Because You Asked

So apparently I got some mouths watering with this photo of my Sweet and Sour Pork. (The sauce was not added when I took the pic.)

I don't usually post about food or recipes, though I live to cook (and am good at it, if I do say so myself!) but my Readers asked for the recipe, so here it is. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

vegetable oil

4 lbs. pork, cubed

2 t sugar

1 1/2 t salt

1 T light soya sauce

1c flour

1/4 c cornstarch

2 t baking powder

4 peppers, cut into large triangles

2 onions, sliced

1 clove garlic, chopped

1 shallot, chopped

2t ginger

1 tin pineapple chunks, drained

Cut pork into bite sized cubes. Put meat in bowl and add sugar and let sit 5 minutes. Add salt to meat and mix well. Add soya sauce and stir.

In a separate bowl, combine flour, cornstarch and baking powder and mix well. Put small amount of pork cubes in the coating mixture and toss to coat well.

In a large pot, heat vegetable oil for deep frying. Place coated pork into oil and deep fry for 8 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon and place on paper towel to drain.

Once the meat is all cooked, stir fry peppers, onion and spices in a small amount of oil in a wok. Once the veggies are somewhat soft, add the meat and pineapple. Add sweet and sour sauce (see additional recipe below) and mix well. Serve hot with basmati or fried rice.

Sweet & Sour Sauce

1 c ketchup

1/2 c brown sugar

1/4 c vinegar

cornstarch, to thicken

In a small pot, mix the first 3 ingredients and bring to a boil. Mix cornstarch with a small amount of water (or the juice left from the pineapple) and whisk in. Allow sauce to thicken slightly.

Bad Things Come in 3's.

Things have been on the quiet side around here. The last week has been kind of rough. I got really sick on Monday night and had to make an emergency trip to my doc on Tuesday. Turned out I had a nasty infection, so I had to go on hardcore antibiotics. I spent the rest of the week either couch surfing or sleeping.

Thursday, a visit to my pain specialist revealed that a major issue I've had with my left foot over the past 7 months is actually something that needs surgery to correct. It's going to be an ugly operation when I finally get it and I am not looking forward to it, (dreading it actually) but I can't leave it like it is and if the surgery can fix it, then I'd rather suffer in the short term. I'd like to be able to walk without limping. It's really frustrating to not be able to go hiking with my guys and my dog.

As if all that wasn't enough, we got news over the weekend that my husband's uncle suffered a heart attack on Friday. He had a quadruple bypass yesterday and is now recovering in hospital.

Needless to say, all of these things have left me tired and unmotivated to do much the last few days. I have slowly been chipping away at journalling my Olympic experience in my Olympic ROD journal. As you can see from the pic, I am doing some of it by hand and some on the computer. With not having any feeling in my hands, writing by hand is an onerous task.

I'm using a handwriting font and I like the way it looks. The point is to get it all down before I forget. Fortunately, I blogged alot while the games were on, so I can read my archives if I think I need to jog my memory.

And just for kicks, here's tonight's dinner. I made sweet and sour pork from scratch-everything, including the sauce, which I had not yet added when I took this photo. It was YUMMY! Years ago, I learned to cook authentic Chinese from one of the mums who had a child in my son's class. She taught me how to make several dishes and I still make them from time to time.

Textile Love

I had to zip over to IKEA this afternoon because I needed a special bulb for my desk lamp. While I was there, I had a walk through and poked around in the fabric department. I came across this fabulous fabric and had to have some!

I love how only parts of it are highlighted with olive green.

I love all the seed pods...

the birds...

the pomegranates.

It was a mere $2.99/yd so I got two yards worth. Now the question is what I'm going to make with it? A pillow case? A journal bag? A cover for a new ROD journal? Or all of the above? The possibilities are endless!

Odds N' Ends

Revisiting my 40 Things Before I Turn 40 list:

1. Make some new art friends (workin' on it!) 2. Get a tattoo (though first I have to find out if this is feasible, given my health.) 3. Go to the Olympics 4. Meet some athletes 5. See Barenaked Ladies perform 6. Write & publish another zine 7. Keep my ROD journal till it's filled up 8. Brush up on my Spanish 9. Work on a large canvass 10. Learn a new art skill 11. Go swimming in the ocean 12. Go on a picnic with my sweetie 13. See the Olympic Flame 14.Watch the Olympic Torch Relay 15. Cut my hair short again 16. Host an art project over the summer 17. Take a day trip somewhere local but fun 18. Carry the Paralympic Torch 19. Ride the Zip line 20. Purchase and teach myself to play a harmonica 21.Make a journal out of my Olympic ephemera and journal in it. 22. Submit something for publication 23. Host a swap or two (Just wrapped one up.) 24. Photograph my favourite trees in Stanley Park to show the progression of the seasons 25. Create a calendar from my own art for 2011. 26. Print photos that I have taken from the Games so I can use them in my journal. 27. Do one project that's outside my comfort zone this year 28. Host an art party 29. Spend a weekend playing with paint 30. Take an online class (I am just starting two with Mary Ann Moss.) 31. Make and send away some RAKs (Sent one out so far!) 32. Discover some new magazines/zines and buy/read them regularly 33. Take my laptop and/or journal to a funky coffee shop and write 34. Sew myself some cool pillows (I bought the fabric.) 35. Clean out the closet in my studio and reorganize it. 36. Plan a trip for our 20th wedding anniversary (In progress.)

I think I've cut a good swath through it so far. I still have 4 things to add, but like I said, I like to leave room for the unknown. There will be 40 things on there before the year's up!

We had some reno work done here yesterday-new double paned windows in the living room. I discovered a 1/2 inch gap in one during a storm. The wind was blowing and and that simply would not do! Our new ones are fabulous-we have a static pane in the center and a slider with a screen on either side.

Now we're just waiting till next week for our fix-it guy to come back and do the cosmetic touch ups and hang a new blind. I am deliriously happy about the new windows. They will help keep the house alot cooler this summer. Last summer, temps soared to 35C in the house. If you know anything about Multiple Sclerosis, you'd know that hot weather is the enemy. Hopefully we've managed to win half the battle with the reno.

Betty commented on one of my previous posts and asked what an "ROD" was. It's shorthand for "Remains Of the Day" which is an online class taught by the fabulous Mary Ann Moss. Some of my posts about these journals are here and I have a video of the first one I made here.

Okay, gotta fly! Time's a wastin'!

From A Humble Eraser

This morning, I had the wild hare to carve some rubber stamps. These are the two I made from some small, dollar store erasers.

I used my Speedball linoleum cutter tool. It has all the different sized blades neatly stored in the handle. It's a relatively cheap tool to purchase-I think I spent a grand total of $13 CDN on mine.

I like how primitive and folky they turned out.

It took me awhile to carve them, as I have no feeling in my hands, but it was relaxing. I listened to my iTunes while I puttered.


There's something very satisfying about making your own stamps. I want to make more. It really isn't all that hard and if I can do it, so can YOU!


If you need a really good tutorial I recommend Gennine's. Penn pointed me in her direction and if you don't know about Gennine's blog, you should!

Remember the wonderful funky tea mug I bought from Starbuck's as a birthday gift to myself? Well that was my inspiration. I just couldn't resist! Now I can stamp it into my journal and anywhere else I please!

If you get inspired to carve yourself some stamps, let me know and I'll link ya! The more eyecandy, the better. *wink*

Aesthetically Pleasing

Remember my "40 Things Before I'm 40" list? Well #32 is "Discover some new magazines/zines and buy/read them regularly." To that end, I got my very first copy of Uppercase Magazine this afternoon! It's absolutely yummy!

If you want a peek at the pages, Uppercase made this fab little video.

UPPERCASE magazine, issue 5 from UPPERCASE gallery on Vimeo.

Order it now, thank me later. *wink*

Little Star ROD Journal

I couldn't help myself. I just finished sewing together my Olympic ROD journal last week and I had to jump right back into sewing another one. I've realized that for me, the best part is the making part, more so than the actually journalling part of the journal. (Go figure!) I like sifting through papers and ephemera bits and cobbling together the pages and signatures.

I've had this fabric in my stash for a long, long time and always liked it. I think I was saving it for the "perfect" project and I finally found it. I had just enough to cut two journals, so I've made this one for a gal pal (she doesn't know it's hers yet!) and the second one will be for me.

This journal is small, just enough to fill your hand. It measures 3 1/2 inches square. I love working small. It's my thing.

Here's the first page.

I love this image I clipped from a magazine.

I added some bits and pieces of my art. This was an ATC I made some time ago.

Another page.

A paint chip sample.

Another piece of my art.

Some magazines have such wonderful images for using in this type of journal.

Another of my ATCs.

The last page.

It's another chunky monkey. I love packing the pages full of good stuff. It's so relaxing and freeing to throw bits together and make it work.
I just want to keep sewing journals-it's so addictive.

Now I'll package this one up and mail it off to my friend. I am excited about surprising her!

Scenes From Sunday

I've been so busy posting about other things, that I hadn't got to posting pics from my weekend yet. Last Sunday we took Indy with us downtown for lunch and shopping at Granville Island and then afterwards we went to Vanier Park, to the dog beach there so he could swim in the ocean.

As you can see, he *loves* it. He can spend hours fetching either a ball or his water kong. I love watching him swim in the big waves. He's so confident in the water and it clearly makes him so happy.


Running with a pack of new friends. Free dog!

As a rule, he's not much of a digger, but he does enjoy digging in the sand when he's at the beach.

I love this shot of Indy's paw print.

About a week ago, we had quite a storm, with winds reaching 90kmh. It was enough to beach and destroy several boats and I guess this was another victim of that storm.

The high rises on the edge of Stanley Park. Lots of sneaux up on those mountains-the skiers are happy!

Playing with the macro setting.

The pond at Vanier Park.

The planetarium and some very odd art (?) installation.

My husband actually thought this was meant to warn people off the grass. Yeah I can see how he'd think that-it's debatable whether this really is art or not. It's all subjective.

All Hail The Magic Mail Box!

So this cool envie just arrived from my friend Maria Lamb.

I knew it would hold something really good, I just didn't know what!
Finding art in my magic mail box is very happy-making.

Inside was a handmade book. This is the cover, made from a vintage pattern. (I *love* old sewing ephemera!)

Inside the cover, she'd sew envelopes she'd made from old wallpaper samples.

Inside each envelope, she'd tucked a whole pile of wonderful ephemera. The orange book you see here is a notebook from the Farmers' Fertilizer Works. The inside cover cracks me up. It says:

"Everybody should carry something about his person giving his name and address and stating whom he desires to have notified in case of serious accident."

Then it has a line for the name and address and then "in case of serious accident to me" and a line below that to list who you'd like to have called.

Here's the contents of the next envelope. Vintage postcards, a stamp save card, bingo card and a bunch of wee pieces of ephemera in a glassine envelope.

And still more art fodder!

Maria also included some of her art-some ATCs, some postcards, (she does the most wonderful dog portraits!) her business card...

...and a colouring book with line drawings she made. FUN!

THANK YOU Maria! That was a wonderful surprise! I look forward to using all this amazing stuff in my projects!

Olympic ROD Journal : Progress Report 2

Workin', workin', workin'!! Yesterday I chose the photos I wanted to include in my Olympic ROD journal and sent them, via the Internet to be printed. They were ready within a 1/2 hour-how convenient is that?!?

Once I had the photos in hand, I went and made colour copies, reduced to 50% of the original size so that they would fit nicely into the journal.

While I watched a movie last night, I cut the sheets apart and trimmed the copies. Then I sorted them into pile by subject.

This morning, I was up early, so I came right into the studio and started gluing the images in my journal. It took me an hour and a half, which was pretty fast!

Here's a shot of the signatures sewn into the fabric cover.

This is what the cover looks like. The whole thing is about 1 1/2 inches thick!



The next step is for me to go back into my blog archive and cut and paste the parts of my entries about the Olympics and Paralympics to Publisher, format it and then print that out to be included. Once that's taken care of, the rest of the journalling will be done by hand.



I am pleased with how much I've managed to do in just one week. I didn't work on it every day, so it's really less than a week, but the point is, I'm making progress!


I had to show you this: it's some gum that were were given in our "welcome kit" when we picked up our uniforms. I just got around to opening it because I wanted to sew the packaging into my journal.


It amuses me that there were "official" Olympic candies-gum and chocolate bars. I sewed the chocolate bar wrapper into my journal as well. I've seen the bars still for sale in a few places and I will probably buy a few more before they're gone, just to have. It's a Snickers bar, in case you're wondering.