Here’s what came of my first improv-pieced quilt block, from that class taught by Alissa over at The Urban Craft Center in Santa Monica.

My very first improv half apron! Made with scraps from my stash and muslin. Inspired by Denyse Schmidt’s Shimmy, Shake and Bake Apron.

Ever since that class, I’ve been quietly rooting through my fabric stash and building a new one—for my new fascination with modern quilting. It’s this pseudo-serious project for me, because now I’m starting to recognize fabric I can just live with, and fabric I NEED! I’ve also joined the LA Modern Quilt Guild, read Denyse Schmidt’s book as much as I can, read up on color, even art (which is a stretch for me!).

It’s opened a lot of doors in crafting for me. I’m falling deeper and deeper in love with this craft, and can’t wait to keep trying my hand at it until I get better.

THIS is kind of that moment in my crafting life I’ve waited for. I don’t know if you’re a crafter, or if this has ever happened to you, but I’ve collected fabric for along time, with pieces I knew I could NEVER cut into because they were too special. With improv piecing, no block you ever make can be wrong. With the freedom modern quilting allows, NOW I know I can, have, need to use this fabric!

L-R: Japanese cottons from a recent trip to Manila; Italian Cottons from a trip to Bassetti Tessuti in Rome

All this makes me really miss my grandmother. Lola Acay was the big quilter in my life, and though she made very traditional pieces, she had an artistic eye for fabric and color, and would LOVE all the things I’m discovering as I learn more about modern quilting.

L-R: My first improv-pieced block, my grandma’s rail-fence throw-pillow case

I think, one of these days I’ll visit her old house in Dumaguete, just to piece a couple of improv blocks on her manual sewing machine, the one she used to make all those quilts up until her 90’s. That would be awesome: me with my FreeSpirits, Heather Rosses and Alexander Henrys, sitting at Lola’s decades-old sewing machine.

Thank you for being the always-willing (albeit mysterious) second set of crafty hands in my blog photos. And for being the Best Turkey Spaghetti Maker in the world. You are awesome.

Business was doing well, because all the locals knew that dishes made from the flowers that grew around the apple tree in the Waverley garden could affect the eater in curious ways. The biscuits with lilac jelly, the lavender tea cookies, and the tea cakes made with nasturtium mayonnaise the Ladies Aid ordered for their meetings once a month gave them the ability to keep secrets. The fried dandelion buds over marigold-petal rice, stuffed pumpkin blossoms, and rose-hip soup ensured that your company would notice only the beauty of your home and never the flaws. Anise hyssop honey butter on toast, angelica candy, and cupcakes with crystallized pansies made children thoughtful. Honeysuckle wine served on the Fourth of July gave you the ability to see in the dark. The nutty flavor of the dip made from hyacinth bulbs made you feel moody and think of the past, and the salads made with chicory and mint had you believing that something good was about to happen, whether it was true or not.

- Garden Spells, Sarah Addison Allen

Someday, I’d like to be able to say I’ve cooked the world.

I imagine a curiosity about world cuisine is common for a lot of people who love to cook. For me, though, it’s a deep-seated fascination simply because it’s an ingredient in my very own immigrant experience. Living in Los Angeles has exposed me to a rich tapestry of different cultures—something I didn’t grow up with in the 25 years I lived in the Philippines.

When I first came out here, one of the ways I knew to explore my new life was to acquaint myself with the food my new friends grew up with. I would talk about my Lola’s adobo, and they would have me taste the Lubia Polo (a Persian rice dish with ground beef and green beans) their nanny had made for them for years. Nothing was more delicious than exchanging memories about food. All this started my now ever-growing love affair with world cuisine. I guess I felt that I could somehow distill part of my often-crazy immigrant experience…in a pot.

This was what prompted me to take a two-hour Moroccan Cooking class at Surfa’s in Culver City. Surfas is a restaurant/culinary supply warehouse and is, in itself, a sort of mecca for me. It’s where I bought my first honest-to-goodness bottle of (pricey) vanilla extract with my first paycheck. I go back to it time to time each year to explore, wide-eyed, its wondrous shelves and shelves of food things: from European butter, to cake decorating thingamajigs…

…and pots and pans and pastas.

And don’t get me started about their tubs of chocolate. TUBS. Valhrona, help me.

Now, back to Morocco. I’d always thought that if I were to take a cooking class, it would be for something I’d never done before. I’ve had many chances to try my hand at Italian and American food, and was on the lookout for something more exotic (exotic for me, at least). I found Chef Amanda Cushman’s cooking class by patient online sleuthing, and when I discovered it was in Surfa’s (very near my house), I signed up without so much as a blink.

I didn’t know what to expect, because I’d never taken a cooking class before. And frankly, I’m a very solitary cook, just like my grandma. I was worried other people in the class would annoy me, but I actually loved every minute of it. There were two girlfriends, one of who was a new transplant from Australia, a married couple (the husband cooked the meals in their home, and the wife made dessert!), two mothers and myself. Chef Amanda had us all chip in doing parts of all the dishes we prepared over the course of two hours.

Our mindblowingly delicious menu:
- Chicken Tagine With Prunes
- Stuffed Flatbread with Mint and Feta
- Couscous Pilaf with Roasted Vegetables
- Phyllo Bundles with Fig, Apricot and Almonds, served with hand-whipped cream

We each had our own chopping board and apron, and ironically, one of the tasks I was assigned to do was chop the cilantro, which I have a categorical hatred for!

I tried to snap as many pictures as I could, when my hands were free.

After two hours of happily chopping, and stirring and roasting, we sat down to our feast. If you’re familiar with couscous, we used Israeli couscous in the pilaf below, hence the larger grains—a first for me!

Nom…

…nom…

…nom!

How do you say, “I’m hungry” in Moroccan?

All yummy noises aside, I had an inspiring, awesome time at my class (so much that I forgot all about the cilantro!) I was heady with giddy cookinghappiness when I came out of it. I’m excited to recreate this meal at home, hoping to someday do it in a traditional tagine (we made ours with a regular pot—it came out extremely juicy and mouthwatering nonetheless).

And yes, I hope to see many more days of learning to cook the world, one strange, exotic, delicious dish at a time.

DairyMENS?  I WAS going to pour some on my cereal, but when I saw what its name was, I lost my appetite! Taken on a flight from Raleigh to Los Angeles. Food is funny, sometimes!

Saturday found us, at the ungodly hour of 7:30 in the morning, northbound on the Amtrak Pacific Surfliner train, up the California coast headed toward Santa Barbara. We spent a full, fun day there. My favorite souvenir of our small adventure is this hardbound Pride & Prejudice comic book by Marvel discovered in a random comic book shop. I love it even more for the fact that the shop was totally unexpected. It was this tiny store stocked to the gills with geekery off of the main street that goes through town, and we sort of half stumbled into it, sloth-like from a delicious brunch, cupping hot drinks in our hands.

I had seen Volume 1 months ago in another comic book shop in Los Angeles, but the one above is the complete series, collected. I haven’t taken the shrink wrap off of it yet. I’m happy to just look at it for now. Below are some of the covers. I love the alliterative, irreverent modern blurbs!

If you want peeks of the stuff inside, Comic Book Resources has some pretty good pages.

And don’t laugh, but I also took home Vols. 1-3 of the “Archie Gets Married” Series. Haha.

On Saturday, I also got to smell Julia Child. Actually, I got the chance to smell the beautiful variety of yellow rose that was named after her. Ms. Julia smelled quite lovely.

This was during our tour of the Rose Garden on wondrous Lotus Land, a 37-acre private estate that was turned into a nonprofit. It used to be owned by an eccentric, extremely rich opera singer who dedicated her life to building this botanical masterpiece. It has 16 beautifully maintained gardens and is a must-see if you ever make your way to Santa Barbara.

So, Saturday may not have been as crafty as my usual Saturdays go, but it was still full of my favorite things. Flowers named after great chefs, Mr. Darcy and oh yes, taffy! (Pumpkin and Candy Corn are two flavors I love that are now in season.)

How was your weekend, world?

I loved barrettes as a kid. Remember these classic ones from Goody? I wore mine to death!

If you want a quick, handmade gift for a little girl, how about something lovely for her locks? With a little glue and ribbon, you can make a fun, personalized gift in no time.

Start with some plain silver barrettes. The ones I used are made by Darice—and I found them at Jo-Ann. Other materials you’ll need are ribbons in different colors, glue (plain white tacky/crafter’s glue will work) and a bit of needle and thread.

I made these for my niece’s birthday (I only realize now that I made a lot of stuff for her big day!). You’ll see that I found some ribbon with birthday cakes on them. I cut a length of ribbon to cover the top of the barrette with the ends tucked underneath, and glued it on.

I anchored a “tail” of coordinating ribbons to the barette by sewing tiny stitches through a whole at one end. I did this through the end opposite where the barrette opens. This also serves to reinforce the ribbon to the barrette. I then curled the ribbons by running the edge of a pair of scissors over them.

Look how cute!

There are a million and one ways to make these, and I’m excited to try them all. I just hope my niece doesn’t get tired of wearing them!

Happy weekend, world! I’ve got a train ride and lots of quilting up ahead (not at the same time though—haha!) Hope yours is equally fun and crafty.