crafts + recipes + existential dread
— Pattern here.
— About half a skein of Patons SWS in Natural Earth
— Size 8 needles
I CO 100 stitches instead of 120 and I think it could be a smidge smaller yet (and I have a huge egg head). Not sure if I like it or not. Well, I love the way it came out, but I’m not sure I like how it looks on me. It does keep my ears nice and warm, though! And I got to use some scrapbooking materials on this — an SEI button (not shown), heh!
You know what’s the best? Sticking a can of Coke in the freezer and timing it just right so that when you pull it out, there are tiny ice crystals floating inside. Ahh!
When I went to bed last night I had a slightly sore throat. I woke up in the middle of the night feeling really hot and slightly nauseated and all I could think of is, Crap — I’m getting the flu. Luckily, I woke up feeling slightly better. I don’t think it’s the flu, but my throat is still killing me. So I’ve got a bowl of one of my favorite comfort foods (spicy chicken flavored Ramen noodles), and I think I’m going to do a little knitting and have a glass of Airborne while I’m at it. I don’t wanna be sick!!!
Whew… what a whirlwind of an extended weekend! Our Christmas was very nice. The boys were completely spoiled by their grandparents (we took a low-key approach to gifts this year – one big gift for the two boys and a few little gifts – Jake got a Play-Dough set, some action figures, overalls; Noah got an AquaDoodle and an AquaDoodle roller, a toy cell phone, and they both got movies to share). Drew loved his gift from me, which was a much needed new MP3 player. I also got him the kit that allows you to listen to it through your car’s speakers, the Tom Waits 3-CD set, and the still-unfinished Irish Hiking Scarf. He gave me a ball winder (yay!), a necklace, a comfy pair of felt clogs with embroidered flowers), some candy, and some goofy temporary tatoos (because I keep saying I’m going to get a real one someday), and few other little things. The huge, big, suprise gift though blew me away (and it’s for everyone): in February we’re going on vacation to Woodloch Pines Resort in the Poconos! It’s a family resort and all-inclusive. Kind of like a cruise on land! I was so surprised. Months ago we threw around the idea of going back to Disney in February, but then scrapped it because we thought it would be too hard with Noah right now (he refuses his stroller 9 times out of 10). So this will be awesome!
In the meantime, the boys are also enjoying toys from their grandparents, who, as I said, spoiled them rotten. Jake’s favorites are a Leapster L-Max from his grandma (he seems to like it, though honestly I really didn’t want him to have anything like this already — it’s just a gateway to other video game things), and two sets of Magtastik toys from Babci & Dziadziu (magnetic building materials which he LOVES). Noah loves his LeapFrog Alphabet Train set from Babci & Dziadziu as well as the TMX Elmo (which I have to admit makes me laugh, too).
Dinner was lovely and I’m officially sick of spinach strata. This morning I made some ham salad to use up the rest of the ham. Otherwise I sent leftover home with everyone. Today I’m trying to make sense of the house and organize and clean. I’m so ready to take all the decorations down. I also need to put the dates into my new 2007 calendar. We have nothing planned for New Year’s Eve. I might make fajitas or something fun like that. We’ll see; I have time to decide. Lunchtime now! Hope you all had wonderful holidays as well!
OK, this update really is more for my reference (because there’s no chance I’ll spill something on my laptop — notes on paper, however, are another story).
Done:
Last-mintue grocery shopping
Slice French bread for strata (needs to be stale)
Shred Gruyere
Chop pepper, broccoli, celery
Make herbed cream cheese
Bake cake
Bring up/clean coffee maker
To Do Today:
Get out serving dishes
Set up buffet (tablecloth, silverware, plates, etc.)
Finish laundry
Wash kitchen floor
Vacuum
Take spinach out of freezer
Frost cake (can actually be done anytime before brunch)
Try to finish scarf (ha! yeah, right)
To Do Tomorrow:
Prep strata (needs to set overnight)
Bake rolls for appetizer wreath
Charge batteries for camera/video camera
Christmas Morning:
Chill Prosecco
Chop apples for and make Caramelized Squash & Apples (Decided I need a “real” veg — I took the easy way out and bought the pre-peeled/pre-chopped squash though)
Make green salad
Make fruit salad
Make hash browns
Bake ham
Bake strata
Assemble appetizer wreath
I think that’s it. I should probably add “drink heavily” to each day’s list, shouldn’t I? 😉
It’s 7 AM and dark and foggy out and I’m eating leftover Chinese food (sweet & sour chicken and rice) and tea for breakfast. I have entirely too much too do between today and tomorrow morning (I have to work tomorrow afternoon and evening) and I have no idea how I’ll do it all with the boys underfoot. As soon as Jake finishes his toast, I’m hauling the kids in the car to go to the grocery store before it gets too maddening. I was just there last night, but all the hams are enormous so I wanted to talk to Drew and see what to do. Because I decided I don’t feel like dicking around at three different stores, I’m just going to get the smallest of the ginormous hams they have and force everyone to take leftovers home. I also have to shred cheese, chop veggies, bake a cake, clean the house, and finish a scarf. Somehow I don’t think it all will happen. We’ll see, though. I’ll check in later. How are you all coming along with holiday preperations?
I’m not sure if Jake has watched just a little too much FoodTV with me and is inspired to experiment, or if he really hasn’t been paying attention. He decided he wanted to make a sandwich with the two York Peppermint Patties I let him have as a treat while Noah napped. So he went to the fridge and got some lettuce and cheese, put it all together, and ate it. Every bite.
I know it seems icky, but I think it’s fantastic that he has this “no holds barred” attitude when it comes to food. He loves to play and lately will try almost anything (perhaps it’s just one bite, but he’ll try it). He’s been helping me in the kitchen a lot, which I bet is encouraging it. He’s my little sous chef! 🙂
So, I think this is what I’ll be serving for Christmas Brunch:
Yes, I am having ham. Some of you might remember that I made a ham the Christmas when I was newly-pregnant with Noah (and NO I am NOT pregnant again, trust me!) and the leftovers became a terrible food aversion. So much, in fact, that I’m still a little unsure about making it. However, it’s so easy to prepare (I mean, you can’t get easier than “stick the thing in the oven”) and it is very brunchy. The strata is a little bit involved, but it was such a hit last year that I want to make it a Christmas tradition. As for the cresent roll wreath? I was looking through some old cooking magazines and found the recipe in an issue of Taste of Home. You bake up the rolls, let them cool, make a yummy cream cheese mixture, spread it on top of the rolls and then arrange broccoli, celery, and sweet red pepper. It looks so pretty and sounds yummy! If I make it I’ll be sure to take a photo.
Jake and I made the most amazing mint-chocolate brownies today. Basically, we just doctored up boxed brownie mix by chopping up some York Peppermint Patties (I obviously did that part) and stirred them into the mix. Awesome! Unfortunately the brownies are for after Jake’s preschool’s holiday show tomorrow. Well, fortunate for everyone who goes, but unfortunate that they’re not just for us. I will be making these again though! And I might be able to sneak one (just a tiny one) later on to have as a bedtime snack with a cup of tea 😉
Tee hee! Sherry invited me to a come-as-you-are blog party. So I took this photo as soon as I read it on her blog. Somehow you don’t see just how much crap I have on my shirt. I don’t even know what most of it is, honestly. Oh, and the clock back there? Yeah, it stopped at least a month ago and I keep forgetting to change the battery. Whoopsie! 😉 Oh, and I tag Lisanne, Christina, and Susie to do the same because I think they’ll be good sports about it.
On a semi-related note… why can’t I get a battery to last in my Canon A610 for more than, like 10 photos, before getting the low battery warning? WTF? I think tomorrow I am going to have to shell out the bucks for new rechargables because I don’t want it crapping out in the middle of Jake’s holiday show on Wednesday night. The thing just *eats* batteries — regular old alkalines as well as my 5-year-old rechargeable set. Man, I hope new ones solves the problem. Sometimes I think I was better off with my old Olympus. I probably wouldn’t buy a Canon again. I don’t hate it, but I’ve had more problems with it than with my old camera.
OK, time to eat a chicken parm wedge (homemade) and have a glass or two of Nero D’Avola.
C’est finis! Yesterday I finally finished putting the fringe on my drop stitch scarf. I love it! It’s a little scratchy, but that might be because it’s been so warm this December that I’m not used to wearing anything with wool in it.
The details:
— Patons SWS in “Natural Earth”
— Knit on Size 11 Denise needles
— About 48.5 inches long, plus fringe
I still have to finish that Christmas scarf, but I’m going to cast on for Calorimetry, just so I have something to work on when the giftee is around.