Sew, Mama, Sew! Sewing Machine Meme

June was Sewing Machine Month on Sew, Mama, Sew! Since I am the worlds biggest procrastinator was busy, I didn't fill out the sewing machine meme until today! Hey, it's still June for a a little more than a day, yes? I'm going to talk about Greenie since she's the one I sew on the most!

What brand and model do you have?

A Husqvarna (Viking) CL8 (1960s era)

How long have you had it?

I bought it on Queen's Day the first year I lived here, so since April 30, 2007

How much does that machine cost (approximately)?

I paid €30, though Martijn says I should've haggled the price down. I was too excited and just said "OKAY" as soon as she told us the price she wanted.

What types of things do you sew (i.e. quilting, clothing, handbags, home dec projects, etc.)?

Well, I've done a little bit of everything on this machine. It'll sew through just about anything. Currently I'm trying to make a puppet.

How much do you sew? How much wear and tear does the machine get?

I seem to go through spurts where I'll sew for several days for several hours each day and then I'll go a few weeks without sewing.

Do you like/love/hate your machine? Are you ambivalent? Passionate? Does she have a name?

I LOOOOOVE my machine. Her name is Greenie. Yeah, I'm really creative.

What features does your machine have that work well for you?

It is a straight stitch only machine, but it makes nice even stitches and doesn't get all jammed up. It's also a free-arm machine which is nice when I am sewing hems and cuffs.

Is there anything that drives you nuts about your machine?

Nothing really. I do need to remember to oil her or she gets cranky, but that's not unusual for a machine of this age.

Do you have a great story to share about your machine (i.e., Found it under the Christmas tree? Dropped it on the kitchen floor? Sewed your fingernail to your zipper?, Got it from your Great Grandma?, etc.!)? We want to hear it!

I left my sewing machine in Utah when I moved since it weighs approximately 73 billion pounds (okay, only about 35, but still). I was starting to get the "I really need a sewing machine BAD" itch. On Queen's Day, the entire country basically turns into a huge flea market, so when we were wandering around looking I spotted this little green machine in her case on the ground by someone's table. I peeked at it and started thinking about it. We finished walking through the market and I was still thinking about it, so we went back and bought it. THEN came the fun part. This is not a lightweight machine. Like my machine that I left in Utah, this is entirely metal everything and it is not a dainty lightweight, and we'd gone to the city center on our bikes!!! Luckily, we live fairly closeby so Martijn hopped on his bike and sped to get the car. Once he was back with the car, we loaded the machine in and I followed home by bike. Of course, Martijn took it apart and made sure everything was in order before I started sewing on it. About 6 months after that, we took it apart a little more to really give it a good cleaning and we found a very dead BEE inside! Who knows how long that had been there, this machine is from the 60s.

Would you recommend the machine to others? Why?

Indeed I would. It's a good sturdy machine. It's all metal parts, which means you don't have to worry about something snapping off inside and expensive repair.

What factors do you think are important to consider when looking for a new machine?

I think the most important thing to consider is what you want your machine to do for you. If you're wanting something that will embroider and do the dishes for you, then obviously my machine isn't the way to go. But if you want a steady workhorse then it's perfect! Of course, price is a consideration. When people ask about a sub $150 machine, I ALWAYS suggest looking used first. You're much more likely to get more for your money that way.

Do you have a dream machine?

Oh you bet I do!

This is the ORANGE 6000 series Viking. SOMEDAY I will have my greedy little fingers on this machine. Someday.

Menu Plan Monday- June 29, 2009

There ended up being a couple of days where I didn't need to cook, so there are some carryovers from last week!

First, the recap:

Lighter Sesame Chicken- This is very good, but I think if you make it as written you will feel sad due to the lack of sauce. I used two chicken breasts and didn't alter the sauce recipe. The amount was just about right.

Oven Fried Coconut Chicken- Good, but it needs a little something more. I'm going to try more lime juice in the marinade next time, and possibly a dash of chili powder in the coating. I liked the flavor a lot but it could use a little KICK!

click the banner and "Menu Plan Monday" for more menu planning ideas

Hobo Style Catfish Dinner- This is a carryover from last week. I got a comment from the recipe author saying that the double amount of dressing was a mistake, so it's just a half a cup! Not a half a cup plus 8 TBSP (which is also a half a cup).

Pork Chops- Still working out what I want to do with these, though I suspect I might try something with apples, and possibly do another tinfoil dinner on the grill since I anticipate it being approximately 90 billion degrees this week.

Cold Spaghetti Salad- Again, trying to keep things cool!

Taco Salad

Uh, something from the freezer. Sorry for the half-assed attempt at a menu plan, it's so hot and sticky here it's melting my brains.

Friday Fragments- June 26, 2009

Time again for those fragmented thoughts that aren't quite post-worthy on their own!

-Martijn brought flowers home for me the other day for no reason which was really nice.

-I had my eyes dilated and they don't use the "help your pupils shrink back to a normal size" drops here, so the entire bus ride home I kept worrying that we were going to get into some sort of horrible fiery crash and the paramedic who is trying to assess my condition is going to either declare I have a very poor prognosis due to my pupils being fixed and dilated OR he's going to think I'm some strung out sort of druggie... especially with the horrible bruise I got yesterday when they drew blood.

-I spent the entire day on Thursday speaking Dutch. Afterwards, my brain needed a nap. The people that I was speaking to probably needed a brain nap as well.

-Speaking of Dutch... my conversation class started on Monday and I think it's going to be good. Nothing too high stress, but enough practice to help out some.

-I'm kinda getting tired of people dying. I mean, I know it's the way things work, but that doesn't mean I have to like it.

-The typical Dutch breakfast (and lunch, and sometimes dinner) is a piece of bread with something on it. Martijn generally gets up and eats breakfast before me. After he goes to work I find random bits of sandwich in strange places throughout the house. I think he wanders while he eats and then forgets to eat the last bite. I give him a lot of grief about this... except now I can't anymore. Because I came home from an appointment and found 2 bites of a peanut butter sandwich sitting on my desk, right where I left it this morning.

Click on the Friday Fragments button for more fragmented fun at Half-Past Kissin' Time!

A New Twist on Stuffed Peppers

Using Mrs. D. Lightful's Nestled Eggs recipe as inspiration, I came up with my own version using bulgur instead of rice.

For the filling you will need:
4 or 5 carrots, diced (you could grate the carrot to cut down on cooking time if you wish)
3 or 4 stalks celery, trimmed and diced into small pieces
1 small zucchini, diced into small pieces
1 onion, diced
1/2 head fennel, sliced thinly
1 tbsp butter
1 cup bulgur
2 cups water + 1 tbsp veggie bullion (or 2 cups veggie bullion)

Additionally you will need:
2 bell peppers, halved and seeded
4 eggs
Salt and Pepper to taste

Start by melting the butter in a heavy bottomed stockpot or high sided skillet. Add the carrots, onion, celery, zucchini, and fennel and cook until softened (about 10 minutes). Add the bulgur and mix everything well. Then add the veggie broth, cover and keep on low heat until all of the liquid has been absorbed.

While you're waiting for the bulgur to finish, put the peppers open side up in your casserole dish. Add about 1/4 cup of water, cover, and microwave for 5 minutes. If you don't want to nuke them you can steam them on the stovetop or prebake them for 10-15 minutes. Drain the water off.

Fill the pepper halves about 2/3 of the way full of the bulgur mixture. Put the rest of the bulgur in the bottom of your casserole dish. Nestle the pepper halves into the bulgur. Crack an egg into each pepper half and bake at 150 C (300F) for about 25 minutes. The eggs should be set and cooked through. Salt and pepper to taste!

If you don't want to do the eggs, this still makes a fabulous vegetarian stuffed pepper filling.

Be sure to check out Tasty Tuesday @ Balancing Beauty and Bedlam and Tempt my Tummy Tuesday @ Blessed with Grace for more yummy recipes.

Hulling Strawberries With a STRAW!

I stole this tip from Alea over at Premeditated Leftovers, but it's really too nifty to not pass along again.

I'm not terribly handy with a knife. If I can avoid using one, I probably will. It keeps the chances of me keeping all of my fingers higher too! So when I read that you can hull strawberries with a STRAW I couldn't wait to try! And guess what? It works like a charm.

You just push the straw in at the bottom of the strawberry and the stem and white bit just pop right out. This made my jam making go oh so much faster. Hop on over to Premeditated Leftovers to read her jam canning instructions. I just did freezer jam because it only takes 5 minutes to mash everything together and put in cups. Canning jam takes more dedication (and mason jars) than I had at the time.

Be sure to check out all of the great posts linked to Kitchen Tip Tuesdays, hosted by Tammy.

Jummy Prototype

Sometime last week Mr Jummy walked in sniffling (strangely, his sniffling sounds a lot like Martijn's sniffling). He said he was lonely. So, what's a person to do?

The Future Mrs Yummy

I think maybe it would've been useful to get some sort of structural engineering degree in order to construct this thing, but there has been some progress made. I'm pretty happy with the arms and legs at this point and the head is midway there. I think I need to do some final tweaks on it to make it the right shape. Then the body and actually putting the thing together. Meanwhile, it looks like something very very violent occurred here.

Carnage and Mayhem!

Once we get the prototype done, then we can work on a Mrs Yummy (she's going to be an American, hence the Y instead of J)!

Menu Plan Monday- June 22, 2009

I was pretty awesome last week.

The Phyllo wrapped Salmon Filets are quite good and if I get really crazy I'll translate (and fix because whoever figured out the amounts on that thing was up to no good) that recipe. I have extra salmon in the freezer, so I might make it again this week if my other chosen recipes aren't speaking to me (or if Martijn's dinner plans get canceled again and I'm scrambling for another dinner idea).

This Aztec Couscous recipe was also quite nice. I left out the jalapeño since they're rather non-existant here (you can get the jarred ones, but I wouldn't use the whole jar and it would just go to waste). We ate it warm for dinner and I had leftovers of it cold the next day. I think I liked it cold better, but it's good both ways.

I also made the Curried Cauliflower Soup and I will make it again since it was quite nice. We had it with shredded zucchini and ricotta melt sandwiches. YUUUUM!

click the banner and "Menu Plan Monday" for more menu planning ideas

Lighter Sesame Chicken- This has been sitting in my "to try" folder for the past year and a half, so I'm going to try it at last. If we don't like it then I need to remember to DELETE it!

Hobo Style Catfish Dinner- I can't quite figure out where the extra 1/2 cup of Italian dressing goes, can you? It looks quick and easy though and I am a big fan of both.

Nestled Eggs- I maybe will fiddle with the filling a little bit, maybe do bulghur instead of rice.

Macaroni Mix- No recipe on this, it's basically mac, little bit of minced meat, tomato paste, and a seasoning mix.

Oven Fried Coconut Chicken- This looks intriguing. It may happen on leg quarters instead of just drumsticks since they're about half the price (figure that one out, more meat for less money, yahoo!).