Humbling Hobbies and Habits Archives - Page 2 of 5

Homemade chicken jerky treats

By Christina Lee| July 19th, 2020|Humbling Hobbies and Habits, In the Kitchen|

If you’re willing to spend a day making sourdough bread, you better believe I’m equally willing to spend a day making chicken jerky for my dog. It’s what we as dog moms do. Plus it’s healthier and more cost effective.

If you know me, I’m not that big of a meat-eater. If it’s there, fully cooked and prepared well, I’ll eat it. Otherwise, I don’t normally go out of the way to make it unless it’s for a special occasion or it’s for my dog. But since I’ve given him a meat-only diet (with a side of kibble), I spent a lot of time in the meat aisle. Chicken, beef, pork, turkey, cornish game hen, shrimp and salmon. None if it is off the table for this little guy. Out of them all, hands down, he’d prefer chicken over any of these, unless it’s a prime rib.

When it comes to buying chicken, lean meat is healthy, but secretly, we both prefer a little skin on the bone, so it’s rare for me to buy the chicken breast. But the chicken breast is great for making chicken jerky. It’s meaty and plump, and you can make a whole bag of chicken jerky with four hefty chicken breasts.

Now, we just need to wait 12 hours.

No ‘one sockiatus’ over here

By Christina Lee| May 10th, 2020|Crocheting, Handmade, Humbling Hobbies and Habits, Oh My Crafts!, Yarn Addict|

I remember attempting to knit a pair of socks in my earlier years of knitting, but didn’t quite make it that far. We knitters and crocheters often start off with scarves and usually make a fair amount of them, until we aspire to do something more with the ball of yarn and knitting/crochet needles. Oftentimes, circular knitting/crocheting can be intimidating but once you take a class, follow a YouTube video or learn to read a pattern, you are soon exposed to a brand new world — a world of making your own clothes!

I’ve been wanting to revisit sock making, but always found it tricky wrapping my fingers in such thin yarn. Coming across this YouTube video on Crochet Ballet Slippers by Heart Hook Home, I got inspired to make these Sunday Ballet Slippers using worsted weight yarn size 4. Author Ashlea Konecny provides both a step-by-step video and written instructions for those who are visual learners like myself.

The best part is, you can make these slippers in a single afternoon. As long as you can make a magic ring, single crochet and slip stitch, you are good to go. But watch out for the notion of “One Sockiatus,” the idea of knitting or crocheting one sock and thinking you’re done with the project when you’ve still got another pair to make. It can offset your progress leaving your feet bare if you end up coming down with that syndrome.

Lucky for me, I was just too darn excited to finish the project!

One Line a Day Journal

By Christina Lee| April 16th, 2020|Creative Inspiration, Humbling Hobbies and Habits|

One line a day, that’s all it really takes, right? With the new year and the new decade, I decided to have another go at the One Line a Day Journal. The last time I did this (a few years back), I successfully committed to it for four years (at the end of each week or month) and then called it quits. I. Was. So. Close. But as the saying goes, “It’s going to be different this time around.”

Little did I know when I started this journal (in February!) that we were about to undergo a global health crisis — a pandemic — and the world was going to change forever.

It’s now been about five weeks of self-isolation and quarantine. With non-essential shops and businesses still closed, schools moving to online learning, park and recreation operations shut down, many of us have found some creative ways to cope with the situation and remain balanced. Sometimes it’s easy to keep your spirits up by finding various ways to brew a cup of coffee and move yourself from the bedroom to the living room. Other times, you trip over your laundry basket or a ball of yarn in the hallway. Some days you decide to be super productive and clean the bedroom, vacuum the floors, scrub the bathtub and bleach the tiles. Other days, you just want to throw in the towel, like on the couch, eat a tub of ice cream and watch bad tv. However you deal with this new normal, remember to always get up and try.

Every day can be a new high or a new low. You decide. For those of us who are lucky enough to be bored, go find yourself a new hobby. Make a digital photo album of that trip you took last year. Borrow a book from your local e-library. Get a little more creative cooking that next meal of yours. Do something.

We don’t know what tomorrow will bring, but we can look at tomorrow with hope for brighter and more colorful days ahead.

Stay home. Stay safe. Stay well.

Gosh, you sure know how to pawty!

By Christina Lee| January 29th, 2020|Humbling Hobbies and Habits, In the Kitchen, Oh My Crafts!|

Happy 10th Birthday Cooper Crazy Lee! I can’t believe you are TEN. Welcome to the Super Senior club!! From ordering off the doggy menu to hiking around the 500 acre resort in Carmel to making s’mores and buying your favorite dog cookies, we hope you had the BEST birthday weekend ever!! We love you so much!!

Love,
The Family and Mom

For Cooper’s big birthday, he wanted to let the family know just how much everyone means to him and how lucky he is to go through this journey called life side by side with the ones he loves. After many dog kisses and tail wagging, it didn’t take long for him to convince me to pull out my computer, dig up happy memories and log on to Shutterfly to make his birthday gift to the family. We went through an entire process of flipping through each category on the site before he landed on the personalized coffee mugs. I think the last time my mom dropped a mug on the floor, it only made him shutter and reinforced his idea of making matching mugs for the family.

It took a while to go through the photos, but lucky for him, we are a photo-happy family so it wasn’t too difficult to find family photos of the five of us. From our annual trip to Tahoe to long weekend walks to holidays and family gatherings, we have a lot of happy memories to celebrate. It made me smile to go through all of the photos and relive those moments. Each time we took a family photo or a snapshot of Cooper, we had to take them in series of five or ten to make sure we had his full attention. It usually took a squeak of his toy and him being surrounded by family for him to spread a smile on his face. Cooper is indeed a happy dog.

Finally, I convinced Cooper to pick out photos of himself. He was a bit shy, but after dangling a few treats in front him, he didn’t mind at all. We picked out photos from his first to weeks with us to his first few months and then some recent ones.

Well, I must say they turned out pretty darn cute!! Cooper loves his family so much and can’t wait to see the look on their faces.

Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree

By Christina Lee| December 25th, 2019|Holiday Fun, Humbling Hobbies and Habits, In the Kitchen|

If there’s anything that can steal the spotlight from Santa and his reindeers, it’s the Christmas tree that lights up the living room, warms up the house and acts as the backdrop to any and all family photos — including this one. Standing tall and decorated, there isn’t anything that’s going to push this Douglas Fir aside, except maybe a tree that can look just as tall and decorated but also fills the belly.

This year, there’s going to be a new tree in town. It’s made of cocoa and it’s about to be glazed and dressed in confetti and sprinkles. It’s got its own set of elves working on holiday time and a table full of decorating pros. Accompanying it will be an army of butter cookie bliss frosted in red and green fitted outfits.

It’s even got it’s own north star that rivals that of the Douglas Fir’s. But we can’t skip to dessert without whetting our appetite with some hors d’oeuvre. I’m afraid that this tree is going to have to stay in its own swim lane and wait for the dessert calling in a few hours.

I dug up an old recipe that I made years ago and I thought this would be the perfect time and place to assemble it in none other than a Christmas tree mold. It takes a little bit of prep you can do the night before, but it’s essentially mixing cream cheese, smoked salmon, garlic, capers and lemon together to create the base. After letting the flavors marinade for a few hours and even a day, then you can mold it into a Christmas tree and dress it up with cilantro, toasted pecans and your favorite chip. It’s plentiful and rich with flavor, and it makes a good centerpiece on the table.

Now here’s a bit of trivia: At the end of the day, which tree came down the fastest? The salmon tree, the chocolate tree or the Douglas Fir?

From our family to yours, Merry Christmas!!

Susanna’s Surprise Birthday!

By Christina Lee| May 6th, 2019|Craft Day, DIY Home, Humbling Hobbies and Habits, Oh My Crafts!, Scrapbooking|

If you haven’t already heard, I’ve accepted a part-time job as an event planner! With my sister’s 40th Birthday this year, my parents and I decided that we had to make it extra special. We were a little late to the game planning her surprise because initially a trip to Hawaii was going to be her big celebration, but we realized celebrating such a milestone without her friends by her side just wouldn’t cut it, so we’re now in crunch time for picking a theme and getting all the logistics into place. Since riding a cable car has always been on Susanna’s to-do list, we made that our theme and planned this ‘Susanna Style’ meaning every detail from the invitation to the party favors to the food and overall experience needed to be thought through carefully. In our family, Susanna is usually the one to plan all the family reunions and get togethers, so having to fill her shoes is a tall order. But I’m ready for the challenge (!)

My Mom and I divvied up all the tasks. While she did the research on cable car and thought through the decorations, I made the reservations and became the point of contact for all the guests. Her close friends and family dug through old albums to find photos representing ages 1-39 as I began putting together her birthday album. Her best friends Audrey and Lisa found ways to clear her schedule and come up with a story to keep her occupied on the big day. I made reservations for the cable car, food and cupcakes. My parents and I made running lists of all the food, drinks and decorations. Needless to say, there were plenty of trips to Michaels and the grocery store. Keeping in mind the small things such as the ice box, basket to carry the party favors and wine opener was a task in itself and one that my Dad happily tracked. There were many nights we spent talking about all the logistics and the fine details, and I think just about all of us — including her friends — nearly slipped when talking to Susanna and planning for her big surprise party. But we kept going. Susanna had her suspicions but couldn’t connect all the dots.

Much of the planning unfolded one to two weeks before her celebration. For party favors, we worked with Felix the Cook to custom paint cable cars on sugar cookies. Aren’t they cute?! They are so Susanna! Pairing them with mini cable cars and custom made birthday tags makes for a great memento and keepsake. And yes, I went to every Walgreens in downtown SF to sweep the shelves for 30+ SF cable cars.

With all the logistics in place, a plan to pick up Susanna, and her friends and family at the door 20-30 minutes ahead of schedule (repeat, ahead of schedule!), the day went off without a hitch and we took to the streets of San Francisco in style.

A big thank you to all her friends and family for being part of her big day and making her epic celebration a complete surprise!

Happy Birthday Susanna!! We love you so much and wish all of your dreams come true!!

The Gift-Making Holiday Rush

By Christina Lee| December 3rd, 2018|Craft Day, Crocheting, Handmade, Humbling Hobbies and Habits, Oh My Crafts!, Yarn Addict|

Well, I thought I’d get ahead of the gift-making ‘holiday rush’ when I packed several skeins of yarn and my crochet hook, and took it halfway around the world with me during the Fall season. However, when the skeins of yarn were still intact in my suitcase on my way home, I knew I was in trouble and I was in for a rude awakening during the holiday season.

Despite a busy work and travel schedule, I was able to come up with a few projects that would be creative and fun, doable in a short timeframe, and make warm and “cozy” Christmas gifts. One trip to Michaels left me grabbing skeins of yarn left and right. Since I had recently made a couple of hand towels, I stuck with yarn that was 100% cotton for its durability and absorbance. Plus, I kind of like the organic look and feel of the blue gradient and olive green blend.

Over on the left, I decided to go with the classic double crochet and on the right, I went with the Moss Stitch. While both make for great patterns, I’m going to have to say that I prefer the moss stitch because of its tension and density. The double crochet pattern is a bit too springy and I may just need to throw it into the wash, so that it shrinks down in size. Either way, they are both made with 100% love and they’re ready to be wrapped well before Christmas.

A Special Gift for a Special Friend

By Christina Lee| November 23rd, 2018|Crocheting, Handmade, Humbling Hobbies and Habits, Yarn Addict|

Obviously, celebrating friends and special occasions just gives me another reason to start a new crochet project and learn a new stitch. For my friend’s engagement shower, I thought I’d pick up one of these beautiful lavender soaps and natural bath sponges I got from a boutique store on my trip to Belgium and pair it with a handmade crocheted towel for the bathroom. I love hunting for treasures you can only find meandering the streets of a foreign city or town. Don’t ask how many of these I brought home, but I can assure you that my travel bag smelled luxurious as if I just got pampered at a day spa.

To make it extra special and semi-handmade (a tribute to Sandra Lee’s “Semi-Homemade”), I decided to crochet a purple hand towel. I was mesmerized by the Moss Stitch and its woven texture that blends a slip stitch and a single crochet. It’s a great stitch for those who are learning to crochet and it’s super quick and pretty “mindless.” One of the thing I like most is that it provides a thick texture that is durable and absorbent. I think it’s going to look great in her bathroom and give it that “handmade” feel.

Well, off to sew in the loose ends and wrap this baby up.

Previous 1 2 3 4 5 Next

Follow Me

Categories

Recent Posts