renaissance

Went to the Renaissance Festival in Tampa today with the boys. It was so much fun!

We got henna tattoos and walked around in the sun for hours. I tried throwing stars but I think I only got one to stick. There were hilarious people everywhere. And I got to drink mead.



I wanted to go to the free medieval combat lessons but I got there too late. Next time!

awesome

After 3 years of waiting, hooray!

coconut

One of my favorite made up recipes. I'm sure it's not original, but I've never followed any recipes for it. This time I put yellow sweet potatoes in it and it's sooo yummy.



Red Lentil Coconut Curry with Sweet Potatoes

2 Tbsp coconut oil
1 onion
2 cloves of garlic
1 Tbsp fresh grated ginger
1 Tbsp fresh grated turmeric
1 Thai chile or serrano pepper
1 Tbsp or so ground coriander
1/4 tsp cayenne
some lemongrass
1 can of coconut milk
1/4 c grated coconut (i use dry)
1 c. red lentils
1 medium yellow sweet potato chopped into small cubes

Cook the onion in the oil for awhile and then throw in the garlic, ginger, turmeric, chile, lemongrass, cayenne and coriander. Cook for another couple minutes then add the coconut milk, grated coconut, lentils and potatoes. Add about a cup of water. Cook on low until the lentils disappear and the potatoes are soft. Add salt to taste.

It's vegan but not on purpose. The red lentils have more protein in them than other varieties and they completely melt into the sauce. Always makes me feel good when I eat this!

8.6

a list

James Blake - James Blake
AFP - Amanda Palmer Goes Down Under
Bonobo - Black Sands
Cut Copy - Zonoscope

to be continued...

looks just like the sun

Saw Broken Social Scene on Friday night at the Ritz. Such beautiful music!

plaid

veg burgers

These veggie burgers mostly just taste like vegetables. I just took whatever I thought would taste good together and it was pretty good! This was definitely a "use whatever's in your house" experiment. Four other people tried them and said they liked them so I have to record the recipe on the internets.


Lovely BlackBerry pic

1 c. split peas cooked
3/4 c. millet cooked
three carrots
two onions
three or four big stalks of celery
cooked spinach
few tablespoons lemonaise
tablespoon or so of sriracha
tablespoon or so of grainy mustard
little cayenne
1 tblsp Dill
1 tblsp fennel
1 tsp sage
1 tsp basil
1 tsp thyme
lots of salt
chickpea flour

I grated the veggies, mixed it all and then added as much chickpea flour as it needed to soak up the extra water. The mixture was very wet, but that makes for not too dry burgers. Baked them at 375 for 20-30 minutes, turned them over and baked some more until they were kinda brown.

I had them on lavash with spinach and a little yogurt. Homemade street food. 9.7

sunday

Coffee in my lovely new mug. It matches my shirt.



So since 2010 ended a month ago, here's my favorite albums of last year:

0. Beach House - Teen Dream
1. LCD Soundsystem - This is Happening
2. Yeasayer - Odd Blood
3. Deerhunter - Halcyon Digest
4. Four Tet - There is Love in You
5. Boy Eats Drum Machine - 20 Beats
6. Boy Eats Drum Machine - Hoop + Wire
7. Caribou - Swim
8. The Books - The Way Out
9. Flying Lotus - Cosmogramma
10. Twin Sister - Color Your Life
11. Thee Oh Sees - Warm Slime

it is happening again

chemicals

SINCE I HARDLY EVER KNIT ANYMORE...

This is going to become a blog about random crap. Because today I used new gel in my hair and I wanted to tell the internets about it, but I have nowhere to do that. So yeah.



It's Aubrey Organics B5 Design Gel. Trying to quit the silicone mousse! I liked what the B5 did to my hair today, but it always takes a few tries to really see if it works. I have fine wavy hair that gets huge when it's humid and is always kind of fuzzy. I've been trying to get off the sulfate/silicone dwindling spiral for awhile now, but haven't found a good replacement for that mousse.

Still haven't figured out how to stop washing my hair. I figure I have to stop putting silicone in it before I can stop putting soap in it. I've been reading No More Dirty Looks for inspiration. It has made me want to go to the next level of getting chemicals out of my life. Except I recently started wearing nail polish.

swiss chard

Started knitting something new, but ripped it right away...still looking for a good lace project.

In the meantime, I wanted to record this recipe in history on the internets because it's so yummy.


Swiss Chard Tart

Loosely based on this recipe, though that is a sweet one, and this has garlic in it!

Millet Bread for the base, spread with butter
Filling:
Swiss Chard
1 Egg
Parmesan Cheese
Cheddar Cheese
Pine Nuts
2 Cloves Garlic
Salt & Pepper
Millet Breadcrumbs with butter for the topping

Bake at 350 for 30 min

8.9!

cheese + rice = yummies

Rice with cheese and leeks:



I bought Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything Vegetarian. I love it! It's full of simple recipes with all kinds of variations and good ideas. I think I've changed every recipe I've made so far, but that's the point of the book.

This recipe is rice with cheese, and I added the leeks and red pepper flakes. So so yummy! This is fontina and asiago - creamy and sharp. The leeks blended into the background and the red pepper flakes contrasted against everything. I used sushi rice because I was starving, but I think this would be even tastier with brown rice.

I give it an 8.8.

beans!

Oh man this thing has gone from knitting to beans. Crazy times.

They arrived!



14 lbs. of beans from Rancho Gordo. I cooked a cup of Good Mother Stallards last night in the slow cooker with some onions for 8 hours. They came out perfect! The skins didn't split and the insides were creamy and delicious. I had them with rice and some tomato chili sauce I made, and then used the leftovers for some nachos.



Yummy!

beans, part 1.5

Black beans & Millet (7)

black beans, cooked
onions
garlic
cumin
paprika
chile pepper
cilantro
cayenne
organic ketchup (the thick kind, nothing like Heinz)

The millet cooks just like white rice, 20 minutes in a covered pot with 1 1/2 times as much water. Pretty tasty!

These were some black beans I bought long enough ago to forget when I got them. Most of them split and didn't get creamy, but they still did the job. More cayenne and fresh instead of dried cilantro would make these better!

beans, part 1

Mushy beans (8.2)

1 c. minced onions
1 clove of garlic
1/4 tsp. cumin
1 tbsp. paprika
1 tbsp. chile powder
1/8 tsp. cayenne
black pepper
salt
1/2 c. pureed tomatoes
2 c. Anasazi beans

Cook onions and garlic in oil until soft, add spices and cook a few more minutes. Add tomatoes and beans, mash beans and stir well. Cook on low for about 10 minutes. I had them with brown rice, cheese and avocado. Sour cream and cilantro would be good, too.

Omgz this was so good! Kind of like sloppy joes, but with no meat and kinda mexican flavored.

Yeah, since I hardly knit anymore, this is gonna turn into a food blog. Probably a bean blog, since I just ordered 13 lbs. of beans from Rancho Gordo. Just not that interested in eating meat lately, so beans it is!

black bear

After a year and a half, I finished the black bear. He started out as practice for the baby blue bear, and then I decided to finish him for my friend. And then over a year later he turned into her Christmas present. I ran out of the black yarn I was using, so I decided to make him look kinda scruffy. I think he's cute and my friend loves him!



Teddy Bear from Debbit Bliss' Simply Baby
I have no idea what yarn it was
size 4 addi turbos
started June 2008, finished December 17, 2009

Next I'm going to do a koala bear and a kangaroo. More babies!

2009

In 2009, I:

Learned how to make:
Latkes
Split Pea Soup
Sushi
A good version of Butter Chicken
No-knead Bread
Tortillas
Homemade Lattes

Started loving Mushrooms!
Had The Best Meal Ever
Had Pork Fried Rice in Chinatown
Learned how to eat for less than $60 a week and stopped spending $150 a week on food
Stopped eating meat every day

Finally finished the melon shawl
Made a penguin with a hockey jersey that I failed to take pictures of
Finished the Black Bear

Watched a Devils game in Jersey!
Saw the Redskins lose to the 'boys

Wandered around Chinatown (NYC) in the snow early in the morning

Saw Amanda Fing Palmer (OMGZ!!)
Saw Bon Iver (lovely)
Saw Animal Collective (boring)
Saw Grizzly Bear (YAY!)

Saw Seinfeld live!!!!!!!!!!!! and laughed for 2 hours straight

Started listening to vinyl and started a vinyl collection
Changed my facebook profile picture twice
Got one hair cut
Experienced snow twice!
Parked over the line at Starbucks
Only went to NYC once
Finally painted my bedroom and bathroom
Decided to fix up my closet and then gave up after realizing needed space for 40+ shoes
Got stuck in Secaucus for 2 hours
Drank too many homemade cosmos one night

Hated the President more than I've ever hated a President before

Worked too much

Became addicted to CSI:NY
Became really addicted to Gossip Girl

Got a Blackberry and nearly figured out how to use it
Bought flowers for the house less than 5 times all year
Quit my PG Tips addiction
Started using cheapass mousse instead of fancy expensive gel
Bought some real plates!
Learned how to make pretty paper snowflakes

Made toffee at Christmas, but no truffles

Met a few new Good Friends
Lost a few Good Friends

Stood out in the rain with my best friend's best friends one lovely afternoon

Decided to go to England next year for Christmas (we'll see if that really happens)
Decided not to make any resolutions

Didn't eat sugar for two months
Squatted 195
Benched 35s
Put my gym membership on hold
Lost and gained and lost and gained the same 8lbs

Had Thanksgiving without my family

Did not get a sinus infection
Had my atlas adjusted and stopped having so many killer headaches

Drank Bailey's on Christmas Eve... as you do
Had a short fight with mom on Christmas day... as you do
Hated vacation

Took off one day of work all year, to stand around in the rain with my best friend's best friends

Went to the movies only a few times
Took some pictures, but not enough

Got to talk to a far away friend on the phone, twice!

Saw Luke more often than I've seen him since we were in school together over 10 years ago
Was not a bridesmaid in my best friend's wedding... because it hasn't happened yet!

Barely listened to Radiohead
Actually made a top albums list for 2009
Had a tea party for my birthday
Had no dinner parties

Drove 100 mph over the Howard Frankland
Was quite close to a Very Famous Person and a Pretty Famous Person
Finally bought a pair of Campers
Spent very little on clothes

Did not read any books

Stopped wearing heels to work
Found out that Wild Turkey goes well with eggnog, but Captain Morgan goes even better
Saw an old old friend

Went line dancing a few times, but not many

What a boring year!

going backwards

Ohhh ripping out lace is scary!!



After figuring out I was doing the corners wrong, I had to rip back six rows and redo them. The only way was to take it off the needles and pull. Luckily it's a lot of yo, K3tog, yo at this point, so it went back on the needles rather painlessly:



I've knitted a few rows since and it's all okay. I didn't understand the instructions for the corners, so was making two extra sections instead of one. Normally I would just drop the extra stitches and even it out in the blocking, but there were too many and some were twisted with each other.

Only 34 rows to go!

2:16 am

Well, I can't sleep, so I took some more pictures of the growing blob. I'm on row 77 of 130, so maybe it will end up being big enough. Still not sure. It's also getting a little tight on my double points, but the #2 Addi is 3mm and these #2 Lantern Moons are 2.75mm. Just gotta be careful, I guess. Speaking of being careful, I broke another needle last weekend. Luckily I remembered that Lantern Moon sent me two spare #2s by accident, so there was no waiting for new needles to be sent. This is the third Lantern Moon I've broken, but I still love them.



I keep finding other patterns in this book that I want to make, but since they are for doilies and tablecloths, it's hard to tell what size they'll end up being. I guess I could always just do another round of pattern if they turn out too small.

Still have to block the melon. Even though it's gorgeous, there's something incredibly unexciting about that shawl. I hope mom loves it more than I do. Have to get it done soon, I'm going home for Halloween!

Last week I made some amazing food. First was chicken pot pie from the lovely Smitten Kitchen, though it's originally an Ina recipe. Absolutely delicious and I'm sure the massive amount of butter has something to do with that. Then I made butter chicken from this random recipe off the Food Network site that I picked because it had a 5-star rating. I used real ginger and garlic and added some cilantro. I gave it a 7.6 the first night but the rating went up to an 8.5 after a rest in the fridge overnight. So sad it's all gone.

It would be cool if I could fall asleep now. Oy vey.

sunday morning

It's 54° here this morning! Supposed to stay under 70 today, which is lovely. This will only last one day, so I'm putting my patio chairs to use. The pretty lace has turned into a pretty blob:



Starting to wonder if it will be big enough. At this point I'm pretty sure it will be too small, but I bet I can block it within an inch of its life and maybe stretch it out enough. We'll see.

I've been looking around for some charcoal grey silk/wool to make my next lace with. I found something I liked, but it was the middle of the night and I forgot to save it. I think this stuff from Colourmart would be a nice option. I wish there was a huge yarn shop that sold every kind of yarn ever made...that would be awesome.