Mini Apple Pies

I got these fresh apples from Balekambang beach on a monthly vacation. We paid Rp. 6000 or about $ 0,6 for 1 kilo of these juicy sweet and sour goodness. Some small parts of the apples looks over-ripe actually, which explains the cheap price. I let it inside the bag for 2 days before finding out what to do with it.

My husband don't like to chew on hard foods, so I have to find a way to make it acceptable for his taste. I was a little bit uninspired actually with the piles of work need to be done. But during my trip home from Tata's house on a rainy late afternoon, inside a microlet, I suddenly had the urge to make apple pie.

There are few challenges that I have to deal with to execute the plan. First of all, it's been ages since the last time I bake, and I have no any idea where did I put my oven. Secondly, I have zero idea on how to make a pie crust. So once I got home, I check on the internet on friend pies recipe. Frankly, most of them use ready make biscuit dough to create the pie crust, so I have to fhgure out by myself.

I mixed a bowl of flour with a glob of margarine just until the flour turned like yellow powder. Then I take a glass of water which has been mixed with salt and pour it into the flour mix little by little until the dough can be formed well. To make it suppler, I put the dough inside a magic jar and let it out after 10 minutes.I knead it well and add a little bit of flour until it is not sticky anymore.

Meanwhile I made the filling recipe. I chopped the apples and cooked it with melted butter/margarine until its soft. I add some sugar to make it sweeter and mix everything well until the apples well cooked. Then I wait until the filling cool enough and the juice is thicker. While waiting for the filling to cool down, I made small balls from the flour dough so I can flatten it into circle pie dough. Then I put a little bit of the filling in the middle of the pie dough, seal the edges and fried them into hot cooking oil until golden brown.

A touch of icing sugar o top of it makes the mini apple pies taste more delicious :9

It was a big hit among the family and didn't even last for the next morning. I will definitely make more later!

The Adventure of Fabric Hunters

I don't always blog my fabric-shopping activity, so when I do, it means it was quite an adventure.

First of all, jadi pecandu angkot (mengutip istilah mba Sarie) memang memiliki lebih banyak kerugian daripada keuntungan. Apalagi kalau kita harus jalan kaki naik turun angkot siang bolong dibulan puasa.

Petualangan pertama dimulai di toko Muria Jaya di Jalan Kyai Zainal Zaksa. Toko yang satu ini lumayan lengkap dan murah bahan-bahan kerajinan tangannya, jadi walaupun jaraknya ke pasar besar tempat kami (aku dan Tata) berburu kain-kain katun lumayan jauh kalau ditempuh berjalan kaki, dan terlalu deket kalo harus naik angkot, tetap saja toko ini layak dijadikan tujuan pertama.

Selesai urusan di toko Muria Jaya, kami bergerak menuju toko Damai Baru yang menjual bahan kulit imitasi. Sayangnya setelah mengubek-ubek gelondongan-gelondongan kulit imitasi berwarna warni, bahan yang kami cari ga ketemu alias out of stock. Doeeeeeng! Daripada keluar dengan tangan hampa, jadilah kami berkompromi dan membeli bahan yang warna dan teksturnya paling mendekati dengan yang kami cari.

Tujuan ketiga adalah Pasar Besar Matahari. Waktu sudah menunjukkan pukul setengah sebelas lebih ketika kami sampai disana jadi kami langsung memaksimalkan waktu yang ada untuk menemukan kain2 katun cantik diantara gunungan-gunungan kain di tiap toko kain. It was the most fun part for us, actually. Jadinya lupa diri dan baru move on ke tujuan lain (yang masih lumayan banyak) setelah hampir jam 12.

Dari pasar besar kami jalan lagi mampir ke toko plastik untuk beli plastik kemasan buat La Conchita bags dan paperbags untuk acara charity besok (sayangnya paperbagsnya ga dapet yang cocok huhuhuhu). Untungnya urusan disitu ga lama, karena kami harus segera ke post ke-5, toko kain Citra untuk membeli furing kaos (karena di toko kain pasar besar ga ada satupun yang jual furing kaos pemirsa!).

Seperti biasa, kalo masuk ke toko kain ga mungkin cuma 5 menit. Akhirnya kami tergoda liat macam2 kain dan sayapun khilaf membeli 4 meter kain katun diamond untuk belajar membuat mukena sendiri buat hari raya nanti. (terima kasih kepada mba Rita Fitriati Nurlambang atas motivasi dan inspirasinya :p).

Pas giliran bayar ke kasir, ada kaca gede yang amatlah sayang untuk disia-siakan. Akhirnya kamipun iseng-iseng berfoto didepan kasir.
 

 foto yang langsung menuai banyak kontroversi setelah dipasang sbg DP BBM *sigh*

 Selesai foto langsung aja deh kita mau keluar ke Citra Renda utk beli renda-renda mukena dan pasmina, eh.. mendadak dipanggil sama mba kasir dan beberapa pembeli yang antri mau bayar. Ternyata pemirsa, kita lupa belom ambil kain sama kembaliannya loooooh! Aduh tengsiiiiin.... Gara-gara sibuk foto sampe lupa dunia #tepokjidat.

Ya udahlah ya ga usah dibahas lebih lanjut lagi, abis dari Citra Renda jalanlah kita ke daerah Kauman (kalo ga salah) untuk cari paperbags yang tadi ga didapetin di toko plastik sebelumnya. Pada titik ini si Tata udah beberapa kali menyebut-nyebut soal es teler dan gado-gado Warna Warni yang mana sangat menggoda iman di siang yang lumayan panas terik ini sodara-sodara!

Untungnya tempat tujuan kami tinggal satu saja: Superstar di Jalan Semeru untuk menge-print sticker paperbag. Jadi setelah jalan lagi sedikit buat nyetop angkot LDG, sempit-sempitan di jalan karena pas berbarengan dengan jam pulang sejolah, dan hampir kebablas ke arah jalan bromo karena sibuk sendiri didalam angkot, sampailah kami di dalam ruangan Superstar yang lumayan sejuk dan Alhamdulillah cukup sepi jadi enak buat selonjoran.

Sambil nunggu antrian (lagi-lagi Tata nunjuk-nunjuk ke air minum kemasan gratis yang disediakan disana. Damn!) kami putuskan untuk membagi hasil buruan hari ini disitu. Ga lupa fotoin sepatu baru yang sedang dipake (handmade by Kristik Cross Stitch) buat di posting di FB nanti.

Apakah petualangan kami hari ini berakhir dengan happy ending brothers and sisters? Unfortunately no, karena kami harus berjuang cari angkot yang ga penuh (ga berhasil, kami harus tetep desek-desekan diantara anak-anak sekolah dan kantong-kantong belanjaan di dalam mikrolet), oper angkot dan harus nunggu supirnya ngetem (gosh how I hate this part), dan setelah angkot akhirnya jalan, ga nyampe 500 meter jalanan sepanjang Rampal-Sawojajar macet padat merayap! Damn double damn!

Terhitung kita perjalanan dari Superstar sampe rumah memakan waktu kurang lebih 2 jam. What a day! Untungnya kami berdua bisa mempertahankan iman untuk terus berpuasa ga peduli bibir udah pecah-pecah dan lidah udah keriput kekurangan cairan. Buka puasa has never been this relieving hehehe...

My IC's July Craft Challenge Contribution

Bulan kemarin aku dan Tata melewatkan IC Challenge karena kami berdua sibuk dengan proyek-proyek La Conchita. Bulan ini, rasanya sayang sekali kalo lagi-lagi melewatkan tanpa ikut andil dalam IC Challenge yang bertema Sky (Everything in The Sky).

Ga perlu terlalu lama berpikir untuk challenge kali ini. Kebetulan ada 4 pasang circle handle yang belum juga dipake di proyek La Conchita karena aku dan Tata sama-sama belom tahu cara bikinnya, hehehehe.. ^_^v

Kebetulan beberapa waktu yang lalu nemu owl bag tutorial dari Pinterest, dengan beberapa modifikasi dan peyesuaian, akhirnya jadilah si O'ow Owl Circle Handle Bag ini yang aku buat untuk pertama kalinya.

Lumayan menantang juga bikinnya disela-sela deadline kerjaan, tapi setelah lihat hasilnya, rasa capek langsung hilang (berganti nyesel kenapa itu paruhnya si O'ow miring??? huhuhuhuhuhuhu )

Mungkin suatu saat akan lebih disempurnakan lagi supaya lebih rapi dan fungsional.. Untuk saat ini, aku simpan untuk kenang-kenangan dulu aja deh ya.. :D

"Facebook Like and Share Fundraising" Hoax

Yesterday, one of my facebook friends shares a picture of a baby with saddening condition. The baby’s chest is wide open showing the insides, and it looks so painful that I almost break into tears seeing the condition. The information stated that facebook will donate several bucks whenever a person shares or likes the picture.

I don’t know why, but I think this kind of claim is not legit enough. I refuse to believe this information without valid evidence. So I start searching for the information, and my suspicion is confirmed. Facebook will never donate anything for any ill babies’ pictures that you share on your timeline. In fact, this hoax start to receive a lot of complains from offended parents and families.

As quoted from Facecrooks.com, “Many of the children have passed, and imagine how devastating it would be for the parent to see the likeness of their child being misused in this way.” 

As a mother, it is very hard for me to see innocent children suffering because of illness that way. We don’t need to keep on reminding their respective families about their children’s suffering. I don’t know what the purpose of people creating this kind of hoax is, but it is definitely a part of insensitivity and the lack of empathy towards other people’s suffering.

Many people don’t think twice to share the pictures for the shake of “humanity”. In fact, when I tell my facebook friend about this fact, he refused to take down the picture and insisted that he did the right thing because he cared about the baby’s well being. I can’t force my opinion so I left the debate without further argument.

I just hope people will start to think carefully about anything they post or share on any type of social media, so there won’t be any misunderstanding or misconception happening about the idea of “humanity”.

Starting Up a New Journey

It is amazing the amount of changes I have and still experiencing in these 3 Months.

First of all, I bought a Janome sewing machine last February. I never touched it since I have zero idea about using a sewing machine. I always hand-stiched my previous craft projects before, so when I have the chance to use a sewing machine, I feel like a caveman seeing a TV for the first time. "What kind of sorcery it is??"

Then suddenly, my bestfriend, Tata, a very talented crafter, if I may add; purchased her own Janome sewing machine too. I was like very overwhelmed with the chance of learning along with her. And we really did.

She encourages me to make my first tote bag, and here it is the first craftwork I made with my new sewing machine.

If you see the "La Conchita" watermark there.. well it's our collaborated brand. La Conchita is a craftstore project which created in the middle of February this year. We had a rough start, but we start to get a grip and stronger step now with our new found interest on cute bags.

I even made my first dress for the second IC gathering as you can see at the picture above. If you think I sound too smug, that's because I really proud of my self right now hehehehe..

I wish i wasn't afraid to start learning, and I thank God for sending Tata right on time before my sewing machine rot in its box untouched. Now up to the next project, a private sewing corner in my house. What do you think? Does it sounds too ambitious? XD

Crafty Man of My Dream

My husband is not crafty at all. Even as mechanical engineer, he rarely uses his skill to create mechanical things. This fact makes me have a secret mission to bring out the “crafty men” inside of him.

Unfortunately, since craftiness is often associated with women hobbies, my efforts don’t have too much result for now. He often messed up with my mass projects just because he thought he can make it in an express way. He simply doesn’t have the motivation or interest to create things with his bare hands. I don’t know why, this makes me get even more challenged to find “Manly Crafty Projects” for him.

This is how I came into this supermegafoxyawesomehot blog, ManMadeDIY.com. 

Chris Gardner, the man behind this blog is a brilliant writer and maker who believes that sewing machines and tablesaws alike belong in the workshop. How awesome is that?

The blog contains valuable information, tips and tricks, DIY projects, and many other interesting things.

I even use this article to make some assessments before I buy my first sewing machine

 How To: Buy and Use Your First Sewing Machine

He posted useful and often fascinating tutorials such as this bizzare knitting project

up to boyish projects like this magnetic silly putty and seed bomb.

How To: Make DIY Magentic Silly Putty

How To: Make a Seed Bomb

He also shows how to create various interesting home decors projects such as this Wooden Nintendo Controller Coffee Table which can actually works, and also this rad Tree Branch Coat Rack.

DIY Idea: Make a Tree Branch Coat Rack

Handmade Wooden Nintendo Controller Coffee Table

And when you think that’s enough to make you fall in love to his manly craftiness, check out this romantic custom art tutorial he made.

He’s literally the crafty man of my dream. Now let me find a way to make my husband get attracted to his projects so his long hibernated craftiness can be awakened all at once. 

Blogger's Block and Crafty Themed Gathering

Let me admit one of my biggest flaws: I am a big procrastinator. I often delay my tasks to the last minute just because I'm in the mood of doing other (less important) things. And this situation lead to other flaw; laziness.

Maybe this is the main cause of my blogger's block. I only check this blog to see the updates of my favorite blogs. I didn't even check new comments (2 comments to be precise, from 2 kind friends who have been soo nice visiting my blog and leaving their tracks). I know I need to get rid of these bad habits, I'm working on it.

Meanwhile, almost 2 weeks ago, my friend Tata and I were sponsoring the first Indonesian Crafter Gathering in Malang. I was challenged to make a nice party and decided that since it is crafters' gathering, we have to make things as crafty as possible. I was in charge of the decor and snacks, while Tata took care of the venue and lunch menu plans.

Here are some of my work results.

The Snack Table

(Tata made her famous cheese stick for the light snacks inside the orange cans)

 "Buttons" Cupcakes

it is quite easy to make the buttons, but you can check the tutorial here.

Sausage and Noodle "Thread Spools"

(recipe)

Tissue paper pompoms to brighten up the decor, here is the tutorial.

Here is how the entire venue looks in before the gathering started.

And yes, I made the goodie bags too :D

It was nice, it was fun.. and the crafts swap was very exciting.
I made this darling as inspired by this Sewing Kit in a Jar pic.
Unfortunately, since i can't find  a mason jar which has detachable lid, I have to use regular jar with a little bit improvisation for the pincushion lid.

The bad news is, since I was in a kind of hurry when making this emergency sewing kit, I didn't take any picture for the entire process. I will make another one and post the tutorial if you're interested :)