|
|
I miss caroling! I used to do it years ago but there hasn’t been much of a chance to do it anymore. So I decided that this might be a fun time to do some ‘targeted’ caroling. ;)
If you send me your phone number, I will call you sometime this month and sing a holiday carol to you on the phone. :) I’m a decent singer and I know a million songs, so I thought this might be fun. You can email me or send me a private message on Tumblr, Facebook, Twitter, or DeviantArt.
THE RULES:
1. For my watchers/followers/friends only. I don’t want this ending up at large; this is for people I know and who know me. We don’t have to talk often, either—so long as you have already been watching me for whatever reason, this works. :) I do NOT have to be following you in return.
2. At this time, ten slots are open on each of the four places where I hang out: Tumblr, Facebook, DeviantArt, and Twitter. That’s 40 chances to get a carol!! You get ONE carol, so if you sign up in more than one place, you still only get one call and one song. If you send me your number after the slots are filled, I may do a second wave. I’ll let you know if that happens.
3. You must let me know what name to ask for when I call so I know I’ve got the right person.
4. Let me know if you care either way if the carol is secular or religious. I personally love nearly all carols regardless of source, and I am not particularly religious. But I know lots of you have strong feelings one way or another and I don’t want to offend in either direction. I only know one Hannukkah song, btw, and I will sing it if you request it. ;)
5. Also know if there are any songs you absolutely do NOT want me to sing. You can’t select a specific song for me to sing, but you are free to ask me not to sing a song that might drive you crazy (for me, it’s Marshmallow World—I HATE that song).
6. There is no rule #6
7. The calls will happen sometime throughout December, with the last calls occurring somewhere around the 30th. I will not be calling anyone on the 24th, 25th, or 31st.
Here’s a helpful form to make things easier:
The screen name under which I’d know you:
Name to ask for:
Phone number:
Are you in the USA? Y/N
Time Zone (so I don’t call you at 4am) :
Religious/Secular preference? Y/N (state which if any)_____________
I have proof that my kitchen is clean–this pic was taken after I had baked dinner rolls and a coffeecake, as well as the cranberry sauce and brussels sprouts that were my responsibility for Thanksgiving dinner. I have been making an effort to keep the place organized and it seems to be working so far!
And here’s the coffeecake:
What’s coffeecake without…coffee? :D My new coffeemaker:
Fresh hot soft pretzels from tonight:
And here’s one last pic, of me doing a spinning demo at Stitches East in October 2011!
So, today I cleaned my kitchen.
We finally broke down and ordered a new coffeemaker last weekend, and it arrived today. Bunny really wanted a cup of coffee as soon as possible, so that meant I had to set it up. Which meant it needed a home first. As a messy person, my kitchen is often a disaster that only ever gets cleaned a foot or two at a time. The monster coffeemaker needed a real spot on the counter, though. Considering I’ve worked my rear off all day and I have to get up in a few hours to start my cooking, here’s a quick list of Five Things I Did To Make My Kitchen Look Fabulous, That Anyone Can Do:
1. Throw away all the trash. Seems like a no-brainer, but I was shocked at how many milk carton rings, empty Lactaid and cough drop wrappers, plastic grocery store bags, and receipts were littering up my counter space. Cans and bottles were repeat offenders, too–looks like I have a nice trip planned to the bottle return.
2. Get rid of plastic containers and lids that are missing their mates. I had a stack of both. Recycle or donate if possible, but don’t hold onto them. I had a bunch that I was keeping ‘in case’ I found the other half–some MOVED with me two years ago. I think it’s safe to say I don’t have it anymore.
3. Consider what should and should not live on the counter. I FINALLY installed a rack for my baking sheets that I bought at Ikea over a year ago, meaning all those unwieldy sheets are now corralled in a pull-out cabinet and organized properly. My crock-pot now sits where the sheets were–and now both are handy. I also put away a cookie jar that wasn’t in use, as well as my mug tree. Just those three things freed up so much counter space that will be easier to use.
4. Wipe down all the surfaces and dry them. Another no-brainer if you’re cleaning the kitchen. But when I clean, I forget sometimes that even if the back of the counter looks clean, it gets dusty. A quick wipe-down made the room sparkle. Dusting off the spice jars and the canning jars that hold dry goods also helped. Dust makes everything look a little grey and dingy; now my orange kitchen glows again.
5. Put like things together. The electric teakettle now lives beside the new coffeepot, and the cutting board is located near the knives. Why didn’t I think of that earlier?
None of this is earth-shattering and in fact, it’s all pretty basic. But I did it today, and I have fallen in love with my kitchen all over again. There are still some major organizational things I need to do, but in the meantime, I have a great space in which to cook and bake–just in time for Thanksgiving!
I don’t do Spring Cleaning, though I do start to feel guilty about it every year when the weather gets warmer. However, the Fall is when I really get the urge to fix up my place and clean up–just in time for months of staying indoors and not being able to avoid my stuff. One major thing that has been killing my soul lately has been my studio.
Whenever we’ve had a place with multiple bedrooms, the studio has been this lofty concept for me. How perfect, a place dedicated only to my yarn, fiber, fabric, and art! A room on which I can close the door (after years of having my stuff out in the main living areas) and in which I can feel excited about creating and working. Except it never works out that way. The studio usually means ‘unused room that serves as a glorified storage space’ or worse, ‘large square pile’.
No longer! Angie came over yesterday and helped me put together the table (a monster that I’ve had since Bunny & I moved in together) and then today, we began to sort through the fiber and yarn. I have a policy of donating large quantities of my unwanted stash upon anyone who helps me clean, so Angie went home with two shopping bags full of fiber today (mostly silk and angora) and an armload of similar fiber yesterday.
I sorted through boxes and baskets and all sorts of bags. Everything was placed in ‘yes’, ‘no’, and ‘maybe’. I gave myself permission to get rid of things no matter where or when I bought them, how much I paid, or even if they were a gift from someone. I need a clean slate because if I don’t have one, my business suffers and I stop wanting to create.
So into the ‘no’ box went things like the pale yellow yarn I bought three years ago for a sweater that never worked. So too the maroon coned yarn I got on Ebay for a terrific price and then HATED. And the royal blue bulky alpaca that I love, but never could land on a project. All of it is going.
There’s fiber, too–silk, angora, wool of all kinds, blends, colors that I loved but didn’t care for spinning, things I kept out of some sense of ’should’. I also looked at each of the projects I came across and made a decision in under a minute each time whether I would continue it or frog it. Most things got frogged, while some have been set aside to continue. I gave myself permission to give up on yarn that I tried to work with multiple times. With two yarns, I am giving them each a last chance because I really like them and WANT to make them work. But if they don’t, out they go.
We worked from 11am – 7pm and we feel it, even though we were sitting on the ground much of the time. And yet, there is still more to do. I haven’t even looked at my sewing or art supplies yet, or my library. Each thing will take a day or two. However, even if I don’t have a huge working day like this again, it’s an amazing jumpstart. I cleared out many of the cubbies and I feel great about it. I also have a place for the table loom where I don’t worry it will get damaged, and soon I’ll have a spot for the drum carder as well.
I have a lot of work to do ahead of me, but this is really a great start. Onward!
The top 100 words in my story-in-progress, La Custode.
Gardening is one of those things I put off and put off because it’s such a chore, but when I’m actually DOING it, I love it. Today, I planted the last of the tomato plants (giving me a grand total of five) and Angie helped me thin out the sage and mint that were warring for dominance. I planted them last year thinking they’d die over the winter (you guys remember the winter we had, right?) but instead they came back with a vengeance.
Thinning them out meant that I had a shopping bag full of cuttings. I went through them and saved a ton; here’s what I ended up with:
Keep in mind that I had already bundled up and given away some of them to a neighbor. I had 1/3 again as much before that. ;)
My chives are able to breathe again, though, and while the hostas are looking a bit peaked, they’re still growing. The only thing I’m missing is some basil, which I should get in soon.
I re-potted a leafy plant that was looking glum, giving it a bigger pot. I took ITS pot and replanted my baby aloe, which also needed some room. You’ll also see one of the stalks of oregano in a pot here. It’s going to my parents in exchange for the tomato plants.
And here’s my baby girl, who helped me cut and wash the plants. Well, in her way–she sat on the kitchen rug and miaowed at me the entire time. That’s helping, right?
Which ones won??
First off, did you know that the Windsor Locks High School Library has the BEST lighting ever?? The ceiling is translucent glass and the room is airy, open, and bright with natural light. The pics below were taken this afternoon and I did nothing to them but crop. My new favorite place to photograph!!
My skeins from MA Sheep & Wool 2011:
First Place: Warm Rainbow (Corriedale/Finn/Rambouillet cross wool, two colorways by Spinner’s Hill)
Second Place: Ulla’s Shetland (Oatmeal-colored Shetland wool, fingering weight, spun on Ulla just before I sold her)
Third Place: Alpaca Laceweight (White Alpaca laceweight, spindle-spun and plied)
No Place (but with nice comments): Lavender Sunset (BFL wool, two colorways by The Painted Sheep)
Three out of four isn’t bad, is it? :)
Crochet is one of the yarny arts I CAN do but rarely actually do. I’m not a huge fan of the fabric appearance (while I adore the look of knit stitches) and I find the effect with variegated yarns to be really dated.
Which didn’t stop me from casting on this pretty number:
 
That’s a Brittany Birch crochet hook, for those of you who wonder. You also may wonder why it looks like I’m crocheting backwards. I am left-handed and while it doesn’t affect my knitting, it DOES affect my crochet. If I do a pattern, I have to visualize it in reverse.
The yarn came from my Secret Snowflake Swap gift at SnB this year. I wanted to do some colorwork knitting with the two yarns, but the yellow is enough of a different gauge that they wouldn’t have worked that way. Here, though…perfect.
I also bought another new JessaLu bag at MA Sheep & Wool. This is a knitting one. Note the adorable Firefly-themed print. :D
I have been busy spinning in general, probably because I got re-energized by going to MA Sheep & Wool last week. These past couple of weeks have seen a huge increase in my production, prompted partly by the VERY warm weather. When it gets really hot, I tend to retreat to either my bedroom or the Man Cave in the basement, both of which are cooler than the living room, which is my usual haunt.
A few of the things I’ve been spinning:
Grumble
Dionysus
Warm Rainbow
Sunny Side Up (spun last year but never photographed)
And I have some new fiber to play with–from a new dyer, Ariadne Yarns:
 
The aqua Masham is exciting to me since it’s the first time I’ve seen Masham dyed. I spun some wonderful laceweight undyed yarn earlier this year, and I would love to make something using both yarns. I actually stopped a project I had going on that yellow Hounddesign spindle so I could spin the Masham instead–that’s the same spindle I used for the undyed yarn so I want them to match. That, and the blue fiber is so pretty against the pau amarillo!
I rarely post recipes but when I do, it’s because I’ve made them often enough to warrant sharing. This one is almost criminally simple. I got the idea from my friend Dawn (whose book comes out later this month omg), and her version is noted below.
Ingredients:
1.5 lbs beef, cut into four or five large pieces (I use whatever I have on hand–short ribs and pot roast work great)
1 14oz can coconut milk (rough estimate, brands vary. Use about 13-15oz)
1 TBSP green curry paste
2-3 cups of a mild-flavored vegetable – Mushrooms or spinach are my current favorites
In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the coconut milk and green curry paste.
In a crock pot, arrange the beef so it lines the bottom of the pot, meat side down if it has a bone. Cover the meat with the vegetable of your choice. Pour the coconut/curry mixture over the entire thing. The meat should be just barely covered by the mixture.
Cook on LOW for 4-8 hours. The meat should be tender enough to pull apart.
Just before serving, pull the meat apart with forks and mix up the broth that has formed. Serve over rice.
NOTES:
Dawn’s version involved chicken thighs (bone-in) and eggplant. The first time I made it, I used chicken breasts and mushrooms. The second time I used short ribs (bone-in) and mushrooms; the third and fourth times used a pot roast I’d gotten on sale and fresh spinach. EVERY SINGLE VERSION has come out amazing. The important thing is the green curry paste, which adds a very light spiciness to the dish that’s balanced out by the mild sweetness of the coconut. Get it from an Asian market. The cans are small but will last you a while. I got the coconut milk from the Spanish food section of my local grocery store.
Ask me if you have any questions! I love this recipe.
|
