June 2008 Archives

I am sitting here in our sweltering apartment, gleaming with sweat like nobody's business. It's the kind of weather that makes you wince when you cross your bare legs. 90 degrees, the weather forecast said. It's probably closer to 100 degrees in my little kitchen after roasting chicken breasts. And baking bread.

I've had this dream of baking perfect bread from scratch for quite some time. Armed with my new KitchenAid stand mixer, I'd really hoped that my days of dense, unleavened homemade bread were over. Using the recipe that came with the mixer, I tried it out first thing this morning. But even after two hours of rising time, the dough was as flat as the moment I slipped it into the greased bowl. It was also unusually hard and lumpy.

Disappointed, I shaped the dough into loaves and placed them gently in pans to rise some more. Same story: an hour later, the loaves still bore my fingerprints and had not risen even an inch.

So I chucked them into the oven with very low expectations. 45 minutes later, I was met with these golden beauties:

They are dense, yes. They are flat and look unleavened, definitely. But they are so very, very yummy and have just the right hint of sweetness and wheat-yness. They also go marvelously with my curried chicken salad (the reason for the roasted chicken breasts):

The curried chicken recipe is from Ina's Barefoot Contessa Family Style, which has been my favorite cook book lately. Because I didn't have curry powder, I made my own with cumin, coriander, white pepper, black pepper and a touch of turmeric. Delicious!

This is totally unrelated, but I just remembered a hilarious conversation I had with Kumi tonight.

Kumi (pointing to the refrigerator): Oh! Daddy in there!

Me: Daddy's in the refrigerator?

Kumi: Yeah! Daddy's underwater in there and BIG OWIE.

She was very certain of this and very concerned. I had a vivid mental image of MF floating in water in the refrigerator, banging on the door to be let out. I adore these fantastic little exchanges. I opened the refrigerator to assuage her worries and she looked relieved to see lots and lots of food with no Daddy in sight.

I have to step away from the computer now...my wrists are actually sticking to the keyboard because it is so freaking hot...how I long for air conditioning...

A while ago I wrote about how I make sushi every week. I'm still making California Rolls and the occasional Eel Roll, but we've decided to cut back on the nigiri (raw fish on little pillows of rice) for the time being. Mostly because it's a pretty significant trek for me to the Asian market and I can buy imitation crab at the local store.

For months, I've let Kumi play with a little rice or help me roll the sushi. But tonight she insisted, "All by self!" Not really paying attention, I handed her the extra bamboo mat and spread some rice on toasted nori (seaweed). A few minutes later she astounded me with this:

Okay, I'm the one who sprinkled the sesame seeds, but the rest was done single-handedly by a 23-month-old. It's more of a dumpling shaped roll, but a roll nonetheless. Pretty spectacular, I thought.

While I'm on the topic of food, I just discovered Orangette. So fabulous!

We went over a friend's house yesterday and basked in the rare sunshine -- the kids splashed in the wading pool and the moms lounged on the porch with cups of tea and good conversation. As I snapped photos of the children frolicking in the water, I noticed these sweet little strawberries ready to ripen. Love the green and blue color combination.

I have a lot of things to share with you but they are like the little strawberries and they are still mere ideas of something sweet and delectable -- not yet ripe enough, not yet ready for consumption. More soon...

Did I mention that I got a KitchenAid for my birthday? I am in love with it. I think it may have changed my life. It is, at the very least, changing my waist size. In the last two weeks I've used it to make banana bread, Cha Siu Bao (Chinese steamed pork buns), chocolate chip cookies, Zopf bread (a Swiss brioche-like braided bread), marshmallows, and the cuties you see above: anpans. Anpans are Japanese snacks/dessert with red bean paste in the middle of a sweet bun. When I taught English in Japan eons ago, I remember how so many of my students would munch on anpans or other sweet buns filled with custard or curry or melon flavoring (which I always thought was a little gross) for lunch.

The ones I made weren't quite as fluffy nor were they as large, but they brought back sweet memories of living in the middle of a rice field, navigating a culture that was at once mine and not mine and teaching hundreds of Japanese youth how to speak with a Los Angeles accent (I seem to recall that there was a superfluous amount of "like" sprinkled into my students' English sentences). My next challenge is mochi ice cream...I wonder if the KitchenAid can handle it?

For 12 days, above is what I usually saw: Kumi and my mom thoroughly having fun together. Bachan is back in Los Angeles and we are sorely feeling the loss.

We'll see you again in about six months. Miss you!!

This. Isn't this lovely? This is my new stash of fabric, most of which came from my mama. She carried several dozen pounds in her suitcase and shipped a few more dozen pounds of fabric. I am now totally fabric rich.

Friday was my birthday (37!!) and I had the best time. I was utterly spoiled this year and got some extravagant gifts, one of which was a BERNINA sewing machine. Amazing. I never thought I'd own such a high-end machine. I've only sewn a couple of pouches with it so far (I'm still a bit intimidated by it), but it sews beautifully -- nothing like my cheap-o Singer from Target. I can't wait to launch into my many projects.

Another highlight of my birthday was a sumptuous dinner at Chez Shea. The most luscious scallops ever. And the desserts!! I highly recommend the flourless chocolate cake. And the creme brulee. MF and I got a rare treat and had dinner alone; the atmosphere is very European to me, and the evening was deliciously romantic.

I reflected on my 36th year that went by so quickly and it's been such a fulfilling time. I tell you, the 30s keep getting better!

My mom is coming into town today and when I was shuffling around things on the kitchen counter, I was smitten by the color combination of this accidental still life. The creamer and sugar bowl are from Anthropologie.

Things will be a little quiet around here...see you in a few days.

A few weeks ago, I let Kumi paint on fabric and then made little pouches out of her artwork. Then last week we had a playdate and I busted out the fabric paint and canvas material and the kids loved the messy-let-loose-and-jab-all-over-the-material fun. After seeing their handiwork, I just had to make tote bags. They were so easy, I whipped them up this morning while Kumi rolled bobbins around the apartment, and they were all done in time for our afternoon playdate.

I made one tote for each little friend, carefully making sure I included the correct child's fabric art. I still have to make Kumi's but my, aren't they cute? Here's the other side:

Here's a more stylized shot:

What I love are the little rounded corners on the bottom and I even lined them and added a little pocket:

This one is lined with a tool-patterned cotton print and the other tote has a solid lilac cotton lining with a blueberry print pocket. Kumi's best girlfriend loves purple. She LOVED the tote and carried it around with her all day today.

Now for Kumi's... She doesn't have a favorite color, really, but there is this darling fabric that I just got that would be perfect. Fun.

Growing up, two Japanese publications had enormous influence on me. And when I browsed through the local Kinokuniya store here in Seattle today, I couldn't help but seek them out.

First, "Ribon".

This girl's manga changed my life. Here is the entry from Wiki:

Ribon (りぼん, Ribon?) is a monthly Japanese shōjo manga magazine published by Shueisha, first issued in August 1955. Its rivals are Nakayoshi and Ciao. Its target audience is young girls roughly 9-13 years old.

Issues contain various stories printed on multicolored newsprint, and are often more than 400 pages long. They are distributed with a sackful of goodies (furoku) that range from small toys to colorful note paper and other things, with the characters of various Ribon manga on them.

I remember going to Kinokuniya Bookstore in Los Angeles with my mom every month, dizzy with excitement for the new issue. They were quite expensive, as I recall, though the one I got above was $5.90, which was far less than I expected. The best part of course was the "furoku". Back in the day, there were lots of stationery, and booklets on cooking, etiquette, horoscopes, and fashion advice. I distinctly remember a page with an illustration of how to wear lacy anklets with cropped jeans. I don't think there were any plastic items, and there certainly weren't any 18-color marker sets:

I am glad to see that they are still including adorable stationery though. Ribon and many other Japanese comic books that I read inspired me to draw and learn Japanese. I even drew a short comic of a wild love affair between me and my crush at the time (I was 12 and there were a lot of hugs and hand-holding involved. Possibly some non-french kissing); I wish I could find it now. There were so many lazy summers spent reclining on the sofa with a bowl of grapes and back issues of Ribon. I still have an urge to pick up a comic book when I see a bowl of grapes.

The second publication that rocked my world as a pre-teen was a fashion magazine called "Non-No".

My mom, or maybe it was my mom's friend? -- anyway, someone brought me issues of this glossy mag regularly and I devoured it with passion. It didn't matter that at the time there was a huge rift between Japanese and American fashion (not that there isn't now -- hello, harajuku girls). I just loved the photography, and the way they provided mix and match options of clothes. I see that even after a couple of decades, the formula is still working for them:

I'm feeling a bit nostalgic right now -- those were such innocent and heady times when I could delve deeply into a fantasy or fashion world of wide-eyed, nymph-like girls without a care in the world. I can't wait to settle in with my new issues of Ribon and Non-no. Perhaps I'll brew a cup of decaf tea and get me some grapes.

I always enjoy adding to my hand-drawn/written journal, but it's something I forget to do lately. Which is odd, since for over a decade I was a daily journal-keeper. Perhaps juggling multiple journals is hard for me -- I love the blog medium and am excited to update it every day but the other journal requires more peaceful contemplation of some sort.

At any rate, I really like this page that I did a while ago. It's also my Illustration Friday contribution. Speaking of which, my very own Mama is the pick of the week!!! Check it out folks, the image is so great.

It's Friday Archives time! This is an illustration that I did for a client a few years ago -- it got rejected but I always kinda liked it. Not really my usual style, but it was a fun project nonetheless. I find that almost every potential client that finds me wants me to create daily candy-esque illustrations. I'm not sure how I feel about that. I do love Sujean's work though.

Anyway, I must prepare for the plumber's arrival for the second week in a row, and if all goes well and the sink is fixed (fingers crossed!) there will be kiddies that need to be entertained and fed.

A few weeks ago, I tried to make Kumi a necklace out of fabric and it didn't go so well. In fact, I don't even know where the thing is anymore.

I came upon this post at two straight lines and knew I found my answer. I cut up some paper towel rolls since there's no way my toddler can navigate "straw beads". Then I glued felt paper on them and painted little designs with my new fabric paint. I also cut out a bunch of flowers and leaves and now all I need is a string or ribbon. Kumi has a playdate today and I figured this would be a perfect rainy day activity. I'll let you know how it goes.

P.S. I will post a Friday Archive later on...

I just go gaga over paper and I want them all -- from kraft paper to the fanciest schmanciest handmade paper. I scored the beautiful wrapping paper above for $1 each (yes, I'm a big bargain hunter) at a blow-out sale held at a pricey boutique-y place. Normally I can't afford anything here, but these sales are awesome.

I wanted to get more, but Kumi woke up from her nap and I had to hurry home. But I'm so happy with these two. I especially love the "kimono" pattern one with the blue background and white flowers. Gorgeous.

I don't wear aprons. But this urge to make one has been possessing me lately and so I browsed through my many sewing books. I opted for the reversible pattern in Lotta Jansdotter's book. I love Lotta -- her designs are so simple and charming.

Except her apron. As I was sewing it last night, I couldn't figure out why there were these strange side panels to the body. And when I finished it, there were indeed weird flap things that looked out of place to me. Maybe I sewed it wrong? The illustrations and pictures didn't have any odd side flaps...So I modified it and it looks much better now:

Here's the other side:

Here's Kumi trying it on because it's so pretty and polka-dotty. She really likes the apron ties.

The hangers you see above are from my thrifting venture last weekend. They are vintage children's hangers in perfect condition for a buck each. Love 'em (Kumi loves them too and can't seem to stop touching them as you can see).

This image is modeled after a friend's baby -- she was only about three-months-old at the time I drew this and I loved seeing her slumbering away in her infant car seat with one of those cute little padded neck-supports. She is a very stylish baby and rocked the house with her leopard print tights.

Look at these lovelies...they are SO GOOD. So good. The recipe is from the Barefoot Contessa Family Style cookbook, which abounds with the most fattening recipes (which makes it, naturally, the best). Kumi loves these incredibly moist and yummy blueberry sour cream muffins too and we've been devouring them non-stop. I need to really start exercising.

Here they are on my new-to-me cake stand which I am totally in love with.

I adore the creamy color and the scalloped edges. This was a thrift find over the weekend. I was trying to get Kumi to sleep in her stroller and saw a huge sale sign pointing into an alley. As I passed a little lemonade and cookie stand manned (girled?) by two pre-teens, there in front of me was the most amazing garage sale ever. Turns out that the woman used to own a children's boutique in Seattle and was selling off the remains of her inventory. Tons of vintage and vintage-y stuff that made me dizzy with happiness -- I wanted to buy up the whole lot but had very little cash and the ATM was very, very far away.

I'll show you what I was able to buy over the next few days. They are so cute, truly.

A nice day today -- in the afternoon MF, Kumi and I went to celebrate another little friend's birthday. We joke that he is Kumi's boyfriend and they already kissed when they were around 6 months old.

I forgot to take my camera with me to the party so I don't have the great shot of him trying to blow out the candles (all two of them). I did, however, snap a photo of the gift I made. It's a growth chart/wall hanging with pockets. Clearly embroidery is not my forte, but overall, I like the way it came out. The photo makes it look a lot more wonky than it is in real life, and it was really hard to photograph. Oh well.

I included little goodies like stickers and crayons to fill the pockets, as well as a mini-sharpie to mark the height of little Barend as he grows. This was a lot of fun to make and I even sewed a little bag to put the whole kit and caboodle in it:

I've managed to post every day for two months but there is a huge project looming above me and posts will be much more sparse in the coming months. Then again, I might be able to carve out a little time to keep updating frequently. If I could have any super power, I think it would be the ability to stay up 24 hours a day or to be able to work lightning fast...