The Crafty Bits: Garter Stitch Scarves (F)

I've been teasing you for months with talk of super-secret crafting of the non-sharable giftable variety and now the time has come to share, share, share. Though I was sneaky and did get one post in about a garter knit scarf, if you recall Lilly did me the favor of using her very best Doris Day to model it for us.

That one went to Sharon and since that fateful post in August I knit two more...

...one in Swish Bulky's Verdant Heather for my sister in law Robyn and...

...one in Tidepool Heather for my sister in law Becki.
(I may not be the most inspired gift giver.)

They're all wonderfully soft and fun and so incredibly easy that it's not even funny. The pattern came from Kris Percival's book Speed Knitting: 24 Quick and Easy Projects which, for a new-ish knitter cannot be a better buy. There's a fabulous range of usable/giftable projects that work up super fast. There isn't much for an intermediate knitter, but if you're short on time or just trying to get a few projects under your belt before you move onto more difficult fare, this would be a good place to start. Experienced knitters, my not be as challenged as they'd like, but when you need a good quick project this wouldn't be a bad place to start.

The Homecook: Rosettes

If you trace my family genealogy it reads a bit like a tour across Europe. A liberal helping of German, a shake of Irish, a dab of a stiff-upper-lip Brit, a wee bit o' Scot all mixed with a bright swath of Bohemian/Czech. What's surprising is that up until five years ago there wasn't even a smidgen of Scandinavian...not a touch.

Christmas for us has always been celebrated on Christmas Eve, though if this is a throw back to my mother's Czech heritage, I have no idea. Hoska IS a throw back to that heritage and is made by my grandmother every year...though I have to admit, I don't care for it. All in all, that's about the extent of any culture based "tradition" in my family; for the most part we've been fully assimilated in to American Culture.



Then ELEVEN-ish (I know! My goodness it's been a long time!) years ago I met Tim. He claimed to be some unknown blend of German and Scandinavian and that was about all I thought about that until I celebrated Christmas with him for the first time. There was lefse...there were rosettes...pickle gifts (though I'm not sure that one actually has cultural roots)...there was a lot happening that I'd never even heard of before.

Since then I've become rather fond of the lefse...when Tim will share...and have a deep appreciation for the rosettes. Sadly the both the lefse and the rosettes have become a hit or miss treat because we do not always celebrate Christmas with Tim's grandparents (Why do grandma's always make the good stuff?), so two years ago Tim gave me my very own rosette set. I then did little more than put them in a drawer and forget about them...until this year. This year, I decided to see if this rather complicated looking process was something I could do. Turns out I can. There isn't much to a rosette recipe, it's more in the technique than anything else. That technique though, takes a little practice. I probably go about all this a little backwards, but after a trial and error batch, I finally developed a system that could go from chilled batter to crispy fried cookie with minimal heartache. All in all it's been a rather successful attempt at cultural diversification.

Rosettes
Based on the recipe from Epicurious.com

2 large Eggs
2 tablespoons Granulated Sugar
1 cup Whole Milk
1 teaspoon Vanilla
1 cup All-Purpose Flour
1/4 teaspoon Salt
1 1/2 qt Vegetable or Canola Oil
1/4 cup Confectioners Sugar
Rosette Irons

Sift together flour, salt and sugar in a large bowl. In a separate bowl whisk together eggs, milk and vanilla. Add wet ingredients to dry and beat until smooth. Refrigerate batter for at least 2 hours or overnight.

When ready to cook, heat oil in a 3- to 4-quart heavy saucepan with rosette iron in it until thermometer registers 360 to 375°F. Carefully lift out iron, letting oil drip off into pan. Tap any excess oil onto a paper towel. Dip all but top edge of iron into batter 3 seconds, then submerge iron in oil and fry until batter releases and holds shape, approximately 15-20 seconds. Remove iron and place aside or back into the oil to reheat. Flip rosette over and allow to cook approximately 5-10 more seconds. Lift rosettes out with a fork or strainer, gently shake off oil and place on paper towel covered rack. Cooled rosettes should be very lightly browned and crisp. Let rosette drain, hollow side down, on paper towels, allow iron to reheat in oil for 10 seconds before dipping it into batter each time.

Dust rosettes with confectioners sugar before serving.

The Crafty Bits: Socks (F)

These pictures have been sitting in draft form for-nearly-ever. Mostly because..dude they're socks, what do you say about socks!?! In fact I'm still not sure what you say about socks...except hey, they're socks and their kind of fun to knit and really portable and...well that's about it.

So...socks. Here we go!



These are from Knitty's Sock 101 and are made from Lang Jawoll's sock yarn in #95 medium brown. That's that. I mean they are socks, they have a standard toe and a round heel and they're too big because they're my first socks and that whole sizing for your foot thing? It mystified me; but they're warm AND they fit just right over another pair of socks so they work great when I need to go out and scoop the sidewalk. I don't love 'em and I don't hate 'em...though the yarn was very nice to work with.



This is sock pair numero dos. The pattern in Ribbed Oak Socks from Nancy Bush's Knitting Vintage Socks: New Twists on Classic Patterns. This time I got the sizing in the leg right, but the gauge is a bit loose in the foot. Still they fit well enough that I can wear them, plus I think the ribbing pattern is really pretty.



This pair has a round toe and a french heel, both of which I like much better than their corresponding standard. I think the finished product has more of a sock look when it's not on the foot (so to speak) and a better fit. Or maybe I just knit a better sock because I knew what the heck I was doing.



The yarn is Berroco Sox in color 1472 Leeds. Ummm...I love this yarn. I knit up beautifully, looks great and has such a nice hand in the finished socks.

So that's what I have to say about that. I have made socks, I like making socks and have already put another pair on the needles. Yay for socks. Also I apologize for the over use of the word sock(s)...but it's not like there is a plethora of sock synonyms.

The Home Cook: Baked Sesame Chicken

I know, I know! It's been ages. I had grand intentions of dragging you through my holiday prep right along with me but, as you can tell, it didn't happen. Not that I didn't holiday "do"...I just didn't holiday share. Boo on me.

So, besides not blogging, what I have been up to? Well Lemon Cookies, Peanut Butter Sweeties, Ice Box Cookies, Brown Sugar Toffee Cookies, Almond Bark Pretzels (and Peanut Butter Cracker Sandwiches), Chex Mix and, finally, Caramel Corn. And since I can't mail you each a little sampler, you'll just have to believe me...it's all delicious. And nearly gone. That's what happens when you have a peanut butter sweetie or an almond bark pretzel with your bowl of cereal in the morning.

But with all the baking, suppers have been a bit scarce. Or nonexistent. Your pick. Mostly because after baking for four solid evenings/days the drive to whip up something...anything, really just ain't happenin'. And while I haven't actually made it this week, the last time I was up to my eyeballs in stuff to do this recipe saved me from yet another night at the sub shop.



So Baked Sesame Chicken with Sweet and Sour Sauce...it's one of those recipes that is exactly what it says it is. Pieces of sesame breaded chicken with a spoon-over sweet and sour sauce. Serve it with some egg rolls or chive cream cheese wontons and you've got a super fast supper. The recipe calls for boneless skinless chicken breast tenders and while that's good, spring for the extra 5-10 minutes of baking time for skinless chicken thighs. Yes, it's not as healthy but it's also so much better tasting.

Baked Sesame Chicken with Sweet and Sour Sauce
from Kikkoman

1/4 cup sesame seed, toasted
3 tablespoons dry bread crumbs
2 teaspoons onion powder
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon Kikkoman Soy Sauce
4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves (or skinless thighs)
1/3 cup Kikkoman Sweet & Sour Sauce
3 tablespoons brown sugar, packed
1/2 teaspoon Oriental sesame oil

Preheat oven to 375ºF and line baking pan with foil; place oven-safe rack in pan.

Combine sesame seed, bread crumbs, onion powder and pepper in shallow pan or plate.

Melt butter and stir in soy sauce. Coat both sides of chicken, 1 piece at a time, with margarine mixture, then with sesame seed mixture. Arrange chicken, side by side, on rack in the pan. Bake for 20 minutes, or until no longer pink in center.

Meanwhile, combine sweet & sour sauce, brown sugar and 3 Tbsp. water in small saucepan. Cook, stirring, over medium heat until mixture boils. Remove from heat; stir in sesame oil. Serve sauce with chicken.

The Crafty Bits: A Messenger Bag (F)

The craft corner has been a bit barren lately, but not for lack of projects. I've got a growing pile of stuff that's photographed, written up and just waiting for Christmas to finally roll around so that I can share with everyone. But until then most stuff needs to stay under wraps, lest the recipients get a premature glimpse at their goodies.

The upswing to all this is that some secrets get let out of the bag sooner than others. Take Kara's messenger bag for example; I knit it in October, Kara got it on Saturday and you get to see it today. Awesomeness for everyone.

I'd just like to say...I love this yarn, I loved this pattern and together the end result was very, very hard to give away. The yarn is Knit Picks Wool of the Andes in Redwood Forest. I actually bought one more hank of yarn to go with the leftover half ball sitting in my closet...I WILL be doing something for myself with this stuff.

The knit pattern ended up with a knotted, bouclè like texture. Wonderful enough to be interesting without overwhelming the yarn.

The pattern came from Speed Knitting: 24 Quick and Easy Projects by Kris Percival...a most awesome Christmas gift from last year.

*Sigh* So hard to gift...good thing there's more yarn.