Sew Half Crazy

10/08/2016

Perfection at Last?

Dana 10/08/2016 0 Comments

Anyone want a chance to win a free autographed copy of my upcoming book, Out of the Shadows? You can enter my Goodreads giveaway here to do just that! You can also buy the Kindle version here for $0.99 cents (or for free with Kindle Unlimited) here. Hooray!

And now, food! I can't remember if I've mentioned it before or not, but I love stuffed pasta. Ravioli, shells, tortellini, I love it all! You will not catch me making it, though. I've tried, and it's such a faff. So much work! You know what's a great cheat, though? Lasagna. That's right! I said it! Lasagna is overgrown stuffed pasta! And I'm here to review a great recipe for it. Whoops, I suppose I should have given a spoiler alert before I said it was great. Sorry to give away the ending like that.

Let's talk chefs for a moment. If you know me at all, you know I'm a massive Alton Brown fan. But what about those other Food Network peeps? Yeah, not so much. Most of them, in my personal opinion, are a little too fancy. They're cheffy chefs that want to chef up every dish and make it cheffing cheffy. You know what I mean. Ingredients you can only buy at gourmet grocery stores, fussing over every little thing, taking hours to do just one step...guh! No. Get outta here with that noise. There is an exception here, however: Ina Garten. I have never watched one of her shows, but this lady knows how to keep it simple. If I'm Googling a recipe, I'll often look for one by her because she's pretty reliable. In this case, I used her Turkey Lasagna recipe.

The first thing I liked about this recipe (and quite possibly my most favorite part besides how yummy it is) is the fact that you don't have to cook the noodles! What a faff cooking lasagna noodles is! You have to get the water boiling and and then cook the noodles and hope you don't over do it and then get them out without tearing them and burning yourself in the process. That is why I never really made lasagna before. Those days are over, my friends! Just plonk your lasagna noodles into some water and leave them be. I also appreciate that the recipe told us exactly how many layers to do, exactly how to divide up the filling, etc. I don't want to have to do math while layering pasta. And then you just bake it.

I did not do this recipe exactly the way it was written (shocker, right). Instead, I went a more traditional route and just used ground beef and ricotta. It was so stinkin' tasty! And it works great with GF pasta noodles - if you've ever had to deal with GF pasta, you know how finicky it can be. Sadly, I have no pictures because I didn't expect to like it as much as I did. The hubs told our guests that night they weren't allowed to take any home and that they also shouldn't have any leftovers. Said guests ignored him and went back for seconds anyway. :-) Even if you just use this as a method, it's fantastic! You could use store bought sauces to get really creative. I best you could do a veggie version with squash and zucchini and alfredo sauce. Or chicken with vodka sauce. The possibilities are endless! Try this recipe. You will be very happy you did.

Cheers!

Dana

10/06/2016

Pattern Review - McCall's 3830

Heather 10/06/2016 0 Comments

Some patterns are just classics, and you don't need a current pattern for them.

This pattern is one of those. I bought this pattern around 2002 and didn't do anything with it, but after I made my boho blouse, and it didn't work with the pencil skirt I had, I needed a new plan.

Luckily, I have a crapton of fabric, and patterns, so after digging into my stash of skirt patterns, I found the answer to my problem. A simple, yet classic pencil skirt pattern in 5 lengths.

The fabric was another easy problem to solve, because I think I bought the twill I ended up using for the skirt as the coordinating fabric with the sheer I used on the blouse. I love it when a plan comes together.

The pattern is as straightforward as straightforward can be. 4 pattern pieces and voila! You have yourself a pencil skirt. There are darts in the front and back, along with a kick pleat on the longer lengths.

This pattern would be an ideal first clothing pattern. There's nothing funny or tricky about it's construction. I finished this pattern in about 3 hours, and altering the pattern took the most time, because my hips are two sizes bigger than my waist. Then after I got the side seams sewn up, I needed to alter the curve of the hips, because I gave myself way too much room.

At least there was too much and not enough. After I got the side seams to flatter my form, and not look like some reincarnate version of parachute pants in skirt form, we were good to go.

Of course, being true to me, I forgot to snap a picture of me all dolled up for the wedding in said outfit. I did snap this picture of myself, while talking to my mom on the phone, and texting my sister so they could weigh in on the outfit.

I wish I had snapped a picture of the whole ensemble, because I paired the skirt and blouse with a fun pair of suede strappy, lace up grecian stacked heel sandals, and I looked pretty fabulous. If I do say so myself.

Thanks for reading! Cheers!

10/05/2016

What to Eat Wednesday - Mason Jar Latte

Heather 10/05/2016 1 Comments

If you know me, or follow Sew Half Crazy on Facebook or Instagram then you know I have a love affair with coffee. It's not just a drink, it's more of a comforting ritual. Kind of like slipping into your favorite sweats and kicking back with your favorite book or movie. It's calming, which I know is weird, because caffeine and what not, but caffeine doesn't make me antsy the way it does some people. I could fall asleep just as easily with a cup of coffee at 9 pm as I do without. Like I said, coffee is my version of comfy sweats. Not that I'm giving up my comfy sweats. Those yoga pants are the very best thing to lounge in after a tough day. I digress.

So back to my coffee affair. I love coffee, but I get bored with the same old, same old. Upping my visits to starbucks or other local coffee shop is expensive though, and I am not made of money. So what's a chick to do? DIY it! Just like I do most everything else that I don't want to pay retail for.

Now there are a plethora of sites and recipes and how-to's on the web, and this is just what I do. I talked to a lot of friends, and did a lot searches on the best way to accomplish the milk steaming part of the latte process, and I'm going to share what works for me. Dana and I will also be bringing you tried and tested recipes using the basic latte recipe.