Necessity is the mother of invention. I ran out of the thick interfacing I was using to make purse bottoms, and the store in town does not sell it. Instead of taking a road trip, I tried ice cream bucket lids.
I had to splice the lid together to get the length I wanted and also to get length with square ends. This works for the smaller purses; the length in these photos is 7.5 inches. My larger totes are more like 11 inches across the bottom. I'm still working on alternatives for those. What another great way to recycle!
Here is a finished purse with a moose! I got some fabric samples from a friend and this moose was in the pile. (Sorry about the lighting, it's early morning and rainy.)
We've been getting out fishing. Here is that silly Tansy after the lure. We've had to modify our casting techniques to avoid her catching our lures. She stays totally fixated on them the entire time. If we want her to move to the other side of the boat, we just move the lure there.
When we fish after work, I bring a picnic along in the boat. Lately I've been bringing a box of wine along (you cannot bring glass or cans into the Boundary Waters. Once opened, box wine keeps for like six weeks, so I save the boxed wine for the boat and have different wine at home. Pasta salads always work great in the boat. I posted a recipe for sesame noodles a while back,
here is the recipe in my older post. In this particular batch, I picked a whole bunch of fresh chives to mix in and I had some yummy mini-peppers. I did not pre-cook the mini-peppers. Usually you cook some veggies before you add them to the pasta, but you don't have to. Go by your taste. (i.e. If you like eating raw asparagus or broccoli, you don't need to pre-cook them. Personally, I'd cook them a little.)
Here is another pasta dish that I made for this week's outing. This one has anchovies in it!
Sharee's Yummy Anchovy Pasta
Cook a box of pasta according to the directions on the box (I usually go with whole wheat pasta). Drain the pasta, return it to the cooking pot and let it cool down some as you prepare the "sauce".
- 1 large onion (definitely add more if you like onions!)
- 1 can anchovies in oil
- 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes (more if you like more heat)
- 2 crushed garlic cloves (or a lot more as you go along - see directions below)
- 1 cup bread crumbs (make these yourself - so easy in a food processor)
- 1/2 cup fresh basil leaves
- 1/2 cup pecans
- 1/2 cup shredded parmesan
Saute the onions and garlic slowly in 1 tablespoon of the olive oil with the red pepper flakes and some salt (I put about 1 tsp salt - taste as you go). Sauteing slowly allows the onions to "melt" rather than brown. Add the anchovies with their oil when the onions look melty. The anchovies will melt into the onions and you won't even see the little fishies anymore. Add this mixture to your drained and slightly cooled pasta.
Add the rest of the olive oil to the pan. When it's hot, add the bread crumbs, a little salt and another clove or two of crushed garlic if you like, and saute until the bread crumbs look a little browned and crispy. Pour them into the pasta pot.
Put your basil, pecans and one more crushed garlic clove into a food processor and pulse until it is all finely chopped. Throw that also into the pasta pot. Now mix it all up. Taste it for salt. Add another 1/4 cup of olive oil to make it extra yummy.
WARNING: This is so addictive you may not want to make it yourself at home because you will likely eat the entire pot.
