Yup, that’s right… today is the  last day of the year to celebrate National Peanut Month!

• Peanut Fun Fact #1: It takes 772 peanuts to make a 16.3 oz jar of peanut butter!
• Peanut Fun Fact #2: Peanuts are not even nuts! They are legumes, like beans, peas and lentils!
• Peanut Fun Fact #3: When making a PB&J sandwich, 96% of people put the peanut butter on before the jelly.

So in the spirit of National Peanut Month, I bring to you a dish that I LOVE and a recipe given to me by my childhood friend, Carolyn (with a few minor modifications) – PEANUT SESAME NOODLES!

Peanut Sesame Sauce

Mix the following ingredients together and blend in a food processor.

• 1/2 cup smooth peanut butter
• 1/8 cup soy sauce
• 1/3 cup warm water
• 2 tablespoons chopped peeled fresh ginger
• 1 medium garlic clove, chopped
• 1 1/2 tablespoons Asian sesame oil
• 2 teaspoons honey
• 1 teaspoon dried hot red pepper flakes

That’s it!  That sauce is soo simple to make, right?? From here, I’d tweak the sauce to your liking, you may think it needs more peanut butter, sesame oil, soy sauce or maybe even water to make it thinner.  It’s totally up to your personal preference.

Then all you have to do is cook some soba noodles (spaghetti could work too), cut up cucumbers, carrots, and brown some meat in onions, throw the peanut sesame sauce in and you have a meal!

Here’s a closer look.

Hope you were able to enjoy something peanutty this month! If not, then I suggest you go put on your apron and make this for dinner tonight!

I’ve recently discovered the wonderful blog, Life With My 3 Boybarians, where photographers are encouraged to take photos and link up their pictures every tuesday.  I’m hoping to be able to participate weekly as it is my goal to at least take a photo every week!

Here’s a little sneak peak of a picture (unedited) I took at my friend’s wedding in Vegas this past weekend!  I took over 1000 photos so it may take me a few weeks to sort through and edit some before I can share the rest of them with you!

A couple weeks ago, my friends and I learned how to sew fabric wallets.  They are mini wallets that contain 3 compartments which can be made from different coordinating fabrics.  The size is perfect for storing credit cards and money or they can even be used to store jewelry!  There is also a button clasp that is hand sewn so that the wallet can be closed.  Here are the goodies we made in class:

These were soooo much fun to make that I bought some more fabric and came home and made some more.  Here’s a little overview of how I made the wallets.

1. Cut out patterns for 2 main bodies and 3 pockets. Fold the fabric in half and then cut the pockets so the top edge is folded over. Across the top edge of the pocket, sew a 1/4″ seam.
2. Place interfacing (fusible webbing, steam a seam) on wrong side of one of the main bodies and iron on.
3. Arrange main body and pockets so that the right sides are facing each other.
4. Sew a 1/4″ seam around the wallet. Leave a 2″ opening on the top side of the wallet and then turn the wallet inside out.
5. Top stitch along the top flap of the wallet.
6. Hand sew a button clasp on top flap and bottom pocket.

{GIVEAWAY}

And finally I thought that Spring’s arrival and warmer weather meant that it was about time that I do another GIVEAWAY! I’m giving away TWO fabric wallets, made by me, to TWO lucky readers! The fabrics used in making these wallets consist of damask, butterflies/flowers, striped and polka dots. (Contents of wallet in below pictures not included)

Wallet #1

Wallet #2

{TO ENTER}

1. Leave a comment telling me what makes you most excited about Spring’s arrival! (For me, I am most excited about being able to go on picnics in the park.)

2. (For additional entries) Blog, twitter, or facebook about this giveaway and leave a separate comment with the link. If you twitter, please use @sandyalamode in your tweet and feel free to use this short link http://bit.ly/b55I8J.

Giveaway ends on Thursday, April 1, 2010 at 11:59PM CST. The winners will be chosen by random.org and announced on Friday, April 2, 2010.

Entries for this giveaway have been closed.

3 points if you can guess why circles, rounds and dots is the theme this week! think brackets, madness, college, game…

craft: favor boxes on oh so crafty
decorate: DIY wreath seen on little lovables
see: breakfast in a meadow styled shoot on simply bloom photography
food (related): snackTAXI GIVEAWAY on created by diane – pack your sandwiches or snacks in reusable sacks instead of wasting ziploc bags!
wed: paper ball lantern decorated ceremony photographed by adrienne gunde
inspire: buttons on you are my fave
wear: sunshine on grey day boutonniere sold in peppermint cloud’s etsy shop and first seen on milk tea + polkadots
travel: las vegas welcome sign on vegas enews

you may be wondering why i threw the last picture in the mix, well if you’ll notice there are circles around the letters in the WELCOME… or i may just happen to BE IN VEGAS FOR A WEDDING RIGHT NOW!

p.s. the circles, rounds and dots was inspired by basketballs! did you score a 3-pointer?

This year, I celebrated the Chinese New Year and the Lantern Festival at my friends, Lai and Billy’s place (some of the pictures from these events were in my When I Grow Up… post). After our Chinese New Year entree feast, Lai and Billy made us a dessert and I just fell in love with this Almond Jello with Dreamy Coconut Cream dessert! I’ve made almond tofu before and mixed it with fruit cocktail and it is quite delicious, but adding in coconut cream brings this dessert to another level, seriously.

Ingredients

• 1 box almond flavor gelatin dessert
• 2 cans mandarin oranges
• 1 can coconut cream
• 1 cup creamer

Directions

1. Follow boxed directions for making almond jello. We used 6 cups of water and substituted 1 cup creamer for 2 cups whole milk.

2. After jello is firm, cut into big imperfect chunks.

3. Pour in one can of coconut cream.

4. Mix in two cans of mandarin oranges.

5. Stir well and you’re done!

I really wish I could have a bowl of this right now, actually I think I could eat like 4 bowls of this in one sitting, no joke! You should definitely try it out, you will be so glad you did!