Soap making

In an effort to start paring down things that need to be moved, I made soap last night. We're running a bit low on our regular antimicrobial/nice to the skin shower type bar, so I made some more up. Here's how I do it:


First, I measure out all the oils and fats needed. For this batch, that meant olive oil, coconut oil, palm oil, castor oil, and shea butter. The amounts of each are important, so I use my kitchen scale to weigh everything out. I give the oils and fats a bit of a whir with my stick blender to break up any large pieces about now.

Next I measure out the "extra stuff" - things that add scent, help soothe skin, or just make the soap look more interesting. From left to right are powdered chickweed (soothing and healing), tea tree and oregano essential oils (antimicrobial), and powdered oatmeal (soothing). The first and last will also give the soap a nice flecked appearance since there isn't anything that will color it otherwise.
Next, I need a mold. I have a custom wooden mold that Dan made up for me a while back, but you don't have to use anything that fancy. For instance, pictured on the left is a mold I often use if I want to make a few quick square bars. Can anyone guess what it is?

Next I measure out the lye. This is very, very important. Different oils and fats need different amounts of lye to cause the chemical reaction needed to form soap, so I use a lye calculator (there are many of these available online) to do the math for me and measure carefully. Yes, you do need lye to make soap. No, there isn't any lye remaining in the soap when you use it. Yes, you should be very careful when using lye. Wear protective clothing (including eye protection), gloves, and shoes that cover your feet.

Next, I measure out the water. Then I slowly pour the lye into the water (never pour water into lye!) and stir until the lye dissolves. The lye solution heats up pretty quickly. There are some fumes that aren't good to breathe about now, so I make sure there's lots of ventillation. The measuring cup is in the sink in case of spills.

Now the lye solution gets poured into the oils and fats. The heat of the lye and water help to melt any fats that aren't liquid yet and also starts saponification (the process of turning fats and oils into soap). Heat and motion both speed the process along, so I start in with the stick blender to get things going.

I blend until I see trace, meaning when I pick up the blender (or a spoon), the mixture is thick enough to show a trace of the drops or drizzle on top for a moment or two. Pictured at left is a rather thick trace - I really wanted to get a good picture and went longer than I had planned. This makes it harder to mix in essential oils and the like, and can make getting it into a mold more difficult as well. I quickly add in the essential oils and other goodies.

Into the mold it goes. The mixture was thicker than usual this time, so I had to work quickly. I cover the top in plastic wrap to cut down on exposure to the air while saponification is happening. Otherwise, you can end up with an ashy layer on the top of the soap. Nothing harmful, just unattractive. I pop the mold into the oven preset to 170 degrees, then let it sit and warm for an hour. This helps speed things along. Then the mold is left in the oven (turned off) overnight. In the morning I do a quick test - rub my finger along the top and touch my tongue to see if I feel any "zap". None at all, so we have soap!


I cut the long bar into one inch sections and voila. The soap will be harder and lather better if left to dry and cure for a little while longer, but I can't resist using some of the ends to give my hands a quick wash. There really is nothing like real, honest soap - it's so unlike the detergent bars that you find in the supermarket (yes, even Dove isn't as gentle or good to your skin as real soap made with lye). Truly lovely stuff.

Halloween sucker

That would be me. Somehow, in a rash moment that I don't in any way recall, I signed up as "room mom" for my eldest's first grade class. What does a "room mom" do, you ask? Set up all of the holiday parties...parties full of small, sugar crazed jumping people who are unable to follow any kind of reason, being six and seven years old, the lot of them.

Today my eldest's teacher called me in to the classroom to discuss the upcoming Halloween party. Why oh why did I feel like somehow I was in trouble? I swear, suddenly my knees were covered in scabs again and I was wearing gauchos and eating pop rocks (yes, I am dating myself here). The time warp ended abruptly when I realized that his teacher was talking to me as a peer. Exactly how and when did I become a grown-up, again?

So, off to party planning. She wants the class split up into four groups, which means 4-5 kids per group. Each group will work on one of four stations at a time, rotating each fifteen minutes to the next station. After an hour of this, all will decend on juice and snacks before barreling out the door at 2:40 in their costumes.

The stations are all craft related: they will be making masks, colorful bat magnets, ghosts, and jack o lanterns. I need to round up volunteers for each of the stations, get the snacks, and decorate. Oh, and set up all of the crafts, making examples of each, cutting out bats, getting googly eyes and feathers and magnets at the craft store, eighty total projects if you look at em individually. Did I mention yet that his teacher will be gone from tomorrow afternoon until Monday night? And that the classroom might be moved to another location this Friday but no-one knows?

I am the consummate masochist. This is proof.

Shopping spree

$74.01

That bought me:
1 1/2 pounds Fuji apples
celery
red leaf lettuce
large lobok (variant of Daikon radish)
green onions
ginger
bok choy
pound of bean sprouts
2 large onions
2 medium tomatoes on the vine
2 pounds carrots
bag of salad - spring mix
dozen eggs
3/4 pound jack cheese
4 small frozen cheese pizzas
5 fruit leathers
1 quart milk
1 pound frozen blackberries
box of cereal
1/2 gallon soy milk
bag of sesame crackers
1 can frozen white grape juice
2 pounds fresh Chinese egg noodles
2 packages of cheese & crackers
Windex Multi-Task Spray Cleaner
large bag yukon gold potato chips (Terra brand...love these things)
2 pounds mozzarella cheese (some for pizza this week, the rest will be shredded and frozen)
2 Lunchables (vile, nasty things - they were free and were purchased solely because I know my son won't like them and therefore won't ask for them again)
1/2 gallon fresh orange juice
10 pack of frozen bean & cheese burritos
box of frozen waffles (yeah, yeah, I usually make these, honest)
2 bags frozen bagels - 1 Everything, 1 plain
2 packages Klondike bars :-)
Pyrex pie pan (part of a Christmas present for my sister who loves to bake)
Baker's Secret mini loaf pan (part of a Christmas present for my SIL)
Oxy-Clean (if you have children or pets or are less than graceful, you want some of this)
12 pack Diet Dr. Pepper (Dan loves this stuff and drinks it for the caffeine. I think it tastes like cough syrup)
5 pounds unbleached flour
2 stain pens - one tucked into my purse, the other waiting as backup
1 pound bacon (mmmm...bacon...)
2 pork and vegetable bao (wonderful, fluffy, savory treats - my grocery shopping snack)

All of this is enough to suppliment what's in my refrigerator, deep freeze, and pantry for the next week. I feed a family of four on around $75 a week, which blows my mind even though I'm the one doing it.

Here's our menu for this week:

breakfasts
for the boys: pancakes, waffles, french toast, cereal, depending on the day (the pancakes and french toast I made ahead and froze), juice, fruit
me: eggs, apples, tea
Dan: veggie sausage, sprouted wheat bagels (some leftover in the fridge), juice

lunch
boys: Ryan usually has pizza, fruit or some veggies, a fruit leather, and water to drink. He had a Lunchable today - waiting to see what he thought (guessing he hated it - if so, score 1 for mom!) Arden usually has almond butter, cheese, crackers, apple slices, etc.
me: leftovers, cottage cheese, salad
Dan: I make and freeze extra portions of dinners as I make them, he pulls one out for lunch and adds fruit and some crackers

dinner
I always menu plan, but nothing is assigned any particular day and the produce depends on what's in season and what looks great at the store when I shop.

* pizza (homemade crust and sauce) with cheese, onions & garlic, green salad
* stir fried chicken with egg noodles and dark soy, bok choy with garlic
* teriyaki chicken, rice balls, braised lobok (for a picnic in the park after watching Curse of the Were-Rabbit)
* taco salad (refried beans, spanish rice (from scratch), sauteed corn kernels, assorted veggies, cheese, sour cream, salsa, and avocado)
* chana dal with herbs, cabbage with mustard seeds, basmati rice
* frozen dinners (we have some Marie Calendar dinners that need using up so we can empty the freezer a bit)
No 7th dinner planned - we're going to a party at a friend's house next Saturday so no dinner planned then. I will be making a panna cotta brain for it, though.

We're moving!

Well, not today or immediately, but we will be moving soon. Dan and I have wanted to move away from Southern California for years now for a whole host of reasons: real estate here is insane, a horrible school district, traffic, poor air quality, and the whole atmosphere in this area. Given our working situation - Dan working, me at home - we will always struggle to keep our heads above water here. We are currently trapped in a townhouse that is much too small for two boys but can't move unless we go hours inland (where there are no jobs for Dan) or leave the state. Oregon has just felt right to us for a long time and that's where we want to live.

A few weeks ago Dan was approached by a headhunter about a job near Portland, Oregon. There was a mad scramble to get information to her, get references checked, etc. It looked like the position was a lock since the headhunters only presents one candidate: Dan. Unfortunately, the company found someone local who knew someone else within the company and he got the job.

Dan and I talked, and we've decided that we need to make this happen. He's not getting considered for positions because he lives out of state, so searching here just isn't working. Having a job in place before we move would make the most sense, but we could wait years for that to happen. So we're going to do it. I feel exhilerated right now. It's a bit scary, but we can make this happen.

Right now we're putting together things to do to the house to make it more marketable. Cheap things (not much extra money on hand right now) like painting, replacing the kitchen floor, getting new blinds, things like that. The house is in decent shape but needs some updating and clean up so it is more appealing. I'm going through everything in the house and selling or giving away anything that isn't essential, a process that feels freeing and just plain good.

Looking at comparable houses that have sold recently, we should be able to get at least $150K more than we have tied up in mortgage which should help a lot in finding housing out in Oregon. Just talked to our financial planner and he's helping us work out the financial details. He also offered Dan a position in a group he just started heading up, a position that may well give Dan work while we start out up there. It's amazing how opportunities appear when you set your mind firmly on something.

Haven't been doing much knitting or crafting or cooking in the wake of all of this, but now that things are settled I'm guessing I'll tuck more in. I will be making soap in the next few days and photographing that as I go - have to use up the oils and supplies I have here in bulk before we go, so much soapmaking will be happening in the next few weeks. I also need to finish up the shawl and the scarf very soon. Oh, and I'm making a panna cotta brain mold with pomegranite sauce for Halloween. Stay tuned.

All I need....

Kathy needs a nap.
Kathy needs to be treated with understanding, respect, and dignity.
Kathy needs the house to keep her sanity and resist suicide.
Kathy needs to know if this is something that colleges would really use.
Kathy needs 3 1/3 cups of flour for a cake.
Kathy needs 3-4 volunteers to assist with passing out stickers, fingerprint kits etc.
Kathy NEEDS new pants.
Kathy needs a hug.
Kathy needs to grow up and act her age!
Kathy needs to slow down.
Kathy needs comfort.
Kathy needs a vigilante.
Kathy needs her own show on prime time, big network, for big bucks.
Kathy needs to drive to a city some distance away.

(Take your name, add "needs" and Google it. I'm laughing at how many of these fit in an odd way.)

Much laciness

Here is the trinity shawl, up close and laid out flat. No edging on the sides, so there is no pulling in to deal with - it

was worth frogging, even if that set me back quite a bit. To the left you can see how open the pattern is, even before blocking. It will be much airier once stretched out a bit, I think. The way the colors are hitting reminds me of a Monet painting with all the lavenders and purples hazily transitioning from one shade to the next. The overall effect is really lovely.

This is a new scarf in Elizabeth Lavold Silky Wool, color #20 (teal). Super simple pattern:

cast on a multiple of four plus two
*k2, yo, p2tog* across each row

The result is very open and lacey with a vertical series of ladders and bars running down the scarf. Great knitting to tuck in your purse and work on in odd bits wherever since it goes so quickly and there isn't anything to think about. The Silky Wool is soft and luscious and will have an even richer hand once I block it up. Perfect as a gift for someone who had helped us so richly.

It's a sprain

A rather technicolor sprain at the moment. Lots of purple, blues, and greens over the side of my foot. In fact, it would make a lovely yarn colorway, though I'd have to come up with a more appealing name than "Sprain", methinks. Dan's making sure I stay mostly put when he's home and I'm trying to limit going up and downstairs as much as possible. Feeling like a bit of an idiot - who gets hurt stepping down from a freaking curb, for goodness' sake? Also feeling quite glad that I prefer slip-on shoes of all kinds, since I have a plethora of choices that fit my rather swollen foot just fine.

I have a new knitting project, a quick and simple one. I just found out that the wonderful woman who did a Speech and Language evaluation on my oldest last year and later testified at our Due Process hearing against the school district is waving her usual testimony fee. We lost the case (don't even get me started, and yes we are appealing) and she decided we shouldn't have to pay more than our lawyer fees and she's sending us all kinds of information and software so we can work with him at home. I've tried to pay her - she won't accept it. Adding Ruth Bass to my list of wonderful people who I am lucky to have come into contact with, and knitting her something silky and special.

I'll close with a picture of last night's dinner. Yum!

The agony of the feet

I was all set to take a picture of my feet for Mim's contest - bare feet? I'm there! I hate shoes in general and go barefoot almost always, settling for very comfortable slip ons when I really, really have to have something there for protection.

That was, until this afternoon, when I stepped down off a curb the wrong way. Instant, searing pain. This made getting back into my car and using the clutch rather tricky. Cursing my decision to check the mailbox via car rather than on foot, I gingerly used my toe, all the while gritting my teeth. Got thirty feet and into the garage and I was home. Ice, elevation, and rest for a while, then I figured I'd slap an ACE bandage on it for a few days and be done with it. Then I noticed that there was one, lone bruise on the top of my foot, not near the ankle. Ankle isn't swollen at all, and when I put weight on my foot the pain is on the top outside part of my foot - right where that bruising is. When I press there, it hurts like a $#%.

Dan and I decided I should go to our walk-in clinic that is available when my GP doesn't have office hours. Called them and was told to go to the ER since the clinic doesn't have an x-ray machine. That's when we sat down and really thought about what to do next. You see, the last time a family member went to the ER (younger son, deep cut on the eyelid that needed closure, trip to the ER on the advice of our pediatrician) it cost us almost $400, even with insurance. All I could think of is just how much x-rays, the cost of having someone read the x-rays, plus any wrapping or casting that might need to be done....how much would that end up costing us? That's money we really don't have, money that would have to go on a credit card and get paid back later. All when this could be a simple sprain that some rest and compression would take care of in time whether I go and see anyone or not.

It kills me that in a country full of such bounty and wealth that I even have to think about whether I should go to the doctor when injured, that money even comes into the equation. I am reminded of years ago when I sold my stereo to a pawn shop so I could get a prescription filled - one I desperately needed - because I had no insurance. It's so incredibly wrong that health care isn't equally available to everyone, that there are people who can't afford to be healthy at all.

I didn't go to the ER. Tomorrow I'll go to my family doctor and hopefully get wrapped up in a nice ACE bandage and sent on my way. It's most likely a sprain, but I'd like to be sure and get it wrapped up properly regardless. Very grateful tonight that I do have insurance, not so happy that I had to think through when and how to get treatment, regardless.

Dutch Babies

Never knew exactly where the name "Dutch Babies" came from, but I always picture chubby, grinning wee ones that just make you want to pinch their cheeks, give a big squeeze, then eat them all up. These eggy, rich pancakes with high, crisp corners are perfect for topping with just about anything that comes to mind. This morning it was peaches, yogurt and sour cream mixed with a little brown sugar, and toasted walnuts on top. Simple to make, delicious to eat, and the name always gives me a smile.

Dutch Babies
(Makes one pancake, two servings)

2 large eggs
3/4 cup milk
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. sugar
2 Tb. butter, melted
1/2 cup flour

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Prepare pan: use an 8 inch cast iron skillet, a nonstick skillet of the same size, an 8 inch nonstick cake pan or an 8 inch glass pie dish. Place pan in oven with half of the melted butter.

Meanwhile, assemble the batter. Beat the eggs slightly, then add milk, salt, sugar and butter. Mix until everything is incorporated. Add in flour and whisk until smooth. Pour into waiting pan in the oven and bake for 15 minutes. Turn heat down to 350 degrees and bake for an additional 10 minutes, or until sides are puffy and browned.

Topping suggestions: lemon juice and powdered sugar, berries or slightly sweetened fruit of any kind, sour cream or yogurt mixed with a bit of brown sugar, applesauce, toasted nuts, apples cooked in butter and a bit of sugar, bananas cooked the same way.

Not so many socks

Jane over at Quiddity asked the masses to "Show Me Your Socks." After looking at the vast, colorful stashes that everyone else seemed to have, I rounded up all of mine. This took less than two minutes, including grabbing a basket and the digital camera. As I looked sadly at the pitiful wee heap of socks, I realized why there were so few: I give them all away! I have made countless pairs of baby and toddler socks, all adorning happy, wiggly small toes now and not living in my sock drawer. I have made socks for friends, as barter, and traded socks with people I have never met before. Only recently did I start making socks that actually stayed here. In the basket, from center back around clockwise, are: white, lace, Fixation socks (first pair I made for myself), rose/purple Shaeffer Anne lace socks from my sockapal2za pal (figured these would stand in for the ones I made and sent off in trade), pale blue Baby Cashmerino slipper socks in progress (second pair for me - whoo!), blue Crusoe socks from the last sockapalooza swap (again, standing in for the rainbow socks I sent off), oatmeal colored fluted bannister socks for Dan, and finally deep gray yoga socks also for the Dan of the very cold feet. This was a good exercise - I realize that a) I need to finish those delicious cashmere socks pronto! and b) I need to make more socks that will actually live here.

Everything's dry dry dry dry dry

I can't get that out of my head.

"The mouth is dry and the throat is dry and everything's dry dry dry dry dry." This was part of a skit on a record I must have listened to hundreds of times when I was little. Bill Cosby at his best, talking about getting his tonsils out in hilarious detail. Right now that snippet is running through my head over and over because the air, my house, my nose, my throat, everything here is so incredibly dry right now. Thanks to the yearly Santa Ana winds, the air seems to crackle with each step I take and sparks fly when I open my mailbox. Pollen and negative ions fill the windy air as well, causing my nose to run and my poor athsma ridden lungs to sieze and wheeze pitifully. These hot, dry winds spur fires across Southern California and raise temperatures and tempers alike (something about the positive ions in the wind seems to affect human temperment in a rather negative way). It's simply a part of living here, but I've never liked the sensation of the Santa Ana winds on my skin, the way the air feels wrong somehow. So each year I simmer water on the stove to add some humidity in the house, use my neti pot religiously to wash out pollen and keep my nose clear, and try to relax and remember that the winds do eventually stop. In the meantime, everything is dry dry dry dry dry.

Random finished object

I'm most likely the very last person on earth to pick up a skein of Cotton-Ease, but I finally found some at my local Joann's and had to give it a knit up. At $3 a skein, what's there to lose? So I grabbed a skein of this lavender shade and three more of "blueberry", came home, and stared. Nice yarn. Very soft. Decent colors. What was I going to do with this stuff, anyway? Now the blue I think will be made into a wee sweater of some sort, but what about the sad, lone lavender one? I thought of making dish towels (bo-ring) then decided it should be a hat of some sort. Out came a quick, easy, tried and true pattern and I was off.

Now, the guage was a bit off, but this is a hat I'm thinking, so it should fit someone, somewhere. I like how the cables are a bit smaller and more vertical in nature than on the original hat. Also decided I really didn't like the decreases and devised my own pattern for the crown. Instead of evenly spaced k2togs with plain knitting in between I opted for a left-slanting decrease, p2, k across all knit stitches, p2, repeat across until there were no more knit stitches left. Then I simply continued the same decrease with purls in between. This left a really nice spiral pattern on top that followed the cable pattern nicely.
See?

Now I had no particular plans for this hat when I made it. The color is wrong for me (I look vaguely ill) and I'm surrounded by testosterone in this house. Thinking it will be set aside as an emergency gift item for this winter. We might be moving to a rather different climate (I hope!), so it could come in handy come Christmas time.

Etouffee it is!

Etouffee is another dish that is new to me. I did quite a bit of reading and asking around as research and found that the word "etouffee" means to smother in French. Usually a rich, spicy gravy, this dish consists of crayfish or shrimp smothered in a thick sauce over rice. I looked all over for crayfish but was told this is the wrong season. So on to shrimp. Shrimp covered in a thick, spicy sauce...I couldn't wait.

First, I needed a good shrimp stock as a base for the sauce. I shelled two pounds of shrimp, added lemon, onion, celery, a bay leaf, peppercorns, salt, and a few sprigs of thyme and water to cover. I strained the stock and found I had more than enough for the sauce.


Into the freezer went 4 cups of golden liquid that will serve me well in future gumbo or jambalaya. I was a bit surprised at the deep color after such a short period of simmering. Guess I'm used to making chicken and beef stock. The whole house smelled like a shrimp boil at this point and my husband kept wandering over to check the stove approvingly.

Next, out came the butter. Lots of butter. A bit of flour whisked in and cooked just until the color turned a bit. Then came piles of onion, celery, bell pepper and garlic. Everything was cooked until the vegetables were just wilted. Then came two cups of the stock, salt and cayenne.


Stirred and simmered everything for a few minutes and ended up filling the house with the most amazing smells. The sauce thickened up nicely and seemed just spiced enough to set of the tender shrimp once they joined the pan. I added the shrimp and kept simmering until they were just cooked through but still tender. Meanwhile, I made up some rice to go underneath and chopped some parsley to top it all off.

Here is my shrimp etouffee in all its glory. How to describe this dish? If I were a food writer I could come up with all kinds of clever ways to capture how this felt in my mouth, how it all tasted. Istead, I'll just say this: it was incredibly, unbelievably delicious.

Thank you, Adam, for putting together Gourmet Survivor II. You raised a lot of money for a very worthy cause, and because of you I have cooked and eaten more wonderful New Orleans food in the past food than I have in my whole lifetime.

Shrimp Etouffee

for the shrimp stock:
1/2 onion, sliced
one stalk celery, sliced
1/2 lemon
bay leaf
1/4 tsp. peppercorns
1/2 tsp. salt
4 srpigs thyme
water to cover

For the sauce:
2 lbs. shrimp with shells
8 ounces butter
1/2 cup flour
4 cups yellow onion, diced
3 stalks celery, diced
1 medium green bell pepper, diced
2 Tbs. garlic, minced
2 cups shrimp stock
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/2 tsp. cayenne
1/4 cup parsley, chopped fine

For stock, combine shrimp shells with the remaining stock ingredients in a medium pot. Bring to a boil then turn to a simmer and cook for 30 minutes. Strain, set 2 cups of stock aside for this dish, and save remaining 4 cups stock for future use.

Melt butter in a large pan over medium heat. Add flour and cook until just turning color. Add onion, celery, bell pepper and garlic and cook until vegetables are just tender. Add shrimp stock, salt, and cayenne and stir to combine well. Turn down heat to a simmer and cook for 10 minutes. Add in the shrimp, stir, and simmer until shrimp is just cooked. Serve over rice and sprinkle parsley over the top.

Decisions, decisions

The last round of Gourmet Survivor II ends tomorrow. I'm having so much fun making New Orleans dishes that I'm playing along until the end. First came po' boys, then beignets, and now...well, it's whatever I want to make. This leads to an important question: what should I cook tomorrow? Gumbo I've made once, focusing on getting the roux nice and dark and relishing the end result. Etoufee sounds interesting. Jambalaya appeals as it seems similar to paella, a dish I love. All involve rice, one of my favorite foods on the planet.

I leave the decision to you. What should I make? I will include step by step pictures and a recipe tomorrow, so choose wisely!

Free polls from Pollhost.com

What New Orleans dish should Kathy make?

gumbo jambalaya etoufee

I feel a good ripping coming on

I love this stitch pattern. I ended up ditching the trinity stitch because it ended up rather three dimensional, at least in this particular yarn. Purling three together was also difficult because the three stitches were made up of a knit, purl, knit combination and didn't lie together well on the needle while waiting to be picked up together. So instead I went with a clove stitch pattern which looks practically the same. Lots easier on my hands and the resulting fabric lies much flatter. The colors are pooling a tiny bit here and there, but it ends up being a subtle mosiac pattern that looks very nice to my eyes.
So why on earth rip everything out?
Look at the sides of this shawl. Notice anything? I had decided that a 3 stitch garter edging would frame things nicely. It does. However, what I didn't know was just how much clove stitch stretches in all directions, especially in comparison to the edging. See how the sides and bottom pull inward? This pattern will look really nice blocked out as far as it can reach and that garter edge just isn't going to work.I do love the way the edging looks but can't think of any way to get enough stretch. So off to rip this whole thing out and start from a basic "k, yo, k" in one cast on stitch and go from there.

Good things on the horizon

Something we've been wanting for a long time may well be happening soon! I hope to be writing details in the next week or so. Any and all positive thoughts welcomed.

Clouds for breakfast

This morning I made sweet, airy clouds also known as beignets. These little squares made from an enriched yeast dough puff up tremendously when fried. Look at how light they are inside! I wish the camera had captured the whiff of steam as my husband pulled this apart. Immediately after this photo he popped the beignet into his mouth with a very satisfied grin.
Yesterday I made the dough, which calls for a rest overnight to develop flavors and allow the yeast to work. This morning I rolled out the enriched dough so it was thin enough to expand well. Then out came the pizza wheel to cut them into two inch squares, and finally a dip into hot oil. The boys watched in amazement as each flat square ballooned and became golden. Their eyes were riveted as I lifted the almost round puffs onto the draining rack and finally gave all a dusting of powdered sugar.

Breakfast fit for a king and two very hungry princes. Hot, crisp, light puffs with a thick dusting of powdered sugar, a ginger and cardamom scented honey for dipping, and whipped Ibarra hot chocolate for sipping and dunking. My youngest decided we were all eating clouds, and I can't really argue with him. What a wonder, eating clouds for breakfast.

What's cooking?

Hmmm....been busy in the kitchen, humming around and grabbing things here and there. Little bit of work from the KitchenAid, some rummaging through my spice drawer, and made this fine mess to the left. Tomorrow morning I'll finish it up and enjoy with Dan and the boys. Any guesses on what I'm making?


Also cooking this up with the Schaeffer Anne that was leftover from the lovely socks I just got in the mail. I weighed the yarn, compared ounces to yards on the label, then estimated that I have around 320 yards to play with. Should be enough for a very small shawl as long as the pattern is very open. Something easy to memorize that doesn't need edging would be perfect. I tried this pattern first, but wasn't sure how long the scarf would end up. Then I tried the Trinity Stitch which was perfect. Essentially one row of patterning with purl rows in between, open, and a pattern that doesn't fight the varigated colorway. I'm looking forward to seeing how this blocks out.

Stayed tuned for tomorrow, when all is revealed.

Yet another way to help

Project 800 is a group that will be manning phones and getting information out to the evacuees displaced by hurricane Katrina. Help can be as simple as volunteering to answer phones for a few hours a week, something that many people could easily do. Sign up to volunteer or help directly and pass this link along so others can find it!

Socks, coming and going

At last, I'm finished with my sockapal2za socks! There were several crises along the way: the toe came out oddly the first time I worked it up, the heel increases didn't lie well at all, and the second attempt at working the toe out was worse. All problems on my end, sadly. This pattern (Sideways Sox Supreme) is one where it pays to read the directions and not think you can go galavanting off and do your own thing. Regardless of hiccups, knitting a sock from side to side was really interesting. What's on the needles doesn't look like a sock at all for the longest time and then, suddenly, a heel appears. After that the sock is almost done, which threw me for a loop timing wise.

Here's one sock before seaming...









...and the completed pair:









Specs

Pattern: Sideways Sox Supreme by Liz Clouthier of Pig Dog Farm, found in Socks, Socks, Socks
Yarn: Cherry Tree Hill Supersock
Colorway: Old Rose
Modifications: I used stockingette on the back of the heel and bottom of the foot instead of continuing the seed stitch bands across so they would be more comfortable with shoes. Also used the Alternative Toe instead of cinching up the stitches at the toe - again, so they would be more comfortable and hopefully fit better.
Knit up on two size 2 Crystal Palace bamboo circular needles. I am now ready to get rid of these needles forever - the join drove me insane the whole time I was knitting these up. Otherwise they were a fun knit and really did justice to the colorway.

The color in the first picture is much too dark, but the second picture looks much more intense than this colorway. Old Rose is really difficult to photograph properly. It has a lot of deep rose tones with deep greens and the occasional bit of golden peeking through here and there and is just lovely to look at. Now off to mail these to my sock pal. I hope she likes them!

Look what showed up on my patio today! My very own socks, knit up by Julia Kalow, a sophomore at Columbia University. Once I saw yarn in the box I yelped and pulled them onto my feet immediately. So soft! I love the colors as well - beautiful purples, blues and some rose in there as well. Ah, hand painted yarn. My one big weakness. After admiring the socks for a while (and an awed "so soft, mommy!" from my youngest) I learned why they were so soft...these socks were made from Schaefer Anne, a yarn with 25% mohair. I see these getting a lot of use as I curl up, knitting something else and sip tea with a wee bit of milk. Pure luxury. Julia doesn't have a blog, so I'm adding another picture to show off just how lovely these socks are:

This shows the colors a bit better. Isn't it beautiful? The pattern is "Lacy Scallops" by Sockbug, one I think I'll have to make up on my own sometime soon.

Thank you, Julia! I love my socks :-)





Last, a picture of my sky for Sandy. It's a hot, slightly windy day in Diamond Bar, California. This picture was taken as I looked up from my patio at 3:00 this afternoon. You can't really tell, but the branches were waving around quite a bit. The boys ran around playing tag and picking flowers "for you!" while I tried to get a decent picture. Nice way to spend an afternoon!

....and we have a po' boy!

Orgasmic. This is one of the best sandwiches I have ever eaten, hands down. It may not be incredibly photogenic, but what it lacks in beauty it more than makes up with in sheer flavor intensity.

Oh. My. God. So good.

More commentary here. If you are drooling over your keyboard right now, vote for my sandwich here! Each vote is just $5, and all money goes to hurricane relief. Such a worthy cause, and such a deserving sandwich! So vote now, and vote often!

Just made my first remoulade sauce

It's freakishly good. That is all.

But wait, there's more!

Ryan's teacher cornered me and sweet talked until I was holding a bag full of homework papers, blinking and confused as she walked away. Now, I'm not usually shy, retiring, or any other mild mannered word you can think of. I can hold my own in pretty much any situation. Unless, it seems, there is a soft spoken first grade teacher involved. Then, I am putty. So tonight I will grade twenty stacks of first grade homework and then colate and staple next week's batch. Because I have so much time on my hands.

All that and a surprise association board meeting tomorrow afternoon so we can discuss the irate homeowners who will be showing up the next morning. Joy!

Insanity rules

At least in my household it does. The last week and a half has been a blur, and the next few weeks should follow suit as well.

Friday morning was spent dropping off the boys at school then spending the next 2 1/2 hours researching, gathering documents, and printing out letters. Then off to pick up the youngest and whiz back home in time to meet Dan as he returned from work. Quick check to make sure I had maps, camera, knitting (in case there was time to kill), aforementioned documents, water, and phone numbers and out the door I went. Traffic wasn't too bad, thankfully, but it still took about an hour to get to our advocates office. Then some knitting as I waited. The next two hours were filled with all that is bad about the Board of Education in California and more than I ever wanted to know about appealing a legal decision. Sad that we had to get that far in order to try and meet our son's needs, but there it is. So we're learning about Special Education law and advocacy along with the ever popular "what the heck is Autism, and how does that affect my family?" part. From there a fast (well, slow, as the freeway was barely moving) trip to my Dad's house in order to swap bags of stuff, hug, and high five before leaving to volunteer.

The LA Supports LA event was huge. HUGE. They were expecting 400-500 people: this is what the restaurants involved were told to expect when they made up the samples for everyone. Total count was over nine hundred people. At $100 and up per head plus the silent auction I believe they made far more than the original million dollar goal. The airport hanger was packed and people were still buying tickets two hours after the event started. The food ran out about halfway through since there were so many participants, but the wine continued flowing so everyone stayed happy. I ended up out in front for much of the evening collecting tickets from a seemingly endless line of people. All the volunteers were running around like crazy. Six hours after I got there things were finally wrapping up and I hobbled out to the car, exhausted. Caught up with my buddy Chris Cognac who helped organize things and we marveled at how well it all went. It still boggles the mind that all of this was put together in less than a week's time. What a great thing, and how heartening to see that people want to help and actually do something.

Got home at midnight and rolled into bed. Realized later that all I had eaten for the entire day was a Jack in the Box Spicy Chicken Sandwich (yum!) and three bites of an asian chicken salad grabbed during my bathroom break while volunteering. Oops. The next morning was spent with a mob of angry home owners. Ah, the joys of living with a homeowner's association, especially when you're on the board. No, we don't spend meetings scheming on how to make life especially horrible for all of you - hello, we're homeowners, too! I love people who whine and complain and moan about how horrible everything is but somehow can't find the time to go to homeowner's meetings and actually air problems at a time when, oh, we could look at fixing them. Two hours later people seemed far more satisfied and we agreed to have another meeting next Saturday. I'm making scones of some sort for fifty.

The rest of Saturday was all about recuperating. Lots of cleaning up the house, list making and planning. Planning for what, you ask? Planning for this. I've been wracking my brain, trying to think of ways to help those affected most by Katrina when we don't have much in the way of money to donate. Volunteering? Sign me up! Goofy pictures with food? That I can do. I figured I'd donate the $10 required to enter, get the pictures together, and be done. Getting everything in on time was crazy (ever try to locate a saxaphone on a Sunday? Fake teeth are also oddly difficult to find, even right before Halloween) and incredibly fun and I knew my friends would have a good laugh.

I was one of the four finalists in the first round.

OK, then. Cooking I can also do. Pictures....I'm working on that part. Looks like the first assignment is Po' Boys. I've never eaten one, but they look delicious and I'm currently scouting recipes and mulling over ideas. Have to put it together by Sunday.

In the meantime, we've had Occupational Therapy for the oldest, the first two days of real, actual first grade homework (collective gasp here), volunteering at the library, work on my halfway finished Sockapal2za socks (due tomorrow), make Mexican goodies for my youngest's preschool class on Friday, more volunteering, test knitting....there's more that I'm forgetting here, I'm sure. Saturday night I'm going along with my friend Jennifer to her husband's cooking school final - four courses of asian dishes. Can't wait for that one :-). And of course, Sunday is the final day to complete the Po' Boys.

As usual, I am insane. But only in the very best of ways.

(I don't usually link to anything political here, but this was something I had to share. Figuring out who dropped the ball and how is going to take years to really figure out but this is what has bothered me most since the hurricane: where is the very human reaction to such an incredible tragedy? Genuine emotion, even a little, would have gone far right now.)

Supporting those in LA

Another way to help those affected by Katrina: LA Supports LA. The list of wineries and restaurants involved is vast, there will be auctions (including an "Alton Brown Mystery Package"), there will be art, there will be all kinds of amazing things to eat and drink. With corporate support they hope to raise one million dollars tomorrow night. I can't even begin to afford the door charge - $100 is more than I spend in a week on groceries for my whole family - but I will be volunteering since elbow grease is free.

I've been working on my Sockapal2za socks and the first is almost, just about finished. Just a million stitches to Kitchener together. Photos to follow soon.

Another way to help

Donations are needed *everywhere* in the area devistated by Katrina, but there are other ways to help if money is tight. You can provide a home for people left without a place to live. Or you can help rebuild. Wishing I lived closer so I could do something other than raise funds, but I'll at least do that. Wishing everyone left homeless a corner somewhere that feels safe and comforting.

The first day went well

"Mom! I have my own desk where I can sit and put all my stuff and no one can touch any of it!" Wee bit protective about the stuff, my boy is. He also loves the classroom rules: "keep your arms, legs, and butts to yourself!" This is naturally said with a huge grin and a giggle. I'm pretty sure the word "butt" is his own six year old interpretation. Smart rule, though.

So far, the last two afternoons have been really hard. Last year it took about a month for him to get used to Kindergarten and the new structure and become more calm. Hoping it takes less time this year. In the meantime, I'm working on filling the afternoons with activities so there isn't a lot of time to fall apart. If we can all just hang in there for a little while, everything will be better soon.

My heart and head keep going back to New Orleans and the tragedy unfolding there. Suddenly everything going on in my life seems trifling by comparison. We have a home, we have all of our pictures and favorite books and stuffed animals, we are all safe, and we know where we will sleep tonight. All great blessings that I wish for those hit by Katrina.

Very little knitting

There has been so much to do to get my oldest ready for school that very little knitting or really crafting of any kind has happened lately. We've had some huge legal issues with the district as well, so life has been a bit more stressful than usual. Today started 1st grade for my oldest and I'm really hoping he adjusts to a new teacher, new classroom, and new classmates better than he did last year. Change is so very hard for him, and this is a lot of change all at once. His teacher seems very sweet, almost grandmotherly, so hopefully that will help. I'm expecting the first few weeks to be rocky, but soon he should have routines down and be more familiar with everything. It just makes my heart ache to see things be so hard for him. We're doing all we can, but it seems so small in the face of all that he needs.

While I haven't been knitting, I *have* been recruiting ;-). Met up with a friend of mine this last weekend, plopped down a pair of needles and a ball of yarn, and taught her how to knit. Her 7 year old son attends a Waldorf school where all the children are taught to knit as part of the curriculum, so he was stunned when he ran over on a break from playing. "Mom, are you knitting?" Darn tooting she is! Actually, she did really well right from the start - even stitches, good tension, only one dropped stitch.

Buahahaaaa....another one pulled over to the dark side. Soon they will all knit! Everyone!

Local produce, part III

Today's haul from the Pomona Farmer's Market. This time, I'll list what I'm doing with everything (clockwise, starting at the top):

*sandwich rolls - base for grilled vegetable sandwiches and again to make Grinders later in the week (OK, it's not produce and I'm sure the ingredients aren't local, but it was prepared close by)
*cauliflower - roasted with turmeric, garlic, and mustard seeds
* red cabbage - shredded for use in salads, base for a Asian-style slaw with peanut sauce
* carrots - snacking, shredded to go in salads
* celery - snacking
* radishes - sliced for salads, enjoyed with some sweet butter and a bit of sea salt
* red onion - part of roasted vegetable sandwich later in the week
*tomatoes - sliced and placed in Grinder sandwiches
* broccoli - steamed and served with salt, pepper, and a bit of butter
* red seedless grapes - popped in the mouth, sweet bite by bite
* eggplant - another part of the roasted vegetable sandwich
* red bell peppers - also roasted and used in above sandwich (which is pure heaven)
* leaf lettuce - salads and sandwiches through the week

Local produce, part II

Today was much easier than last week. I knew just where to go in order to get (hopefully) all the produce we'll need for the week. Pomona farmer's market it was. This morning wasn't as brutally hot as last weekend, so there was little wilting among the plant life or the shoppers. Dropped by a French Bakery stand and grabbed a pan au chocolat to share with the boys when I got home, then went looking for fajita fixings, things to munch on, and likely vegetables for dinners later this week. Lettuce was abundant and looked really good this week (lower temperatures helped, I'm sure), so I got a huge head of leaf lettuce for salads. I found long beans which I just love and snatched them up with glee. Summer squash also looked delicious - not sure what I'll do with that yet. There were also farm fresh eggs for $2.50 a dozen. Not cheap, but not that bad, either.

The boys asked me if someone had painted the eggs, then got excited and pointed out that these eggs were just the same as the ones in Two Eggs, Please. They quickly pointed out that the insides would look just the same as eggs that were white on the outside. It's such a sweet little book - characters come into a diner one by one, each ordering two eggs cooked in a different way. Then cut to the chef, who holds up one white egg and one brown egg: "different." Then he cracks the eggs into a bowl, and we can see: "the same." All the diners sit down to eat, noting that their orders are "different, but the same." Good lesson for anyone to learn - that we are all different, but the same in many ways as well. The world would be a better place if everyone learned that lesson.

Someday I'll learn, right?

Handpainted yarn, cables, moss stitch? Sure they'll all go together! This was my thinking as I started Robbyn's beautiful Peony Purse. With each row I questioned myself more and more....was this really going to work? The colors aren't fighting with the pattern, are they? No, not at all. Really. Honest. This delusional thinking went on until I'd finished the first cable repeat, and then reality was staring me in the face: patterned yarn and texture don't get along well. No matter how much I wish this wasn't the case, it's true. Someday I'll get that fact through my thick head - either that, or I'll keep bashing my head against the wall so much that perhaps I'll associate that pain with the futility of trying this combination again.

Much frogging later, I stared at my beautiful Voodoo yarn, trying to think of something tiny and special to showcase the colors and glorious silkiness. A purse of some sort seemed ideal, but something with a simple design so the colorway wouldn't fight it. Searched online, flipped through all of my patterns, wracked my brain for an idea to expand on and design myself. Nothing. Then I remembered: there's a silk purse pattern in Mindful Knitting. Ran to the bookshelf, opened it up, and there it was - the perfect, simple purse shape. I cast on and started knitting away, only to find another problem. The dreaded pooling. Nooooo! Not the pooling! I know many embrace the vagaries of handpainted yarn, loving the zigs and zags that the colors form when left to themselves. Not me. I admit to being a control freak extraordinaire. I want those colors to balance well across whatever I'm knitting, and I will make that happen come hell or high water, dammit! Frogged again. Started over.










Much better.

I also finished up a super fast gift. Arden's favorite preschool teacher is moving on to another job and today was her last day. Didn't find out she was leaving until Monday, so this needed to be a something quick. Slippers sounded good...and didn't I have a skein of Patons Bohemian lying around? Why yes! Bought it last year on a whim, mainly because the yarn is so unbelievably soft. Perfect for slippers. Knit them up in the blink of an eye - would you believe I cast on a total of sixteen stitches? Now that's some bulky yarn. They came out nicely - so soft and cuddly. Arden's teacher loved them and was last seen petting them as I walked out of the classroom.

B is for broccoli

I usually have this as a quick, easy dinner when broccoli looks good and I feel like something comforting.

Pasta with Broccoli
Serves 4 as a main dish

2 lbs broccoli
1 lb penne or other tubular pasta
2 Tbs butter
2 Tbs olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 - 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground pepper
1/4 cup parmesan or asiago cheese, grated

Cut broccoli into small florets, then peel stems and cut into 1/4 inch rounds (you can skip the stems, but they are so delicious - please try them!).

Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Add pasta to the water and cook until just tender. About 3 minutes before pasta is done, add broccoli to the pot. Drain both in colander.

Meanwhile, in small pan heat butter and oil (or just oil) over medium low heat, then add garlic. Cook for a minute or two, then add pepper flakes, salt, and pepper.

Toss pasta, broccoli, and garlic-oil mixture together (I usually use the same pot I boiled the pasta in). Top with cheese and serve.

Local produce, part I

Here is today's haul, courtesy of two different farmer's markets (along with my younger son's hand - he was "helping"). The whole family jumped in the car, ready to go to our usual market in Diamond Bar, only to find it closed due to construction in the area. Well, shoot. On to plan B. Luckily I had a list from here and found another one about 10 miles away. Off to Pomona we went, in search of plant life for sale. Now this was more like it! There were more produce stands and greater variety than I've ever seen at our local market, and better prices to boot. As we walked around, the boys got hungry and wanted a snack so we headed off towards the back, where all the baked and prepared stuff was. Younger son chose a poppyseed muffin, while older son was desperate for a hot dog and soda and proceeded to melt down completely when we said no to the soda (we had water and were only getting snacks). Dan took him out to the car to cool off while son#2 and I wandered around. Found some incredible looking bread, which was quickly purchased. Tried some toffee sunflower seeds which I loved, smaller son did not. Ah well, more for me. Then I started noticing that booths were closing up. Huh? It wasn't even lunch time yet. Turns out this market closes at 11:30, not 2:00 like I was used to. Back to the car to drive home. Dropped Dan and the boys off and headed out to the next closest market in West Covina, held in the parking lot of a strip mall. Smaller selection of produce, more lunch items, crafts, kettle corn and the like. I managed to find the rest of what I wanted, aside from lettuce (none available), and headed for home.

Had to get a close up of this carrot. Not something you'd usually find in an orange plastic bag 'o carrots from the store, is it? I like a carrot with character, with presence. Note younger son in the background, holding a green bean. Evidently, the green bean was very hungry and decided to start eating all of the other fruits and vegetables one by one, causing great distress and mayhem (and giggles). Not only are vegetables good for you, they double as action figures. Who knew?

Tomorrow we are off to pick raspberries. We'll see how many actually make it back home.

Mail!

I've been a bit lax in collecting mail this week. The mailbox is waaaaay down at the end of a long walkway, and it's been so freakishly hot that all I want to do is cower in air conditioned slpendor with a tall glass of cool water in hand. Besides, who needs more bills and junk mail, right?

Well lookee here - what's this?

Knit and crochet patterns (there's a quick pattern for wee mouse slippers that may well need to be made immediately) and a moose in a party hat. The moose completely cracked me up. Party on, Canada! Hope your 138th birthday truly rocks.




....but wait....there's more! With every moose postcard you also recieve, completely free of charge, not one, not two, not five, but eight handmade stitch markers! As a special bonus, if you call now you will also get a stitch holder absolutely free of charge! This is a one time only special offer brought to you by random acts of kindness and the lovely Canadian Sandra (aka wyldeyez).

This completely made my day. And there's a quick pattern for animal slippers that may well need to be made immediately.

Mmmm...samosas...

I can remember years ago when they used to have cross cultural fairs in the grassy circle in the middle of my college. All the clubs would have something to offer: the Greek club had something with feta cheese, the French club had crusty bread, and the Indian club had samosas. The first time I tried one I remember following this delicious smell to a stand adorned with these odd pastry triangles. I bought one, dipped it in the sauce when prodded to do so, and immediately fell in love. I turned to the group and asked what was in this heavenly thing? Could I (pleaseohplease) have a recipe? I got a puzzled, somewhat bored look, followed by, "my mom makes these - I think she uses potatoes and peas and some spices." Thanks. That definitely helped. A lot.

Thus began my love affair with Indian food of all kinds. I began branching out, trying curries, naan, masala tea, kheer, dal, biryani, and loving every bite. I started collecting cookbooks by Madhur Jaffrey, Neelam Batra, and Julie Sahni. I bought cardamom, fenugreek, coriander, fennel, cinnamon sticks, and huge lots of cumin. Dal became a dinner staple, and I even made my own naan that wasn't half bad. But the holy grail was always to make an incredible samosa, one that would bring me back to that very first taste of Indian food. I kept fiddling and changing things here and there, never really satisfied. And then, one day, came a batch that I couldn't find fault with. The one I now make in bulk and take anywhere I think people might like them (and honestly, who wouldn't love a really good samosa?).

This is very loosely based on a Madhur Jaffrey recipe, though I've made a lot of changes over the years. I usually make up the filling, toss it in the refrigerator for a while, then roll out the pastry and fill them on another day. They can be frozen after baking - just defrost and warm in the oven for a few minutes. I skip the homemade pastry and deep frying bit and use puff pastry sheets rolled out thin. Much, much easier (and less cleaning do to afterwards). These may not be the prettiest specimens out there, but the taste more than makes up for appearances.

Samosas
Makes either 64 small or 36 large

4 medium potatoes
3 Tbs vegetable oil
1 large onion, chopped fine
1 cup frozen peas
1 Tb ginger root, peeled and minced
1/2 serrano pepper, minced
3 Tbs cilantro, chopped fine
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp garam masala
1 tsp ground roasted cumin seeds (plain ground cumin is also fine here)
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1 Tb lemon juice
1 Tb amchur (dried, ground unripe mango - substitute 1 additional Tb. lemon juice)
2 packages frozen puff pastry sheets, thawed

1. Peel the potatoes, cut into several large pieces, then boil until cooked through. Mash a bit - just enough so there aren't any bits of potato larger than the size of a pea. Let cool. Meanwhile, heat the oil in a skilled over medium heat. Add the onion and cook until medium brown, stirring as needed.

2. Add the peas, ginger, chili, cilantro, and 3 tablespoons of water. Cover, lower the heat and simmer very gently until peas are cooked. This should only take a few minutes.

3. Add the potatoes, salt, coriander, garam masala, cumin, cayenne pepper, lemon juice and amchur (if using). Keep heat on low and mix the spices with the potatoes. Continue cooking gently, stirring frequently, for 3 to 4 minutes. Check salt and lemon juice. Turn off heat and leave potato mixture to cool.

4. While mixture is cooling, start to prepare the pastry sheets. Sprinkle liberally with flour, then roll out until rather thin, but thick enough to hold together around the filling. The sheets will almost double in size once rolled, and should end up roughly square. Separate sheets with waxed paper and cover with a damp cloth.

5. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lay out a pastry sheet, then brush with water or beaten egg. Cut into 9 or 16 equal squares, depending on how large you want to make them. Spoon filling onto the center of each square, then fold two corners together to make a triangle. Seal the edges well, then tuck the two ends of the triangle underneath the filling and press down a bit to center everything. Place on a baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes or so, or until pastry is a golden brown.

6. These freeze very well, and can be briefly reheated in a warm oven before serving.

Knitting, yarn, and book signing goodness

Last night was the Los Angeles leg of the Yarn Harlot book signing tour. I packed up my book, my Kiri to work on while there, samosas for the table of munchies at the back, and a knitting bag I made up for the sock (well, Stephanie as well, but that sock looked like it might be needing creature comforts). I had never been to the Knit Cafe, so I left early in hopes of beating rush hour traffic. It only took an hour to get there (in what universe is this a positive thing? Oh, right, this is Los Angeles, after all. Sigh) so I got there close to the start of the signing. Dropped off the samosas and grabbed a chair in front so as not to disturb too many people.

Stephanie did some reading from the book, then talked about knitting in general and the things she has seen on tour so far. She was funny, witty, and real and put the whole room at ease. We all laughed at the things all knitters seem to have in common, including less than appreciative partners. It seemed like everyone in the room was knitting something interesting, and there were a lot of sideways glances to check out whatever was in the lap of someone down the row or in back. Then on to book signing for those of us who hadn't gotten there earlier. I brought up the knitting bag, and the sock took to it immediately:

Got my book signed, handed Stephanie a plate of samosas that were passed on from the back of the room, then went to look at yarn and grab some chips from the table. So much yarn! And so many really great people. I met Mary-Heather and she's just the nicest person. Then off to look at yarn again. I didn't get a chance to look at the Kidsilk Haze (still haven't seen it in person, which is probably just as well for my checkbook), but I did find this:

That's Petite Voodoo by Twisted Sisters. Half wool, half silk. Oh, my, is it ever soft. Not sure I'll even knit anything out of it - I may just keep it in my knitting bag and fondle it from time to time. Lovely, lovely stuff.

There's a picture of me with Stephanie, but somehow the lighting ended up doing odd things and right now you can't tell there are actually people in it. I'll add it in if I can fix it later. I was very glad to meet Stephanie in person and hopefully didn't seem like too much of a crazy stalker person, what with the bag and baked goods. All in all, it was wonderful to get away from the boys for a night and do things that I really enjoyed - meeting new people and playing with yarn. Well worth the drive.

Picture fixed! Stephanie is holding one of the samosas. Note that even without the dress sandals, she's still taller than I am.