Harvest Vegetable Curry Stew (yumm...)

What You Need

(This Recipe makes for 6 large servings, or 8 smaller side dishes)

• 1 large onion, finely chopped
• 1 medium eggplant, skin on, cut into 1 inch pieces
• 4 large tomatoes corsely chopped
• 2 zucchini, skin on, cut into 1 inch pieces
• 1 small cauliflower, broken into florets
• 1 can chickpeas (approx 500 ml, but don't worry it wont hurt to have more or less!!!)
• 1 tbsp vegetable oil
• 2 tbsp Indian curry paste (can replace with 1 tbsp curry powder + 1 tbsp chilli powder)
• 2 tbsp grated ginger
• 1 tbsp ground coriander
• 1 cup vegetable broth
• 1/4 cup mango chutney

The Recipe

       ~ You may notice in my pictures that I started with a pan and moved it into a pot later (not an easy feat when it is steaming hot and you are in a rush...) do not make this mistake. You have been warned :P Heat oil in your large pot on medium. Add the onion and cook until it starts to soften. Add tomatoes with all the seeds and juices, followed by the grated ginger, coriander and curry paste/powder. Stir until the tomatoes soften and it begins to get saucy.

       ~ Add your eggplant and zuchini into the pot, stiring it in well. Here you may notice a strange thing has begun to happen to your kitchen; it is called mess and disorder. Do not panic, this can be fixed later with an Okanagan Cider and a tough sponge. The mess will wait for you, I guarantee it. 

       ~ Mix in your broth and chutney. I used vegetable broth here because I was serving for vegetarians (a  species unlike our own, picky in its tastes and critical when you slip ground beef into their rations ). Add your cauliflower florets and bring to boil. Once boiling, stir continuously for five minutes. Add your chickpeas, then cover and let it simmer. 

       ~ I let mine cook for another hour and a half to give it the proper stew-like consistency. If you wanted to add meat, chop into 1 inch cubes, and add with your chickpeas. I served mine with naan bread (homemade... then packaged, labeled and taken to the store where I later retrieved it and served to an admiring crowd). Another option is to serve over rice, either as is or after draining. It freezes really well and you wont even know the difference when you next eat it, assuming that is, that you defrost it first. Enjoy!!!

DIY Headphones

What You Need

• Embroidery Thread
• Headphones
• Scissors

                                         The Craft

       ~ Choose your embroidery thread colours. I found these ones at the dollar store, and they acme in a huge variety of colours and thickness, and the huge bonus was how much cheaper it was there than at one of the bigger craft stores. 

       ~ Cut the chords about 4 times longer than the headphones. You will need all the extra length for when you start knotting it and it's easier to leave a little extra now than to be stretched at the end. 

       ~ Tie all the chords at the plug-in end of your headphones, snipping the extra after knotting them tightly. Choose your starting colour and hold the others tight against the headphones. These will be wrapped up and hidden one you start knotting.

                                   ~ Create a loop with your chosen embroidery thread.

       ~Leaving the loop pinched between your thumb and the headphone line, wrap the chord over, around, under and through the loop, then pull it tight. 

       ~ Continue with this until you decide to change colours. When you switch, simply tuck the first chord in with the rest and start off with a new colour. When you are completely finished, tie off the chords and snip off any extras. 

DIY Burlap Daisies

What You Need

• Burlap
• A button
• Thread or wire
• Hot glue

The Craft

       ~ Cut a strip of burlap about 20-25 inches long and one inch wide. Here I liked the idea of having a bit of colour, so when I found this red burlap bag at the dollar store, I knew it was what I needed. 

       

       ~ If you want a stem on your flower, then use some jewelry wire, but if you are looking for something to use as decoration on something else, use thread. 

     

       ~ First, you want to attach your button securely to your thread or wire. Starting at about 1 inch from the edge of the burlap, thread your button on. From here you want to fold over approximately 2.5 inch loops, threading as you go. If you have a little left at the end, don't worry, it will tuck right under and you wont even notice it. 

       

       ~ Push the burlap together, then spread it out to give it the petals. Here I went in between the layers with hot glue to hold it together. If you are using thread as I am, this might be a good idea, since you may be noticing that the thread is slipping through the holes in the burlap. 

       

       ~ If you are attaching it to anything, hot glue is dandy with burlap because liquid glue just doesn't seem to do anything but ooze between the holes.

       

                                          ~ And so voila! Your flower is ready to be used!

DIY Wine Bottle Vases

What You Need

• Beer or wine bottle
• Twine, hemp or jute
• Glue (I prefer hot glue, but a good liquid glue like Elmer's or Mod Podge will do just fine.)

                The Craft

       ~ First you need to find a beer or wine bottle. I personally preferred to use a bigger bottle for this one, just because it makes a bigger impression on my mantle. So, begrudgingly i dragged myself to the liquor store and much to my dismay, was forced to buy a nice bottle of wine to share over a nice meal. It's hard being this devoted to your craft, but someone has to do it...

       

       ~ Alright, drinking done, I now decided it was time to begin. Make sure you really wash that booze smell out; no one wants that lingering over their bouquet of roses. 

       

       ~ You could spend the next hour being nit-picky and trying to pull every little piece of the label off or soaking it in water until it falls off, but to be honest, I'm not always a patient woman, and decided to skip this step. Don't get the wrong idea about me, I don't cut corners just to give over a half-assed project. I did my research, practice wrapped it, and decided that it wouldn't show through. If you enjoy wine with technicolor labels, it might be best to take the extra time, but as long as your chord is thick and sturdy, it should be just fine. Here I used a rough type of hemp, but you can also use twine or even wool.

     

       ~ I started at the bottom of the bottle because if there was an extra quirky creative bit (ie: mistake) it would be less blatant than it would be at the neck of the bottle. For the first turn, put glue all the way around the base, this will stop the chord slipping off later. As you go along, use the glue as needed (whenever it starts the slip or you feel the need). I found that as the bottle curved into the neck, I needed more glue due to it slipping about.

       ~ Once finished, cut and glue the end, then you can leave it alone or decorate as you like. I preferred to add a little touch of colour with a burlap daisy(see DIY Burlap Daisies).