A Pincushion Finish, Destashing, JCSOI 2008 And Food

Days pass by so fast lately and I couldn't pin-point what I did when. But I'm pretty sure I finished some stitching works and this Halloween pincushion is one of them.

Halloween Pincushion

I also made a lot (I think more than 20) of scissors jewels last week. Each piece is fully beaded with charms.

Scissors Jewels

Look what I got in the mail today? Just Cross Stitch Christmas Ornaments Issue. I've been ooh-ing and ahh-ing the lovely designs and definitely have to stitch some of them.

Just Cross Stitch Christmas Ornament Issue 2008

Destashing is my BIG GOAL in the next few weeks and/or months. I finally made up my mind to let go some of my craft stuffs. I have to be real and accept the fact that I can't stitch as much as I want, nor will finish all the designs I want to stitch. I opened a new blog just for my stash for sale and will start listing this week at Stash 4 Sale. Not only that I need some space in the attic where I reorganized my craft supplies but the $$$ will help me buy a new desktop so me and DH won't have to share his. I'm not comfy working on laptop and I prefer to work long hours on a PC. Not to mention I am badly in need of a "specialty stitches" maker software. The one I want cost about $300. I need to buy a better PDF maker software as well... the one I'm using now can only do the basic thing. Hope to upgrade it pretty soon.

I meant to blog about these food last week but kept on forgetting it. I sent "buro" (a kapampangan delicacy) and some peppers to my relatives in MI early this month. I know how much they miss "buro" coz it's something I can't live without. Anyway, they called me when they had their feast and it was so nice to hear how much they enjoyed it. They told me they even invited some kapampangan friends to eat with them. Isn't that nice? After talking to them, I couldn't help thinking about "buro" myself, good thing I got a bunch in the fridge... lol So the following morning, I picked some okra, eggplants and patola (chinese okra) from my garden, too bad I don't have sitaw (asparagus beans) anymore... there goes my lunch. Unfortunately, I run out of fish and didn't get some till late last week. "Buro" is great with the above mentioned veggies, fried or grilled fish and of course rice... as in lots of rice! I told DH to remind me to get some so I can make another batch of "buro" before winter. I got lucky to find whole "tilapia" fish at Walmart and made my last batch of "buro" for this year this weekend. To Cel and Apu Maring, I will send you a lot of "buro" by late October or early November. To those of you who's wondering what "buro" is, it's a sauce made of fish, cooked rice and salt. If you're familiar with making sauerkraut, the process is almost the same. It takes 3 to 4 weeks before you can eat/cook it.

Cooked veggies (nilagang gulay: talong, okra & patola) from my garden & Buro

Meatballs Spaghetti

You didn't expect DH to eat buro, right? lol Well, on that day while I was enjoying my buro, he requested meatballs spaghetti. To cut the story short, we were both in heaven... in terms of food.

MIL's brother from Arizona is visiting for a week and we had our "brunch" family get-together last Friday. Then on Saturday, we attended SIL's surprised big day party. I made salad as our potlock... I'm pretty sure everybody had a great time, specially with all those food served. I don't know who brought the lil smokies appetizer but they sure are reallllllllllllly good. As expected, I had to make my own version... lol I made them for lunch today. Photos below are the before and after baking. Beware though, these are addictive and are not good for those of you who diets. These can be done in 3 or 4 ingredients.:)

Bacon Wrapped Lil Smokies... finger lickin' good appetizers!

I also picked another bunch of tomatoes last week and decided to do salsa canning yesterday. I already made more than 30 jars of salsa so I decided to "can" or preserve the rest just plain... for chili and stew.

Another thing that I keep on forgetting mentioning here is that I finally got a hold of a dear friend from IN on August 5th. We used to work together back home, and was our accountant in the office. Prior to calling her last month, the last time we talked on the phone was when I was still back home. She gave me a surprise call then so I decided to do the same. It was of course a great chat that ended after 5.5 hours... lol I also recieved a surprise call on late July from my dear friend in CA. All the while I thought she's still in the Philippines, but her visa was approved sooner than expected and once she got it, she and the kids flew right away. Her husband (also a Filipino) is of course the happiest with the result as he usually go to Manila at least 2x a year. Moreso, I've been busy reading emails from my college buddies... Most of them are working in abroad now though. I'm sure one of these days, we'll meet again my dear friends.:)

Hope everybody's having a great stitching day!