Blog • Page 19 of 31 • Jessica Smith Creates

September 19, 2014August 25, 2022

Foodie Friday #6

Have you ever been one of “those people?”

You know, the ones that grocery cashiers hate? The ones that have an entire cart full of… bulk bin and vegetable items. Basically meaning that though your cart looks deceptively small, it’s going to take almost twice as long to go through all of these items. And on top of it, your handwriting isn’t exactly legible?

It’s all the Sharpie’s fault, I promise.

Last Friday, that was me. I think I spent twenty minutes at the bulk bin section of Whole Foods, if not more, and got very small quantities of spices, and some fruits and veggies. And olives from the olive bar… Actually my only scanned items were peanut butter and potato chips. (After all the bulk foods I needed some junk). So most of what I made this week came from that haul.

I made salt encrusted sesame seeds to spice up my bento lunches. And then I salted some peanuts and pumpkin seeds. And then used the same method to make lightly candied peanuts. I just used sugar and a little bit of salt instead of all the salt. They were all delicious.

I also made gummies again, and this time they even worked really well! I ‘borrowed’ orange juice from my roommate, so really, this cost me about a dollar and it made two pint jars packed with gummies.

Chai concentrate was on the menu, made with the small amount of spices I got from Whole Foods. Most of the recipes called for cloves, which Whole Foods was out of when I visited. I decided to just ignore them, and my concentrate is still pretty good! I bought a couple of cardamom pods and some black peppercorns, combined it with some ginger cut like coins, a cinnamon stick, and five cups of water. I simmered that for about thirty minutes, then added 10 tea bags for about ten minutes, and then I let it cool a bit. Added some sugar, heated until the sugar dissolved and cooled and jarred. I’ve been using coconut milk as creamer, and it needs a bit of added sugar as well, but it makes a delicious cuppa. I’ve been using about four parts hot water, one part concentrate, a dash of sugar and some coconut milk for the perfect treat.

Earlier I also decided to make sauerkraut. And when I say earlier, I’m not sure whether it was sometime two weeks ago or the week after, post-writing up my Foodie post early. I had bought this head of cabbage with this intention and then didn’t follow through for almost a week. Then I celebrated finishing homework early by massaging salt into cabbage. No one ever told me I was normal… I followed this procedure set up by the Kitchn, but I didn’t have a big enough mason jar. I did have a bucket, though, and I used a ramekin as the tamping device. My sauerkraut turned out crunchy and tasty after about four days of fermenting. And I’ve been enjoying it immensely ever since! The recipe did make a lot for a single person, but it will keep for forever in the fridge, so that’s good!

See you next week!

September 16, 2014August 19, 2018

Hybrid

Do you remember when I made a wristband out of this nice minty aqua yarn? I still love that thing. I told you that I had plans for the rest of the ball, but if I remember correctly I told you my plans were top secret… or something like that.

Ta da! I present my knit and sewn hybrid!

I had most of the knit part finished before I posted about the wristband, but I was really more interested in figuring out how to attach it to the part of the knit fabric I had previously cut off a dress.

The story of the dress: I got this dress in Germany on a visit with my aunt, who I rarely get to see. It was love at first sight with this dress. It was also about seven years ago. The dress didn’t fit well by today, and I would always have a serious case of panty lines. And who wants that. So I cut the skirt off to make this shirt, which is well cropped at just hitting the waistband of my jeans, so better with high waisted bottoms, and I had this leftover fabric. I had been planning to make it into a color blocked shirt with a yoke.

But then I saw how close this yarn was in color. Match made in heaven.

I used my wristband as a pseudo swatch and just cast on a bunch of stitches. Throughout the entire make I waffled on construction details and sizing and how much yarn I would need. mostly the latter, as I had a finite amount to work with. Because of this I used stockinette stitch with a small openwork pattern, mostly for the yarn conservation reasons. I was banking on the idea that the sewn part would flatten the stockinette stitch roll. It mostly works.

I measured how far apart the straps would need to be, then I realized I just how little yarn I had. Racerback it would be then! Once I got to a reasonable back length, I bound off and used the remaining yarn to cast on for i-cord. And that’s how I finished the ball. Originally I used a bit of some peaches and cream top add some length to the i-cord and more “seamlessly” connect the segments. I wore it for a day, but by the end of the day the back had stretched out way too much… Waaaaay too much.

So I procrastinated for a month. And now I’ve finished it. Took out the peaches and cream and used a different attachment method for the i-cord which helped to shorten it. And I used elastic to keep the top corners of the yoke tight. And it fits nicely and is cute, and because the seasons are changing probably won’t get much wear this year, but next year! Except now that I’m looking at photos the back falls below my bra strap… Any suggestions? I might need to get more creative with elastic.

Lesson of the post – I-cord is super duper stretchy.

September 12, 2014August 25, 2022

Foodie Friday #5

Short number of makes this week… Largely due to homework.

I can’t wait for homework to be finished forever… but then I have to worry about deadlines. I’m not sure which is better.

So anyways, I made a batch of my favorite cookies ever. Chocolate with white chocolate chips. Technically I got the recipe from my mom, and she got it off the back of the Nestle white chocolate chip bag. I’ve really been getting from the internet here.

Now, I mentioned that this is my favorite cookie recipe, right? I’ve made it at least five times in the past year, and each time it has come out differently. I’ve found that if you don’t have a mixer, it’s really best to let the butter soften naturally. I’m a big proponent to softening in microwave, but often some parts of the butter get melty and others stay fridge cold and that just won’t work well for this recipe. Three of the past five times I also found that I didn’t have enough wet ingredients to mix in the dry… So follow the instructions even if you don’t want to. Trust me… it’s better.

My other excursion this will was making tortillas. They’re not pretty and they’re a bit stiff, but they’re tasty! I used this recipe, so I could use up some more sourdough starter and coconut oil. I always forget to use the coconut oil when I’m reaching for oils, since it’s in a jar and not a pour bottle. So I used some here! The tortillas are quite good, especially with some nice spices and cheese to accent the contents! I made them at the same time as the bread, so when the bread rose the final time, I started frying the tortillas, to give you a time-frame.

And bread update: This week the bread dough was soft and gloopy and smooth and wonderful… And now I’m wondering what I’ve done wrong in the past. But suffice it to say, I’ve been loving my grilled cheese sandwiches!

September 11, 2014September 6, 2018

Design Donnerstag – Politely

So last week I made up a lovely illustration of a pistol… with reasons.

I didn’t just decide, “Ooh, I’ll just draw a pistol today”… no pun intended.

I wanted to draw Malcolm Reynolds’ pistol, but figured I should start with a slightly less future one.

Then I added some of the great future-y elements.

And the quote.

Because who else would instruct their crew to shoot people… politely?

No one, that’s who. Except Mal.

September 8, 2014August 19, 2018

Insanity

** Full disclosure: This insane night was in reality in June… I’m just slow on the picture front**

You know how the night before something big, say prom or job interviews or the first day of school or the last day of school (please stop me now), you immediately rethink the status of your closet? Please tell me I’m not alone here…

I’ve noticed that since I’ve moved towards the equator within the northern hemisphere I’ve been wearing skirts more. Perhaps its the fact that I’m dying from the heat, although I’m quite a weakling when it comes to heat shtuff. Perhaps its that I’m not at home, and that when I leave the house it’s pretty much just for actual reasons, like food shopping and getting a new drivers license and and being an adult is difficult. Needless to say, for all I’m a jeans and t-shirt girl, jeans are just not wearable in heat. Skirts are, though shorts come in as the close second.

So now I’m rambling. But what I am trying to do here is stall a bit. Because tonight I’m endeavoring to document my insanity and give you all the play by play of tonights “entertainment.” I am planning to make three skirts tonight, in the hopes that one will satisfy me tomorrow.

7:30 – The planning… and 8:00 – The time I realistically started this blog post.

I’ve had the deep purple fabric the longest out of all of these, but in reality it’s been just over a year. I got it while abroad in a remnants bin of the only fabric store that I visited there. It’s really only a half meter, so I’ve been debating what to do, since I wanted to make a blouse. There isn’t really enough for a blouse though, so swishy skirt it is! This is going to be my *fingers crossed* easy one. I’m thinking simple gathered skirt with a black waistband… Now I need to find a zipper.

The black interlock in the middle is meant for an A-line skirt… Or that’s what I’ve been telling myself. It’s going to have a waistband, since I realize that I pretty much only wear things with waistband (sorry culottes).

The gold, which happens to be the same gold as I used for my Belle dress, would also be for an A-line skirt. Maybe I should start with this one.

8:20 – The setting up of supplies

Now’s the time to get out the iron and the ironing board, the scissors and the rotary cutter, and realizing that I haven’t eaten dinner. It’s been a long day, and I shall now pause to reconsider my life as I make mac and cheese… or maybe some leftovers. Leftovers sounds easier.

8:45 – Back on track: ironing

That purple fabric… grr. I hate ironing non-quilting cotton items. I think I suffer a bit from i-learned-to-sew with-the-most-maneagable-fabric-itis. Put I shall press on! Hee hee… I’ll shut up now.

9:00 – Cutting out

For the purple skirt I’ll be gathering all of the fabric in, but I still need a waistband! Need to cut that. Also, cutting out the gold A-line… need to do some measuring there I guess!

10:00 – Sewing of the gold skirt

The internet is distracting. All I wanted to do was find out the basics of knit A-line skirt construction, but no, the internet was much too exciting… Perhaps an episode of Criminal Minds involving twins contributed. It’s hard to keep storylines straight when the same actor plays a set of twins…

But I did find a post from ikat bag which discusses precisely what I was interested in! And it shows pockets! I’ve definitely told you of my love for pockets, right?

11:15 – Sewing of the purple skirt

The gold skirt took a while, and its not hemmed, and honestly the waistband needs to be shortened and reattached, but all in all, not bad. I very much dislike unpicking, so I’ll fix it in the morning. It’s easier then.

The purple fabric is off kilter, though. I don’t think it was the end of the bolt, as both sides are very weirdly off grain. And its fraying a lot…

11:55 – Finally got one side of the purple fabric cut straight, and without further ado I am going to start the waistband process! I figure I’ll worry about the other side (aka hem) when I’ve finished the entire skirt.

12:15 – I managed to sew the one side of the waistband down, and ironed the folded bit in place. I’ll start sewing soon, but have I mentioned that the purple fabric when hot smells like warm almonds?

12:45 – Finished the waistband and put in the zipper… Time for bed.

I hemmed it in the morning, and was all ready for the interview.

Never did get around to the third skirt, but it was since made into my black dress

I have learned that while A-line knit skirts are comfy, there is a greater risk of panty-lines, and it’s not good for sprawling when you want to take a nap… not that I have experience with that or anything…

But never fear, I’ve gotten pictures of the two finished skirts now. So, that was one crazy night!

September 5, 2014August 25, 2022

Foodie Friday #4

The all important bread update: I obtained bread flour this week. And I used a recipe… For the most part. And yeast. I got yeast.

What really happened was that I determined that I was unwilling to wait on purely sourdough bread to rise… Meaning days. So I finally tried it with yeast, and added some bread flour and all purpose along with the wheat for good measure. All in all, a dough that rose and a bread that is only a little crumbly. Finally, a bread I can cut into slices less than an inch thick!

This week I also tried a bunch of new things.

Like smashed potatoes! Success! I’ve been looking for some lunch related sides that I can freeze in order to reduce time in the morning. My schedule has worked out so I only have early classes two days a week, so on those days I’m less likely to want to prepare lunch. Hence easy pull from freezer options! So smashed potatoes were up, since I had just bought a bag of little reds, and I was in a crush-things mood. Otherwise known as an avoid looking at homework mood. I seasoned mine rather simply, salt and pepper, and this Mrs. Dash everything type spice I found in the cabinet. The apartment I’m living in has collected a variety of food items over the years that have been left by previous tenants. Some, like the spice cabinet, are nice additions, since my spices of choice range in the number of 5, and others are not… Don’t ask me about the freezer. I’m still shuddering. Anyways, the potatoes are delicious, easy to reheat in the microwave, and a nice addition to my lunch arsenal. If I keep this up, though, I’m going to need to source slightly bigger potatoes. These were walnut size, and reminded me a bunch of the “You can’t eat just one” Lay’s campaign.

And gummies! Less of a success. I managed to make something resembling gummies quite well. I tried to use this recipe, but with fruit puree instead of juice, but then I stopped measuring… Which is likely why my gummies are not exactly room temperature friendly. They don’t melt or anything, but they taste like mush. Sweet mush nonetheless. Much better straight from the fridge. Also, I tried rolling some room temperature ones in sugar, like another tutorial suggested… That time they melted. It was almost like the sugar dehydrated them, by releasing the “juice” from the gummy. I ate them anyway, but they were too sickly sweet and liquidy to consider even vaguely gummies at that point. I’ll have to try freezing some, seeing how that one works, but all in all, this was a nice treat, and next time I’m stealing some of my roommates orange juice instead. Trying juice only.

And cookies… I made some cookies. This recipe is pretty good! I’ve tried it before and liked it, and when I next get the hankering for traditional chocolate chip cookies, I’m sure I’ll use it again!

September 4, 2014

Subtle Cosplay Thursday – Briar Rose

Introducing a new Thursday installation!

I’m planning that every other Thursday I will be posting a subtle cosplay outfit. Of closet cosplay. Or whatever you would like to call it.

I realized recently that I have more or less neglected my subtle cosplay page, though I’ve definitely worn some inspired outfits. And, being completely honest, my momentum of the moment in posting is mostly due to a large backlog… That will run out at some point.

Since I started grad school, my project-ing has mostly been relegated to work avoidance… like the math homework I’ve got due tomorrow…

But one thing I can do regularly is subtle cosplay.

So I’ve decided to alternate between Design Donnerstag and Subtle Cosplay Thursday.

Presenting the first cosplay:

Aurora, or to be more specific Briar Rose, from The Sleeping Beauty

I handily used my new grey circle skirt, topped it with a cream knit shirt. I added a black cardigan, to simulate her black corset.

In my hair there is a thin black headband, but honestly it somehow blends with my hair. I also used my Claudia owl ring, and wore an ivory necklace which has a rose carved in it. My grandmother gave it to me, and it is the most delicate and lovely vintage necklace I own. Or rather, second to the first necklace she gave me.

Will this continue? I don’t know, but I certainly like the idea of Subtle Cosplay Thursday!

September 3, 2014August 19, 2018

Swingy Circle Skirt

My friends, this is my first full circle skirt. A lovely grey suiting (maybe wool?) circle skirt!

Up until now, I’ve been worried that I would move too quickly or be in a blast of wind, and then my underwear would show.

This kind of malfunction is quite common in my life… Remember my culottes? I’m going to need to make another pair, because I wore these today, and… um… I’m pretty sure my fellow busriders who were lucky enough to get a seat could see somewhere quite private. And keep in mind I’m short. At very nearly 5’3″, no one except toddlers should be able to see up my skirt. I blame my lack of pre-washing (due to my inability at the time of make, and my obliviousness. There were signs. But it is an opportunity to make a better pair.

This post isn’t about culottes though. It’s about a wonderful circle skirt.

The fabric for this is medium weight. Definitely autumn or winterwear, not summer. And possibly wool. I’m just too chicken to try to burn test it. Comfy wool, not super itchy, if it is in fact wool.

Weight is the key factor for me here, the weight of the fabric keeps this from being indecent. Look at this spinning picture. If we get over the fact that my bangs are creating a hilariously funny blur, I’ll tell you that this is me spinning pretty quickly. East coast swing dance quickly, though not quite jive or quickstep. There is no reason for me to spin quicker. And it’s still got some nice conical-ness to it! I did manage to spin quick enough for indecency, but not on camera and it took too much effort. Never happening again!

What else can I say?

It’s got a pocket? Big surprise there. I’m currently courting the title Princess of Pockets.

I interfaced the waistband for the first time? That was nice. Very necessary with the weight of the skirt too.

I’m very proud of my closure? The invisible zip isn’t very invisible, but for a first-try, I think it’s alright. And if I don’t care, no one else should. And the hooks and eyes. Perfection for me. Granted, I had to use black thread on a grey skirt, so its a bit visible, but four years in the costume shop have taught me my way around hooks and eyes!

That’s all for now, but you’ll be seeing it again tomorrow for a new potential series installation!

September 1, 2014August 19, 2018

Baby Groot!

Happy Labor Day! If you’re not American, happy Monday! May I wish you a blues-free Monday!

There was no beating around the bush with this title today.

I made baby Groots and I’m so proud of them.

Sculpey was the main ingredient. I used two different colors of brown Sculpey 3.

Other ingredients: Itsy bitsy clay pots, pins (i ended up using mostly T-pins), heavy-duty glue, paint, air dry clay, pin heads.

I got the clay and pots from AC Moore, and I had the other ones on hand.

Then I used the darker clay, which was honestly a bit too dark for Groot, and created the base layer. So basically just a tube of clay supported with pins.

Layering on thin ropes of clay, I created the rest of his body, then stuck pins in and wrapped other ropes around them for arms.

The head. This part took the longest. I started with a sphere of clay. Then I flattened and smushed and added and flattened and smushed. I took the heads off some black ball pins, and used them for eyes on the big version, while using small circles of the darker clay for the small version. For the “hair” I used lots of small ropes and stuck them on and blended.

At this point, it was late at night, so I waited until the morning before I did the baking.

I actually baked the groots inside their individual clay pots, so they’d likely stay up, since my baking sheet doesn’t exactly lay flat in the oven. It’s just a smidgeon too big for the oven. I think the small one was cooked for 30 minutes, and the larger one for 45.

Paint the pots white, fill the interior with air-dry clay, glue Groot to the clay (once mostly dry), and you’re done!

Ta da!

The little one is gracing the office of some geology graduate students and the bigger one is sitting proudly in my office!

August 29, 2014

Foodie Friday #3

(This was first published yesterday for about an hour and a half… But I refuse to make the same mistake two weeks in a row… So it’s reappeared for real today!)

So I’ve now completed my first two weeks of grad school, and in an effort to save money I’ve mostly been taking lunch into campus with me.

Over the summer I picked up some lunch supplies, meaning more dishes. I like kitchen supplies very much. So I found a nice thermos, for soups. It’s been too hot for soup.

I also picked up a nice, though largish, container, which has been nice for random pasta dish leftovers. And tapas like stuff. Helped out by silicone cupcake molds for spacing and separating.

But what I really like so far is my bento box. It’s not terribly pretty and I found out the hard way that it wasn’t leakproof. And I don’t even make the super pretty bento. You know the ones that look like pandas and Hello Kitty and are so sweet they hurt? I don’t make those… mostly because I don’t have the supplies or the will to obtain those supplies.

However, I like the structure of bento lunches. They’ve got easy to understand guidelines on how to put together your box and they are good for eaters like me. Aka those who like to eat little bits of everything instead of a lot of one thing. I’ve technically been eating the same stuff all week, but I’ve been puzzling them together in a variety of ways. Here is the site that helped me put together my bento plan for the semester: Just Bento. But simply using the guidelines half carbs, quarter veggies, quarter meat has been fantastic, and I (most of the time) don’t feel like snacking. Before lunch yes, but after lunch no.

It’s full of fun information, and lots of different ideas for filler items. I haven’t used any recipes from them yet, but these cabbage rolls, sweet veggie confetti, stir fried cabbage, and this kale-bacon-potato recipe sound delicious. This week my main filler items were cherry tomatoes from the farmer’s market, sauerkraut, and refrigerator pickles.

In fact, the refrigerator pickles were fantastic enough to share more about them! I think I may have well established my love of the site The Kitchn. I had bookmarked it a few months ago, but I never got a cucumber from the store. Fast forward a month and a half and I have an ugly overripe cucumber sitting in my fridge. My roommate was doing a mini fridge clean and pulled it out of the crisper and wrote a note, saying “Bad?” I knew at that point I needed to either use it or trash it. Originally I planned to put it in mini quiches, but as I was searching for a recipe for those, I re-stumbled upon the refrigerator pickles recipe. I eyeballed the measurements, since I was working with a smaller amount of ingredients late at night, and most of the silverware was dirty. I then actually forgot about them for a few days, at which point I found them and added them to my box. So delicious! The “quiches” turned out well too, though they ended up more like mini omelettes. Eggs, milk, and cheese do not a quiche make.

And a bread update! I made another loaf! This time it cooked all the way through, and even looked fairly pretty. Excepting the bottom of the loaf, that wasn’t so pretty. Still dense though. For some reason my dough just isn’t rising. I was hoping not to need to use yeast in my bread recipes, but it looks like if I want something even vaguely fluffy, the starter needs some boost.