Monday, November 27, 2006

Things that feel good:

petting kitties
a nice hot fire on your back
making quilts
butternut squash soup (yum, we've already had it three times)
flannel sheets with hot water bottle
a long weekend
dreaming about christmas trees
drinking eggnog
considering making your own christmas trees

Monday, November 20, 2006

This Superhero post is a birthday gift for all of us! I've been spending my time lately trusting myself and it does feel good.

We've been having fires in the fireplace every weekend since it hasn't been too cold yet. On a brisk night with kitties, it is the most wonderful thing in the world. Once it gets cold enough to have to use the heater, the central air sucks the smoke out of the fireplace into the house and that is not cozy. This conventional fireplace stuff is for the birds, I've definitely put fireplace insert or wood stove on the list for "must find a way" if we ever move. When?

Monday, November 13, 2006

November 11 2006 008

On the weekend I made Alicia's Sourcream Apple Pie, the second apple pie I wanted to test for Thanksgiving. It was ridiculously well recieved and most of book club had seconds so it was a definite success. The other pie that I tried was also very good and probably my favorite of the two: Molly's tarte tatin. It was well liked by the people at work. The problem is that only two of us, me and Thad, actually tried both pies. I liked the tarte tatin better and Thad preferred the Sourcream version. Oh what a tangled web we weave.
November 11 2006 003

Quilting has been moving along swimmingly. This quilt is a secret since there is a chance it's recipient could read this. So that's the reason for the arty shot that doesn't show much. This one is turning out much better than I had anticipated and could be the better of two I'll be making before christmas, but we'll see.

Friday, November 10, 2006

November 11 2006 006

Wonder of wonders, I have been knitting lately. I am mostly done with a scarf for Christmas in a three stitch basket pattern. As usual when I knit, my mind is filled with grand schemes of all that I will make. Texture seems to be what I like most about knitting since you don't get the instant color gratification that you get with sewing. I am very drawn to this beautiful technique for that reason. She explains that you drop down and knit stitches from a previous row into the current stitch, very cool.
Another installment in my salads for posterity series:

1/2 head of frilly lettuce, torn
1/2 fennel bulb sliced very thinly
1 clove of garlic minced
about 1/4 cup crumbled good quality feta
juice of 1/2 lemon
drizzle of good olive oil
salt & freshly ground pepper

This was very good but in the future I would increase the fennel and use the whole bulb (minus the fronds stalks of course). I got the fennel + lemon combination from Orangette.

edited to add: We tried this again with more fennel and the addition of a couple of slices of good bacon fried up crisp, chopped up, and scattered over the top. The extra saltiness made an incredible difference and turned this into serious business. With bacon it's easily a fancy company kind of salad.

Thursday, November 09, 2006

October 30 2006 022

This is my first attempt at shrinky dinks since I've been allowed to use the oven without adult supervision. I'm the adult now! Anyway, you can see my skills have not improved in the years I've had to subconsciously mold my craft. I got two types of film to try out, black and clear. The black seemed like it would lend itself to interesting shapes since a drawn design would not stand out very much. My shapes are not interesting so far and the stars really want to curl up and not lay down even though I tried the tip they give you to put a piece of parchment on top while baking. I like the little rectangles with words on them the best so far. All of these are meant to be little earrings maybe with tiny crystals hanging from the bottom. They are a blatant rip off of the basic construction shrunkencathead uses, though nowhere near as nice. Today I will try to print words onto the clear sheet with an inkjet and see how that turns out.

Wednesday, November 08, 2006

October 30 2006 001

Recipe for how to cure a bad day: here's how I do it

Step 1. Call your best friend and tell her everything. This may be all you need to do. However, if it's really bad or if she happens not to be home, proceed to step 2.

Step 2. Have a long hard cry, really get to heaving and snivelling. Do this by yourself or you could upset people. Please don't skip this step even though it's the most embarassing because it is critical to the success of the project.

Step 3. Take a nice hot shower and wash everything. Wash your hair, shave your legs, exfoliate anything that might need it. Use all of your best smelly items, the ones you save for a special occasion. This is a special occasion, see step 2.

Step 4. Put on snuggly pajamas and pour yourself a glass of champagne.

Step 5. Order your favorite take-out food and watch your favorite dvd. By this time you should be feeling much better, or at least I do. You can commence cuddling with whoever happens to be handy: husband, cat, whatever.

Monday, November 06, 2006

This year I am getting my Christmas shopping done early so I can really enjoy the act of giving. I love the slippers I ordered from the sweetloveablegoods etsy shop. They are to be a Christmas gift but they are so adorable and comfy (I slipped one on to make sure it would fit because it looked a little small but no worries there). They are sweet, and loveable, and good goods. I've been cruising the shop pretty regularly since to ogle the other items now that I know how nice they are. The flower pins are really pretty too and would like so nice with a ladylike wool coat and scarf.

Thursday, November 02, 2006

There will be a Soulemama book! I have been reading this blog almost religiously lately as a tiny wish for what my family might be like when we have babies.

Wednesday, November 01, 2006

Halloween at home was a new experience and very delightful. I think I would like to make it an annual tradition. We got a handful of trick-or-treaters but none past 8 p.m. I made a delicious lentil soup (but skipped the pancetta because I didn't have any and it already included bacon) and we watched the first long episode of Firefly that Thad got for his birthday.