Make Me

The Post that Never Was

I had it all planned out. A post about the most perfect sandwich.  I made it Monday night, but somehow it was gone before I could photograph it. Made it again last night and *poof!* before I could even sit down it was gone again.  I don't know what happened.  I think alien technology has advanced to the point where they can beam stuff up from earth, yet leave the owner of said stuff with the memory of the taste/feel/smell of the missing items.

So instead of a yummy sandwich photo, you get the Star Wars wedding photo.  But here is the recipe for aforementioned yummy sandwich.

PBT - Prosciutto, Basil & Tomato Sandwich

Ingredients:

2 slices of hearty, dark bread
butter or mayo, your preference
2 very thin slices of prosciutto
3-4 slices of fresh off the vine tomatoes
fresh basil leaves
freshly ground pepper

Crisp the prosciutto by baking it in a 350 degree oven for about 10 minutes. Watch it carefully as it cooks quickly and burns easily.  I do mine in the toaster oven (also referred to as the Suzy Bake).

Toast the bread.  Spread thinly with butter or mayo. You may want to use mustard, but I think it's too much competition for the fresh flavors.

Add the sliced tomato and top with pepper. Top with fresh basil.

Your prosciutto should be ready now.  Add to your sandwich, top with the remaining slice of toast.  Close your eyes and anticipate that first juicy bite.  Bite. Try to contain the orgasmic outburst of yum.

Good Sock, Bad Sock

Finally finished my Diamond Rib socks in the Noro Kureyon sock yarn.  Initially they look quite spiffy don't they?

Well, lemme tell you, I think I knit the second sock whilst unconscious or something.   The right sock is the "good" one, albeit a bit on the big side.

The left sock has a bevy of problems. For one it's much smaller. I messed up the heel gusset.  There's all sorts of mystery holes in the heel flap.  Couldn't begin to tell you how they got there.  Then top it all off with the boo-boo bigundous: left sock top has 3 repeats where is should have 4.

The pattern is from Charlene Schurch's Sensational Knitted Socks book.  The first sock worked up quite easily and nicely, I just took a holiday brain-wise on the second.

Good things.  Check out that pattern matching. It didn't come off the skein like that, baby.  I matched those up by eye.  Nice work, eh?  And on the second sock I FINALLY, FINALLY, FINALLY did a perfect Kitchener stitch.  Lemme tell you, there was rejoicing in the streets!

The Noro Kureyon yarn was a gift from the faboo Wendy of yesterday's birthday fame.  I love the colorway. The yarn isn't bad either.  It's a bit slubby in places, but it only broke a in a couple of places and not at all on the second sock.

All in all, I have another new pair of socks.  And the bad parts will all be hidden by footwear. Yay for me. Thanks for the yarn, Wendy!

Garage Sale Scores Again

Went to a neighborhood garage sale a couple of weeks ago and scored all this cool fabric for about 4 bucks.  I could have gotten so much more, but I restrained myself nicely. Also got some purse handles and some Noro Kureyon yarn that day.  I've been feeling the sewing bug.  In fact, I'm off to Border's in a few minutes to have a lookie at some of their sewing books because I've just recently gotten a $25 gift card to Amazon.  Not sure how I want to spend, but I'm feeling all sew-y lately. Maybe it's because of all the sewing Wendy's been doing.  Speaking of whom, today is her birthday. Go wish her a lovely one. Still miss her and her wicked sense of humor like crazy, but she and Nick are happy living the NorCal life so I guess it really isn't just a phase.

Hotlanta!

I was gone for a week. In Atlanta for my cousin's wedding. It was a beautiful wedding and I love his new wife.  I think some may see our family, huge as it is, as intimidating, but we love everyone. Once we've declared you family you are stuck with us for life.

I hadn't been to the ATL since I was 14. Hated it. It was so freaking hot I thought my brain was gonna explode. I guess it didn't help that I was there for the entire month of August, but still.  I've never been particularly good in the heat.  This time, however, I was grown and could do stuff. Most of the stuff we did was talk and eat. Seriously. The food.

The weather was not unbearable and it was so good to be near family again. I miss them all so much.  I meant to do a lot more while I was there: check out the LYS, see Harry Potter, eat at some the joints they mention on Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives. But mostly it was chill time with the fam.  All good.  Should have stayed another week.

The photo is the view from my aunt's back porch. Bucolic, no? It was very restful and I loved seeing the ducks swim across the lake. And in between all the talking and sitting and eating, I did manage to knit a sock. It's the Tidepool Sock.  Very comfy. And I love the colorway of Mary Kay's Red Rock yarn. So nice to knit with!  The color is called "Fall Back".  Yummy isn't it?

That's Toe-MAH-Toe

IMG_0188
Originally uploaded by Hilari

Looks delish, don't it? I'm gardening at a neighbor's house this year and what a difference it makes. The tomato plants are insane with tomatoes. Planted Champion, Better Boy and...um...something else.

We've been fertilizing every 3 weeks with fish emulsion. Smells as good as it sounds. In 6 weeks time the plants grew to 4 feet. Champion has the most mature tomatoes right now, with Better Boy having the most tomatoes overall.

They're nice and heavy too. Can't wait for the first taste.

Crazy Times

 

Again, it's been a while. Apologies. Things have been rather hectic 'round here. Getting ready for my vacation and trying to myself together.

My cousin came for a visit a couple of weeks ago and I noticed it's getting harder to hide the crazy - You know,  the mad shuffle to hide at least half the yarn and mags so you don't look like a total and complete maniac.  I've started stuffing my yarn into those giant Ziploc bags - I swear you could stuff a body in the largest size.  Not that I would. Just an observation.

I noticed that some of my wool yarns have been chomped.  Does this mean I have an infestation? Most of my yarns are kept in individual zippered bags according to type, but a few are left to fend for themselves in the yarn basket. After careful examination I could find no evidence of critters.  Is that their MO? Eat n run?

It's not even a thorough chomping - just 5-6 thinning areas in the ball.  Shouldn't there be evidence of a bug or something?  Moths flying around? A cocoon? Anything? 

I'll take a more thorough skein by skein look when I return from Atlanta.  Until then I've just put the wandering skeins (I was gonna write "balls" but then I thought "wandering balls" would really pull in the pervs) in their own Ziplocs and separated them from the good skeins.  Hopefully wool will prevail.

The kitty above is my friend Priscilla's new man, Ben. He was at Pet Smart/Co for the longest time looking for a new home and getting very depressed. She got to take him home for his birthday. He immediately became Alpha Cat, much to the chagrin of the Cat Formerly Known as Alpha.  He looks a little miffed in the photo but he really is a very sweet kitty.