FishFeet

Local Yokel

2009-07-07T19:26:00.007-04:00

You might be wondering why I'm spending so much time talking about local eating. "Who cares, anyway?"...."Just another silly 'hippie/yuppie' trend" you may be thinking. Which may be so, but I ask you to think about this: An average dinner travels approx. 1500 miles from 'farm to fork'. Given today's high fuel prices (albeit, lower than this time last year) and the rising global demand for oil, many people are looking at what they can do to help reduce their 'carbon footprint' and minimize our nation's dependency on oil. It seems that everyone I know is looking for 'greener' alternatives, from reusable shopping bags to hybrid vehicles. Sometimes the solution can be as easy as looking in your own backyard (or maybe your neighbors).
For me, there were many factors that began my path towards the 'locavore' lifestyle.

1) The Environmental impact - My 'carbon footprint' is big enough between the 70 mile round-trip commute (although I do carpool most days) and the amount of air travel I do. Why not try to reduce the amount of oil 'in' my food?

2) Supporting my local farmer(s) - I am fortunate to live in a suburban area that still has a lot of family farms. Harleysville has not yet been completely developed, sub-divided and taken over by strip malls. One of the reasons we loved this area so much was because it still had a "small town" feel. In order to keep it that way, I feel, it's important to keep the small farmers and gardeners in business. On average, $0.21 of your supermarket food dollar actually goes to the farmer. The rest of the $0.79 is used for marketing, distribution and other assorted costs. When possible, I prefer to put that whole dollar, directly into the hands of the farmer who grew it.

3) Rethinking consumerism - In this economic environment I've really started to think about the lasting affects of a consumption based society. I consider myself lucky that Jake and I are both gainfully employed and haven't been impacted by the economic crisis like so many other people we know. That said, I have really started to think about my spending differently. Trying to eliminate wasteful spending and really taking a look at the business models we support by our consumerism. Right now, our country is in an economic restructering period. We have really been trying to support the businesses whose ideals we agree with, rather than what's sold cheaply in the 'big box' stores.

4) Food appreciation - I've noticed that the week's I go to the farmers market and bring home fresh ingredients, I am more inspired to break out my cookbooks and do something that brings out the flavors of what I've purchased. It also forces me to think about what's in-season (which is easy to forget when cucumbers and strawberries are available in most grocery stores year-round). By thinking more creatively about what's for dinner makes cooking much more enjoyable...not to mention we eat a lot better.

Now is the best time of year to try and become a 'locavore'. While I don't want to sound too 'preachy', I would like to encourage everyone to visit their local farmers market to see what's available locally and meet the people who grow it. If you don't know where to find one, check out www.localharvest.org

Speaking of local meals, here are a couple of the local dinners we made last week:

Turkey sausage and cauliflower stuffed peppers:
The first green peppers were available at the farmers market last weekend (they had to have been started in a green house, since we've had so much rain lately).
We stuffed them with browned turkey sausage, green onions, mushrooms, carrots, and steamed cauliflower (instead of rice). They were very tasty!

I also made Halupki (stuffed cabbage rolls). I've never made it before and let me tell you it is a PRODUCTION! This was a total impulse purchase - the farmers market had the biggest, most beautiful heads of cabbage I've ever seen (pictured at the top of the page). I had to buy one. we served our cabbage rolls (stuffed with local ground pork and non-local organic rice). Served with green beans -which were picked that morning- and boiled red potatoes all purchased from the farmers market...delicious.

Wine Weekend

2009-06-28T20:10:00.003-04:00

It's officially summer...and that means vacation time! In our house, we rarely take a "real" vacation...usually opting for long weekends of traveling and/or camping. We have fallen in to this routine after years of having different work schedules and family obligations (I used to spend my time traveling back to Seattle, while Jake had to work).
This year, due to the amount of travel I've been doing for work, the thought of getting on an airplane (or even just going to the airport) was about as appealing as a root canal. Instead, we decided that a camping weekend was just they kind of R&R we were in the market for. The original plan was to head down to Virginia...however the weather forecast was not cooperative. We didn't think that 90 degree temps and 60% humidity sounded like our idea of a good time. Although our "camper" (see picture below) has A/C - I don't think German engineering can combat a triple digit heat index.
So we decided to head north - to the NY Finger Lakes, instead of south to Virginia. What a great decision it turned out to be. After driving thru a little bit of lightning and hail on Friday morning, we ended up having a glorious weekend. It was sunny and in the high 70's all weekend.
For those of you who have never heard of the Fingerlakes, it is essentially NY's "Wine Country". It is a gorgeous area of upstate New York with beautiful lakes, nice state parks and a fabulous wine trail. Those of you who live on the West Coast will need to temper yourselves...remember that the Mid-Atlantic states do not have the same length of growing season as California, Oregon and Eastern Washington. However, there are some really terrific wines that can be produced in a colder climate - particularly Riesling's.
One of our favorite New York winery, at least prior to this trip was Dr. Konstantin Frank's.
They really don't make a bad wine and the view of Keuka Lake from the tasting deck is beautiful (not sure that we got a picture). The diamond in the rough of the trip had to be McGregor Winery...there wines are wonderful and the winery was so welcoming. McGregor is our new favorite NY winery. If you ever get a chance to visit - I highly recommend it!
I don't think I had realized how much I needed a little quiet time...thankfully Jake did. Before we left, all I could think about was, between work and home, how much I had to do. I was still thinking about postponing the trip until things were a little calmer...fortunately my husband wouldn't let me. Jake recognized that I needed a break, more than I did...and for that I am grateful. The weekend of relaxing, wine tasting and nature was just what I needed.

Oh, and as an aside....you can even eat locally on vacation!...below is my burger and fries from Rooster Fish brewing (after a day of wine tasting - we decided to have dinner at a brewery!) The hamburger is from locally raised cows and the bread baked fresh daily. Served with handcut fries and beer made from NY cascade hops....delicious!

One Local Summer - Week's 2 & 3

2009-06-21T20:02:00.005-04:00

As summer gets closer (today, Summer Solstice, is the longest day of the year) eating locally becomes more enjoyable. The farmers markets in the area are starting to open and more green veggie options are beginning to fill the stall's.
I was unable to post our local meal from week 2 because I left for the airport right after we finished eating.

Week Two's Dinner:

Grilled Chicken Thighs with Rosemary and Olive Oil
Braised Sugar Snap Peas and Spring Onions
Mashed Turnips
Heirloom Tomatoes (Organic - grown in a Greenhouse in Lancaster) and Basil from my garden

While we try to produce most of our meals from local ingredients - in the weeks during the "one local challenge" I am trying to make a weekly Sunday dinner from purely local ingredients. Tonight's dinner (Week 3) was inspired by Barbara Kingsolver's book "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle" (which I'm rereading for the third time).

Week 3's Dinner:

Roasted Vegetable Panini's
Roasted Onion, Zuccini & Yellow Squash from Landisdale
Tomatoes - Lancaster County
Bread - Souderton
Mozzarella - bought from Willow Creek -not sure where locally they get it.
Parm. Cheese - ok, not local...but I brought it back with me from Italy - where it is made locally. I think that still counts.

And for dessert....

Homemade Strawberry Ice Cream - using the last bit of strawberry jam we made this afternoon (more on that tomorrow) and local cream.

Scotland Pictures

2009-06-09T20:03:00.006-04:00

During my last trip to the UK I was finally able to do some sightseeing....

The city of St. Andrews:

The Castle of St. Andrews:

St. Andrews Cathedral:

The Scottish Countryside:

I will say...Scotland is stunning. If you ever get the chance, visit.

Eat Local - Week 1

2009-06-07T21:56:00.003-04:00

My welcome home dinner (after spending the last two weeks in the UK for work, consisted of:

Grass fed steak
Steamed broccoli
Sauteed spring green onions and mushrooms
Asiago bread (from a local bakery)

And for dessert...strawberries and cream with fresh baked shortbread.

All from local sources....(purchased from Willow Creek)

One Local Summer

2009-05-25T15:04:00.004-04:00

For the past few years now, I have become an advocate for the "Eat Local" movement. Even before I was aware that there was an actual "movement" I tried to cook from organic, local ingredients. I feel so much better about what I eat when I know where my food comes from...the asparagus we ate tonight was picked yesterday (not weeks ago and trucked hundreds of miles to our supermarket). Jake and I are fortunate enough to live in an area where we can drive less than 8 miles and be at a market that sells a wide variety of local goods or go out to the actual farm and meet the people who grow what we eat (which is the case when we go out to Hendricks).
This year, I've decided to take part of the "Eat Local Challenge" mainly because I would like to show an actual commitment to eating within my region and partly because I would like to invite others to join me. While I don't want to sound too "preachy" I would like to encourage everyone to check out the website for some good information and tips about eating locally (www.eatlocalchallenge.com). Local Harvest (www.localharvest.org) is another good resource for finding farms and farmers markets in your area. Lastly, if you are interested in the subject I would HIGHLY recommend Barbara Kingsolver's book "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle".

Maryland Sheep & Wool

2009-05-03T13:49:00.010-04:00

Last weekend Jake and I trekked down to the Maryland Sheep and Wool (MDS&W) festival. This is always such a fun outing for me...and despite his allergies, even Jake has a good time. This year I vowed not to come home with a lot of yarn - I'm really trying to knit down my stash. I was good...only bought two balls of yarn, one ball of Malibrigo
- b/c I couldn't resist the color or the price, and a ball of sock yarn by March Hare dyed in "ruby slipper" colorway (no Wizard of Oz fan could pass that up).
Despite being a little grey, the weather held off and didn't rain (we went Saturday - I heard the Sunday festival goers weren't so lucky).
While we were there, I met Heather of Craftlit - a podcast that I love listening to while I knit, drive, work, etc. We also met Amy of Knitty and Jennie the Potter - whose mugs I L-O-V-E!
We almost came home with an angora bunny - it was so adorable and only 6 weeks old! I REALLY wanted it...and almost resorted to begging. Jake, squashed my dreams of spinning angora fiber from my very own rabbit. His reasons:
#1 - I don't spin. I don't have time to knit as much as I would like, let alone start learning how to spin.
#2 - where would we keep a rabbit?
#3 - I'm not home enough to take care of the dog that we have, and he would be the one, cleaning out rabbit cages while I was traveling.
So, sadly, we didn't leave MDS&W with a bunny. But it really was CUTE!

(Ignore the bad picture of me - the humidity from the rain we had the past few days made my hair incredibly flat)

Charmed

2009-05-03T13:49:00.005-04:00

A couple of weeks ago, we hosted a wine party at our house. We made up a bunch of little wine charms for the occasion. Here's a closer shot of a couple of them. They were VERY easy. Couple of beeds and a charm on earring hoops.

Wine Charms made by Jake & Rae

Before and After

2009-04-18T16:45:00.011-04:00

Looking back I don't think I've posted many pictures of the house Jake and I purchased last November. In order to catch everyone up, we purchased a 70 year old little brick house on almost half an acre. The house has been taken care of pretty impecibly, however the decor hasn't really been updated in the past 20 years. Here is the progress so far...

Before we moved in we painted the living and dining room...
Living room (Before)

Living room (After)

Dining room (before)

Dining room (after)

Just last week we painted our downstairs powder room (we've now scraped wallpaper in two rooms - the $40 steamer was well worth the investment).

Downstairs bathroom (before)

Yes, those are gold sea shells stenciled on the wall (we painted over a lot of stenciling):

Downstairs bathroom (after)

I think the most drastic thing we have done so far also happened last week. We had eight trees taken down last week, some of them had lived here for a very long time. In the past 3 days we've had 2 separate instances where random people walking by have stopped us to comment on how much better the house looks.

Backyard (before)

Backyard (after) - It looks a little sparse because the trees on the left have not bloomed yet - we really only cut down the trees on the right hand side.

We're hoping that this tree removal, along with our relocation program, will reduce the number of squirrels in the yard (here's hoping). For those counting, below is a picture of POW number 005. In trying to chew his way out, he got his head stuck in the bottom corner of the cage...he was a little angry.

Caught!

2009-04-02T18:11:00.005-04:00

Well, after 3 days Jake has outwitted a squirrel. We've had 2 days of false alarms (trap launched, no squirrel) and one of no activity. But today, after a long day at work, Jake could finally claim VICTORY. One little, furry beast was in the trap when we got home.

It's a zoo here right now. The squirrel is freaking out and the dog is going crazy. CRAZY. She's been chasing squirrels all winter and now she is able to come nose to nose. And did you know that squirrels growl? Today I learned that when in a cage face to face with a black lab, a squirrel will growl.

Next comes the question of what to do with the little bugger. First, let me say...I HATE rodents (When I was 5 and saw a rat on the woodpile in our back yard, I screamed so loud that my dad came running out of the house with a shotgun). I hate rodents and really, squirrels are rats with tails. That said, I really don't want to KILL them - which is Jake's first solution. If he had it his way, he would be shooting them with a bebe gun. But, I don't want all those deaths on Jake's conscience - or that karma at our house. So, tonight we are going to try the relocation method. Hopefully that will work out best for all parties.

On the topic of squirrel relocation....someone (on the internet - the source of all things true) said that you have to drive them 30 miles away, so they don't find there way back. I would like to ask that person, how they know it's the same squirrel. Are these people tagging squirrels to identify which ones are on their property? I've personally seen 5 squirrels at once in my yard...they all look the freaking same. We're going to take this squirrel to the park 5 miles away, and hope it's not industrious enough to run back 5 miles (crossing roads and a river, I might add).

Spring has Sprung

2009-03-29T19:08:00.004-04:00

Happy Spring!

I'm so ready to get rid of the cold ugliness of winter and move into the warm, longer days of spring. Here at Casa del Jake & Rae we are shifting into gear. This weekend the spring cleaning (and unpacking) started in the basement and the upstairs bedrooms. We're trying to finish the "moving in" process by unpacking the boxes that were stashed just in time to welcome the holidays. Also, we've been itching to get outside into the yard. The daffodils and other bulbs are starting to sprout. It's kind of fun going around the yard and trying to identify the plants that have lived here longer than we have. Also, the vegetable seeds arrived and are now in their starter cups. General weeding and backyard clean-up has begun.
Today, Jake declared war on the family of squirrels that have been ravishing our bird feeders and driving the dog crazy all winter. The last straw was the destruction of a bird feeder and garbage can lid.

This morning, dressed in camouflage, Jake left for the hardware store. He returned with his "solution" to the squirrel problem. Living in the middle of town, sniping is out of the question. As is poisoning the menaces, since Emma spends a lot of time sniffing around the yard. Instead, he's decided that he is going to "relocate" the little rodents.

I can't imagine this ending well on either side, meanwhile visions of Caddy Shack are dancing in my head.

iLove

2009-03-28T16:45:00.002-04:00

We just recently upgraded our phones to iPhones and I have to say - I LUV my new toy! These devices are really amazing - internet, phone, camera, ipod, and much more all in one tiny device. It has really freed up a lot of space in my travel bag. Speaking of travel bags...see my new Kate Spade laptop bag/carry-on next to my iPhone - this was a birthday gift from my wonderful husband and it's fabulous! (I'm a very spoiled girl)

Holy Crap it's March!

2009-03-09T17:45:00.008-04:00

I really can't believe it's already March, where has 2009 gone? My head truly is spinning. Two business trips abroad - Italy in February (below is a picture of the view from my hotel in Stressa) and the U.K. this month - have put my day to day routine into a bit of a tailspin.

I'm not doing too well with the New Years resolutions - I've only been to knitting once and haven't made one book group. In all fairness, I haven't been particuliarly motivated to read the books for book group because I was sucked into the Twilight chronicles (I really could barely think of anything else, let alone start another book I really had no interest in). I haven't forgotten any birthdays, however I am very delinquent in mailing my grandmother's birthday gift (why does the Post Office have to close at 4?)

I am trying to achieve a better work/life balance - easier said than done. For instance, the reason I have time to post to this blog is because I got stuck at work to late to get home in time for yoga...did I mention I've been going to yoga? Anyway, aside from the craziness, things are going well with us. The weather this weekend was so nice, we were able to get out and work in the yard for the first time. Funny, because last Sunday (March 1st) I had to fly out of Philadelphia in a blizzard (seriously, Jake said we got about 8 inches of snow between Sunday night and Monday).

Trying to think of what else has been happening during the past two and a half months, but it all seems like a blur. I'm not going to promise more frequent posts, but I will say that I do hope to post more frequently...it seems the best way to keep everyone up to date. Drop me a note and let me know how you're doing - for those of you I haven't heard from in awhile. Cheers!..Ciao

In closing, I would like to take a moment to recognize the passing of Popeye, my parents Silky Terrier. Popeye had been a member of the family for the past 14 and a half years. He will be missed greatly. (This is him asleep, btw..just in case you were wondering)

Happy New Year

2009-01-07T12:18:00.000-05:00

Reflection.

In the wake of the new year it’s always nice to pause for a moment and reflect on the events of 2008. For me and my family, 2008 was a year of firsts – Jake and I celebrated our 1st anniversary by buying our first house. We decided to set down some roots in the little town of Harleysville – just north of Philadelphia. Our 75 year old home has a lot of character – both good and bad. It has the woodwork and details you would expect from a craftsman-style home, however the décor from the past 20 years could stand some updating. We are in the slow process of removing the floral wallpaper and garish paint schemes – I see a lot of painting in my future.
Spending the holidays in our new home was a welcome first, it was the first Christmas that we had both of our families all under one roof. My parents and brother were our first houseguests, and despite terrible weather in the Pacific Northwest, they arrived Christmas morning. We also welcomed the arrival of our first nephew in 2008 – Gregory was born the beginning of December to jake’s sister and brother-in-law.
Although 2008 was not without its share of struggles and heartbreak, we feel very fortunate for who and what we have.

Looking forward.

I am a new year’s resolution junkie. I love the feeling of having a clean slate to start the year. While I try not to make empty resolutions that will be forgotten by Valentines day, I try to think about what I would like to focus on this year. For me, given the state of our nation, I plan to spend 2009 focusing on people not things. The health of me, my family and the planet is an area I would like to try and improve in the upcoming year. The other “resolution” I have was to spend more time on my relationships…2008 was a busy year for me, between the house, an overwhelming job, which I ended up leaving, to starting a new position and traveling for that position. In all the shuffle, I feel like I lost sight on what was truly important – Family and Friends. This year, I would like to resolve to recognize birthdays, anniversaries and other important milestones in people’s lives – rather than let them slip by forgotten or unannounced. I also plan to return to my social networks, in my hiatus from knitting and book group I have come to realize how much these weekly/monthly meetings meant to me. Nurturing the relationships we have with our family, friends and neighbors brings more meaning and purpose to life.

That said, I wish everyone a happy and healthy 2009.

September Update

2008-11-02T06:34:00.012-05:00

So much has been going in the last two months that I figured I would use a couple of posts to bring everyone up to speed. As I mentioned in an earlier post, Jake and I put an offer in on a house at the beginning of the month. At the same time, I traveled to London on business. Poor Jake, he always gets stuck with messes while I'm gone. Actually it wasn't too bad, the offer was accepted and we had done all of the loan paperwork, it was really just scheduling inspections and watching interest rates. Speaking of interest rates, leave it to us to to make the biggest financial decision of our marriage (so far), during a time when the banking and lending industry was in collapse. Luckily for us our bank wasn't taken over or merging during this or I might have had a stroke. Even still I was on the phone with our loan officer almost daily checking rates and making sure we were still getting our mortgage. She has the patience of a saint ;)
Also during September, Jake and I went to Florida. After a very brief visit we set off in their old, but our new Volkswagon Vanagon. We took a 3 day road trip back from Florida to Pennsylvania in a 1987 VW Camper van.

The first of many adventures! Those of you who are up on your East Coast geography may have noticed that there was no North Carolina sign. Well, we were distracted by PEDRO
That pretty much wraps up the month of September. Check back soon for the October update.

One Year Ago...

2008-10-13T21:01:00.003-04:00

Today we celebrate our one year wedding anniversary.

Buying a House

2008-08-31T08:21:00.002-04:00

If the posts have been a little sporadic lately, it's because we have a lot going on in the S-K household. We have decided to put an offer in on a house and have been bogged down with going thru our stuff, filling out mortgage applications and just general running around. All of this in conjunction with working and trying to get outside and enjoy the rest of summer (August in the Northeast has been wonderful - sunny and hot, but not too hot). I will try to do a better job in the upcoming months of posting more frequently. Until then, enjoy this picture of Emma...

Jammed

2008-08-13T17:24:00.005-04:00

The summer harvest continues. My tomatoes are coming in beautifully - we've enjoyed several Tomato and Basil salads this summer fresh out of the garden. Today I ventured out to Willow Creek Orchards. They have a beautiful selection of produce and other locally produced food. I picked up some peaches, coffee and locally raised buffalo. While I was there I decided to pick some blackberries...enough blackberries to make some jam. How many blackberries do you need in order to make jam? I wasn't really sure either, but I knew you needed a lot. So I picked A LOT. 2 baskets full of blackberries.
The biggest challenge to making jam is not picking the berries, but finding pectin in our grocery stores. I had to go to the Menonite market and still had trouble finding it.
At the end of the day I was able to make about 8 cups of blackberry jam still with lots of blackberries to spare. Now...what to do with the leftover blackberries...Any ideas?

Growing

2008-07-01T19:31:00.004-04:00

My container garden is loving the sun and heat of the past few weeks.

Everyday I notice another small, green tomato beginning to grow.

Today I saw a couple of small pepper buds and to my surprise a pretty sizeable pepper.

The resident spider is keeping away the small pests - if only he could do something about our nemesis the squirrel - which is reeking havoc on the strawberries.

Photo meme

2008-06-28T10:04:00.008-04:00

I normally don't get around to doing any MEME's, but I liked this one (which I saw on Skrilla Knits, and she borrowed from Katywhumpus.

The Rules:
a. Type your answer to each of the questions below into Flickr Search.
b. Using only the first page, pick an image.
c. Copy and paste each of the URLs for the images into fd's mosaic maker).

the questions:
1. What is your first name?
2. What is your favorite food?
3. What high school did you go to?
4. What is your favorite color?
5. Who is your celebrity crush?
6. Favorite drink?
7. Dream vacation?
8. Favorite dessert?
9. What you want to be when you grow up?
10. What do you love most in life?
11. One Word to describe you.
12. Your flickr name.

Hot Child in the City

2008-06-15T10:11:00.001-04:00

It's been about 90 degrees with about 90% humidity the past few weeks - and both weekends we decided it would be a "great" idea to hang out in Philadelphia. Sticky can only begin to describe it...the only saving grace was that we were able to get into A/C by bar hopping ;)

Assateague 2008

2008-06-02T21:32:00.007-04:00

On my summer vacation camped at the beach in Assateague Island (Maryland).

We ate Maryland Blue Crabs in Ocean City, MD:

We flew kites on the beach:

We canoed around the bay:

We saw wild ponies:

We got sandblased on a hike down the beach in 35mph winds:

Unfortunately we had to leave a day early, because I'm too chicken to sleep in a tent during a lightning storm with forecasted 70mph winds...but we had fun.

Fiber and Farm Animal Festivities

2008-05-05T19:37:00.011-04:00

This weekend was filled with a lot of farm animal fun! On Saturday Jake and I went down to the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival. We woke up early and made the two and a half hour pilgramige down to the biggest fiber festival I have ever seen. I knew it would be big, but I had no idea just how overwhelming it would be. There were thousands...no really THOUSANDS, of knitters, spinners and fiber enthusiasts at the Howard County Fairgrounds, not to mention the hundreds of farmers and shephards (?) that were there showing, shearing and selling their sheep. For those non-knitters, it is hard to imagine all the excitement, so I am posting evidence of the frenzy.
Here is a picture of the parking lot:

...and the crowd:

I met up with other Ravelers at the Ravelry party:

I even got to meet Jess and Casey, the founders of Ravelry:

There were Sheep Dog Trials:

...and Sheep, of course:

Even Jake found a favorite Sheep:

There were even baby Emu's:

I had so much fun (and didn't even break the bank!). I did purchase a ball winder and swift, and some Natural colored wool (which I don't have pictures yet...I will post later) and a T-Shirt.

And as if that weren't enough...

Sunday, Jake and I went to the Annual Sly Fox Bock Festival and Goat Race. This is always such a fun event, and this year was no exception. The weather was beautiful and the beer was delicious. Who wants to go to the Derby when you can go to the goat race? Not Me.

Celebrity Sightings

2008-04-27T17:23:00.007-04:00

I'll start off with apologies...sorry that the posts have been so sporadic lately. I've been working A LOT and when I come home the last thing I feel like doing is updating my blog. I'm hoping to get better about regular posting (no promises, though). I'm not going to write a ridiculously long post filling you in on all of the happenings of the last few months. Suffice it to say that I've been busy working, going out with friends, sampling Delicious libations and knitting. Now back to the present....

Last weekend Jake and I took a pilgrimage to a yarn shop in Kennett Square so that I could partake in Franklin Habit's 1000 Knitters project. I couldn't believe how many knitters had come out. We arrived late, due to bad directions by Google (aside: I've noticed that Google Directions have become increasingly bad lately. So much so that I've started to wonder if they merged with Mapquest.), and I wasn't sure if we should wait around. Jake convinced me to stay and wait, especially since we had made the trip and I am a big fan of Franklin's blog. I put my name in and we went across the street to have a beer and kill some time. For those who have not been to the Wool Gathering in Kennett Square and live in the area, it is well worth the trip. The shop is very nice, with a large selection. Also, the staff is very friendly and knowledgeable. They especially seemed familiar with popular patterns and designers, which makes me think that they are aware of the online knitting community (another aside: I often find shops that are not familiar with the presence knitting has online- which suggests to me that they are out of touch with a very large market demographic.) Anyway, Franklin was a pleasure to meet and I was very happy to be part of the project.

The second celebrity sighting of the week was even more exciting (sorry Franklin). A local book store was hosting a book signing for Discovery Channel's book about the show "Deadliest Catch". Three of the Captian's were in town on the promotional tour - Sig Hansen and brother Johnathan and Andy Hillstrand (with a book of their own). We arrived just as their limo pulled up. We got to see them exit the limo, they said hi and headed into the bookstore. What we were not expecting was how crowded the store would be! There had to be about 1000 people waiting to get books signed. We listened to them answer questions but did not wait to get anything signed (plus, the shop had run out of books). It was fun to get to see the people from our favorite show on television (the only show Jake and I watch regularly).

Out with the old....

2008-04-07T20:15:00.001-04:00

And in with the NEW CAR! Last month I upgraded my poor, old 1995 Subaru Impreza for it's younger, sportier sister. I only feel slightly guilty. My old car had treated my well, its' Carribean Metallic Green exterior was easy to spot in any parking lot, the absent cup holder increased my dexterity and coordination while shifting gears and the lack of power windows and door locks made me feel like I was "roughing it". Yet, even with all of it's endearing qualities, it was time for me to get a "grown-up" car. A car that looks like an adult with a paycheck drives it, not a poor college girl. Say hello to my new ride...

Snow Day...day of rest

2008-02-22T16:33:00.002-05:00

Today it snowed. The forecast called for Snow, followed by freezing rain. I made the executive decision at 5am this morning, that I would start my weekend early and went back to bed. Ahhhh...very nice.

Europeans ruined my dinner....or "Why I hate the Metric system"

2008-02-20T21:26:00.005-05:00

I am usually a pretty good cook, I've made several course dinners for family and friends that have turned out better than many restaurant meals. Tonight's dinner, unfortunately, was not one of those instances.

The menu:
London Broil
Oven Roasted Brussel Sprouts
French Bread

Let me start by saying, I have cooked London broil several times...however, mostly on the grill. Today was cold and a little snowy, not grilling weather. I decided to try it in the oven. I found a highly rated recipe by Rachel Ray on the food networks website, my usual "go to" recipe site. Season and broil 6 minutes on each side for medium rare. No problem, right? Here's how the events played out:

First side went fine, browned nicely, good crust. Flip. 6 minutes....check temperature 48 degrees...what?! "Maybe the middle of the steak was still refrigerator cold?" Leave it in longer, while I like my meat rare, i don't like it raw and Jake has a food "doneness" paranoia that he's just beginning to outgrow. 5 more minutes, "56 degrees, are you kidding!?" Is there something wrong with the oven?
Leave it a little longer, 10 more minutes elapse...67 degrees. What the hell!...Rachel Ray is a liar, 6 minutes per side, right! I cut the middle open, hard to tell, still some pink but better be sure. Brussel Sprouts go in on the top rack and the london broil gets tented with foil (becuase the outside is DONE) and moved to the bottom.
10 minutes later, brussel sprouts are done, that meat has GOT to be done by now! Check temp. 72 degrees, the thermometer must be broken because it's been in for like an hour now! Take it out...let it rest.
Jake: "Did you check the temp. of this lately"
Me: "Yeah, but something must be wrong with the thermometer, b/c it still was only registering in the 70's and this meat is done"
J: "Do you realize that the thermometer is reading in Celsius?"
Me: "F@$%#!!!!!!!!!"

There is a little button in the back of our digital thermometer that switches the readings from F to C. I must have inadvertatly hit the button and since I was checking the temp. with the meat still in the oven (rack pulled out) I didn't see the little C on the digital readout. Sorry Rachel, I shouldn't have blamed you, you know what you're talking about, I just can't read.

The meat was overdone....way overdone! Jake was sweet, saying "it's ok, just put some A1 on it". We had no A1. Instead, we used some hot sauce we had in the fridge. With the hot sauce, it was still overdone. Inedible to me, Jake sweetly choked it down. The dog loved it.

What a fiasco...oh well, at least the bread was good.

Zig-Zagging across the country

2008-02-16T14:40:00.003-05:00

Me Snowshoeing with my Aunt

Whew! I just returned from what feels like two weeks of travel. I was lucky enough to visit family in Utah for my grandmothers birthday party. I spent a couple of days staying with my aunt and uncle and visiting with my parents and grandmother. It was very nice. I got to meet my cousin's son for the first time (what a cute baby) and hang out. Lots of fun!

I flew the red eye out from Utah Sunday night/Monday morning only to fly to Huntsville, AL for work Tuesday afternoon. I came home last night, just in time to eat dinner and go to bed!

Groundhog Day

2008-02-02T21:27:00.000-05:00

Today, Punxsutawney Phil saw his shawdow...6 more weeks of winter. Great. More good news. 2008 has started off kind of rocky...I've been plagued with car troubles, a crazy work schedule and no time for much of anything else (including the gym, knitting or reading). UGH! I think I'm going to name Groundhog Day my new "New Year", otherwise 2008 isn't going to be very much fun.

So let's try again...HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Grrrr.....

2007-11-25T21:07:00.000-05:00

Ripping back BLACK, FINGERING-WEIGHT, yarn!....Grrrr...

I can't blog or post pictures regarding the nature of this project, as it is a gift, but no lighting in the world makes ripping back black fingering weight yarn easy.

Happy Thanksgiving

2007-11-23T15:45:00.000-05:00

We successfully hosted Thanksgiving with our friends in our tiny townhouse kitchen...

And for that, I'm thankful.

Married in Las Vegas

2007-10-17T21:38:00.001-04:00

Treasure Island
October 13th 2007

Loretta

2007-09-26T19:12:00.000-04:00

When you're friendly with your LYS owner, you get introduced to people like Loretta. Loretta, a 75 year old knitter who was looking to get rid of her 50 year collection of Vogue Knitting Magazines. She has health problems and while she still knits, she no longer has use for all of the magazines and was looking to give them to someone who would use them....ME! It's so much fun to look at the magazine articles from the 50's, 60's and 70's...a couple by none other than Elizabeth Zimmerman and Meg Swanson. It's like opening a knitting time capsule.

September Deadline

2007-09-16T18:11:00.001-04:00

The baby blankets must be finished by the end of the month. That's it. I can't take it anymore! They're cluttering up my living room and putting a damper on my creativity. Plus, the plans for Christmas knitting have begun and I want/need to get started. But, I can't think about that as long as I'm procrastinating the baby blankets!

Cheer me on, please. I can use all the help I can get!

Yarn Drive

2007-09-15T09:11:00.000-04:00

In the spirit of Cast-on's Honor Beads for Grownups I've planned a yarn drive for charity.

I think I mentioned in an earlier post that Podcasts and Cast-on in particular have jumpstarted me out of my knitting/blogging sabatical. Upon listening to a recent episode Brenda mentioned that the Interim House in Philadelphia could use yarn donations. Rather than just clean out my own stash, I figured it would be fun to invite other knitters, namely my knitting groups to de-stash for a good cause. The Yarn drive will be held on September 29th. If you live in the Philly area and are interested in attending and/or stash-busting for a good cause drop me note.

Food Poisioning

2007-09-09T18:55:00.000-04:00

According to Jake, I have a cast iron stomach. I can eat most food and not have any gastrointestinal problems. Knowing that, I ask a lot of my stomach. Yesterday was case in point. It was IPA fest at the Drafting Room. We were meeting a friend at 2pm for "A drink". Yeah. There were 19 different beers on tap, six samples and two hours later I had decided on my drink. During that time, we won a bottle of Rogue's 10th Anniversary beer. We decided that it must be enjoyed "in the moment". At 6 o'clock we decided to go get dinner. We went to a little BYO restaurant (for those who don't know BYO = Bring your own, very popular in states like PA with crazy liquor laws) with a bottle of Le Chouffe Houblon (sp?) quite possibly my favorite beer right now and a bottle of Pinot Noir. Our dinner companions brought with them some of their delicious homemade wine and port for dessert.

Here's where my system decided it'd had enough...

I'm not quite sure if it was the mixture of all the beer/wine of the day or the Thai Peanut Pork or the really rich creampuffs for dessert but my cast iron stomach let me down. I got sick. At the restaurant. At the table (which thankfully we were seated outside and I was in front of a flower bed). On the way home.

Not only was I sick, but very embarrassed!

It was Bad News.

Update: As it turns out, one of our dinner companions (who ordered the exact same meal as I did) also got sick that night. Giving creedence to the fact that it was food poisioning and not the alcohol.

KiP'ing

2007-09-02T13:43:00.000-04:00

I was introduced to a new Yarn Shop. It is now my favorite LYS. Although it's not quite local. Catherine introduced me to The Wooly Lamb in Pennington, NJ. (Note: There website is under construction today, but here is a link to a review of the shop from Knitter's Review). The shop is beautiful. For me, the inside is laid out very pleasing...yarn and colors everywhere, but not crammed and cluttered that would make it difficult to shop. Catherine and I spent close to 2 hours just wandering around and looking at all of the yarn. The staff is very helpful and friendly and the displays of knitted garments and samples from all of the yarn is stunning. I could have emptied my entire bank account in this store. But I was good, only buying yarn with projects in mind. My purchase included:

6 hanks of Berroco Ultra Alpaca for my Blaze sweater
2 balls of Hacho Hand-dyed for a chevron scarf (like the one that's been circling the blogosphere)

After our venture to the Wolly Lamb, we drove to Lambertville, NJ and wandered through some of the cute shops there. We crossed the bridge into New Hope, PA and found a bar with outdoor seating and good beer where we whipped out our knitting and enjoyed the glorious weather. Catherine was working on these beautiful beaded scarves, which she generously gave me a pattern for. I began swatching Blaze with my new yarn (yes...I'm going to swatch like a good girl). Two Unibroue Emphemere's later and we were off to meet the boys for dinner.

Heaven.

re-kindling a romance...

2007-08-28T22:19:00.001-04:00

I went to knitting last week. I haven't been all summer. But, I went to knitting last week and it felt good! So good, I think I'll go again this week. I haven't knit all summer. I've had projects sitting on the needles, but I haven't had the urge to pick up my pointy sticks all summer long. I think I was a little burnt out. It had become a chore rather than a hobby. Too many obligatory projects (baby blankets, etc.). Not that anyone "made" me knit them a blanket, but you know what I mean. Looking through knitting magazines and online patterns lost it's enjoyment when I knew that in order to cast on a new project I needed to finish not 1 but 3 baby afghans! (I know...I'm a glutton for punishment...3 afghans?!) Combine that feeling with 90 degree heat and ridiculous humidity that the NE experienced all summer and it's a recipe for avoidance.
But, no more. I've embraced my old love like we never missed a beat. I have my Ravelry invitation to thank for that. What? You don't know what Ravelry is? Are living in a cave or with a non-knitter? Ravelry is the new, not yet out of beta, online community for knitters, crocheters and fiber enthusiasts. It is amazing. My favorite feature is the pattern sharing. Being able to see other knitters projects, especially the variations of what I might be working on is particularly fun. It really is an amazing site. Lurking around this site has prompted me to pick up my pointy sticks and continue knitting. And attend my knitting group. And listen to knitting podcasts. And otherwise become completely absorbed in my hobby.
Re-united and it feels so good.....

Stitch n Pitch...and sweat

2007-07-01T09:50:00.000-04:00

Tuesday was the Phillies Stitch n Pitch night. Knitters were invited to come out to the ballpark, knit and watch the game. What fun! If you live anywhere in the Northeast, you know. Tuesday's weather was about as un-conducive to knitting as you could get. It was probably around 90 degrees with about 90% humidity. It was hot and sticky, so much so that you could actually see the humidity on the field. It looked foggy. Ugh! There were some troopers...women working on wool sweaters and scarves draped on their laps. I couldn't even stand to work on the cotton socks I brought with me. Instead, I enjoyed the good company, exciting game (Phillies won 11-4) and yummy beer (Flying Fish Summer Ale). Maybe next year the weather will cooperate.

Sharks

2007-07-01T09:19:00.000-04:00

Last Saturday I took Jake on and adventure for his birthday. I tried to come up with a "pirate" birthday for an adult. Hmmmm...what's pirate-y? Well....ships (we went to Moshulu for lunch)...

...treasure...he got presents....what about sharks? Pirates have been known to make people walk the plank into shark infested water?....right? Either way, I was taking Jake to see some sharks (Jaws is one of his all time favorite movies, anyway) up close and personal. The Camden Aquarium has a program where you can pay to snorkel with some sharks. FUN!I made the arrangements for us both in secret, since I wanted Jake to be surprised. We had to leave early, since we had a 9:30 am swim time. He thought we were going into the city to spend the day, then as we crossed over the Ben Franklin Bridge, he looked a little nervous. "We're going to New Jersey for my birthday" he said, sounding a little dissapointed. Yes, and Camden at that.

I told him about the adventure when we arrived at the aquarium. He seemed a little nervous. He divulged that he remembered seeing the commercials for swimming with the sharks, and thinking "What moron would do that?" HA-exactly why I didn't tell him ahead of time. As we walked in to the aquarium, they walked us through the main shake exhibit, pointing out the different sharks in the tank. All of a sudden I realized why...these were the sharks we would be swimming with.

Wait a minute....the guy on the phone told me the water was only chest deep? I assumed that they would put us in a pool with some little sharks that we would swim around thinking "hey...look at me I'm swimming with sharks." Nope. We were going in the big tank! All of a sudden I was nervous. We snorkeled around on a shelf at the top of the main shark tank. It was really neat, but a little scary. The sharks came right up to our faces.

It was such a fun adventure!

The Epidemic

2007-06-14T18:15:00.000-04:00

Warning! Something seems to be going around. At first it affected a few friends, then a girl at work, then a cousin and now more friends have been bitten by the bug! Babies....it seems like everyone is having a baby. For the parents this is so exciting...however, what's a knitter to do? Hand knit gifts are always nice and usually a lot of fun to knit, but I'm at risk for baby overload! I gotta start speed knitting if I'm ever going to get through all these projects! I hope it isn't contagious!

busy bees

2007-05-13T15:06:00.000-04:00

bzzz...bzzz...no time to post....bzzz...bzzz.....still here.....bzzz...bzzzz...bzzz...

Football in April

2007-04-28T13:10:00.000-04:00

Today is the day I get a little dose of football in Spring, Draft Day! I love the NFL draft for all the excitement it initiates 5 months before the season starts. I'm going to watch, as I sit on my couch and knit, eat my roast beef sandwich and drink my Rodenbach and enjoy football in spring.

Nor'easter

2007-04-16T05:52:00.000-04:00

Today's forecast....No work. This morning I woke up to the sound of wind and rain hitting my bedroom window. I gave myself plenty of time, made a big cup of coffee and out the door I went. It wasn't rain I heard hitting the side of my house, it was hail and snow...in April. What crap! While cleaning off the glue of snow/sleet/rain that covered my car, while myself turning into a drowned rat, I made the executive decision that I wasn't going to go any further. I shuffled back inside, un-packed my lunch and turned on the news, while finishing my coffee. What a mess out there!

My partially cleaned off car...

All work and no play...

2007-03-17T15:53:00.000-04:00

I can't believe it has been almost two months since my last post. Where has the time gone? February flew by and now March is halfway over. I have been working like crazy and in my free time I have been trying to plan an October wedding. Things are starting to settle down at work and the wedding plans are coming together so I can start to reclaim my life. My knitting is starting to resume and I have been reading more. Jake and I attended a Wine tasting dinner a couple of weeks ago.

Tonight, is St Patricks Day! We are planning to spend it at a friends house. Happy St. Patty's Day!

Beer for Breakfast

2007-01-20T15:44:00.000-05:00

We went to our BJCP class this morning, our first Saturday morning session. I don't think I've mentioned it before, but the boy and I are taking a Beer Judge Certification Program (BJCP) in order to become certified homebrew judges. We are learning more than any "normal" person want to learn about beer and its' characteristics. The class is usually on Monday evening's except for two Saturday sessions. These sessions are taught at Iron Hill, a local brewpub, but start at 9am (basically so us beer folks don't interfere with lunch crowd). The class is co-taught by the headbrewer at the North Wales, Iron Hill, which is why we are allowed in the place. This morning, after our discussion about malt, we tasted beers in the Pale Ale categories. Mmmm, quite tasty. We also tasted "doctored" beers, or beers that have been altered to purposely taste bad, so that when judging in a competition we would know what common brewing mistakes taste like. Those beer's were not so good. When training to be a beer judge, you are supposed to grade/rate each beer based on aroma, appearance, flavor, mouthfeel and overall impression and grading based on style. One common theme I found between all of these beers was the honey aroma, however I was the only one who found this similarity between the three beers. Note to self, do not use Milk and Honey lotion before beer tasting. Every beer you hold will smell like honey. Not a very effective way to judge beers. Lesson Learned.

...must...go...to...knitting...

2007-01-18T18:09:00.000-05:00

work has been draining me. as i write this i can't even muster the energy to use proper capitalization, so bear with me. the purpose of this blog is not to vent about work. i like my job...usually. right now, however, my brain is overloaded. i'm learning a new job (one of the conditions of my position is that i will "rotate" every year for three years). being in the rotational program is stressful. not only do you have to learn a brand new job, at the beginning of the year, but you also have to train someone to do your old job. sounds easy, right? it's not rocket science, but, it takes longer to teach someone than to do yourself. compound that with trying to learn a new job yourself (that is completly unrelated to your old job), which you are naturally slow at those tasks, and by the end of the day your brain is spinning. or at least my brain is spinning. needless to say, i have not had the energy to do anything lately, let alone anything crafty. the house was a mess. luckily i live with a wonderful boy who cleans on his days off, since we would have nothing to eat off of if he didn't. it was all i could do to find the energy to go to the store, so that said boy would have something to eat when he got home from work (i get home much earlier than he does, even if i have been working 10+ hour days). now it is thursday and i have not been to knitting in over a month. i must go. i have to go. otherwise i will polish off the bottle of pinot in the kitchen and fall asleep on the couch with the t.v. blaring. i don't want to do that...again. plus, i miss my knitting buddies. maybe they will inspire me to finish the second baby sock (for a friend, not me!) or my felted laptop sleeve. one can only hope.

Crazy Customers

2007-01-09T17:35:00.000-05:00

I must say, there really are some crazy people out there. It all started innocently enough, I decided to stop at my local cellphone retailer (who shall remain nameless) on my way home from work, in order to price new phones and headsets for the boy and I. As I walked in the door I hear a woman shouting...SHOUTING! Mind you, I witnessed people making a scene at retail locations in order to express their displeasure, which can be understandable but I have never seen anyone behave like this. The woman, who had two small children with her, was in the middle of the store shouting at who I'm assuming was the store manager while on her cellphone. The very nice and embarassed sales associate comes to try to wait on me, however it was rather difficult because the woman was seriously shouting at the top of her lungs. It was as uncomfortable as being at a friend's house when their parents are fighting. I try go about my business when she directs the conversation toward me..."DO NOT BUY ANYTHING HERE", she warns "THEY WON'T TAKE ANYTHING BACK!" Ah, so the domestic dispute is about their return policy. She then returns to shouting at the manager and talking on the cellphone, meanwhile the manager is asking her to leave. It was difficult to think, let alone ask the questions I stopped in to answer. In the end, the cops were called to escort her from the store and apparently she wanted cash for her return, which is not store policy. On my drive home I couldn't help but wonder where this woman learned that acting all irrational and crazy is the best way to get what you want, and did she really want her children to learn that that was acceptable behavior?

Mummers

2007-01-07T19:55:00.000-05:00

I spent yesterday with a bunch of men in dresses...no, really, I did. I attended the annual Mummers Parade in Philadelphia. The parade had been postponed due to inclement weather (it is normally held on New Years Day). We could not have asked for better weather in Philly yesterday, though, it was sunny and almost 70 degrees! I think we broke record highs for this time of year. What a crazy parade...lots of music and crazy costumes...(and drinking). The parade is broken into three sections: the Comics, the Fanciers and the String Bands, or something like that. Each "brigade" has their own theme, costumes and acts that they spend all year preparing for. Apparently the Mummers tradition dates back over 100 years. It's like nothing I've ever seen before. Check out my pictures.

Marcia and Tammy (in the hat)

Afterward, Jake met up with Marcia, Jenni and I to watch the Seahawks game and had some excellent beer. Jake brought a bottle of Chimay (the blue label). I can't get enough Trappist beer lately. So delicious!

Lucy and Jodie (Jenni's dog's) love the roof deck of the Philly house. Here they are on the neighbors roof (notice the skylight):

Happy New Year

2007-01-01T10:58:00.000-05:00

Welcome to 2007...I love the fresh start a new year brings. One of my many resolutions this year is to post more to this blog. Apologies for the lapse in posting, since before summer, yikes! Since Santa left a shiny, new laptop under my tree, I promise to start posting more often.
Let's see, what has happened since I last posted...
Jake and I finally set the date and location of our wedding (after a 5 year engagement, we figured it was about time). We visited Las Vegas last July decided that it would make a fun location for our wedding! To read more about that, visit our wedding blog (which will be posted to more as the date gets closer).
Emma got a new buddy...Jack, a 3 year old Beagle, who had to leave shortly (1 week) after his arrival. He decided that biting was the best way to show Emma and Jake his displeasure with them. In all fairness, it wasn't entirely his fault...we think he may have been abused by his former owner and had some issues with authority. Unfortunately that meant that we were not a suitable match for him.

My knitting group held our first ever, knitting getaway in Cape May, New Jersey. What a great trip! We visited an Alpaca farm and the local LYS. Although, there was definitely my drinking, giggling and playing than knitting. We stayed at the Cliveden Inn, one of the many B&B's in Cape May. It was such a fun trip, I hope one of many more to come.
I just returned from spending the holiday in the Pacific Northwest. It had been over three years since I had been back, so it was nice to see all of my family and friends. My visit reaffirmed the goal to move back there within the next few years. While I love the East coast, Washington is still home.
Other than that, just lots of knitting, brewing and working...our house has been pretty busy over the past few months. I wish everyone a great 2007!

Blogging Hiatus

2006-05-10T18:45:00.000-04:00

I am on a Blogging Hiatus...due to busy work schedules and sunny days....I will return to posting regularly soon.

Thanks!

Teaching Boys to Knit

2006-04-30T09:59:00.000-04:00

Lately we've been spending time every other weekend getting together with a group of friends, many of whom are starting to expand their families. Needless to say there are generally a few little ones running around when we are all together. As a knitter with no time and a gift schedule, I try to bring projects with me when I know there will be time to knit (sitting around, drinking, playing games and watching movies, etc....note to self: don't bring lace projects to drinking parties, bad idea). Now that the weather is getting nicer, and my bike is beckoning, it is becoming increasingly difficult to find time to knit. Anyway, a three year old friend has decided that he likes to help with my knitting (again, leave the lace at home). So I've started bringing projects that are a little easier, so that he can sit on my lap and help (he likes to wrap the yarn around the needle and help count the stitches). His brother on the other hand, likes to turn a nice, neat skein of yarn into one big, tangled mess. I think it is cute that he is showing interest, his father (Jake's best friend), is not as amused. I try to counter by informing that it helps develop motor skills, math skills and creativity, and that historically men knit long before women. Sarcasm soon follows. I will not be dissuaded, however, in fact I'm planning to bring big, fat needles next time, better for small hands (of for shoving...well, nevermind).

Kno Time to Knit

2006-04-22T13:17:00.000-04:00

So this week has not been very condusive to knitting, or blogging. Pesky things like long hours at work have been getting in the way. It doesn't help that by the time I get home, ride the bike, walk the dog, and eat, there is very little time or energy to do anything else. So, now well rested and looking out at the rainy day, I have time to catch up on my other obligations (no, not laundry...blogging). Last Sunday I finally gifted Sophie, however, I decided on Saturday that I wanted to felt it more (very smart) and ended up having to gift a slightly damp bag. It looked much better, though.

Too much wine to knit...properly

2006-04-17T20:26:00.000-04:00

I came home this evening with a hankering for linguine with clams, not quite sure why, as seafood, in particular shellfish, is not something I normally crave. Don't get me wrong, I like fish, crab, lobster, etc. as much as the next person, but it is not on my usual repertoire of cooking recipes. It just so happens that my personal chef (also known as my live-in) was not up to cooking tonight. He recently received an invitation to meet with the head brewer of Iron Hill, in North Wales and was giddy with excitement and working on his resume. Fine. I didn't want him messing up the dinner I was dreaming up anyway: Linguine with Red Clam sauce. Open cupboards, linguine, canned chopped clams (score). The fixin's were all here, no need to run to the grocery store (which I loathe anyway). So I grabbed my Rachel Ray and got started. Confession, I am not the type of foodie who can gather a bunch of ingredients, throw together and have a wonderful meal turn out (like my chef)...I inevitably screw something up in the process. I like to have recopies as a guide. I don't generally follow to the letter, but I like the guidance, and I think I am a better cook because of it. Anyway, I used Rachel's recipe for Linguine with Red Clam Sauce, however, some substitutions and omissions needed to be made. I had the garlic, not the anchovies, crushed red peppers, but not the fresh parsley and thyme, no clam broth either just chopped clams in their juice. Oh well the key ingredients were there, clams, pasta, garlic, crushed tomatoes...shit! Only whole peeled tomatoes (not the right consistency) and Ragu....Ragu it is. Enter wine. The recipe calls for wine...but we are down to our last two bottles, one a novelty and the other, the last of my Olympic Peninsula wine from my trip back home. Our wine selection appears to be drying up, mainly due to the fact that our alcohol budget has been going towards beer for the past several months. The recipe only calls for 1/4 cup...a very necessary 1/4 cup... so I sacrificed the Lost Mountain Syrah (2001) (which is highly recommended to anyone who can find it, which pretty much excludes anyone who lives anywhere other than the Pacific NW). Beer lends itself nicely to many a dish, but not the one I was preparing. By this time dinner is shaping up nicely and a couple of glasses of wine are down the hatch, when the boy emerges...

Boy: "Something smells good"
Me: "Its all the garlic"
Boy: "Did you just open that wine?" he asks...beer glass in hand (did I mention I live with a fantastic home brewer)..."I thought we were saving it"
Me: "For what...we've had it two years"
Boy: "I dunno...You're cooking with it?"
Me: "Yes... we need it to add depth and character...otherwise it's just clams and Ragu"
Boy: "What about the rest of the bottle?..."
Me: "What bottle?"

There was really no real point to this entry, no knitting, just a girl all warm with good pasta and a bottle of red wine.

(Note: Please overlook any spelling errors or incoherent sentences)

Jaywalking....

2006-04-16T08:27:00.000-04:00

Meet Jaywalker...

Jaywalker is a lovely sock cuff, soon to be sock, knit from Regia sock yarn. I'm a little concerned for Jaywalker. First, the color. I picked this yarn from my stash to attempt Jaywalker, however I'm afraid the color pattern will obscure the stitch patter. I have read that stripes are okay, but faux fair-isle may be difficult too much. I can see the pattern, but I don't know if I am disillusioning myself because I "want" to see the pattern. I guess only time will tell.
My second concern for Jaywalker is the fit. I have read that a few other knitters experienced the slouchy sock or baggy ankle problem. I still haven't decided if these are going to be gifted or kept, but either way, I don't want them falling down. As a novice sock knitter, I am concerned that I will not know how to fix this problem, should it arise. Any Ideas?

The Yarn Harlot in Philadelphia

2006-04-12T22:38:00.000-04:00

Forgot to mention that the Yarn Harlot was in Philadelphia last weekend...

Actually, in a Doylestown Book Shop. BJ from my knitting group was there also. Stephanie Pearl-McPhee is so nice (and funny), she took time to really talk to people, while signing their books. I bought a copy of her newest book.

Speaking of that day, I think my webbed feet are starting to grow over. Growing up in the Pacific NW, rain never bothered me. Last Saturday, I found myself complaining about the rain! And it wasn't like there was consecutive rainfall, just a rainy day. I'm turning into a 4 season's wimp.

(by the way...for those who care, I fixed the email address on my website)

Disclaimer...

2006-04-10T19:12:00.000-04:00

As you may or may not have noticed, I have not posted anything in about a week. This is not due to lack of interesting happenings in my household, as there have been several. The lack of posts are mainly due to boredom. I must confess, my blog is boring. I have noticed that several of the blogs I read are very entertaining and engaging, which keeps me coming back and reading on a semi-regular basis. Mine, not so much. I took some time to ponder why this is and came to this conclusion: I am a business writer. Years of business courses have beaten me into technical writing submission. I have been trained to be factual and concise, omit any filler or minutiae. It is the minutiae and filler which make for an interesting blog, otherwise it becomes what I have here

Today I did/got/had ...The end.

It may as well be a bulleted list, for as entertaining as it is. For that I apologize to you, my reader. From this point forth, I will try to: (uh-oh, here comes the bulleted list)

Be more engaging as a blogger
Write about the trivial nonsense that is my life in an effort to entertain you, the reader
Post more frequently to entice said reader to return and possibly leave a comment
And, try to portray my funny, witty, clever self in written form (ha! yeah, right)

We shall see how I do...

Twinkies...finally

2006-04-02T14:01:00.000-04:00

I made Twinkies this weekend with my Twinkie bake set. They turned out okay, but not very twinkiesque. I used one of the recipes that came with the bake set, it was supposed to be the sponge cake recipe, however, it was more cakey than spongy. Next time I will use the recipe in the Top Secret recipe book...I did use the filling recipe from this book, which did taste like Twinkie filling.

Spring has sprung in PA! Living in a state with four seasons makes one understand why everyone gets so excited for spring. Growing up in WA, I never really got excited for spring, it generally only meant more rain. Now that I live in PA and am exposed to cold winters (including snow you don't have to drive to) and the dreaded brownness of all vegetation. After the holiday excitement has worn off....mid January... it sucks, everything is dead for months. This weekend is beautiful...warm weather, sunshine, and flowers and trees starting to bloom. We went for a bike ride this weekend, we saw a huge hawk fly right over us and land in a tree nearby. I love spring!

I am a Sock Knitter!

2006-03-26T11:36:00.000-05:00

I finished my very first sock!...I am a sock Knitter...with a captial K. Up until now I have always felt like a beginner knitter, too unconfident in my skills to try anything that required more than two needles, but no more! I knit this sock on four, size two (incredibly small) needles; picking up stitches and turning heels, like the best of them. No longer do I consider myself a novice knitter, I am a Knitter ...Norwegien sweaters here I come...okay, maybe not quite yet, but I am currently working on a lace project and a fair isle project. Both gifts so I will not disclose what they are for fear of giving the surprise away.

This sock was knit with Regia Sock yarn, using a basic sock pattern.

Finished sock (unblocked...not sure if blocking is necessary, but my grandma says I should)

Now I just need to knit another...my other foot is jealous.

Mail Call

2006-03-22T15:38:00.000-05:00

During the last week or two, I've received some fun mail. Fun mail usually consists of magazines, letters/cards, packages from Amazon.com, etc.; it is apart from the usual junk and bills that normally grace our mailbox. The recent contents included the new Harry Potter movie from Amazon, Yarn and a pattern from KnitPicks, and a couple of magazines. Check out the Stash Enhancement from Knit Picks:
Hand-dyed Merino wool, going to be used for my first lace project (sorry the pic is so dark) .

One of the magazines I received was Everyday with Rachel Ray , which is my new favorite cooking magazine. Rachel and her staff have wonderful and easy recipe's and fun articles. In my excitement, I decided to try out the PB&J cookie recipe, which sounded delicious. It is essentially a thumbprint cookie (you know the kind with the jam in the middle), but uses a peanut butter cookie base. First let me say, the recipe couldn't be simpler, however it turned out to be a disaster. Not because of the recipe, but because of my own ineptness at baking. I underestimated how much the cookie would actually spread (two inches apart seemed rather excessive at the time) and made too large of an indentation for the jelly ( I like a lot of jelly). Into the oven they went, and the bottoms fell out. The bottoms fell out, leaving me with a donut shaped cookie and jelly stuck to the baking sheets. What a mess...but a tasty mess, I must admit. I will definitely try them again, hopefully with better result.
Before Baking:
A couple of the cookies turned out ok...
...but mostly they looked like these sorry excuses for cookies. How unfortunate.

Happy Birthday to Me!

2006-03-21T21:19:00.000-05:00

I meant to post this yesterday....actually, I meant to post it Sunday, but whatever. I celebrated my 25th birthday on Sunday! Happy Birthday to me...Happy Birthday to me... The above is the gorgeous castle cake my honey baked and decorated for me.
This year I received a beautiful road bike for my birthday. Along with the bike I received a bunch of fun and needed gear from my Parents (via REI)...I can't wait for the weather to be consistently warm enough to ride daily, but for now I'll have to settle for short, face freezing rides, or training on the stationary.
I am also the soon to be recipient of the Lucky Twist Longaberger basket set. I very pretty basket with a bottom twist and green reeds. Thanks Kunkels!

The grand daddy of gifts would have to be my new Twinkie bake set (which along with the bike and the cake, is also from my honey), I can't wait to try it out. I have always LOVED Hostess Twinkies, an obsession that those here in TastyKake land do not understand. Lately, I have not been able to eat Twinkies; we try to eat very little processed foods, which lets face it, Twinkies don't fit under those restrictions. They are one of the few foods that will outlast it's packaging. This Christmas, I received a Twinkie the Kid, Twinkie holder in my stocking, but he has been sitting empty, longing for the yellow goodness he was made for. But, no more...I will now be able to make my own Twinkies...with real ingredients (flour, sugar, eggs, etc...) no preservatives! And if that weren't enough...it came with a second Twinkie the Kid! Bliss.

When Irish Eyes are Smilin'

2006-03-17T21:50:00.000-05:00

Happy St. Patty's Day!

Bikes, Beer and Knitting, oh my!

2006-03-12T15:39:00.000-05:00

Here on the East Coast, we received our first taste of spring yesterday! It was sunny and in the upper 60's, perfect weather to try out my Birthday Bike. We stayed local for our first ride of the season, taking advantage of the paved trail near our house. Jake spent so much time decking my new bike out, that he neglected making sure his was in proper riding order. He was soon sorry, because as it turns out he couldn't shift out of gear, so he pretty much only had one speed. Needless to say, after a couple miles, he was ready to pack it in and try to repair his bike.

Sophie's trip through the wash:
Completed Sophie:
The Sophie bag is felted and complete, and in time for Gretchen's birthday, how about that for timing. I still need to shave it and I'm thinking about embellishing it with a small knit/crocheted flower, but we'll see how I feel. After the ride yesterday we met up with some friends for an evening of beer. I brought along my very first sock project. Can you think of anything more fun than beer and socks?

Check out my new site...

2006-03-05T08:45:00.000-05:00

So yesterday my wonderful cohabitant built me a beautiful new website, with all the bells and whistles. He did a fantastic job, I am so excited about it. He included this blog to the homepage so that you can read the blog from the site. Pretty cool.

The Sophie bag is almost complete! I need to finish the second strap (hopefully I have enough yarn... it's going to be close) and off to the washer to FELT! This will be my maiden felting voyage, keep your fingers crossed because it can't be unravelled after felting.

MySpace Addict

2006-03-01T20:58:00.000-05:00

As it turns out there is this amazingly addictive web~whatever called MySpace. I'm sure everyone has heard if it, as I think I am the last person in the world to sign up. Be that as it may, I have recently come in contact with many of my High School friends from back home, as well as a couple of my Americorps buddies. I must say, I'm addicted.

I started a new knitting project this weekend, after the disappointing Knitting Olympics. I'm currently working on the Sophie Bag. I think this is going to be a gift, if I finish on time. It actually knits up surprisingly fast.

GOLD!

2006-02-25T22:16:00.000-05:00

I crossed the finish line!! My Knitting Olympics project is complete. I must say, the Waldron Island hat was a learning experience, I learned that double pointed needles are not so bad and that I'm not a big fan of making bobbles.

My brand new Clover Yarn Cutter is my gold medal, no silly donut hole for me.

Waldron Island Hat in action:

The deadline really helped me stay focused, as I have tendency to jump from project to project (don't all knitters?). The pattern was fun, aside from the bobbles, did I mention that I've decided that I don't like bobbles. They yarn is a deliciously soft alpaca and knit up nice. The sad part is, I don't like it. I like the picture, and it turned out well, but when I put it on, it does this weird, crown-like thing, I feel like the kid on the old Imperial Margarine commercials (was it imperial margarine?...the kid with the crown?... who knows, but anyway...). I finished, I got the gold, but I'm not happy with it, which means I probably won't wear it, but I like the yarn so....
I ripped it out. Two weeks of knitting back in the basket (on a side not, the pretty blue yarn was part of Jan's destashing, thanks Jan!)
Maybe I'll find a different hat to turn the nice yarn into, however right now I need to move on to some gift knitting.
Disappointing :(

frogging.....it's not easy being green

2006-02-21T18:24:00.000-05:00

There was a minor setback to the Knitting Olympics Sunday night. I realized that I had been knitting the pattern of my hat incorrectly and consequently had been increasing every row. There was no way around it, so I ripped down to the color change. I should still be able to finish before the torch goes out, but I'm not messing around, I've traded out the dpns for my circulars, in an attempt to speed things along. Plus, this week I have my SnB, so that right there is at least two solid hours of knitting (minus the time spent to sip my coffee).
Speaking of... I did manage to finish 1 Project Linus square for the group. I think I am going to try to crochet a couple of blocks from "200 Crochet Blocks" by Jan Eaton for the next square.

Stash Enhancement

2006-02-18T19:30:00.000-05:00

Today we went on an adventure to Allentown. We had committed to helping my future sister-in-law and her husband fix up their new house and decided to run some errands while we were headed that direction.

First Stop:
Allentown Sewing Machine Outlet: Bill diagnosed my sewing machine problem as an internal loose screw that was affecting my tension, not an operator error, as I had suspected. He fixed the problem and sent me on my way. They are so nice and helpful here it is worth the drive to do business with them. Plus they have a great selection of fabric! (which I was good about not purchasing)

Second Stop:
Tucker Yarn Co.: I had never been here before and decided that since I was in the area I would check it out. The store is not much to look at, it is in a section of Allentown which I'm told was once an upscale shopping district about 40 years ago, but now is pretty run down. The shop owners themselves probably have been there for at least 40 years. They were a cute, elderly couple, the woman needed a walker to get around. They were very helpful and the store was very large. Tucker Yarn has a wide range of yarns and other needlepoint accessories. They had everything from nice imported wools and alpacas to Lion Brand acrylics. They carried a lot of different weights and colors of each. Some of this yarn had to be in stock since the 70's, just by looking at the labels.

My purchase included: 2 skeins of Reynolds Lopi in nave to make a Sophie Bag, 3 balls of Noro Kuyeron just because the price was right, and 2 skiens of Jiffy to make another Project Linus square for the Knitting Group's Charity Project.

The journey to our next stop included witnessing an extreme display of road rage involving an individual drawing a weapon and threatening the car behind him (in broad daylight no less). But that is a story for another time.

Finally we arrived at our Third Stop: The pet store, where we purchased fish food and spoke with the Greyhound people who were there. We've been contemplating getting Miss Emma a friend lately.

We then spent the rest of the afternoon painting, and when we came home we bottled two batches of homebrew. So needless to say I didn't get much Knitting Olympics done today, I did work on one of the Project Linus squares during the drive:

Happy V-Day!

2006-02-14T18:52:00.000-05:00

When I am in charge of dessert, here's what you get...Cupcakes. I am not the baker that Jake is, but here is my attempt at the Valentines Day dessert:
Before Baking:
After Baking: As it turns out that the Waldron Island Hat is proving to be challenging. After day one, I thought it may have been too easy to be an Olympian project, and then I got to the bobble stage. Now the challenge lies in trying to decipher what the pattern is asking me to do. Progress thus far...

Happy Valentines Day!

Knitting Olympics

2006-02-11T07:14:00.000-05:00

And so it has begun....

I decided to throw down the gauntlet and join the rest of the online knitting community with their quest to greatness. Last night, I cast on my project for the Knitting Olympics. For the next 16 days I will be challenging my knitting ability by knitting the Waldron Island Hat, which is April 28, 2006 in the Knitting Pattern a Day Desk calendar. In the spirit of the Olympics, this pattern challenges my ability, as I have never worked with dpns before, nor cables. After some dropped stitches, I started to get a little more comfortable with all of the sticks poking around.

In other knitting news.... The HP scarf is hitting the WIP basket, it has become entirely too boring to knit, and by the time it is finished, it will no longer be scarf weather. I will probably just use it for TV knitting, as it is pretty mindless.

The Project Linus squares for the Philly Burbs SnB, are going well, I have one almost complete, with another in works.