Guacamole

• two ripe avocados
  
• two roma (plum) tomatoes, chopped
  
• 1/4 large purple onion, chopped
  
• 1/2 green pepper, chopped
  
• handful of fresh cilantro leaves, chopped
  
• salt, cayenne pepper, and lime juice to taste

Cut up the avocados and scoop out the innards into a medium bowl. Mash the avocado with a fork. Add the chopped tomatoes, onion, green pepper, and cilantro and mix with the avocado mash until evenly coated. Add salt, cayenne pepper, and freshly-squeezed lime juice to suit your taste.

LAURA'S NOTE: This recipe is extremely flexible -- you can vary the amounts or ingredients to reflect whatever you have on hand, but it's always delicious! My husband is always very happy whenever I make this. It's yummy to eat with tortilla chips, or make your own healthier chips by toasting a whole wheat tortilla, then cutting it up into bite-sized pieces. I also think this tastes great as a dip for cauliflower.

Choir tour

Last weekend, I accompanied my husband (the accompanist) on a four-day choir tour around the Chicago area. We rode along in the bus full of the college choir members and had some fun with the students! The choir performed at five churches and one school, so the days were packed.


One unexpected perk was our first night's hotel stay at the beautiful and historic Hotel Baker in St. Charles, IL. It's beautifully situated right on the Fox River and the hotel itself has some wonderful vintage decor, including this handsome stain-glassed peacock in the fanlight. I recommend a stay there if you're ever in the area!

Birthday shirt

Douglas has been requesting a handmade item from me, so for his birthday I made him a summer shirt. There's not a whole lot of exciting vintage patterns for men, but this one was fun and easy to make (Simplicity 2081, from Lanetz Living). I picked it out because of its similarity to the casual warm-weather shirts worn by Sean Connery in the 1965 film Thunderball. Douglas and I both like certain '60s styles and this happens to be one of them. The pattern is actually from 1957, but it could just as easily be from 2009! It's that classic.


I used a navy and white chambray shirting from Jo-Ann Fabrics, and did all my topstitching with white thread. I flat-felled the seams at the sides and armholes (a first). Next time I make this, I think I'll omit the interfacing in the collar and down the front openings -- more casual that way, and I don't think the shirt would suffer from the lack. This is the first pattern I've ever sewn where the sleeves are attached to the body before the side seams are sewn, which saves the annoyance of setting in the sleeves! I wonder if all men's shirts are made that way. It certainly made it easier to finish the armhole seams nicely.

Cherubino's military uniform

Sorry for the delay in getting photos of the opera costumes -- I'm waiting on the director to send some snaps of the performance my way! I did collar one of the actresses myself after the opera, so in the meantime, please visit my sewing gallery to see Cherubino's military uniform.