Dear Person Who I Don’t Know Who’s Going To Get My Scarf,

As I packed the red scarf I made for you through Craft Hope to be sent off to The Orphan Foundation, I was hopeful. Hopeful for you, because you’re going out into the world, and with something I made to warm you through the journey. When you’re in college learning about many things in life that matter, know that a lot of love went into the double-crochet stitches that make up this scarf.

I don’t know you, but I know you’re cool. Because the scarf you’re getting is magical. With it you can be and do anything.

Now go be awesome with your cool, new, magical red scarf.

Yours In Yarn,

J.

Exciting times in these parts!

Here’s two crafty, cook-y things you need to know today:

1) First Online Sample Sale Site For Cookware To Launch In April

Snappy Tuna promises to work in the same way online fashion sample-sale sites do, by offering top-name kitchen tools and gadgets at 70% off. When I heard about it from my boss at work, I hunted down the article on the NY Times website that alerted her to this cool, new thing on the net:

Snappy Tuna covers “the whole experience, from prepping a meal to getting it out the door,” said Marcus Greinke of his new Web site, the latest in a growing number built on the sample-sale model. Snappy Tuna specializes in well-known kitchenware and tabletop brands that are discounted up to 60 percent off retail prices, for three days only. Items for sale will include specialty foods, espresso machines and Le Creuset cookware…”

You can sign up on their site right now without an invite (you can go through my Snappy Tuna link HERE). After March 20 or so, the site will be invite-only. I’m SO excited for this!

Now if only they had something similar for fabric…ok, well, let’s not go there. Money doesn’t grow on curls, you know!

2) The First-Ever Crafty Con

YES. You read that right.

Faythe Levine, author of Handmade Nation, tweeted about this. IF money grew on curls I would go in a heartbeat! Early-bird registration is currently $699, and increases by $100 the closer it gets to the show. Plus, it’s in Chicago—home of the Joffrey Ballet and a city I’d LOVE to revisit. Sigh. Can someone out there who plans to go just stuff me into their suitcase? I’ll bring my own snacks for the plane ride! Go HERE if you can take this trip for me!

Embroidery was the very first handicraft I learned. It was through home economics class in third grade. My first project was a handtowel with a very poorly satin-stitched watermelon and the word “Juicy!” To this day, I still can’t satin-stitch to save my life. But split stitches, whipped stitches, chain stitches, I love.

This was a pillow sham for my friend Bona’s baby, Joshua. It was for his first birthday. I thought it would be nice to make him an heirloom of sorts, one hae can keep through the years, and the vintage pattern on it was perfect.

I got the whole thing as a kit from a quilt show I went to. It included the sham, iron-on patterns by Lace Tales and embroidery floss. The pillow form was from Michael’s.

I had this thought that the pillow would be perfect as a bedtime-reading pillow, so I gave it to Joshua with one of my favorite childhood bedtime storybooks. Goodnight Moon was the best choice because the pillow had a smiley moon on it, too!

Hope your weekend is filled with sweet slumber!

What you see above is Chicken-Pork Adobo, stewing away in its fragrant marinade of soy sauce, vinegar, fresh-milled black pepper, garlic cloves and bay leaves. As I write this, I can smell its familiar peppery-garlic-tanginess wafting from the kitchen. It fights for my nose’s affection alongside the comforting fragrance of jasmine white rice steaming in a pot. All I can say is that it smells like heaven in here right now. Or, even better, it smells like home.

This is tonight’s dinner. I’ve been sick for the past week and a half, and whenever I’m tired and not feeling well, my body craves for classic Filipino comfort food like this. And not just any adobo—but my Lola’s adobo. I know that there are a million and one ways to prepare this dish, but the way my grandma made it is the one that fits my food memories like a glove. She was a purist about her adobo. Nothing was fancy about it, but its simple preparation and flavors always made the dish sing. I can’t wait to eat!

The thing I realized about Lola’s adobo was that it doesn’t ask for much. It’s the kind of dish that takes care of itself. You literally dump everything in a pot and trust that the chemistry between the ingredients works. And it does, every time. I think, in this way, my Lola’s adobo is “comfort food” in every sense: nonsense kitchen prep that frees you to sit back, relax and even write a blog post, and flavors that wrap you in a warm cloud of your childhood. Every mouthful is a kiss and a hug from Lola.

I hope this post finds you warm and comfy and loved.