urban earth mother

Just out of the oven Out of the pan First steaming slice with homemade butter

I decided to start the Christmas Pudding early this year. Traditionally it's supposed to be made the Sunday before Advent (Stirring Up Sunday), but since they are meant to be aged, and Advent means nothing to me, I opted to do it earlier to let it mellow. The first step was chopping 2 cups of mixed fruit and letting it soak overnight in alcohol. Sherry, port, rum or brandy are typically used, but I had none of those! I used a combination of whiskey, Grand Mariner, sweet vermouth and a splash of absinthe. Greased pudding basin and fruit soaked in booze Another old tradition is to place a silver coin in the pudding before steaming. Good luck comes to the person who finds it on their plate. A thuppence (three-penny coin) or sixpence was traditionally used, but these coins disappeared with the switch to decimal currency in 1973.  As luck would have it for us, downtown Boston is chock-a-block with various collectibles shops and we bought about a half dozen assorted coins from WWI...

My sewing machine has been repaired and cleaned and works very nicely. I had so much fabric let over from the six-gore skirt that I decided to go all out and do a skirt without a pattern. I really, really want one of these Vivien of Holloway Pinafore skirts , but a) they're kind of expensive, and b) they don't come in my size. So, what's a girl to do? Well, they look like straight skirts with some darts for shaping, an extra high waist and straps added on. That shouldn't be too hard, right? Well it took longer than I thought simply because I managed to throw my back out and sitting for long periods of time hurt too much. I eventually made myself start it on Saturday so I could wear it to a wedding on Sunday. The straps originally went over the shoulders straight, but I had cut them too long and my sloped shoulders enabled them to slip down constantly. After we got back from the wedding on Monday, I took the straps off in the back and crossed them over. The straps are ...

Well, the sewing machine needed some work after all so I sent it in for repairs and a replacement motor. $200+ later, it's home and I did get to use it. Here is the skirt I made: It actually didn't come out all that great so I think I'll be taking it apart and redoing the seams. Still it came together quite quickly and got me inspired. I'll be working on a new project this week (hopefully tonight) and will write more, with pictures) once that's underway.