Knitty McPurlypants

Elephant Grass

2010-11-20T17:59:00.003-05:00

Hey look! Another blog post-told you I'd be back!!

Big Basket!

Today was my official launching of the holiday season with my annual trek to the Showcase of Arts and Crafts. I usually end up with a bunch of soup, dip and/or jams (I'm a sucker for all the samples). Today I showed remarkable restraint! My favorite purchases were the 2 elephant grass baskets! I'd been wanting baskets like these for quite awhile and was surprised to see them at the show! I bought a big one (for yarn and W.I.P.'s) and a small one (for this and that) at school.

Little Basket

I also bought the best pot scrubbers ever! They are crocheted with netting and can be found really cheap! I usually stock up every November.

Foodwise I bought some kettle corn and a jar of peach preserves!

The peach preserves taste great over cream cheese with crackers-Yum!!

Although there didn't seem to be quite as many vendors it was still so much fun and my favorite way to start Thanksgiving vacation!

Twinkle Lights

2010-11-14T10:43:00.004-05:00

Tap Tap Tap..anyone still here?

I can't believe it's been a year since I last posted. Although I've hopped on the FB train, there are still some things that are more suitable for a blog and I missed blogging!

Lots to catch up on, but for today I will showcase my latest yarn purchase via Etsy:

Twinkle Lights Sock Yarn from Play at Life Fiber Arts

I fell in love the moment I saw it! One of my favorite things this time of year are all the lights! I just need to decide what to make-fingerless mitts or socks? I'm going to knit a swatch and hopefully decide from there.

I've started a blog topic list so I know I've got some entries ready to go! Stay tuned!

Six Questions, Four Answers

2009-11-11T19:10:00.002-05:00

I'm exhausted so I'll post my answers to an email that's been floating around my family and call it an entry.

1. Four places that I go to over and over:
Work, Grocery store, Internet, Crazy-LOL

2. Four people who e-mail me (regularly):
Mom, Bonnie, Knitting Group, SPAM,

3. Four favorite smells:
Coffee, Fresh cut grass, Lilacs, Clean sheets

4. Four places I would rather be right now:
On a beach, In front of a fireplace with snow falling outside, Traveling in Europe, Snuggled with my hubby

5. Four people I think will respond:
nobody responds, but I bet they read it!

6. Four current TV shows I watch:
The Office, Project Runway, Top chef, Gilmore Girls reruns

Dueling Cups

2009-11-10T19:28:00.004-05:00

My caffeine fix gets addressed in a variety of ways, sometimes I make my coffee at home, sometimes I'll splurge and go to Starbucks, and sometimes I'll stop at McDonald's. This morning was a McDonalds coffee morning and I had to giggle when I received my coffee in one of their snazzy holiday cups.
Evidentally Starbucks isn't the only one coming out with seasonal red cups.

Have they always had their own red-holiday cups? Now I can get my festive cup at 2 places! Maybe I should buy a red mug to stay with the theme for my coffee at home! Pretty soon McD's will come out with seasonal drinks too! I guess imitation is the best form of flattery.

Knitting Content!

2009-11-09T18:49:00.004-05:00

I figured since this is supposed to be a knitting blog, I'd better post some knitting content. I'm currently working on a second Sister Scarf using Alp Premier Novelty yarn. I made one for my younger sister and gave it to her last year and when my older sister saw it declared repeatedly she wanted one too. I'm slowly but surely finishing a second scarf. Luckily she doesn't know I'm making it for her so time isn't much of an issue although I'm ready to be done with it.

I also recently received the latest yarn club shipment from Scout's Swag and love it! It's called Mums Lite and I think it might want to become some Nutkin socks.

Finally, I've been going through a gray phase and couldn't resist buying some Frosted Ice wool from Giffordables. I really need to get back to spindling one of these days!

Return of my Scarf!

2009-11-08T17:24:00.003-05:00

Last year (end of September 2008), I decided to join in on a Traveling Scarf project on Ravelry. The basics were to start a scarf in a fiber of your choice and pass it around a "circle" with each person in the group adding 3 - 4 inches in a yarn/stitch of their choice until it comes back to you (in about 5-6 months). Our group had 14 teachers in it from all over the country with a two week "turn around" time frame.

This was my starter section:

About 13 months (and some group drama) later my scarf finally made its way home to me.
I love it! And to know it was worked on by fellow knitters who teach makes it even better!

A closer look at the different sections:

Shopping Green

2009-11-07T19:35:00.002-05:00

Today I decided to check out a new grocery store, Green Fields Market. DH and I watched King Corn a few days ago and I have to admit that several of the messages the movie made still haunt me. I was determined to look for/buy grass-fed beef and sodas not sweetened with high fructose corn syrup at least for 1 week.

Pros:

Clean/Open set up
Small (great for folks who don't want to navigate through 40 aisles to buy milk)
Friendly, Knowledgeable staff-Great service!!
Great bin collection (coffee, grains, candy, etc)
Great collection of organic, Texas/USA products
Environmentally friendly from the lighting to the lack of plastic bags; there is a definite effort to be as Green as possible.

Cons:

Location (its a bit far for me to make part of my normal routine; I'd go back if I were in the area though)
Small (not much of a selection compared to the stores I normally shop, although I was able to take care of my grocery shopping for the week).
I spent a bit more than I normally would for groceries for the week (It was worth it to check it out and support them, but not on a regular basis-which is my reality)
As much as I loved seeing the huge barrels of coffee beans, is it good for them to be so exposed to the light, air and other peoples hands?

I wish:

Bigger bakery area-more items
More ready to eat/heat type items (deli-type area: sandwiches, salads, soups, entrees)
Coffee/Beverage bar-I was really thirsty and would have bought something to drink

It was a positive experience but not one with my current lifestyle I'd make as my Go To grocery store. DH and I will definitely enjoy our grass-fed beef (including an Akaushi beef steak), organic fruits and veggies along with our sodas sans high fructose corn syrup. I will go back and spend more time checking out all the goodies in their bins though-perhaps over Thanksgiving or Christmas vacation!

BBQ Master-Blech!

2009-11-06T19:56:00.003-05:00

This is the fabric of the most detested piece of clothing in my husband's wardrobe. They are flannel "comfy" pants that tend to make their appearance with the onset of cooler weather. He states how comfortable they are but, they just annoy they heck out of me. Maybe it's the "colorful" hamburgers and hotdogs all over his legs/butt. I'm always tempted to have them meet an unfortunate incident doing laundry but just haven't had the nerve yet.

He knew I was going to write about them and in the interest of fair and balanced blogging. He dislikes some white cotton shirts I have. LOL

They're BACK!

2009-11-05T18:53:00.004-05:00

The red cups are here! The red cups are here! One of my favorite beginnings of the holiday season is the release of the Starbucks red cups-along with their seasonal drinks! Eggnog Latte, Peppermint Mocha, Gingerbread latte and a new drink to be released in a few weeks-so festive! I went for a non-fat Gingerbread latte this morning and as yummy as it was, one a season is enough for me! I'll definitely try the Peppermint Mocha, but will probably pass on the Eggnog latte. I can hardly wait to find out their new drink although it will be hard to top last year's Salted Caramel Hot Chocolate (no longer available).

FOAMy Wednesdays

2009-11-04T19:25:00.004-05:00

I figured if I'm going to do this writing a post everyday in November, I needed to have a few built-in topics. Enter FOAMy Wednesdays which were inspired from this blog.

Food: My latest favorite salad: Broccoli slaw with rice vinegar. Had it tonight with a baked potato and some oven fried chicken.

Outside: Purple plants on our deck.

Abstract: Fabric from one of my notions bags.

Me: My Minx nails that have lasted since August 29th!

Summoned

2009-11-03T18:47:00.003-05:00

Today I reported for my 3rd stint of jury duty, all in Texas. Part of me doesn't mind jury duty since it does give me a break from work, but the other part gets annoyed with all the waiting.
Today there was a lot of waiting.
It all began ok, I drove down early to ensure the getting of a parking spot in the cheapest garage.

Things moved along fairly quickly. I knew ahead of time no knitting needles and confirmed once I got there that they didn't even allow bamboo or plastic. Forgot to ask about crochet hooks.

I had thought I brought enough reading material between the magazine, new cookbook, kindle book and audio book, plus being able to access email, Facebook, internet, etc. on my iphone. What I forgot to do was take my phone charger so it didn't take long before I was getting the low battery light of doom on the phone which held all these apps.

This made for a long...long...afternoon.

I never did get called to even get put on a panel so at 2:45 p.m. was released for the day and don't have to serve for another 3 years.

The highpoint of the day was running into a former teaching colleague I hadn't seen in over 6 years. We were able to get caught up early on, but she was one of the first ones picked for a panel. I also enjoyed seeing all the different books people brought and the range of colorful characters comprising the jury pool. Too bad I couldn't get more pics!

My view for most of the day.

Snuggie FAIL

2009-11-02T19:06:00.004-05:00

Well, it looks like I'm going to go ahead and try to do NaBloPoMo..Here we go for Day 2:

After the laughing and eye rolling I did with the original Snuggie, I can't believe I got sucked in and bought one for my dog. It was $9.95 at the local H.E.B. and figured it was worth it so I wouldn't have to knit her another sweater. According to the box, by weight I should have bought a Large..which I did. That was too big.

I exchanged it for a medium.
A much better fit, but based on the growling, barking and the trying to take it away from me when I pull it out, she's not much of a fan.

Falling Back

2009-11-01T15:04:00.005-05:00

Not much candy left!

Helloooooo November!
Last night was Halloween and I am the official Passer Out Of Candy in the house. I'd say we had an average amount of Trick or Treaters, not as many as last year when I had to resort to handing out my granola bars but busier than some years. I also noticed far fewer store-bought costumes with official trick or treat themed buckets and more homemade/minimalist costumes with plastic grocery sacks for candy. With the economy the way it is, seems like the smart way to go!

Last night was also time to Fall Back. I still got up at my normal time and went grocery shopping (loved the empty store) and chose to spend the extra hour snuggled with Sophie under my favorite quilt listening to the audio version of The Help once I got back.

I did fall off the crockpot cooking wagon. I was trying to cook in the crockpot every weekend during football season, but last weekend both DH and I were still suffering from the after effects of the cold/flu, this weekend it just didn't sound good to either of us. Hopefully next weekend will put us back on track.

A Knitter's Foxtrot

2009-10-20T19:29:00.004-04:00

I've decided that I like the assortment of my active W.I.P's to resemble the beats in a Foxtrot, slow slow quick quick...slow slow quick quick...
In other words...2 slow projects, 2 fast projects.

My 2 Slow projects: Another Clapotis and the Every Way Wrap

My recently finished Quick projects:

Starry Starry Night Artyarn Scarf

Pattern: Drop Stitch Scarf
Cast on: 13 sts
Yarn: Cool Climates Starry Night

Waterbottle sock
Pattern: Bottle Sock
Yarn: Pink Purple Tie Dyed Cotton Yarn from GoodnessGraciousWV

My latest Crockpot Sunday Concoction:

Pulled Pork!

Recipe: Pulled Pork

Notes:

WONDERFUL!!!!
Seasoned 4# Boston Butt roast with salt/pepper/onion powder/garlic powder/cumin
Added 1 c. ginger ale and 2 onions-sliced
Took about 10 hours to cook on low
Strained liquid AND onions...shred meat...added 1 bottle of BBQ sauce
Cooked about 1 more hour-that's all that was needed!
Easy-Cheap-Delicious!

An Apple a Day....

2009-10-11T18:30:00.004-04:00

I love Fall with it's colors and flavors. Last week it was all about the pumpkin. This week, apples!

My recipe of the week for Crockpot Sunday:

Crockpot Breakfast Risotto

I pretty much followed this recipe (actually the original one shown in the picture on the blog)
except ...

I halved the recipe and cooked in my 2 1/2 qt. crockpot
Used 1 c. apple juice and 1c. evaporated milk for the liquid.
Served on a bed of sliced bananas and topped with dried cranberries and a few almonds. I also sprinkled some more brown sugar and cinnamon on top.

Notes:

It cooked about 6 hours on low. I was crazy and got up about 3:00 to get this going. It was worth it! Very good and filling! A perfect breakfast for a cool/rainy Fall morning. I plan on reheating left overs for breakfast this week!

MUST use arborio rice-do not sub anything else!

In keeping with my theme of the day, added these apple-themed lovelies to my stash not too long ago:

Twiggy Knits Caramel/Candy Apple Superwash sock yarn

Fiber Fancy's batts, one in Candy Apple and the other Carmel Apple. I started spindling this past summer. Still need lots of practice!

And for dessert.....

Apple Dumplings

Oh My! What can I say?! Bliss Bliss Bliss!

I again halved the recipe. Cooked in an 8X8 pan
Doubled the amount of apples.
Cut the butter/sugar/Mt.Dew by a third.
This was A M A Z I N G! I'm anxious to share with friends and family so I won't end up eating the whole pan!

Catching up!

2009-10-03T18:27:00.003-04:00

Time for a Crockpot Sunday Update!

Last Sunday DH made his version of chili in the crockpot. Even though it was a bit warm for chili that day, we both knew it would be good for leftovers (freezer) plus it can be used in so many dishes! He went for the bowl of chili with saltine crackers route, I went for chili dogs...Yum!

I'm not going to post the recipe since everyone has their version and knows what they like. DH makes a beanless chili using diced stew meat and coarse ground chili meat along with this package mix.

DH stated earlier in the week he was ready for a break from a crockpot weekend so I decided to make something more for my tastes. Inspired by it being October and the promise of a cool rainy Saturday decided to go with a pumpkin soup. I pretty much followed this recipe for Pumpkin Sausage Soup.

My changes:

I peeled/cubed a 3# pumpkin, tossed it in the crockpot on high for an hour with about 1 tablespoon of butter (coating the pumpkin pieces once the butter melted).
I browned the spicy sausage and then onion/garlic and added it to the crockpot along with the chicken stock and Italian spices.
Skipped the mushrooms.
Cooked the above on high for about an hour, then switched it to low.
Smashed the pumpkin pieces when they were soft enough. About 4 hours from the start.
I did not add any water/cream to the crockpot since I wanted to freeze the majority of it.
I did top a bowl with a dollop of sour cream along with a dash or two of hot sauce and some roasted pumpkin seeds with Italian seasoning.

I was surprised at how much I liked it and can hardly wait to pull it out of the freezer for a lunch on our rare cold days. Even DH thought it tasted pretty good! Not sure I liked wrestling with the pumpkin and might take the easy way out next time!

In other news....
I bought more art yarn. I love this stuff!

Starry Starry Night

2009-09-23T20:03:00.003-04:00

I do love structure...routine..lists...order..
My carefree days of summer vacation were balanced well with knitting projects comprised of highlighted charts or involved patterns.
Throw in the newly routined, highly-structured days at the beginning of the school year, and even my brain needed a break.
Enter Art Yarn.
I have to say in the past I would often "not get" art yarn and its randomness made my head hurt. Since the start of the school year, I had absolutely no desire to sit and fiddle with a pattern and knew I was ready for knitting to be "fun" again, rather than a mental challenge.
I stumbled on some art yarn through Ravelry/Etsy inspired by Van Gogh's Starry Starry Night and I was hooked! I had to have some!

There's not a whole lot of it (120 yds) but enough to make a decent scarf. I'm just trying to find the right stitch that will require minimal thought and show off the beauty/funkiness of the yarn. I tried St st and even with knitting the first 2 and last 2 sts in each row, still curled. Any other suggestions?

Crockpot Sunday Update:

NFL Week 2 had me making some beef stroganoff in the crockpot.
Source: Fix it and Forget It Lightly

Beef Stroganoff
(mine wasn't the "light" version since I just used the full fat versions of soup/sour cream)

1 1/2 lbs. lean beef stewing meat, trimmed of fat
1 onion, chopped
1 clove garlic minced
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. black pepper
1 lb. fresh mushrooms
10 3/4-oz can 98% Fat Free cream of mushroom soup (I used regular)
1 cup water
1 cup Fat Free sour cream (I used regular)

1. I floured and then seared the pieces of beef, then deglazed the pan with some white wine and combined with the rest of ingredients(except sour cream) in a 4 quart crockpot. You could skip the sear of the meat and just combine all ingredients (except sour cream) and add to crock pot.
2. Cook on low 6-8 hours.
3. Stir in sour cream.
4. Cook on high for a few minutes to heat sour cream.
5. Serve over egg noodles along with some crusty bread to mop up the sauce.

Serves 4-6

My notes:

I know my version was not so "light" (I just used what I had on-hand) but was very good!
I added more garlic than it called for and next time would use about half as much mushrooms and a little more beef. But add/reduce to your personal tastes!
It was delicious and reheated 2 days later quite well!

Crockpot Sunday

2009-09-14T19:23:00.003-04:00

I love themes....So when I first read about this idea on Ravelry I knew I wanted to participate too. For the non-Rav folks, basically someone came up with an NFL Slow Cooker Schedule, the author is due in December and thought it would help her be organized to plan to cook in her crockpot every weekend during the NFL schedule. I'm doing the same, but am calling it Crock Pot Sunday.

I loved having the soups to eat from during the week when I did the Souper Saturday last year. I just hated all the prep work and let's face it, it's hard to get excited about soups in July. Crockpot Sunday will last throughout the duration of the NFL season and probably into the playoffs as well; perfect weather for that type of food/cooking.

My first offering came from a teacher at school:

Crockpot Roast

1 chuck roast (biggest one you can find)
1 pkg au jus (McCormick)
2 pkg dry Italian salad dressing
2 cups water

Note: I did dredge the roast in flour and seared on all sides before adding to the crockpot. Just mix this all up in the crockpot and add roast. Cook all day in crock pot on LOW. (8 hrs is great, then you could keep it on "warm" if you have that setting). I know it's tempting to add veggies and/or wine but just try this plain jane version, I promise you won't be disappointed!

I served this with mashed potatoes, but would be great with rice or baked potatoes. It was amazing!! The house smelled heavenly and the left overs were wonderful! I'd love to hear what your favorite slow cooker/crock pot recipes are!

I've been so busy with school not a whole lot of knitting has been happening, but I did make a trip to the Tinsmith's Wife last weekend and picked up some Three Irish Girls sock yarn (Clare) and some Malabrigo sock yarn (Impressionist Sky). I don't PLAN on buying anymore yarn until Kid 'n Ewe but I can't make any promises!!

A Sighing Pot

2009-09-05T10:13:00.004-04:00

This morning while getting Sophie's food together I swear I heard my coffee pot sigh longingly...I then realized it had been weeks-WEEKS since I had last taken the time to make a pot. I've had my caffeine fix thanks to Mickey D's, Starbucks, Red Bull and diet soda along the way. Realizing there was no reason not to make some, I went ahead and brewed my first pot of coffee in ages and the smell was heavenly! Since I now have a mug-o-java to sip, figured I'd update here as well.

Life has been hectic these past few weeks with the start of school and all that goes in to it. I have to say that other that a student (not mine) up in a tree outside my window (that class period was shot) and another student urinating outside the portable next door, this year has gotten off to a fantastic start! Life is never dull in middle school!

New-to-Me things:
I found a new lunch option. Actually DH saw it in the newspaper and pointed it out to me.
An apple sandwich!

Cut 2 half-inch slices of apple (core out the middle)-I chop up the rest of the apple to eat along with it. You can squeeze some lemon juice on the slices to keep from turning brown.
Spread some peanut butter or almond butter on the bottom slice.
Then sprinkle with some granola and chocolate chips. Top with the other slice, pressing down gently to make the sandwich.
This is my new favorite lunch along with a yogurt!

Another new-to-me thing is the use of different colored highlighters to keep track of the different cable stitches. I stumbled across the idea here -my favorite podcast BTW-and could hardly wait to get a pack a highlighters and try it out. It's great!

I haven't done much knitting other than at SNB, but know things start to settle in a normal rhythm after Labor Day so I'll have more energy/time to knit throughout the week. I have been focused on finishing my reading of The Time Traveler's Wife and am anxious to see the movie! If I don't finish this weekend, definitely will by next weekend.

E.W.W.

2009-08-16T13:05:00.005-04:00

What do erasers, a dpn, yarn, and a MD's coupon all have in common?

They are the supplies I use when knitting up my latest project, the Every Way Wrap or E.W.W. for short.

Every time I get an IK issue, I pour over it making comments on the different projects-some good some bad. Every once in awhile a project will jump out at me that I really like, I'll add it to my queue and then forget about it. The E.W.W. was different, I found myself flipping back to the page and really liking it and realizing I could use yarn from my stash-Bonus- and decided to go with the momentum and cast on immediately, dropping all other W.I.P.'s. Here's what it looks like after the ribbing and 3 repeats of the chart pattern. BTW there is an error on the chart in the magazine. Errata is here.

I'm pleased so far, even with my unintentional design flaws/features. I think this is a pattern that looks even better knit up. After bringing it to SNB last week I think a few more people may even want to knit it.

I'm only planning on using mine as a wrap and not do the button thing in the back-buttons do not belong on my butt. The Knit Picks Comfy Worsted yarn I'm using is super soft-I love it!

How do my supplies help? Well, the erasers I use as counters for which repeat I'm on within the row (although I'm not using them as much now as I was in the beginning), and the dpn I'm using as my cable needle. I tried one of the metal cable needles and didn't care for it and with this being my first time with cables didn't want to try and mess with doing it without the cable needle.

The coupon I use for keeping track of which row I'm on the chart. When I started working on the chart I remembered these cute pattern tamers I bought awhile ago and decided to try them out.

The middle one is the right size for my pattern. Notice anything?

Maybe this will help:

Why would a person put that type of fabric for something to be used with a chart. Confusing! When I pointed this out to DH he offered to spray paint it, so now it looks like this:

Which is much better, but I still prefer my MD coupon or the back of an envelope. Live and learn I guess.

I have to say it's been really fun being one of the early knitters on Rav with this pattern and immediately acting on that initial thought of "I want to knit this!"

Farmer's Market Lunch

2009-08-06T14:12:00.004-04:00

One of the things on my list to do was to find a way to use up all my Farmers Market tomatoes along with some other veggies. Boy, did I find a recipe!

It's a very simple recipe, but oh so good! I ended up making Roasted Tomato Soup and served it with a Veggie & Cheese Bagel.

First off, the soup. Here's my version (I made a few changes from the original recipe based on the reviews).

Slice tomatoes (farmers market/home grown are the best), peel some garlic (put a few more cloves than you think you'll need), and slice an onion or two. Drizzle with olive oil. Sprinkle on some kosher salt and roast in a shallow pan at 375 degrees for about 40 minutes, until veggies are carmelized. (Note: I was glad I put some extra garlic cloves in because a few of mine got burned and had to be tossed).

Place veggies in a stock pot along with some bay leaves, chicken stock (save some for adding later), herbs (I used some rosemary and thyme from my herb garden) and some butter. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 15-20 minutes.

Strain out the herb stems and bay leaves. Use an immersion blender and puree the soup til smooth. Add more chicken stock if needed to thin it out. Return soup to low heat. You can also add some cream right before serving if you want a creamy taste. Even my husband who does not care for tomato soup, LOVED this!! He heated some up for a midnight snack!!

Now for the sandwich.

I pretty much followed the Pioneer Woman's recipe except I left out the avocado (didn't have one on hand) and used onion & chive cream cheese instead of the green onion one she made.

Put it together and viola! You have a Farmer's Market lunch!

List for Today

2009-08-04T08:53:00.004-04:00

I was awake earlier than normal this morning and couldn't relax enough to get back to sleep. I go back to work officially in 13 days but have a meeting scheduled and will be working in my classroom before then so really I'm already in work-mode.

Because of that, my brain has kicked it up a notch with all the things that need to get done in the next few weeks. I'm one of those people who finds cleaning and organizing a stress reliever. This morning, my stress relief began with the making of lists..only 2 so far.... Feel free to giggle at my obsessiveness!

List #1: Today

Call for hair appointment
Cancel Dr. appointment
Post on blog
Mail movie/bills/Betsy box
Look for recipes for my abundance of mushrooms and tomatoes from Farmers Market
Read (trying to get through The Time Traveler's Wife before the movie comes out)
Put clothes away
Put outlet shopping goodies away
Wash water bottles (just bought some refillable ones)
Pictures
Gather yarn from stash for new project (Knitpicks Comfy-Worsted)
Go to SnB-swatch for new project
Work-out options (planning on getting back into working out once school starts)

List #2: Soon

Get room ready at school
Return poster frame/buy school supplies
Brown sugar bacon
Plan lunch with Teri and Juanita
McNay Museum
Movies to see: Julie & Julia; The Time Traveler's Wife
Begin seaming fish blanket together (learn mattress stitch)
Cast on for entrelac scarf

Whew!!! I feel better now! Of course these lists are just a start. I will then create lists just for knitting, reading, work, shopping, cleaning, etc.... LOL

What's on your list for today?

The 3/50 Project

2009-08-01T17:19:00.003-04:00

I stumbled upon the 3/50 project a few weeks ago, LOVE the concept and figured it would be good blog fodder each month. Click on the link for more specifics, but basically 3/50 stands for spending $50.00 a month total between 3 different local independently-owned businesses.

Here are my 3 for this month:

1. Rowan Colourscape Chunky from Yarnivore, a LYS.

2. Breakfast from Il Sogno while checking out San Antonio's newest Farmers Market. I enjoyed a panini sandwich along with some fresh squeezed juice from this restaurant that has only been opened 1 week.

3. Goodies from the Farmers Market (bread, jams, veggies, and some local grass-fed beef).

I obviously spent more than $50.00 but its just the idea to go out of my way to support local businesses when I can. As for the new Farmers Market, it's really nice and hip, but I think there's a certain charm to buying your fruits and veggies from the overall wearin', beat-up truck drivin' farmer I see at my usual Farmers Market but will definitely visit the brewery every once in awhile too.

Symphonic Sunday

2009-07-19T15:48:00.003-04:00

There's just something about a lazy Sunday morning drinking coffee. This morning I decided to also make some brownies to go with my coffee-Symphony Brownies.

I'd seen the recipe on an episode of Paula Dean's cooking show a few months ago and put it on my mental list of something to make someday. Although I didn't have the candy bars on hand, it wasn't a big deal to hop in the car and pick them up at the neighborhood drugstore.

Symphony Bars

These are a-m-a-z-i-n-g!!!
I followed the advice in the reviews and used 1 brownie mix for an 8 X 8 pan.
I also decided to try 2 kinds of bars. Half the pan had the Choc./Almond/Toffee Symphony bars and the other half had dark chocolate caramel Ghirardelli bars.
Seriously..these are good...REALLY good!

I have also been knitting. Actually I've been pretty monogamous with my knitting. I've devoted the majority of my recent knitting time to my scroll scarf. It doesn't seem to want to ever end though. I have been using my desk as a reference point (nearly 5 feet long) have just kept knitting and knitting and knitting til it reached the end. I'm nearly there but have plenty of yarn to go further.

I love this pattern..but am starting to get tired of it and the ball doesn't seem to be getting smaller...sigh..I'm at the point in a project where it seems like you knit and knit and knit and it doesn't seem to be getting longer and the ball stays the same size.

I am motivated to stay disciplined and finish the scarf since it's one that requires a quiet environment (I have not had good success in bringing it to SnBs). I know once school starts I won't have as much down time to devote to it. Hopefully my next post will show a completed scarf!!

A "Comfort"-able Saturday

2009-07-12T12:20:00.010-04:00

My Mother informed me I hadn't updated my blog in awhile and I had a few moments before heading out for the day so thought I'd write about my adventures yesterday!

First off though is my contribution to Bezzie's request to flash your library card:

I'm fortunate in that I teach right next door to a public library which I use quite frequently during the school year. I included my tattered and torn key chain card which is my card choice.

Back to yesterday....

A few of my knitting friends and I headed to Comfort, TX to visit The Tinsmith's Wife yarn shop. The day was fantastic from start to finish. We all met up at a local Starbucks, piled into Kim's car, and then headed west to the Stars Hollow like town (for the Gilmore Girls fans out there) of Comfort.

Most went with with a list of what to buy, I didn't..and that can be dangerous! I ended up purchasing:

An eggplant colored Cali Zuma bag and matching Mini Cozy. I'd been wanting a "nice" knitting bag for awhile now and was thrilled to find one in my favorite color!

I also bought some beautiful Spud & Chloe sock yarn (color: anemone) and that was suppose to be it...until I saw the Lorna's Laces.

and some Bullfrogs and Butterflies yarn (color: Lakeview) also made it into my pile to buy.

At that point I hurried to check out before I was seduced by any other yarn.

I made my way to the couch to knit while the others finished their shopping and made a new friend with Noro the cat.

Once we all finished with our shopping we had the best burger in the state of Texas at 814, A Texas Bistro and got dessert to go from Sweet Comfort, the candy store across the street!

I think this was my favorite day of summer vacation so far!

Tangling with Tarn

2009-06-28T17:52:00.004-04:00

Yikes! It sure has been hot...even by Texas standards! Out of the 28 days of June so far, we've had 11 days of 100+ temps and 7 days with temps 97-99....that's hot!!

Because it's been so hot, the afternoons have been spent catching up on movies/tv shows, reading and knitting. I recently finished my rug:

Yarn: t-shirts/sheets turned into yarn (tarn)
Needle: US 15
Pattern: CO 41 sts, work in seed stitch pattern. Final dimensions: approx. 34" X 21"
Notes:

This was originally to be made for DH's bathroom or a mat for Sophie, but I love it! It hasn't left my home office area.
The "tarn" was great to work with other than being a bit bulky/heavy towards the end. It actually felt good knitting in locations that were warm.
The seed stitch creates a great texture for your toes!
I have enough leftover tarn for another small rug, but other than that, don't think I'll need to knit with it again. I just wanted to experiment with it but know there are lots of neat projects out there!

Sweet Saturday

2009-06-20T11:27:00.002-04:00

Yesterday, in a flurry of domesticity not only did I make some Baked Lemon Pasta, I also decided to make these Kit Kat bars. The recipe comes from a Betty's Pies recipe book which is filled with page after page of delicious recipes. Betty's Pies is a favorite roadside stop along the North Shore so when I spotted the cookbook in the Minneapolis/St. Paul airport last Fall, I had to pick it up!

These are non-bake which makes them perfect for a hot summer day when you don't want to use the oven.

Kit Kat Bars

Club Crackers (at least 1/2 box)
2 cups crushed Graham Crackers
2 sticks butter
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup milk

Frosting

1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup butterscotch chips
2/3 cup peanut butter

Grease a 9X13 inch pan and line with club crackers (lay crackers in one direction). Set aside.

Bring the butter, crushed graham crackers, sugars and milk to a boil and cook over low heat for 3-5 minutes.

Spread half of the cooked mixture over the crackers. Lay another layer of the club crackers on top and cover with the balance of the cooked mixture. Top with another layer of club crackers. Make sure the crackers all lay in the same direction.

Melt frosting ingredients in a double boiler (I used the microwave). Spread over the top and refrigerate a few hours. Once set, separate into cracker-sized bars. Keep in the refrigerator.

Notes:

I actually goofed when I made mine and left out the last layer of club crackers. They're still good-but rich! I think I got distracted when DH came home and put the frosting on before the last layer of crackers.

Rather than use a double boiler, I just melted the frosting ingredients in the microwave for a few minutes until all melted.

These are really good and go perfect with a cup of coffee/tea!

A Quiet Monday

2009-06-15T09:36:00.004-04:00

Monday mornings during the school year are so filled with stress and anxiety, I go out of my way to make Summer Mondays quiet and peaceful. Today started with a cup of coffee in my new favorite mug:

It was a mug I spotted a few months ago that someone else received in a coffee swap and fell in love with the flying sheep and swirls. I had to have one of my own! I emailed Robbi from Maple lane Pottery and had one sent to me. I love the handle and is a great size for coffee, hot choco or soup!

Last week was a busy Week 1 of vacation filled with cleaning, shopping, eating out, SnB's and even took in a play-Wicked! This week will be much more subdued. I need to finish my "deep" cleaning (think Spring Cleaning in June) so that it won't be such a chore when we have out of town visitors coming. Today I need to make my various shopping lists and plan out our meals so we're not eating out everyday like last week.

On the knitting front, I'm making a rug out of t-shirt/sheet yarn-"tarn" I think they call it. In one of the Phat Fiber boxes I scored a month or so ago was a sample of "tarn" and I decided I wanted to knit something with it. I wasn't interested in making my own "tarn" so bought some on Etsy and have started this:

It looks huge in the picture but really isn't that big. It's going to be a bathroom rug in DH's bathroom. I overestimated the amount of tarn I'd need so I actually have enough for 2 rugs. I should be finished with it in the next few days and will post more about it then. Here's the link for the Rav group which has several links for how to make your own tarn and patterns!

Because a knitter can't live on tarn alone...I caked up these goodies (Pigeon Roof Studios, Madeleine Tosh, Casbah) and plan on starting something with each of them soon!

Finished!

2009-06-10T19:01:00.005-04:00

This past week I not only finished the schoolyear-but also a great book, and my Clapotis!

There's something bittersweet about packing up a room for the summer. It seems so empty and quiet compared to the normal hustle and bustle of the school day.

A few weeks ago I stumbled across the book The Fiction Class on my local library's "New Book" list. I decided to check it out and really enjoyed this book! I don't know if it was the teacher aspect, the writing angle or the fact it was a book that I read without expectation-it's been one of my favorite reads this year. It would be a great book for a book club!

My favorite part of the book is that every chapter or so, the author gives the reader a writing topic (same as the main character gives her writing class). The first writing topic was to list five obsessions and then write a few paragraphs about one of them). Here are my five:

Fiber -I've decided I want to learn to spin this summer and have been stockpiling fiber.
Books-just can't get enough of them!
Cleaning-I've been the crazy cleaning lady the last few days so I can enjoy a life of leisure the rest of the summer.
Weather-I'm always obsessed with the weather (not just mine but wherever there are storms) and could have the weather channel on all the time.
Knitting-enough said....

Speaking of knitting.....

I finally finished my Clapotis!

It's huge-but I love it!!! Both my computer chair and favorite seat in the living room are located beneath a vent. I freeze when the AC comes on so this is perfect!! I had a hard time taking it off long enough to weave in the ends. This will be my "workhorse" Clapotis and am already planning on making another one for dressier occasions with a fancier yarn.

Pattern: Clapotis
Yarn: Katie Jamaica-just shy of 5 balls/skeins
Needle: Denise size 7
Final size: approx. 18" X 84"
Notes:

I'd definitely make the next one shorter in length!

At War with Squirrels

2009-05-31T19:41:00.002-04:00

It was bound to happen....just a matter of time...the squirrels finally discovered our tomato plants....SIGH...... It started innocently enough, last weekend I noticed a green tomato sitting on the railing of our deck, I questioned DH and he hadn't put it there. Went down to check and found it had moved, and not much of it left.....SQUIRRELS!

After some online research, it seemed there was an almost overwhelming list of things to try....

1. Dog/dog hair-obviously that didn't work

2. Dried coyote urine or something like that. Looks like white snow.

3. Sprinkling of cayenne pepper. Think the squirrels just thought it was added seasoning based on this photo. If you look closely you can see the cayenne on the deck railing.

4. By this time it was WAR....DH was on a mission. Before I knew it, the vinegar soaked rags came out. Our deck smelled like italian dressing.

We've also tried...5. moth balls, 6. coffee grounds (found a squirrel in the pot with the coffee grounds), but I knew DH had finally lost his mind when he started collecting shiny things. Evidently he read somewhere the squirrels are repelled by shiny things. Now our tomato plants look like a disco.

If you click to make bigger you'll see the hanging strands of foil, ribbon, and wind chimes. Somewhere in the trees I imagine the squirrels are having quite a chuckle at my husband's antics.

I have made a note to myself to not plant tomatoes next year and just buy them at the local farmer's market.

I must go.....I just heard him mumbling something about hanging the shiny Christmas ornaments on the plants!!!

First Tomato

2009-05-15T18:48:00.005-04:00

DH harvested our first tomato of the season!

Actually we have been snacking on our grape tomatoes that have also started to ripen, but this is our first regular sized one. Many more to come if we can keep the birds/squirrels from enjoying too many of them! Off to gather some recipes since I have a feeling that all of a sudden we're going to have a BUNCH of ripe tomatoes.

Anyone have a favorite tomato friendly recipe?

Spray Pancake Batter?!?

2009-05-03T10:35:00.004-04:00

A week or so ago at a knitting get together, Courtney mentioned the Batter Blaster and being a person who loves new things, just had to try it!

Rather than do a duplicate post, check out her experience using it. I tried it out myself this morning and LOVED it! The pancakes tasted great, the clean-up was a breeze, and it was fun making them!! I'd definitely buy this again. I probably would use traditional pancake batter from a mix if serving 4 or more people, but it's perfect for just DH and I.

I got to thinking that besides the Batter Blaster, I've tried a few other new (or new to me) products recently and thought I'd share my experiences.

My latest favorite beverage is water mixed in with a Crystal Light On The Go packet. I am especially fond of the ones with added caffeine. I find they are a nice alternative to coffee or diet soda and do like the little boost I get after drinking one. I've tried most of the flavors and haven't met one I didn't like.

I've shared my deep love of the Fleur De Sel Caramel H-D ice cream before; DH saw these in the store and surprised me with a box.

They are good...very good...but I still prefer the version in the pint container. I miss the little bits of chocolate and caramel. They are great for portion control though-it's hard to stop eating out of the pint container!

The one dud in today's product reviews would be the pudding "singles."

The taste is good, but by the time you add in the price of using your own milk (or buying a container at school) plus the fact you have to literally stir it for 5 minutes in order to get it to thicken up-it's just not worth the the time (for someone who's lucky to a get a 20 minute lunch) or money.

Blooming Eggs

2009-04-26T10:58:00.005-04:00

On our back porch/deck area we have two hanging plants that I scored on a clearance rack for $1.00 a few years ago. They've bloomed for the past few years but things weren't looking good this Spring. Over Spring Break I gave them a good "haircut" and tried to weed out all the dead leaves, etc....Finally yesterday I noticed the first signs of flowers and was so excited that I pulled the pot down to trim a bit more of the non-healthy parts.

Imagine my surprise when I looked in the plant to see this:

A bird nest with eggs!!!

For some reason I sort of had a minor excited-type freak out and kept chanting in head (and perhaps out-loud too), "Eggs in flower pot! Eggs in Flower pot!"-I tend to leave out prepositions when I'm in this state.

I was so worried the my moving the planter from the hook to the table would have somehow damaged the eggs or make the mama not want to come back. Then I noticed some activity in the yard and a very nervous bluebird flying from fence to fence watching me. CRAP!! I actually apologized to the bird (I'm a weirdo)..Ran in to get my camera and then carefully put the planter back on the hook and prayed the eggs wouldn't be abandoned.

When I mentioned the nest to DH, he was as surprised as me, but then remembered seeing a bird flying in/out of there a lot over the past month. After doing some online research I think the bird is an eastern bluebird and this can be common for birds to build nests in these type of areas. Believe it or not, the best way to keep birds from building nests is to position a rubber snake in the area around the pot.

We're going to leave the planter as is and hope for the best. I did see a bird flying in and out of the pot this morning so I know the eggs are still being cared for.

Will keep you posted!

Finding Comfort

2009-04-11T12:35:00.004-04:00

Last weekend I decided to take my Mom (along with a friend) on a field trip to Comfort, TX for a visit to The Tinsmith's Wife yarn shop. What a fantanstic shop! I ended up purchasing:

Blue Sky dyed cotton yarn-Poppy (oh sooo soft!), and 2 skeins of J.Knits Superwash Me sock yarn (Providence and Reno). I'm already looking forward to my next trip back!

The best bluebonnets I saw were walking on the sidewalk to the different antique shops.

It's been a pretty sad year for the bluebonnets-too dry!

I am happy to report that we have tomatoes! First up are some grape tomatoes:

Also some "regular" tomatoes. I'm already planning a batch of fried green tomatoes when they're ready!

I'm still working on my Clapotis and plan on starting the decrease section soon!

A Weekend at the Beach

2009-04-01T22:00:00.007-04:00

Last weekend was the "pick-up" for my Mom who has been wintering on South Padre Island. She flies to S.A. December around 1st, my friend Diane and I drive her down to SPI. My Dad drives down a few weeks later (he has to stay in MN a bit longer for meetings and such) and then Dad drives back to MN the end of March, then Diane and I go to pick up Mom around April 1st and bring her back to stay with DH and I for a week before she flies back to MN.

Dad took this picture today. Can you blame Mom for wanting to hold off a few days before heading back?!

Dad can't even drive up to the house yet and has to use the sled to haul things from the end of the driveway, which is a hilly 1/2 mile long.

On the way to SPI I did get to check out Knotty Girl in Corpus Christi and found a few things to add to my yarn collection. Two skeins of Madelinetosh sock yarn (colorway Blood on top and Rhubarb at the bottom-the twist is nice and tight) and a skein of Aslan trends Guanaco in Blue Jean for the traveling scarf project I'm participating in. The thing I liked most about this LYS is that the owner greeted me warmly, and then gave me my space to look without hovering or pressure to buy-I loved that! I'd stop again if I were in the area.

The best part of the SPI trip was the dinner "cruise" on a catamaran.

BTW..boat pics taken with my new phone camera-not too bad!

Yay for Tulips!

2009-03-21T10:53:00.005-04:00

When your current dishcloth looks like this:

After once looking like this:
Yes..it's really that light after being bleached so many times. I realized it was time to knit some more dishcloths and what better pattern for Springtime than Tulips?

Supposedly this pattern knits in about an hour, not me. Here's how much I got done in an hour:

This just goes to show how truly slow a knitter I am. In my defense, I was knitting at an SnB (lots of visiting) and I did add a 4 row garter stitch border on all sides.

I was able to finish 3 dishcloths which did knit much faster at home when I was on Spring Break.

Pattern: Tulips Dishcloth

Yarn: Lily Sugar'nCream from stash

Needles: US 7

My notes:

I added a 4 row/stitch border on all sides. The yellow was made with 23 +8 border sts and the purple/green 31 +8 border sts. I preferred the bigger size.

Another great Spring Break knitting event was being able to get together with some of my knitterly friends while Janna was in town.

Knitting + Good Friends + Coffee/Goodies = Happy Knitters!

Boxy Break

2009-03-13T19:28:00.005-04:00

When your Spring Break is cold and rainy.

You spend a lot of time indoors...
I decided to spend a good amount of my indoor time de-cluttering and organizing. I may or may not have gone a little overboard.

I gathered and organized Sophie's meds and our meds.

Our spice cabinet was a nightmare, so I spent some time organizing it too. Not only are my spices in alpha order, but I created a special spice box for DH who goes nuts trying to find spices to make his signature recipes. I just put the spices he uses most often in his own little container.

I spent time organizing/cleaning out the closet in the guest bedroom. I had to giggle when DH was checking my progress and noted two tubs of yarn and exclaimed, "You have THAT much yarn??!!" Little does he know I have actually more than TWICE that!!

I still have even more yarn strewn throughout the house.

Not all boxes are used for organizing. Some contain goodies!

Say "Hello" to my little friends....

There's also been knitting.....but more about that in my next post...

Home Comforts

2009-02-28T12:13:00.003-05:00

Last weekend DH and I were craving some comfort from the kitchen. Saturday came in the form of homemade mac 'n cheese. Sunday came in the form of soup and bread.

I had actually wanted to make a different bread, but didn't have the time so opted to pull out my 8 yr old bread machine I haven't used in nearly 5 years. I seriously thought there might be something living in it by now! I maneuvered it out from the scary dark area of my pantry and gave it a good wipe and was good to go!

I gathered and put in the ingredients for my tried and true Sally Lunn Bread, and hoped for the best when I pressed Start.

While the bread was baking, I pulled a turkey carcass out of the freezer (left over from New Years Day). Covered it with water. Threw in some chopped carrots, onion, celery along with some peppercorns, bay leaf and some thyme and let is simmer for a few hours and made some homemade stock. Mom's tip: skim the foam as it's cooking.

Strained the stock and added a new set of veggies, herbs, and some chopped turkey. Simmered it until veggies were cooked, added some cooked noodles and viola!

The bread even turned out too! Makes me want to get back in to using the bread machine again!

The smells the bread and soup brought to our kitchen were intoxicating! Of course I had to add a little knitting and some reading to complete my weekend of comfort!

What are your comfort foods?

Yarn Goodness

2009-02-23T20:09:00.003-05:00

When I came home from work I had 2 packages waiting for me-both relating to the latest coffeeswap.

I was actually part of a trio. I gave to Person A, who bought for Person B, who bought for me. Penny, the person I had to buy for, mentioned how she'd like some yarn from Fresh From the Cauldron.

I'd never heard of the yarn and well...it had me at "Hello." Now only are there colorways for the classics, but also Twilight and True Blood. I'm such a sucker for a great name!

Just take a look:

(Jacob Black, Bella Swan, Little Women, Jane Austen, and Pam)
Not pictured: The Esme Cullen colorway I gave to my swap person.

I adore the colors!! If you are interested in any from the Twilight or True Blood series you only have until February 28th to order. She is doing a sock club so these colors will not be available for the next year.
Jen was so sweet she did a rush order for my swap person and sent the other yarn later. Just email her with what you want.

I was also thrilled to receive my coffeeswap package!

Not only was it filled with chocolate, coffee (Kona-my favorite), and other knitterly goodies, but it also introduced me to yarn from Wool in the Woods! I loved it!!
Thanks Dorothy!

It will be hard to stay focused on my Clapotis and not knit with any of my new yarn.

Hello Friend

2009-02-16T19:43:00.003-05:00

Since finishing the One Row Scarf, I was trying to decide what to work on next. I knew I didn't want to work on another scarf (even though I have 2 on the needles). I mentally reviewed my non-scarf WIP's..it hit me!!! My Clapotis!

I think seeing so many of them being worked on at last Thursday's SnB had something to do with it too.

Once I made the decision I could hardly wait to get my hands on my ol' friend, Clapotis. I was a bit nervous though. It had been nearly 6 months since I last worked on it.

Would I remember where I was? Would I know what to do? How much longer before decreasing? How much yarn did I have left? Heck, I didn't even know exactly where it was!

When I did finally find it, I pulled it out of the bag and thankfuly all the stitches were still on the needles.

Hoping I kept accurate notes and the stitch counter was on the right row, I started again.

We're back in business! I have 4 rows left in this straight row repeat section. Then I need to decide if I want to do another round or start the decrease section.

I'm so excited! When I bought the yarn, it was meant for a Spring shawl. With Spring being just around the corner, it will be a good incentive to finish it!!

IT IS AN UPDATE

2009-02-14T17:37:00.006-05:00

I cracked up when I saw the most recent episode of "The Office" where Dwight had put up a sign celebrating Kelly's birthday: IT IS YOUR BIRTHDAY.

Nothing big happening here...just a bunch of little stuff:

Finally finished My One Row Handspun (actually acrylic) Scarf.

Pattern: One Row Handspun Scarf
Yarn: Vanna's Choice (I had a giftcard to use up, it was for the son of a friend, and the right color). I normally don't knit with acrylic but sometimes it just works out that way.
Needles: sz 8
CO 26 stitches
Ending dimensions-72" X 5"
Notes: Easy pattern...would definitely knit again!!!

Stopped at my favorite plant nursery today and picked up some tomato plants (still waiting for the cherry tomato plants to come in) and some Carolina Jasmine-lurve the smell.

The tomato plants were part of DH's Valentine gift-I got him some high quality chocolates too! He loved it! Plus we'll have tomatoes in a few months!

Sent my Coffeeswap 4 package today...to Canada..also learned you can't use purple ink on the customs form.

Finished reading In Cold Blood earlier in the week-supporting my sister(who finished faster than I) who is trying to read 50 books this year. Found it rather haunting...not only do I know of students with similar backgrounds to Perry's and can't help but wonder what will become of them, I also found myself relating to this quote from the book:

My acquaintances are many, my friends are few, those who really know me fewer still.

I'm not sure if how closely I resemble that quote a bad thing or not.

Needless to say after reading about 4 murders and 2 executions, I am relieved to be reading Married in Seattle now.

Taddy Bear Club Party

2009-02-06T19:55:00.003-05:00

About 6 months or so ago, the granddaughter of my neighbors along her parents moved in next door. She seems to be the social director for the block since there are usually hoards of kids in the back/front-yard. It can sometimes be annoying since they're not the best about picking up after themselves, but when I came home from work and saw this sign posted on the door going to their backyard, I just melted. I wanted to be 8 1/2 years old all over again......SIGH.....

"Taddy (love the spelling) Bear Club Party this Saturday"

Of course it made me dig out my childhood teddy bear. Or at least what's left of him.

It was made out of my grandpa's old coat and I guess I loved it to pieces given its current state. No eyes, mouth and several worn areas. Grandma sure knew how to sew something that would last-it's at least 35 years old!

Think they'll let me into their club if I show up with him tomorrow?

Knitters' Coffeeswap 4

2009-01-31T14:41:00.002-05:00

QUESTIONS

1. Whole bean or ground? Whole bean preferred but also ok with ground

2. Fully-loaded or decaf? Fully-loaded

3. Regular or flavored? Regular

4. How do you drink your coffee? I like adding flavored creamer(anything except cinnamon/pumpkin spice) to black coffee

5. Favorite coffee ever? Kona Extra Fancy Medium Roast-only get this once in awhile though.

6. Are you fussy about your coffee or will any old bean do? A bit fussy...But always willing to try something new.

7. Favorite treats to have with your coffee? Lately, Tim Tams! But also like biscotti and other dunkable treats. Sometimes toast with some good jam is great too!

8. Anything else about your coffee preferences? I generally like just the plain coffees and would prefer to add the flavors with creamers but will get chocolate/caramel/nut type coffees every once in awhile.

9. Yarn/fiber you love? Sock yarn! But am also in the process of collecting samplings of different kinds of purple yarns to turn into a shawl.

10. Yarn/fiber you hate? No acrylic or fun fur!

11. What's on your needles? A couple of scarves, socks, Clapotis, and a Huggable Hedgehog. Check out my Ravelry Project page.

12. Favorite colors? Think Monet's Water Lillies. Or anything in the purple/pink/blue family.

13. Allergies? Nope

14. Anything you really love, really don't like, or just need to get off your chest? I'd love to get something regional! I also like Monet's work, and love love love purple. I'm an avid reader, love trying new recipes, and have a very spoiled cocker spaniel named Sophie.

Tim Tam Slam

2009-01-25T11:31:00.002-05:00

I discovered TimTams at T@rget one day last month and decided to try them out (couldn't let a new cookie go untasted). Both DH and I were "eh" on them. They were good, but not outstanding.

Then I read about Tim Tam Slams. After watching a video or two on youtube I decided I must try them out! Back to T@rget I went.

Step one: Gather ye Tim Tams and a hot beverage of choice (mine=coffee).

Step two: Bite/cut ends either diagonal or straight across.

Step three: Dunk one end of cookie into hot beverage, sip beverage through cookie (like a straw), once it hits your mouth turn it around and eat the saturated cookie.

MMMMMMMM..The explosion of flavors in your mouth is incredible!! Some say orgasmic!!

Notes:

The nibbled off bits should be kept small as the suck is more powerful.
Refrigerating the Tim Tams prior to use allows longer sucking, and more thoroughly soaked biscuit without the fear of the chocolate coating disintegrating
I read the authentic Australian TimTams can be found at Cost Plus World Market but I found the PP version at Target.

Check out the video!

Monday Randomness

2009-01-19T18:43:00.005-05:00

Today's entry is all over the place so hang on for the ride!

The last time I went to SnB this car was parked outside the coffeehouse and I couldn't help but take a picture of it! Be sure to click to enlarge to see all the details! I think the flipflops and pool noodles tied to the bumper really complete the look!

Sophie's sweater lasted less than a week. I came home from work one day and found it held together with a twist tie under her neck and that did it for me. I frogged the underbelly part-was able to salvage the main section so it won't be any problem to reknit and reseam. Luckily the temps are going to be pretty mild this week so it doesn't need to be done right way.

TasteSpotting is my new favorite website to get meal ideas. Check it out!

My dad sent this picture of him with his work of the day (surf fishing). He looks so happy and relaxed. Wintering in Texas seems to agree with him! I'm sure Mom is THRILLED to have so many fish to cook!

k, k, k tbl, p -stuck in my head for my latest knitting project. Any guesses on the pattern?

A Sweater For Sophie

2009-01-13T19:38:00.004-05:00

The first request DH made when I took up knitting a few years ago was to knit a sweater for Sophie. When we were at S. Padre over the holiday Sophie was shivering so I bought a cheapie sweater from a discount store. It was a little snug but she loved it.

I decided to finally knit her one when we got back. DH was excited when I told him of my intent, wanted to be a part of it and offered to do the seaming-crazy I know! He sews on a button like no one's business, so I agreed. I also wasn't too concerned since I was only using acrylic yarn.

The sweater knit it up fast and fairly error free with my modifications for her size and the yarn I was using. I finished with the top and underbelly section and was ready for DH to do the seaming.

It was hard to let him do it and we had quite a discussion about his planned method of attack. I tried to tell him about the weaving in of ends and the whole thing about knots. He insisted he knew what he was doing, I was panicking more and more as he progressed.

Knots were formed. "Tacking down" was done. The seams were not good..but they were just the seams and I could live with it.

Then the scissors came out and strings started getting snipped. And then I realized what he had snipped....an unwoven in end..... I was speechless and kept trying to tell him to stop because he didn't realize what he had done. When the ribbing started unraveling I grabbed the sweater back annoyed that I would have to reknit that part, but upon further inspection realized he had used so much yarn in his seaming I couldn't tell the top from the bottom......SIGH..... He picks up on my mood and decided he could fix it. More yarn went on the needle and more "tacking down." I just closed my eyes and tried not to completely lose it. I think at this point he was ready to get duct tape to try and repair his damage. So....here it is:

The top part is fine. The seams are horrendous. The bottom part is slowly unraveling but Sophie loves it! Here's a picture of his handiwork:

As upset as I was, I eventually realized it was only a couple bucks worth of yarn, a fast knit/reknit and one with a story!

Pattern: Easy Dog Sweater
Yarn: Vanna's Choice Solid-Cranberry
Needles: 9/10.5

List For 2009

2009-01-11T11:08:00.003-05:00

Although I don't care for New Year's Resolutions per se, the Concrete-Sequential/Gold side of me does like to have lists.

Here is my list for 2009, The Year of Finishing!

Finish reading "Books in Progress" from 2008:

Finish my current WIP's:

Clapotis
Fish blanket (just needs seaming)

Huggable Hedgehog

Lydia's Socks
One Row Scarf
Scroll Stitch Scarf
Sister Scarf II
Sweater for Sophie

"Clean Sweep"

Kitchen cabinets
Closets
Garage

Quirky thing for 2009
Last year I tried to make a different soup every week..didn't quite do it but had fun trying. This year I'd like to try a recipe from all of the cookbooks I have and weed them out in the process.

Transitioning

2009-01-04T11:43:00.005-05:00

The time has come...to transition from vacation life (16 days of vacation) to work life...SIGH......

Yesterday I woke up grumpy...made worse by the fact it was going to be in the mid-eighties temperature wise, not a cloud in the sky, and I had to go back to work in two days. I know people up north would trade those temps in a second, but down here...being originally from MN I hardly ever get cold weather...and when it's suppose to be winter...I want it to be winter!!

So I was in a funk yesterday...I called it the "Back to School Blues." Talked to a fellow teacher from my school who was also feeling the same way. Posted on Ravelry about it and got many responses of similar feelings. I just wanted to crawl under a blanket and not have to deal with going back to work. I like my job...but like staying home better. Decided to hit the grocery store and figure out the food for the week. When I got in the car to leave, put on my sunglasses and this happened.

I guess when your sunglasses break, its a sign that vacation is over.

No more:

sleeping in
staying up late
shopping trips to malls and outlet stores
indulging in hours of reading, movie watching and knitting throughout the day
all day pajama days

Out with:

dips, spreads, crackers, chips
cookies, candies, holiday sweets

In with:

fruits
vegetables
salads....lots of salads
the scale....oh the scale..
thinking about the health club and working out (baby steps)
setting the alarm
working
being "in charge" and responsible for others

Today I woke up to a beautiful gray/cool morning.

Even colder tomorrow-YES!!!

The transition begins..I'm ok with it. I've made my peace. I'm going to enjoy the day, already have a load in the dryer, been putting things away and getting organized, also have a good start on a few fast knitting projects.

Besides, Spring Break isn't too far off!

Happy New Year

2009-01-01T11:14:00.003-05:00

Happy New Year! DH and I rang in the New Year with some friends last night and today are looking forward to a quiet day filled with football, food and fiber (knitting variety). DH made some black eyed peas last night so 2009 is sure to be filled with good luck!

In keeping with my non traditional tendencies, we are having a turkey dinner with all the trimmings today. It's our first turkey of the holiday season and we are both looking forward to leftovers.

I can't think of a better way to start a new year but with a finished object! I finally finished my scarf for the World Winter Special Olympics. I'd had it done for awhile but had to weave in a million ends and then wash the crunchiness (I'm sooo not kidding about this) out of the acrylic yarn . It was for a good cause but I am sure glad to be done with it. I had thought about adding fringe but am sending it as is.

Project: Special Olympics World Winter Games Scarf
Pattern: here
Length: 66 inches
Yarn: Red Heart Yarn Color 0885-Delft Blue and 0311-White (as required in guidelines)
Needles: U.S. 10

A Peek into my Christmas

2008-12-25T21:03:00.003-05:00

Yesterday was the "big" day for us. We had some friends over for a prime rib dinner. DH made use of the fun/tacky apron I made for him.

I didn't realize the chef hat by his name (it's with white paint) would have such a phallic look to it-hee! He was relieved to open a plain black apron this morning for his future cooking adventures but will wear this one for fun.

Today was a very laid back day. After the family phone calls we hung out, watched tv, ate left overs from yesterday and I knit.

This is the beginning of a scarf with Barbara Walker's Scroll stitch pattern.
Yarn: Hand Maiden Camelspin-Paris
Needles: size 4

I did receive a new camera but since we didn't have the right card reader I had to take these pics with my old one-boo!

Tomorrow we are off to the beach for the weekend. The weather looks decent so I may actually get on the beach this visit.

Time to finish my near-perfect Christmas day by spending some time with my current read, The Lost Ravioli Recipes of Hoboken: A Search for Food and Family.

This was one of the quietest/non-stressful Christmas days I've had in years and I sure did enjoy it. How was yours?

Happy Holidays!

2008-12-24T09:56:00.003-05:00

I'm borrowing a quiz from Susan and a meme from Courtney for today's entry. Enjoy!

Your Christmas Sprit Level: 30%

You definitely have some Christmas spirit, and you enjoy the holidays as much as the average person.

You don't go over the top celebrating, and by December 26th, you're ready to pack away your decorations.

You have your own special Christmas traditions, and you tend to pick and choose what you like about Christmas.

The holidays are important to you, but you don't let them take over your life.

Do You Have the Christmas Spirit?

Actually this is pretty much spot on. I really do pick and choose what holiday "stuff" to do and it just depends on my mood and what's going on in my life at the time and how much time I feel like devoting to it. I also try to keep it different every year for more enjoyment.

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

Holiday Meme

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Gift bags

2. Real tree or Artificial? Artificial. I love the smell of (and grew up with) real trees but have switched to artificial down here.

3. When do you put up the tree? If I do, it's usually sometime during the week after Thanksgiving. If it's not up by then, I won't bother but will have a festive wreath and put lights on the ficus trees. I think about time investment. Do I want to spend a few hours putting up/taking down a tree or use that time to knit, read or do something else and put out less time intensive things instead.

4. When do you take the tree down? On/before January 1st.

5. Do you like eggnog? Just one small cup will be enough for the year.

6. Favorite gift received as a child? Barbie townhouse with the elevator. I loved that thing!

7. Hardest person to buy for? My husband unless he gives me ideas-he's pretty low maintenance. Plus, we both buy things we like for ourselves and each other throughout the year so it's sometimes hard to come up with "The Perfect Gift" for Christmas.

8. Easiest person to buy for? Me! This year is was some luxurious yarn! I don't think I'm finished with "me" yet.

9. Do you have a nativity scene? I don't think so, but it may be in the box of childhood Christmas decorations from Mom/Dad that I haven't gone through yet. I always loved the nativity scene my Mom would set up.

10. Mail or email Christmas cards? I prefer "Happy New Year" cards (snail mail) since the Christmas ones never seem to make it out on time.

11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? Some exercise thing you hooked up to a door knob. It was from my Grandpa who thought he was being helpful with my fluffiness. It was something like this, but a 1979 version.

12. Favorite Christmas Movie? Elf.

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? The week of Thanksgiving.

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? I probably have, but can't remember a specific instance and wouldn't do it now unless the receiver knew up front. I've received gifts that way and have loved them, but the giver said something like, "I got this and I don't drink coffee, but know you do," type-thing. That kind of thing might make for a fun after Christmas gift swap!

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Cookies and goodies only made this time of year.

16. Lights on the tree? Yes....lots of them.

17. Favorite Christmas song? gosh...hard to choose just one...

18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? Travel. We usually spend Christmas with Mom/Dad at South Padre Island. This year we're actually waiting until the 26th to go down and then spend the weekend.

19. Can you name all of Santa’s reindeer? Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner/Donder, Blitzen, Rudolph. I think that's it.

20. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? When growing up, we could open one gift Christmas eve, and the rest Christmas morning. Now it's pretty much Christmas morning.

21. Most annoying thing about this time of the year? People everywhere! It takes twice as long to do things because of the amount of people shopping or on the roads.

22. Favorite ornament theme or color? Blue/white/silver

23. What do you want for Christmas this year? A new digital camera, some books and some yarn. DH is getting the camera (I helped pick it out although its been wrapped for weeks and I can't remember what it looked like) and I'm buying myself the rest-its just easier that way and I am assured to get something I like! Of course I always like gift cards or anything coffee related.

24. Angel on the tree top or a star? I like the stars.

25. Favorite Christmas dinner? Ham, potatoes, etc-hmmm...guess that sounds more like an Easter dinner. This year we're trying a prime rib roast for something different.

Just checking in...

2008-12-22T13:55:00.005-05:00

Day 3 of my vacation and I am totally loving it! Just thought I'd check in with what's been going on.

Has anyone seen these Pepsi bottles? I love new fangled things!

Also, since I love anything peppermint this time of year, I had to try these out! Yum!

I finally visited Lush at Macy's and came home with A Ring of Roses Buttercream. It was so hard deciding what to buy. I know I'll be back! Any suggestions as to what else to try?

Last but not least, I visited to new location for Yarn Barn and couldn't resist buying some Hand Maiden Camelspin-Paris. I love the new store (in an older house) but not thrilled with the location but it won't stop me from going back-just maybe not at night.

Exterior:

View when you first walk in. Needlepoint room on the left.

Back knitting room with a great table to sit at.

Am I the Only One...

2008-12-18T19:05:00.001-05:00

Who thinks there's something wrong with this?

This was a holiday "card" I received from one of the schools in my district-actually the email that came with the said card (I never did all the clicking required because I was so annoyed):

Subject Line: Happy Holidays

Email: Please click on the icon. It will open another window with the same icon. Then click on the icon in the second window to see our holiday wishes for you.

XXX YYY, Principal ZZZZZZZ Elementary School

This is about the 10th card I've received in a mass email. I used to LOVE going into the front office this time of year to see the student handmade cards sent from the various schools. Now we get an impersonal email with directions. That's just wrong...I want to see all the cute, funny, sparkly, traditional or sappy cards!

Like this:

Or this:

But would love to get a card like this. I'd never throw it away!

What are your thoughts? Am I being too sensitive in my old age?

Feeling Crafty

2008-12-02T21:41:00.000-05:00

A month or so ago I saw a picture in a magazine/catalog that I knew I wanted to replicate for the holidays.

Materials:

Glasses of various heights (I scored some at the local Goodwill/Thrift store at the 50% off everything sale. Some I got as cheap as 38 cents).

Candles (I used "dinner candles" from Target) and beaded garland

Procedure:
1. Cut various lengths of the beaded garland.
2. Place in the glass and position the candle

That's it!

I decorated around the glassware with pieces of evergreen trees I got for free when I bought my wreath and some leftover garland.

I love how it looks! So festive and fancy!
This would also make for a nice table decoration.

Big Hole

2008-11-25T13:55:00.000-05:00

This is not a good thing:

Waterline break in neighbor's driveway = no running water and a big hole! We now have water (still have the big hole) but the workers seem to be on a long lunch since the equipment has been abandoned for a few hours now.

This is a good thing:
Thanks to a heads-up from the *bucks board on Ravelry I found out about these "cable" mugs and snatched up a few along with some biscotti and coffee. Knitting and drinking coffee out of a cabled mug...can't get much better than that!

10 Random Things

2008-11-23T12:51:00.000-05:00

Got this from Susan..

Ten Random Things

1. Magazines subscribed to - Interweave, Consumer Reports, Time, Vanity Fair, Taste of Home. Yikes, that's a lot!

2. Aside from knitting, my favorite pastimes are - Reading, playing around on the Internet, trying out new recipes.

3. If I were not a teacher (insert your own profession) I would be- travel agent or anything related to books.

4. I am irrationally worried about - the consistency of Sophie's poo (too many trips to the vet in recent months for diarrhea).

5. If I were the opposite sex - ugh...just can't go there.

6. The thing I miss most about childhood is - the amount of free time to do my own thing.

7. I like to collect - Sheep, books, and purple things.

8. Though I've never been there, I feel inexplicably homesick for - Alaska (was offered a teaching contract for San Antonio and a remote village in Alaska on the same day..chose San Antonio but can't help but wonder how different my life would have been had I chosen Alaska.

9. I've never really liked to eat - cooked vegetables...blech!!!!

10. When I have nightmares, they're usually about - snakes!!!!

Lattes

2008-11-16T18:01:00.000-05:00

I tried SB's Gingerbread Latte today and eh..it was "ok." I'm still digging the Salted Carmel Hot Choco though..especially with 2 shots of espresso.....yum!!!

You Are a Caramel Latte

You often are feeling indulgent - and you go ahead and indulge yourself.

You are very creative. And you know you need to stimulate your senses to get your creative juices flowing.

You are a truly optimistic person. You see the best in yourself and in everyone else.

Your life can be a bit messy at times, but the most beautiful things come out of your chaos.

What Flavor Latte Are You?

Cheap Gas!

2008-11-01T17:16:00.000-04:00

I only paid 1.93 a gallon for gas today!! How nice is that?! Somehow I think it's related to the upcoming election and will rise again afterwards.

Speaking of the election, have you voted?? Regardless of party affiliation, go out and vote! I was able to take advantage of an early voting site located next to my school and voted during lunch last week.

Last night we had the most trick-or-treaters ever!! I went through 2+ bags of candy plus ended up handed out some granola bars I didn't like before we had to shut the door and turn off the light before 8 p.m. I'm thinking the moon bounce across the street had something to do with the gobs of kids our street attracted.

Although I didn't make it to a yarn store in Albuquerque, I did get some knitting done.

This is the second time I'm using this type of yarn. I made/gave one to my younger sister a few weeks ago and my older sister oooed and ahhhed so much that I'm going to surprise her with one too!

Back from 'Buquerque

2008-10-29T19:15:00.000-04:00

Future yarn source?

I made it back from Albuquerque late last night. It was an awesome workshop! I had high hopes of visiting the LYS but with the precious free time we had, I chose mountains and such over yarn...

View from the hotel room:

The Tram was closed for maintenance but we did drive up as far as the ski lodge on the other side for this view:

More mountains (can you tell I've never been around mountains before?):

Weirdest food tried? Enchiladas (made with blue corn tortillas) topped with a fried egg!

Point Me In the Direction Of.......

2008-10-26T08:05:00.000-04:00

.......Albuquerque..Anyone else remember the Partridge family song??

I'm headed to Albuquerque for a couple of days of training. I'm going with 5 other people so not sure what our free time will consist of but there is one yarn store I'd like to get to (the only LYS). I'm looking forward to slightly cooler temperatures and mountains...oh yea..and the training!

MN Yarn Crawl

2008-10-23T19:02:00.001-04:00

ETA: Here's a link for a pic of the gnomes.

I went on a Minnesota Yarn Crawl of sorts while on my recent magical MN weekend.

Yarn/Patterns=Ravelry links
Stores=WWW links

My first stop was the Yarn Garage. Wow! What a a selection! Floor to ceiling full of yarn...plus very friendly staff!!I walked out with some Independently Dyed Yarn (supposedly from a band in England I'm a sucker for a good story), Ty -Dy sock yarn, and a cute sock pattern.

Our next stop was The Tangled Skein-love the name!! There, I couldn't help myself and bought some Schaefer Yarn-Anne and Patagonia cotton yarn(from the clearance shelf).

The next day I convinced my brother in law to drive to New Ulm where I visited the Nadel Kunst (no website) and found some really fun patterns for pumpkins, snowmen and snowbabies, along with a pattern for a gnome. I also picked up some Trekking sockyarn.

Sunday I drug my sister to her LYS, Mary Lue's Yarn & Ewe and really had a good time. It was probably my favorite store. Not only did they have great yarn, but nice sheep-themed items (including nightshirts and journals)! I ended up with some locally spun wool/mohair blend, Araucania Ranco Multy, Trekking XXL, and a few other sheep-themed goodies.

I loved seeing different yarn stores and discovering "New to me" yarns. Now if I could just find the time to knit it all up!!

MN Recap

2008-10-19T16:20:00.000-04:00

Whew! I finally have some time to write about my quick trip to Minnesota last weekend.

I originally went to see my niece in one of her final performances (she graduates in the Spring) of college theater. She played the role of Ellen in the University of Minnesota-Mankato's production of Miss Saigon. I, of course thought she was brilliant but I may be a bit biased. Here's a link to an early EARLY rehearsal of her performance.

Mollie, infact picked me up from the airport Friday morning and we spent the rest of the day at the Mall of America-can you believe there's an amusement park INSIDE the mall?

We stopped at a few yarn shops as we made our way from Mpls to Mankato (another post for that) and an apple orchard. Just have a few left from the "peck" of apples I brought back.

I also brought back some zucchini from my sister's garden which I used some in this Orange Zucchini bread recipe today. I was even able to freeze another 4 cups of shredded zucchini for future use.

The quirkiest thing I brought back? Why it's an old Choo-Choo Cherry cup my Mom had from the set we used growing up.

She gave each us kids a cup for remembrance. Anyone else remember the Funny Face drink packs?

Next post will be about the 4 yarn shops I squeezed into my visit!

Back From Minnesota!

2008-10-13T20:16:00.000-04:00

I just made it back from a quickie trip to Minnesota! Flew in Friday morning and just got back a few hours ago. I'll write more about the purpose of the trip and the yarn shops I visited in the upcoming days. Until then, here are some pictures of the mini-Fall I was able to experience to tie you over.

Skunk Cake

2008-10-09T18:47:00.000-04:00

Episode from school today:

8th grader as he enters my room: WHOA! Miss! Did someone lay a stink bomb in your room??!!

Me: What are you talking about? I don't smell a thing..

Next 8 students who enter my room: Peeeee ewwwww!! What's that smell???!!! Gross!!! Someone farted!!!

I finally get them settled down and turn on a fan to move the air around wondering if a student from the previous class pooted on his way out. Then about 10 minutes later ask one of my students what exactly it smelled like....Her response: A cake and a skunk....

Duh! That makes sense! I'm right next door to the Living Skills classroom/kitchen where they were baking cakes and it did smell like a skunk when I first entered the room this morning-actually several areas on campus did. I must have gotten used to the smell being in it all morning.

Skunk Cake!!!

..sigh...another exciting day in Middle School.....

Crunchy Minnows

2008-10-01T18:51:00.000-04:00

Thought I'd share about some new things I've stumbled across.

1. Knit Map-What a great way to search out yarn stores! It's not perfect, but it's better than nothing. Plus it was fun to see all the yarn stores I'd go by if I was driving from here to Minnesota via I35 by just clicking and dragging my way north.

2. Former SA SnBer Kim has opened her own Etsy shop and is selling memory boards. When I spied a purple one I just had to get it! I've already placed one of my knitting pins on it and just love it!

3. "H D" is my favorite premium ice cream so when I saw this flavor I just had to try it. It's so good and hard to portion out the 4 servings per package (I can usually squeeze out three). They also have a Dark Chocolate Pomegranate that's delicious too!

4. This morning I decided to treat myself and try the outrageously priced oatmeal from S-bux. The oatmeal was actually quite good-although easily can be done at home much cheaper-which I will do in the future. But what really caught my eye was the new hot chocolate flavors, specifically the Salted Caramel Hot Chocolate. Good grief it was yummy! I had finished it in a matter of minutes!! It was a bit rich though and would probably go for the "tall" rather than the "grande" next time and/or try it with nonfat milk and sans whip cream.

5. Finally, from the "miss" department were these:

Officially they are rice crackers wrapped with seaweed (I thought they'd be a healthy snack), but they taste like crunchy minnows to me...And that's not a good thing! I'm sure if you like that type of thing, you'll like these. Me, not so much, but then again I don't like things that taste too fishy.

Traveling Scarf

2008-09-27T20:16:00.000-04:00

I decided on a whim to join the Teachers Who Knit Traveling Scarf group on Ravelry. The basics are to start a scarf in a fiber of your choice-our group is open ended- and pass it around a "circle" with each person in the group adding 3 - 4 inches in a yarn/stitch of their choice (unless you specify) until it comes back to you (in about 5-6 months). Our group has 14 teachers in it from all over the country with a two week "turn around" time frame.

I chose to use some Malabrigo that's been sitting in my stash for a few years and try out the Scroll pattern I loved so much from Enid's scarf. I decided to not put any specifications on what gets added to my scarf. Monday I'll be packing up my "seed" to send to my downstream person. It will be interesting to see what will become if it!

If another purple group opens up soon, I'll be joining that one too! Meanwhile, I need to get back to some of my projects which have been waiting patiently for me to get my act together and knit.

Picked a Peck of Peppers

2008-09-23T20:16:00.000-04:00

Well, not quite a "peck" but enough to make some pickled peppers!

Over a month ago, I decided to go ahead and harvest the peppers from my container garden and try my hand at canning. With the help of a few You Tube videos and the Internet, I canned my first round of peppers (with a few jalapenos thrown in for good measure) and made some Sweet Pickled Banana Peppers -I followed the recipe to a "T" but also gave them a 10 minute water bath. The only draw back is that you are suppose to wait 2 weeks before eating them. I waited the allotted time and tried them out on a hot dog.

If you like sweet relish and sweet pickles-which I do-you'd LOVE these. I really did like them, DH didn't care for them (he doesn't like the sweet pickles/relish anyways).

I tried another batch with much less sugar, waited two weeks and really didn't like the taste-too tangy.

Then I stumbled on a different/more dill-like recipe and made them last week (you can eat them the next day) and oh my goodness-they were awesome! Delicious on a sandwich!!

PICKLED BANANA PEPPERS

3 lbs. banana peppers
6 garlic cloves
6 jalapeno peppers (optional)
1 quart vinegar (5% acidity)
1 1/3 cups water
1/2 to 1 cup sugar
1 Tbsp. of dried dill seed
1 Tbsp. dried mustard seed
1/2 tsp. pickling salt

Wash peppers and cut small slit in each pepper (this prevents shriveling) do not cut off the pods. Pack peppers into clean hot pint jars. Add one clove of garlic and one hot pepper to each jar (you don't have to add the hot pepper if you don't like them hot).

Bring remaining ingredients to a boil. Pour hot liquid over peppers in the jars leaving 1/2-inch headway.

Place lids and rings on jars and process in a hot water bath for 10 minutes.

Remove from hot water bath and place on counter till cooled. Check to make sure jars have sealed. Refrigerate any that haven't sealed.

My notes:

I accidentally doubled the amounts of dill and mustard seed and it was great!
I used 1/4 c. of sugar
The jar with the added an added habanero was too spicy for DH's taste.
These taste like the ones you get at sandwich shops

Even though it took 3 tries before finding exactly what we were looking for, it was worth it! Unfortunately, my plants are starting to produce red peppers like this red jalapeno which is a sign the growing season is coming to an end.

Next year, more banana pepper plants, fewer jalapenos and lots more canning!

An Affair with Books

2008-09-20T10:37:00.000-04:00

Lately I've felt like I've been cheating on my knitting. For some, knitting is their way to relax, ease tension, reduce stress. Often it is like that for me, but in the past few weeks I've turned to reading instead. In the last three weeks I've finished Breaking Dawn, and read 8 Sandpiper Way and The Knitting Circle. I've already written about my thoughts on Breaking Dawn, but really enjoyed the other two books! They were just what I needed to escape the stress and worries of the week(s). Yesterday I started At Home in Mitford, and well, it had me at "hello." I just loved the opening sentences:

He left the coffee-scented warmth of the Main Street Grill and stood for a moment under the green awning. The honest cold of an early mountain spring stung him sharply.

It's just the kind of writing that makes me want to curl up in my favorite chair and read for hours. An "honest cold"..I love that!

I have wondered though, how everyone else keeps track of their pages. I will either use one of those annoying subscription cards in a magazine, an index card, or every once in a while, the jacket of the book. I have to say I don't care for the fancy bookmarks though especially the thick ones made of leather-like material or metal ones. What about you? Do you fold the pages down? Use an official bookmark? Or do you use something less conventional? Inquiring minds want to know! Also, what are you reading these days?

On another note....

We finally had a taste...a sample...of Fall...especially in the mornings this past week! It was a welcome change from the 100 degrees we had last Saturday-no kidding!! I'm so glad I bought a set of instant apple cider last week. I love that stuff-even if its loaded with sugar. Of course it doesn't compare with the hot caramel apple cider at *bucks but will do in a pinch and much cheaper!

I have to mention how good my leftovers were of the soup from last week. It really held its flavor (even on Friday) and hit the spot with some crackers for lunch. I did end up having to add some chicken broth though, the pasta I used soaked up a lot of the broth.

Soup's On!!

2008-09-14T17:59:00.000-04:00

It's baaaaaack!

Now that I'm back at work, the last few weeks felt like something was missing. I was having to really think about what to bring to lunch. Then I remembered I was missing my soups!

I may not make soup EVERY weekend, but more often then not. Plus, it's becoming "soup weather" and I like not having to think about what to bring to lunch a few days a week.

This week's recipe helped use up some chicken breasts from the freezer and fresh herbs from the garden. I also loved that it used fennel-something different!

Italian Chicken Soup

Source: Taste of Home Heartwarming Soups Magazine
Serves: 4-6
Time: Prep 15 minutes, Cook 45

Ingredients:
1 fennel bulb, chopped
1/2 cup chopped onion
2 teaspoons olive oil
2 cups hot water
4 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth
1-1/2 cups chopped carrots
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme ( I used 1+ tsp fresh)
1/4 teaspoon dried basil ( I used 1+ tsp fresh)
1/4 teaspoon pepper
2 cups cubed cooked chicken breast
1/2 cup uncooked orzo pasta ( I used 1/2 c. dry Acini de Pepe pasta from a previous recipe)
2 tablespoons finely chopped fennel fronds

Directions:

In a Dutch oven, saute fennel bulb and onion in oil until fennel is tender.

Add the next seven ingredients. Bring to a boil. Reduced heat; cover and simmer for 15 minutes.

Stir in chicken and orzo. Cover and cook for 20 minutes or until orzo is tender.

Stir in fennel fronds.

Delizioso!
It was filling and even somewhat healthy (except for the yummy grilled cheese sandwich I ate with it).

Broken Dawn

2008-09-08T19:01:00.000-04:00

Warning..spoilers ahead...

so...I FINALLY finished reading B r e a k i n g D a w n and well, there's not much to say. I had to push myself to get it finished and when I did, I almost wished I had never read it.

My issues:

I tolerated the first part of the book waiting for it to get really good...it never did...
ReneEsme (gag!)-just couldn't get passed the name
I felt like the whole Leah storyline just got dropped at the end
It creeped me out that Jacob imprinted on Nessie (an infant)
It seemed like it took F O R E V E R for that whole ending show-down to happen and then poof it was over.

After reading the 1st three books I could hardly wait to read the next one. Now I don't want to read or see anything vampire related. It's taken me two days to even want to talk about it.

I had to cleanse my palate by reading some Debbie Macomber and I'm in my happy place again.

Any other opinions?

Tree of Happiness

2008-09-05T21:16:00.000-04:00

After reading Amanda's "Happy Six" I decided to do my own version of the Tree of Happiness. All you have to do to play along is write about 6 things that make you happy. Here are mine:

1. My husband. I love him to pieces and can't imagine life without him.

2. My dog, Sophie. Sweetness and love-covered in fur!

3. My friends and family who stand by and love me-quirks and all!

4. My profession (teaching). Fighting through everyday, trying to make a difference. There's nothing like it.

5. Cool/Cold weather. C'mon on Fall!

6. My hobbies: reading, knitting, and cooking. I couldn't imagine not having those outlets for my creativity and desire to learn new things.

What makes you happy?

Lemon Jolly Ranchers?

2008-09-01T18:54:00.000-04:00

When I left work on Friday, I had a mental list of all I wanted to accomplish during the 3-day weekend. Let's see how I did.

On the list and accomplished!

vacuum and dust upstairs and downstairs
mop bathroom floors (we have 3 bathrooms)
grocery shopping for the week (involved going to Sun Harvest, Sam's and H.E.B.)
knitting (not as much as I would have liked but did get to a S.N.B.))
reading (not as much as I would have liked)
laundry-only 1 load got done though
organize office
call parents
dust ceiling fan in bedroom
change calendars to September
refill Airwick plug-ins up and downstairs
watched 8 episodes of Weeds from DVR
take a nap
visit blogs and Ravelry

Not on the list, but still had to deal with:

doggie diarrhea (ahhh the joys of pet ownership)
"check engine coolant" light coming on while running errands
the mobs of shoppers clogging the aisles
a "Labor day" sale that ended yesterday (I went today)-how did that make sense?
accidentally spraying Oxi-clean laundry stain remover on my glass table...

Can you blame me??

Didn't get done:

all the laundry (DH offered to do the bedsheets tomorrow-yay!)
pickle banana peppers (hoping to do that tomorrow after work)
work stuff (ordering for reading department, list making, brochure creating, grade-book organizing) I guess I'll be fitting that in during the next few days)
pulling of stuff for Goodwill
more cleaning

All in all I feel good about what got done! What I failed to mention was the 95% of the items completed happened today. That's right, I put everything off for the last day...sigh...

Lemon Jolly Ranchers? Oh yea... One of the secretaries at school mentioned how much she likes lemon Jolly Ranchers. I thought I'd put together a bag of the yellow ones for her. I bought a few bags of the "regular" and the "sour" ones and not a yellow one in any of the bags. Let me know if anyone has stumbled across these!

In Progress

2008-08-24T11:35:00.000-04:00

Not a whole lot has been happening in my world of knitting and reading for the last week or so due to the preparations for the start of the new school year(and hour after hour of mind-numbing meetings), but here's what's "In progress." I'm hoping to find my way back to these projects in the next week.

1. Special Olympics Scarf

I'm really not fond of working with the specified yarn (there's nothing like the smell of acrylic trapped in a ziplock bag), but it's a fun project for a great cause! I'm boring and am knitting a suggested pattern but any pattern will work as long as you have the required yarn.

2. Clapotis
I'm in the throws of "Straight Row H * ll." I've already done 13 straight row repeats and need to do at least another 10-argh!!!!!!! I plan on finishing the Special Olympic scarf and then getting back to this.

3. I'm also 2/3 of the way done with this book. I am sooo not a vampire lovin' reader but really got hooked on this series. So far it's not my favorite book in the series but is definitely keeping my interest.

Off to purchase some last minute goodies for the first day with kiddos tomorrow! It's always a relief to get started and get our routines going. I don't think I could handle another week of meetings!

Rules For Teachers

2008-08-17T21:20:00.000-04:00

One of my favorite reads this past summer was Florence, The true story of a country schoolteacher in Minnesota and North Dakota. This was a book I acquired last summer at the cabin during a family book exchange. I loved the page that outlined the rules for teachers back then. Tomorrow I begin my 19th year of teaching and am sure glad these rules are not in place today!

1915
Rules For Teachers

You may not marry during the term of your contract.
You are not to keep company with men.
You must be home between the hours of 8 p.m. and 6 a.m. unless attending a school function.
You may not loiter downtown in ice cream stores.
You may not travel beyond the city limits unless you have the permission of the chairman of the board.
You may not ride in a carriage or automobile with any man unless he is your father or brother.
You may not smoke cigarettes.
You may not dress in bright colors.
You may not under no circumstances dye your hair.
You must wear at least two petticoats.
Your dresses must not be any shorter than two inches above the ankle.
To keep the school room neat and clean, you must: sweep the floor at least once daily; scrub the floor at least once a week with hot, soapy water; clean the blackboards at least once a day; and start the fire at 7 a.m. so the room will be warm by 8 a.m.

Whew! It was definitely a different era for teachers but I thoroughly enjoyed reading about Audrey Wendland's grandmother (and the photos) and her experiences as a country schoolteacher.

Dog Days of Summer

2008-08-15T22:34:00.000-04:00

After spending the summer at home, I've decided that Sophie sleeps 20 hrs a day. It seemed I was constantly catching her taking a snooze.
Ruff (heh) life!

Interview with the Mister

2008-08-13T19:16:00.002-04:00

After reading this post I knew I wanted to do the same with my DH. I emailed him the questions and told him he was free to be as snarky or witty as he liked. I see he went for snarky.

What is your favorite thing about my knitting? Keeps you pretty quiet. (Me: What's that suppose to mean??!!)

What is your least favorite thing about my knitting? Lots of paraphernalia around...everywhere...all the time. (Me: Yeah..he's right about that one)

What is something I have knitted that you recall as being good? Hemp bag
(Me: Hmmm..surprised he didn't mention the 160 fish)

Do you think knitters have an expensive hobby? Yep (Me: I guess he knows more than I thought)

Do you have any hobbies? Maybe (Me: Sigh....Mr. Conversation...)

What are your hobbies? I like diecast cars of certain makes...and watches...and shoes. (Me: He really is into shoes and watches-I've never seen a man with so many shoes before)

So, if we compared money/time spent on hobbies, who would win? I really have no idea what YOU spend. (Me: That's probably a good thing)

Has my knitting in public ever embarrassed you? No

Can you name another knitting blog? Yarn Harlot? Knit Witch? Guesses. (Me: That's pretty good!!)

Do you mind that I want to check out yarn stores everywhere we go? Nope (Me: You can tell how much he liked answering these questions!)

Do you understand the importance of a swatch? Nope...unless it relates to color matching.

Do you read Knitty McPurlyPants? No...unless prompted to view it. (Me: That's probably a good thing!)

Do you think the house would be cleaner if I didn't knit? I am not sure.

Is there anything else you want to say? Knit On!

And because I can..here he is at age three...what a cutie-and he still likes having the poof of hair on top!

Found it!

2008-08-08T19:17:00.001-04:00

Hey-I just realized that today's date is 08/08/08!

YES!!! I found the wayward giftcard. Believe it or not, I found it about an hour after posting my last blog post when I was looking through my desk drawers with a fine tooth comb. It was in a ziplock bag among a bunch of paint sample cards. I don't even remember putting it there. When I came across the ziplock I almost didn't bother looking knowing it was just paint samples and a CD or two but then decided to look through and came across a plain-type card and sure enough it was DH's birthday card with the giftcard enclosed.

We used it this evening and the food was so-so but the Chocolate Chocolate Tower cake was fantastic!

The sun is setting on my summer vacation. I had my first taste of being back to work with a 3 hour meeting/planning session today. I have some work to do this weekend (I'm presenting at New Teacher Orientation next week). I have training to attend on Monday and Tuesday, training to give on Wednesday and Thursday, Friday will probably find me getting a head start cleaning my desks and such. My first "official" day back is Monday the 18th though. All this thinking about the upcoming school year caused me to finally turn the calendar by my desk to August (I thought if I kept it on July my vacation would last longer).

My day was made today with the arrival of some hand-spun goodness, with some cool notecards added from Bezzie's monthly K.A.Y.E. contest.

Here's a better photo of the yarn from her site. I love it! Thanks so much!!

Outback Dilemma

2008-08-05T12:45:00.000-04:00

I need some advice on what to do. Here's the situation: My S-I-L gave DH a gift certificate to the Outback restaurant a few months ago for his birthday. He gave it to me for safe keeping.

Here's the state of my desk these days:

What you don't see are shelves (and drawers) that are just as cluttered around it. Normally it's not this messy but in the summer I tend to bring school stuff home for safe keeping and I'm in the process of taking care of end-of-summer vacation business so many appts are being made (Dr.'s, vet, car, hair, etc.) which adds to the clutter.

He's been dropping hints about wanting to use the gift card. I have searched high and low for that damn gift card and I can't find it. CRAP! I know if I tell him I've lost it he'll make snippy remarks(not in a mean ugly way, but more annoying) for the next hundred years about how I lose things and my desk should be better organized-hey I can find things 99% of the time. I mentally divide my desk into the United States and remember things by their location. The highlighting tape? Why that's in Washington (in a basket). The bills to be mailed-Kansas. Get it!?

I remember him handing me the card and I also remember thinking wherever it was put down wasn't a good spot and I needed to move it. I didn't move it..

Soooo...I'm going to look one more time in every possible place. Here's where you come in, if I don't find it, should I just go and buy another one ($25.00) and he'll be none the wiser or fess up?

Summer of Yarn

2008-08-02T15:16:00.000-04:00

This has truly been a Summer of Yarn for me. It started in June with my trip to Austin with Juanita, then I checked out the stores in Boerne, I've bought from my LYS in San Antonio and now the latest additions.

Last Sunday, knitting friends Patty, Terri, Jody and I piled into my car and we hit The Knitting Nest and HCW in Austin, TX. What a treat!

I ended up purchasing:

More sock yarn (Cascade 220 Hand Painted Sock yarn, Koigu KPM, Misti Alpaca Sock yarn, and some Art Yarn Ultra Merino 4)

Manos Silk Blend (my favorite yarn of the day), Classic Elite Inca Alpaca, and Alchemy Synchronicity for some projects

And some Cascade 220 for a felted bag.

You can see the yarn details in my stash on Ravelry.

We even found some time to knit while at The Knitting Nest before ending our day at Steak 'n Shake and heading back to S.A.

Patty and Teri

A few days ago my Summer of Yarn came to a close with the arrival of some Knit Picks Palette.

That's it....no more yarn til Kid 'n Ewe....Unless it's for a project...or a new sock yarn....or a GREAT deal....you get the idea.

Funny of the day: DH saw my pile o' yarn I had out for taking photos for my Ravelry stash and declared, "I bet I could sell that lot of yarn on EBAY for twenty dollars!" At first I was going to correct him as to its worth, but then decided against it. What he doesn't know won't hurt him.

Best Chocolate Chip Cookie EVER!

2008-07-29T18:45:00.000-04:00

A week or so ago, a friend of mine emailed a link to a New York Times article about making the perfect chocolate chip cookie. Of course I was intrigued and knew I wanted to try out the methods described in the article. For those who don't want to bother with registering in order to read, here are the high points:

Use a combination of bread flour and cake flour
Let the dough rest in the fridge for 36 hours-this time frame was found best
Use chocolate with a minimum of 60% cocao content
Make them big (4-5" diameter)-you get to experience all textures (crisp, chewy, soft)
Sprinkle sea salt on the cookies right before baking

One of the hardest things for me was to try and figure out when I could do the 36 hour span. I also knew I didn't want to let DH in on my experiment so I could get an honest opinion. The article recommended certain brands of chocolate but I ended up purchasing some El Rey chocolate discs from Whole Foods.

I successfully mixed up the batter, covered it with plastic wrap and stuck it in the back of the fridge. 36 hours later ended up being 9:30 p.m. and although DH looked at me funny when I said I was going to bake some cookies, didn't ask too many questions. When he finally got to taste one, it was worth the wait. He declared it to be the best chocolate chip cookie he'd ever had and asked what I had done differently (other than making them bigger than I normally do). I told him about the article and he confirmed the wait time truly made a difference. We've shared cookies with various family and friends who have also confirmed the over the top goodness.

I think I'll try them with regular chocolate chips next time just to see if they're just as good.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Adapted from Jacques Torres
Source: New York Times

Time: 45 minutes (for 1 6-cookie batch), plus at least 24 hours’ chilling

2 cups minus 2 tablespoons cake flour

1 2/3 cups bread flour

1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 1/2 teaspoons coarse salt

2 1/2 sticks (1 1/4 cups) unsalted butter

1 1/4 cups light brown sugar

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar

2 large eggs

2 teaspoons natural vanilla extract

1 1/4 pounds bittersweet chocolate disks or fèves, at least 60 percent cacao content (see note)

Sea salt

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

2. 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.

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

4. 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.

Note: Disks are sold at Jacques Torres Chocolate; Valrhona fèves, oval-shaped chocolate pieces, are at Whole Foods.

Sophie thought the crumbs were delicious too!

A Good Monday

2008-07-21T15:54:00.000-04:00

Boy Mondays are much more pleasant when you're not working!

This is a sign I've driven past daily for the last 3 1/2 years not too far from where I live. Today I decided to check out the "lake."

I was pleasantly surprised! Nestled in a nearby community (around 2 miles from my house) is a park which includes a "lake" along with a big field and nice playground. There's even a path to walk around the lake. I was thrilled! It's not Minnesota (Land of 10,000 Lakes), but it sure is nice to get a taste of nature so close to my house. I will definitely be visiting my "lake" more frequently!

I even met a woman-happened to also be from MN walking her dog, Bear. She says she goes nearly every day, it's very safe and at dusk can often see deer while you're walking. They also stock the lake with fish so people are often fishing off the dock.

I am also thrilled at the growing of my banana peppers. I'm hoping to have enough to make a jar of pickled banana peppers soon. My jalapenos have not done so well this summer though. Next year I want to grow even more banana peppers and may look into planting them and possibly some cucumbers for the Fall growing season.

Finally, here's a progress picture of my Clapotis. I made it wider than the pattern called for and am also planning on making it longer..we'll see yarn wise though. If you look carefully (and click to enlarge), you can see two columns of dropped stitches-love row 8 -on the right. I'm hoping to get it done before school starts.

Everlasting Bagstopper

2008-07-13T11:57:00.000-04:00

I finished the Everlasting Bagstopper a week or so ago but finally got a chance to try it out yesterday at the Farmer's Market.

Sorry about the bad picture. It was the only one that turned out with the items in the bag. Of course Sophie had to check out what I was doing.

It was comfortable to use, but it really did stretch out. Check out the bag after one use:

Now compare the length after I machine washed/dried it yesterday:

Overall I am happy with the project and know I will get much use out of it! Probably won't be knitting with hemp for awhile though.

Project Details:
Pattern: Everlasting Bagstopper
Yarn: Hemp for Knitting-Allhemp6 (Aubergine 027)
Needles: Knit Pick Options US 5, US 10 1/2
Notes:

The hemp yarn sucked the big one while knitting but really softened up after a wash.
I used the linen stitch (11 sts wide) for the strap and the three needle bind off-which is suppose to be sturdier and not stretch as much, but it still stretched out a bit.

Changes:

Make 2 shorter straps rather than the one longer one.
Make the bag smaller
I'd also throw in a contrast color along the way. It got boring to knit in the same color with a yarn that was killing my fingers.

Day Trippin'

2008-07-05T12:27:00.000-04:00

A few days ago, my best friend Diane and I took a jaunt out to Boerne, TX to check out Rosewood Yarns and Ewe & Eye. Our first stop was to Ewe & Eye where I picked up some Alpaca Sox yarn.

Then we just parked the car and walked the main drag and visited many shops. I added to my blue/white enamel collection from a thrift store.

Of course being the pickle lover I am, was stopped in my tracks with this sign.

I naturally purchased some of the famous Fickle Pickles, and a jar of the marinade.

I also decided to start a sheep collection. So far I have two, here's the newest addition-bought her at The Christmas Shoppe.
We also hoofed it to Rosewood Yarns where I added to my knitting book stash.
We finished our day with a delicious lunch at The Boerne Grill and with dessert from a local bakery or two.

Yarn, pickles, sheep and sweets-who could ask for more?

S. E. X. in a Pan

2008-07-02T10:51:00.000-04:00

Is it weird I got this recipe from my mom? When she mentioned it to me-and sang its praises- I just had to try it! The given recipe is for a 9 X 13 pan.

S. E. X. in a Pan

Ingredients:
3/4 cup of chopped pecans
1 cup of flour
1/2 cup of butter at room temp
1 cup of sugar (or Splenda mix)
32 oz of Lite Cool Whip
8 oz of lite cream cheese at room temp
1 big box of instant sugar free vanilla pudding
1 big box of instant sugar free chocolate pudding
3 cups of skim milk
grated semi-sweet chocolate

1. Mix butter, flour & nuts until crumbly. Pat into 9 X 13 Pyrex dish. Bake in a 325 oven for 25 minutes. Cool.

2. Whip cream cheese & sugar until smooth. Fold in 1/2 of Cool Whip into mixture. Spread over cooled crust. Chill until set.

3. Mix vanilla pudding with 1 1/2 cups of milk & spread over cheese layer. Chill until set.

4. Mix chocolate pudding with 1 1/2 cups of milk & spread over vanilla layer.

5. Smooth rest of Cool Whip over top. Sprinkle with grated chocolate & chill. Can be frozen

Notes:

This was soooo good! I used all the light/sugar free ingredients mentioned (except I used real sugar and 1 % milk) and DH didn't know the difference-whatever you do don't tell him either!
I modified the ingredients to make it into an 8X8 pan. I made 2/3 of the crust, halved the cream cheese, more than halved the amount of Cool Whip (Mom said she would have reduced it too) and still used the big box of puddings and all of the nuts. Use more or less of whatever suits your tastes.

Leapin' Lizards

2008-06-26T19:17:00.002-04:00

Lizard Ridge Dishcloth with a side of Tribble

Pattern(s): Lizard Ridge Dishcloth, Tribble (with the leftover yarn)

Yarn: Lily Sugar 'n Cream from stash

Notes:

Great pattern to learn wrap & turn stitch, and of course how to hide the wrapped stitches.
I finally figured it out on the last repeat with the help of Cat Bordhi's tutorials:

Soup Sabbatical

2008-06-23T11:17:00.001-04:00

I've decided to take a break from soup making for a spell. Reasons?

It's hot.
I hate routine/schedules in the summer. Making soup once a week seemed like a routine-type activity to me.
It's really hot.
I wasn't eating as much soup as I would during the school year.
Because it's so freakin' hot!

Also, in an attempt to clean out my pantry, I have all this other soup to eat when I feel the urge.

Some proof we actually got some rain over the weekend. A pittance to add to the 1/100th of an inch we've received so far this month. Water restrictions, here we come!

DH is known for his rib makin' abilities and decided to try out a new technique he read in the newspaper a few days ago.

Crockpot ribs!

1. Take whatever ribs are on special at the grocery store and rub them with your choice of spices. Cut them up into serving portions (4-5 ribs a hunk).

2. Coat the slow cooker with nonstick cooking spray, put in the ribs, and cook 4 or 5 hours on high, or 8 hours on low.

3. At this point, the fat has cooked out of the ribs and they're almost ready to fall off the bone. Heat the broiler on your oven to high.

4. Drain ribs and coat with barbecue sauce, then run them under the broiler until they sizzle.

These were fantastic! We wished we had made more!

Austin Yarn Crawl

2008-06-21T13:13:00.000-04:00

Yesterday Juanita and I headed up to Austin to check out their yarn stores. Our first stop was The Knitting Nest.

I ended up purchasing some Trekking pro natura in color 1545(purple) and a cute yarn "sauce bowl." I LOVED this store! The location is perfect (southside of Austin-I'm from the north end of S.A.), the layout is great-lots of room to sit and knit, the owner was fantastic! She even threw in a free measuring tape. The fact that people can bring food and drinks-there's even a mini-kitchen in the back for SnB makes it such a homey place. One I'd definitely frequent if I lived a bit closer. The pics Franklin drew on the wall were great too!

Our 2nd stop was the Yarn Mecca of Austin-Hill Country Weavers. It had been 2 years since I last visited and was truly overwhelmed with the selection. I had yarn ADD. The was no way I could maintain eye contact for more than 2 seconds before getting distracted. Some Shi Bui sock yarn-color 5001 tricked some cash out of my wallet and made its way into my bag.

Our third stop was Gauge Knits. The owner was so sweet and patient when I called for directions...twice...
I ended up purchasing a really cool project bag, Peace Needles, Lorna's Laces in Jungle Print, and some of the softest sock yarn ever-Panda Silk in periwinkle tones. Karli-the owner was kind enough to recommend our delicious lunch location: Russell's Bakery and Coffee Bar. An excellent place for a soup/sandwich type lunch and of course something sweet.

Our 4th and final stop was Bluebonnet Yarn Shoppe. I fell in love with the Katia Jamaica yarn-color 4010 and purchased some along with a cute knit themed greeting card.

By this point we were pooped! We had such a fun day! One we'll have to do again!

Tribbles in Triplicate

2008-06-18T20:54:00.000-04:00

I'd had 1870Pearl's Tribble pattern (Ravelry link here) in my mental queue for awhile now and finally decided to try them! Its a great pattern to use up the leftover bits of cotton dishcloth yarn. When I looked through my Sugar 'n Cream stash I decided to go with colors that matched my favorite ice cream-Neapolitan.

Knitting them was fast and easy, figuring out how to make the "swirl" took much longer. After looking around on Ravelry I was relieved to find out I wasn't the only one who was having a hard time. Finally figured it out though.

The step that trips up most people is when you are sewing up the sides (after connecting the diagonal ends). That's just it, you don't actually sew them up. You just do a running stitch around the "lip" of the cylinder like this:

Once you've gone all the way around. It should look like this. Do the same on the other side.

Now you're ready to pull it tight. Really tight.

I also pulled one string through to the bottom so you were weaving both ends on the same side and did some creative weaving in of ends.

This is a perfect pattern for a "quick knit" and way to use leftover bits of yarn.

Soup Week 24: Tom Ka Gai

2008-06-16T19:42:00.000-04:00

Wow! It's hard to know where to start for this week's soup. I am a huge fan of Top Chef, so when Lisa won raves for her Tom Ka Soup Dumplings with Organic Chicken recipe my "soup radar" definitely went off. I checked out the recipe and concluded that since I was making such a small amount it was going to be too much of a hassle. Then, with the help of the Top Chef Ravelry group, I discovered a more basic recipe here.

After reading the reviews, I decided to make the soup more authentic by substituting ingredients with the help of a local oriental grocery store. So, in the end it was a combination of the two recipes. Since not everyone may want to trace down the Thai ingredients, I'll post the original recipe with my substitutions noted on the side.

Tom Ka Gai
(Coconut Chicken Soup)

PREP TIME: 15 Min
COOK TIME: 20 Min
READY IN: 35 Min
SERVES: 3-4

Ingredients:

6 ounces boneless, skinless chicken meat
1 tablespoon and 1-1/2 teaspoons vegetable oil
1 (14 ounce) can coconut milk
1 cup low-sodium chicken broth
1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger root ( I used galangal-thai ginger)
2 tablespoons fish sauce
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper ( I used thai chili paste)
1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric (I omitted this-it just turns the soup bright yellow)
1 tablespoon thinly sliced green onion
1-1/2 teaspoons chopped fresh cilantro

I added: 1 stalk lemon grass and some kaffir lime leaves

DIRECTIONS
1. Cut chicken into thin strips and saute in oil for to 2 to 3 minutes until the chicken turns white. (I just poached some chicken earlier in the day)

2. In a pot, bring chicken broth to a boil. Reduce heat. Add ginger, fish sauce, lime juice, cayenne powder and turmeric. Simmer until the chicken is done, 10 to 15 minutes (less if using pre-cooked chicken). This is where I took some lemon grass-you can see the stalks- some kaffir leaves and also simmered them.

3. Turn soup to low (make sure it is not boiling) add coconut milk stirring constantly so it will not curdle. Strain out the lemon grass stalks and kaffir leaves.

4. Many reviewers suggested serving over some rice, I served mine over udon noodles. Sprinkle with scallions and fresh cilantro and serve steaming hot.

This was soooooo good. Infact, this was the bowl less than 10 minutes later-which is saying a lot since it was 100 degrees outside and not exactly soup weather.

Notes:

I really enjoyed using the Thai ingredients (galangal, lime kaffir leaves, lemongrass, chili paste) but am confident (based on the reviews) it would taste just as great with the easier-to-find ingredients.
Be sure to read all the reviews for suggestions to the basic recipe.
The tumeric supposedly just made the soup bright yellow, so I just left it out.
Whatever you do, don't smell the fish sauce.
This was such a good soup and made me want to look into cooking more Thai recipes!

WWKIP Day

2008-06-14T17:02:00.000-04:00

Happy WWKIP Day! WWKIP=World Wide Knit in Public. Fellow SnB'er and knitting friend Teri invited me to knit at our local Borders (and SnB location) for our participation today. There was a bigger "shindig" at one of the LYS but we wanted to be indoors with the AC. She even showed up with her own sign!

Coincidentally, we both showed up to work on bags. Hers-Elisa's Nest Tote, Mine-Everlasting Bagstopper. We got hopped up on caffeine and knit away for about 2 hours and each switched to other projects.
What a fun way to spend the afternoon!

Household Mysteries

2008-06-13T09:41:00.001-04:00

Now that I've officially been on vacation for one week and have had a chance to get reacquainted with the house (I swear the last month of school was a blur), certain questions have popped up:

Dead or Dormant?

This plant was doing, "ok" until about a week ago when all of a sudden all the leaves fell. Is it a goner or just hibernating?

How have I managed to accumulate 5....5 cans of Pam?

Somehow I've acquired 4 bottle of Worcestershire sauce!

I'm sure this is due to Party Mix making in November/December, but still-4 bottles? This is also true with vinegar, white corn syrup and a few spices.

Not pictured, but another McPurlypants Household Mystery is why is it that the toilet paper rolls always seem to need changing when I'm in the loo? We have 3 bathrooms and I swear its a conspiracy!

Summertime Melon Soup

2008-06-09T19:11:00.000-04:00

The inspiration for my 23rd soup of the year came from one those mini-cooking magazines at the grocery store check-out stand. It was a Taste of Home, Summer Appetizers edition. I'm such a sucker for those things!

Summertime Melon Soup

Source: Taste of Home mini-magazine: Summer Appetizers
Serves: 3-4 (I halved the original recipe)

Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups seeded cubed watermelon
1 cup fresh strawberries
2 tablespoons sour cream (I used low-fat and it tasted just fine)
1 tablespoons milk
1 tablespoon sugar
1 to 2 cantaloupes, optional
Additional fresh strawberries, optional

Directions:

Combine watermelon and strawberries. Puree in batches in a blender or food processor, adding sour cream, milk and sugar to the last batch. Pour into a 1-qt. container; mix well. Cover and chill at least 3 hours.

To serve soup in cantaloupe bowls, cut cantaloupes in half; hollow out melon and seeds, leaving about a 1-1/2-in shell. Cut a decorative edge if desired. Add soup; garnish with a strawberry if desired.

I plan on having the "soup" with a muffin or two for breakfast for the next few days.

Mmmmmmm..Buttermilk Berry Muffins

Note: One soup I won't be making from the magazine is the Icy Olive Soup-blech! But it was filled with many other delightful recipes.

Wild Knitting Woman

2008-06-06T18:51:00.000-04:00

Look what was waiting for me in the mailbox a few days ago!

My Mom visited a yarn shop with a friend of hers and saw this and bought one for me. I love it! It's a pin about 3" tall and is cuter than cute! I think it was her way of celebrating the fact I actually finished knitting all the fish and to get going on the seaming. The blanket is for her after all.

I also added to my yarn/knitting accessory collection by purchasing the following:

Noro Kureyon Sock Yarn in color: S40
and
a Lady Bug tape measure from Lantern Moon

I've been wanting to try out the Noro sock yarn ever since I heard of its existence. Anyone try it yet?

Today was my first official day of Summer Vacation. I decided earlier in the week to kick off the first day by getting my haircut and a pedicure. Like my new red toes?

I decided I just might make this a tradition! It was a great way to relax and feel pampered after a challenging year!

Tomato Soup with Herbs and Wine

2008-06-01T19:53:00.001-04:00

ETA: It occurred to me as I was putting everything away that this soup is VERY similar to la Madeleine's Tomato Basil soup.

My 22nd soup recipe for the year was found in the local newspaper a few weeks ago. Every Wednesday there is a "Taste" section which focuses on food/restaurants. This particular week there was a big article on herb gardens with some accompanying recipes. I was drawn to this recipe mainly because the herbs used (thyme and basil) were found in my herb garden. For some reason, both herbs are going crazy with growth this year. I can barely keep up with the basil.

This recipe is also significant in that it's my last week of soup lunch for work until the end of August. Students are done on Wednesday, teachers on Thursday-woo hoo!

If you like that creamy tomato flavor, this is the recipe for you!

Tomato Soup with Herbs and Wine

Source: San Antonio Express News- adapted from Southern Herb Growing by Madalene Hill and Gwen Barclay

Ingredients:
2 cups fresh tomatoes, peeled, or canned tomatoes
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon lemon thyme OR other culinary thyme
1 tablespoon fresh basil OR 1 teaspoon dried basil
Pinch of pepper
¼ teaspoon baking soda
1 cup fat-free half-and-half
½ cup dry white wine

1-2 tablespoons mixed fresh herbs, such as slivered basil, thyme leaf, parsley, for garnish

Procedure:

1. If using fresh tomatoes, chop and simmer in saucepan with butter until soft. Cool slightly, then purée or blend. Return to saucepan. If using canned tomatoes, blend, then place in saucepan with butter and heat until warm.

2. Stir flour into ¼ cup water, then add to tomatoes, stirring.

3. Then add salt, lemon thyme, basil and pepper. Bring to a simmer, stirring. Reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes.

4. Stir in soda and fat-free half-and-half. Cook over low heat until slightly thickened. Do not boil. Stir in dry wine and heat to simmer; let simmer 15-20 minutes. I couldn't wait the 15 minutes and had some after about 5 minutes-it was wonderful!!!

5. Serve in cups, sprinkling more fresh herbs on top for garnish.

Makes 6 (1/2-cup) servings. Approximate nutritional values per serving: 130 calories (58.9 percent calories from fat), 2 g protein, 7 g carbohydrate, 3 g sugar, 1 g dietary fiber, 8 g fat, 25 mg cholesterol, 660 mg sodium.

My Notes:

This recipe came together pretty quick and was a nice break from the sauteing of garlic/onions.
I made the recipe as is quantity-wise and it made enough for 1 bowl immediately and leftovers for 3 lunches during the week.
I used 2 c. canned diced tomatoes(drained), regular thyme from my garden, and squeezed some lemon juice in for that flavor.
To lighten it up: Use 1 tablespoon instead of 2 tablespoons butter and save 10 calories and 1 g fat per serving. I'd probably add more tomatoes and less cream next time to make it a bit healthier and not so creamy.
This just begs to be eaten with grilled cheese, but I made some pimento cheese sandwiches. Recipe also found in the same section-same week.
Many of my soup recipes call for wine and since I only like a glass now and then, I've started buying the mini-bottles in the 4 packs which works great for recipes like this.

Fin-is

2008-05-28T18:41:00.000-04:00

The

Last

Fish!!!!

160 fish knit!

Now What?!

My Year In Soup-Week 21

2008-05-26T14:15:00.000-04:00

With temperatures pert-near 100 for the last few days, the only soup that sounded good this weekend was Ice Cream Soup. The original recipe can be found here. I halved the recipe and made a few other minor adjustments.

Raspberry Ice Cream Soup

INGREDIENTS:

1 package frozen raspberries in syrup, thawed
1 tbsp all-purpose flour
1/2 can mandarin oranges, undrained
1/4 cup fresh or unsweetened frozen raspberries
2 tbsp water
1/2 cup Premium Natural Vanilla Ice Cream
1 1/2 tbsp lemon juice
Fresh mint leaves (garnish)

PREPARATION:

1. In blender, combine undrained raspberries, lemon juice and flour; process until smooth; strain to remove seeds, if desired.

2. Pour into a 1 quart saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat; boil and stir for 2 minutes. Remove from the heat; add 1/2 cup ice cream and stir until melted.

3. Add undrained oranges, whole raspberries and water. Chill. Ladle into individual bowls; top each with a scoop of ice cream and garnish with mint leaves, if desired.

Makes 2 servings

Ahhhhhh....best soup for a 100 degree day!!

My Notes:

This was listed under breakfast/brunch recipes but I think it would make for a great snack or light dessert. You could make it healthier by using frozen yogurt in place of the ice cream.
I couldn't find frozen raspberries in syrup so I just took some frozen raspberries, put them in a bowl, sprinkled some sugar on top and let them make their own syrup
I didn't take the time for straining out the seeds, but if I was serving this to guests, I would. The seeds can be a bit annoying.
Any seasonal fruit would work well with this-can hardly wait to try it with strawberries or peaches! Play around with the mandarin oranges and fresh fruit amounts as well.

My Year In Soup-Week 20

2008-05-20T21:13:00.000-04:00

My thyme plant is going nuts!

Here we go for another week! This was a recipe I found in the book Caprial's Soup and Sandwiches-thanks to the public library. With ingredients such as white beans, sundried tomatoes and pancetta, what's not to like?! I will say, this is an "all day" type of soup in terms of prep, and needs some planning ahead with the soaking and cooking of the beans. Perfect for a rainy day when you're stuck inside anyway.

White Bean Soup with Sundried Tomatoes and Pancetta

Source: Caprial's Soups and Sandwiches

Serves: 4-6

Ingredients:
1/2 pound dried great Northern or other white bean sorted and rinsed
6+ cups chicken stock (low-sodium or homemade)
1 bay leaf
1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
1/2 pound pancetta or pepper bacon, diced
1 medium onion, diced
1/2 bulb fennel, diced-be sure to take out the core
3+ cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup white wine
1/2 cup oil-packed sundried tomatoes, drained and julienned
1/2 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
1 Tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
2 teaspoons rice wine vinegar
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper

1. Place the beans in a large bowl. Cover with cold water and let them soak 4+ hours (or soak overnight). Drain and rinse.

2. In a large stockpot over medium-high heat, combine the beans, stock, and bay leaf. Bring to a boil, decrease the heat, and simmer until the beans are tender, 1 1/2 to 2 hours, adding more stock or water if necessary.

3. Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a large saute pan over medium hea-high heat until hot. Add the pancetta and cook until crispy, but not too brown.

4. Add the onions, fennel, and garlic, and saute until the mixture is fragrant and the onions are tender, about 5 minutes (whoa baby-the aroma has people knocking on the door it's so good!).

5. Add the white wine and sundried tomatoes, and cook over high heat until the liquid is reduced by one-half.

6. Stir the vegetable mixture into the beans and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat to low, and simmer 30 minutes or until beans are soft.

7. Stir in the thyme, Worcestershire sauce, and vinegar, and season to taste with salt and pepper. Adjust the consistency of the soup with more stock or water, if needed.

8. Serve with a great hunk of bread to dip in!

Notes:

This was a bit time/labor intensive but oh, so worth it!
Go light with the Worcestershire sauce and vinegar, mine was a bit too tangy.
I'd probably dice, rather than julienne, the sundried tomatoes for texture reasons.
The recipe really doesn't need any extra salt if using the pancetta.
This recipe made lots and I even halved it!
The cookbook recommended serving the soup with a tarragon puree or fennel jam but that just didn't sound good to me.

Yarn and Cars

2008-05-17T18:47:00.000-04:00

Knitters know yarn can get stashed nearly everywhere. I even have some "yarn baskets" here and there for decoration.

Well, DH has been collecting model cars and has developed his own "car stash" which has spilled into our house decor as well. It all started with this shelf at the top of the stairs.

I have yarn on the middle shelf and he added a car to the books on the bottom shelf. No biggie, I could handle it, I even thought it was cute. Until this......

YIKES!! No only does he have TWO cars on his dresser in our bedroom, but he's added a car to my dresser. So now my "girly" dresser has hat boxes on one side and a car on the other.

He was keeping the cars upstairs so I still didn't make too much of a fuss. Until I came home from work yesterday to this:

and this:

There are frickin' cars EVERYWHERE! Now he has them on display in the living room, dining room, MY DESK, and is threatening to put some on the baker's rack in my kitchen.

That's it...time for more yarn baskets!

My Year In Soup-Week 19

2008-05-12T18:51:00.000-04:00

Pickles!!!!

I love, love love pickles-sweet, dill, sour, bread and butter, spicy-you name I love it! My nieces know for Thanksgiving to make a separate pickle tray for just me! It would only make sense in this soup-filled year to make a Pickle Soup. After searching the web, I decided on this recipe from What's Cooking America with a few minor changes. My amounts serves 3.

Dill Pickle Soup

Source: What's Cooking America
Serves: 3

Ingredients:

1/2 Tablespoons butter
2 Tablespoons finely chopped onion
1/4 cup white wine
1/4 cup plus 1/2 Tablespoon all-purpose flour
2 1/2 cups water (I used chicken stock instead)
3/4 cup dill pickle juice
1 teaspoons dried dill weed, crushed
1/4 cup heavy cream, whipping cream or milk (I used half and half)
Salt and white pepper to taste
1 large dill pickle, cut julienne

In a large soup pot over medium heat, melt butter. Add onion and sauté until soft. Add white wine and continue cooking until almost all liquid evaporates. Reduce heat to low and stir in flour (do not brown). Add water(broth) and pickle juice, whisking or stirring into onion mixture. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly, until soup slightly thickens. Add dill weed.

Stir in whipping cream or milk; season with salt and white pepper to taste. Remove from heat. Serve in individual soup bowls and garnish with julienne dill pickle.

My Notes:

I was pretty skeptical of this recipe at first, it really surprised me as to how tasty it was!
I didn't care for the pickle garnish though and ended up taking the julienned pickles out. I guess it's a texture thing. Next time I might try to chopped them into tiny bits or just chomp on a pickle while eating the soup.
I served this with a summer sausage sandwich and it was a perfect match!
Don't let the name scare you, it really was good soup and worthy of making again!

Also:
It shouldn't be surprising that I'm addicted to these too!

Pickle Sickles!

Frozen pickle juice...mmmmmmm....very refreshing and addicting! I've already got 4 people at work addicted to them too!

Almost There.....

2008-05-10T10:19:00.000-04:00

I finished my last "lavender" fish the other day. Believe it or not, I only have 10 fish left to knit out of my 160-I'm choosing not to acknowledge all the seaming at this point-hee!

Off to tackle my last 10 blue fish.....