Friday, May 26, 2006
P.S.
The small afghan that replaced the Diamond Knit Shawl is coming along nicely and quickly. So much less stress than the shawl. Yay!
:-/
I actually had something to say, but I got distracted looking at other people's profiles and also reading blogs. Perhaps the physical act of typing will jog my memory. It wasn't the typing that did it, it was the getting up to put the jeans in the dryer and seeing the cake that did it.
I tried out a new recipe for dessert for game last night. It's called Scandanavian Gold Cake and it is from the King Arthur Flour Baking Companion: The All-Purpose Baking Cookbook. I love that book, my parents gave it to me for the Christmas before last. My boyfriend gave me a copy of the Cookie Companion last Christmas (he's a good boyfriend, there are many reasons I keep him around). Anyway, the cake turned out very well. I overbaked by about 5 minutes, so it was a little darker and drier than it probably should have been. This is always a danger with cakes in the pound cake family, since they don't have much moisture aside from the eggs and butter. There was maybe a quarter of the cake left after game (just for reference, there are 5 of us and this is a cake that is supposed to be cut into 20 to 22 slices) and less than that once I got it home to the boyfriend. I love it when a recipe works out. I'm definitely putting that one into the make again category.
I'm still learning to bake in my oven (I've lived here for slightly less than a year), propane seems to burn hotter than regular natural gas (I think, what do I know about what gas comes out of the gas lines other than it burns). It's also harder to control the temperature. I know this is true on the stovetop, and it seems to be true in the oven as well. I've only used the broiler once, and I was super careful because they were ultra thin porkchops. Bone-in, but super thin and they cooked in about a minute and a half (okay, maybe 10, but still, it was fast). I have a thermometer in my oven to keep track of the temperature (partly because the marks are almost gone on the knob, but also because not all ovens heat to the temp it says on the knob), and starting at about 350 the thing runs 10 to 15 degrees hot. Which makes a huge difference in bake times. Before that it runs pretty close to right, but can be between 5 and 10 degrees hot. Which, while not as big of a difference, does effect bake times. Especially in thos critical final 10 minutes. Luckily, I cook by smell almost as much as I cook by timer. :-) I've only ever actually burned burned one thing. Lemon bars I was making at a friend's house. I think his oven ran really hot because the things were supposed to bake for 25 minutes and they were burned at 15. Not that it matters now, and not that it really mattered then, I'm just saying.
The weirdest baking experience I ever had was when my mother's oven turned off on me while I was baking banana bread. I went to check on it about 10 minutes before it was supposed to be done and it wasn't even close, so I shrugged, closed the oven and set the timer for a little longer, When I went back the next time, I noticed that the oven was cool (not cold, just cool) and the pans weren't particularly hot to the touch. So, I turned everything off and then back on again, but it didn't turn back on. At this point, I have half baked banana bread (which, while delicious, is hardly edible) and a non-functioning oven. So, I run across the street to the neighbor and ask if I can borrow their oven (which is on par with borrowing a cup of sugar, but completely different). Luckily, Chuck was home and willing to let me use the oven. In return, I gave him some banana bread, once it was completely cooked. When my mother came home from work she turned on the oven and it started to heat right up. Several years later, they replaced the thing because it had pulled the same trick several times.
The moral of the story being, of course, if your stove doesn't work. Get a new one. :-D
Phrase for the week: Okay, crazy lady
Talk on ya later,
Harley
I tried out a new recipe for dessert for game last night. It's called Scandanavian Gold Cake and it is from the King Arthur Flour Baking Companion: The All-Purpose Baking Cookbook. I love that book, my parents gave it to me for the Christmas before last. My boyfriend gave me a copy of the Cookie Companion last Christmas (he's a good boyfriend, there are many reasons I keep him around). Anyway, the cake turned out very well. I overbaked by about 5 minutes, so it was a little darker and drier than it probably should have been. This is always a danger with cakes in the pound cake family, since they don't have much moisture aside from the eggs and butter. There was maybe a quarter of the cake left after game (just for reference, there are 5 of us and this is a cake that is supposed to be cut into 20 to 22 slices) and less than that once I got it home to the boyfriend. I love it when a recipe works out. I'm definitely putting that one into the make again category.
I'm still learning to bake in my oven (I've lived here for slightly less than a year), propane seems to burn hotter than regular natural gas (I think, what do I know about what gas comes out of the gas lines other than it burns). It's also harder to control the temperature. I know this is true on the stovetop, and it seems to be true in the oven as well. I've only used the broiler once, and I was super careful because they were ultra thin porkchops. Bone-in, but super thin and they cooked in about a minute and a half (okay, maybe 10, but still, it was fast). I have a thermometer in my oven to keep track of the temperature (partly because the marks are almost gone on the knob, but also because not all ovens heat to the temp it says on the knob), and starting at about 350 the thing runs 10 to 15 degrees hot. Which makes a huge difference in bake times. Before that it runs pretty close to right, but can be between 5 and 10 degrees hot. Which, while not as big of a difference, does effect bake times. Especially in thos critical final 10 minutes. Luckily, I cook by smell almost as much as I cook by timer. :-) I've only ever actually burned burned one thing. Lemon bars I was making at a friend's house. I think his oven ran really hot because the things were supposed to bake for 25 minutes and they were burned at 15. Not that it matters now, and not that it really mattered then, I'm just saying.
The weirdest baking experience I ever had was when my mother's oven turned off on me while I was baking banana bread. I went to check on it about 10 minutes before it was supposed to be done and it wasn't even close, so I shrugged, closed the oven and set the timer for a little longer, When I went back the next time, I noticed that the oven was cool (not cold, just cool) and the pans weren't particularly hot to the touch. So, I turned everything off and then back on again, but it didn't turn back on. At this point, I have half baked banana bread (which, while delicious, is hardly edible) and a non-functioning oven. So, I run across the street to the neighbor and ask if I can borrow their oven (which is on par with borrowing a cup of sugar, but completely different). Luckily, Chuck was home and willing to let me use the oven. In return, I gave him some banana bread, once it was completely cooked. When my mother came home from work she turned on the oven and it started to heat right up. Several years later, they replaced the thing because it had pulled the same trick several times.
The moral of the story being, of course, if your stove doesn't work. Get a new one. :-D
Phrase for the week: Okay, crazy lady
Talk on ya later,
Harley
Tuesday, May 23, 2006
Some things just aren't meant to be...
I've given up on the Diamond Knit Shawl. It is beyond my knitting skills at the moment and was causing me great frustration. I went wrong somewhere, but couldn't figure out how to fix it or compensate for it. I kept coming up one stitch short or one stitch over in the pattern. It's ripped out now and I'm trying on a couple crocheted afghans (throws rather, the pieces will be too small to be considered afghans) for size. I may have to go buy more yarn (oh! horrors!) if I don't like the way the two colors of Homespun that I have crochet together. I'll figure that one out in the morning light. I may scream if I don't get this figured out in the next several days. The person I'm making the project for won't need it by the time I finish at this rate. Grrr! Argh!
The only reason I'm still up at this hour (aside from having just come home from my parents' house, where I had yummy beef stew for dinner and watched The Daily Show with Jon Stewart [well, sort of watched, I was crocheting part of the time and missed bits] and House. I don't get to watch either show much because I don't have cable. Well, I suppose I could watch House, but then I would have to putz with the antenna cable, and I'm not a good cable putzer with-er [yay! a made up word! or two!]), is (to get back to the original point of this sentence) that I want oatmeal for breakfast, and I won't have the 45 minutes it takes to cook the oats in the morning. So I'm doing it now so I can just reheat it for breakfast. Sometimes I'm clever. Other times it doesn't work out so well.
I'm planting a vegetable garden this year. I'm very excited by the prospect. This is the first year I've had a garden to plant. I love fresh vegetables. I have already planted two tomato plants (not for me, I don't like tomatoes, but for my mother and my boyfriend love them, so they get two kinds), and several zucchini plants (three Rond de Italia which are little round green squashes and a regular green zucchini). I brought home a cucumber plant, a yellow crookneck squash plant and three kinds of peppers (two poblano types and a sweet pepper). I also brought home some thyme, basil, two oreganos and a mint. There's a rhubarb plant waiting for a spot and some potatoes that I'm going to put in fifteen gallon pots. I want to find a place to plant some horseradish too. I'll be swimming in produce if all goes well.
I planted a yellow kniphofia this evening (after work, before feeding horses). It is a variety called Malibu Yellow. It's tucked in under a palm tree next to a bottlebrush with bright red flowers. The clear yellow and bright red should spark off each other really nicely (actually, they do already, but it will be even better as time goes on). Plus, hummingbirds really love both plants. I can only hope that it will not become the hummingbird death trap, since I have two cats that love to hunt, and are very good at it. The cats will look on it as their own personal drive up window in reverse. They just wait there and the hummingbirds come to to them. Having said it, it won't happen. Right? Right.
Things I want to do with my life: write a book, get married, have children, write another book, get in shape, promote world peace, write another book, play Wonder Woman in the movie, take ballroom dance classes, write another book. Not much really.
Off to stick the oatmeal in the fridge and then head for bed before I fall asleep with my face in the keyboard (which wouldn't be comfortable, but might create some interesting letter combinations, although, likely not Hamlet).
Talk on ya later.
Harley
The only reason I'm still up at this hour (aside from having just come home from my parents' house, where I had yummy beef stew for dinner and watched The Daily Show with Jon Stewart [well, sort of watched, I was crocheting part of the time and missed bits] and House. I don't get to watch either show much because I don't have cable. Well, I suppose I could watch House, but then I would have to putz with the antenna cable, and I'm not a good cable putzer with-er [yay! a made up word! or two!]), is (to get back to the original point of this sentence) that I want oatmeal for breakfast, and I won't have the 45 minutes it takes to cook the oats in the morning. So I'm doing it now so I can just reheat it for breakfast. Sometimes I'm clever. Other times it doesn't work out so well.
I'm planting a vegetable garden this year. I'm very excited by the prospect. This is the first year I've had a garden to plant. I love fresh vegetables. I have already planted two tomato plants (not for me, I don't like tomatoes, but for my mother and my boyfriend love them, so they get two kinds), and several zucchini plants (three Rond de Italia which are little round green squashes and a regular green zucchini). I brought home a cucumber plant, a yellow crookneck squash plant and three kinds of peppers (two poblano types and a sweet pepper). I also brought home some thyme, basil, two oreganos and a mint. There's a rhubarb plant waiting for a spot and some potatoes that I'm going to put in fifteen gallon pots. I want to find a place to plant some horseradish too. I'll be swimming in produce if all goes well.
I planted a yellow kniphofia this evening (after work, before feeding horses). It is a variety called Malibu Yellow. It's tucked in under a palm tree next to a bottlebrush with bright red flowers. The clear yellow and bright red should spark off each other really nicely (actually, they do already, but it will be even better as time goes on). Plus, hummingbirds really love both plants. I can only hope that it will not become the hummingbird death trap, since I have two cats that love to hunt, and are very good at it. The cats will look on it as their own personal drive up window in reverse. They just wait there and the hummingbirds come to to them. Having said it, it won't happen. Right? Right.
Things I want to do with my life: write a book, get married, have children, write another book, get in shape, promote world peace, write another book, play Wonder Woman in the movie, take ballroom dance classes, write another book. Not much really.
Off to stick the oatmeal in the fridge and then head for bed before I fall asleep with my face in the keyboard (which wouldn't be comfortable, but might create some interesting letter combinations, although, likely not Hamlet).
Talk on ya later.
Harley
Sunday, May 21, 2006
Crazy days...
It's raining. Now, this might not seem like a big deal to people in most of the country, but I live in California. Specifically I live just north of Santa Barbara. This means that we have a wet season and we have a dry season. It doesn't rain during the dry season (except for the ocassional freak rainstorm in June). The wet season ends in March usually, sometimes trailing into April. This is May. 21 May actually. It should not be raining. It especially should not be raining significant amounts of rain. My sensibilities are outraged. If we are going to get unseasonable rain, the least in could do is be thunderstorms.
Right. Off to pull the tea bag out of the water then milk and sugar it (the tea not the bag) and then hie me to work. Joyful, joyful.
Talk on ya later,
Harley
Right. Off to pull the tea bag out of the water then milk and sugar it (the tea not the bag) and then hie me to work. Joyful, joyful.
Talk on ya later,
Harley
Saturday, May 20, 2006
No eggs today...
I was going to bake tonight. I hadn't quite gotten down to the nitty gritty of exactly what (brownies were high on the list, but then again, so were chocolate chip cookies). Then I realized that I don't have any eggs. This makes baking very difficult, most recipes for desserts have egg in them. I could, no doubt, find something that doesn't, but that would take to long and I just wanted something quick and easy. I have to remember to get eggs tomorrow (it's possible that I should put a note on my forehead so that I'll actually remember this need at a convenient time, I probably won't go with the note). I'll have to ask Mom to bring some up to the stables when she comes to feed her horses. Mmm, homegrown eggs. A backyard flock is a good thing to have (actually, what's best is to know someone with a backyard flock). If I didn't have to worry about coyotes and raccoons wreaking havoc with chickens, I would probably have a couple of my own. Goodness knows I have enough snails and earwigs and sowbugs for them to eat that they would be some happy chickens. Until of course the coyotes or raccoons got them. That would be an ugly scene. Oh, and foxes probably too. And if there aren't foxes now they would hear about the chickens and show up just to prove a point.
I've decided that I don't like doing laundry. I don't mind the sorting really (right now I have a red load working). It's the whole having to find something to do that keeps me in the vicinity so I don't forget to move the wash to the dryer and then take the wash out of the dryer and fold it. I resent that part. I think I liked it better when the laundry got done by magic. Especially when I am in rehearsal for a show and spend a total of about 10 hours a day at home, and most of those are spent sleeping. Which is about to be the situation once again.
I had a mystery extra stitch on my last row of my diamond knit shawl. Which is very frustrating because I've been very careful with this one. I think I've fudged it though and it should be fine from now on. If it isn't I might have to commit a grievous act and unravel the whole thing (again!) and do something else entirely. Grrrrrrrrrrrr. I want this pattern to work, it's so pretty and soft and perfect for the intended recipient. Once again, grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.
My man isn't coming home tonight. :'-( He's working late and has to get up early, so he's crashing at a friend's place. I guess it's time to pull out the flannel pajamas and socks. I might not get to cuddle, but at least I'll be warm. And I can sleep in the middle of the bed. Which almost makes up for sleeping alone. Almost.
Time to put the laundry in the dryer! One step closer to clean clothes (well, they are clean now, just wet). Done. Complete with unscented dryer sheet (I like the softness and lack of static, not crazy about perfumes in my clothing care products, my detergent is unscented too).
I made me a good dinner tonight. Yummers. All it needed to achieve perfection was a piece of crusty bread on the side. Oh well, very little in this world achieves perfection. My new secret for delicious poached chicken is to put a piece or two of lemon (half a small lemon, a quarter of a larger lemon) in the poaching water. And salt it well (then, I like salt, if you dont, don't put as much salt, but a little bit helps the flavors combine and perkes them up at the same time). So, I did this, then when the chicken was cooked (in this case a boneless, skinless breast tenderloin), take it out and let it cool so you can shred it then use it however you like. Tonight, I added a little water to the poaching liquid, removed the lemon wedges, brought it up to a boil and dropped some fusili noodles into it. When those were partially cooked, I put the chicken back in, then added mixed vegetables (corn, artichoke hearts, green beans, yellow wax beans and baby carrots, all frozen) and cooked until the noodles were tender and the vegetables heated through. Then I added some spinach and kalamata olives and stirred until the spinach was wilted. I put it all in a bowl topped it with sauteed onions and garlic (from the other night, I made extra when I made it for my salad) and some parmesan cheese. It was delightful, and could easily have been made a vegetarian meal by adding mushrooms and not using the chicken, but I needed the protein, and didn't have any mushrooms on hand (which is a travesty, but I need to go grocery shopping and haven't in the past several days). Then I finished off the Breyers Dulce de Leche ice cream. Which would have been problematic except that there wasn't much ice cream left. And I enjoyed every bite of it. :-D
I think I'm going to go do a row or two of shawl and then call it a night. I should probably just finish my purl row and call it a night because I'm just as likely as not to make another mistake, and I really don't want to do that. I keep telling myself it's good for me to push my knitting boundaries, but another part of me wishes I had stayed safely within my known abilities. Oh well, I am determined to get it done (mostly right) now. I won't let it defeat me. I can be more stubborn than three skeins of yarn. I can. Really.
Talk on ya later,
Harley
I've decided that I don't like doing laundry. I don't mind the sorting really (right now I have a red load working). It's the whole having to find something to do that keeps me in the vicinity so I don't forget to move the wash to the dryer and then take the wash out of the dryer and fold it. I resent that part. I think I liked it better when the laundry got done by magic. Especially when I am in rehearsal for a show and spend a total of about 10 hours a day at home, and most of those are spent sleeping. Which is about to be the situation once again.
I had a mystery extra stitch on my last row of my diamond knit shawl. Which is very frustrating because I've been very careful with this one. I think I've fudged it though and it should be fine from now on. If it isn't I might have to commit a grievous act and unravel the whole thing (again!) and do something else entirely. Grrrrrrrrrrrr. I want this pattern to work, it's so pretty and soft and perfect for the intended recipient. Once again, grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.
My man isn't coming home tonight. :'-( He's working late and has to get up early, so he's crashing at a friend's place. I guess it's time to pull out the flannel pajamas and socks. I might not get to cuddle, but at least I'll be warm. And I can sleep in the middle of the bed. Which almost makes up for sleeping alone. Almost.
Time to put the laundry in the dryer! One step closer to clean clothes (well, they are clean now, just wet). Done. Complete with unscented dryer sheet (I like the softness and lack of static, not crazy about perfumes in my clothing care products, my detergent is unscented too).
I made me a good dinner tonight. Yummers. All it needed to achieve perfection was a piece of crusty bread on the side. Oh well, very little in this world achieves perfection. My new secret for delicious poached chicken is to put a piece or two of lemon (half a small lemon, a quarter of a larger lemon) in the poaching water. And salt it well (then, I like salt, if you dont, don't put as much salt, but a little bit helps the flavors combine and perkes them up at the same time). So, I did this, then when the chicken was cooked (in this case a boneless, skinless breast tenderloin), take it out and let it cool so you can shred it then use it however you like. Tonight, I added a little water to the poaching liquid, removed the lemon wedges, brought it up to a boil and dropped some fusili noodles into it. When those were partially cooked, I put the chicken back in, then added mixed vegetables (corn, artichoke hearts, green beans, yellow wax beans and baby carrots, all frozen) and cooked until the noodles were tender and the vegetables heated through. Then I added some spinach and kalamata olives and stirred until the spinach was wilted. I put it all in a bowl topped it with sauteed onions and garlic (from the other night, I made extra when I made it for my salad) and some parmesan cheese. It was delightful, and could easily have been made a vegetarian meal by adding mushrooms and not using the chicken, but I needed the protein, and didn't have any mushrooms on hand (which is a travesty, but I need to go grocery shopping and haven't in the past several days). Then I finished off the Breyers Dulce de Leche ice cream. Which would have been problematic except that there wasn't much ice cream left. And I enjoyed every bite of it. :-D
I think I'm going to go do a row or two of shawl and then call it a night. I should probably just finish my purl row and call it a night because I'm just as likely as not to make another mistake, and I really don't want to do that. I keep telling myself it's good for me to push my knitting boundaries, but another part of me wishes I had stayed safely within my known abilities. Oh well, I am determined to get it done (mostly right) now. I won't let it defeat me. I can be more stubborn than three skeins of yarn. I can. Really.
Talk on ya later,
Harley
Wednesday, May 17, 2006
Thoughts on deer and other pests...
I got up early this morning to water my garden and was faced with a tragedy of minor proportions. I have this little bitty avocado tree that was finally starting to grow past its difficult past (too long in a pot, not enough water, snails, pretty much anything that could kill an avocado was tried before my former roommate got it into the ground). Anyway, it had a lot of lovely new growth and several sprays of flowers (I wasn't expecting any fruit this year, but it was good to see it flowering), and was just generally looking healthy and vigorous. Until the deer came by and ate all but about two of the new leaves (they left the old leaves, which is good, because it means the baby might be able to create enough energy to grow some new leaves). They also stripped my rose (which had two open flowers and several half open flowers). Luckily for the rose it is wide enough and thorny enough that they only got the front of it, but it will definitely recover. It is big and well established. They tasted one tomato (the Black Prince, not the Sweet Million) and the squash (Ronde de Italia). I'm going to put some deer repellent around and hope that it works. If I rotate the two liquid types that I have and put the pellets under the rose, things should work out.
I wouldn't mind the deer so much, except that they don't nibble, they chomp. It's like with gophers, if they wouldn't kill everything they encounter, I would willingly share. Especially if they ate the weeds and not my roses and vegetables. :-)
Really, that's about all I can think of to say. It might have something to do with the fact that I've been working non-stop for the past three weeks. At least I got this afternoon off, and some of tomorrow. I have some bookkeeping to do (people are constantly wanting to be paid, it's a crazy world), but I have an early chiropractor's appointment and then a hair appointment in the early afternoon. I love getting my hair done. I love everything about it. I may have to tighten my budget, but I that is one indulgence that is almost a necessity (only almost, but it's close, since sometimes I need an excuse to sit and do nothing for a couple hours, of course, other times, I don't, I just sit and do nothing even shen there are things I should be doing).
Yarn projects in progress: Homespun Shawl (finally, after starting it about 15 times); 1 Incredible scarf (that's the yarn, not a comment on its quality); 1 Lion Suede scarf; Drunkard's Path afghan
Yarn projects in the planning stage: 1 Lion Suede scarf; 1 multi yarn scarf (there is one more texture I want to find, but haven't so far); 3 Lion Suede hats; 1 afghan
Right. Time to go release the dogs from durance vile and feed some horses so I can eat a salad and go off to game night.
Harley
I wouldn't mind the deer so much, except that they don't nibble, they chomp. It's like with gophers, if they wouldn't kill everything they encounter, I would willingly share. Especially if they ate the weeds and not my roses and vegetables. :-)
Really, that's about all I can think of to say. It might have something to do with the fact that I've been working non-stop for the past three weeks. At least I got this afternoon off, and some of tomorrow. I have some bookkeeping to do (people are constantly wanting to be paid, it's a crazy world), but I have an early chiropractor's appointment and then a hair appointment in the early afternoon. I love getting my hair done. I love everything about it. I may have to tighten my budget, but I that is one indulgence that is almost a necessity (only almost, but it's close, since sometimes I need an excuse to sit and do nothing for a couple hours, of course, other times, I don't, I just sit and do nothing even shen there are things I should be doing).
Yarn projects in progress: Homespun Shawl (finally, after starting it about 15 times); 1 Incredible scarf (that's the yarn, not a comment on its quality); 1 Lion Suede scarf; Drunkard's Path afghan
Yarn projects in the planning stage: 1 Lion Suede scarf; 1 multi yarn scarf (there is one more texture I want to find, but haven't so far); 3 Lion Suede hats; 1 afghan
Right. Time to go release the dogs from durance vile and feed some horses so I can eat a salad and go off to game night.
Harley
Wednesday, May 10, 2006
Dances with words
The question on my mind tonight is who makes a sewing kit but doesn't put any needles in it? The answer whoever put together the Dollar $tore sewing kit I got from a niece for Christmas. I guess you can't expect too much from a $1 sewing kit. However, I would have been happier if they had left out the miniature scissors (which I haven't tried, but probably won't cut much) and put in a needle. It's a good thing I didn't have an emergency needle need.
Considering dessert (although why I'm considering dessert when I haven't had dinner yet is a question for another time). I have a bunch of lovely Eureka lemons that I need to use up -- I might use one for my dinner... Instead of balsamic vinegar, I'll use lemon juice to dress my salad, which will be made of spinach, tuna, carrots, sauteed onions and garlic and not much else... Sometimes my brilliance in the kitchen astounds me (this isn't one of those times) -- but I'm craving chocolate (as usual, and who doesn't). I wonder if I can find a recipe that uses both chocolate and lemons (epicurious here I come...). Well, not tonight, I guess. I'll just have to settle (!) for dulce de leche ice cream with chocolate chips. It's a sacrifice, but one that I'm willing to make.
Dinner, by the way, turned out delightfully. Crunchy, chewy onions and garlic make any savory dish better (well, almost, I can think of a few that wouldn't be improved, but salads don't number in those ranks).
I was going to go yarn shopping this evening, but Mom and I were run off our feet at the store today (why do going out of business sales improve sales to the point where you might be tempted to stay in business if it weren't for the fact that your landlord had sold the property to a development group?), which means that I would not have been able to make a yarn decision to save my life. It's a good thing yarn decisions are rarely life or death. I do, however, need to get to work on the project for which I need to buy yarn. It is times like these that my determination to not buy yarn that I do not have a project for comes back to bite me. Because if I had a good yarn stash, and not just odds and ends, I could start without having to shop. Then again, I have three or four projects I could be working on right now, but am not. Okay, fine. Drunkard's Path afghan it is. I hate sewing squares together. I keep telling myself I will never again do a project that has squares that will later need to be assembled. It isn't nice to lie to oneself.
This is a partial list of things I need to make my kitchen complete:
cake pans (of various sizes, including springform and tube)
a good can opener (I have an old wonky one that works, but I don't need the workout everytime I want to open a can)
a waffle iron (mmm, waffles)
a griddle (pancakes, hamburgers, fried egges, bacon...need I say more?)
cast iron skillet(s) (umm, duh!)
wooden spoons (because I like using them)
a ladle (because I like soup)
roasting pan (roast chicken, roast beef, roast poatoes)
roasting rack (should I ever roast a turkey, I'll want one of these)
a slow cooker (I have one, but I want one where the pot comes out of the heating part, and I especially want the one I can use on the stove top or in the oven)
I can see that I need to get married in the near future. If only for the kitchen gadgets. ;-)
Word for the day: Picayune
Book(s) I'm reading: Rhiana by Michele Hauf
Yarn projects in progress: Sweater for Madeleine, Scarf for Kendall, Blanket for Mel and Miller, Valentine Filet Crochet for LUNA gift exchange. Oh hey! I could start working on Christmas presents. I have the yarn and the projects. Whee!
Phrase for the day: Holy Mackerel
Plant of the day: Snapdragon
Talk on ya later
Harley
Considering dessert (although why I'm considering dessert when I haven't had dinner yet is a question for another time). I have a bunch of lovely Eureka lemons that I need to use up -- I might use one for my dinner... Instead of balsamic vinegar, I'll use lemon juice to dress my salad, which will be made of spinach, tuna, carrots, sauteed onions and garlic and not much else... Sometimes my brilliance in the kitchen astounds me (this isn't one of those times) -- but I'm craving chocolate (as usual, and who doesn't). I wonder if I can find a recipe that uses both chocolate and lemons (epicurious here I come...). Well, not tonight, I guess. I'll just have to settle (!) for dulce de leche ice cream with chocolate chips. It's a sacrifice, but one that I'm willing to make.
Dinner, by the way, turned out delightfully. Crunchy, chewy onions and garlic make any savory dish better (well, almost, I can think of a few that wouldn't be improved, but salads don't number in those ranks).
I was going to go yarn shopping this evening, but Mom and I were run off our feet at the store today (why do going out of business sales improve sales to the point where you might be tempted to stay in business if it weren't for the fact that your landlord had sold the property to a development group?), which means that I would not have been able to make a yarn decision to save my life. It's a good thing yarn decisions are rarely life or death. I do, however, need to get to work on the project for which I need to buy yarn. It is times like these that my determination to not buy yarn that I do not have a project for comes back to bite me. Because if I had a good yarn stash, and not just odds and ends, I could start without having to shop. Then again, I have three or four projects I could be working on right now, but am not. Okay, fine. Drunkard's Path afghan it is. I hate sewing squares together. I keep telling myself I will never again do a project that has squares that will later need to be assembled. It isn't nice to lie to oneself.
This is a partial list of things I need to make my kitchen complete:
cake pans (of various sizes, including springform and tube)
a good can opener (I have an old wonky one that works, but I don't need the workout everytime I want to open a can)
a waffle iron (mmm, waffles)
a griddle (pancakes, hamburgers, fried egges, bacon...need I say more?)
cast iron skillet(s) (umm, duh!)
wooden spoons (because I like using them)
a ladle (because I like soup)
roasting pan (roast chicken, roast beef, roast poatoes)
roasting rack (should I ever roast a turkey, I'll want one of these)
a slow cooker (I have one, but I want one where the pot comes out of the heating part, and I especially want the one I can use on the stove top or in the oven)
I can see that I need to get married in the near future. If only for the kitchen gadgets. ;-)
Word for the day: Picayune
Book(s) I'm reading: Rhiana by Michele Hauf
Yarn projects in progress: Sweater for Madeleine, Scarf for Kendall, Blanket for Mel and Miller, Valentine Filet Crochet for LUNA gift exchange. Oh hey! I could start working on Christmas presents. I have the yarn and the projects. Whee!
Phrase for the day: Holy Mackerel
Plant of the day: Snapdragon
Talk on ya later
Harley
Tuesday, May 09, 2006
And thus it begins
Assuming anyone ever reads this besides me (and if I don't tell anyone about it, that is a very real possibility), let me just start by saying something deeply profound and world altering....
Nope. I've got nothing. Which, considering the fact that it is after 10 PM is not really surprising. Most of my friends would probably be surprised that I'm even functioning on a moderately coherent level at this hour. It's good to keep surprising the people who love you. Right?
My two, no, make that three favorite websites at the moment are... lionbrand.com (because who can resist a website that is all about yarn and has tons of free patterns for cute things), epicurious.com (I spent at least half an hour today looking at recipes for roasted potatoes) and eharlequin.com (specifically the Community Board for Luna Books which is where all the cool people hang out)
My next mission is to figure out hyperlinks. I'm sure I'll get there eventually. Given the time to explore the hows and wheres of this brave new world.
Talk on ya later,
Harley
Nope. I've got nothing. Which, considering the fact that it is after 10 PM is not really surprising. Most of my friends would probably be surprised that I'm even functioning on a moderately coherent level at this hour. It's good to keep surprising the people who love you. Right?
My two, no, make that three favorite websites at the moment are... lionbrand.com (because who can resist a website that is all about yarn and has tons of free patterns for cute things), epicurious.com (I spent at least half an hour today looking at recipes for roasted potatoes) and eharlequin.com (specifically the Community Board for Luna Books which is where all the cool people hang out)
My next mission is to figure out hyperlinks. I'm sure I'll get there eventually. Given the time to explore the hows and wheres of this brave new world.
Talk on ya later,
Harley
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