Sinigang (tamarind broth)

a fragrant pork and tamarind soup, perfect for a refreshing light supper

Serves: 4

Prep: 20 min
Cook: 1 hr 20 min

Ingredients

1.3 litres water
450g pork riblets or pork ribs, cut to pieces
5 Tomatoes, sliced
1 large onion, sliced
2 tsp tamarind paste
1 1/2 tsp Salt
450g French beans
250g Chinese aubergine or aubergine, cut into pieces
300g okra, sliced
1 large daikon radish, sliced
300g spinach or pak choi
boiled jasmine rice, to serve

Method

1. In a large stockpot, bring the water and pork to a boil. Add the tomatoes, onion, tamarind and salt. Simmer for 1 hour, or until the pork is tender.

2. Taste and add salt and pepper if necessary. Bring to a boil, add the beans, aubergine, okra and radish, reduce the heat and simmer for 10-15 minutes.

3. Add the spinach or pak choi, cover and remove from the heat. Stand for 5 minutes to cook the spinach.

4. Serve in bowls, accompanied by boiled jasmine rice.

Cook’s note: as an alternative to pork, you can use beef (stewing, brisket, shank or plate) chicken or fish in this dish. Adjust the cooking time according to what you go for.

Filipino spring rolls

Serves: makes 30

Prep: 20 min
Cook: 25 min

Ingredients

1 tbsp vegetable oil
450g minced pork
2 garlic cloves, crushed
200g onion, finely chopped
225g Carrots, minced or grated
180g bean sprouts
300g Bamboo shoots, julienned
150g Spring onions, finely chopped
210g green cabbage, thinly sliced
1 tsp ground black pepper
1 tsp Salt
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp Soy sauce
30 lumpia wrappers
oil, for frying

Method

1. Heat the vegetable oil in a wok or large frying pan over a high heat. Cook the pork, stirring frequently, until all the pinkness has gone. Remove from the pan and set aside.

2. Drain off any fat from the pan, leaving only a thin coating. Add the garlic and onion and stir-fry for 1-2 minutes to colour a little. Return the pork to the pan with the carrots, bean sprouts, bamboo shoots, spring onions, and cabbage. Stir-fry for a few minutes more.

3. Season with the pepper, salt, garlic powder, and soy sauce. Remove from heat, and set aside until cool enough to handle.

4. Put 3 heaped spoons of the filling diagonally near one corner of each wrapper, leaving a 4cm space at both ends. Fold the side along the length of the filling over the top, tuck in both ends and roll neatly. Keep the roll tight. Moisten the other side of the wrapper with water to seal the edge. Cover with cling film until ready to fry to stop them drying out.

5. Heat a frying pan over medium heat. Pour in oil to 1.5cm deep and heat for 5 minutes. Slide 3-4 spring rolls into the oil and fry 1 to 2 minutes, until golden on all sides. Drain off any excess oil on paper towels before serving.

Cook’s note: can be served with a vinegar dipping sauce with chopped onions and garlic.

Cat Toys- by Peggy

After rinsing a used ketchup bottle, I decided it had a different destination than the recycling bin.

Cats love a puzzle. And better yet, I didn’t have to spend anything to make this toy. I already had the toy mouse to go inside.

This is a very easy reuse project, plus if you save the bottle cap, your options widen even more, but we’ll talk about that in a bit.

What I used:
Clean wide-mouth ketchup bottle
Elmer’s glue (non-toxic)
Jute
Sharpie
Scissors
Tea tags

The junk project:
-Remove bottle label by soaking in hot water. After the bottle is dry, plan your design.

-In my case, I decided to make a simple cat face from jute. It doesn’t really matter want you choose as long as you don’t completely cover the bottle. The idea is to allow kitty to see inside it.

-I drew my design with a Sharpie and then applied glue one section at a time. I cut the jute to match my design and applied.

-For the whiskers, I untwisted a piece of jute. This gave me three thinner, curly pieces to use.

-For the nose and inside of ears, I cut out designs from a raspberry tea tag.

-I considered using buttons for the eyes, but they looked creepy and I was afraid my cat would eat them. So, I drew the eyes on with a Sharpie.

As always, supervise your cat when playing with the toy. Make sure you haven’t used any materials your cat may eat. Use non-toxic glue.

Additional kitty uses:
Cat treat container — Put treats inside and shake before treating. Cats learn this noise and react when you’re about to give them a treat. Keep lid for this use.

Catnip infuser — Put mice or other toys inside with catnip when not in use. The catnip bath will keep pets interested in toys when you bring them back out. Keep lid for this use.

Cat food scoop — Cut off portion near mouth for a handy scoop.

Would your cat enjoy this junk toy?

Images via Peggy Rowland.

PATTERN DRAFTING BY HEIGHT

This pattern design method can be used to determine drafting measurements from a given figure height combined with girth measurements for the chest, waist and hips. Knowing the person’s height allows for formulations of various lengths based on the Golden Mean and combined with established size parameters, a trouser or torso pattern can be drafted for an average human body.

H = full length of body; also the span of laterally outstretched arms, measured from finger-tip to finger-tip, is equal to the height of the body.

1/2 H = upper part of body (torso) or lower part of body (legs)

1/4 H = length of leg from ankle to knee and length from chin to navel

1/6 H = length of foot and length of forearm (measured from elbow to wrist)

1/8 H = length of head from crown to bottom of chin

1/10 H = height of face; also length of hand

Drafting By Height: Trousers (based on 8 heads per figure)

The theory based upon the Golden Mean can be used to determine drafting measurements from a given figure height of an average or off-proportioned body. You need the following measurements to draft a trouser pattern: height, waist and hips. The scale is one head equals 1/8 of the total height.

Example:

for a person who is 5 feet 8 inches tall, one head length is 8 ½”

5′ 8″ = 68″ 68″/8 = 8.5″

Rise is 1 head plus 1″ ease plus width of the waistband

eg. rise = 1/8 height + ease + waistband width

Inseam is 4 heads minus Y (amount taken off for width of trouser cuffs)

eg. inseam = 1/2 height – Y

Outseam is inseam plus rise, or

5 heads plus ease minus Y plus waistband width

eg. outseam = 5/8 height + ease – Y + waistband width

Example:

Given a height of 5 feet, 8 inches, trouser cuff width of 18″ and a waistband 1-1/2″ wide, then:

rise = 68/8 + 1 + 1.5 = 11

inseam = 68/8 – 2.5 = 31.5

outseam = 5/8 x 68 + 1 – 2.5 + 1.5 = 42.5

Table for Leg Reduction (Y amount)

for bottom width	take off Y amount *
24″	1″
23″	1.25″
22″	1.5″
21″	1.75″
20″	2″
19″	2.25″
18″	2.5″

* for shaped trouser cuffs, use less Y amount (0.5″ to 0.75″)

Trouser draft:

square both ways at 0.

0-1 = body rise + 3/8″ [1cm]; square across

0-2 = waist to hip; square across. (approx. 8-9″ [20-23 cm]).

0-3 = outseam; square across

1-4 = midway between 1-3 minus 2″ [5 cm]; square across.

1-5 = 1/12 hip mmt. + 5/8″ [18 mm]; square up to locate points 6 and 7.

6-8 = ¼ hip mmt. + 3/8″ [10 mm]

5-9 = 1/16 hip mmt. + 3/8″ [10mm]

7-10 = 3/8″ [10mm] squared across and 3/8″ [10 mm] squared down

Join 10-6 with straight line and join 6-9 with a curve line as shown.

This is the centerfront crutch seam.

Square up and down from point 8.

10-11 = ¼ waist mmt. + 3/8″ [10mm] (note: point 11 will “sit” on line 7.)

12 is located at intersection of 3 and 8.

13 is located at intersection of 4 and 8.

Square down from 5 to locate 14 and 15

5-16 = 1/2 mmt of line 5-9

6-17 = ¼ mmt of line 5-9

7-18 = 3/8″ [10mm]; join 17-18 and extend as a tangent line

19-20 = ¼ waist mmt. + 3/8″ [10 mm], taken at a 90 degree angle from tangent line so that line 19-20 touches the line 7-11. (Note: point 19 will be located on the right angle and the constructed line may not touch at point 11 as shown.)

9-21 = ½ mmt. of 5-9

Join 17-21 with curved line as shown

3-22 = 1/4 trouser cuff width minus 1/4″ [6 mm]

23 is located on kneeline.

3-24 = ¼ trouser cuff width minus 1/4″ [6 mm]

4-25 = 4-23

Join 24-25 with a straight line and 25-9 with a curved line as shown.

24-26 = 3/4″ [20 mm]

25-27 = 3/4″ [20mm]

Join 26-27 with a straight line and 27-21 with a parallel curved line as shown.

5-28 = ¼ hip mmt. + 1/4″ [6 mm]

Join 22-23-28-8 and gently curve into 20 to draw outseam leg seam.

This is an easy fit type trouser pattern. Trace off front and back patterns. If you desire extra ease (seat angle) in crutch of trouser’s back portion, cut along back hipline and open a wedge about 1-1/2″ [40 mm] wide at CB to nil at side seam. Redraw centerback seam.

T-Shirt Dress

For a funky change of style, You take three T-shirts in a crazy mix of colour and pattern and puts them together to make this cool dress. Easy to make and amazingly comfortable to wear – the dress can be scrunched up and belted or it can hang straight. Either way, you’ll feel ‘dressed up.”

Materials

• 3 T-shirts which are extra long, comfortable fit, medium weight

• We’ve used one in avocado and two in pink strawberry
• Ruler
• Masking tape 2.54 cm (1”) wide
• Marking pencil
• Straight pins
• Scissors
• Matching thread

Steps to sew

1. Lay one of the pink T-shirts on a hard work surface, front side facing up and bottom edges aligned.

Stretch and press a length of masking tape across the bodice just under the neckband.

Stretch and press two parallel lengths of tape vertically at the ends of the horizontal piece. Cut along the outside edge of the tape through both layers of fabric to make two skirt panels. Repeat on the second pink T-shirt.

2. Trim off the seam allowance at each side of both sets of skirts panels.

3. To make the skirt front, layer two of the panels together right sides facing and raw edges even. Pin one side along the edge. Repeat to pin the second set of skirt panels.

4. Machine-stitch one set of panels together 13 mm (1/2”) from the raw edge. Repeat to sew the second set of panels together.

5. To make the skirt, lay the two sets of panels together, right sides together and raw edges even. Pin the sections to each other at the sides.

6. Sew the sections together at 13 mm (1/2”) from the edges.

7. On the green T-shirt mark the centre of the front and the back at the hemmed edge using a pencil. Slip the shirt over the skirt, right sides together and pin the sections together along the T-shirt hem, matching the seams and the centre marks.

HANDY HINT: try on the dress while it is pinned to customize the fit to your body shape. Many T-shirts are big and boxy and you may wish to narrow the shirt bodice at the sides before attaching to the skirt section for a slimmer fit!

8. Slip the dress on the arm of the sewing machine with the bodice section facing up. Sew the hem of the T-shirt through the two layers, removing pins as you work.

Variations:
For fun, cut the hem at an angle so that the skirt hangs lower
at one side than the other!

You’re simply never too old to play dress, so kick up your heels!

Make biodegradable seeding pots.

Make your own fast green, biodegradable seeding pot, in which you can grow your seeds. After the seeds rooted you can put the hole pot into the next pot or into the dirt outside. The roots will pervade the paper pots while the newspaper rots.

step 1Supplies.

What you’ll need:

• a newspaper
• a scissor
• something cone-shaped in the diameter you want your pots

step 2Cut or rip some stripes.

Cut or rip some stripes of the newspaper. The dimensions are chosen by you. The length will be just the width of the newspaper. Choose the width a bit wider than you want your pot to be high (make funny comments about that and I’ll bite your head off).

step 3Roll it.

Lay the cone shaped object of your choice onto the paper and roll the paper around it, it should cover the hole thing. You can also use the paper double layered, if you want the pots to be more stiff.
The paper must overlap the object you wrap around. This overlapping part, you crumple together, building the bottom of the pot.

step 4Crumple and turn!

Hold on the bottom end, locate it in position, while you turn the paper with your other hand to stiff the pot.
Pay attention on not ripping the paper.
Now your pot is finished. Pull it off the cone.

step 5Finished pots and area of application.

On the pictures underneath you see the finished pot in its area of application.

Mine are very unaesthetic, but I made them quick and it works for my purposes.

Garden Toolbelt Roll-Up

• 

Keep your gardening tools together with a nifty roll-up toolbelt.

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1. 

   To begin cut a fabric square measuring 24″ by 24″.

2. 

   Fold over the top edge of the fabric by 1″ and sew it down. Fold up the top edge so that you have an 8″ pouch at the bottom.

3. 

   Cut a rectangle of fabric measuring 24″ by 10″. Place this below the 1″ hem at the top and underneath the pouch at the bottom.

4. 

   Stitch the rectangle neatly in place, below the 1″ hem at the top and then sew along the bottom of the fabric rectangle.

5. 

   Flip the fabric over and fold up the bottom edge so that it creates an 8″ pouch at the back of the tool belt. Starting from below the 1″ hem, sew down the left and right sides of the toolbelt, stitching the pouch in place.

6. 

   Flip the pouch inside out, so that the fabric appears out the correct way.

7. 

   Place your tools in the belt, and mark out where the pockets need to be with pins. Sew down these pouch lines, removing the pins as you go.

8. 

   Cut two long lengths of ribbon, measuring about 25″ long. Place the ribbons, at either side, inside the loop created by the 1″ hem. Sew in place.

9. 

   Cut two shorter lengths of ribbon, measuring about 10″. Roll up your belt, with the tools in place, and stitch one ribbon to the edge of the belt and one where the edge of the belt meets the back of the belt.

10. 

    You can use these two ribbons to tie up your belt in to a neat little roll-up.

Reversable Baby Shoes

1. 

   ut out your pieces. For each piece you want two pieces of each colour (4 in total). Shown here I have just one piece of each colour. This is what you need to make one shoe. The pieces are such that you don’t have to worry about flipping them over or anything. They’re symmetrical. So just cut the shapes out and they’ll work.

   Not shown, you’ll also need two pieces of elastic about 3/8″ wide and about 3.5″ long.

   All seams are 1/4 inch seam allowance.

2. 

   Place one of fabric A and one of fabric B right sides together. Sew them together along the longer straight edge.

   Fold the heel pieces over the seam so that they are now wrong sides together.

3. 

   Now you sew a seam to make a casing for the elastic. My elastic was 3/8″ wide so I sewed my seam about half an inch away from the edge.
   Your seam will depend on the width of your elastic. Try not to use an elastic that is very thin as this might cut into the baby’s feet. Too wide and the elastic won’t hold the shoe snugly above the heel.

4. 

   Attach a small safety pin the the edge of the elastic to help you push it through the tunnel

5. 

   Push the safety pin through until the other end of the elastic is just poking out. Do not push the elastic the whole way through. At the pictured stage, the safety pin is hidden inside the fabric.

6. 

   Now we make a sandwich.
   It goes:
   Fabric A toe, right side up
   Heel piece , fabric A down, fabric B up, elastic towards the middle, elastic poking out the side
   Fabric B toe, right side down

   Start sewing a seam along the flat edge of the toe pieces, catching the heel piece (including the elastic) as you sew.

7. 

   Stop after you’ve sewn over the heel piece, a little less that halfway down the toe piece.

   Here’s where it starts to get tricky.

   While everything is still in the sewing machine, pull the elastic and scrunch up the heel piece so that the free end of the elastic pokes out the other end of the heel piece.

8. 

   Pull the heel piece around so that it’s edge is lining up against the edge of the toe pieces.

   I like to put a little pin at the end, hold the pieces together with my left hand and pull on the safety pin with my right hand.

   Finish the seam.

9. 

   This is how it should look when the seam is done.

   Fold the two toe pieces over.
   Now it should look like this.

   Ooooh, it’s starting to take shape.
   Now we make another sandwich.

10. 

    The shoe top is going to get squished in between the two sole pieces.
    It goes:
    Fabric A sole, right side up
    Shoe top, fabric A down, fabric B up
    Fabric B sole, right side down

11. 

    Pin often, attempting to keep the fabric distribution relatively even. I like to start with pins at the mid point of the toe and the mid point of the heel and then go from there.
    Also I find it works better with smaller pins. Here I’m using mini quilt appliqué pins. They work great.

12. 

    Sew around the shoe leaving an opening…

13. 

    I like to leave about an inch at the side of the shoe because that’s where it’s straightest and going to give you the least amount of trouble.

14. 

    Fold back one of the sole pieces away from the opening. Sew the remaining pieces along the seam line.

    Now, through that little opening, you turn the shoe right side out.

15. 

    We’re almost there!

    Slip stitch that opening closed.

16. 

    You’re done! Yay!

    Find a little tootsie to show off your new creations.

Fish friendly Sushi

1. 

   Here are all of the templates you need for this project.

   Or make up your own templates, it’s pretty easy.

2. Body: 11cm long 7cm wide

3. large circle 6.5 cm  small circle 3 cm
4. Seaweed: 4 cm wide by 24 cm long

5. 

   Cut out all of the templates. Notice how the small circle is designed to fit inside the fish’s mouth.

6. 

   Take the fish body template and draw around it on the yellow felt, flip it over and draw around it again.

7. 

   Cut these felt shapes out.

8. 

   Draw around the fish tail, fin and flipper templates twice on to orange felt, remembering to flip the template before drawing the second.

9. 

   Cut these out.

10. 

    Thread a needle with yellow thread and place the two felt fish bodies together, so that the wrong side (the side that may have a bit of pen around the edges) face out.

    Start stitching around the fish with a hemming stitch, working backwards from the mouth.

11. 

    When you get to the places where the back fin and tail should go, flip the fish inside out, place the two pieces of fin or tail (right side facing out) in between the body and stitch in place with a running stitch.

12. 

    Flip the fish inside out again and continue sewing. Stop when you reach the mouth, you want to leave this unstitched and open.

13. 

    Flip it again so that the right side is facing out. Stitch the two flippers on to either side.

14. 

    Take the white felt and draw around the large circle template twice.

15. 

    Take the small circle template and draw around it in the center of one, and only one, of the felt circles.

16. 

    Cut out the two larger circles and cut out the small circle from the center of one of the circles.

17. 

    Draw around the sushi seaweed template on to the green felt and cut it out.

18. 

    Thread a needle with white thread. I used quite thick thread for this as this part of the fish and sushi will have the most wear and tear. Place the fishes mouth around the inside circle and stitch in to place. Put this to the side for the moment.

19. 

    Take the second circle and the strip of green felt and stitch the green felt around the circle.

20. 

    When you’ve stitched all the way around the circle, stitch up the open side and cut off any excess green felt.

21. 

    Now take the circle with the fish (wrong side facing out) and stitch around it on to the green felt, leave a tiny unstitched opening so that you can turn it inside out again. Turn inside out (so that the right side is facing out and stitch up the rest of the sushi.

22. 

    Glue some wiggly eyes on to the fish.

23. 

    Voila! Now have fun turning the fish in to sushi and the sushi in to fish. It’s like magic!

DIY – Childrens tidy up for hair clips etc…