Cheesecake-o-rama
October 12, 2009 at 8:04 pm | In baking, food, knitting | Leave a CommentThings are the same here – work, cook, sleep, etc, etc.
The butternut squash soup from the Sheepish Little Blog (Knitscape) has been THE SOUP for a few weeks now – sad to see they are giving it up.
Pumpkin Cheesecake and Banana Cheesecake were some of the cheesecake experiments here – both were a bit mushy, but good. Both were based on the “Mary’s outstanding chocolate cheesecake” without the chocolate. For the pumpkin I added 1 cup of fresh pumpkin and 2 tsp of pumpkin pie spice and used half brown sugar instead of all white sugar. The banana one had one ripe banana that was pulverized in the blender with the sugar. I also put a little cinnamon in the topping (a la bananas foster)
Both pairs of slippers have been felted and sent to their new owners. Spring Green Ice Queen is finished…
Little Monkey is growing up…
Pound cake and socks (mostly) with no pictures :(
July 30, 2009 at 7:53 pm | In baking, food, knitting | Leave a CommentWell, that title describes what I’ve been doing with my “free” time lately.
I’ve been working on finding a good pound cake recipe since the horrible disaster a few weeks ago. I tried the Pound cake recipe (with fresh blackberries) from the next to latest Martha Stewart Living – it was HORRIBLE! too salty! I should have known adding 1 tablespoon of salt was too much, but I reasoned that it was ‘course’ salt AND it was for 2 loaves…. ICK!
Last night was a better trial – Cream cheese pound cake from Bakerella. I made one blackberry and one chocolate chip. The pans overflowed in the oven badly, but the cake turned out ok. Not the dense pound-like texture, but good cake.
I also tried making Blueberry Boy Bait from Smitten Kitchen except with Ranier cherries. It was ok, but didn’t look like the pictures. I had to use dark brown sugar and I don’t think I beat the sugar and butter long enough.
As for crafting…
I am done with the lace scarf. It needs blocking and pictures. I am working on the Cookie A socks and a ‘vanilla’ 3×2rib sock (both at the gusset increases). There will be pictures next post…. 
Hamburgers from scratch
July 13, 2009 at 6:32 pm | In baking, crochet, family, food, knitting | Leave a CommentThe Bug and I helped Uncle G make hamburgers from scratch (grind meat, bake buns, make ketchup, relish, and mustard) as inspired by an article in Gourmet magazine. They were very good, especially those that were more coursely ground.
I’ve also made a few dishcloths…
This last one didn’t handle the ‘up-sizing’ as well as the other blocks.
I’ve also made progress on the lace scarf (a la Meghan-Jasmin’s Lace Throwdown)…no pix just yet.
The blackberries are going full-ahead, so we also made blackberry crisp using this recipe from Alton Brown. I made a double batch in a 9×13 pan and just used all the ‘crumble’ part. We used gingersnaps for the cookies. It was yummy!
Summer, finally…
June 12, 2009 at 9:11 pm | In baking, food, gardening, knitting | Leave a CommentMy last class for the summer was today – whew! It has been a whirlwind of classes… only grades left to assign and calculate.
We’ve gotten some green beans out of the garden and the squash are doing some serious blooming. The blackberries are formed their nice little green orbs. The CSA boxes are started to have more variety than just lettuces – I get tired of lettuce easily and have been looking forward to the changes.
CSA box: week 5 contained carrots, cabbage, cauliflower, eggs, sirloin steak, red romaine (or swiss chard?), radishes, butter lettuce, peas
We used everything but a bit of the butter lettuce which is still in the fridge. I made cabbage au gratin (new recipe) from the UK extension office using 1/2 head of cabbage and some green onions added in – this one is a keeper! We steamed the cauliflower and the peas. DH loved the peas. I gave away the radishes and we froze the steaks. I made a spinach provolone frittata (new recipe) from the Mixing Bowl site using several eggs. It was rated good by me, but not by DH. I also used some of the eggs to make a chocolate cheesecake for a friend’s birthday.
CSA box: week 6 contained peaches, radishes, green onions, white onion, basil, mint, dill, swiss chard (or red romaine?), eggs, chicken breast, peas, red potatoes, zucchini, yellow squash
I made a skillet fried chicken breast to use up the chicken (rating = ok). We steamed the peas (again a hit according to DH) tonight. I used the last carrot from the last box, along with the big onion, the basil, and our own oregano to make pasta prima vera tonight.
I have been working slowly on the sock from the Cookie A book. It is a nice, but complex pattern (Bex), but I modified it by going toe up and may leave the large diamond areas to just adorn the cuff/leg area.
OK here
February 2, 2009 at 9:00 pm | In food | Leave a CommentMany of our family have been in winter storm areas with horrible ice and snow in various states west of the Mississippi. Several were without power for days, but thankfully are all ok. MIL sent pictures of Paducah, KY with inches of ice and my mom and brother sent pictures of Ripley, OH where you couldn’t tell where interstate roads were amidst the snow. We missed everything so far this winter but a tiny bit of snow and a few inches of rain.
Anyway, I’ve finished several things and tried a few new recipes – I’ll take pictures soon and post them. The risotto from the Splendid Table webpage was good (see last post). DH really liked it; it was ok to me, but needed something. I tried to make a frittata, but it turned out kind of icky.
Right now I’m working on another pair of fetching, the MIL clogs, a crochet scarf, and the same pair of socks… just jugging along, waiting for spring!
Ambling along
January 22, 2009 at 9:14 pm | In Baby, family, food, knitting | 1 CommentSchool has started and the cold has let up a bit, but it supposed to be back tonight. I have had a fierce need to make stuff, WARM stuff…
KNITTING –
FO: Emerald Hug
A scarf for my Grandma (a knitted, fuzzy green hug)
Yarn: Riot eyelash from Yarn Bee, color seamist
Pattern: simple garter stitch, CO 15 with US 10
FO: The John Deere clogs for MY Dear Dad
pre-felt
post-felt
Yarn: Lopi Lite, every bit of 6 balls (4 green and 2 yellow) for Men’s medium
Pattern: the brilliant FiberTrends felted clogs!
WIP: Blue Beret
Yarn: malabrigo, mmmmm
Pattern: One Day Beret by Through the Loops
WIP: Pinkie Clogs for MIL
Yarn: Regular Lopi, pink and gray
Pattern: Yes, more clogs!
COOKING –
DH wants to eat more vegetarian dishes (not so much meat), so I am obliging. I used to eat very little meat – especially in graduate school. So, besides another batch of yummy biscotti (not as good with peanuts as pecans), I made onion soup this week from the Moosewood Cookbook – yum! We’re going to try a butternut squash/quinoa dish DH found, and perhaps a frittata or risotto (from the Splendid Table) this coming week.
ENJOYING –
I am also enjoying the flurry of podcasts that have picked up after the holiday breaks. I am especially enjoying Cogknitive, Stash and Burn, and StitchIt. I seem to be dealing a bit better with the winter blues so far this winter. I have been exercising more and that seems to help. However, I haven’t talked to my family much – I generally do that when I am starting to feel sad. So, I am looking forward to Dr. Gemma’s strategies (cogknitive) for fighting back those winter blahs/blues.
Little Bug has been behaving somewhat better these past few days, so I feel a bit more at ease.
Here are all of our “winter” flowers: Daisy, Iris, Lily and Bug (she has a flower name, too).
Adventures in yarn and candy
December 10, 2007 at 9:13 pm | In baking, food, knitting | Leave a CommentLots of things going on here. I finished the clogs for DH.
Here is a pre-felt picture…
and an after-felt picture…
I also made several batches of peanut brittle. It is a wonderful treat to give away.
Peanut Brittle (a la the “old” Fisher peanut bag)
1/3 cup water
1 c corn syrup
2 c sugar
3 c raw peanuts
1 t salt
2 t baking powder
2 t butter (real butter does make a difference here)
Combine sugar, water, and corn syrup. Bring to boil, stirring constantly until the mixture reaches 240F (soft ball).
Add peanuts, stir constantly until the mixture reaches 295F. You will begin to smell a “toasted peanut” smell just before it hits this temperature.
Remove from heat and add in butter and stir.
Add in salt and baking powder (mixture will foam).
and start to turn a more caramel-like color.
Pour onto parchment paper and let cool a few minutes.
Carefully stretch out the mixture by pulling at the edges. It will be hot, but the thinner peanut brittle is so delicious and not so rough on Grandma’s dentures.
Let it cool completely and break it up… Voila!
This is 4 batches.
I also tried the a Southern Praline recipe from December’s Martha Stewart Living. It was awesome. They didn’t turn out so pretty, but were delicious. I won’t stir them as long next time.
I did some experimenting with the usual truffle recipe. I tried piping the mixture instead of letting it harden as much. It was a bust. I’ll just have to do it the long way (scooping and rolling the little truffle balls). They tasted fine, but were very soft and small. The chocolate coating also clotted up… boo-hoo.
There will be more candy-making this weekend. Laurel and I are traveling to Berea to make candy with a friend from high school/college. It is always nice to catch up.
Off we go to the pumpkin patch!
October 8, 2007 at 8:59 pm | In Baby, family, food, knitting | Leave a CommentTomorrow is Bug’s first field trip, the pumpkin patch! She has been mentioning it for about a week now. We’re going with the daycare with essentially one-two parents per child. I wonder what kind of chaos there will be with a large gathering of children from the “2 plus”, 3, 4, and 5 year rooms. Bug is in the “2+” room. It amazes me how much she learns there. She counted to 10 in Spanish the other day in the car.
We traveled to Paducah to visit Grandparents T. where Bug is the only grandchild. She sure loves her Pappaw T!
I got a bit of knitting done (not in the car, as I drove separately from DH who came up on Saturday). I have finished my first sock and am past the toe increases on the second of my socks.
I made some progress on the DNA scarf earlier in the week. It is turning out so cool! I keep thinking of how I could “disguise” other things… evil scientist laugh —mwahhhhahhhahhhh!
We ate at Kirchoff’s Deli and Bakery in Paducah. It is always very yummy. I had a wonderful Turkey and Artichoke sandwich and then a Cowboy cookie (oatmeal chocolate chip)! The coffee shop (Peppermills and Market Square Coffee) is right there, too (all 3 are connected) and makes a good latte. They have free wi-fi, but no web page!? Bug saw the “big water,” the big train, and something new: a paddlewheeler boat. It was the Mississippi Queen docked in Paducah. That thing is FOUR stories tall!
On the work front, things have been extremely busy. You can probably tell from the reduced blogging frequency and the slow progress on my projects. I haven’t been to my knitting group in two weeks (three if I don’t get to go this week!). But, fall break is next week, so we should have some fun then.
I’m sure there will be pumpkin pictures tomorrow. Until then…
Rest of vacation… knitting update tomorrow
August 12, 2007 at 10:01 pm | In Baby, family, food, travel | Leave a CommentMuir Beach/woods/Sonoma Valley was the next day…. sorry.
After the Taste of the City Tour, we took the trolley back to Union Square and went shopping. DH bought a pair of shoes and some belts. I’m not really keen on shopping on vacation, at least in the kinds of stores that I can go to at home. Also, I was kind of tired, still, so I just looked and listened.
That night we ate at a restaurant recommended by a new colleague, Asia de Cuba. The food was good, but pricey, and the service was excellent. It was more Asian than Cuban, at least in the spice and cooking method departments. I really like the Cuban food that I have had, especially this roasted pork dish (name?) that I had at a little restaurant (name?) in St. Augustine, Florida.
Anyway, after another latte (decaf vanilla caramel latte for me and a wicked-looking hazelnut latte for DH) at another coffee shop, we headed home.
Day three was spent entirely on the road. This is the day we went to Muir Beach, Muir Woods, Sonoma Valley, Berkeley, and accidentally Oakland. We left San Francisco via the Golden Gate Bridge. I was hoping to get to the Japanese Tea Garden at Golden Gate Park, but alas there is only so much time in the day…
Muir Beach was so cold and I’ve never had such a hard time walking on sand!
The sequoias were awesome! I got into biology because I love trees, but a “latin-lovin” sadist botany professor drove me away from botany and I ended up in genetics, which is a whole other story….
We saw a banana slug (ick) on the hike around the Woods. They really do look like bananas!
We ate lunch in a little cafe, Cafe Z Epicerie, in Marin County. We both had paninis, which were very good. Next we headed to wine country… We decided to go to Sonoma Valley, as our “book” said it was less touristy. I finally saw the “green-ness” that I imagine to be California. The hills were green and the yards were filled with flowers along the way. The San Francisco area is much more tan/gray and dreary than I imagine California to be.
Anyway, we decided on the Bartholomew Park Winery and finally found it. I wish I had been able to get a better picture of the grapevine rows…
The people were very nice. They only sell to individuals (in person or shipping). DH tasted the wines and bought 4 bottles of a nice red wine (2002 Cabernet). I looked in their museum, which was interesting because the whole area was apparently a failed women’s prison. Who knew?
On the way back (via Berkeley and Oakland), we stopped at the Olive Press. It is the only olive oil “seller” we saw in our trip. I wanted to get some good fresh oil. We tasted the oils and bought some Koroneiki and some sherry balsamic vinegar.
We went into Berkeley to find the “street of bookstores” called Telegraph Avenue, but were disappointed to find only 3 bookstores. One, called Moe’s, was a good used bookstore where I got 2 cookbooks (a Slow cooker one and an Indian one). I will conquer Indian food one day! I can make paneer for goodness-sake, but can’t seem to add yogurt without it separating…
We couldn’t seem to find our way back to the interstate via Berkeley and ended up in Oakland where we got on the interstate going the wrong way. After much tribulation we finally made our way back home via the Bay Bridge, where I got a picture of Alcatraz Island.
We ate at a nice Persian restaurant just down the street from the hotel (The Opal). It was very good – they were playing instrumental Christmas music, though (why?)
The next day we packed up everything and headed to the airport. We had a bit of a scare when we came close to missing our connecting flight in Denver (but didn’t). I cried when I saw Bug at the airport. I had missed her so.
Even though she gets on my nerves sometimes, she has been such a constant fixture in my every waking moment for nearly 3 years now. I’m going to have to do better about letting her go, as she is fiercely independent like her dad.
Recipe and half of the vacation (picture-rich)
August 10, 2007 at 9:42 pm | In food, recipe, travel | 1 CommentThe apple-pear salsa Sister made last week was very good. The recipe we used was from Chef Walter, as she didn’t have her original recipe with her. I’m going to make this tomorrow for DH’s birthday and will take a picture. Here it is… with the following alterations/tips:
1. We used walnuts, but thought pecans would be better after tasting it
2. We didn’t use granny smith apples – any work well
3. We used lemon juice and no orange rind mainly because we didn’t have an orange.
Salsa:
4 cups finely chopped granny smith apples
1 cup chopped pear (fresh or canned)
½ cup quartered red grapes
½ cup chopped walnuts (or pecans)
3 TBSP orange juice
1 TBSP brown sugar
2 tsp orange peel
Chips:
6 8″ flour tortillas
cooking oil spray
3 TBSP sugar
1 ½ tsp cinnamon
Directions:
Salsa:
Mix juice, brown sugar and orange peel and set aside. Chop all ingredients and toss immediately with juice mixture so apples won’t brown. Refrigerate about an hour and serve with chips.
Chips:
Mix cinnamon and sugar. Spray both sides of the tortilla with the cooking oil spray. Sprinkle one side with cinnamon-sugar mixture. Stack all 6 tortillas together and then cut into 8 wedges using a pizza cutter (or a good knife). Place on cookie sheets in 1 layer with no overlaps (or they will cook unevenly) and bake for 10 minutes at 350. Watch the chips and turn them once halfway through cooking. Allow to cool.
<Picture added on Aug 12>
I made it with pecans and the orange juice and peel, but it still needs something…. what????
On to vacation…Day one and half of day two.
We arrived in San Francisco on Monday afternoon. I used to be good at flying (actually enjoyed it), but since Bug arrived it scares me for some reason. Anyway, we ate a nice, but late dinner at a pub near Fisherman’s warf (view out the window is below) – the one that started making Irish coffee in the US.
DH had an Irish coffee, but I veered off the (b)eaten path by ordering a spinach omelet. We then went over to get some chocolate at Ghirardelli square! The dark chocolate with ground espresso beans is awesome!
We then went home and went to bed….
The next day was our Taste of the City tour (North Beach/Little Italy). We rode the trolley (crowded and bumpy) to our meeting place in Little Italy. It was extremely yummy and very interesting. We saw how they roast coffee from the little gray beans,
and how good, not bitter, it is when fresh roasted in this machine.
The cappucino at Caffe Roma was delicious! If you are ever near, it is worth the trip!
We had truffles at XOX, saw a really pretty old church (St. Peter and Paul Church?) with lovely stained glass,
ate Italian meats and tasted olive oils at a shop (name?) that is located near a lovely flower shop,
and visited a bread bakery (The Italian French Baking Company), which has excellent foccacia,
where we got to see the bread ovens,
and a pastry bakery (The Victorian Pastry Shop) where we sampled eclairs.
We ended up at the Purple Onion, a tiny comedy club where many famous comics got their starts. DH is telling a joke here…
This was a whirl wind day, so I’ll stop here and I’ll tell you about Muir Beach and Woods and Sonoma Valley in the next post…
-
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