Wilma on Wednesday: Chicken Tortilla Rolls

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday, if you're reading here in the U.S. If not, I do hope you had a lovely day last Thursday while we were all dining on turkey, watching football, and giving thanks (not necessarily in that order).


We celebrated a small feast at a restaurant on Thursday, and then Laura, Thomas and Thomas' dad came down from Tennessee, and we had more fun Saturday and Sunday.


Saturday was definitely all about the college football for us...

Laura, UGA Redcoat Marching Band, 2007

The University of Georgia played their rivals Georgia Tech (and won!!), and with a kickoff at noon, we needed a basement friendly menu, so chili, guacamole, chips and chicken tortilla rollups made the cut. I don't really know the origin of the rollup recipe, but it's in Wilma's cookbook, and true to form, it's a little vague... I've listed in red what I actually used or did.

Chicken Tortilla Rollups

5 cans Swanson or Underwood Chicken spread (I only used 3 4.25 oz cans)

3 pkgs cream cheese (8 oz pkgs. I used 2 regular and 1 1/3 fat)

1 medium jar Pace picante sauce (I used 6-8 oz.)

1 small can chopped green chilis

Finely chopped onions

Chili powder

Garlic salt

10 flour tortillas

Mix chicken spread and cream cheese together. Add picante sauce to make mixture spreadable. Add the green chilis and onions and add seasonings to taste. (I didn't this time, but I think I've added chopped green olives with pimentos in the past, as well.)

Spread on flour tortillas and roll-up. If you spread it on about 3/4 of the tortilla and tightly roll up, it squishes to the edges and makes it slightly less messy. Chill overnight (well-wrapped). Slice and serve.

The plate above shows about 5 of the tortillas, sliced. You can use any size really, but if you use the smaller ones, you'll need more than 10. This is super fast to mix up, and very popular. The chicken spread is a little weird, but mixed with everything else, it makes a very tasty appetizer!

Vogue 1246 is Next!

Greetings! I'm back from the holiday, and trying to get back on track with my sewing. I actually have been sewing, and finished a slip made from a vintage Butterick that I have in the shop. For details and a review, I'm sending you over to the other blog. (Whew! So much blog juggling!)


My next definite project is a new, artsy top that I've mentioned being in the queue before, but now the tissue is out of the envelope and I'm really, really going to make it. Really.

I've even done some preemptive fitting research over at Pattern Review, and found some excellent advice from ClaireOKC which will be useful because this pattern runs big enormous! There's loose fitting, and there's "I'm wearing a tent".


Don't miss tomorrow's Wilma on Wednesday recipe... a particularly yummy and easy appetizer!

Vogue 7903: A Refashion

I finally turned on my sewing machine this weekend, and came up with a quick refashion of one of my husband's dress shirts, into a blouse for me. Months ago, I bought this Sandra Betzina "Today's Fit" blouse pattern, and kept flip-flopping on what fabric to make it up in.

Vogue 7903

Then, Roland ripped a shirt. And it became a great source of fabric. (He ripped the sleeve, and not along a seam, but just in a random place by the shoulder.) And this:

Became this:

The only changes I made were to grade out at the hips and narrow 2 of the front darts for a bit of room for the fluff, and I narrowed the shoulders by 1". I'm thinking the shoulder narrowing resulted in a sleeve that is a tad too tight, and that lowering the armhole a bit should relieve that. I had meant for the cuffs to not be contrasting, but an error in sewing made that not happen. I used the contrasting color because I didn't have enough fabric, and I'm happy with the "mistake". I was able to cut the collar out of the yoke. And there is very little left. BTW, wearing my Clover pants!


If you're looking for nice shirting fabric, thrifting an extra large men's shirt is a great source. And it made it quick because I used the original buttons/buttonholes. You'll just have to get used to the buttons on the "wrong" side. Why is that anyway?


Notice the patio? Remember this?

The patio is almost finished! Yay! In other news, in my other sewing blog, I'm doing a feature every Monday on fantasy sewing, choosing a pattern for sale in my Etsy shop, and then picking 3 or so different fabrics on how I would make it up. Come on over and take a look. Click here for today's installment!


Finally, a close up of the blouse:

Roland said that it looks better on me than it did on him! I was a little worried about it looking too masculine, so the sparkly necklace (doesn't look so sparkly here) is a nice touch.

The "Wedding Dress" In Action

Last Friday (11-11-11) I attended the wedding of my niece, and wore the Vogue 1252 Tracy Reese animal print dress. I opted for sheer hose, "caged" platform pumps from Talbots, and bracelets and earrings from 2 of my Etsy friends.


I'll let the pictures do the talking.

with husband, Roland

shoes from Talbots

Leather bangles from Amy Fine Design

Earrings from Kristria Designs

with daughter, Laura, in a Ralph Lauren sequined dress, and Michael Kors leather jacket (all scored with great deals at a Virginia Macy's per Laura)

Laura, me and Channing Brauer, girlfriend of my nephew

my mother-in-law, Carol; sister-in-law, Kim; me; Channing; Laura; Laura's husband, Thomas

Of course, my arms look strange in most of these pictures, but all in all, the dress was really comfortable. I didn't end up tacking any of the gathers, as recommended by the pattern. It just wasn't necessary. Quite an exciting and fun evening!

Wilma on Wednesday: Apple Crisp

It's just not fall without dozens of apple crisp recipes turning up on the interwebs. So through me, I'll share Wilma's with you. This is one of her more vague recipes, so the red text is how I interpreted the instructions. It's short, but very sweet!


Apple Crisp


1/2 cup sugar
2 Tbsp flour
Pour over apples, then sprinkle with cinnamon, nutmeg and lemon juice.
I used 4 honeycrisp apples (which tasted amazing alone), peeled, sliced fairly thin, and placed in a 9 x 9 square pyrex. I squeezed a bit of lemon juice over the apples before the sugar/flour mixture, and then sprinkled on the spices. I could have been a bit more generous with the spices.


Topping:
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup butter (I used about 1/3 cup)
1/2 cup oatmeal
1/2 cup flour


Bake for 50 minutes at 350 deg. F.


So yummy!

Dog Sweaters

Hang tight... I'll have pictures of the "wedding dress" at the event itself in a couple of days, but these little sweaters have been waiting in the wings. A little back story... earlier this year I knitted sweaters for Laura and Thomas' 2 little puppies that were not going to get much bigger. Haha. Like any good rescue puppies, they turned out to be something a little different. And bigger. So now their adorable little sweaters looked like they were shrunk in the wash.


Fast forward to a freak snowstorm in October, and reports that the puppies hate cold weather, and I had to get busy. Too late for that storm, but they're ready now.


Basically, Laura sent me new measurements, and having traced a dog coat that my mom had for her little dog, I only had to "grade up" in length. It's a flat style with tabs that go around the neck and belly and velcro shut. I used a sweater knit scrap, interlock knit scraps and batting, giving them 3 layers of warmth. I basted the batting to the interlock, treating it as one piece, put right sides together of the interlock and the sweater knit, left a hole for turning, and stitched around the edge. Then I turned, topstitched to close the hole, and put a buttonhole near the neck for their leashes since they use harnesses. Like this:

I did sew the collar on separately, and I think it is upside down from the original tracing, but it works. You know, they're lots cuter ON the dogs. Hit it!

Sam modeling the sweater side, collar popped, and leash attached.

A good view of how the tabs go around the belly and neck.

Reversible. Looks like a little jailbird (jaildog?).

Ella with her collar popped, leash attached.

Close up of the buttonhole.

The reverse side of Ella's. She's thinking "do these stripes make me look fat?"

"Nah. I'd like a treat now, please. All this modeling has made me hungry."

Colette Patterns Rule!

I don't know which part of this post to do first, so, since I'm about 2 days late...


Thank you to The Coletterie (the blog for Colette Patterns), for featuring me and my Jasmine top in their Monday Featured Seamstress segment. If you missed it, you can click on the name and see the post. I was so flattered to have been chosen, after they had seen the Jasmine top in their flickr group. They made my Monday!


And on Monday, I finished my first pair of Clover pants. I say first pair, because I will definitely make more. I didn't actually have to make too many changes... traced the size 12, messed around with the crotch depth length. Is that the right term? The length that goes from your front waistline to the back waistline?


Anyway, after making the muslin, I had to tweak just a wee bit more, and they fit! OK, they are just a touch tight, but I'll take care of that with eliminating a recent obsession with Halloween candy. Done. The only change for the next pair is to lower the back waistline about half an inch. I did make the pockets, but I think I'll probably just leave them out for future pairs. I have several pieces of fabric already pulled in my stash for said future pairs.


These are made from an inexpensive poly gabardine from Hancocks. And it's black. Not too exciting, but I predict a lot of wear.


Oh, and p.s., no Wilma on Wednesday today, but the holidays are coming up, so lots of opportunities for hitting the dessert section of her cookbook pretty hard.

Vogue 1252, aka The Wedding Dress

I'm kinda loving calling it The Wedding Dress. So much easier than the dress that I'm wearing to a wedding I've been invited to. I'm going to show it to you, but remember, this is just about the dress, not about the styling. The complete look will have to be revealed later.


Starting with the back. The neckline was gaping a lot.

That fence heading down the hill is really messing with me. Seems like there's a lot of leaning going on. I used a zipper that has the little crystals, and wow, it is not straight. I'll have to remember that when I get dressed for the wedding... make sure someone straightens me up in the back. I put darts in the neckline and ripped out the shoulder seams after first taking off the facing (which was bad news). I think I pulled up 4 inches of extra fabric that was gaping.


I haven't decided yet between sheer black hose or black tights, so pretend like that's what you're seeing instead of blinding white legs. Also, pumps instead of loafers.

I haven't tacked the drape across the front yet and not sure I will. It's supposed to be pulled down over the boobs, but with the busy print, I don't think it really makes any difference in look. And that's it.


Hmmm, the dogs kind of match my color scheme, don't they!


Oh, other than shortening the sleeves and lengthening the bodice, I didn't make any other fit changes, cutting a straight 14. When I lengthened the bodice, for the back pieces, I only lengthened the sides, leaving the center back the original length. That took care of the sway back alternation.


Not sure I'll have a better looking dance partner...

Twirly fun...

Have a great weekend! Hoping to have a new pair of clover pants to show off Sunday or Monday.

I Lied

The "wedding dress" won't be revealed today. I'm holding on for tomorrow. Turns out, after trying it on, there was a major gaping issue with the back neckline that has to be remedied, and alas, the remedy will not fit into my sewing time schedule for today. I did assess what needs to be done.


In the meantime, I whipped up a muslin for the Clover pants that I had cut out last week. No pictures because there is a major fit issue (but shouldn't be a difficult fix). This will NOT be a wearable muslin (though it was never intended to be).


I was greatly amused by the comments on yesterday's recipe. Turns out people have a real relationship with the tuna casseroles of their past. I do have a tuna recipe with noodles as well, so you'll have that to look forward to, lol! Maybe for next week, I'll do something in the dessert category!


How about a little southern fall foliage for your viewing enjoyment. Last Saturday was our 28th wedding anniversary, and we spent part of the day at the State Botanical Garden of Georgia.

Wilma on Wednesday -- Tuna What? Casserole

This week's Wilma installment has been a staple for me, for as long as I can remember. And I'm pretty sure it was the first thing I ever made all by myself, and at the tender age of around 6. But I'm also pretty sure I've never heard of anyone else ever concocting such a casserole.


My mom and dad got married at the young, young age of 19 and 22, respectively. Aren't they cute?...

Is my mom really wearing red boots? That's my Great Aunt Dortee (short for Dorothy) looking on over on the left. This was taken in early 1959, a couple months after my parents got married, in front of their first house.


Anyway... as wonderful a cook as my Grandma Wilma was, she never really taught my mom anything. While the following recipe is in Grandma's cookbook, I'm speculating that my mom found it on the back of a Campbell's soup can, and we ate it so often, that later in my parent's marriage my dad refused to eat tuna ever again.

But it is super easy, and can be dumped together assembled in about 5 minutes. And a 6 year old can make it! I think I let my own daughter, Laura, make it when she was 6. Aren't we cute...

If you can't tell from the age of the pictures, I'm on the left on a trip to Boca Raton, Florida, and Laura is on the right, somewhere in the Czech Republic countryside. Sadly, I don't think Laura's husband, Thomas, likes tuna, so she'll be limited to making it on those time when he might be on a business trip, and she needs to feed the kids quick.


Tuna Potato Chip Casserole

In a 9" x 9" square pan, layer:


Crushed potato chips
1 can of LeSeur peas
1 can of tuna fish (any size you want... I used 2-5 oz cans)


Meanwhile, mix 1/2 can of milk with a can of cream of mushroom soup. Pour this over the layered ingredients. Add a topping of crushed potato chips. Bake at 350 deg F for 20-25 minutes.


I don't have a picture of it on a plate, because frankly, it looks a little gross. But 2 of us ate almost this whole thing on Monday, leaving just enough for my lunch today.

"Wedding dress" update: check back here tomorrow! It's almost done!

The Forgotten Chambray Dress, Simplicity 2246

Have you ever almost finished something, and then completely forget about it? That's what happened with a chambray dress that I made and almost finished around the end of August. All it needed was the buttons, and then self stitched September rolled around, and it, literally, got tossed on a heap of fabric in my sewing area. What? You don't have heaps of fabric lying around. Well, anyway.


Let's back up a bit. The pattern is Simplicity 2246, and is one of the Lisette line. I knew right away that I would make it pretty much as is. Then I saw this in the JJill catalog:

... and I was sold. (Those little dots in the picture are my sharpie marks counting the tucks.)


So, I made the dress. Tucks and all. I did remember that I needed buttons, and I bought some sometime in September. And I finished it up a couple of weeks ago. Now, I wish I could give you lots of details on how I did it, or what size I made and how I made alterations and fit it perfectly, but I really don't remember. Oh, but when I when I went to put the buttons on, I noticed this:

The color is way off so ignore that, but yes, so is the hem. How the heck did that happen? And how did I not notice? OK, so I fixed that and then it was done.


Let's just see some pictures then:

I took the pictures last week, but I've worn it all day today, and I'm only giving it a Wearability Index (WI) of 7. It could (should?) be a little shorter. And I just don't think it's all that flattering. But I do like the way it fits on the top.


I'm totally thinking of cutting it off, and just making it into a shirt. And I think I have enough chambray scraps left to make a crescent skirt from the part I cut off. None of this is going to happen soon, though. Remember the wedding that is happening 1 week from Friday. Yeah, I have things to make for that first.


How about a final shot of what it will look like as just a shirt (and to see the tucks a little better):