With how well my brother (and fellow curly head), W., paints and how close we are, you’d think we’d be cut from the same cloth and I’d be good with a paintbrush on canvas, just like him. Well, I’m not. At all!

First case in point: the painting at the beginning of this post. I call this man Mr. Pibbs. That’s really not his name, but he looks like a Mr. Pibbs, don’t you think? Compare Mr. Pibbs to…my painting of a monkey.

What you see above is an extrapolation from one of my finest art pieces, the full glory of which you see below.

I’d asked W., as I have ever since we were kids, if I could play with his paints, and to challenge me to draw something. He asked me to paint a monkey, and I, well, tried. Haha.

Next exhibit up for consideration: Val. That, again, is not his name, but I like giving random names to W.’s portrait projects. Please consider Val…

…right alongside my attempt…at an elephant.

But you know, crafting comes in many forms. I’m unabashedly proud of the fact that W. paints light years better than I do. I quite welcome the fact that he’s so much better at it than I am! I’ll stick to frosting on a cupcake, or stitches on fabric!

I plan to post more of W.’s work as he churns them out. They continue to inspire me to work on my own brand of crafting. I hope they inspire you, too. My brother is proof that if you choose a craft that you truly love, it will love you back.

…for heart-y cupcakes!

These are the Red Velvet Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting that I made for Valentine’s Day. I know this post is nearly two weeks old, but I finally just got the chance to dowload the bajillion photos from my camera last night (even pictures from Christmas!). I hope you enjoy them!

Something I realized as I was decorating these, as pointed out by my brother: When you work with a palette of coordinating colors, in this case red, pink and white, you get a cohesive design element together, even if each cupcake is decorated differently. The result is eye candy that’s just as fun to eat! I’m keeping this in mind for when I decorate other cupcakes with a theme in the future.

Yum!

By the way, I haven’t been by most of your blogs because I’m just now finally buckling down to blog duties after months of running around like a headless chicken. I hope to be by real soon and can’t wait to see what everyone’s been up to!

“Beautiful soup, so rich and green
Waiting in a hot tureen!
Who for such dainties would not stoop?
Soup of the evening, beautiful soup!
Beautiful soup! Who cares for fish,
Game, or any other dish?
Who would not give all else for two
Pennyworth of beautiful soup?”
-    Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland

Soup is soothing to both eater and cook. The best kinds that are a delight both to make and eat are made with simple, basic ingredients: good broth and lots of memories. Flavors inspired by kitchens past are incomparable when they mingle in an aromatic, warm, comforting bowl of soup!

I had the chance to make Chicken Sotanghon Soup one wintry weekend. There was leftover rotisserie chicken from Costco and staple stock ingredients in the fridge, dried noodles in the pantry, and an itch in my hands to cook something. I’d been feeling out of sorts the whole week because I was still recovering from jetlag and had a knot of thoughts in my head—and I thought this malady could only be cured in the kitchen.

Sotanghon is the Filipino version of bean thread noodles. Called glass or cellophane noodles in other cultures, they’re made from mung bean starch (not rice flour like its culinary cousin, the bihon) and cook up transparent. They’re served in soups or as a dry noodle dish, as in stir-fried with vegetables, wood ears and tofu.

One of my absolute favorite things to do in the kitchen is prep cooked chicken for soups or salads. Many people find the task laborious and time consuming, especially when the meat has to be flaked off of a whole chicken and you have to deal with chicken bones and the sinewy stuff that holds all that meat together. I actually like to sit and take my time doing so, transforming a sinewy, bony mess like this…

…into clean, neat threads of chicken meat, like this! (Ahhh. So…pretty, no? Heehee.)

The process is very therapeutic, like calling order to chaos. My Lola Pin, who’s my mom’s mom, made her version of this soup for many years. She flaked the chicken meat patiently, humming while she worked. She did it with clinical precision (she was a nurse, after all) and was always calm and concentrated. Maybe this is why I love doing it, too.

I made my version of a mirepoix with garlic, onion, leeks, celery and ginger. Sauteed some baby bella mushrooms that were getting bored in the fridge from neglect, poured in some chicken stock, and let the broth come to a boil. Added the flaked chicken and simmered the mixture for about 15 minutes, or until the meat was tender and the broth took on its flavor. Dropped in the sotanghon noodles (which had been woken up from sleep through a 15-minute soak in a water bath—you’ll see this in the top left corner of the picture above.) Cooked the mixture for only about five minutes more as the noodles cook fast.

(Don’t ask me for a recipe—even as a stickler for rules, I always go by feel with this, just like Lola Pin!)

I topped off the happy stew with some thin slices of red bell pepper, so the eyes had something colorful to feast on before the mouth did!

Maybe even Alice would like to share a bowl of this soup with the Mad Hatter, and even the Queen of Hearts may very well approve.

Chanced upon these at the Cloverfield Farmer’s Market in Santa Monica this morning. I’d never seen colored carrots and cauliflower before. I think they’re too pretty to eat!

I got my stash from Sublime Stitching in the mail today! I had them sent to my workplace and was practically skipping down the halls when I found these in my cubbyhole and had to stop myself from giggling with glee. Didn’t expect them to get here so fast!

If you like to embroider and haven’t heard of Sublime Stitching, OH GOODNESS. I found them online because I wanted to get back into needlework other than cross-stitch (there are multitudes of cross-stitchers in my family and I wanted to do something different!). This is because, and you’re welcome to roll your eyes, I REALLY enjoyed myself in grade school when we had to make the requisite stitch sampler. You know–the one where you had to show off all the basic stitches, from the running stitch to the satin stitch. (I know, I know. I was weird.)

Sublime Stitching (whose tagline is “This ain’t your gramma’s embroidery!”) publishes cool, modern embroidery designs ranging from the dangerous…

…to the dainty.

I love all of their stuff and these were precisely what I was looking for when I decided I wanted to take up embroidery again. They even have artist series sets from popular crafters, like this from The Black Apple.

I even got a Mystery Pack! Oooohhhh.

Turns out it was patterns from “Viva Las Vegas” and “Country cool” sets.

And I even love the little thank-you card that came with the packet!

I’m going to use the patterns for birthday gifts to friends throughout the year, so I can’t show you what I got because a lot of them read this blog. But, HERE’s where to go to visit Sublime Stitching and explore all their inspired creations.

May this weekend find you in happy stitches!

…your Happy Hearts Day? Mine was filled with Red Velvet Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting, 7-up Salad (I know, I was intrigued, too!), the chatter of new friends (hello, Lulubelle!) and balsa airplanes loop-de-looping.

I promise a real post soon! Otherwise I won’t hear the end of it from Ross. Or Via. Or Jen. Or Ms. Nina. Ok I’ll stop now.