated in light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, garlic, a little orange juice, and pepper:

Then you separate the marinade into a stockpot, and pan-fry the meat until edges are sealed. In the stockpot, you add more orange juice, water, sugar, cinnamon sticks, and star anise. Add meat, bring to a boil, and cook for 15 minutes. Lower heat, cover, and simmer for an hour more. And voila!

2. Known as “A Choy” or “Taiwanese Lettuce”, you-mai-cai is the Mandarin translation. I grew up with this vegetable, so it is very common for me.

I cut off the ends, and washed it thoroughly, and cut it up in 2-inch pieces. Then I prepared a hot wok with oil and garlic, and dropped the pieces in. Add a pinch of salt and/or MSG (I personally hate MSG but sub it with Vege-Sal which I love). The lettuce wilts quickly.

Served both dishes with hot steamed rice. The house smells wonderful with all the spices and aromas of the pork marinade (make sure you get some of that sauce on your rice!). The vegetable is hot and crunchy, and perfectly seasoned. The spare ribs are soft and tender, and very flavorful.

Simple and tasty.

My brain is all over the place. My house is in complete disarray as well (often times, they go hand in hand for me). Now that weddings and showers are no longer on my calendar this summer, I’m determined to clean up. Laundry, clutter, sanity, etc.

I feel all over the place with my crafts too. It’s like my brain is going to explode. There are only 24 hours in a day, and I don’t have enough internal capacity to pursue all the interesting things out there! I have just recently signed up for a photography class this fall. I’m combining my wirework interests with newfound interests in metalwork (see my new favorite toy below). Firing up this baby is SO MUCH FUN. I never knew there was an inner pyro in me. After my first torch class, I want to fire up EVERYTHING!

I’ve also been playing around with jewelry. It’s been a year since I’ve been addicted, and the beading obsession is still growing strong. Here’s a little peek:

Lastly, how could I not mention any fiber crafts? After all those squeal-licious booties, I got to doing an adult-sized version (yes, there’s a pattern for this too).

The stupid thing is, I wasn’t paying attention to the pattern, and I made it slightly too big for my own foot (I crocheted with a double strand of yarn rather than a single strand). I wear a size 8.5, and I think this will fit a 9 or 10. I’ll be throwing this in the washer and dryer to block it anyways (I’m using Cotton Ease) so we’ll see how it turns out and whether it changes the fit or not.

Ok, off to cleaning the kitchen and doing laundry! Whoopee! (Can you hear the sarcasm through your computer screen?)

His and hers!!

First, one more Mary Jane, in pink and green as suggested:

And now, for the boys! I love these little loafers!!

Pattern: Little Button Loafers, by Sylvia Schuchardt (see note below)
Yarn: Lion Brand Cotton Ease, various colors
Hook: 3.5mm hook (E)
Notions: sewing needle, embroidery thread, coordinating buttons
Notes:

The soles are pretty much the same as Sylvia’s other booties patterns. Although, with this particular pattern, I had some trouble. But I improvised. As a knitter, crochet is still a relatively new thing for me; the style and nature of this craft is a tad different from what I’m used to. But no matter, I was able to make do, and as  Tim Gunn from Project Runway says, “make it work!” =)

Other than that, these were super cute and super fast to make. I don’t like hand sewing buttons, but my motivation to put the buttons on was to have a uber cute finished product. Ta-da!