Teknicolor Kelli

Happy Valentines Day...late

2011-02-15T08:08:00.002-07:00

Yesterday was Valentines Day and hope each one of you got a little reminder of how special you are...be it from friend, spouse, significant other, child(ren) or just a happy wiggly pet.

Our Valentines Day was memorable...there was a lost floral order, a forgotten phone, a broken website and an office with a broken sewage ejector (which for the record is as unpleasant and smelly as it sounds). There was also a spectacular cheese pizza, some very fine beer and our favorite movie on AMC. The night was not a loss, though I'm not certain The Shawshank Redemption would be classified as appropriate movie fare considering the holiday. Either way, what could have been a very lousy day actually turned out pretty great and I hope you can all say the same or better.

The Crafty Bits: Shimmer Scarf

2010-12-16T10:37:00.001-07:00

As I've said before, every year me and a small contingent of lady-type-friends gather together to do our "Christmas Shopping" in November. That said, only a few of us actually shop...living a good distance from most major retailers means there are some that come with long lists and lofty goals. The rest of us tag along, heckling, making inane comments and generally getting in the way of productivity. Clearly we're very helpful.

One stop we always make is to the local yarn shop, while not all of us are knitters, crocheters or even crafters in general...everyone can appreciate the comfy chairs and pretty soft things to look at. In 2009 the stop included my purchase of a skein of Misty Alpaca Suri & Silk hand-painted yarn. It was so, so soft. Almost downy. The yarn label says, "Painted to the stitch." and the variety of color in the yarn seemed to support the claim. Colors running from turquoise to plum to golds make up the yarn, but instead of being loud and garish the colors come together like little bursts making one overall softly variegating tone. Overall the scarf that came out of it is a pinkish-orange, but with a closer look you can see each stitches unique color.

My only complaint is one that holds to alpaca in general, knitting it up is like swallowing a giant hairball. Ugh. While the stuff knits and wears beautifully (I sill am in awe of the drape of this scarf) the little fibers that dislodge during knitting get stuck in your throat; constantly leaving you feeling like a Persian cat has taken up residence in your bronchial. Gasp, hack, ick.

This, of course, is off set by just how lovely the scarf turned out in the end. I knit it using the summer shimmer scarf pattern from purlbee and the end result it stunning. A long double wrapped scarf that drapes around the neck with a softness that is unbelievable.

Notes:

Yarn: Misti Alpaca Suri & Silk
Color: Lost the label...pinkishly orange
Needles: #7 Straights

Pattern: Summer Shimmer Scarf
Source: Purlbee

The Crafty Bits: Angee Socks

2010-11-28T09:57:00.002-07:00

According to the history on this post I saved this image in a draft entry on August 9th, 2009 at 8:26pm

...but truly I've had this yarn since November 2008 (I know, I know...that is a long time to sit on such a beautiful skein of yarn). I bought it at our annual Christmas shopping trip to Sioux Falls. It's a Malabrigo sock yarn called Botticelli Red. Sandro Botticelli was a Florentine painter during the early Renaissance period (when art was beginning to focus on realism and developing the technique of true perspective.) He is best known for his painting The Birth of Venus, though I've always preferred the work Venus and Mars. So it is oddly appropriate (though in this case completely accidental) that the pattern I used seems to employ a bit of forced perspective by taking heavy lines of knit stitches that "fade" in and out from each other, making the leg and foot look longer and narrower.

The pattern, from Cookie A's mega-popular book Sock Innovation, was quick and easy though I did them as a "knit night" only project so they took nearly two months to finish. In the end they finished up just in time to wear while I decorated for Christmas, and even if they aren't Christmas Red they're still beautiful and cozy.

Sock Information:

Yarn: Malabrigo Sock Yarn Botticelli Red
Needles: #2 DPNs
Pattern: Angee Socks
Source: Sock Innovation by Cookie A

The Home Cook: Swiss, Ham & Spinach Panini

2010-11-22T10:40:00.001-07:00

What's this?!? A new post!

Tonight kicks off the intensive preparations for Thanksgiving at our house. It sounds a little crazy to start cooking on Monday, but Tuesday is knit night and many things must be accomplished between now and Thursday morning. And since I don't like to spend ALL DAY cooking on Thanksgiving, I make almost everything a head of time...mostly so I can watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in peace.

So while I make brine, jellied cranberry sauce, potatoes, rolls, pie and the like over the next three nights, I also still need to feed myself and the husband. It's unfortunate that our kitchen is so small or I'd just stick him with the nightly task of getting us fed, but we're not that fortunate. It's not really a two person kind of kitchen, or possibly, I'm just bad at sharing my work space. But lets not get picky. And since I'm not the only person in this conundrum, I thought you'd like to hear about what is going to save my butt tonight.

Panini - the single best invention to hit the sandwich since cheese. We eat pressed french dips, grilled cheese, grilled rubens, tuna melts, sliced ham and smoked cheddar, cranberry and turkey and many many others. Lately I've been on a swiss, ham and spinach kick. For me the secret is to grill the sandwich then add the baby spinach. I cannot abide the texture of wilted greens and this splits the difference. The heat of the sandwich warms the greens but not enough to make them clingy and disgusting. Best of all? I can have supper cooked and eaten in less than 30 minutes, leaving time to work on all those Thanksgiving 'To Dos'.

Swiss, Ham and Spinach Panini

Thinly sliced home style bread (farmer's bread, sour dough or ciabatta)
Mayonnaise
Sun Dried Tomato Pesto
Thin sliced swiss or baby swiss cheese
Shredded or thinly sliced ham
Softened Butter
Baby Spinach

Heat stove top grill pan and press top or panini press to medium heat.

Spread an even layer of mayonnaise on one slice of bread and an even layer of pesto on the other; top one side with a slice of swiss cheese. In a small bowl warm ham in the microwave, drain and pat off any liquid. Top cheese with ham and press on top of sandwich. Butter one side and place in grill pan or press butter side down. Butter top, press sandwich with even pressure with the press top or in the press; grilling each side until golden. Remove to a plate and remove top of sandwich and layer with baby spinach. Replace top, slice in half and serve.

The Crafty Bits: Waterfall Rib Socks

2010-09-16T09:04:00.003-06:00

I know!

I've been gone since May and I come back with socks, of all things. Nothing like a consistent obsession. I spent most of the spring and early summer months knitting a birthday scarf for my mom, which I forgot to take final pictures of before I gifted it. I also finished the summery Lettuce scarf, which is blocked and sitting on my desk waiting for me to re-weave in ONE END that has been taunting me for weeks. Mostly, though, it was a quiet summer.

In June Tim, the dogs and I were geocaching almost every weekend and discovered some truly beautiful places in the area. July was all about events, appointments and traveling; almost every weekend found us on the road going to some party, camping trip or the like. August, well, August was all about work for me. Long weekends in the office or at the kitchen table working out the intricacies of the latest project before the September deadline. I'm still not really sure how Tim and the dogs have spent the last 6 weeks, probably watching lots of movies and playing xbox games. But now I'm free and hopefully we'll be able to enjoy a few brief weeks of fall before the weather gets gray and wintry.

It's ironic that this is the yarn I plucked out of the stash in August. Called Dakota Autumn, it's all warm browns, umber and pinks...a little peek into what the trees and tall grasses will look like a few weeks from now. Fall is by far my favorite time of year, the air is crisp, the colors are vibrant and the light of the day takes on a warm golden tone. Everything feels like it's taking one last deep breath before winter sets in and I adore all, right it down to the last yellow leaf. I have to believe that it was wishful thinking on my part when I pulled this out. Knowing that most of August I was going to be trapped inside, this yarn would remind me of the season waiting on the other side of all that work.

These socks were probably the fastest pair I've ever knit...once I found the right pattern. (It only took me 5 tries to figure out what looked best with the yarn!) Done on #2 needles, they ended up a little slouchier than I prefer, but they'll still keep my feet toasty in the months to come. The pattern is a simple twisted rib called Waterfall and the diagonal direction of the stitches plays very nicely with the colors in the yarn.

*** Notes***

Yarn: Castle Fibers Sock Yarn
Color: Dakota Autumn
Needles: #2 DPN (probably should have used #1.5)
Pattern: Waterfall Rib
Source: Sensational Knitted Socks by Charlene Schurch (yes, again...like the 5th pattern from that book)

The Home Cook: Chocolate Carmel Pecan Brownies

2010-05-13T21:43:00.001-06:00

I grew up in a home with a sweet tooth. On any given night the typical after dinner conversation sounded something like this:

That was pretty good, thanks for supper....do we have anything for dessert?

On Saturdays and Sundays the answer needed to be, "YES". We grew up on rhubarb crunch, pistachio dessert, mom's oreo caramel ice cream concoction and a wide variety of cookies. There were rice krispie bars, chocolate pies, box brownies and sweet cheese danishes from the bakery.

One of the first things I missed after leaving for college was all that sugar. It's hard to justify a big pan of anything for you, your roommate and her boyfriend. Three people can't eat a 9x13 pan of sweets and look each other in the eye the next day...though we did try on occasion. The situation became even more dire when I started living solo. It's just not much fun when you *have* to finish something before it gets stale.

Happily the problem solved itself when I began working for the library. I know I've mentioned that there were many days when their tendency to celebrate any little thing kept me well fed, but it wasn't a one way street. I happily took them treats when ever I had a rogue craving for something sweet. One of the first things I took were these brownies...I like to think it was one of the things that made me so popular around the office. Who doesn't like the girl who brings rich, gooey goodies?

And these brownies? Certainly are crowd pleasers. I still take them to work, though these days it's to an office full of guys, which is kind of nice...no one complains about their thighs.

Chocolate Carmel Pecan Brownies
adapted from fbnr Magazine March 2001

1-14oz pkg Caramels, wrappers removed
2/3 cup Evaporated Milk, divided (1/3 c & 1/3 c)
1-18.25oz German Chocolate cake mix
1/2 cup Butter, melted
3oz semisweet chocolate chopped, pieces or chips
3oz dark chocolate chopped, pieces or chips
1 cup Pecans, toasted, roughly chopped & divided
Sea Salt (optional)

Preheat oven to 350°F.

To toast pecans: Place pecans on a baking sheet, toast for 8-10 minutes or until nuts are golden and fragrant. Stir half way through. Set aside to cool, then chop.

Caramel Filling: Place caramels & 1/3 cup evaporated milk in a medium sauce pan over low heat until smooth, stirring occasionally.

For cake mix: In a medium bowl mix together cake mix, butter & 1/3 cup evaporated milk until well blended.

Assembly: In a greased 9x13x2" glass pan, press half of the cake mix using a buttered hands or spatula. Bake for 6 minutes. Remove from oven. Spoon on caramel and sprinkle with 1/2 cup pecans and chocolate pieces. Drop on remaining cake mix in spoon fulls sprinkling top with remaining pecans and sea salt if desired.

Bake for 20 minutes. Allow to cool for 20 minutes before cutting, serve warm or cooled completely.

The Crafty Bits: Summer Shimmer & Gloriana

2010-05-04T11:49:00.002-06:00

I'm apparently on a scarf kick, I started one for myself with a skein of Misti Baby Alpaca Suri Silk (the color is not as Whoa! as it is in the picture, thankfully) about a month ago. The pattern is Summer Shimmer Scarf from Purl Bee and it'll end up being a light-weight summery scarf though I think I'll use it to dress up a few suits at work. It's been going well and the pattern consists exactly four rows, two of which are "purl to end of row" which means it is perfect for vegging out with while watching a movie...or three seasons of Burn Notice, whatever floats your boat.

Summer Shimmer

******If you are my mother [and I'm guessing you not, because she does not use "that internet-thing"] TURN AWAY.******

On the other end of the scarf like objects is the Elizabeth I - Gloriana scarf. I made myself the much less complicated Town & Country a few years ago and while I love it, I've always wanted to tackle the other scarves that came in the pattern set [Dainty Bess & Gloriana]. I had originally intended for this to be a Christmas gift. I mean I had like 6 weeks or something in November when I started and that should have been plenty of time for a scarf. Right?

Ha!

Haa! Ha ha haaaa!

Ha. Or you know, not. I have come to terms with the idea that I'm a slow knitter. I mean I plan on starting a stocking hat for a Christmas gift exchange that will happen in February of 2011. But sometimes I let myself get a little overly optimistic...like then. So instead of Christmas, she'll be getting this as a 50th birthday gift in July. The pattern is...complex and it's taking a while to get into it, but now that I seem to have found a groove I think I'll have it done in time. I can do two repeats a night with minimal mistakes, so that's nice. I'm glad I've moved beyond knit a row, rip a row, knit three rows, rip two, knit four, rip one, repeat, because that sucked and if we'd have continued that way things would have ended badly for both of us. That said the results are actually very nice and I may even be sorry to see it go when the time comes.

Elizabeth I - Gloriana

Lazy Day at Home

2010-05-02T16:25:00.002-06:00

A typical Sunday around our house...lots of snacking and napping.

The Crafty Bits: Denmark Socks (F)

2010-04-05T14:49:00.000-06:00

When we were in Rochester last September there wasn't a lot to be happy about at the time. Being stuck in a town with medical problems and waiting for surgery sucks the happy factor out of just about any excursion. But with a few days to kill and nothing better to do we plastered on some happy faces and set about discovering the city and surrounding area.

There were a lot of nice quilty-yarny-bookish places that we stopped in at but my personal favorite was Kristen's Knits, a cheerful and yarn packed shop along one of Rochester's main streets. The yarn that left with me was Araucania Itata Multi sock yarn. It was green and blue and shimmery and made me think of dragon scales or the jeweled greens of a tropical bird.

Apparently the yarn felt the same way, because no matter what pattern I tried none would cooperate. Nothing fit the coloration, weight or feel of the yarn. The textures were wrong or the yarn didn't have enough body or any number of other things...that yarn and I fought every step of the way and if I told you I didn't just about toss that hank out the nearest window on at least three separate occasions I would be flat out lying. But eventually it all came together and it became clear...I needed to let the yarn's inner dragon out.

I'm sure Nancy Bush (Have we heard that name before??) would argue about her Denmark pattern resembling any type of scale; reptile, amphibian, dragon or other. But to me, there is a definite scale like texture to the repeating single stitch cable. The way the pattern nestles into itself, overlapping and fitting together reminds me of the tail of a chameleon or the feathers on a bird's breast. Which goes to prove, next time I just need to listen to the yarn first.

About these Socks:

Yarn: Araucania Itata Multy
Color: 1013 (A rather uninspired designation...I like to think of it as Dragon Green...which is also rather uninspired)
Pattern: Denmark
Source: Nancy Bush's Knitting on the Road: Sock Patterns for the Traveling Knitter

Tagged! A Photo Meme

2010-03-31T21:16:00.004-06:00

From Mariah at Portrait of a Wannabe Domestic Goddess

The instructions: Open your photo file, find the sixth folder and post about the sixth picture in that folder.

That's easier said than done. Despite my reputation, photo organization is not a strength and as it turns out the the sixth folder in my photo file is empty...apparently 2009's pictures are still in limbo...or at least in the "Photos to Edit" folder. So the next folder with stuff in it are the pictures from my sister-in-law's wedding in September. The catch? The top folder in that one is filled with pictures taken by someone else...sheesh, I really need to get my shit together. So without further ado the sixth picture in the seventh folder of the General Photography folder:

Have you ever played Chubby-Bunny? With gum? My sister-in-laws have. Neither one would recommend doing so with Bubble Yum, which is possibly the world's hardest, least chewable gum you can find. This will however provide the most entertaining bridal shower game ever...as long as you're in the audience.

Even though none of us are real "bridal shower" types (and you KNOW what I mean) we had a fun afternoon celebrating Robyn's upcoming wedding last August. In September she married Alex her boyfriend/fiance of seven years. They had an awesome wedding that really captured who they are individually and as a couple. They've been married for six months and I'm sure it's just the beginning of a wonderful life together.

And because I'm shameless here are a few photos I'm fairly proud of from their wedding day...

Tagged:
Robyn - Robyn's Nest
Becki - My Little Blog

Scribbles in the Margin: A Homemade Life by Molly Wizenburg

2010-03-21T09:00:00.000-06:00

I'm a rather faithless blog reader...I'll find a blog, add it to my RSS and follow it. Nine months, a year, maybe longer; eventually it seems like most blogs end off falling off my radar. Maybe the blogger has quit posting, maybe the content has shifted or maybe I'm just not as captured by it as I once was. There are only a handful of blogs/bloggers who I've followed day in and day out, transferring from my bookmarks to my Google Reader or taking the time to go to their sites, through a flurry of posts to hardly any at all.

Orangette was one of the first blogs I ever bookmarked something like four years ago; nearly the Paleozoic Era in internet time, and I still get excited every time she posts. So naturally when the day came that her cookbook / memoir was released I made sure to add it to my "Things to Read List". Then it took an embarrassingly long time for me to actually read it.

The nice thing about Molly Wizenberg's writing - whether it's her blog, her book or even, I suspect, her grocery list - is that it leaves you feeling like the sharp edges of the world have been rounded off. The perspective from her world is so soft and gentle that it's hard to imagine that anything really painful can ever happen. The truth of it though, that whether she's writing about her first trip to Paris, the death of her beloved father or her own love story, she shares the good and the bad equally, always rounding out the difficult spots with a fond memory or a touching lesson well learned. My only real complaint is that the second half of the book, her romance and eventual marriage, gets so soft and gauzy that it gets a bit tedious. Which is hardly a real complaint at all.

The cookbook aspect of her book is lovely and the backbone of the layout. Written as a series of vignettes that capture a memory, each ends with a corresponding recipe. The now famous lemon cake that introduced her to Brandon, her mother's Christmas cookies, her father's potato salad or an uncle's salmon, each recipe is as much a part of the story as the people. While her food has always been a bit more fussy than I care to cook, that's not really the point - I come for the story, which she delivers...softly wrapped in a tidy little package.

The Home Cook: Apple Ginger Cake

2010-03-15T20:24:00.003-06:00

There are a lot of days I open each one of my cupboards, starting from left to right and scan the shelves slowly. One by one, carefully looking over the cans, boxes and containers and come to the sad conclusion that there is nothing to eat...and then promptly feel guilty. After all, I HAVE cans, boxes and containers and none of them are empty, which is more than many, many people can say. We have food...an almost embarrassing amount for two people, freezers (yes, plural) several shelves and a mini-pantry all over-flowing with all sorts of things edible.

What I really mean is that we don't have any food (or very, very little of it) that is instantly ready to eat. Besides a mini-collection of soups and the sporadic pizza or corn dog, most of the food in my house is a component for cooking. Cans of various beans, bags of rice, containers of flour or boxes pasta...all very good and perfectly acceptable food. Besides, this is the way I want it, Tim and I are trying (emphasis on trying) to eat healthier and one of the ways we do it is by attempting to minimize our reliance on heavily processed food. Over the last 9 months I've been very carefully weeding out the pantry.

The difficulty with all this weeding & healthy eating, of course, that this requires me to cook and clean the kitchen...a lot. We need supper every night and left-overs for lunches the next day. I'm not always successful and we eat more restaurant & fast food than we should, but we're taking this one step at a time. (This would also be why there haven't been many recipe posts in the last year...a whole new cooking repertoire takes time to build!) However, on Friday I discovered that besides three cans of evaporated milk (!) I also had a box of cake mix and some pie filling. This at least was a snap to take care of. With a few smart additions to the cake mix and the use of a set of 8x8" baking pans, we could have a small treat in the house, I'd be rid of one more thing that shouldn't be lingering around and I could garner some popularity points at work. Completely win/win/win.

It doesn't hurt that this turned out to be quite tasty...though I imagine making this with a from-scratch cake base would be even BETTER.

Apple Ginger Cake
Adapted from Wilderness pie filling booklet

1 box (18.25oz) Yellow Cake Mix
1 t Ground Ginger
1/2 t Ground Cloves

1 can (21oz) Apple Pie Filling
3 eggs

6 T Light Brown Sugar
2 t Cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Light grease and flour a 9x13x2" cake pan or two 8x8x2" cake pans, set aside.

In a small bowl mix together brown sugar and cinnamon, set aside.

In a large bowl mix together cake mix, ginger and cloves. With a heavy spoon or an electric mixer beat in pie filling and eggs until batter is smooth.

Pour half of the batter into the prepared cake pan(s). Top with half of the sugar and cinnamon mixture. Pour remaining batter over the sugar and level with a spatula, top with remaining sugar mixture.

Bake for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Cool for 15 minutes before cutting and serving or cool completely before covering and storing.

Cook's Notes:

- The original recipe called for a box of yellow or spice cake mix, if you use the spiced mix don't add the cloves.

- The ginger is a strong feature in the flavor of this cake, but if it's not your thing you may want to half it or even omit it.

- The recipe says that you can mix this with an electric mixer, but the way I figure it that would pulverize the apple pieces. I prefer the larger pieces of fruit so I mixed by hand.

The Crafty Bits: Colophon Gloves (F) / Owen's Blanket (F)

2010-02-12T20:29:00.007-07:00

There have been a lot of boxes lately. Coming, going...lots of to and fro with UPS, FED EX and good ol' Postal Service. On Tuesday I sent out the last of the boxes. A melange of goodies; there was roving, a Christmas present, a valentines day something and a little something for very new little boy.

The Colophon fingerless gloves made up the Christmas portion of the box. Done in black Malabrigo sock yarn, the stretchy lace pattern has a rather distinct early Madonna look, or so says Tim; I prefer to think they would be more at home with an evening dress and a lovely wrap. Either way they knit up incredibly fast and have a fabulous funky feeling.

The only regret with these gloves (besides gently packing them up and sending them away) is that some way or another one ended up longer than the other. I'm thinking I miscounted a repeat in the cuff or didn't fully complete a pattern repeat because, however it happened one glove seemed to be three rows longer than the other. One of the great mysteries of knitting...or at least MY knitting.

********************************************

On the other end of the spectrum is the easily recognizable Mary Baker Crib Blanket!! Made for a newly arrived little boy in Iowa. This being my eleventh foray into blanket production, you'd think I'd have made peace with the process. Apparently not. While the cussing came much, much later in the game than before...it still came and with a vengeance. This is also the project where I finally admitted that I really truly do not like sewing...anything...at all...ever. Will I quit making these? No. Will I ever like it? Nope. If I ever happen to give you one and you hate it...don't tell me. Lie. Tell me you love it because if you don't, I'll probably collapse in a sobbing heap at your feet.

***************************************

Oh, what did I send for Valentines Day? Hungry, Hungry Hippos.

What?!? That's totally an appropriate Valentine's Day gift. Now I just need to steer clear of The Mom...I'm guessing she's not real happy with me right about now.

The Crafty Bits: Unst Socks (F)

2010-02-04T12:08:00.001-07:00

Two weeks ago I hesitantly took a small white envelope to the post office and sent off the most beautiful pair of socks I've ever made. That's a pretty bold statement - I know - but it's completely honest. Even though they're the softest most feminine shade of pink...a color I almost universally abhor, I absolutely had to talk myself into opening my hand and letting them drop into the temporary custody of the United States Postal Service.

Back in October I was perusing the sock yarns at my LYS and found an almost exact match to the shade of light pink used at my friend Kara's wedding. And really that's all there was to it, there was nothing to do but buy the skein and find just the right pattern to help commemorate her leap from single to wed -- a little something to capture the feeling of her princess perfect wedding. As if the color isn't perfect enough, the pattern's delicate yarn-overs and eyelets took the germ of the idea and really made it happen. The final socks were so delicate and fine looking that it's hard to believe that they weren't done on some imported brand of superfine yarn and 00 needles.

About these Socks:

Yarn: Castle Fibers Sock Yarn
Colorway: ?? Pink, I lost the label that had the exact name
Pattern: Unst from Knitting on the Road: Sock Patterns for the Traveling Knitter by Nancy Bush
Needles: #1 DPN
Time Frame: 3-4 weeks

Protozoa Puppy

2010-01-29T10:07:00.003-07:00

It's been awhile and since I have little of value to post so I you bring puppy pictures:

It's really hard to get anything done
when this face is asking you to cuddle.

Daisy is about 10lbs these days, about half grown
(or a little over). Lately she's been a bit under the weather with
an intestinal parasite [a protozoa! which sounds way more
interesting (and less disgusting) that some kind of worm] but
she's on the mend and has recently learned how to jump up
on the sofa.

The Crafty Bits: Messenger Bag II (F)

2010-01-14T22:40:00.000-07:00

We're going to jump from one extreme to the next...from an outright painfully HARD project to one that was so boring it nearly makes me weep to sit here and reflect on it.

Two years ago I made a very awesome and beautiful Boucle Messenger Bag as a Christmas gift and I loved that bag so much I vowed to make myself one too. I ordered the extra yarn, modified the pattern a tick and then it just sat there...loitering around in my To-Do box, never getting anywhere.

Iit would still be sitting in that box...quietly collecting dust; probably for a very long time, except my sister mentioned in July that she was looking for a funky messenger bag. I probably could have just knit the same pattern and called it good, but if I'm honest I still want to make myself one of those Boucle bags and I'm sorry, you can't have the same bag as your sister...it's a rule [I'm pretty sure.]

So, after considering various non-bag gifts [I originally typed that non-hag gifts, which is something else entirely.] I came up with a pattern for a larger felted messenger bag, which was instantly more appealing because I could 1) Use On-Hand Yarn, 2) Felt Something and 3)...well, there really wasn't a three, mostly I could try this felting thing. Hooray!

However there was one thing I did not consider, and that is that felting is essentially a reason to knit in the round until your brain curls up and dies. While brain-less knitting can be a welcome thing; I, personally, can only welcome it in very small and very limited quantities. If you consider that this bag is 21"x14" after it's felted, that is a shit-ton of boredom. The only redeeming feature was the striping [That I added to the pattern about 5 rows in when it dawned on me just how boring this was going to be and which is probably why I'm still here today and not petrifying in my favorite overstuffed chair.] which turned out to kind of "make the bag" so to speak, giving that necessary "funky" element.

All in all the bag turned out nicely. I would have chosen a different secondary yarn, if I had known that they wouldn't felt together as nicely as I wanted and I may have made it smaller if I had known it would take so bloody long to do the size indicated in the pattern. At the end of the day though, Kara [my sister] likes it and that's what counts.

******

Yarns: Knit Picks Yarn of the Andes in Redwood & Paton's Classic Wool in Taupe
Pattern: Messenger Bag from Knitting for Peace

The Crafty Bits: Pirate Mitts

2010-01-09T17:24:00.000-07:00

Hate is a very strong word. In that spirit I detested making these damn gloves. A fine distinction to be sure, but it seems rather unjust to say I hated them. Mostly because I'm not sure if my dislike is because of the technique or the fact that I took the pattern and then thoroughly disregarded it.

In this case the pattern was originally for mittens...which I lopped off into fingerless gloves...and a wool yarn...which I substituted with a silkier cotton/beech wood yarn [a bad idea] and finally [because I enjoy pain] I completely redesigned the motif. And while none of that on its own is too Earth shattering, there is the simple fact that I have never done color-work before. Two-strand or other...I was a complete and total novice. The tally of all these things is pretty much mind bendingly bad knitting.

I will admit I swore, frequently and with force...to the point that both husband and dog would vacate to the basement when they saw the black and white balls and DPNs come out from their hiding place. But in the end they got done...both gloves, one for each hand and I have never been happier to cast something off.

Despite the lingering dislike, I am proud of myself. The gloves are pretty awesome [skull and cross-bones!?! what's not to love?], they fit Tim's rather enormous hands and I learned the technique for two strands on one hand...not at all a small accomplishment. Hopefully if I ever do this again there will be far less cussing.

*******

Yarn: Knit Picks Shine Sport Weight, colors since discontinued.
Needles: #3 DPNs
Pattern: Hello Yarn's Pirate Mittens

The Crafty Bits: Clover Ribbed Socks

2009-12-11T10:15:00.003-07:00

From the little crumbs I've been throwing out here and there you'd think I haven't been up to much of anything...mostly you'd be right. Cooking has been run of the mill and fairly nondescript. With Tim and I really truly trying to eat and live healthier, there has been a boom of cooking...but mostly things like grilled this or that with a double side of veg or salad. I haven't been reading much and I just can't seem to get my act together enough to take pictures of the knitting I've been doing. Therefore I count it as a major coup that I actually got something done and then proceeded to TAKE A PICTURE OF THE DAMN THING!

Again with the socks...it's moved from borderline to full-on obsession. These alas, are not for me but were birthday gifted to Sharon. I'm told she LURVES them and hopefully they fit properly.

Yarn: Castle Fibers Sock Yarn
Colorway: uh, I don't remember...something, something Meadow or Spring or...I don't know - selected because it seemed Irish-y

Pattern: Clover Leaf Rib (also selected because it seemed Irish-y)
Source: Sensational Socks by Charlene Schurch

Scribbles in the Margins: My Life in France & So B. It

2009-11-23T08:19:00.005-07:00

Instructions for Creating a Custom Book Pile in Ten Easy Steps:

1. Select book. Begin reading.
2. 1/3 of the way through book, decide you want something lighter to read to offset Book #1.
3. Begin Book #2.
4. Read 1/3 to 1/2 of Book #2, become captivated by topic of unrelated Book #3.
5. Read 2/3rds of Book #3, hear about / see / buy interesting Book #4.
6. Promise yourself that you will not start Book #4 until you finish Books #1-#3.
7. Begin Book #4
8. Finish Book #4, get disgusted with yourself and go back to Book #1.
9. Reread bits of Book #1 to remember what it is about, finish Book #1.
10 . Repeat Step 9 for Books #2-#3

With these easy to follow instructions you too can have a book pile that resembles this:

Omnivore's Dilemma (Started in August, 1/3rd done)
My Life in France (Started in September, 100+/- pages left)
Portrait of an Unknown Woman (Read first chapter back in August)
So B. It (Skimmed through in October, only 180-some pages long)

On Wednesday I hit Step 8 (well a modified Step 8...I never actually finished a book, I just got disgusted with myself.) and by Sunday morning I could proudly proclaim that I could remove TWO WHOLE books from my pile and add them to my Books I Have Read shelf.

******

Ever since I saw the first trailer for Julie & Julia with Meryl Streep as Juila Child I've wanted to see the movie (which I have not...yet). I dutifully picked up the book the film is based on, read it and declared...tthhhbbbbtt. The book just wasn't that inspirational...or well written for that matter. I didn't feel an affinity for Julie Powell, I often felt like she hadn't captured her own growth and that for all her troubles, the changes she made in the year that she Mastered the Art of French Cooking were only superficial.

Mostly I just wanted her to just stop whining already.

No seriously, shut up lady.

The real hollowness of Powell's book comes in to sharp focus when reading Julia Child's memoir, My Life in France. Following Child's growth from late-blooming housewife to the internationally known voice of French Cuisine is personal and intimate, the book is less about the food (though there is plenty of that) and more about self-discovery. Following along with Julia as she uncovers her passions, her vices and why she loves France is inspirational. Her example for developing a life of continued learning, self-discovery and an always curious nature is something that nearly everyone can appreciate if not emulate...even if we can't stomach the idea of eggs in aspic.

******

In a different direction entirely is this juvenile fiction which I picked about a month ago when visiting my family for a weekend. So B. It tells the story 12 year old Heidi's search to learn the truth about her mentally disabled mother, where they are from and how they ended up creating a family for themselves with their neighbor Bernadette. Heidi's quest to learn about herself, her past and her mother's mysterious word, soof, takes her from Reno to New York state and teaches her more than she ever expected in a well written and very quiet story.

New Arrivals

2009-11-19T14:22:00.003-07:00

As promised I am here to introduce...

DAISY!
Who just got her first hair cut!

Who Lilly is not immediately fond of.
We've been seeing a lot of the PissedLilly Face...

...but who is warming up to Daisy a little more each day.

And this is my new yarn swift....whom I will love.

The Crafty Bits: Braided Cable Socks

2009-11-03T11:15:00.003-07:00

I feel like there should be some sort of peremptory comment. Kind of like on a season premier - "Previously on TeknicolorKelli..." It has been far too long, to the point that there has been some serious consideration as to whether or not Kelli (Teknicolor or otherwise) should continue to inhabit her little sliver of cyberspace. For now things are staying put which means that perhaps there should be some sort of update. Just to blow out the cobwebs.

Since that last update in August (Ouch.) things have gone kind of haywire and back again. We've been to a wedding, dealing with some serious health issues, smothered by a very heavy work load, doing some unexpected traveling and working with a breeder on acquiring a second puppy (Expect pictures next week!). Through it all there has been some (read, barely any) knitting. The pirate gloves are DONE. (More on that at a later.), some socks have been finished, a new pair started and some rather overzealous plans to do some holiday knitting have been undertaken.

A few weeks ago I finished up the Braided Cable Rib Socks. My favorites to date, the yarn is from a local spinner/dyer and is loverly to the extreme. The fuzziness in the photos isn't the camera, they've been worn and washed several times before I finally got around to photographing them.

I have to admit, I'm a yarn abuser when it comes to socks. They get worn tons, washed in the washer and flat dried...most of the time. Not exactly pampering the fibers, but it does give me an excuse to knit more socks.

Regardless of their abused state, they've been wearing like champs and the colors continue to enthrall me each time I see them. The warm reds, yellows, oranges and lavenders just tickle me to no end.

In the up coming weeks I hope to share a few more things that have been happening in these parts, some books I've been reading and, most importantly, posting lots of pictures of the new (and old...Lilly is very disgruntled about her lack of face time.) puppy.

The Crafty Bits: Cable Ribbed Socks

2009-08-26T22:22:00.000-06:00

In the name of progress I bring you another post! That's 3 in August, an all time high for 2009. To celebrate I'm showing off what's "on the needles" right now. Meet Fawkes...

Another Castle Fiber's yarn (the same spinner/dyer as the yarn for the Oblique Ribbed Socks) that is even more stunning in person. I'm only guessing, but I would say the inspiration for this yarn is the coloration of Fawkes the Phoenix...though Guy Fawkes and the Gunpowder Plot could be behind the firey colors too. (Blogging = learning!) Threads of gold, red, lavender, orange, white and rose twine together to recall the colors of a flickering flame.

This is the second pattern I've tried with the yarn and is far more successful than the first. Initially I had tried a Nancy Bush pattern from her traveling sock knitting book, On The Road. Not a good combination, the multi-fleck coloration needed a larger scale pattern or a simple rib. Having done the rib thing, it seemed like a good time to learn how to do cables. The picture above is before I knitted another 3"...and then ripped it out because the second row of cables wasn't right. I've since gotten the leg re-done and am currently gusseting sock #1...knitting is much nicer when things go well.

The Crafty Bits: Malabrigo Set (F)

2009-08-21T08:09:00.000-06:00

Way back in March I started a scarf because with warm weather quickly approaching it seemed like a reasonable thing to do...also because I had two skeins of worsted kettle dyed merino and you can't just let those things sit around. So I began to crochet a scarf...

...and as I crocheted the scarf got longer. And longer and longer and longer. After more crocheting than is really reasonable I began to think that maybe I didn't want a very long, very heavy scarf, maybe I wanted a shorter, more reasonably lengthed scarf. But I had started with two hanks of yarn and I still had a 1 1/4 of left over...which is a lot of yarn...

With this over abundance of lush yarn I decided that a hat might be just the thing. (Instead of the very long, very heavy scarf I had meant to end up with.) I mean, I don't have a single hat that matches anything. I have a black one and a lime green one, which are both felt and don't really go with any of my scarves. Also, neither very lovely with my pea coat. So a hat and a scarf would really be quite nice. I selected the ever popular Amanda Hat, bought some needles and knit, knit, knit and three days later I had a very nice stocking cap that was also quite lovely. Unfortunately, there was still 3/4 of a hank of yarn left over and the thought of crocheting even more scarf was...unpleasant. What to do? What to do....

So it seemed like gloves would be nice. They would match my hat...and my scarf...and it would be this wonderful coordinated set...except each piece is knit using different stitches and textures and they really aren't a set...just coordinates because they are all made from these two never.ever.ending skeins of yarn.

Which is how I ended up with a full set of fall accessories to wear....even if they really aren't a set.

The Home Cook: Rhubarb Jam

2009-08-09T20:28:00.004-06:00

You reach a point with a rhubarb plant where you either give up and just let it run amok in it's corner of the yard or you go and hack off two-thirds of the plant and finally DO something with it. Preferably something useful...like, say, ten pints of jam...which is a LOT of jam. But then 16 cups of diced rhubarb is no small amount either.

Strawberry-Rhubarb Jam

For the last few years I've made a half or maybe a whole batch of jam here and there. This year, with two fully established plants I ended up with enough rhubarb to make two full batches of jam and in an act of necessary diversification...two types. Strawberry-rhubarb and Raspberry-rhubarb, both are very good but I have to say that the raspberry is quickly becoming my favorite. The extra tang of the raspberries and the little flecks of the seeds just add a little something extra.

This recipe is probably not for you if you prefer the natural flavor of the unadorned rhubarb and berries, but the tartness of rhubarb is a tricky thing and I'm not quite confident enough in myself to forgo this recipe and try something less sweet. Also, this is just damn good stuff. We like it with a toasted bagel and cream cheese, but it's also very fine on an English muffin or a slice of good multi-grain bread.

Raspberry-Rhubarb Jam

Berry-Rhubarb Jam
Adapted from Cindy T. (mom-in-law)

8 Cups Diced Rhubarb
4 Cups Sugar
2pkgs 10oz Frozen berries in syrup
1 large and 1small box of jello

Mix together rhubarb and sugar and let set overnight.

The next day, sterilize 5 pint jars or 10 8oz jam jars, rings and lids and prepare canner. Strain berries from syrup, reserving liquid and cut large berries (such as strawberries into bite size pieces)

When ready, heat rhubarb, sugar, berries and 1 cup of syrup in a large heavy bottomed pot bringing to a medium boil. Boil for 15 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in jello packets until dissolved and let rest for 5 minutes, gently stirring occasionally.

Remove jars from water bath, dry and ladle jam into jars 1" from top. Wipe down rims, place on lids and rings. Process jars in canner for 10 minutes. Remove jars from water and allow to cool over night, check for proper seal before storing.

Stores up to one year.

Cook's Notes:

- The amount of syrup you add can very depending on the berries you are using. For strawberries I can usually add all of the reserved liquid and be fine. For Raspberries I can only add half before it starts to affect how the final jam sets up.

- We like our jam with a very firm set, if you prefer a softer set just use one large box of jello.

- For Strawberry-rhubarb jam use one large and one small box of strawberry jello. For Raspberry-rhubarb jam use one large box of raspberry and one small box of mixed fruit. There are all sorts of combinations, but I'd stick with the red colored jellos.

- The original recipe does not call for processing in a canner and works. That said I like the extra step, as it seems to give the jars a tighter seal and I KNOW everything is as safe as it's going to get...botulism is kind of scary. I also have a hard time ignoring years of advice from my grandma.

- For additional information about canning go to the people at Ball/Kerr. They've literally written the book on it.

The Crafty Bits: Oblique Ribbed Socks (F)

2009-07-16T19:45:00.003-06:00

This is a story about a pair of socks. It's also a story with out an end.

Not literally without an end, but more like with out the instant gratification of getting to see the finished product.

There are lot of things I've inherited from my mother. Eye color, the need for lists and the complete inability to get birthday gifts delivered in a timely manner. It's that last one that caused this whole debacle. See in late May it was Mariah's Birthday (30th...but you didn't hear that from me...) and a proper celebration of the day required a pretty spectacular gift. Enter a skein of beautiful yarn from a local yarnista called Castle Fibers. This yarn...beautiful...oh, the colors are breathtaking and it's tight hand spun twist is perfect for socks. Oh, so perfect.

Of course, sock yarn like this needs just the right pattern to display the colors to their best which is how I ended up with a sock pattern that was, perhaps, a wee bit aggressive for the time line I had for production. Ok, maybe not so "perhaps"...more like definitely. Which is why there aren't any pictures of the finished socks.

Oh, you didn't make the leap of thought with me? Ok, so her birthday was in May but she didn't get the socks until mid-June. Also, I finished the socks in the car...on the way to seeing Mariah...in June. So yeah, the socks weren't done until just before I gave them to her. Like right before I gave them to her.

Which is all to say, that is why there are no pictures of the completed Oblique Ribbed socks.

The Home Cook: Rhubarb Bread

2009-07-15T10:23:00.000-06:00

I feel as though I should come bearing gifts in apology. My blogging record over the last year has been less than spectacular and at this point I'd be surprised if there is anyone out there who still meanders by on purpose. But just in case there is someone out there who does still stop by to see the cobwebs and dust, your reward is here. You'll just need to provide the rhubarb and some time...and an oven. But that's it, I promise.

Here in this neck of the woods it's rhubarb season and the stuff out by the shed is going mutant. It will soon rule the backyard and my only hope is that it will be a benevolent overlord and not sell the dog into servitude. In an vain effort to try and curb the beast I took to the internet to try and find a recipe for rhubarb bread because...well it sounded good. I'm not sure there needs to be any other logic to it.

The recipe I finally went with had the odd addition of orange juice and zest, which while not the first place I would have gone was delicious. The bread was super moist and the citrus flavor was surprisingly nice with the tartness of the rhubarb.

Rhubarb Streusel Bread
Adapted from Culinary in the Desert!

Streusel Filling

2 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 tablespoons packed brown sugar
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
pinch salt

Batter

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
8 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon fresh grated orange zest
2 large eggs
1/3 cup fresh orange juice
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups 1/4" diced fresh rhubarb

Cinnamon Sugar Topping

2 1/2 Tablespoons Brown Sugar
2 Tabelspoons White Sugar
1 teaspoon Cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350ºF degrees.

In a small bowl, add sugars, flour, butter, cinnamon and salt - stir until mixture is moistened. Set steusel aside.

In a second small bowl, combine cinnamon sugar topping ingredients. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt and baking soda.

In a large mixing bowl, beat together butter, sugar and zest until very creamy. Beat in eggs, one at a time, mixing until well combined after each. Mix in orange juice and vanilla. Add dry ingredients and stir just until combined. Fold in rhubarb.

Scoop one third of the batter into an 8" x 4" loaf pan lined with parchment and lightly greased. Scatter half of the streusel mixture over the batter, gently pressing down to adhere. Scoop and additional 1/3 of the batter on top and scatter remaining streusel over the top, gently pressing down to adhere. Pour remaining batter on and top with cinnamon sugar mixture.

Place pan into the oven and bake until a wooden skewer placed into the center comes out mostly clean with a few moist crumbs attached, about 60 to 70 minutes. Remove and set pan on a wire rack to cool for 15 minutes, then remove bread from the pan and let cool completely.

Makes about 12 servings.

The Home Cook: Beef n' Beans with Biscuits

2009-06-24T20:17:00.005-06:00

I bought a new cast iron skillet...and a lid...that fit's my 12" cast iron fry pan.

My mom had a 13" cast iron chicken fryer (really big, deep, very heavy skillet) that was used and horribly abused. We committed the deadly sin of cast iron care...it was washed in hot soapy water and left to air dry...weekly. It was never our favorite pan. In fact for a very long time I didn't think I liked cast iron, but when my grandma gave me a box of cast iron skillets for my apartment in college I finally got a clue.

Ever since I've been transitioning to a full on cast-iron cooking experience. This skillet and lid complete my quest and I'm happy to say it's all I hoped it would be. The thing about cast iron is that is really does get better with age, my 9 year old 12" is by far my best pan. Non-stick, even heat....I really do love it. But what I really love is that for those recipes that ask you to fry up something in a skillet, then bake it...you've completely omitted a step AND a dish. For a lazy girl like me...tres fabulous.

(New cast iron skillet not pictured...sadly.)

Beef n' Beans with Cheesy Biscuits
Adapted from Pillsbury

1lb ground beef
1/2 of a medium onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
6 slices thick cut hickory bacon, fried crisp and crumbled
1 can condensed tomato soup
1 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1-7.5oz refrigerated buttermilk biscuits
2 Tablespoons melted butter
4oz. Shredded mild cheddar or monterey jack

1. Preheat oven to 375ºF. In a 10" oven-safe skillet brown beef, onions and garlic over medium high heat until thoroughly cooked. Drain off fat and return to heat, adding bacon.

2. Stir in soup, chili powder and crushed red pepper, heat to boiling. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook for 5 minutes.

3. Separate dough into 10 biscuits and place on top of beef mixture. Brush with butter and top with cheese. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until bubbly and biscuits are golden.

Cook's Notes:

- If you don't have an oven safe skillet, use an 8x8" glass baking dish or 2 quart casserole that has been lightly greased.

- You can use a tube of jumbo refrigerator biscuits, bake at the temp and time on the biscuit container.

The Home Cook: M&M Cookies

2009-06-09T08:21:00.003-06:00

It's raining.

Again.

This is the second summer that South Dakota has felt more like Seattle, or what I would expect Seattle to feel like since I've never actually been there. The sky is heavy and gray, the mountains are wrapped in a blanket of mist and remind me of something from Tolkien. It makes for miserable moving weather and that right there is the problem. In the middle of all this mist, rain and fog I'm moving.

Actually it would be more accurate to say WE are moving; the architectural firm I'm with is pulling up roots and heading to a new home. A place we designed, a place we own, a place that will be distinctly ours. This has been in various phases of planning, construction and more construction and even more planning for the last 24 months...even longer than that if we go back to the very germ of the idea. This week, on Friday, we're finally at the finish line. There are lots of little things that will have to be done after we move and we probably won't be really truly settled for a few more weeks, but as of Monday our little company has a place to call it's own.

Unfortunately the weather is refusing to acknowledge the occasion. Instead of sunshine and warm early summer breezes, mother nature has bestowed us with three weeks of cloudy days and rain. While spirits are high there are always ways to enhance our good cheer, even if the sun refuses to cooperate.

Since a great deal of the final installation work is being self performed by our architects, CAD technicians and a lonely interior designer there have been a lot of hours spent together over the last few weekends and evenings. Saturday and Sunday was spent installing a semi truck load of casework and while I'm handy with a small range of tools this was a little beyond me. I did what I could, but there are only so many shelves and handles that need fussing, after that I was more audience than assistance. To keep myself out of the way, I took myself off to the kitchen and baked up something to celebrate our good fortune and hard work. Something cheerful and sure to bring a smile to the faces of everyone in our firm and all of the friends and family that have been helping us.

Who needs the sunshine when we can have a bite sized rainbow?

M&M Cookies
Adapted from AllRecipes.com

1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup butter flavored shortening
1/2 cup butter, softened
2 eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 cups M&M's

Preheat oven to 350ºF. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, cream together sugar, shortening and butter until well combined. Mix in eggs and vanilla. Add flour, salt, and baking soda to creamed mixture. Blend well.

Stir in M&M candies. Refrigerate dough for one hour or overnight.

Set dough out and allow to warm for 30 minutes before dropping dough by teaspoonful onto cookie sheet.

Bake for 9 to 11 minutes, until the edges are just lightly golden. Allow cookies to cool on cookie sheet for 3-5 minutes and remove to rack too cool completely.

Cook's Notes:

- The cookies are very soft when they first come out of the oven, allowing them to cool on the sheet sets them up with out over baking and makes it possible to get them off the cookie sheet in one piece.

- The parchment keeps the cookies from spreading too much and helps them keep their shape.

- The dough does not have to be refrigerated, but I've found chilling cookie dough for a few hours always makes the flavor better.

- These cookies have a relatively short shelf life, they start to get stale around day 3.

Rockin' Out: Beatles

2009-05-29T10:37:00.004-06:00

I know I've been gone, but news! I have news (Fourth story from the top)!

The Beatles are reissuing their entire original catalog in a remixed box set and a mono box set. I'm sure you're all as THRILLED as I am. Who wouldn't be?

Just in case you're wondering I'm planning to be back with real content this weekend.

No, I don't expect you to all be thrilled stupid with me, but man...it's the god damned Beatles!

The Crafty Bits: Malabrigo Scarf

2009-05-12T15:27:00.000-06:00

I some how end up doing scarves in the spring. It makes about as much sense as knitting a tank-top in November and saps the instant right out of instant gratification. Yet it's not all bad, I have a pretty scarf tucked away for that first crisp day in October, something to reflect on in the late August when the sun is trying to bake us into oblivion and the idea of one more raspberry lemonade is threatening to drive me over the edge.

As it stands today is sunny, 67°F, a light breeze out of the north with a black bird singing in the thicket behind our office. Definitely not scarf weather, but then I'm over scarf weather...for the time being anyway...so it's all balanced in some zen karmic sort of way.

Sometimes when you start a knitting project you quickly find the yarn and needles aren't doing what your head wants. So was the case with the Malabrigo yarn. The knitting just didn't feel right and when working with such lovely yarn it felt like a crime to push forward if it wasn't 100% there. As it turns out, knitting wasn't what I had in mind.

Surprisingly it was crochet. I tend to find crocheted pieces bulky, less artistic and less flattering than knit pieces. The drape isn't as nice, the lines are messier...in general there's something not quite polished, about crochet (which if you've seen Zach and Miri Make a Porno (filthy yet hilarious) can be a good thing.) (Those are links to the knit/crocheted goodies that flooded that movie...not porn...just to clarify.) and that's generally enough to keep me on the needles and away from the hook.

In this case though I wanted the messy heavier texture of crochet; something unstructred. Mostly because I adored a scarf from a 2008 Martha Stewart article on breast cancer. After trying a half dozen different stitches, this way and that I landed on a British stitch that had a passing resemblance to the scarf in the magazine. The wonderful suprise was how well the stitch pulled out the colors of the yarn in an almost impressionistic way. Instead of intermitent stripes or bands of colors, they splash together and create a gorgeous ripple across the scarf. All in all I'm thrilled...even if I do have to wait four months before I can wear it for more than five minutes.

The Crafty Bits: Diamond Rib Socks

2009-05-04T13:31:00.000-06:00

I once read that there are 'types' of knitters. People who knit to enjoy the end result, people who knit to enjoy the challenge of learning new techniques/stitches and people who knit just to knit (I think this means they knit just because they like the experience...). Mostly I fall into the second group, the feeling of victory after mastering something that was previously unknown is pretty awesome. That said, the part I really like about knitting is playing with the color and texture of yarn.

There is something immensely gratifying about finding a beautiful yarn and paring it with a stitch or texture that really give the final product that, "Oh, wow!" factor. There's a moment in each project when you start to get a feel for what the final product will look like...it's wonderful when you can see everything coming together and complimenting each other. The stitch brings out the color of the yarn while the color enhances the visual texture of the stitch. Very awesome stuff.

In someways I think I'm a bit entraced by this, in part because of my real-life job. Interior design is all about the play of color, texture, pattern and light....knitting is, for the most part, the same thing on a much smaller scale. I've only recently gotten comfortable enough with the howforwhytoos of knitting to really get into these aspects, but considering that I spent an hour yarn shopping on Saturday looking for just the right yarn to go with a texture I'm considering, I'd say I'm already pretty committed to the aesthetics end of the craft.

These socks are from Sensational Knitted Socks and use the Diamond Rib pattern from the 8 stitch section, I lifted the Eye of Partridge heel from a neighboring pattern because the play of the leg pattern and the echo of the diamond in the heel is beautiful. The yarn is Creatively Dyed Luxury yarn (Merino/Cashmere - definitely not everyday socks!) in Coffee Bean from The Loopy Ewe. The pair isn't done just yet, but since I finished the heel last night, I'm pretty close. After that I've got to do something with the hand-dyed yarn I bought on Saturday.

I can't wait to see if the pattern I've got in mind will work out.

Scribbles in the Margin: E.B. White

2009-04-30T21:44:00.002-06:00

Two of my favorite things:

- The sound the spine of a book makes when it's opened for the very first time.
- The smell of a brand new (or very old) book.

Until they can make a digital media reader that can duplicate those sensations I won't be giving up my non-P.C., environmentally unfriendly tomes. It's not that I'm a Luddite or technologically unsavvy or a throw back to an older generation (I have my share of tech, I adore MarioKart and I'm only 29) it's just that I love the entire experience of reading a book. An honest to God, made out of trees and toxic glue - book.

I like the heft of a hard cover, the feel of the edges of the pages as they transition from crisp to supple, the smell of the paper and ink and the way a paper back forms to you as you read it from beginning to end. It's easy to over look, but there is a very simple pleasure in a very good book.

One Man's Meat

It seems fitting that as I'm pondering a rather "old school" stance on the physicality of literature, I'm doing so with a copy of E.B. White's One Man's Meat on the night stand next to me. Written between 1938 and 1942, White's collection of essays (written for Harper's Magazine) follow his transition from New Yorker to ruralist and I'd be flat-out lying if I said I didn't feel envious of his ease with the written word. Whether he's describing the antics of his dachshund or the unease of his new rural environment, White's writing flows along smoothly, hitching only where he wants it to.

Of course I didn't start with One Man's Meat, and it certainly hasn't been the first stop on the road. The first book I picked up was Charlotte's Web (first 19 years ago and then again in January) and while I like the book, the idea that EB White had been professional columnist for grown-up publications was much more interesting to me than EB White: Award Winning Children's Author. And so I picked up his most popular book, Essays of EB White...

Essays of E.B. White

...a collection of essays White wrote for the New Yorker on such a wide range of topics that the table of contents reads more like a card catalog than anything else. He writes about the World's Fair, the end of the Model T, Sears and Roebuck catalogs and just about anything else that tripped his fancy. Never shocking or lurid, he always feels like gentleman story-teller. I'll share something else, my favorite essay section is the first one, observations and telling moments about his life on the farm...which is how I ended up at One Man's Meat a few weeks later. A bit convoluted, sure...but worth it. There is something entirely relaxing about the reflections of a life before cell phones, laptops, MP3 players and Kindles on the page instead of a screen.

A few more times through and the cover will curl just right.

The Crafty Bits: Pirate Mitt(ens)

2009-04-27T11:44:00.004-06:00

I'm not really sure where I want to start, but I have a few things floating about that seem like fun things to share. I'm pretty much knee deep in yarn right and quite frankly I can think of worse things to be overwhelmed with. So...let's get this show on the road!

Things on the needles (or hook in one case) include a pair of socks, a scarf, a stocking cap and a pair of mitt(ens). Can you tell I didn't get my winter knitting done? The craft box is just about bursting at the seams. As you can clearly see.

And just in case anyone is wondering, my craft containment unit is an oval reproduction hat box. So very AWESOME.

This is my "challenging project" a pair of two color fair isle skull mitts. Yes, skull mitts. I have a husband that won't let a pair of hand knit socks any where near his feet, but he would like some fingerless gloves for those cold winter evenings when he zombie slaying or flying a dragon to the far reaches of Azeroth. No, we don't have any children, why do you ask??

I don't have much more done than what's shown in the picture, but I have knit each pattern section multiple times to get the tension and holding style right for working with two yarns. It's been an interesting learning curve making the jump from one strand to two colors. I'm anticipating a fair amount of frogging to get these done so every ten row I'll be putting in a life line...or as I call them, "Oh Sh*t Save Points".

In the next week or so you'll get to see other goodies, but we have to space those things out ya' know? What else would I share...a post from the dog? Well...okay, yeah that might happen. She's pretty pissed about the decreased face time in 2008.

The Home Cook: Fried Chicken

2009-04-23T19:08:00.000-06:00

I'm going to be honest, I've got no idea what to say. To be frank, I'm out of practice and this draft recipe has been sitting in my "To Post" folder, mocking me for far to long. Clearly this is going to be messy. So instead of dallying around, waiting for inspiration or clear thought to strike, I'm just going to jump in and hope for the best.

Consider this my advanced apology.

Fried chicken. Everyone has a recipe. Like EVERYONE. This one is mine, well honestly, this one is my grandmother's. She crops up quite a bit around these parts doesn't she? For good reason I'd like to think. She's a good cook, seamstress, gardener, chicken tender, farmer's wife and grandma. We voted and we think we'll keep her, especially if it means we get chicken on holidays.

Not that chicken is a holiday food, by no means is that the case. Just ask any of her children who hate all forms of the bird based solely on the number of times they were forced to consume it between birth and moving out on their own. Thing is, Grandma's chicken? Delicious. It has more pop than most and has a wonderful flexibility that lets you fry it or bake it as your heart desires. Besides the unusual blend of ingredients I'd like to think the other "secret" is the fact that she raises her own birds...there's just something about free range, bug/grain fed fowl that is vastly superior to anything Tyson can knock out.

I feel like there should be lots more to say, but really...the food speaks for itself. So if you've got the chance, round up a hippie chicken (and by hippie Tim means organic, free range), cut it up, bread it and fry or bake it. It's pretty darn good supper.

Just like Grandma makes.

(Oven) Fried Chicken
Mary Ann Baker

1 cut up fryer hen
1 cup Biscuit Mix (Bisquick, Jiffy, etc...)
1 teaspoon Salt
1/4 teaspoon Pepper
2 teaspoons Paprika

2 Tablespoons Margarine, shortening or oil or enough oil to fry in.

For Fried Chicken:
In shallow dish or pie plate mix together biscuit mix and seasonings. Heat 12" cast iron fryer skillet with a 1/2" of oil over medium high heat. While pan and oil is heating, pat chicken pieces dry and roll in season mixture. When the skillet and oil is hot, place pieces in the skillet starting with the breast cut in the center. sear on each side and turn down heat to medium low. Cook chicken until center of breast piece is done and juices are clear.

(Oven) Fried Chicken:
Preheat oven to 425ºF.

In shallow dish or pie plate mix together biscuit mix and seasonings. Melt 2 Tablespoons of margarine in a 9x13x2" glass baking dish in the oven. While melting the margarine, pat chicken pieces dry and roll in season mixture. Remove the dish from the oven and brush melted butter over bottom of the dish. Place pieces in the dish starting with the breast cut in the center. Bake for 40 minutes. Turn each piece over and cook for an additional 10-15 minutes or until center of breast piece is done and juices are clear.

Serve with corn and mashed potatoes (or cheesy potatoes - but don't hold your breath waiting for that recipe.)

Welcome Back!

2009-03-28T00:23:00.005-06:00

As of today the studying is over and the venture was successful.

Test passed and to celebrate the yarn has come back out.

Malabrigo Kettle Dyed...the really good stuff.

Not sure what I'm going to do with it, but man isn't it pretty?

The Crafty Bits: Game Day Afghan (F)

2009-03-23T09:07:00.001-06:00

We are being told to prepare for one helluva spring blizzard. Up to 18" of snow over the next 32 hours. Since it was 77°F yesterday I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around the possibility of freezing rain, sleet and snow today. Part of me wants to whine till the sun comes back out the other part just wants to give up, go home and put some cookies in the oven.

Since winter seems to get one last hurrah, I figured it would be ok for me to have one too and what's the best way to celebrate an (potentially) impending snow-day? With an afghan. If the weather is going to be nasty it's as good of time as any to talk yarn. Well it's always a good time to talk yarn, but afghans are the quintessential winter project. Crafty fun and lap warmer all rolled into one.

I've done several styles in the past - granny squares, hideous lap afghans, ribbed, ribbed with eyelets...the list goes on and on. This is the first stripped ribbed afghan though...I can't say it was a ball, but then I was in such a hurry to get it done as a Christmas gift that I wasn't as exacting as I usually am. To say this particular one has fluff-up induced character is understating things mildly...very much so. But it's done and the Packer fan in my life was very happy with his Christmas gift.

The ripples are off because it's hard to lay them out
neatly...also because some rows may or may not have
some extra / missing stitches.

But that's just between us.

Dark Olive, Golden Yellow and Antique White...maybe not
the most beautiful of color combinations, but then I'm not
in charge of selecting team colors for the Packers.

You work with what you can I guess.

Project FAQ:

The Pattern is Terry Kimbrough's Rustic Ripple from the Beginner's Ripple Afghans Booklet from Leisure Arts.

The Yarn is Hobby Lobby Brand I love this Yarn! Solids in Dark Olive, Antique White and Dark Yellow. The yarn is soft and crotchet's nice for an acrylic, but it has an odd swimming pool smell when washed.

The Crafty Bits: GentleWOmen's Socks (F)

2009-02-23T09:05:00.001-07:00

I said March, right? I lied.

Due to my inability to add, divide, multiply, calculate percentages, memorize complex equations and generally do maths - I've rescheduled my exam to late March. That probably means very little to you, but to me it's a very, very good thing. So while we wait for the end of March to arrive, I've got a few things loitering around on my jump-drive just waiting for their day in the sun. Namely SOCKS! I think I'm in love with socks. Well, there's very little "think" about it...I am. I lurve knitting socks. Mostly because they are sooo wonderfully portable and fast and varied. Yay for socks.

So, what can I tell you about socks? These in particular. Well they're lovely, but you can see that for yourself. The cuff is a simple 2 stitch rib, while the leg is a railroad stitch I filched from Nancy Bush's Gentleman's Fancy Socks. The original pattern called for a sized and shaped leg, but since these were gift socks and measuring someone's calf would put a damper on the whole surprise aspect, I did a straight leg. I kept the Round (French) heel but swapped out the round toe for a 3 point star toe because ...well there was no sound logic; I just liked that toe and wanted to try it. Oh yeah and these socks were originally sized for a dude, so there's that. I had to reduce the cast on stitches and size for a much smaller ladies foot.

They knit up in a snap...well, until it came time to do the last few rows of the decrease on the toe of the second sock. (Yeah most people would struggle with the first sock, not me. I like to be different.) For some reason I kept dropping the last two stitches. It was frustrating...there was cussing. LOTS of cussing but in the end the toe was subdued and voilá - SOCKS!

Project FAQ:

Pattern: Pieced together from Nancy Bush's Gentleman's Fancy Socks and the three point star toe, both from her Knitting Vintage Socks book.

Yarn: Knit Picks Felici yarn in Patina

Hiatus

2009-02-07T19:06:00.002-07:00

So, you may have taken note of my non-appearance of late. It's apparently that time of year when I hole up for a few hours every night to study for a test.

End of February I'm taking one last certification exam, covering material I'd rather burn than learn with only one opportunity to pass before they go and change the version of the system I'm trying to learn. No pressure or anything. Anyway, I'll be back in March. Till then happy...ah, late winter? not quite spring? Whatever.

I'll see you soon.

The Craft Bits: Ribby Wrist Warmers (F)

2009-01-21T09:00:00.002-07:00

Welcome back to the Knitter's Holiday Showcase - Christmas 2008!

It's not really that bad...well yeah, it is. Today is item #4 Ribby Wrist Warmers. These were done for my sister. Mostly because these day's she's killing time working her job at a fast food restaurant waiting for someone to be so totally stunned by her resume that they come and whisk her away from the pain and misery of working at a fast food restaurant. The one thing she does most often is work the drive up window and during the 9 months of cold weather in these parts, that's a lot of time with blue frigid hands.

The pattern is from, yet again, Speed Knits by Kris Percival. There seems to be a pattern developing here...things that knit fast. The reason being that I am not the most organized person so in September when I started planning for Christmas I realized that I didn't exactly have the time or talent to knit a lot of things that take, well, time or talent. If I were going to try and knit things to give...well, they'd have to be pretty easy and pretty fast in order to have them competed by Christmas instead of by Labor Day the following year.

The pattern itself was pretty much a cinch and the end result was a rather cool waffle weave texture. The yarn is Knit Picks swish super wash charcoal (yes...more swish...it's a nice yarn!). Unfortunately considering the environment that she'll be working in, wool was not the best type of yarn to go with with the exception of how warm they'll be, but honestly there aren't many synthetic yarns that go well with the types of fats and sugars these are going to be exposed to, which is why if she wants another pair for outside of work or a replacement pair they're all hers.

The Home Cook: Aunt Margaret's Pancakes

2009-01-18T08:20:00.001-07:00

We've talked pancakes before and if that recipe is the Cadillac of pancakes then this one is the family car. It's sturdy, reliable and gets you where you want to go with a minimum of fuss.

I can see the original recipe card in my mind. It's one of those with a little fruit design on the upper left corner, filled out in a beautifully elegant hand writing - Aunt Margaret's Pancakes. It's worn soft, the ink is discolored in a few places from drips of batter and melted butter; the entirety of the instructions take up two sentences. (I've elaborated a bit for clarity.) It's one of those recipes that you just know has been the staple of someone's kitchen for a good long time. For good reason, this is the classic of pancakes; a soft airy interior with just enough dense cakiness to hold a generous dollop of butter and a good pour of maple syrup. This is what Hungry Jack and Aunt Jemima wish their pancakes were.

I'm not sure I've mentioned how I got most of my family recipes. Some people grow up leave home and make their own cooking tradition, others call mom as needed to get a recipe when the craving strikes...I spent an entire summer copying recipes onto cards before I ever left home. And yes, I did have a little box with 35 or so of my family's recipes with me...even when I lived in the dorms. I think I was the only person who ever used the community room oven. This has been my go to pancake recipe since I was paying rent on an unlevel, harvest gold electric range and is in heavy rotation today while I pay a mortgage on a almost level, almond gas range. The origins are pretty clear - Aunt Margaret - but not MY Aunt Margaret, she's actually my Great-aunt. She is one of the many women I know that PROVES there's no cooking like the cooking of a Midwestern farmer's wife. Serve these with a side of bacon an and egg of your choice and you won't be hungry till lunch.

Margaret's Pancakes

2 Eggs, lightly beaten
1/4 cup Butter, melted and slightly cooled
2 cups Flour
1 teaspoon Baking Soda
3 Tablespoons Sugar
1 3/4 cups Milk
1/4 cup White Vinegar

Beat together all ingredients except vinegar until smooth using a wire whisk or electric mixer.

Heat griddle and lightly coat with oil or butter. When griddle nearly hot stir vinegar in the batter. Do not over stir after vinegar has been added or pancakes will become dense and heavy. Cook pancakes until golden on each side and serve or place into a warm 225-250F oven until entire batch is done.

The Crafty Bits: A Stocking Cap and Mittens (F)

2009-01-16T10:28:00.002-07:00

No, I have not fallen off a cliff...it just seems that way.

If I recall we were looking over the bounty of Christmas knittables I gave as gifts...garter stitch scarves were the first things and now it's time for numbers 2&3 in the list of Shhh...tuff Kelli knit.

So before we dive in, lets consider this...what does one buy someone for Christmas when they're just 14 months old. Let's just say I had a hard time answering that very question this year...it's kind of a toughie since I'm not hip on toys...or clothes...or anything else a newly ambulatory little man might need. Plus gift transportation was an issue. (Compact car, dog & kennel, suitcases, gifts, laptops...we don't travel light!) So Mr. Max got a hat and mittens and Dr. Seuss. I figure you can't go wrong with things to keep you warm or build-up future brain power with top notch word play ...

"This one, I think, is called a Yink.
He likes to wink, he likes to drink.
He likes to drink, and drink, and drink.
The thing he likes to drink is ink.
The ink he likes to drink is pink.
He likes to wink and drink pink ink.
SO...if you have a lot of ink,
then you should get a Yink, I think."

Ahem, so back on track. This swirl stocking cap made up a portion of the hat/mitten gift. Done in Knit Picks Swish Superwash yarns Lawn and Bok Choy and the pattern is from the book, Knitting for Peace. The book itself is a lovely read with lots of stories documenting the many good deeds of knitters across the United States. The pattern wasn't so lovely. I'm still not exactly sure what the problem is/was but the swatch gauge and the final product...not so similar. there was WAY more stretch in the hat and the size it told me to knit it to was much, much to large. I ended up frogging back half of what I had knit and working the brim from there for slightly taller than intended gnomish hat. It's cute and swirly, but it should be knit it much tighter next time. (Assuming my gauge is what loosened up and not that the needle sizing was incorrect.) In the end it worked out fairly well and is pretty darn adorable.

The mittens are also from Knitting for Peace and were sooooo fast I had them done in an afternoon. I think I may have done the thumb gusset backwards...I'm not really sure how, but they just didn't quite look right. Or maybe I just didn't know what I was doing or looking at...either/or. Regardless, they are mittens - with thumbs - that Max will out grow before the hat ever fits. It's probably a good thing there's lots of yarn left over.

And this is Max.
This is also how he looks these days since most
of his time is spent running away from you.

The Crafty Bits: Garter Stitch Scarves (F)

2008-12-29T08:56:00.003-07:00

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

2008-12-23T13:11:00.004-07:00

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)

2008-12-20T11:29:00.000-07:00

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

2008-12-18T11:05:00.000-07:00

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)

2008-12-01T11:42:00.001-07:00

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.

Scribbles in the Margin: The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson

2008-11-24T11:56:00.007-07:00

Several months ago Tim and I were at Borders picking up a gift or some such thing...generally milling about while looking at books and trying to decide if we should have leftovers for supper or dine out before heading home. We're a thrilling couple.

As we wandered through the stacks and I bitched and moaned about the unavailability of The Bones of Plenty Tim would pull out a random book and tell me to buy it. Most of them promptly went back...I really don't need a pocket guide to podiatry or a how-to for making head-cheese, but the one book Tim actually, seriously told me to buy did come home.

Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic and Madness at the Fair that Changed America

This book completely captivated my attention. Now, this probably because this book is mostly about the process of architecture, design and construction. The theme of never enough time, money or man-power is apparently exactly the same whether it's 1892 or 2008. But this isn't just any tightly wound project, it's the 1893 Chicago World's Fair and it was conceived, built, celebrated and destroyed in just 4 short years. Innovations from centralized water processing to the invention of the Ferris Wheel defined a Fair who's intent was to showcase the United States as an emerging world power and source of ingenuity and invention.

Apart from depicting the struggles behind the beautiful facades, there is the story of "Dr." H.H.Holmes who used the masses of people traveling to Chicago to feed his darker, more sinister desires. Intertwining the construction of a national event with the emergence of the first documented serial killer may not seem intuitive, but they feed each other, emphasizing the disparity of the unparalleled hope and joy of the Fair to the dark psychosis of the killer.

If you're still not sold, this is far from dry. The writing is crisp, fluid and the text reads like a crime thriller.

The Home Cook: Lasagna

2008-11-19T11:35:00.000-07:00

I really don't like leftovers. Some how I'm sure that in no way surprises any of you. My one concession over the years has been that I will take a serving of whatever was made the night the before to work as lunch. As the years have passed I have gotten pretty good at this cooking for two, minimal leftover approach. Making pork chops? Make 4...two for supper, two for lunches. Have a recipe for a 9x13 casserole? Half it for an 8"x8" casserole! There are of course times when this approach does not work. Maybe the recipe doesn't half easily, or it's an odd size to begin with, but sometimes a recipe is just seems to taste better when you make the whole darn thing.

Lasagna is definitely one of those recipes. I do have a "petite" lasagna recipe and it is quite small, and a glass loaf pan is actually quite a nice size for two people...but as much as I want to like it, it just doesn't quite taste the same as my fat 9x13" pan of the stuff. Which leaves me in a bit of a quandary, what do you do with 2/3rds of a pan of lasagna after you've eaten it for three meals and can't stand to look at it any more? Why, you freeze it of course. In all mealdom I'm not sure if there is a more perfect food for freezing.

Once we've eaten all we can stand, which honestly isn't usually all that much, I slice the remainder of the pan, wrap the slices in foil and put them in a resealable bag or container in the freezer. Viola! Instant lunches. Once you've decided that there is absolutely nothing in the fridge to take to work or the idea of one more ham sandwich is threatening to drive you to the brink, pluck one of these frozen packets from the freezer, pack it in your ultra awesome lunch bag and head out for the day. No need for refrigeration, by the time lunch has rolled around, your lasagna cube should be defrosted (but still safely chilled) and ready to quickly reheat. Instant yum. Since beginning this over a year and a half ago, I usually have sliced meatloaf, individually wrapped chimichangas/enchiladas, the lasagna or small bowls of soup floating around in my freezer. Lunch at work is a whole lot more pleasant too...after all I can always leave last nights leftovers in the fridge for Tim and take one of these instead.

Lasagna
Mostly created via major adaptation from Pillsbury One-Dish Meals

1 lb Ground Beef or a blend of ground beef, pork and /or turkey
1/4 lb Italian Sausage
1/2 medium onion, minced
3 cloves garlic, minced
4 oz sliced Mushrooms
2-4 Tablespoons Red Wine
1 24oz jar Spaghetti Sauce (or your favorite Marinara/Red Sauce Recipe)

Lasagna Noodles (Approximately 12-16)

1 15oz container Ricotta
1/2 cup grated Parmesan
1 egg, lightly beaten
Salt & Pepper
2 teaspoons dried Parsley or 1 Tablespoons of fresh Parsley
Mozzarella Cheese, sliced or finely shredded

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease a glass 9x13x2" dish.

Put a salted pot of water on to boil and cook lasagna noodles according to package directions. Drain, rinse with cold water and let cool slightly.

Meanwhile, in a large heavy skillet brown ground beef (pork/turkey) and sausage over medium heat just until pink is gone. Remove from heat and drain off excess fat and set aside. Return pan to high heat and add in onions and garlic and saute until onions are clear and garlic is fragrant. Stir in mushrooms and saute until just browned, 1-2 minutes. Pour in wine and cook on high for one minute, reduce heat to low and scrape off bottom of pan. Return meat mixture to pan and stir in desired amount of sauce; simmer on low while lasagna noodles cook.

In a medium bowl, lightly beat egg. Stir in ricotta, Parmesan, a pinch of salt and desired amounts of parsley and pepper.

Layering:
- Thin meat Layer
- Lasagna Noodles with edges slightly overlapped
- 1/3rd of the Ricotta mixture
- Mozzarella Cheese
- 1/2 of remaining Meat & Sauce mixture
- Lasagna Noodles with edges slightly overlapped
- 1/3rd of the Ricotta mixture
- Mozzarella Cheese
- Remaining Meat & Sauce Mixture
- Lasagna Noodles with edges slightly overlapped
- Remaining Ricotta mixture
- Mozzarella Cheese

Bake dish for 40 minutes or until dish is bubbly and top is lightly golden.

Cook's Notes:

- Spaghetti Sauce: I'll use whatever, but I especially like Classico's Roasted Garlic. Also most people would use the whole 24oz jar, but I like my lasagna less saucy than most.

- Mushrooms: I use 1 4oz can of button mushrooms. Anyone with taste would probably use their favorite variety of fresh, sliced.

- The wine is optional, but it makes me sad without it.

- I know that no-cook varieties of lasagna noodles exist, I just don't care for their texture or how much moisture they suck out of the pan while it bakes.

- I have never tried this with cottage cheese, but I'm sure it could work...you may have to drain some of the whey off though.

- Seasonings are all adaptable by huge amounts

- In a 9x13 pan this is a thinner lasagna, for a deeper slice I have gotten this to fit into a 11x7" casserole, but there needs to be a bit of foil under the dish while it bakes to catch drips.

The Crafty Bits: Needle Rolls (F)

2008-11-13T14:41:00.004-07:00

So I mentioned that I had bought myself some new crochet hooks. They're beautiful and wonderful to work with and are lovely to behold and much longer than a standard metal hook. This unfortunately means that my hook roll? Totally useless. Which is a bummer because my hook roll is one of the first things I made on my ultra fabulous sewing machine. It's a set of coordinated batiks, lined to protect the hooks and was quite the accomplishment in and of itself.

So on Sunday, needing a bit of a break from knitting and having another little sewing project that was urgent, I broke out the fabric, pins, notions and got to work. Now, having made one of these in the past I assumed that this would be rather painless and also rather mistake free. Yeah, I know...I should have known better. That's not to say that this was the train wreck that usually happens when I'm anywhere near a sewing machine...but Fons & Porter I am not. Anyway, regardless of the stuck fingers and temperamental seamstress I eventually wound up with not only a roll for my hooks, but also one for my DPN's! (DPN=Double Pointed Needle)

The blue roll is a set of batiks I picked up years ago (the purple was used for my previous roll); the knitting chicken roll is fabric from my mother-in-law.

Other than a still mystifying transition between the bottom inside flap and a poorly placed tie around on one roll, they work and look great!

The Home Cook: Granola

2008-11-09T06:41:00.003-07:00

When I know I'm going to be busy, I generally raid my SD card, format a million pictures, slap them into draft forms on my blog editor and then gently release them between panic attacks, not unlike letting a message in bottle drift away from a lonesome desert island as you slowly freak out because your going to die.

As of right now there are six unreleased posts sitting in my blog editor. Most them about food, all them with poor quality photos and all of them relating to things that I'm rather over. There are Apple Danish Bars, selecting sweet corn, lasagna, sesame chicken, paninis and one about my first pair of socks.(On second thought we'll come back to some of those.) So instead of using any of those over the last two weeks, as my life slowly crashed into a brick wall, I took a picture of some granola.

Yes, granola. I am that kind of yuppie. My quest for a yummy granola started a bit less than a year ago. I have startlingly high cholesterol and the number one doctor's recommendation was to eat oatmeal...and since my favorite premade granola was $5-6 PER BOX and only lasted A WEEK...well, this home cook had to do something about it. Since then I've tried a few granola recipes, but none really said, "YES! You will make me again and again and again because I am The One." This recipe did just that. It's sweet, a touch salty (see notes below) and so very easy to customize that I don't see myself getting tired of it any time soon. Which is probably good since I have a feeling I'll be eating granola for a long time to come.

Granola
Adapted From ourkitchensink.wordpress

3 1/2 cups Rolled Oats
1/2 cup Sweetened Coconut Flakes
3 Tablespoons Flax Seeds
2 Tablespoons Wheat Germ
3/4 cup roughly chopped Pecans, toasted
2 teaspoons Cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground Sea Salt
1/4 cup Brown Sugar
1/4 cup Canola Oil
2 generous Tablespoons Honey
1 Tablespoon pure Maple Syrup
4 teaspoons Vanilla
2 cups Dried Fruit
1 cup Golden Raisins

Preheat oven to 375°F. Line a rimmed sheet with aluminum foil.

In a large bowl combine all the ingredients except the dried fruit. Stir well to incorporate. Spread the mixture onto the prepared baking sheet in an even layer. Bake 20-30 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes until the granola is the desired golden brown color.

Remove from oven and cool in the pan on a wire rack. After the mixture has cooled, stir in the fruit and raisins. Store in an air tight container for up to two weeks.

Cook's Notes:

- I think you could use 1 teaspoon of regular sea salt, my container has grinder on it and using one teaspoon of ground sea salt made it vaguely salty. I liked that, but most people wouldn't. I think you could also use 1 teaspoon or a bit less of kosher salt.

- The original recipe calls for unsweetened coconut, but I like the sweet. Mmmmmm sweet angel flake coconut.

- For dried fruit I dried some blueberries, raspberries and strawberries since I was cleaning out the freezer, but any fruit will do. Cranberries would be especially delicious.

- Instead of lining a baking sheet I use a Teflon roasting pan...works like a charm and I can mix everything in it directly. Yay for minimizing dirty dishes!!

Compare and Contrast

2008-10-21T18:25:00.003-06:00

If you happen to still be up in the air about whom to vote for come November 4th (or prior...if you're going the absentee route.) The International Herald Tribune (the international version of the New York Times) has done a very nice issue by issue comparison of each presidential candidate's platform and planks.

Obama, McCain on the issues

Pixelated F-Stops: Around the Farm

2008-10-20T08:52:00.001-06:00

A collection of photos from my stay at my grandparent's farm this weekend.

The Home Cook: BBQ'd Meatballs

2008-10-13T12:04:00.002-06:00

This weekend it snowed. Only a little teeny bit, but still, it snowed.

We also had our first hard frost.

I think the undeniable facts are in...it seems that we have reached the end of fall. There might be a few more weeks rattling around, but I'm convinced that fall is on the way out. And accordingly, it's time for more wintry foods to start making regularly scheduled appearances. We've done a pot roast, meatloaf, lasagna, corn chowder and meatballs.

Meatballs? Yes. Meatballs. Not just for spaghetti any more.

Now don't get me wrong, I like spaghetti and I like spaghetti with meatballs. I'm quite happy to sit down with a plate of the classic, but I grew up in what would commonly be referred to as a "meat and potatoes" household. Pork chops, steaks, hamburgers, pork roasts, beef roasts, swiss steak and potatoes, potatoes, potatoes. It wasn't that mom had a pasta moratorium, in fact she's mad for the stuff...it was just that Dad...was not a fan in the least. So, in order to find a middle ground between meatloaf and meatballs on pasta, mom got creative. Or I should say mom found a creative recipe.

If recipes are judged on the appearance of the recipe card...Excellent being stained, torn and barely legible and disgusting being pristine white, then the recipe for BBQ'd Meatballs is beyond excellent. My mom's original copy is so bedraggled that the original type has been written over...twice. The recipe itself is something straight out of a 1950's newspaper, with zero concern for health, avoidance of processed foods or today's gourmet tastes. It's not sophisticated or haute cuisine. It's not something you'd find featured in Bon Appetit or even Everyday Food...maybe in Taste of Country...maybe. These meatballs with their sweet/tangy sauce are a straight up comfort food and with winter slowly closing in I can use all the comfort I can get.

BBQ'd Meatballs
Mom

Meatballs:
1 1/2 lb. ground beef or ground beef, pork or turkey blend
1 cup Oatmeal
1 cup Milk
1 1/2 teaspoon Salt
Pepper to taste
1/2 cup minced Onion
2 cloves Garlic, minced
2 Tablespoons oil

Sauce:
1 cup Ketchup
1/2 cup Water
1/2 cup minced Onion
2 Tablespoons Worcestershire Sauce
1 1/2 Tablespoon Vinegar
2 Tablespoons Sugar

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a 9"x13"x2" glass baking dish with foil.

Mix sauce ingredients in a small sauce pan. Bring to a boil, reduce to a low simmer. Simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally to keep from burning on the bottom of the pan.

Hand mix meatball ingredients in a large bowl. Form into approximately 1 1/2 - 2" diameter meatballs. In a large heavy skillet, heat oil. Lightly brown meatballs in skillet, being sure not to crowd. As meatballs are just browned on all sides, place into a foil lined 9"x13"x2" glass baking dish.

Pour sauce over meatballs and place in oven and bake for 1 hour.

Cook's Notes:

- The meatball mixture is very soft/moist and can be a bit tricky to brown. Patience is recommended.

- I prefer rolled oats, but instant work too...though if you use instant reduce the milk by 2 or 3 Tablespoons.

Friday Nights at the Palace

2008-10-10T08:02:00.001-06:00

Ya' know I've played this song for pep band about a million times. I've heard it on the radio about as many times and I've never once figured out the lyrics...these seem as likely as anything else.

Besides it's a great Friday Song!

We gotta go now!
LETS GO!

Happiness is a Chef's Knife

2008-09-30T11:09:00.003-06:00

On Saturday Tim and I celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary. Tim got a Darth Vader replica light saber from Force FX. I got knives.

I am so excited. It's a 17 piece Zwilling J.A. Henckels classic block set from BB&B. I haven't really had a chance to go to town yet, but that day is coming.

Hopefully I won't need any of these.

The Home Cook: Fudgy Pecan Brownies

2008-09-24T22:27:00.002-06:00

Today I'm double posting. For a couple of reasons...it's been a long week and there really isn't a reason to hold on to this because brownies are the perfect stress reliever. Also, Tim and I are heading out on a mini-vacation to celebrate our 5th wedding anniversary so I won't be around until later next week. Thirdly...did I mention that these are brownies? How could I withhold brownies from you guys...that's just not right.

So last year I signed up for a subscription to Martha's Everyday Food. My cousin was selling magazine subscriptions as a fund raiser, I was interested, the price was good...anyway, I've got a lot of Martha now. Thing is, while I've got a ton of ear marked recipes I haven't made all that many and the few I have made were...rather, "eh". Granted, I wasn't real sold that I'd like them in the first place but a girl's gotta try and expand repertoire every now and again. So on Saturday night I pulled out the newest mailing and flipped through trying to find some inspiration for our Sunday picnic dessert. I wanted to try something that I knew I should LOVE, really see if my $18 was doing me any good.

I settled on the featured Reader Recipe and set to brownie making.

Now brownies and I, we have a troubled past. They fall squarely into the foods I should not attempt at home. But I love a good brownie and my past failures were, well, in the past. This recipe felt right and I'd watched enough of the Alton Brown episode on brownies to know I tend to over beat the batter and over or under cook them. With all this in mind I decided these brownies were not going to kick my ass, I would persevere. It also didn't hurt that this recipe is freakishly simple...brownie idiot or no, it's pretty hard to screw up.

I'm glad to say, there was no ass kicking this time around...they turned out great. Which means you should go make them. Make yourself feel better...have a brownie.

Pecan Fudge Brownies
Everyday FOOD - Reader Supplied Recipe, September 2008

1/2 cup Unsalted Butter
1 cup All Purpose Flour
1/4 teaspoon Baking Powder
1/8 teaspoon Salt*
2 ounces Unsweetened Chocolate, coarsely chopped
1 ounce Semi-sweet Chocolate, coarsely chopped
1 cup Dark Brown Sugar, packed
1/4 cup Sugar
2 large Eggs
1 teaspoon Vanilla
1 cup Toasted Pecans, coarsely chopped

Preheat oven to 350ºF degrees. Butter an 8-inch-square baking pan. Line bottom with parchment paper, leaving an overhang on two sides. Butter paper; set pan aside. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside.

Place butter and chocolates in a large heatproof bowl set over (not in) a saucepan of simmering water. Heat until smooth, 2 to 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat, and stir in sugars, eggs, vanilla, flour mixture, and half of pecans. Transfer batter to prepared pan; smooth top. Sprinkle with remaining pecans.

Bake until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean*, 30 to 35 minutes. Set pan on a wire rack; let cool completely. Using paper overhang, lift brownie onto a cutting board; cut into 16 squares. Store brownies in an airtight container at room temperature, up to 5 days.

Cook's Notes:

- *Salt, I really love a chocolaty/bit salty brownie so I upped it to 1/4 tsp. kosher salt. FYI either use kosher or don't up it...a 1/4tsp of table salt would be way too much.

- I used regular brown sugar since I don't keep dark brown sugar on hand.

- For the semi-sweet chocolate I used chips...no chopping. What can I say, I'm lazy.

- Toasted Pecans...my change...again. I prefer to pre-toast nuts before using them in most recipes, they don't get that soggy baked nut texture and have a better flavor. To toast pecans, preheat the oven to 350ºF, place nuts in a single layer on a non-stick or lined jelly roll pan and place in oven for 5-10 minutes or until nuts are crisp and have a nice nutty smell. Allow to cool slightly and proceed with the recipe as instructed.

- I didn't butter the parchment, just the bottom of the pan and it came out perfectly. In fact with all the butter in the recipe I'd butter the pan more sparingly next time.

- I baked my brownies for 30 minutes and the toothpick came out with fudgy clumps, which is what most brownie recipes recommend. If you want the toothpick to come out clean it's probably 35-40 minutes, though I think that would dry out the brownie too much. These came out nice and fudgy and weren't under done in anyway.

Yum.

The Craft Bits: Crib Quilt (F)

2008-09-24T22:26:00.002-06:00

My friend Sharon had a baby in July. This would be her third baby and by the very nature of my staunch position that "every baby needs a blanket to call their own" this is also the third crib blanket I've made for Sharon's family.

The first one was a Noah's Ark theme, something I knew the first time mommy would love because she'd always wanted a nursery in that theme and it worked for her new little boy. The second one was a pastel and bunny blanket, sweet and darling...just right for the sweet little girl that was baby number two.

This blanket wasn't really made for mom, though I'm pretty sure she likes it. It's not baby bunnies, cute bugs, childish stick figures or polka dots (all patterns I've found in the past). This one surprised even me with how bold was. When I buy the backing fabric I don't go in with any ideas, I know what colors are in the tops because I always finish the top before I buy the back. I just go in, look-see what on the shelves and buy the one that says "I'm exactly what your looking for". This backing didn't exactly say that, it beat me over the head and shouted I am THE ONE.

From what I've heard this will fit baby number three just fine...she's a bit on the feisty side.

Pixelated F-Stops: Fall Picnic

2008-09-21T22:06:00.001-06:00

I think I've said it about a hundred times. Fall? My absolute favorite season.

Warm, but not sweltering days. Cool, crisp evenings. The occasional rain shower and the colors. Oh, how I LOVE the colors of fall. Vibrant, showy yellows. Bold, attention grabbing reds. Splashy, sunny oranges. Deep plums, warm coppers. The colors of fall are amazing.

We're just beginning to see the colors dust the trees. Yellow is always the early arrival...birches, cottonwoods and the elms have all begun to blush sunny yellow. Red comes next...the fire bushes, buffalo berry bushes and sumac in fiery, scarlet red. Orange is the last and rarest, the few oaks and maples in town usually hold out till long after the first hard frost. The few leaves that have already fallen are like dark yellow butterflies when they flit by on the breeze.

This past weekend Tim, Lilly and I packed the car with our typical picnic accouterments, hit the road and spent most of Sunday enjoying a gorgeous fall day. Sunny, breezy with the Hills just getting into the fall swing.

It was pretty much a perfect day.

Comes with a No Honk Guarantee

2008-09-18T10:54:00.001-06:00

Absolutely Classic.

Gratuitous Product Placement

2008-09-16T08:06:00.003-06:00

We have REALLY hard water. Like, we nearly have to chip it off a mineral block hard. It's been hell on our new appliances and a water softener is an imminent purchase just as soon as we can afford it. All of this is just to prove the point that our dishes? Absolutely nasty. White filmy, cloudy nasty. It's not like they're really dirty, just that dishwasher just can't cope with the hard water and manages to bake a really nice mineral layer on to each dish every time it passes through the wash/dry cycle. I really dislike giving company a glass and immediately promising, "It's not dirty, I know it looks icky but it's really just that we have hard water." It's embarrassing.

So, last weekend my boss's wife (yay for company BBQ) mentioned that they have water that is even harder than ours (I believe rocks come out of their faucets.) and that after the 5th trip out there to fix the dishwasher the repair man mentioned that she should really try Lemishine. Sunday morning Tim and I gathered our fortitude and headed to the lion's den (W*mart) for some of this magical powder. We've done 3 loads of dishes since then (Hey, I've been doing a lot of baking!) and each time we've taken turns being absolutely amazed that we have navy blue, shiny plates, clean cups and shiny stainless steel. Seriously. This stuff is freakily effective at what it does. It's also so good at what it does that I can mix it in in a 50/50 blend with regular detergent and still get awesome results.

Anyway what I'm getting at is that, while I'd love to be getting paid to tell you all of this (To the folks at Enivrocontech, feel free to pony up at anytime.), I just really, really like this stuff and found that it actually does what it says. Dishwasher+hard water+lemishine+detergent = Yay! Clean Dishes!!

The Home Cook: Lemon Tart

2008-09-14T16:15:00.004-06:00

This weekend was my architectural firm's annual BBQ. Let's digest that for a moment. We had our summer BBQ in September, in the dark with 30mph wind and cold, cold rain. We maybe need to plan better next year.

I've spent the last week trying to figure out what to take...I kind of wanted something fallish, but I made an apple dish for Tim...carrot cake would use up all the carrots languishing in the fridge but I took that last year...no, no, no. What I REALLY wanted was a lemon tart. A "fare thee well" to summer, but with six languishing apples and some woe begotten carrots it wasn't justifiable. But then Tim's office mates saved me by asking for baked goodies, they could reap the benefits of carrot cupcakes and I could make my tart guilt free. The apples...well the apples are still languishing BUT I have plans for them and that makes it all okay.

So, I went in search of a lemon tart...the crust was easy and after a few minutes I had it copied down and ready to use. The filling on the other hand was a bit trickier...no whole lemon tarts, just...ick. I wanted something smooth, something with a lemon bar like filling...but different...creamier and maybe a bit more tart. I hemmed and hawed and drug my feet all the way till Saturday morning and after blind baking the crust I still wasn't settled on how to fill it. The internet just didn't seem to have what I was looking for. (And in my defense, I forgot that I had this bar recipe that would have adapted well.)

*Sigh and mourn and whine*

Then I remembered I have these things called cookbooks and cooking magazines and photo copied recipes that I could also consult. And lo there was exactly what I was looking for in The Good Housekeeping Cookbook I've had for about 4 years. It was right there, sitting blandly between Sweet Potato Pie and Lemon Meringue Pie. Lemon Tart. Duh.

I mixed it up, slid it in the oven and was soon on my way to a creamy Lemonhead like tart. It was perfect and I wasn't the only one who thought so. As far as marks of success go, bringing home a perfectly empty serving plate really can't be beat.

Tart Crust
Adapted From Simply Recipes Lemon Tart

1 1/2 cup All-purpose Flour
1/2 teaspoon Salt
1/2 cup Butter, softened
1/2 cup Sugar
1 large Egg, beaten
1/4 teaspoon Almond Extract
1 Tablespoon Lemon Juice or Orange Juice
2 teaspoons Lemon Zest

Preheat oven to 350ºF.

Blend flour, salt and sugar. Cut in butter until crumbly.

Mix in egg, extract, juice and zest until dough clumps. Shape into ball and flatten into a disk, wrap in plastic and refrigerate 2 hours or overnight.

Remove dough from refrigerator and let rest for 10-20 minutes or until somewhat pliable. Roll out between two layers of waxed paper into a diameter 2 inches larger than the tart pan. Press into pan, trim edges. Line dough with parchment and fill with dry beans or pie weights; blind bake for 15 minutes. Remove pie weights/beans and pierce any bubbles with a fork before returning to oven to bake 5-10 more minutes or until crust is just beginning to brown. Remove from oven and cool.

Lemon Filling
Adapted from The Good Housekeeping Cookbook, c.2001

2/3 cup Lemon Juice (4-6 Lemons)
4 large Eggs
1 cup Sugar
1/3 cup heavy or whipping cream
2 teaspoons Lemon Zest (from 1-2 of the lemons above)

Preheat oven to 350ºF.

Zest and juice lemons.

In a medium bowl, whisk together eggs, sugar and lemon juice. While constantly whisking, slowly pour in cream. (Pour mixture through a fine sieve into a bowl;*) whisk in zest. Pour filling into a prepared tart shell. Place tart pan on a foil lined sheet to capture any overflow during baking. Place tart in oven and bake for 30 minutes or until center of tart is set but still jiggles slightly. Remove from oven and cool completely. Before serving dust tart with confectioner's sugar.

Cook's Notes:

- The zest in both the crust and the filling is my addition, but could be foregone with out a great deal of effect.

- * I strained the filling because I used the same measuring cup for my cream as my lemon juice, which cause a very wee amount of curdling (hello buttermilk) if you add the cream slowly and steadily, this step could most likely be skipped. However, this step also removed the chalaza (the stringy white bit in an egg)...added bonus.

- This recipe is intended for a 9 or 10" tart pan, since I have an 8" pan, there was both dough and filling left over.

The Crafty Bits: Box of Fun

2008-09-13T16:29:00.003-06:00

I've never wound a center pull ball of yarn...

...now that I've FINALLY gotten my box of fun, now I've wound six. Five of them went smoothly and for the record I'd recommend never dropping a loose hank of yarn after you've removed the securing ties. Just sayin'...ball #6? Didn't go so smoothly.

The Crafty Bits: Crib Quilt

2008-09-09T21:52:00.004-06:00

This is the ninth crib quilt I've made.

This is also the first one I've ever gotten decidedly wrong. Not a bad record that has been somewhat helped by the fact that a few of completed quilts have been a bit more neutral than others. Other than being very wrong this is the second time I've failed to have the quilt finished before baby made his or her grand appearance, which considering it was for a boy and Miss Natalie Jean is decidedly a beautiful girl, is probably for the best.

Last weekend I pulled apart the top I had pieced together, removed the red squares and put in plumy/pinky ones. There is still a lot of blue, but since the new backing fabric I picked up is very girly graphic pattern with blue accents, it will still work just fine for the little lady awaiting her quilt.

I've gotten the top reassembled, the liner sewn in and the backing fabric selected and seamed to the right size. All that's left is to sew it together and tie it all up. This will be my favorite one so far and I'm really looking forward to sharing the finished product.

I just hope little Natalie has a bold personality to go with this bold quilt. And to Natalie's wonderful mommy...dear, I think you'll like this one; it definitely won't get confused with Ben or Sarah's. : )

Scribbles in the Margins: Box Sets

2008-09-09T06:40:00.003-06:00

Well, hello there!

I do hope you've been out, about and enjoying these final dregs of summer. I am some how convinced that we've been collectively robbed. Spring lingered and lingered and summer was only really summery for a few short weeks. Or at least in these parts that's how it felt. And while the respite from the previous FIVE summers of crippling heat and drought has been beyond delightful...it feels odd not spending four+ months in near misery. We actually only ran our air conditioner for three weeks...total...all summer. This is huge. At least for our climate it is. The weather here has taken the Labor Day reputation as "end of summer" quite seriously, the weather instantly cooled off and a crisp fallish breeze has taken residence. Fall isn't just on the way...it's here, beating down the door.

Things have been all odd n' ends these days. I have a new craft project I want to share...but need to finish first. It may or may not be a pair of socks. I knit (am knitting...two feet = two socks). By myself. WITH MY OWN HANDS! I maybe very proud of myself. I have an amazingly exciting box of yarn goodies s-l-o-w-l-y (Oh, God...soooo slowly) making their way from Ohio to the Great Plains. I plan on using it's contents for Christmas making fun. And despite evidence to the contrary, I have not ceased cooking. I've been experiencing some SPECTACULAR failures that we won't discuss here or I've been making yummy things with out taking pictures. Bad Girl.

In lieu of any real content I offer you the following:

AND

So what's the deal?

While I hate to admit it, winter will soon be here. If you're anything like me this does not mean swishing down hill shooting up plumes of snow or careening haphazardly over the sparkly white landscape on some mechanical beast. It will mean a rather large reinforcement of sweaters, socks, blankets, steamy warm beverages and lots of time to burn after sunset. I generally spend my winters in a trifecta of activity...fun cooking, crafting and reading. There's television/movies too...but that kind of ruins the whole trifecta analogy.

These two sets are what I read last winter/prolonged spring. The Little House set (9 books) by Laura Ingalls Wilder and the "All Creatures" series by James Herriot. While they seem like wildly different things...a series chronicling the life of a pioneer girl in the late 1800's and a series chronicling the life of a country vet in pre/post WWII England...they also both offer a detailed peek into a life that very few of us know or recognize. Both sets are light reads with heartening story lines that are based on the authors' real life experiences. And both sets are quite a bit of fun to read...from Laura's revenge on mean Nellie Olsen to Herriot's anecdotes of recalcitrant cows, gruff farmers and his slightly madcap business partners Sigfried and Tristan Farnon.

Both series are readily available, though Herriot's books are issued under different titles than pictured above in the US. On this side of the pond his series is generally 5 books...All Creatures Great and Small, All things Bright and Beautiful, All things Wise and Wonderful, The Lord God Made them All and Every Living Thing. As for Laura Ingalls Wilder's works...well, I'd hope that we'd all be familiar with them but in case your not...Little House in the Big Woods, Farmer Boy, Little House on the Prairie, On the Banks of Plum Creek, On the Shores of Silver Lake, The Long Winter, Little Town on the Prairie, These Happy Golden Years, The First Four Years...are generally considered the main body of her work. If you can finagle your way into a set that is illustrated by Garth Williams...all the better. His pen and ink sketches are the same that have been running in the books since 1953. Newer sets have been re-packaged with photographic cover art, stills from the television series or new drawings, but don't always have Williams' art.

The Crafty Bits: Garter Stitch Scarf (F)

2008-08-24T19:14:00.002-06:00

I don't know about the rest of you, but every once in a while I like a little impromptu project. A little something to start and finish with out much planning, thought or work. This weekend was one of those times.

Friday, our garage door broke. It broke bad. We ended up having to replace it and while the new opener actually has enough horsepower to open the door with out going into cardiac arrest...it was one of those home improvements we could have lived with out. So long story short, Friday and a good chunk of Saturday was spent running, doing, getting, replacing and cussing. After all of that plus planning for a Labor Day camping trip I just wanted to veg out. With that in mind I picked up some rather inexpensive yarn and knit a scarf. Yup, a scarf in August. I have no idea what I'm going to do with said scarf, I'll probably gift it to some unsuspecting person or maybe just keep it. All I know is that it was easy, it's done and it's rather cute...added plus? Zero brain activity required.

Lilly, K9 model extraordinaire. Channeling Doris Day with a touch of Mae West.

From the Interwebs...

2008-08-15T22:05:00.001-06:00

This was created as a submission to the One Less Worry contest. The winner will receive a $10,000 scholarship for law school...I'm thinking maybe this dude should have taken up marketing, art or indie film making.

The Home Cook: Zucchini Bread

2008-08-15T08:14:00.003-06:00

Many years ago...well, not MANY...but definitely several years ago I worked at a library. Of all my preprofessional jobs (which included nanny, tutor, cashier, customer service wench, salad-bar girl and convenience store babe) it was by FAR AND AWAY my favorite job...ever. If I ever feel the need for a career change, pursing a Masters Degree for Library Science is most assuredly at the top of the list. Really it's not surprising considering that I 1) Love books, 2) Love information of any kind, 3) Love books, 4) Love learning in any shape or form and 5) Love people find information and ...oh, did I mention I love books with an unholy passion. I also could live in a library as long I as I could catch a shower and have some food delivered each day.

While I loved the library for it's more obvious aspects, there was something else to love. The librarians and library technicians I worked with...they loved a good party and parties = food. Lots and lots of food. For a college student it couldn't get much better, go to work, do a sweet-ass fun job, get fed for free and socialize for an hour. Very, very cool. It doesn't hurt that all the people I worked with were each incredibly cool and awesome too. It seemed that each person had their signature dishes, from delish cream cheese dip to bakalava to a large array of heavenly baked goods. One of my favorite things...that sadly didn't show up all that often was Zucchini bread. I suspect the recipe was my supervisor's mother's and it was so, so good. Happily enough, the recipe got copied for me and I've been using it exclusively ever since. Last week I made up four loaves and sent them out to destinations near and far...hopefully they made the recipients smile as much as I do when I make them.

Zucchini Bread
Adapted from recipe from Grace and Sandra L.

3 Eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup Oil
2 cups Turbinado Sugar
3 cups grated Zucchini, peeled or unpeeled
3 teaspoons Vanilla
3 cups All-purpose Flour
1 teaspoon Salt
1 teaspoon Soda
1/2 teaspoon Baking Powder
1 teaspoon Ground Cloves
3 teaspoons Cinnamon

Grease and flour 2 - 9x5" or 3 - 4x8" loaf pans, set aside. Preheat oven to 325ºF.

Mix together eggs, oil sugar and vanilla; stir in zucchini.

Sift together dry ingredients, fold into the zucchini mixture.

Pour in to prepared pans. Bake for 50 - 60 minutes or until bread passed tooth pick test. Remove from oven, set on wire rack to cool for 10 minutes before removing from pans. Allow to cool completely and store in air tight container for up to 3 days (1 week or longer in the refrigerator).

Cook's Notes:

- Turbinado Sugar is by no means necessary, it does however add deeper, rounder sweetness. You can use an equal amount of white granulated sugar. (I discovered this not because of my cooking prowess, but because I was too lazy to make sure I had enough regular sugar before I stared and ended up being WAY short. I used what I had enough of...which accidentally enough was Turbinado/Raw Sugar)

- I grate my zucchini, skin on, wrap it into a tea-towel and squeeze/twist out as much moisture as I can. I'm pretty sure that's standard zucchini baked goods operating procedure. You don't have to leave the skin on, but it makes pretty green flecks.

- You can obviously add nuts or raisins....don't tell me if you do, but you certainly can.

Pixelated F-Stops: Flat Lands

2008-08-12T07:56:00.008-06:00

I took a vacation day a few weeks ago and spent the morning, getting out and hiking around the Buffalo Gap National Grasslands. A part of me really needed that time. This is dedicated to anyone who needs the world to shut-up and back off.

I've always been partial to wide open space, the kind where
you can't see a person, a car, a road or any other sign of life
besides the clicking of grasshoppers, the flick of a gopher or the little
dots of white moths floating over the grass.
What it must have been like to roll over these foot hill prairies in the
early 1800's, never seeing another soul for day's on end...

The last few years have been nothing but one unending string
of drought baked summers and flat dry winters. Seeing wild
sunflowers on their second bloom and green grass covered
knolls in July has been a wonderful reminder that things
can and will always get better, no matter the situation.

Folsom Baptist Church, built in 1917 A.D. It's
incredible to think of farm families gathering on
Sunday's...first coming in wagons or Model A's for
service and an afternoon of food and society,
followed by later model cars and fewer members
until the town died away leaving only
this clapboard church an a nearby school.

They show these shots in movies...usually just before you find
out that nearly all man-kind was killed in a nuclear holocaust or
zombifying viral out break.
The area isn't quite this abandoned, but one pole-barn school
(closed for the summer) and a cattle sorting yard
don't do much to dispel the empty feeling.

I wish you could capture smells with cameras.
They had just finishing the baling in this field; with the
smell of oil, sun and warm cut grass it smelled like the
perfect summer.

There are a lot of frustrations living in a remote part of
the country...there are a lot of pay-offs too.

My co-adventurer...
more than ready to head back to civilization and air conditioning.

Stuck in the Middle With You

2008-08-10T17:08:00.003-06:00

I bet you've forgotten all about 'Project: Refinish Cabinet'. I kind of thought I had too, but work resumed this weekend. In our first installment, I introduced you to the rather dilapidated Cabinet of Unknown Origin. A piece hoarded for my by my grandmother, stored for roughly 10 (or many more) years before being transported my way for some much needed attention. After this weekend we're about halfway through the steps I go through when I refinish a piece.

Things we have since discovered about this piece:

1. It was my great-grandmothers.

2. It was used in the dining room to hold the silverware and large serving platters.

3. The top, face, drawer fronts and doors are walnut. The side panels are white oak, the interior shelves and drawer pieces are pine.

4. The construction is typical dovetail/mortise joinery, with square nails.

5. The square nails most likely date the piece to pre-1910, but it could be as late as 1920.

6. One leg and the apron piece along the bottom are broken/missing significant pieces. I will have to miter in a new leg piece and reattach a piece of the apron.

7. The bin pulls are black iron.

So as you can see there's been a lot happening with this piece as it's moved from the preliminary stages through stripping/sanding. The finish came off pretty easily in most areas. Two spots prooved to be too difficult for even the exceptionally toxic stripper I favor and had to be taken down using...of all things, fingernail polish remover. (Though I DO NOT recommend that unless it's the last option, as it will often discolor the wood.) I've finished up the final sand using 400 grit sand paper, glued the crack in the drawer face and filled the large crack in the top with matched (sanding/stainable) putty. I still need to strip a few of the piece that have fallen off and I need to find a piece of walnut to fix the leg with. I'm hoping to get those items done by next weekend so that I can get to staining and sealing. With any luck this will be done before Labor Day weekend.

A brief stop in the middle of the process to see what the ol' girl
will look like when this is all said and done.

In related news this project gave me (and Tim too) the perfect excuse to buy a brad nailer. Like a Bostitch AIR nailer. I'll admit to being giddy the first few times I nailed with it...a most excellent addition to the garage/work area. Between this nailer and the orbital sander, my life just got a billion times easier when it comes to these hobby projects.

Recap:

1. Never underestimate finger nail polish remover.

2. Stripper burns. I've learned this on several occasions, but I just can't seem to remember that particular lesson.

3. Air nailers rock. HARD.

4. Little cabinet is much older than I had thought.

Pepper

2008-08-01T06:02:00.001-06:00

I think there are very few 12 year old girls who would saw off their arms for a dog, either because most 12 year old girls already have a dog or because they are at that age when "girlie things" begin to take over their minds. Make-up, that cutie in math class, talking with friends...I think that's what rattles around in the average female pre-teen brain. Dogs? Probably not at the top of the list unless you're 12, have always desperately wanted a dog and for whatever reason do not have one. I was 12, did not have a dog and would have gladly sold my sister for a real live dog of even the most dubious breed or temperament.

Pepper came to us in 1992, in a rather subversive manner that left my parents on non-speaking terms for the better part of a week. Dad had a friend leave an 8 week old puppy in a box, in our back porch during a weekend when we were on vacation. I don't think anyone was more surprised than Mom, but no one was more happy than me. For all the talk of the puppy being a "family dog", she quickly showed a marked preference for me. To say I was happy doesn't even begin to cover it.

She was first touted as a terrier/poodle mix and why we believed that I'll never know...wishful thinking I suppose since one of the "selling points" was that she wouldn't shed much. Turns out she was more of a terrier/heeler/border collie mix. An energetic, protective personality that was as sweet natured as they come...and she shed like crazy. She was 23 pounds of canine, balanced on the longest skinniest legs I've ever seen on a dog. Her self-appointed task was to monitor the family at all times. She was never one for tricks or training. She was happiest sitting off to the side, watching everyone do their thing. If some potato chips were thrown in her general direction, even better. She had a knack for finding the best place in a house or yard to see as much of the area as possible. Before my parents moved she'd spend hours on the stair landing, a vantage point that allowed her to monitor the front door, three bedrooms and the bathroom. In her new yard she liked to lay in the sun, slowly broiling her internal organs in the hot sun by the rhubarb...she could see the alley, garage, back door, two gates and parts of the front yard from that one spot. I'd like to think that she's found the best vantage point off all, a place where she can keep watch on all the members of her family no matter where they've gone.

Pepper passed away yesterday morning, she was 16. She loved potato chips, peanut butter M&Ms, strawberry yogurt, french fries, vanilla ice-cream cones, getting scratched behind the ears, walks with my mom and lying in the sun. She was my first dog and I can't even tell you how sad I am today.

DVD's and Popcorn: Batman: The Dark Knight

2008-07-31T09:46:00.002-06:00

I've been so on the fence about seeing this movie. The exposure this film had even before Heath Ledger's unfortunate death was enough to make me wonder if it could really be that good; after that it turned into this megalithic brute of You-will-see-it-and-you-will-love-it-no-matter-what. To top it off it hasn't exactly been a secret that this movie is dark...like psychologically twisted and intimidatingly scary dark, and that makes me more than a little squeamish.

It is all that. It is that dark, it is that psychologically manic. It is also that good.

The solid foundation set in Batman Begins continues with the return of 98% of the cast. And lets just say it, with the likes of Michael Cain, Morgan Freeman, Christian Bale and Gary Oldman it would be really hard to make a bad movie, but it gets exponentially easier to make an EXCELLENT movie with them on board. None of them falter or disappoint and the steady realism of each character becomes the perfect mirror (or in some cases fodder) for the Joker's Gotham wide mind-fuck. Ah the Joker, you can't talk about this movie with out talking about Heath Ledger and the Joker...thing is, it isn't that he's acted the character that well...it's more like he became the Joker and that's the difference of his character. While everyone else has found brilliant insight into their characters to make them believable and realistic; Ledger found something so intimate that it's as if he portraying a real-life person he's spent years studying and getting to know. The physicality that comes through the screen from the hand gestures to the little shuffling steps to the manic giggling seems to reflect not some idea of the Joker but a living incarnation of the psychopathic killer. The instability that radiated off the screen seemed real and that's probably the best compliment one could give Ledger.

Lest they be forgotten the new additions to the franchise that aren't Heath Ledger include Aaron Eckhart, Maggie Gyllenhaal and Nestor Carbonell. First off, Gyllenhaal? MUCH better than Katie Holmes, nothing against Ms. Holmes but she is more eye candy than actress. Maggie Gyllenhaal, on the other hand, is the Rachel Dawes that the Batman franchise deserves. Aaron Eckhart was accused of being to much of a light-weight to do the Harvey Dent character justice and I'm happy to say that is completely wrong. Finally Carbonell did a great job as Gotham's mayor...also, I want his eyelashes.

The Home Cook: Chocolate Chip Cookies

2008-07-24T05:48:00.009-06:00

C is for cookie, that's good enough for me.
C is for cookie, that's good enough for me.
C is for cookie, that's good enough for me.
Oh, cookie, cookie, cookie starts with C.

Cookie Monster has is right. C IS for cookie and that should be good enough for us all. In fact I think it is, I mean who doesn't like cookies? I think they're so popular because there is a cookie for every taste and type of sweet tooth. Jam thumb-prints, peanut butter, shortbread, fudgy chocolate drops, lemon spritzes...there are as many types of cookies as there are people to eat them. I'm partial to chocolate chip...traditional, tasty and as easy to make as anything. The thing is that there are wide variety of really bad chocolate chip cookie recipes in the world. Hard, bland, floury...there as many ways to error as there are ways to bake the perfect cookie. My absolute favorite chocolate chip cookie is more of a Ranger Cookie than a true blue chocolate chipper, but it's a HUGE recipe, with a rather non-standard list of ingredients. Not so good for a quick impromptu cookie making binge.

Fortunately for us, once again, the New York Times is here to save us from ourselves. When you think of the perfect cookie, I hope you're thinking of a chocolaty-salty chewy-crisp cookie. One that's got a bit of a bite when it's hot from the oven and cools with a bit of a bendy-chewiness. These cookies are just like that and since you can pretty much make them with what you've got lying around they get bonus points for most delicious instant gratification.

New York Times Chocolate Chip Cookies
Based on changes from Orangette

2 cups, less 2 Tablespoons (8.5 oz) Cake Flour or Unbleached All Purpose Flour
1 2/3 cups (8.5 oz) Bread Flour or Unbleached All Purpose Flour
1 1/4 teaspoons Baking Soda
1 1/2 teaspoons Baking Powder
1 teaspoon Kosher Salt
2 1/2 sticks (1 1/4) cups Unsalted Butter
1 1/4 (10 oz) Light Brown Sugar
1 cup plus 2 Tablespoons (8oz) Granulated Sugar
2 large Eggs
2 teaspoons Vanilla
1 1/4 pounds bittersweet, semi-sweet, milk or a blend of chocolate chips
Sea Salt (optional)

Sift flours, baking soda, baking powder and salt into a bowl. Set aside

Using a mixer fitted with paddle attachment, cream butter and sugars together until very light, about 5 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Stir in the vanilla. Reduce speed to low, add dry ingredients and mix until just combined, 5 to 10 seconds. Drop chocolate pieces in and incorporate them without breaking them. Press plastic wrap against dough and refrigerate for 24 to 36 hours. Dough may be used in batches, and can be refrigerated for up to 72 hours

When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a nonstick baking mat. Set aside.

Scoop 6 3 1/2-ounce mounds of dough (the size of generous golf balls) onto baking sheet, making sure to turn horizontally any chocolate pieces that are poking up; it will make for a more attractive cookie. Sprinkle lightly with sea salt and bake until golden brown but still soft, 18 to 20 minutes. Transfer sheet to a wire rack for 10 minutes, then slip cookies onto another rack to cool a bit more. Repeat with remaining dough, or reserve dough, refrigerated, for baking remaining batches the next day. Eat warm, with a big napkin.

Yield: 1 1/2 dozen 5-inch cookies.

*Cook's Notes:

- The original recipe called for chocolate fèves...yeah. I don't have those, you don't have those...use chocolate chips. I actually used an odds n' ends blend of dark chocolate, semi-sweet and milk chocolate...very rich and yummy.

- You can use 100% all-purpose flour, the cookies are just a bit denser. I like a blend of bread and AP flours.

- Since I substituted kosher salt for sea salt in the batter I reduced it down to 1 teaspoon of salt.

- Make em' big. They're better that way, Cookie Monster would agree.

- You're supposed to top these with sea salt...eh, it's just that much longer before you can eat them.

- I make my cookies a little smaller...maybe about 3 1/2" diameter after baking...like ping-pong balls? They take about 16 minutes to bake at 350°F in my oven.

The Crafty Bits: MiniSock

2008-07-18T20:10:00.001-06:00

The weekend was a furiously busy one. My dad and sister came out and nearly conquered our backyard. We now have the beginnings of a neatly landscaped bit of real estate.

In other fun bits, I have knit my first sock. Well, sock may be a strong word...bootie, maybe? It was a practice bootie-sock-thing that taught me the value of the gusset and the ease of a turned heel. I'm now on to knitting a pair of Real Life Sized Socks (TM).

In order to properly appreciate the mininess of the mini-sock / bootie, please see below.

Lilly doing her share to help around the house.

Also note that I was not having a seizure while I took this picture...it's only
out of focus because I can't use my camera...or maybe I was seizing. Who knows.

The Crafty Bits: Acrylics

2008-07-18T06:01:00.002-06:00

I am not a painter. That's pretty much a fact. BUT I have very blank walls in my house. VERY blank walls. It's rather sad. I also do not possess the type of constitution that will comfortable plunk down $300.00 for artwork just because it's pretty.

Yes...it's a sad day to be an interior designer.

So in a fit of pique, I made my own art. It's not sophisticated or all that beautiful, but I like the colors and the texture. While I think that will eventually break down and spend some money on real art from real artists, this will suffice in the mean time.

The Home Cook: Berry Cobbler

2008-07-09T06:08:00.004-06:00

I hope you all had a great 4th of July. I, of course, spent my weekend on cloud nine puttering around the house. By now you've figured out that Tim and I are not social scions. Many holidays are spent just us, milling about the house doing a hodge-podge of weird odds n' ends. Things done include: cleaning closets, updating monthly bookkeeping, movie watching, book reading, errand running and cooking. Watch out for us, we really know how to tie one on. We also watched the neighborhood fireworks extravaganza and have vowed to add to it ourselves next year. (We did tape this spectacular but I didn't realize my camera recorded sound...um...I talk...a lot, mostly using turns of phrase, innuendo and sarcasm unfit for mass public consumption...also the auto focus feature was on and it really shouldn't have been.)

Anyway besides being oppressively dull people for most of the weekend, we cooked a fair amount. Grilled a chicken, made some mac salad, ate some french toast, made some paninis and most importantly for today, tried a new dessert. It started out with a desire to make a tart of some variety. There is a tart pan languishing in my kitchen closet that I most desperately wanted as a Christmas gift...and now that I have one, I haven't used it. Go figure. It was going to be a berry tart and I acquired all the necessary berry tart making necessities...namely berries. Blueberries, raspberries, strawberries & blackberries. I washed the berries, I sorted the berries, I hulled the berries and then I thought...huh, there is no way two of us can eat a 9" berry tart before the raw berries get all smooshy and weird. Time to rethink this.

And rethink and rethink and rethink I did. I needed a tart that had the berries baked. A baked berry tart. Then I found a recipe for a Berry Cobbler....with walnuts...and coconut...and the baked berry tart took a flying leap. This is yet another recipe from the kitchen of Simply Recipes. When don't they have something that looks and tastes magnificent; and magnificent this recipe was. I don't have much first hand experience with berry desserts...I grew up in a more cake, chocolate and frozen desserts family, so this was all new for me. I was worried I'd find the baked berry texture rather nasty or worse it would be a berry mass of unmitigated tartness.

Yeah, you don't need to tell me. Wrong. I was so totally wrong. First of all, a mass of mixed berries bake into the loveliest dark plum shade ever. If I had any kind of purple leanings, I would paint something that color. The unusual topping of nuts and coconut was delicious and such a nice difference from the standard doughy cobbler topping that it easily went from yum to oh-so-delicious. I do believe I am a converted berry dessert fan.

Berry Cobbler with Coconut Walnut Topping
from Simply Recipes

Filling
4 cups mixed berries (i.e. blackberries, raspberries, blueberries, boysenberries, strawberries), fresh or frozen
1/4 cup plus 1 Tbsp sugar
2 Tbsp instant tapioca
1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice

Topping
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup shredded coconut
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup chopped walnuts
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
Pinch of salt
4 Tbsp (1/4 cup) cold, unsalted butter, cut into cubes

Preheat oven to 375°F. Butter a 9x9 inch baking dish.

In a large bowl, mix together the filling ingredients - berries, sugar, tapioca, and lemon juice. Pour into the baking dish.

In a medium sized bowl, stir together the flour, coconut, sugar, walnuts, baking powder and salt from the topping ingredients. Use your fingers to mix in the cubes of butter. Rub the butter into the other ingredients until the mixture looks like coarse crumbs.

Sprinkle the topping over the filling. Bake for 35-40 minutes, until the topping is golden brown and crispy, and the filling is bubbling.

Let cool for at least an hour. Serve with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.

Makes 6 servings.

Cook's Notes:

I used pecans because there is no better nut than the pecan. I dare you to argue.

That would be 6 very healthy sized servings...I bet you could get 8 or so slightly more petite servings.

I used strawberries, raspberries, blueberries and blackberries...the seeds of the blackberries were a little off putting.

Rockin' Out: The Raconteurs

2008-07-05T09:11:00.006-06:00

A couple of days ago I was at loathsome big box store to purchase a few things I had been unable to locate elsewhere. All in all the experience was everything I had come to hate about the place, crushes of rude ill-mannered people, loads of poorly made merchandise and a store environment about as pleasant at eating glass. I was tired, I was crabby and this was not helping at all.

Grrrr.

The only highlight of the trip was happening onto a CD I'd been thinking of buying for less than I'd seen anywhere else. I've been on the fence about picking up The Raconteurs newest album ever since it came out in March. These days I tend to download my music from the Amazon download shop or from Rhapsody. (They don't encode their music with Digital Media Rights, so you can cut, paste, copy or have the song on more than one device, unlike iTunes.) But the drawback for digital media is that at this point I don't have an easy way to listen to downloaded songs in my car...The Raconteurs are a car band. I mean yeah, obvious answer is to burn a CD except my CD player sucks ass and won't read 62% of most burned disks. Long story short, I bought the CD, put in the car and have been listening to it ever since.

Counselors of the Lonely

Just like everyone else I first heard of The Raconteurs when they scored their first hit with Steady as She goes off their Broken Boy Soldiers CD. Loved it, bought the CD, listened to to it a ton and instantly began hoping for a follow up. Thing was, a follow up CD was in no way a done deal. The Raconteurs are like Velvet Revolver, a bunch of dudes from other bands...but unlike VR their bands are still going strong; Jack White et al. aren't exactly looking for work so I was more than a little thrilled when they announced the release of their second album this spring.

Their music is a rather awesome collective of styles, sounds and well penned lyrics. Not as eclectic and experimental as Jack White / White Stripes but nowhere near mainstream either. In a time when most music has a rather canned feeling to it, these guys are making rock that sounds as fresh and experimental as the best of the 60's and 70's. Not to say they have have a retro sound a la Jet, but that they have taken their craft away from prerecorded effects/digitization and pushed themselves, their talents and instruments into a more hands-on nearly avant-garde approach. Mostly they manage to prove that truly good music doesn't need overdub after overdub. Just three dudes havin' fun on their guitars, one pounding drummer and a few well place instrumentals.

A General Announcement

2008-07-03T13:03:00.002-06:00

I passed.

That test that ate my life for what seemed like forever? I passed.

I passed, I passed, I passed, I passed.

I passed my NCIDQ examination. I am now a Certified Interior Designer...with letters behind my name and everything.

I passed and am wondrously, deliriously happy.

The Home Cook: French Farmhouse Garlic Chicken

2008-07-02T11:59:00.000-06:00

Lately I've been struggling to come up with stuff to cook for supper. For the average cook it seems like an eternal problem. While I like trying new stuff, I'm not one of those people who can eat something new and different every night, I like having a small (and growing) collection of go to recipes, stuff I know we like, stuff that doesn't carry the risk of needing the emergency back-up plan. Call me unadventurous, but it's the truth. I have the standards that everyone eats pasta/sauce, grilled sandwiches, burgers, brats or soups. I have the family recipes that Tim and I grew up loving...stroganoff, nachos, pork tenderloin or calico beans. And over the last few years I've been gaining a steadily growing collection of new-to-us-standards...seafood puffs, french bread pizza, Cowboy biscuits and beans, chimichangas, chicken enchiladas and garlic chicken.

I've apparently got garlic and chicken on the brain. Last time it was a whole roasted chicken (yum!) this time it's a super quick supper idea, as in the 30 minute or less variety. One of my favorite supper inspiration tomes is Better Homes and Gardens 30 Minute Meals...it's trite and not exactly ground breaking, but it is good food, with very few exotic ingredients and is much better for us than fast food (our bane and crutch). This recipe is quick and very good (or I wouldn't post about it). The garlic mellows with the cooking giving it more of a soft roasted flavor and less biting, it also makes the house smell wonderfully gourmet. Have I mentioned that it's dead simple, because it is. And we all know how I swoon over something that is stupid easy. All the more reason to give it a try and see if it fits with your repertoire.

French Farmhouse Garlic Chicken
Better Homes & Gardens Big Book of 30-minute Dinners, pg.66

4 small boneless chicken breast halves or 4 Thighs, about 3/4 lbs. of chicken
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
40 small cloves of garlic, unpeeled*
1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
1/2 cup Dry White Wine or Chicken Broth**
1/2 cup Chicken Broth
1 Tablespoon Lemon Juice
1 teaspoon Dried Basil
1/2 teaspoon Dried Oregano
4 teaspoons Flour
2 Tablespoons Dry White Wine or Chicken Broth

Hot Mashed Potatoes or Cooked Rice***

Rinse chicken and pat dry. Season with salt and pepper. In a 10-inch skillet cook chicken and garlic in heated oil over medium-high heat for 4 to 6 minutes or just until browned, turning once half way through.

Slowly add 1/2 cup wine/broth, 1/2 cup broth, lemon juice, basil and oregano. Bring to boiling; reduce heat, cover and simmer for 6 to 8 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink and juices run clear. Use a slotted spoon to transfer chicken and garlic to a warm serving platter. Keep Warm.

In a small bowl stir together the flour and the 2 Tablespoons wine or broth. Slowly stir into pan juices and cook until sauce is thickened, about 1 minute. Spoon over chicken and serve with potatoes or rice.

Cook's Notes:

*I always peel and very roughly chop my garlic...I just don't care for the skin or whole cloves.

** Use the wine where indicated if at all possible, it's that much better.

*** Definitely not mandatory, the book implies that there is enough sauce to top the potatoes (or rice...?!?) but there really isn't, you'll need to double or triple (depending on how much you love the sauce) the last 7 ingredients to make enough for that.

I like serving this with orzo salad or wild rice pilaf.

Baa-daa Bing

2008-07-02T07:23:00.002-06:00

So last week I went and got my hair cut. Which in itself is not really amazing, except that I just didn't get it cut...I got it CUT. A lot cut. I didn't post pictures right away, mostly because I wasn't sold on the new look, but now I'm kind of diggin' it because I've made peace with my new ceramic flat iron and have figured out how to blow dry it so that it is reasonably decent from day to day.

The pictures aren't overly flattering but hey, what can ya do?

The Crafty Bits: Chooks

2008-06-25T20:51:00.003-06:00

As I said I haven't been overly crafty as of late. Picking a bit here and there, mostly just looking at the fore lorn PILE of unfinished craft stuffs thinking..."I really NEED to get those done." but instead I've been embarking on new books or new approaches to a clean house. (Thing Learned: Picking up every day really does make a difference!) It's also been summery and nice enough to DO stuff out of doors...not fun stuff, but stuff like painting the trim on the garage or trimming the hedges or other summery outdoorsy stuff.

But one of the little things I have been picking at is a set of tea-towels. I love embroidery, in some ways it's my crafting passion, I find it relaxing yet creative, some what structured yet flexible for any little whim. My sister-in-law describes is as coloring with thread...it's a pretty apt description. For me it's and easy way to feed the genetic OCD (no I'm not joking), while I love coming up with the color combinations my really enjoyment is seeing the neat stitching. There's just something about a perfect row of stitches that make me smile. If I can get a row tight and neat enough to look like a pen stroke the sense of accomplishment I feel is beyond geeky. My grandma likes to tell me I stitch like my great-grandmother did; teeny, tight stitches that take forever.

The Rooster

Pixelated F-stops: Pretty in Pink (Roses)

2008-06-24T20:47:00.003-06:00

I am not a pink person. It's just not a color that I can really sink my teeth into. Red, Navy, Emerald, Black, White, Chocolate...now those are colors that I adore. Strong, bold - colors that SAY something. Pink has always just been...well, pink. Soft, flowery...so very, very feminine. That's just not me. Pink gets grouped with all those other "chick" colors (lavender, cerulean, buttercream) and then left out in the cold.

So imagine my surprise when we bought a house with not one, not two, but three vibrant pink rose bushes in the front. They were, stringy, straggly creatures in dire need of pruning, weeding and more than a little time and attention. My first reaction was to abandon them. "Yank em' out," I said " I don't even like pink." But my family has a long tradition of growing roses...these were so BIG...the plants were healthy...it was the wrong time of year to plant anything new...maybe they wouldn't be THAT pink. In the end they stayed, and proved me wrong. They are THAT pink...Barbie's Corvette pink, the pinkest, girly pink you can think of. But still they stay...they are HUGE plants this year with the tops just under 4'-0" and covered in hundreds of pink heritage roses.

And while I'll never be able to get behind Pink the way Stephen Tyler and Aerosmith do...it's starting to grow on me. Just don't expect to see me wearing anything this color...I draw the line at dusty rose.

George Carlin on Our Similarities

2008-06-23T13:36:00.002-06:00

George Carlin passed away. He was one of my favorite comics, sharp, witty and devoted to making us all feel a little more a part of the human race. He wasn't for everyone, but he'll be missed.

The Home Cook: Green Bean and Beef Casserole

2008-06-19T20:02:00.004-06:00

I like green bean casserole. (No, not Hot Dish - it's Cass.er.ole - this isn't Minnesota.)

Don't think I didn't hear that collective shudder of revulsion, because I totally did. If I'm being quite frank I'm a little bummed that there aren't more reasons to make it. I mean yeah there's Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter, but really...I don't think that cuts it. And while I may not be alone in my enjoyment of The Great American Side Dish, I am well aware of my minority status. I think the biggest strike against this modest dish is that it's often over cooked, allowed to cool, reheated and THEN served, with an abusive past like that, nothing good can come of it. It also doesn't help that every person on the face of the North American continent makes it exactly as directed by Campbell's and Frenches. Not that this is inherently bad mind you, but there is a better way...I promise.

But you might be wondering what this has to do with the post title...good question. I've found a way to get my green bean casserole fix in a "one dish" supper version. The inspiration came in the form of one of those vendor cookbooks that litter the grocery checkouts, and while I'd love to tell you I'm above all that...I'm not. If there is a good supper idea or five, those little magazines have a way of crawling in my shopping bag and not leaving until they've reached the promised land of my cookbook collection. The answer (or near answer) to my problem was only waiting to be found. To be found, heavily modified, tentatively tried and soundly enjoyed.

Green Bean and Beef Casserole
As adapted from the casserole link above and a 2002 Pillsbury cooking magazine

4 strips Bacon
1 lb. Ground Beef
1 small Onion, diced
1 clove of Garlic, finely minced
Pinch of Salt
1 4.5oz jar of sliced Mushrooms, drained (or 4oz sliced fresh mushrooms)
1 can cut Green Beans, drained (or 2 cups fresh green beans, cut and par cooked)
1/4 teaspoon White Pepper
1 can 99%FF Cream of Mushroom Soup
1/4 cup Half & Half (or skim milk)
1 cup of French Fried Onions (or to taste)
1 8oz tube of refrigerator Crescent Rolls (or one 8oz tubed crescent sheet)

Preheat oven to 350° and lightly grease 8"x8" pan.

Open crescent rolls or sheet, roll out and cut in half. Line the bottom of the pan with one half of the sheet and bake for 10 minutes.

In a large heavy skillet cook the bacon til crisp. Drain off and set bacon aside. In same skillet brown together hamburger, onion, garlic and salt over medium heat. Crumble bacon into mixture, drain off and set aside.

In same skillet saute mushrooms until lightly browned, return meat to skillet. Stir in pepper, cream of mushroom soup and half & half until well combined. Gently fold in green beans and french fried onions.

After bottom crust has baked for 10 minutes, remove from oven and spoon filling over crust.* Top with remaining half of pastry. Bake for 20 more minutes or until filling is bubbly and pastry is golden.

Cook's Notes:

- *I think cheese could be a good addition, maybe somewhere between 1/2 to 1 cup of sharp cheddar on top of the filling before the top crust.

- I'd like to try this with either puff pastry or philo dough; that may take off the "pasty white midwestern casserole" edginess that this has.

- I've used 1 cup green beans & 1 cup frozen mixed veggies...Tim calls it Kelli Pot Pie, I may trademark it and become fabulously wealthy...or not.

- Double for a family sized 9"x13"x2" dish.

Modest Beginings

2008-06-16T12:57:00.004-06:00

The many weekends of overwhelming travel and go-go-going are at an end. Thank-you God. (Dear Family - We love you, don't take offense.) With a solid month of traveling, graduation / wedding partying and visiting one would think that this weekend would have been one of restful recuperation. I'm not that smart. Really I'm not. Instead of plopping myself up on the sofa and refusing to move for 2.5 days, I went and did all the little bits that have been niggling at me since early May. And while I'm not going to bore you with a list of THINGS ACHIEVED, I will say that 1)Tree saws? Dangerous. and 2) Orbital sanders? Awesome. The thing with the saw is better left alone, except to say...yes dear, you were right. The orbital sander on the other hand...magnificent.

I have a long laborious history of refinishing furniture the really hard way...scraping, chemical strippers and lots and lots of time. I have, to date, done five pieces this way. A mirrored vanity, hutch, ice box, bed frame & random weird cabinet. They've all turned out very nice, but each has taken an entire summer to do...which was fine in high school and college, but these day's time is a bit more of a premium. Enter the sander. I've wanted one for ages (well, since I saw one on HGTV a few years ago) and this Christmas Santa granted my wish. And man am I happy he did. BUT before I show you what havoc was wreaked on Saturday, I'd like to introduce you to my ~~victim~~ patient...

Lilly doing an outstanding job as Vanna.
Show us that showcase prize!

The back. Rough sawn, tongue & groove with square nails.

The front and one of the doors.

Drawer...with details like that how can you NOT love it!

These odds n' ends comprise a small hall cabinet from my grandmother. Who knows where she got it; auction, dilapidated family estate, abandoned farm house...it's any one's guess. Way back in the day, when I finished my first piece, a mirrored vanity in high school, she apparently decided I had just what it took to become a furniture whore (Man did she have me pegged!) and began saving little bits here and there that she thought I might like - old stuff, solid wood, dating from the 20s, 30s & 40's. And that's how all this began. I think this piece might be a new TV stand for us, it's about the right height, has enough room for all the auxiliary pieces...but we'll see. I'm not too keen on cutting a big hole in the back, but then again, I'm not sure what else I would do with it.

Next Time: Stripped naked!! (As in ready to stain/paint/finish

)

Scribbles in the Margin: The Ghost Map by Steven Johnson

2008-06-02T10:20:00.001-06:00

Spring has been slow in coming this year. Not a bit slow or kind of slow...it's been I'm-not-sure-it's-ever-going-to-be-warm slow. It is June 2nd and eighteen days from the first day of summer and right now the stereotypical spring is no where in sight. Sure the grass is green and the lilacs have opened, wafting their summery smell from one side of the state to the other, but that's about it. The deciduous trees have only just begun leafing out, the days of sunshine have been far and few between and permanent fog seems to have enveloped the mountains on the horizon. Today is the first day that has been nearly cloudless in weeks and the ground is spongy and loamy from the record rainfalls of May. (Please note: I am not complaining...just...expounding on the copious cool, dreary weather.)

Since spring has not fully sprung, I've been unable to do much more than stay in a "no longer winter, not yet warm" holding pattern. Grilled meals have been abandoned in the face of rain and wind, spring bulbs are still in the garage, grass is cut but the flowering shrubs still can't be pruned because they have yet to flower. Instead of complaining about the heat I've been baking cookies, wearing sweaters and reading in the comfort of my big book chair under a fuzzy warm blanket. The books...ah the books, there have been a lot of them lately. The one that's been the class stand out is The Ghost Map: The Story of London's Most Terrifying Epidemic and How It Changed Science, Cities and the Modern World by Steven Johnson. It's a mouthful and even though the title is reminiscent of a well intentioned college thesis, it is far from being overly specialized or dry. Told in a narrative format this is a some what fictionalized account of the London's 1854 cholera outbreak.

Chronicling the overlapping work of Dr. John Snow and Reverend Henry Whitehead, Johnson tracks the emergence of disease mapping and the use of the scientific process. Following the disease by defining the community it struck and by giving voice to the masses of London's lower classes The Ghost Map stays interesting and fast paced, without becoming a dry historical tome. The topics range from the illness itself (now nearly unheard of in most developed countries), the class divisions of Victorian London, the emergence of the medical field and system we are familiar with today, a brief look at the history of anesthesia and how this outbreak shaped how city planning techniques, the development of the scientific process and the perception and understand of illness by the public. The only glaring flaw of the book is the epilogue; Johnson overreaches his main points to try and tie in today's threats of bio terrorism and an several apocalyptic scenarios that just don't work with the body of this work. Any real closure to the topic at hand happens prior to the epilogue, making it extraneous, rather unrelated and tiresome with it's rather soap-boxish style.

Grade: A-

If you are one of those people who look up something in the dictionary under 'd' and find yourself in 'u' an hour later...this maybe the book for you. Good for stretching the brain and getting something educational in an easy to read, non-textbooky format.

Letters from Lilly: Spring 2008 Edition

2008-05-28T15:24:00.004-06:00

So guys, just in case you didn't know...it's spring! No more coat, but you can have short fur and going to play outside!! Or at least that's what spring is SUPPOSED to be...it's been cold guys and the little tiny schnauzers in this household do not like it. Instead of long walks and playing outside and playing ball and playing you-can't-catch-me, it's been movies and games inside and getting baths and peeing in the rain. It's like not-quite-so-cold-winter out there and guys, I do not like it one bit.

The only cool thing is that the people got new furniture...they actually got it a long time ago but first the Boy wanted to keep it a secret and surprise his family, then the Girl got lazy and didn't take any decent pictures of it, then she did get pictures of it but then she was too lazy to do anything with them. Dumb people, I swear if I had thumbs (or hands or whatever) I could rule the world.

Anyway the people got furniture, it's comfy...good for daytime napping. The Girl said that the pillows (the puffy corner pieces good for chewing?) that came with the furniture were mucho ugly, so she went and spent gobs of money on new ones. I'm not sure why it matters, it's not like anyone cares...except the Girl and she's crazy anyway.

This is the only nice day we've had...since like last year, in September. I helped the girl with all sorts of yard stuff and checked the rhubarb with the boy and even got to go on a walk...very nearly the best day ever, if my people weren't bums we could have more of them. Well I guess it would have to quit raining too, but I don't think that's going to happen anytime soon. And since it's raining I think I'll go nap on the girl's chair or maybe the love seat or maybe the couch...I always have to make the tough decisions.

Take Care,

~Lilly

The Home Cook: Roast Chicken

2008-05-12T22:20:00.005-06:00

There is a weird confluence of personal interests in my kitchen. There are of course hours spent cooking, trying new recipes and techniques...crossing my fingers that whatever it is will turn out and that I'll have successfully staved off the pizza man once again, but the history that lingers around that activity, is in many ways is just as important to me as the food. I have a small collection of Fire King Philbe patterned sapphire blue glassware and milk glass mixing bowls that despite their nicks and chips are still in heavy rotation. Depression-ware glass, spoons, beaters, graters, shakers, jars and slicers fill my 1940's mail order hutch and I use cast-iron that is, in some cases, older than my mother. I like wondering how many batches of cookies the large ivy-leaf rimmed bowl has seen or how the small chip came to be on the edge of the pie plate. Some pieces are less mysterious than others, the Fire King set was my great-grandmothers, purchased in bits and pieces from the local grocer during the 40's. The older cast iron was a gift from my grandmother, the various sizes hobnailed together from her vast sea of for-sale-stuff acquired at neighbor's estate auctions and from second hand stores. (The woman is a veritable Salvation Army Store all on her own.)

There is one piece that makes me wonder about where it's been, who's used it and what they were like more than any other. My chicken roaster is a piece of black and white flecked Americana and I've always wondered about the woman who used it. The front has a patch where pieces of masking tape have been applied repeatedly, the most recent baked a crispy caramel brown, emblazoned with her name in a hand writing reminiscent of a 1940's or 50's education. Betty apparently used the little roaster for pot lucks or family gatherings...and she wanted to be sure no one else ever tried to sneak it home. It's heavier than the Granite Ware that you can buy new today, the sidewalls are thicker and the lid is higher. It's seen a lot of use, a small spot of rust in the bottom has gone clean through...and being of a thrifty nature some one fixed it with a small stainless steel pop-rivet. It's the perfect size for a heavy chicken or a small pot roast, the well fitting lid keeps the steam in and cooks things a wee bit faster than most recipes indicate.

In our relatively short relationship this roaster and I have made many chickens, roasts and turkey breasts...usually with highly successful results. But I'm curious about Betty, did she roast chickens? How big was the family she cooked for? What was her favorite way to make a pot roast? Did she like cooking or was it a chore to be done? I'll never know the answer and Betty will always remain enigmatic, a shadowy figure from the past of this little roast pan.

As for me, I've found many things to enjoy in the kitchen. I have a small arsenal of favorite roast chicken recipes and few that make me cringe. For many lemon is the flavor de jour for roasting birds, but I prefer garlic...and lots of it. To me lemon bakes up bitter, leaving the meat it touches inedible and unappetizing. For all they ways I've tried it, it's never impressed me. Garlic on the other hand...that I can get behind.

Garlic Roasted Chicken

1 Whole Roasting Chicken, trimmed, tied and with gizzard, liver and heart removed
1/2 to 1 head of Garlic, peeled and lightly crushed (8-15 cloves)
1 Apple, stem & stickers removed, cut into quarters
1/2 (White) Onion, cut into quarters
1 or 2 sticks of Cinnamon
1 cup Water
2 Sprigs Rosemary (or your favorite dried poultry herbs*)
3 Sage Leaves (or your favorite dried poultry herbs*)
Olive Oil
Kosher Salt
Fresh Ground Pepper
Lawry's Seasoning Salt

Butcher's String
Metal Tea Ball*

Prep chicken by cleaning, rinsing and patting dry. Preheat oven to 375°F.

In microwave safe bowl place apple, onion, cinnamon sticks and water. Microwave for 5 minutes, stirring half way through. Let cool for 10 minutes. If you are using dried herbs, place the desired amount into the tea ball. Begin spooning apple mixture into chicken cavity, alternating each spoonful with a few cloves of crushed garlic. When cavity is half full place tea ball in side and finish filling with alternating spoon fulls of the apple mixture and garlic. Close the cavity using butcher's string. Tuck legs under skin band or tie.

Brush back of chicken with olive oil, lightly sprinkle with kosher salt (sparingly), pepper and seasoning salt. Tuck wings behind the back and place in roasting pan, brush breast, legs and thighs with olive oil and again sprinkle with seasonings and remaining crushed cloves of garlic. Pour 1/4 to 1/2 cup of the apple liquid in the bottom of the pan, cover with lid and place in oven. Roast for 45 minutes, remove lid, ladle any pan juices over the bird and continue roasting until skin is golden and bird tests at 160°F, approximately 30 to 45 more minutes for a roughly 4 pound bird.

Remove bird from oven and let rest for 15 minutes. Remove to a cutting board or serving platter, carve and serve.

Cook's Notes:

As you can tell, this is more of a technique than a hard and fast recipe...this also demonstrates why I could never write a cookbook.

*I myself never have fresh herbs on hand, never fails. Instead I put the amount of dried herbs I want in the tea ball and put that in the bird. This does cut some time off the roasting time, about 10 minutes.

The amount of garlic is purely subjective, this bird was 4.5 pounds and I used 3/4 of a large head of garlic. I liked it, but Tim thought it was a bit much, next time I would probably use 1/2 of a medium head to account for him. When I filled the cavity I used about 8 cloves and I put 8 more over the skin and in the pan...next time I'd probably use 8-10 total.

When I tie a bird, I thread a chenille sewing needle and lace the bird closed like a tennis shoe, works pretty well.

If you roast the bird uncovered the entire time you may need to add up to 15 minutes to the over all cooking time. For more information on roasting times based on different sized birds, Better Homes and Gardens has a good roasting guide available, it requires a free member registration.

The Crafty Bits: Guest Crafter

2008-05-12T08:58:00.006-06:00

I haven't been too crafty lately, blame it on all the books I've been reading. The scads, stacks and mounds of books I've been sorting, stacking, flipping through, browsing, reading or rereading. And even though I have been picking away at the same cross-stitch project for years, I still don't have it anywhere near done. So in lieu of my own craft goods I bring you a pair of AMAZING knit socks I received from my fellow prairie girl, Mariah. (They were a gift of love and support during that time earlier this year that I promised I wouldn't talk about ever again.) And while I would love to give you some kind of awe inspiring down low on them...I can't, I have some how managed to lose the yarn information...but what I can tell you is that they are:

1) Pretty. Oh, so pretty. Lovely plumy-tan tones with warm yellows.

2) A super soft wool that has been treated with chamomile or some other soothing, calming, glorious thing to make them dreamy and wonderful to wear. I hear the yarn wasn't half bad to work with either.

And while I was told these would make good camping/hiking socks...they are wonderful for keeping toes warm at the ice box that is my office, around the house, or when you're curled up in your new book chair reading. Not that I'd have any experience with that.

Left Sock...there is a right one too, but apparently I got the
jitters when I tried taking a picture of both my feet.

(Also check out that sexy linoleum...god I hate my floors.)

The Home Cook: Pie Crust & Apple Pie

2008-05-06T19:48:00.005-06:00

If you live in the Northern Hemisphere...this is the completely WRONG time of year for this post. Trust me I know, I'm the one who spent Saturday making the pie. The thing is, on Saturday we had drifts of snow measured by the foot, so with that in mind, pie making seemed perfectly reasonable. Well, it seemed reasonable to me.

After digging out the drive-way, fixing the garage door and finally seeing the neighborhood for the first time in 30 hours the idea of a slice of pie seemed divine...if not slightly crazy. So after a jaunt to the store (Because really, what's a blizzard if you have milk, eggs and bread in the house?) I was back at home, madly cooking...well, technically, I guess it would be baking. And frankly, I was glad the hankering for some good ol' pie had struck because it meant that I had a reason to bust out the new pie crust recipe I've been mastering since Christmas. My old stand-by crust recipe was the classic Better Homes and Garden Pie Crust recipe that has been in circulation since...well, possibly since the days of Moses, and it is a good solid recipe. Idiot proof, hearty and simple it is the pie crust recipe of the masses. Thing is, I've always found it a little dense, kind of heavy...not The Best Crust Ever. Good, but not great. Which is why I've been on the look out for a new crust recipe, some thing with a little more flake. Then the Internet bashed me over the head with what I was looking for.

If you read more than two food blogs, you've probably noticed something...there tend to be crazy hot food trends...there was the No Bake Bread Craze or the Dulce de Leche Hullabaloo (just to name a few) but right around Christmas time it seemed like the foodie blogging world caught absolute fire with the Vodka Pie Crust. The promise of flaky crusts floated from blog to blog, little variations and quirks, here, there and everywhere....but I don't know. Vodka, pie crust...it seemed reasonable...baking + evaporation = flaky. The theory seemed to hold water, but the comments, reviews all seemed wildly uneven...some loved it, some hated it. What was a girl to do. Then I found this, a Vinegar pie crust, and that's when the memory beat me over the head. My almost-grandma made a pie crust like this and it was GREAT. I was sold, and I've never looked back. I love this crust. It's a flake factory, it's delicious and quite possibly perfect.

Pie Crust
From Thepioneerwoman.com...see her tutorial, for an awesome pie crust 'How To'

3 cups Flour
1 teaspoon Salt
1 1/2 cups Shortening
1 Egg, lightly beaten
5 Tablespoons Cold Water
1 Tablespoon White Vinegar

Blend together flour and salt. Cut in Shortening using a pastry blender or two knives. Add in remaining ingredients and mix until just blended and dough begins to loosely form a ball. Separate into thirds, seal into plastic bags and lightly flatten into disks. Freeze for future use or set in freezer for 20 minutes if you want to use it right then and there.

After 20 minutes in the freezer, lightly flour surface, pull dough from bag and roll out for a single pie crust. Follow recipe instructions for blind baking or for pie.

Cook's Notes:

This is a bit of a sticky dough, so work fast from the freezer and make sure to have your work surface and your rolling pin floured. You also might want to flip the dough over half way through rolling it out and re-flour the bottom...just sayin'.

For that elusive buttery crust...I use butter flavored shortening. Yup, I'm going to hell and I don't care.

As for the apple pie... the filling from the The Old Fashioned Apple Pie recipe from Simply recipes cannot be beat. Seriously. Very good....though I haven't tried the crust portion of the recipe...yet.

Old Fashioned Apple Pie - Filling
From Simply Recipes

2/3 cup Sugar
3 Tablespoons Flour
1/4 teaspoon Allspice
1/8 teaspoon Nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon Cinnamon
3 pounds of Apples, peeled, cored and sliced in 1/8"-1/4" slices
1 1/2 teaspoons Brandy
1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract

Egg Wash
1 Egg Yolk
1 Tablespoon Cream

Mix ingredients, and place in a crust lined deep dish pie pan slightly heaped in the center. Cover with top crust, roll or pinch edges. Brush top with egg wash and cut slits in the top crust.

Bake in the third rack position at 375 for 20 minutes, reduce heat to 350 and bake an additional 30-45 minutes depending on apple type or until filling is bubbly and crust is golden. If pie edges brown too quickly, wrap with foil of cover with a pie protector. Remove from oven and let stand for 1 hour. Serve warm with ice cream.

Cook's Notes:

There are a million types of apple in the world, I like a blend of Braeburn's and Granny Smith's when I make pie.

Feel Good Find

2008-05-01T21:51:00.004-06:00

It's not too often I fall in love with a commercial, but I LOVE the new Discovery Channel promo ads. But ya' know what...the world is awesome and I'm glad to be reminded of that even if it is by an advertisement.

The Long Ad

30 Second Ad

The Home Cook: Caramel De-lites

2008-04-30T21:17:00.009-06:00

Yes.

Caramel De-lites. Samoas. Those Girl Scout Cookies with the caramel and the coconut and the chocolate, the one with the cookie center. Yeah, those.

For those of you not "in the know", these are the best of the best when concerning Girl Scout Cookies. For the rest of you...well, you have a little something on your chin. I think it's drool. The sole problem with these cookies are that they are only available once a year. That's it. One annual chance at cookie perfection. This is heart breaking, devastating, havoc wreaking torment. BUT, I come bearing a gift, a find, a treasure beyond measure, whatever you want to call it...

The recipe.

The way I see it, since the Girl Scouts can't set up a weekly delivery 52 weeks a year, then by all that is holy I think we should be able to recreate them at will. And since I am no recipe maker, I've left it to the professionals. Baking Bites is one of my all time favorite sites because, well, it's 98% about baking. Hooray! And also because the recipes are often originals or clever adaptations/better versions of existing recipes, the pictures are lovely and the writing is clear and concise.

The only thing is...this recipe kicked my ass. Not because of a problem with the recipe...this one is 100% user error, because apparently, this week? I can't read. Thus the distinct lack of pictures or any thing else, but from my error filled ways I bring you my gained knowledge. Go forth, bake Samoas/Caramel De-lites/Whatever you call them and enjoy...unless you know a Girl Scout...then go buy a case or twelve.

Cook's Notes:

Read the Directions. They help. A lot.

I couldn't quite master the whole rolling out between two layers of waxed paper thing, now this may have been because I added too much milk, regardless I rolled them in a tube like refrigerator cookies, chilled for 2 hours and sliced them. This was MUCH easier.

Use Parchment. USE PARCHMENT. I cannot say it enough, do NOT skip the parchment.

The cookies can be brittle, and again this may have been because of the "too much milk" issue, but they 'frosted' much better when I left them flat on the parchment. Picking up to 'frost' = broken cookies.

Pixelated F-Stops: Springish Roses

2008-04-26T15:58:00.001-06:00

The thing about living in a northern climate is that you get four nice and distinct seasons. This is in direct contrast to places like Southern California, which I hear tell, gives you a wide variety of choice between the more temperate seasons such as late spring or mid-summer. With four seasons you've always got something to look forward to. Be it the freshness of spring, the heat and sun of summer, the crispness of fall or the cool chill of winter, there is always something different a few months away.

With winter winding its way into to spring, it's that time of year before the green starts creeping in and the new signs of life start cropping up. It's brown, it's dull and it's still very much undecided if each day will bring you sun, rain, snow or all three. To cheer up the house I took the luxury of buying some vibrant springish roses and they did such a nice job of making me smile I thought I'd share them with you too.

Scribbles in the Margin: Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See

2008-04-23T08:41:00.004-06:00

We've all had one, a teacher that is impossible to please. Hours of extra study, extra work and extra heartache...merely to squeak by with a B when any other teacher would have easily give you that A. For me it was a 10th grade speech teacher, a man more suited to the rigors of University Professorship than the mayhem of the high school classroom. He was fair, yes...but his expectations seemed to be far beyond those of the rest of the teachers in his department. On any given list of teachers to be dreaded he was always very near the top, a dubious honor often split with the 12th grade Physics teacher. But the thing about these impossible teachers is that...1) If you work hard, they usually aren't THAT impossible and 2) They usually are they way they are because they want each student to stretch themselves beyond what is easy. These teachers want to work with best of each student's potential and not the superfluous underachiever in all of us.

As of late when I read a book off a "Best Sellers List" or a Celebrity Book Club suggestion, I feel like these teachers must have. I see the potential of each book, I have high expectations and some possibly overly stringent requirements and if the author works it right and makes the most of their work I'm more than happy to approve...but I'm often left with the "what if they had..." sense of disappointment that I'm sure many of those impossible teachers often felt. If only they had developed this more, if only they looked deeper into this relationship....if only, if only, if only. And such is the case with Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See.

I always hate being negative about a book, reading at any level is always a worthy pursuit and I especially hate being negative about a book that is obviously, overwhelmingly popular. It's like hating the homecoming queen. The thing is that, Snow Flower..., like so many other best sellers isn't the best thing I've read and maybe it's just a case of two conflicting personalities, but the fact of the matter is...while it was a good-ish book, it could have been a very good or great book and the inability to make that jump (in my mind at least) left me cold and frustrated.

The story outlines the lives of two women Lily and Snow Flower in early to mid 1800's China. Told through the eyes of the now elderly Lily, the story follows her unfolding relationship with her laotong or "old same"...Snow Flower, a girl in a neighboring village selected to befriend Lily to death. Moving through the painful years of foot-binding, to their marriages and beyond, author Lisa See attempts to sketch the complex relationship of these two women as dictated by their personalities, social codes and family backgrounds. As far as historically set novels go, it's not bad. The descriptive style of the writing is nice and light, it briefly touches on the historical events effecting the characters and it outlines the culture of this region of China quite well. What was lacking was the passion needed to carry off the plot. Described as suspenseful, poignant, vivid and heartbreaking I found it rather predictable and flat. Instead of exploring a range of emotion one would expect, the story rarely lifts (or drops) beyond a moderated center line. While events described are indeed in turns uplifting or heartbreaking, you never actually feel those emotions through Lily. She as a character experiences little growth and through her elderly eyes you feel neither the true love, loss, regret or the gained wisdom one would expect from an elderly narrator. While See does a good job capturing the daily lives of Lily and Snow Flower, she fails to capture the depth of the relationship she implies. And that's the rub, with a bit more effort the rather average plot could have been completely negated by a stronger more passionate narrative voice from Lily. Leaving the overbearing professor in me frustrated with another book that didn't live up to it's potential.

Grade: B-

Good light read for the bus, car or beach but lacking in its implied climax and a passionate narrative voice.

Doing a Little Good

2008-04-18T11:19:00.003-06:00

I've been meaning to mention this for a while, but I just keep forgetting. Now I've remembered and I'm gong to post it before it gets lost in the mire of my brain...again.

Please look to the right --------------------------->

You'll see a new banner, this is for the site freerice.com. You maybe wondering what exactly this is... Spam? A sales pitch? Free rice shipped to your home? No, it's a site that works in conjunction with the United Nations a small way to help end hunger. It's pretty simple really, play a vocabulary game and for every word you get right 20 grains of rice are given to a hungry person...the more you play (and the more words you define correctly) the more rice goes to people in need. Pretty great idea.

The words are given to you based on your vocabulary level, which is established by the first few words you define/associate, you are then given some words you'll most likely know, some that will stretch your brain and some that would make a lexicographer cry with the torment of it all. It's fun, addictive, educational and best of all is a small easy way to help some one in need.

Lots of people know about this site, lots play it regularly...in fact, in Internet time, this is prehistorically old news...but maybe someone out there hasn't seen it or played or become hopelessly addicted to the triviality of keeping their score above 39 or 40 and to that person....here ya go. Go forth, vocabularize yourself and do become hopelessly addicted...it's for a good cause

Rejuvination

2008-04-14T22:11:00.004-06:00

I may have mentioned that I spent a significant part of this winter studying for a professional certification exam. It possibly came up in conversation...everyday...for three or four months. So I here by promise you this is the last time I mention it because everyone hates a bore and I have been nothing but for quite some time. BUT the thing about putting everything aside and focusing on a single objective so sole mindedly is that...well, you put everything aside. That little pile of things "I'll do later" turns into a Mt. Everest of overwhelming odd n' ends, bits n' pieces and alarmingly long "To Do" lists.

My house has been a disaster for far to long, we've eat out far too often and I've been forced to shelved deeply desired projects in favor of time management for the little everyday stuff. NO MORE!! This past weekend, I got to put a giant check mark next to a big project I've been dreaming about since before we closed on the house almost one year ago. My bathroom is now 90% done. I still need to go back and do some touch-ups and finish painting the trim (which you'll note I cleverly avoided photographing) but for the most part this portion of my house is complete...well, until I tile the floor.

When we moved in, this bathroom was white, with oak trim, oak cabinets, oak towel bars etc, white W*mart wall shelves and a mirror with etched cherubs...ETCHED CHERUBS PEOPLE.

I've since painted the cabinets, replaced all the accessories with oiled rubbed bronze ones and got rid of that god forsaken mirror. Actually the mirror was the very first thing to go...fast and far, far away. I hated that mirror.

This picture probably has the best color representation. The back wall and shower alcove are "Baked Bean"...a brick red and the rest of the bath is "Taupe Trivia"...it's like a really tanned Barbie with a sunburn and really isn't very Taupe at all. I like this picture the best, I think I really captures how the bathroom feels when your in it.

Hello new vanity light...good bye old 6 bulb oak atrocity.

Hopefully this will help motivate me and define the direction that the house projects will have over the next couple of years. (Spoken like a true Interior Designer, wouldn't you say?) I have a few more tricks up my sleeve in the next few months...one of which involves a Sunday purchase of $195 worth of throw pillows (I'll be sharing that a little later on), a plan for my office, the kitchen and and a little cabinet that is currently in several pieces in our garage.

Jack of All Trades

2008-04-14T12:45:00.001-06:00

"Versatility is one of your outstanding traits."

Two restaurants, two fortune cookies and one fortune. Point taken.

The Home Cook: Oatmeal Cookies

2008-04-10T21:26:00.003-06:00

Who here loves crumbles, crunches and brown betties? Who here loves the crumbles and crunches because of the luscious oatmeal topping? Who here secretly picks that divine topping off the crunches and crumbles hot out of the oven, knowing you'll scorch your fingers and tongues, but does it anyway because that hot buttery, sweet crunchiness is just that good?

Just my mom and I? Oh...well then, never mind.

Well don't go away just yet. See if you are a secret - or not so secret - topping picker (and I suspect there are more of you out there than are owning up to it) then you must go to your kitchen TODAY and make these cookies. Do not delay. Go get the butter, oatmeal, cinnamon out right now because these cookies are going to change your life. Well, perhaps that's a bit drastic...but your life will definitely be better once you have made these cookies, because these cookies...they are that buttery, sweet, cinnamony crumb topping. In a handy to eat form...no crunch or crumble assembly necessary.

If the promise of always chewy, spiced cookies isn't quite enough for you, they can also be drizzled in chocolate. I dare you to find anything wrong with them now.

(Drizzled) Oatmeal Cookies
Land o' Lakes Best of the Best Recipe Collection

1 cup Butter, softened
1 cup Brown Sugar, firmly packed
1/4 cup cold Water
2 1/2 cups uncooked Old Fashioned Oats
1 1/4 cups Flour
1 teaspoon Ground Cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon Baking Soda
1/4 teaspoon Salt

Preheat oven to 350. Combine 1 cup butter and brown sugar in a large bowl. Beat at medium speed until creamy. Add water; continue beating until well mixed. Reduce speed to low; add oats, flour, cinnamon, baking soda & salt. Beat until well mixed

Shape dough in to 1 1/2" balls. (Dough will be sticky.) Place 2" apart onto an ungreased cookie sheets. Flatten into 2" diameter with the bottom of a glass dipped in sugar. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes or until lightly browned on the edges. Remove from oven and let stand on cookie sheet for 1 minute, remove to wire rack and cool completely.

Drizzle

1 cup Powdered Sugar
3 Tablespoons Unsweetened Cocoa
1 teaspoon butter, softened
2 to 3 Tablespoons Milk

Combine all drizzle ingredients except milk in small bowl. Beat at low speed, gradually adding milk for desired drizzling consistency. Drizzle of cooled cookies.

The Cook's Notes:

- I don't do the drizzle, really these cookies just don't need it...but, it definitely isn't detrimental in anyway either.

- I line my cookies sheets with parchment for these...I find that the little buggers just don't like to part with my aluminum pans on their own.

Tid-Bits & A Return

2008-04-08T11:41:00.003-06:00

Today's Internet Find:

As far as an interesting look into American History goes, this collection of 1950's Mike Wallace Interviews is probably at the top. It's quite a cross section of American (then) current culture from Frank Lloyd Wright (Architect) to Eldon Edwards (Klan Leader) to Henry Kissinger (pre-Secretary of State, Nixon/Ford).

Collected from ABC and made available from University of Texas at Austin's Harry Ransom Center's website.

****

In other news, I have finally taken my Professional Certification Exam. FINALLY. OH MY GOODNESS, YES...FINALLY DONE. I have a list a mile long of things I want to do, photograph, share, etc. Hopefully I'll be back semi-regularly for a while.

The Home Cook: White Rum Frosting

2008-02-18T06:01:00.007-07:00

As January has passed well into February, I'm finding that time has been steadily flowing by me at an alarming rate. I get up, go to work, come home, make supper, clean up and then hit the books before retiring to bed. Repeat, repeat, repeat until you don't know where the last month and half have gone! The only variation are the weekends when I skip the going to work part in favor of more studying and maybe the occassional trip to the grocery store for pesky things like food. There are also the odd evenings here and there where I do things like clean my house in favor of study guides and notepads, but for the most part there has been little variation to our lives since Christmas. It's hasn't been all bad...in a way the constant quiet that's settled over our house in part because I can't watch TV and study and in part because there has been nothing on TV has been quite lovely. Tim's new laptop has also gotten it's use, allowing us to at least be in the same space while we each do our own thing. And by our own thing I mean on-line gaming and studying.

This week was a bit of an exception. Just in case you weren't aware Thursday was St. Valentine's Day (also known as Singles Awareness Day in some circles.). And while I'm not sure how a Roman Catholic Feast Day honoring martyred Saints became a day for lovers, the tradition still stands. February 14th is a day for flowers, candies, cards, elaborate dinners and tokens of affection between sweethearts. It's also a darn good reason to bake stuff. In this case "stuff" is a box each of dark chocolate and french vanilla cupcakes. But in this case, it's not the cupcake that's impressive. In this case, it's all about the frosting. And I do mean ALL ABOUT THE FROSTING. This isn't just any white frosting...this is rum frosting. And it is good. However in all fairness, I must warn you that despite it's finger-licking deliciousness there is one danger (one that does not involve a spoon and a vat of icing)...it's that there are raw egg-whites in it. And while this is a most delicious frosting...it probably shouldn't be fed to small children, elderly or immuno-challenged people. I will say that I have made and eaten this stuff many times and no one has gotten ill, but recognize that this is probably something that should be used sparingly and with caution. In my humble opinion, this frosting is well worth the risk.

White Rum Frosting

3 1/2 Cups Powdered Sugar, divided
1/2 cup Shortening
2 Egg Whites
1/2 teaspoon Salt
1 teaspoon clear Rum or Rum Flavoring
1 teaspoon Vanilla

Beat shortening till fluffy then beat in 1 3/4 cups powdered sugar. Add egg whites, salt, rum & vanilla and mix until smooth. Beat in remaining powdered sugar 1/2 cup at a time until frosting is a spreading consistency. Frost's 18-24 cupcakes, one sheet cake or a two layer cake.

A Viewer Like Me

2008-01-17T11:53:00.000-07:00

I'm not a huge fan of TV, there are a few "must" see shows, but as the writers are on strike (with nary a resolution in sight) even those have been deleted from the DVR. I implicitly hate any shows that have video clips, cops, confessional cams, "reality" competition or viewer voting. We just don't watch them. Sorry, game over, thanks for playing, try again when you have some real content. The truth is that between Tim and I there is a grand total of five programs that we watch with any regularity the rest of the time it's the stereo, the DIY channel or Law & Order (SVU only please) droning on in the background.

Last weekend though, I suddenly became reacquainted with an old television friend. Masterpiece Theater, in case you haven't heard, is doing a collective viewing of all of Jane Austen's works. Sunday kicked off the spring season with Persuasion and will wrap up with Sense & Sensibility, along the way they'll show Northanger Abbey, Mansfield Park, Pride & Prejudice, Emma and Miss Austen Regrets (an original script about Jane Austen's later life). PBS is back in my life. For the record I did not grow up on cable TV, we had 13 channels until I was in late middle school, my grandparents to this day only have 6...two of which are different PBS stations. I've watched more than my share of Public Broadcasting. Nova on Sunday mornings, Mystery! on Saturday afternoons and Masterpiece Theater on Sunday nights have been old, but forgotten friends. Ones I'm looking forward to getting reacquainted with, I could use some quality television programming in my life. Besides, who can resist handsome men in breeches and waistcoats?