Hey…. I can cook

I was called out twice by the daughters in the last few weeks in regards to my culinary skills. Ok, I admit to being in a culinary slump and taking the easy way out too often…

Call Out 1: The girls and I are at our monthly Saturday Women’s Breakfast, where in addition to having breakfast together and enjoying a devotional, we also share “skills” with the younger women (yeah, I’m one of the “older” women). This week one of the ladies was doing a hands-on demo and teaching us how to make pie crusts from scratch, and she mentioned “if you need some help with yours, Lynda can help you, too. She makes gorgeous pie crusts – she can do latice and fancy details… I just make plain crusts.” My girls looked at me like they’d never heard such a big lie! Ooops, has it been so long since I actually made a pie crust from scratch that my girls don’t even believe I know how? Not to mention I have not bothered to pass this skill along to them. Ok, no more taking the easy way out with Pillsbury ;o)

Call Out 2: We get home from dinner at my sister’s, which WAS delicious, and Kaity says, Mom, you need to cook fancy like Barb. Ouch. I can cook fancy… if I want to. Yep, yep, yep… time to quit being lazy.

So, this weekend while the hubby was gone for a few days I dug out the cookbooks and told the girls to pick dinner and dessert, and we’d made anything they picked out. Kaity picked Eggplant Mozzarella Towers from the cookbook we bought on our cruise, and Lilly picked Frangipane Apricot Creme Brulee. Mmmmm.

Looks as good as the picture, and tastes as delicious as I remember from the cruise (although, things do taste a bit better when someone brings it to you and cleans up the mess). Unfortunately for Kaity, she found out she does not care for eggplant, no matter how beautifully you dress it up. She’ crazy… it was gooo-oood.

Dessert was a bit sweet for my taste (and that’s saying something!) – but it was fun to make and turned out well also. Not only can I cook, I wield a mean mini-blow torch in the kitchen when it comes time to caramelize the sugar!

I can even bar tend…. mmmm, raspberry lemon drop martinis… Sorry girls, not for you ;o)

So there, girls, I can cook, and promise to quit being so lazy. I’ll even try to use a real recipe at least once a week.

I also still knit – proof of that tomorrow.

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Ah… Nutkins!!

Finished!

Pattern:  Nutkins

Yarn:  Zen Garden handpainted superwash (60% merino, 30% bamboo, 10% nylon), in Avocado Spring colorway

Fun, fun pattern to knit, and super easy to memorize pattern.  Beware, though.  These TWIST quite a bit, which is not really evident on the pictures with the pattern.  If you don’t want the twisting, these are not for you.

Okay, Okay… Layla’s reminding me what you’re all really here for…. did I frog or did I knit as is.

Out of 39 votes, 12 of you thought I would carry on as is, 27 of you thought I would for frog them…. Wow, I’m not worthy, so many of you think I’m a conscientious enough knitter to “do it right.”  Silly silly people…

Well, look and see for yourselves (hanging head in shame – look away now if you’re a perfectionist)

…and who’s our winner of their own personal colorway of hand-dyed sock yarn, courtesy of my very own Kaity?

JULIE!  Congratulations!  I’ll have Kaity get a hold of you.

PS – I know, I know, I’m more than aware that I should have listened to those who said frog it – of course I should have… I never learn.  You’re all more than welcome to say “I told you so” when those yarn overs turn into big holes.   Go ahead… comment away – I deserve it :o(

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A Contest!

Ok… let’s see what you really think of me.   It’s easy…. vote whether you think I’ll finish the sock “as is” (see last post), or will I rip it back and do it proper?

I’ll randomly pick a winner from the pool of people who guess correctly, and the prize… a skein of sock yarn dyed by none other than my Kaity girl, and you and she can collaborate on your own personal colorway!

Now…. vote!

Results to follow this weekend, when I finish the sock…. however I finish the sock!

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I’m a knitiot

I was all happy with myself this morning, knitting away on my 2nd sock, when Kaity says, “Um, mom, you’re not supposed to knit the pattern on the sole of your sock.”

poop… I know that.  The simplest stuff trips me up!

Even worse, I’m seriously consider leaving it that way and just starting my stockinette here.

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Serpentine Layla, Serpentine!!!

Look at this hawk. Isn’t he just beautiful?

No… people, the answer is NO! This picture will give a little more perspective… This is one of three that sit in the tree in the park, not 10 feet from our backyard. (The other two flew off when I opened the screen door to take this picture this morning) They sit there and stare at my little 5-pound dog. I’m pretty sure I see them licking their beaks.

Now, Layla’s favorite thing to do is to play in her backyard – running around like an idiot playing go-dog-go, or just standing there sniffing the breeze, or sleeping in the sun. Yeah, that last one pretty much just calls out “Yummy-yummy, come and get me.”

Now everytime I let her out I have to check for predators. I’ve tried to impress upon her the seriousness of the situation, but she’s not so hawk-savvy. And, she just stares at me when I try to explain how to run a fast serpentine pattern if she feels something swooping towards her.

She just doesn’t get it. I’m a little scared for her.

I’m off to Ravelry to see if there are any chain maille dog sweater patterns!

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Practical has nothing to do with it

I love that yarn is so much more than something practical to make something practical out of. Often times it’s neither. Usually, it’s so much more.

Most of the time it’s art.

I cleared off a whole bookshelf in my office so that I could look at my sock yarn whenever I wanted to. Hmmm, seeing it all together like this makes me think I may be in some sort of color rut.

Which is why I like these. Nutkin socks. Zen Garden yarn in the Avocado Spring colorway. I keep thinking these look like nice Spring/Summer-colored socks. Then I realize I rarely wear my wool socks during those “light-colored” seasons.

Oh well, they can be “art” socks.

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