Stalks!! Who knew? Maybe everyone but me, but then, I’m fairly certain I’ve never even had a brussel sprout. Perhaps something to try soon … I know my grandfather loved them. Does anyone have any great recipes? Their reputation suggests they may need a little finessing …
Posted in Food | 4 Comments »
I started knitting a new scarf/shawl this weekend. I haven’t really knit very much in a while, so it’s nice to be back into it. The scarf is scarf/shawl style because it’s wider than a normal scarf; however, since it’s made with lace-weight wool, it will ultimately be a little less bulky than one might expect. It’s a simple stockinette stitch in alternating stripes of dark purple and berry (the colors I used for my wedding — it’s a color combo I’m really drawn to), so it’s curling in a nice way on the edges. When I say “nice way,” you’ll have to understand that I hate the curling from stockinette (seems like a mistake to me most of the time), so I rarely do it, but since this is so wide, it works out nicely.
The yarn I’m using is Loðband wool that I bought in Iceland. I want to go back, because Iceland was an amazing country and it’s so close (Europe in a five hour flight? Yes, please!) … but also because they love knitting! Their beautiful sweaters are pricey, but their yarn is really inexpensive for the high quality. If I don’t make it back before I use up the stash I already bought (yarn was crammed in every nook of available space in both of our suitcases), I’m looking forward to purchasing from the Handknitting Association of Iceland. It seems like they just sell sweaters, but in the store, way in the back beyond the piles of handknit everything, is an amazing, bright little yarn section. So without further ado, here are the yarns I’m using:
Notice the fleck of a light fiber on the purple skein. One of my life's greatest joys is finding debris in my yarn. A reminder it came from something natural and alive. Something that's still a little dirty like it ought to be.
The next picture was my progress as of this weekend before I tore it all out and started over. Turns out that 120 stitches was looking like too many, so I began again, this time with 90. Perfection. Still like this photo a lot since the circular needles make a little spiraling cascade of this project in it’s earliest stages:
Finally, what would a post about Icelandic yarn and knitting be without a gratuitous photo I took of Reykjavik from across a pond …
With that, back to knitting. I’ll post about it again — either as I go or when it’s all finished. Hoping to keep my blog updated with at least my works-in-progress this year!
Posted in Handmade, Trips, Uncategorized | 3 Comments »
Matt and I have been trying to save more money. Again. We’re often puzzled about where the money goes, but the one thing that seems to be the biggest roadblock to saving is going out to dinner. We don’t go out every night — we’re both good cooks. But we’re also dining out enthusiasts … and we’re in the mood for sushi way too often.
Fries -- pre-bake
Friday night represented a victory because even though we didn’t have plans (which usually leads to heading out) we were going food shopping and picked up steaks to make at home. Not the cheapest stay-at-home meal, but still a ton less than going out would have been. We also had russet potatoes in the fridge so we made Garlic, Salted Beer Baked French Fries as a side.
These no-fry fries are one of our favorites and we found the recipe through one of the regular emails we get from the Brewer’s Association. The best part about these fries is that they’re soaked in beer. I don’t know what it does to the final product, but there is fun to be had in soaking food in beer. The beer gets all frothy when you pour it over the potatoes and it makes it look like something must be happening. For these fries, post-soak, you drain the beer, add garlic, spices, and oil; and bake. We used Sierra Nevada celebration ale for the recipe on Friday as its one of our seasonal favorites. Also, a note on the oil: you could probably use a little less. I have found that there is quite a bit extra left in the bottom of the bowl at the end.
Fries -- ready to eat!
As an aside (this information is on the Brewer’s Association site as well), this recipe is credited to The Edible Perspective, a blog I’ve been following since we first tried these fries. This blog has a lot of good recipes … all vegetarian or vegan … and a lot of gluten-free options. Not always relevant for me from the gluten-free aspect, but I can always enjoy a vegetarian dish!
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I haven’t hammered out a list of resolutions for this year. It would probably be basically the same as any other: self-improvement, weight loss, finding out where the money fairy lives, going to her home, and demanding my cut … certainly no promises on blogging (because we see what my track record has been like over the past few months).
With that said, I’m already on track to trying new things in 2012. On Friday, during what turned out to be a marathon food and supplies shopping trip across parts of two counties, we stopped at Produce Junction to get some discounted veggies. They always have rarities that strike my fancy, but that day, I decided to spend the $2 and take a chance on something I’ve never seen …
It’s celery root! I have no idea what to do with it, but it’s great looking AND smells like celery (a vegetable that I happen to love). After a very small amount of Internet research I am still at a loss, so if anyone has any ideas, definitely let me know. For now, it’s hanging out on the kitchen counter. By the looks of it (it’s just a big root after all), I think I’ll have at least a month or two to make a final decision as to its culinary fate.
Posted in Food, My Life, Shopping | 4 Comments »
That was clearly that most exciting thing that has happened or will take place in my month of August! I felt my desk shaking and dismissed it, but as it continued and others around me felt it, I realized it was an earthquake.
In the same vein of wanting to see a tornado sometime when I’m on vacation and far away from my house, I’m glad I got to feel an earthquake at least once in my life. And extra glad it was just a little one.
More than anything else, the earthquake left me feeling powerless and out of control. In the moment your options are to ride it out where you are or ride it out under something sturdy. Those are really the only choices you get. Comforting and upsetting at the same time; so simple yet so jarring.
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Among my circle of high school friends, way, way back in the late 90′s (if anyone has a time machine, I volunteer to go back), I was in the know on what music to listen to. In particular, that was Guster, Huffamoose, and anything playing on Y100. And that was all well and good, but as I’ve aged (just working through my first few weeks as a 29-year-old), I’ve become increasingly interested in listening to different genres of music. I’ll credit Matt and company for this — he and his friends are quite the music snobs. In college I got hooked on alternative country (even though back in 1998, I thought I’d die before I’d ever listen to anything even loosely related to country) and more recently have started to like what I consider to be alternative blue grass. And that’s been my kick over the past month or so — fiddles and banjos brought to you by the fine men of both Old Crow Medicine Show and the Avett Brothers.
courtesy of amazon.com
We heard a song from an Old Crow Medicine Show album, Tennessee Pusher while hanging out at DuBois’ own, The Hitching Post and decided to head on over to Amazon to pick up a virtual copy. As an aside, just buying MP3s isn’t a philosophy with which Matt and I necessarily agree … we like the cover art, the holding something tangible, the fiddling with the CD/record player … but we’re totally out of space. While that album itself didn’t catch me in particular (it was enjoyable — worth listening to), it drew me back into another album by Old Crow called Big Iron World. And I’m just in love — banjos, fiddles, harmonies. What’s not to like?
And then I noticed that a band I really like one album by (I and Love and You by the Avett Brothers) had another one of their earlier albums on sale (virtual-like) for just $3.99 at Amazon. Alas, I’ll never enjoy the clever cover art, the joy of reading the lyrics in some intentionally artistic/edgy scrawl font/ironic liner notes from this album either, but the music! It’s so what I’m in the mood to listen to right now with spring springing and the sun shining.
courtesy of theavettbrothers.com
What I really like about this band is that they throw in some rock edge every once in a while that causes the lead singer to shout briefly in a few of the songs. The album is Emotionalism and it has a lot going for it: slow ballad-type songs, plenty of upbeat music that you kinda want to clap to while you’re in the car waiting for the light to change, and some harder, dirtier guitar riffs. All things I enjoy. My current favorite song is Pretty Girl from Chile. It starts out kinda sleepily, but wait for it. And some late breaking news: I just got tickets to see them in a few weeks! Stoked!!
You can make fun of me if you like, but this music puts me in an exceptionally good mood that makes me all but completely immune to jeers from people who just don’t know any better 
You should definitely give them both a chance if you’re not a fan already.
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On Tuesday night I was at one of the monthly meetings for the Philly Modern Quilt Guild, of which I’m a member. I’ve considered quitting because I find it hard to keep up with crafting in general, let alone quilting (which can be expensive, has a lot of steps, and isn’t one of my strongest suits). But then I realized, groups like this provide me the encouragement to craft and make time for creativity in my life.
We typically have something “due” at every meeting. There isn’t a consequence for not participating in the challenges (e.g. make a monochromatic quilt using shades of only one color and a neutral … if you must) and swaps (keep reading), but it’s fun to be involved. Even despite the artificial pressure I feel to make something great. This month’s meeting demanded a pillow cover for a pillow swap. Basically, you make one, bring it to the meeting, and swap with someone else.
Came out pretty, in my humble opinion. But therein lies the issue: I finally spend time to make something and I have to give it away. It went home with someone nice and I got an equally cute pillow back, but that’s only a minor consolation. On the other hand, it’s nice to receive something that another person put time and care into despite knowing it would ultimately be given away.
Next month’s challenge is a quilt of any size using a solids charm pack (think stack of pre-cut fabric squares in a rainbow of colors) and as much other fabric as you’d like … just no more solids, only prints. I have some thoughts. We’ll see how it turns out (or if I’ll be skipping next month’s meeting).
Posted in Handmade, Uncategorized | 1 Comment »
So, after just one month and about 1,500 miles on my new car (a Subaru Impreza Outback Sport that we’ve lovingly named Newbaru), I’ve already gotten the first piece piece of road paraphernalia jammed into my tire on my way into Starbucks on Friday: April Fool’s Day. Not a funny joke. It looks like it was a bolt, but despite having specially requested that Pep Boys return it after plugging the tire, I was disappointed to find they either kept it for themselves or threw it away. I’m amassing a modest collection given the fact that I typically get something stuck in my tire about three times per year. We still have the peculiar little wooden spike that found it’s way into the old Subaru’s tire at some point last summer. Luckily I took a souvenir photo of the April Fool’s Day bolt. (See it at right. Oh! That’s what it is! Now you see!)
Now, back to Pep Boys. We dropped off the car off for the tire repair and went home for some snacks and baseball (The Pirates were on! I’m sooo surprised they lost!). When I got word that my car was ready, I was fully prepared to pay the $15 to $20 bucks to have had the bolt extracted, the tire put back on my car, and the pitiful little spare tire returned to its compartment. Turns out it was all free!
The reason for the freebie was the Auto Rewards Program at Pep Boys. They signed me up just so I could get the free tire repair. After having paid for the Sears tire warranty for my old tires, I kinda feel like I got a little jipped. While that did cover some portion of tire replacement, things have never gone that far. I always just needed to have the tires plugged and plugged again (my luck is really what’s stellar here) — so I could have been getting that done for free at Pep Boys all along. Also included in the membership? Free tire rotation and air pressure check, free check engine light evaluation (for those of us who like to gamble with how long they can keep that light on and still travel successfully from point A to point B) and free brake check. Plus, after you earn 200 points (from purchasing an assortment of windshield wipers and car air fresheners) you earn gift certificates (that you can put toward more windshield wipers and air fresheners). Plus, now I have a cute Manny, Moe, and Jack little bar code thingy on my key chain.
And let’s be honest here. Part of me was really excited to share about free tire repair, but the another part of me also thought that my new car deserved a little ink. Isn’t it pretty?:
One final thing: my blogging-on-the-go scenario hasn’t yet panned out for typing full posts, but I did make some edits and put the pictures in while on the road yesterday (Matt was driving or that would have been taking things to a whole new level of distracted driving). That’s all for now.
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Wow. So there’s an app for this!
I always thought that if I could blog at lunch or at least edit posts on the go, I’d be able to keep up with this more regularly. This morning it occurred to me that there might be a WordPress app and when I checked at lunch I was thrilled to find that there was. And typing with only your thumbs on an iPhone certainly isn’t preferable, but it beats not writing at all.
Matt and I had a stupendous Wednesday evening with dinner downtown at The Dandelion followed by going to see Alexi Murdoch at the First Unitarian Church. The music was so mellow and the atmosphere so relaxing — scents of incense and patchouli; cool, still church air — that I didn’t feel the least bit guilty letting myself drift off into a light little nap for a song or two. It was perfect. More on The Dandelion to come (and some grainy, dark iPhone pics to be sure as well!).
Now back to my break:
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