What's for dinner?

Okay, this will be a quick post but I have to share my love affair with my Crock Pot. I don't usually get home until 6pm or later, usually closer to 7pm. So I try to use the crock as often as possible.

Chicken and Dumplings is one of my favorite recipes. It's mostly a dump it all in the pot, set on low, and enjoy the wondrous smell when you come home. Plus, this is surprisingly healthy, so try to ignore the somewhat unappetizing look. Here's all you'll need (for a meal for 2 or 3 people)

1 can - cream of chicken soup (I go for the "healthy" option)
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
2 cups chicken broth (I go organic for less sodium)
1 onion - minced
2 cloves garlic - minced
bunch of veggies of your choice. (I used frozen beans here, but I'll go carrots, green beans, or anything else I have in the fridge or freezer)
1 tube biscuit dough.

Basically you throw everything except the biscuits into the crock pot on low and leave cooking along for the day. Then about 30 minutes before you actually eat, tear up the biscuits and mix into the pot. The biscuits will help thicken up the sauce. It's hearty and easy and just plain yummy.

Please excuse the messy counter - my camera has less than 30 seconds of battery, straight off the charger, so I was trying to be quick.

I'm currently shopping for a new camera - my budget will have a lot to do with when this is picked up.

Ah Fall

I love fall, so I'm greatly enjoying my calendar stating that it's currently November first. Fall is the perfect season - it's not hot and humid, making me feel sticky and like a part of the unwashed masses, like in summer. Winter is blindingly cold, I have a perpetual runny nose thanks to my reaction to being cold (doctor told me that was the cause, I'm still doubtful).

The most glorious part of fall though is Halloween and all the joy that comes leading up to it. Lucky for me M enjoys this particular holiday as much as I do. We were going to try out a haunted forest but pumpkin carving took us longer than M expected. Instead we went for the corn maze at night. We managed to navigate both sections of the maze in just over an hours (1 hour 12 minutes to be exact). It was a blast, except for those young whipper snappers who couldn't seem to understand that if you go through the corn it ruins the maze. Bah, kids these days.

Anyway, one of M's favorite fall activities is pumpkin carving. It's a big deal in his book and is planned months in advance. Really, he talks about it all summer as the pumpkins grown, worrying and fretting that there won't be enough pumpkins for everyone that comes to the pumpkin carving party. There were plenty, but he lamented that the pumpkins weren't larger.

Between the worrying though he took the time to teach me the fine art of pumpkin carving, the proper way (according to M). Carving what I always thought of as elaborate is not actually as difficult are I originally thought. There are so many stencils and directions on the web that will be much more clear than me, as a mere novice, can provide.

I attempted to use a stencil, but I neglected to consider that my pumpkin was still a bit damp from wiping off the stray pumpkin innards. About a quarter of the way through outlining my stencil started to disintegrate. This was not a complete disaster, but did require me to free hand the outline of the design onto the pumpkin. It didn't turn out perfectly but I was impressed with the final product.

On a side note, I decided to treat myself this halloween weekend. No homework was done all night. Instead I knit and watched appropriate documentaries about haunted houses.


*DISCLAIMER: My camera is malfunctioning so any pictures are actually from M's friend or his sister.*

Sudsy

As a girlfriend, I'm never entirely sure what is appropriate to give M's parents as gifts. I wonder if this is common sense to most people? Hm, well let me make a few excuses. I'm from the West coast, but am dating a life-long Midwestern. His mother finds many things I do quite strange. I eat funny foods (Caprese salad, Yum!) Also, my family doesn't really do gifts except for holidays, and birthdays if we actually remember. Gifts just aren't our thing. So imagine my surprise when M's mom gave me a Christmas present - follow that with my embarrassment that I hadn't brought a gift for her. Now that we're all up to speed, our craft will begin.

M's mom has a hard time with perfumes, smelly lotions, and most feminine bath products. So while wandering the aisle of the local Micheal's I saw a kit for making soap. I took that as my inspiration.

I opted not to make lye soap, as the process is more than I have time for at the moment. That leaves the melt and pour variety. It's a pretty basic process.

What you'll need:
Soap Base - I used glycerin this time
A spouted/pourable container - medium measuring cups work well
Soap Mold
(optional)
Essential Oil in desired scent
Coloring agent (food coloring works just fine, in small amounts)

Step 1 - cut up your soap base. (I used glycerin)
Step 2 - melt the soap base.
Step 3 - mix in scent and color
Step 4 - pour in mold
Step 5 - let cool

For the soap molds, you can use just about anything that is leak proof and won't be damaged from holding a very warm liquid. I've found a bunch of fun ice cube trays that would work. But you can also find molds designed specifically for soap. I found some in celtic knot patter that I think M's Irish-and-proud mother would like.

There are a couple of handy tricks I wish someone had told me before I made my first patch of soap a few years ago. The soap will occasionally be hard to remove from the mold. This is not an issue with a silicon or other "soft" mold, but the standard plastic ones have problems. One solution is to spray the mold with cooking oil. I am not a fan of this solution because it leaves an oily film on the soap, and if it's a gift you can't exactly wash the soap. Also, the oil will usually bead up on the plastic and look like bubbles on the pattern side of the soap. Instead I put my soap in the fridge. This not only helps it come out of the mold, but also cools it faster so I can do layers or other fun designs. The being cold makes the soap contract slightly, and harden, so it's easier to pop it out of the mold.

The other piece of advice would be to tap the molds just after pouring the melted soap. This will help to get the bubbles out and make for a cleaner mold.

I used some red dye, to make a pink layer. M's mom is into red, but I was worried that the amount of dye I would need to use to make the soap a real red would also dye M's mom pink, and possibly irritate her sensitive skin. However, to make it a bit more interesting I decided to put in layers. This is simple, and pretty intuitive. Just fill the mold part way, then allow to cool. Melt more soap but dye a contrasting color, or don't dye it at all. Viola, you have layers. My only caution here is to not make the second layer soap too hot as it will melt the initial layer as you pour.

It was a nice break from studying, which has taken over my life as usual. Okay, now I'm off to edit articles....and hopefully sleep.

evolution

so this blog is evolving from a knitting blog into a - craft/shopping blog. And even there I'm failing to up-date as often as I'd like. But heck, I don't think I'm disappointing my vast readership, so all must be well. After all, you can't lose reader you don't actually have....Anyway, today I got the idea in my head that I need to purchase a pearl necklace. The only problem is that I don't know anything about pearls other than the cultured black pearls are way more expensive, and way out of my price range.

This may sound strange, and don't take it as anything more than the tired ramblings of a law student who works too many hours, but my first thought was pearls would be a great gift to a bridesmaid. No, I'm not getting married (at least that I know of) but I just love the idea of pearls as a gift. They are jewelry that last so long, and can be passed down to your children. In fact, I think they are almost the ideal thing to pass onto a daughter. According to a friend of mine, pearls retain the scent of a person who wears them regularly. I'm not sure if I believe that, but it just sounds so sweet.

Do people our age still wear pearls? If you were to receive them as a gift would you wear them?

Let's Get Crafty

School started last week, I moved the week before, and this week I start a new job. It's a busy month. I've only knit a few inches on my Something Red cardigan. I whipped up a couple of dish cloths, because apparently mine have decided to hide during the great migration(s) of 2008. This is my second move in 6 months so many things have wandered to places unknown. The iron, can opener, and the cord to my Mp3 player are all on the MIA list. Heck, I may have "downsized" them when I left my last place. Ah well, things only take up space in my new studio apartment.

While I haven't been knitting I was rather crafty. One of the items that was downsized was my dresser. Actually, due to a broken drawer and weight it was deemed unworthy, not big enough, and just plain ugly. Really, what do you expect for $13 from Goodwill, and hey 2 years of use for $13 isn't too bad. Anyway, a new dresser was purchased, this time from St. Vincent de Paul and since M has a vehicle that will hold more than my lil car, I was able to upgrade to a tall dresser.

Of course the plain wood stain, along with scratches, water stains etc, were not for me. I spent my Labor Day weekend sanding and painting to my heart's content. It is now a fun shade of dark blue (trim) with white panels and drawers.

Pictures to come when M arrives with said dressser. I'm stoked to finally have my clothing not in complete disarray. it makes keeping the place clean much harder.

Must have...

So more on knitting: I've been working on a pair of Jaywalkers for going on a year now. I had one sock completed mere weeks after starting, but the intended recipient tried them on and it turned out they were WAY too small for her feet. Luckily she somehow did not figure out that they were being created for her. As Christmas approached, I just couldn't get motivated to finish the Jaywalkers, so a pair of basic socks in self-stripping yarn were substituted. The recipient, my sister, had no idea how simple knitting socks actually turned out to be, so she proceeded to gush. Making both of us very happy.

Once a different gift was completed I had little motivation to keep going on the Jaywalkers. It has become more of an endurance challenge, a task really. So they sleep, all cozy like, in my knitting basket waiting for me to get back around to them. My knitting basket is sort of a joke. I don't store yarn in this basket, there's no room. The basket is strictly for those projects I've started but lost interest in/forgotten about and currently it runneth over. I'm in the process of moving and unpacking but I'll add pictures in a day or so.

Here's the current list of UFO (unfinished objects for those uninitiated to knitting jargon.)

1. Jaywalkers - knit in self-stripping yarn which has lost it's label. It's fingering weight in blues and greens. Actually very pretty.

2. Orange Seaman's scarf - knit in an orange-creamcicle color 2451 - Cascade 220. One of my favorite yarns as it's inexpensive but quality 100% wool. I purchased 3 hanks of this because it matches my winter coat perfectly. I did managed to finish the intended hat, "Basic Cable Hat" from Stitch 'n' Bitch.

3. Anniversary Blanket - Knit from Wool of the Andes in Fern and Cloud. My parents had their 30th anniversary coming up. Mom had made a few comments in the months (years) previous that I've managed to make a blanket for my sister, and even some of my friends, then at least one for myself. *Insert Italian mother's guilt inspiring tone* Why do your father and I not merit a blanket? So I started this beautiful cabled afghan, with leaves for the boarder. I'm not nearly as far as I thought I'd be by their 30th anniversary. Did I mention we just passed their 32nd anniversary? Sorry Madre e Poppy.

4. Cabled Purse. - Knit in Lion's Wool-Ease Thick 'n' Quick, Dark Grey. This started out as a commission piece. A friend of Sister requested one after loving the one I had made for myself. I saw this particular purse a few years ago online for way more money than I wanted to spend, so I just knit it up myself, making it up as I went along. Strangly this baby is actually finished with the knitting portion. I just have to do the sewing portion and figure out what I'm going to do with it, as the friend has fallen off the planet. It has a matching scarf in a simple 3x3 rib.

This list isn't close to complete, just what will fit in my yarn basket. I have a yarn Rocket, that was kindy given to me by a college friend that stores most of my yarn and the remaining unfinished projects. The yarn is starting to spill out of said Rocket. Really, does any one law student with limited knitting time actually need more yarn than her rocket can hold? I say no, so from here on I'm on a yarn buying moratorium. I have to either get rid of some yarn or start finishing some of those left over projects. I'll keep you updated on how it goes.

On a completely random note...I want these pint glasses from Ravelry.com badly. They are not in the budget, but they will be mine. Oh yes, they will be mine. It just might take a few months.

Beginnings

So, let's see how this goes...I am going to attempt to blog about my random adventures in knitting, with a non-knitting book review thrown in here and there. I may also attempt to make the photography interesting, but some things are beyond my control.

I'm currently working on "Something Red" from Knit and Tonic. I've been going on this baby for almost a week. I'm almost finished with the top (minus sleeves). It's my first attempt at anything remotely sweater-like.I have completed the back, to the section where the sleeves start to be knit later. it is knit top down in one piece, with the sleeves and edging knit last.

I love the simplicity of this cardigan. I'm not sure I would wear a more patterned one, and it makes it knit up relatively quickly.

As this is my first post I will introduce Topper. He is my pet Triceratops who growls to scare away the bad thoughts when I'm alone in my apartment. The kid makes me smile, and happens to hold fond memories of my first Valentine's Day that didn't go awray.

He holding the yarn for your viewing pleasure. It's Patons Decor, in Deep Sage Green, which I picked up at a sewing store in Sonoma. The 9 skeins had been hugely discounted, I believe less that $2 a skein, because they were discontinuing the yarn. Looking at their website, I think they just renamed it "Rich Sage Green" but mine might be a bit darker.

It is *gasp* 75% acrylic and 25% wool, worsted weight. I have to say I really love this color and I'm glad I was finally able to find a patter to use it. The yarn itself isn't too bad either. Not scratchy at all, in fact it is sort of soft.

My hope is to finish this by sometime next week. This may even be an attainable hope as I don't have work for the rest of the summer, and school doens't start until the 28th.

Wish me luck.