April - just a little lame

Well, as is becoming a pattern around here, my big project is not done for the end of the month (although there is still a chance I may finish Sock #1 by the end of tomorrow, as I only have a couple of inches left on the leg. Still, Matt has two feet, so even then, it can hardly be called April's FO). In the interest of having a finished object for April, I tackled Annie's Going Green Coffee Cup Cozy even though I am very late for Earth Day. I used up the Silk Garden I had left from the beret that was a last-minute end-of-month project a couple of months ago :) I decided to make it 16-ounce size, so I just carried on for 8 extra rows in pattern before doing the final knit row. I had barely a foot of yarn left, so no crochet edging, which is just as well, because I'm not super with that anyway. I liked how it turned out.


Pattern details:
Pattern: Going Green Cup Cozy
Yarn; Noro Silk Garden
Needles: Size 6 dpns
Notes: After Row 32, I repeated rows 9-16 (adding knit stitches to the end of each needle). I thought this was a really fun little pattern, very quick and cute. It did occur to me, however, that while the cozy eliminates the need for those cardboard sleeves, it would be much greener to buy a travel mug to reduce consumption of the paper cups, but that wouldn't require any knitting :) This was on the long side for a 16-ounce cup, as you can see, so I think it would cover a fair amount of a 20-ounce as well, but I don't usually get one that big!

I forgot to post a picture of one of my birthday presents. My brother-in-law and his girlfriend found me this little bowl, a one-of-a-kind piece made from yarn. I've been using it to hold my Tiger Sock knitting. It's the perfect size. Isn't it cute?


Lilah and I are actually remote blogging from California, where we're visiting my parents and brother. We're having a great time, and I can't believe I'm actually posting on vacation, as I never manage to.

Reading:

Death at Wentwater Court by Carola Dunn: This is the first Daisy Dalrymple mystery, and I thought it was lots of fun. These are set in the 1920s England and Daisy is a Town & Country reporter, shocking her family (I think her father is a baronet or something). Anyway, Daisy is likeable and I think Dunn evokes 1920s England well, at least to someone who's seen Gosford Park. The plot is well done. Daisy is at a family's country house when an apparent accident takes place. Daisy's photography uncovers a suggestion that it might have been murder. I'll have to find the second in the series--I think there are 16 or something.

Duma Key by Stephen King: It's been hit or miss for me with recent Stephen King, but I had a hard time putting Duma Key down, even with 600+ pages. He's used his personal experience with recovering from a terrible accident and placed in on Edgar Freemantle, who loses an arm and scrambles his brain in an accident. His 25-year marriage ends, and when his doctor suggests "geographical therapy," Freemantle (randomly, he thinks) chooses Duma Key, an isolated island off the coast of Sarasota. He takes up painting with a vengeance, stunning gallery owners in Sarasota, and haunted by his phantom arm and the voices of the shells under his house, he begins to uncover the truth about Duma Key and its oldest inhabitant, Elizabeth Eastlake. His hired help, Jack, and Elizabeth's companion, Wireman (who has also suffered a head injury, as has Elizabeth), help him find the source of his talent. If any part of the novel dragged, it was pages 500-600 or thereabouts--the exciting conclusion was really kind of long. But I found Edgar's emerging talent engaging, and King did a great job of the terror gently creeping into the story.

Back on Blossom Street by Debbie Macomber: I read the first of these, The Shop on Blossom Street, ages ago. It took me a while to get into this one. The intro in which Macomber basically explains everything that happened in the series so far was very long and dragged, but once I got into it, it was pretty fun. These are the most wholesome romance novels you've ever read, seriously, but they're also about the personal struggles of the various characters. She writes from the point-of-view of several, which is totally cheating, but it works for the stories she's telling. The prose is...saccharine is a good word to use here, maybe a really long Hallmark card is another way to put it. But if you're in the mood for uplifting, obviously telegraphed happy endings, and women solving their problems in a knitting group, this book is for you. I don't mean that as negatively as it maybe reads. I enjoyed the book, I did, it's just not particularly challenging and it's not my usual fluffy reading (very little sense of humor here). Anyway, Lydia owns a knitting shop and decides to have a class on doing prayer shawls. Each of the women in the class has a different problem going on, and everyone's happy at the end. There are really no surprises in this one, but it's pleasant and comforting.


Writing: Plugging along on Chapter 1 rewrites while Lilah naps or my parents watch her. Very pleased with how much better it is. As I've mentioned, it's set at a theater company, and I was cramming in everything possible about community theater. Now that I've pulled quite a bit back out, it's much more interesting.

Cooking: Not a thing. We're on vacation!

Oops, late again!

I missed posting on Kitty Day! On April 17, we celebrated (with tuna!) our 5th anniversary of adopting our kitties from the Humane Society. This is last year's photo retrospective. I'm not going to try to top it, but here are the guys on the porch:



Check out our lovely clovered lawn. Once Spring hits, stuff grows like mad. Mostly weeds. I'm calling the clover endearing, however. Matt mowed the next day.

And we have irises! Not through any effort of our own, but this is our first spring here, so we were very happy to see these bloom.


Knitting: Still plugging along on the first tiger sock. I turned the heel and am knitting the leg. It's sort of weird to be going toe-up. And there's no gusset shaping to do, which makes me feel like I'm missing something. The short-row heel was pretty easy, though, and it looks pretty nice. Unfortunately, I'm going to be out of town when I finish sock #1, so I won't be able to have Matt try it on before I start #2. Hmmm. Hope they work. I thought the foot seemed a bit long, but holding it up to his foot, I don't think so. Anyway, I hope to finish these for April and then start my Henley Perfected. I also want to bust out one of these (or several to give out to friends) fantastic coffee cup cozies. I have some Simple Knitted Bodice photos, but I'm really not happy with them. I'm in shadow, the camisole underneath doesn't really go, I'm not sucking in my stomach, and you can't see the stitch pattern that well. So I'm going to block and then do photos. You know, someday.

Reading: I have been enjoying the Hannah Swenson mysteries from Joanne Fluke. The first is A Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder. These take place in tiny Lake Eden, Minnesota and feature Hannah, who owns The Cookie Jar, a bakery/cafe. Lake Eden is fun, Hannah is likeable, and the mysteries are well-done. Recipes are included, and I've made a couple with great success. A frequent complain in amazon reviews is that the love triangle (Hannah has two love interests) is unbelievable, and this is true to an extent. Hannah's mother always seats her between Norman and Mike at dinners, etc., and they don't seem to mind. There is some jealousy, but not as much as you might expect. But whatever, it's not the only part of the books, and it doesn't annoy me that much. I also zipped through How I Write: Secrets of a Bestselling Author by Janet Evanovich. She co-wrote this with a creative writing professor, to make it more credible, I guess. Anyway, the poor professor's parts are fairly dry, but useful and well-organized. The book is mainly Q&A with Evanovich, based on questions asked by fans on her website. It's often interesting to read how a writer writes, and Evanovich is funny and entertaining. As a writing book, it doesn't hold a candle to Stephen King's On Writing, but it was interesting, and samples of query letters and manuscript pages, and advice on joining groups and attending conferences, is worthwhile. All in all, not an essential read for writers, but a fun one for Evanovich fans.

Writing: Still opening the file every day. Lilah slept 9 uninterrupted hours last night. If this keeps up, I can start getting up early to write! Knock on wood for me, would you?

Cooking: I made the Spring Tabbouleh from 101 Cookbooks, and we all loved it, even Lilah. Especially Lilah! So funny to see her scoop bulgar wheat into her mouth with her fingers and then give a huge smile! I also made Penne With Ricotta and Zucchini from Cooking Light (available in the 2001 cookbook), a quick favorite. I also did a crazy Indian feast. I made the samosa recipe (baked, not fried) from The New Moosewood Cookbook. I made Eggplant Rice, Saag (Spinach) Paneer, and Hot Chana (Spicy Chickpeas) from Indian Vegetarian Cooking At Your House. Instead of the ricotta, I made paneer from this recipe and it didn't work as well as it did the last time I made it. The curds just didn't develop that well, and I ended up with less than a cup of paneer. I probably should have added more lemon juice, but I had Lilah climbing up my leg, so I decided to just see how it turned out without extra effort. Everything was lovely. I really like this little cookbook, which makes Indian cooking very approachable and even gives nutritional info.

I made blue cheese dressing, based on a Cooking Light recipe:
3/4 cup crumbled blue cheese
2/3 cup light sour cream
1/2 cup light mayo
2 tsp red wine vinegar (more to taste)
salt and pepper to taste
1-2 TBL finely chopped chives (depending on how much you like them)
1/4 cup milk (add more to desired consistency)

Mix everything together and refrigerate. Yum! Good on salads or as a dip for almost anything.

We had low turnout to our Playground Committee yard sale/bake sale due to rain, so we reprised the following weekend. We had company coming into town, so I didn't bake as many things. I made the Blue Blueberry Muffins from Blueberry Muffin Murder by Joanne Fluke, and they were awesome! I need to work on lowering the butter content in future, but the taste was fantastic. I also was seized by the urge to make Black and White Cookies (you remember that Seinfeld episode? He says to "look to the cookie" for racial harmony) and set out to google a recipe. There was one from an actual New York bakery, but comments from people who'd made the recipe were iffy, so I ended up adapting a recipe from Gourmet. When restaurants and bakeries post recipes for beloved items, I'm always a little wary, for two reasons: 1. They cook in huge quantities, and even though it defies logic, reducing the yield can change the product, and 2. They have commercial mixers, ovens, etc., which makes a big difference. Anyway, here's what I came up with. I thought the icing (my own recipe) was delightful, and the cookies were almost sponge-cakey.

Black and White Cookies
Makes 30 BIG cookies

Ingredients

Cookies:
5 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 1/3 cup buttermilk
2 tsp vanilla
1 1/3 cup butter
2 cups sugar
4 eggs

White icing (make twice):
2 cups powdered sugar
1 TBL light corn syrup
1/2 tsp lemon extract
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 TBL milk

Black icing (make twice):
1 1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/2 TBL light corn syrup
3 TBL cocoa
1/2 tsp vanilla
2-3 TBL milk

Make cookies:
1. Preheat oven to 350. Butter a cookie sheet.
2. Stir together flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
3. In a stand mixer, beat together butter and sugar until fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla and beat well. Alternate adding flour and buttermilk until all combined.
4. Scoop out batter with a 1/4 cup measure and place 2 inches apart on cookie sheet. Bake 13-15 minutes, or until puffed and golden brown. Repeat until all cookies are baked (I baked them 6 at a time).
5. Cool completely on wire racks upside down.

Make white icing:
1. Combine all ingredients, adding more milk or powdered sugar as needed. Brush onto half of flat bottom of each cookie. I made half the icing, then mixed again, to prevent icing from hardening before I could finish. Ingredients are for HALF the total white icing needed.

Make black icing:
1. Combine all ingredients, adding more milk or powdered sugar as needed. Brush onto other half of flat bottom of each cookie, slightly overlapping the white icing.. I made half the icing, then mixed again, to prevent icing from hardening before I could finish. Ingredients are for HALF the total black icing needed.

Let stand until icing has hardened,

Eye of the Tiger

Buffy: I'm just worried this whole session's gonna turn into some training montage from an 80's movie.
Giles: Ah. Well, if we hear any inspirational power chords, we'll just lie down until they go away.

I've got to get back to my healthy eating. Possibly even counting my Weight Watchers points. Definitely measuring things instead of just dumping oil in the pan. It is my hope that Lilah will wean someday, preferably soon, and I am already giving her far fewer of my calories. I slipped into sloppy eating habits, and I really can't explain how or why, because I actually like whole grains, lean protein sources, fruits, and vegetables, and I feel better when that's mostly what I'm eating (along with a healthy dose of dark chocolate). But I've been tired due to lack of sleep (Lilah, for the love of Pete, you have got to start sleeping through the night consistently!) and feeling discouraged about not getting much done on the writing front, and I tend to seek comfort food. Plus, my days of daily exercise videos are over since I have to scramble to get things done during the precious Nap Time, though Lilah and I have been going on walks. Added to that that I've been able to add in dairy, which I'm eating way too much of, and I have to Do Something so my weight doesn't slide back up to where it was a year ago. I haven't done much damage (three pounds can be removed easily in a week), but it's time for an intervention. I know it's a smidge late for New Year's resolutions, but whatever. Expect to hear reports of healthier meals here, and I'll share any good light recipes I come across (or invent). Anyone want to join me?

Knitting: Continuing the Tiger theme...


Hee hee. I love the stripes. Too cute. This is going just fine. I got the short-row toe (finally!) and I'm knitting away. I'm doing a 5-stitch repeat pattern from Sensational Knitted Socks, but instead of a foofier pattern, I'm doing a 4/1 rib (they're for Matt, and even the Beaded Rib is a bit foofy for him). I noticed many rows in that I should have done a purl row before the pattern begins to make for a symmetrical pattern, but since I don't want to undo all that work, I'm pretending it was an artistic choice. Just go with it. Still no modeled pics of SKB. I haven't forgotten--it's just been tough with juggling the one car, Matt at work during most daylight hours, and Lilah unsupportive of any activity that doesn't focus all attention on her.

Writing: I've been at least opening my novel file every day, and I get a few words here and there. I've gone on to page 2, so that's good, I guess. At this rate, I'll be done in 2012. I've been thinking about it A LOT lately, though, so my hope is that my brain is working out the kinks and it'll be easy to write.

Reading: Lots of reviews!

Key Lime Pie Murder by Joanne Fluke: I thought it was an excellent entry in a cozy series. Besides the murder mystery, there were several fun subplots: What's behind Moishe's odd behavior? What is Hannah's mother's Secret Project? Will Hannah choose Norman or Mike or even Ross, who still sends her gifts? Will Hannah enter the 21st century world of cell phones and computers with internet access? Some amazon reviewers complain that Hannah's dithering over the men in her life is annoying, that it's unbelievable that she resists computers and cell phones, that the mystery doesn't happen until past 100 pages in. But to me, the fun of this series is small-town life in Lake Eden, Hannah's family, and Hannah's life, and those things don't bother me that much. This is a really fun cozy series. And oh yeah, there's a murder, and that part of the story was well-done, too. There are a few cookie recipes I think I'll be trying, though I'm not really a casserole (hot-dish) fan, so that's about it. Update: I made the Peach Bread recipe, but put the batter into 18 muffin cups. Yummmmmmmm! These are good, even with canned peaches. Peachy and almondy and light (tasting, that is--the fat content is scary).

Curiosity Killed the Cat Sitter by Blaize Clement: This is the improbably named Blaize Clement's first Dixie Hemingway mystery. This was surprisingly dark and complex for a cozy mystery series. Dixie was a sheriff's deputy on Siesta Key (off the Sarasota coast) until the deaths of her husband and daughter sent her over the edge. She regrouped and started a pet-sitting business. When she finds a dead man in a client's home, she's sucked back into the world of investigation, both as a suspect and a person with some inside scoop. I thought Clement pulled off the edgier heroine in a cozy setting quite well. The lifestyle and characters are Siesta Key were an interesting setting, Dixie is sympathetic, and the mystery complex and satisfying. There was one Clue (that's a capital C, as in "Scooby Doo, you've found a Clue!"), let's call it a MacGuffin, that Dixie comes across without recognizing its significance. That's fine, but as it became increasingly clear that the MacGuffin was really important, it started driving me a little crazy that Dixie wasn't picking up on it. However, since she had quite a bit going on and I was paying more attention to details as a reader, I tried to let it go. At any rate, I thought this was a fun, really well-written mystery, and I'll be picking up #2 in the series! I'd recommend it to cozy mystery fans who are open to a little bit edgier book, and even to private detective-type novel fans who aren't usually into cozies.

What Looks Like Crazy by Charlotte Hughes was a fun diversion, and a great break from the intensity of the Lippman novel. Hughes is co-author with Janet Evanovich on the Full House series, which I've enjoyed (though not as much as the Stephanie Plum books). When I see a no-name sharing author credit with a bestseller, my jaded opinion is usually that the no-name did all the work and the big name is there to sell books. It doesn't really matter, because I like Charlotte Hughes' writing, and if it hadn't been for Evanovich, this book likely wouldn't exist. Comparisons between this new series and Stephanie Plum are inevitable, but I didn't think this was a knockoff. Kate is a funny, smart, neurotic psychologist with relationship issues. In her job, she encounters plenty of "nutcases," as her wealthy receptionist Mona calls them, and they bring lots of fun to the mix. Kate's mother and aunt own a junk shop (from which Kate's condo is decorated) and they bring another element of fun. Kate's two exes bring in the obligatory romantic element. Hughes is a little drier in her wit, less laugh-out-loud and farcical, but it's a different kind of funny, not a lack of funny, if that makes sense. I think this is a good beach read, and I look forward to the next one.

What the Dead Know by Laura Lippman: This was a gripping, well-paced mystery (I hesitate to call it a thriller since no one is really in danger) that begins when a woman is apprehended leaving a car accident. She alludes to the Bethany sisters (whose disappearance thirty years before was never solved) but clams up without sharing her identity. She eventually claims to be one of the sisters, and the book is extremely well-paced, using flashbacks to explore the parents and sisters at various points during the thirty year gap. The current characters, a social worker and two cops, one who retired after the Bethany case (and to a lesser extent, an attorney) are well-fleshed out and the impact of the disappearance on their lives is believable. It was hard to put this book down. I really wanted to know who this woman was and what happened to the girls. I recommend this to anyone who's a fan of suspense.

Cooking: I tackled Garlic Soba Noodles from 101 Cookbooks, a healthier take on the comfort food dish of Noodles With Garlic and Parmesan. I tend to make what I call Buttery Noodles (a big duh here if you can't figure out what's in that) when I'm stressed or under the weather, and this sounded great. I thought it was a good update, but probably not a dish I'll make again. Truth is, the parmesan-crusted tofu didn't really "crust" for me--some of the topping fell off on the cookie sheet, and I'm not sure I care for crusted tofu anyway. And it made too many dirty dishes and had too many steps for me for real comfort food. Oh, and they were out of chard at the store, so I got kale. I was excited, because I can't tell you how many times I've bought kale with the best intentions, only to let it rot in the crisper. Because frankly, kale scares me. And it turns out I really don't like it! And now I have half a bunch I still have to use. Ugh. Anyway, I may try my buttery noodles with soba in the future, as I love soba and had really only used them in Asian dishes.

I made Pasta Geronimo and Black Bean Enchiladas (recipes in index at left), and both were lovely. Lilah loved both, too. I'm really enjoying this time before she becomes a picky toddler who eats only chicken nuggets and PB&J. Someone tell me it's possible she won't get picky? Sigh. I know it's coming. I wanted to update Pasta Geronimo for spring by using asparagus instead of eggplant, and maybe some of those cute baby squash, but Matt looked so disappointed that I made it as written, except for adding half a pound of iffy mushrooms, quartered, that were going to be thrown out otherwise. Matt tends to request dishes that I've made and then expect me to make them the same way, since it was good the previous time. I tend to use recipes as springboards and am inspired to tweak almost constantly. But he was right, Pasta Geronimo was nice. I have a short attention span when it comes to cooking, I guess.

We have another bake sale for our Playground Committee, so I've made biscotti. Almond Chocolate Chip Biscotti from 101 Cookbooks and Cappuccino BIscotti from this cute little cookbook. Both are lovely. I was skeptical that the whole-grain Almond Chocolate Chip would taste too "healthy" but they were deliciously nutty and the chocolate sort of covers up the healthiness. I used millet flour instead of oat flour since that's what I had on hand, otherwise I made no changes. Very nice recipe. Her cookbook,. Super Natural Cooking has a variation on this recipe. The Cafe Nervosa recipe made nice, crisp biscotti and the combination of chocolate, coffee, and cinnamon smelled heavenly during baking.

I also made scones. A Maple-Nut Scone based on the Starbucks pastry (yum, my favorite!) and Cherry-Corn Scones from The Cheese Board Collective. I followed the cherry scone recipe almost exactly, except I got 20 scones instead of 14. The Maple Nut one I decided to follow the modifications mentioned in one of the comments, plus I doubled the recipe. I used 1 cup whole wheat flour and 2 cups white, added an extra 1/4 cup of cream and 2 cups pecans, and used maple syrup instead of water for the glaze. I didn't have maple extract, so didn't use it. The glaze was so sweet, it made my teeth hurt, but I thought these were pretty darn good, very similar to the Starbucks version. The Cherry Corn ones tasted, well, like sweet cornbread with cherries. I think I like traditional scones more, but these were nice in their own way.

I made the Peach Bread from Key Lime Pie Murder into 18 regular-sized muffins, and I was delighted with the result. I also made Cherry Muffins from the Cafe Nervosa Cookbook, but used dried cranberries (way cheaper) and orange juice and zest instead of lemon and doubled the recipe for 12 jumbo muffins. Mmmmm.

Take that, March!

Wow, I did not think there was any way I would finish this before March slipped away. Crazy. Apparently, my whining about how long Sleeve #1 took me caused some rift in space/time that made Sleeve #2 just fly by. I thought I would have a whole skein of Malabrigo left over, but I had to wind it and use a few yards for the last half of the neckband, so it's a good thing I had a sixth skein. My husband has promised to take pictures as soon as we have good sunshine. I think it's fantastic! I need to find a good camisole to go underneath. I really did think this was going to be too small, but it's a perfect fit. I will edit this post to add photos as soon as I have them.

Details:
Pattern: Simple Knitted Bodice by Stephanie Japel
Yarn: Malabrigo Merino Worsted in Velvet Grapes, six skeins (only a tiny bit of skein #6 used to finish off the bindoff on the neckline.
Needles: Size 7 Clover bamboo dpns and circulars, size 4 Crystal Palace dpns and circulars
Notes: I adore this yarn. I adore the structure of this pattern, which may have the least finishing of any sweater pattern. I liked the less-pointy Clover needles with the one-ply Malabrigo, which got a bit splitty with the Crystal Palace needles unless I paid close attention.
The only change I made in the pattern was to do 2 instead of 3 purl ridges at the neckband. Every other part had 2, and it just seemed to make sense.

Other knitting: I have been seized by the idea of a scarf based on the redhead gene for my SIL, who is a redhead. I remembered this scarf and googled around until I found it. I actually remembered it as a little...prettier. Not that this isn't cool, it's just not what I had in mind. Does anyone think I could assign a stitch (yo or k2tog, for example) to each amino acid and come up with a lace scarf I could make in a nice looking pattern? I could maybe do the stranded pattern, but with more muted colors and skipping the lettering at the ends. At any rate, this would be a Christmas project, to be done later on in the year, and I'm not sure I have yarn for it. I love the idea, and I think my SIL would, too, but I'm not that crazy about the look of the scarf.

Anyway, my April project will be the Opal Tiger socks, toe-up with short-row toe and heels, for Matt's birthday (which was in February). I screwed up the toe twice, and I'm hoping things go more smoothly this time!

Reading: I've just been finishing up the Jane Jeffry mysteries. The most recent, The Accidental Florist, was rather odd. There is a murder, but Jane and Shelley show almost no interest in it. There is some unnecessary melancholy added, and Jane and Shelley spend a lot of time planning a wedding. It reads as though Jill Churchill (really Janice Young Brooks) is ending the series, and was more occupied with wrapping up loose ends in the lives of Jane's family, Mel, and Shelley, than with a mystery. There was also apparently no editing done. Among the glaring errors is this: Jane mentions that she's glad she scooped the litterboxes in the basement since someone was coming over. A few pages later, Jane decides that her cats will be inside cats in their old age and goes to the store to get kitty litter and pans, then makes a big deal about her cats remembering how to use a litterbox from their kittenhood. Now, that's just sloppy, and the editor should have caught it. There's also a mention of something Jane supposedly has never told Mel, but she's told him in at least two previous books. I still enjoyed Jane and Shelley, and I was happy to see some non-mystery lines of plot resolved, but the mystery was seriously lacking and the errors grated. I wouldn't start with this one. Get Grime and Punishment and see how you like it, then keep going if you do. I like this series, and I'm willing to cut Churchill some slack on this one. (I usually read to the bitter end of a series, though even I abandoned (with sadness) the Cat Who... books, which became unreadable.)

I'm now reading the almost un-put-down-able What The Dead Know by Laura Lippman. Wow, what a gripping story.

Writing: Nothing to report. I think I need to change my goals. I prefer longer periods of writing, to let my train of thought really go, but that may not be possible with Lilah. I think I need to try to write for at least 15 minutes every day, which is a LAME goal to me, but it may be the only way for me to make progress at this point in my life. Although Lilah and I have been having play dates with a friend and her little boy, and we're working up to trading some babysitting, which could give me a chunk of time every week to frantically get writing done. I tend to only write if I know I have an hour or so, because I'd really rather spend a lot of time on it instead of losing my train of thought before I've finished a writing session. But if I'm going to get anything done at all, I need to try to change that.

Cooking: I am in the South now, which means Baby Vidalia onions in the spring! I'd never seen these before. Obviously, I've gotten Vidalias when they're available, but the baby version is new to me. I loved them. They're mild enough to use raw, but cooked, they had a nice, delicate flavor, sort of like leeks, only sweet. I decided to try them in a springy quinoa one-pot kind of dish. If I had had asparagus, I would have tossed it in olive oil and roasted at 400 degrees until lightly browned and served it on top.

Creamy Spring Quinoa

1 TBL olive oil
2 Baby Vidalia Onions, chopped (or any spring onion or shallots, about 2/3 cup)
2 cups quinoa, rinsed*
4 cups water
1 tsp salt
juice and grated zest of one lemon
4-6 oz. spinach
1/2 cup goat cheese
1/4 cup grated Parmesan
1/4 cup pine nuts, toasted

In a large saucepan, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the onions and cook about 2-3 minutes, until translucent. Add quinoa and stir to coat. Add water and salt; bring to a boil. Reduce heat and cook about 20 minutes, until quinoa grains open up and look like little spirals. Stir in lemon juice and zest, spinach, and goat cheese. Stir gently over very low heat until spinach wilts. Serve topped with parmesan and pine nuts.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch...

Wow, I really meant to post sooner than this, but my parents were visiting, and we were otherwise occupied. But I could almost post the same thing I did last time. Garden? Still nothing planted, and it's looking grim. Not really--I really will dump some basil seeds in a pot with soil. And some catnip seeds outside. Simple Knitted Bodice? I did finish the Neverending Sleeve, but I have two arms, so I'm currently knitting another Neverending Sleeve. Blech. I have till Monday to finish this for March. We'll see. I still don't think this will fit me. Can someone please extol the virtues of blocking and assure me that a Malabrigo sweater can grow with it? If not, the next blog contest will involve an SKB as a prize. Writing? Argh. This is the really frustrating one. There's virtually no way I will make my March goal of rewrites of the first two chapters. Lilah's sleeping has actually gotten WORSE, which I didn't think was possible. She's been waking up every 2-3 hours every night.

The other fun thing is that Matt's beloved Mustang died a tragic death three weeks ago. While my parents were visiting, they had a rental car, so it was fine, and then a really nice coworker of his who had just bought a new car let him borrow her old car. That conked out yesterday so Matt didn't get home until after I'd put Lilah to bed, and now we have one car again. This is frustrating because a year ago, we barely needed one car. We drove it to the grocery store once a week, and that was usually it. Matt took the bus to work, we walked to restaurants and the farmer's market, and when I was working, I walked to work. And now Matt commutes and we live outside the city so we have to drive everywhere, and we have to have two cars. And Matt and I are both horrible at decision-making (which really calls the accuracy of astrology into question--I'm a wishy-washy Pisces, sure, but Matt isn't), and there are 14 million different cars out there and we have no idea what to get. Ugh. Okay, I'll try to stop whining. But no promises. I'm not the kind of person who adores car shopping, and I'm tired.

Knitting: Well, I covered that. I finished the first sleeve on SKB, and I've started the second. It'll be exciting to see if I make it by the end of the month. I watched the Nancy Drew movie on DVD, which got me through sleeve #1. I really thought this was a cute movie. I loved Nancy Drew as a kid, and I thought the movie was fairly true to the spirit of the books. I got Enchanted for my birthday, so maybe that'll help me with sleeve #2.

Reading: Man Walks Into A Room by Nicole Krauss: I really wanted this to be a five-star review, and if I had stopped around page 75, it would have been. Krauss is a fantastic writer, and there are passages of achingly beautiful prose that highlight the potential that is never realized in this, her first novel. But Man Walks Into A Room is too scattered and wanders off on too many tangents. The book begins with a memory seemingly unrelated to any of the characters we meet for those first 75 pages, and this was annoying, but I was sucked into the gentle exploration of Samson, who is found wandering in the desert, all memories since the age of 12 obliterated by a tumor. He does not recognize his wife, Anna, and Krauss explores her reaction to Samson's condition in a peripheral kind of way. The story up to this point is fascinating and beautifully written. Then Krauss veers off onto a science-fictiony tangent that the framework just can't support. I tolerated this for a while, but by 125 or so pages, I was irritated and cranky and wanting the story to be over, but the opening had been so promising that I felt compelled to keep reading to see if she redeemed herself. Nope. After the science fictiony bit is finally blissfully over, we go into this other part in which Samson connects with a teenager and then his senile uncle in sort of obvious, yet obscure, ways. And the ending just fizzled out. This could have been a really amazing book, but Krauss was too ambitious in her scope and the story suffered for it. Ultimately, I don't recommend this book, but I do want to read her second novel, The History of Love, in the hopes that she reaches her potential there.

So, I read Then We Came To The End by Joshua Ferris, which is headed to the semifinals in the Tournament of Books. It was fantastic. Seriously, one of the best books I've read in a long time. It's extremely funny, with a unique voice (the corporate "we") that manages to explore group dynamics without losing the individuality of the group members. Who doesn't love a book with the awesome first line, "We were fractious and overpaid."? Excellent stuff. There is a lot of funny here as Ferris explores the contradictions, excess, and search for meaning in an ad agency just as the dot-com bubble bursts. The group dynamics shift and change as layoffs loom over the entire office and the employees wonder whether or not their boss has cancer. This would have been a fantastic bit of office humor, but Ferris goes deeper than Office Space for insights into finding meaning in one's life, how to face death, and how we break when pushed too hard. Brilliant, amazing, fantastic first novel, and I can't recommend it highly enough.

I'm taking a break with more Jane Jeffry mysteries. The one I just finished, Groom With A View, was really, really fun. It took place at a wedding in a hunting lodge. Jane is planning the wedding, and that was funny, along with an entertaining mystery.

Writing: Unfortunately, I've said all there is to say about it. But if I miss my March deadline, I'll just revise a deadline for April, because the alternative is just giving up on writing until Lilah is in school or something, and I really don't want to do that.

Cooking: I've been cooking quite a bit. I had a meeting at my house of our playground committee, and I used the infusion of people as an excuse to make cinnamon rolls. My preferred recipe is Mrs. Hoggendobber's Orange Cinnamon Buns from Sneaky Pie's Cookbook for Mystery Lovers, a really cute little cookbook/collection of anecdotes authored by Rita Mae Brown's tabby co-writer of her mystery series. If this sounds so cutesy as to be vomit-inducing for you, I'd skip the Sneaky Pie mysteries and the cookbook, but I personally love them, and I quite like this book, which I bought entirely for the aforementioned recipe for baked goods that are referenced several times in the early novels and always made my mouth water. They are absolutely delicious and worth the trouble to make.

I've also been making Heidi Swanson recipes, this time from her website, 101 Cookbooks. Lilah and I love her recipe for split pea soup, which we make with yellow split peas. Simple and delicious. We've been having it for lunch. I've also been on a quinoa kick, and made Quinoa With Grilled Zucchini. The dressing is to die for, and I could eat it with a spoon. The recipe, unless you have the quinoa and hard-boiled eggs on hand, is fairly involved. I didn't, so the items I had to wash included: pot for cooking quinoa, pot for cooking eggs, bowl to toss it in, bowl to make the dressing, thingy to squeeze out lime juice, cutting board and knife, Foreman grill for cooking zucchini, pan to toast pine nuts. I sprayed the zucchini with olive oil spray before placing on the grill, or I would have had a bowl for tossing the zucchini and oil to clean as well. And it turns out, after all this, I'm not a fan of quinoa salads. The texture doesn't work for me and the quinoa, unlike pasta or rice, doesn't absorb the dressing, but rather sits in it, which I don't care for. I wish I'd tossed the hot quinoa with a little pesto, goat cheese, and the zucchini and left it at that. The egg recipe also didn't get them as cooked as I'd like (the yolks were set, but very, very yellow) and the shells stuck to the eggs like the dickens, so I had to pry off tiny bits of eggshell. Ugh. Anyway, I love Heidi's site and her cookbook, so I'll keep trying. This one just wasn't to my taste. She has a lemon-scented quinoa salad that seems less salad-y (and much less involved) that I think I'll try next. I also want to make her healthier artichoke dip.

Spring has sprung, and all that

Boy, did I have great plans for this spring. I would plant stuff! plants, even! in our yard! We would landscape. Our yard would be beautiful. And I would plant herbs and a small vegetable garden. And I would replace the dead plants in the concrete planters with live plants. And keep them alive! (fyi: the plants were dead when we bought the house. I did not kill them.) I would wear a floppy hat and gardening gloves and pull an errant weed once in a while without breaking a sweat. Huh. At least some daffodils came up in our yard with no input from us, because we have done NOTHING. I still want to plant basil, chives, parsley, and catnip. I think I'll start them in pots so I can figure out the best side of the house as far as sunlight goes. But I think it's really too late for anything else. Maybe I can buy a tomato plant still and stick it in the ground and pretend I grew it? I can't believe I thought I would be able to take up landscaping and gardening, when I barely have time to keep the house clean-ish. Or to finish a sweater before it gets too hot to wear it. Which is pretty much now. The sleeves on SKB are KILLING me. They are taking forever. I'm almost to the point on sleeve #1 where I could bind off and have short sleeves, but honestly, what would I do with a short-sleeved wool sweater? I still regret that I made my Somewhat Cowl short-sleeved. There are like two days out of the year I can wear it.

Reading: The new Tournament of Books list really shamed me into finally reading Vendela Vida's debut novel (her latest is on the list). I got it as a bargain book at some point a couple of years ago, and though it's a slender novel, I just hadn't gotten to it yet. I busted through it yesterday and a little today. It's a quick read for capital-L Literature. The premise really grabbed me: Ellis, a 21-year old college student, is held at gunpoint. She escapes from the experience unharmed, but completely changed. The encounter occurs at the very beginning of the novel, so the story is really about how she responds--in unpredictable, conflicting ways. She does everything a victim is supposed to: she files a police report, collaborates on a sketch of the assailant, looks at mug shots, sees a therapist. But her world has been turned upside down, and she flounders, avoiding her boyfriend's calls, telling outrageous lies to strangers, and turning to a few solicitous men for answers. She flies home to see her parents and ends up in the Philippines on a medical mission with her mother (a nurse). This could have been a gloomy, depressing book, but Vida's sense of humor is finely tuned. Ellis's roommate (not a friend, Ellis tells us, just someone from whom she rents a room) leaves little poems accusing Ellis of shirking her chores, and these are hilarious. Rather than dismal, I found it a hopeful book, and a surprisingly light read for such heavy subject matter. Oh, and Ellis is an art history student, Holly, so though it's not a huge part of the book, there are references to art history throughout. I definitely recommend this book and will have to check out her second novel.

Other than that, I've been busting through Jane Jeffry novels like mad. Fun, fun cozy mysteries.

Writing: I've been writing when I can, which has been tough with Lilah's nap "schedule." But I have a handle on how to start the book now! Yay. I have 350 words in my new draft file. It is DEPRESSING to go from a 45,000 word DraftTwo.doc file to a 350 word DraftThree.doc file. But it's going to be so much better now, and I wasn't going to be able to finish the last third or so without going back to make major structural changes. I have subplots I got too attached to, and I have to ax them. I have connections I have to make between characters. And I have to make my sleuth more proactive (Thank you, Tim!). And I figured out how to do that, so I'm very pleased. I have large sections of DraftTwo that will just be lifted into the new draft, so I'm not starting from scratch at least. And though I originally thought I'd cut out the events of the first two chapters, now I think they just need tweaking, so I'm not starting two days after the point I had been. I'm sure this is all just fascinating to everyone!

Cooking: I made an extremely unsuccessful Vegetable Biryani. I should have listened to the little voice in my head saying, "I'm pretty sure the biryani I'm thinking of is made with pre-cooked rice." It wasn't absorbing the liquid and ended up kind of soupy. And with overcooked veggies. I won't make it this way again, and I really should have ignored the recipe. Duh. The flavor was fine, which was good, because it made a lot. I made Quinoa With Crescenza from Super Natural Cooking, although I made it with fontina because wow is crescenza expensive. And I like fontina in combination with mushrooms. Matt, it turns out, dislikes quinoa, though he politely said he was sure it was very good quinoa. I LOVED it, though. Yum. The only change I'd make is to leave out the (I thought) rather incongruous red pepper flakes. The heat really made no sense in this dish, at least to me. I made a very nice chickpea curry from a neat little cookbook I have called Indian Vegetarian Cooking At Your House. I tweaked it a bit to add tomato, but basically followed the recipe. Even Lilah liked it, and it was really kind of spicy. I think I've mentioned this little cookbook before. It makes Indian cooking really approachable. Plus, when I bought the spices for it, the nice Indian man at the checkout said, "You make curry?" I said yes and he said, "Not from curry powder?" and was very impressed. There are a lot of ingredients, but most of them are from the same 10 or so spices, so you only buy them once to make dozens of dishes. Plus making the curry from scratch instead of with commercial curry powder makes me feel very accomplished. And tastes amazing.

In Like a Lion

Ha! No, not that lion. I grew up in southern California, with slightly more weather than LA, but not exactly real seasons. We learned all these weather- and season-related things as children anyway. Like March, which is either "in like a lion, out like a lamb" or "in like a lamb, out like a lion." And the groundhog, who had no impact on our weather at all, because no way was winter going to last until mid-March. In Wisconsin, the groundhog was irrelevant, too, since no way would winter be over before mid-March. Anyway, apparently, if March starts out blustery, it will end with nice weather, and vice versa. I have no idea what the scientific basis for this might be. But we had some good storms a couple of days ago, so I'm looking forward to a pleasant end of the month. Spring is in full swing here, with clogged sinuses, rainy, unpredictable weather, and certain neighbors who leave their dog outside to bark ALL DAY because the temperature has risen. Anyway. The spring cleaning bug has bitten me a bit (I told you about all the bugs in the South, right?) and I found myself spontaneously cleaning out the fridge a couple of nights ago when I went to fill up my water glass before going to bed. This is funny, because I barely have time to do "regular" cleaning, much less intense cleaning. So I just clean a bit when the mood strikes me.

Edited to add a couple of blog spring cleaning things: First, I removed word verification since I moderate comments before they're published anyway. If I get annoying spam, I'll add them back in, but for now it's gone. Second, I'm going back and adding tags to older posts, just a couple at a time, when I have a minute. I think this will be a nice feature to have. For now, I'm tagging book reviews, recipes, and Mission Possible.

Knitting: I'm plugging along on SKB, and I'm nearly at the purl ridges at the bottom of the body. Whoa. After that, it's sleeves, then neckline. I'm on ball #3 of Malabrigo, and based on yarn estimates in the pattern, I should be using a bit less than 6. I think I'm going to have a fair bit left over. I'm not even sure I'll need to crack open the fourth ball for the body, and I can't imagine the sleeves and neckline taking half the total amount of yarn. I hope this sweater fits. I'm making a medium, which fits my measurements, and I'm getting gauge, so I'm not sure why the sweater seems...small. Possibly my body image hasn't caught up with my weight loss, which wouldn't be surprising. I hope more sinister forces aren't at work here. If so, I may be giving away an SKB to a more petite person :) I was looking at the sleeves on the model in the pattern, and thinking I want them shorter than that. They nearly cover the model's hands, and I actually have to use my hands on a regular basis, so that would be annoying. If my job were, say, standing around looking pretty, they would be awesome. I still haven't cast on again for Matt's tiger socks, because I've been a bit obsessed with my SKB, and also my SKB is easy to knit while watching Lilah play or while watching tv (I have to confess to you guys that I've been watching Scooby Doo sometimes at 9:00 on the Boomerang channel, whatever that is, commercial-free--real, classic Scooby Doo from my childhood. I find it tremendously therapeutic for some reason.), while the short-row toe needs more of my attention.

Reading: I read the first three Jane Jeffry mysteries by Jill Churchill--Grime and Punishment, A Farewell to Yarns, and A Quiche Before Dying. I read these ages ago, so I'd forgotten who the killers were. Anyway, I enjoyed reading them again. Jane is a widowed housewife with three kids who ends up involved in mysteries in her Chicago suburb. She and her friend Shelley poke around, digging up gossip and domestic facts that elude the police. Lilah loves these books, too, incidentally, because they all have kitty cats on the covers. She'll carry one around, happily saying "Kitty cat, kitty cat, meow." So cute. She will also climb into her chair and "read" them.

I'm now reading Death at Daisy's Folly by Robin Paige, the third Victorian Mystery. I love it. It takes place at a house party, which is so Gosford Park (one of my favorite films ever).

Writing: Having just finished torturing us by taking a month to get in her four molars, Lilah has decided to work on her eye teeth (are they eye teeth? the ones between the four front teeth and the molars, anyway). So sleep has been pretty scarce around here. I have been working on chapter 1, but I did not meet my goal of a revised chapter 1 for February. For March, I'm shooting for chapters 1 & 2 revised, and hoping I get enough sleep so I can think straight.

Cooking: The Malaysian noodle recipe from Cooking Light that I made a mess of last time turned out beautifully when I actually followed the directions. I also made my Pina Colada Muffins (recipe at left), Cuban Black Bean Soup from Cooking Light, and my first recipe from Super Natural Foods, Barley Risotto. This was a fantastic dish, with arugula and citrus and creme fraiche. Yum, yum, yum. Next up is a quinoa dish with mushrooms and cheese. I've cooked with quinoa before, but mostly boring stuff, so I'm looking forward to this.

My husband and I have been on a bit of an ice cream kick lately, and I thought I'd post what I've been up to in that department. Deciding to forgo my usual pint of Ben and Jerry's New York Super Fudge Chunk in reserve in the freezer, I wanted to switch to a lower-calorie, lower-fat treat. And Matt really likes my cookies and cream ice cream, so I had to make a batch.

Note: I have a Rival 1.5 quart ice cream maker that says to use a maximum of 1 quart of liquid. If your machine is bigger or smaller, adjust proportionally. My machine also says to use 1/2 to 3/4 cup of mix-ins, but the Super Fudge Chunk is so packed with "stuff" that it was about 2 1/2 cups' worth. Yowza. So I made the ice cream as usual, then mixed in the chunks (chilled in the fridge) by hand in a bowl that I'd chilled in the fridge and put it into my ice cream containers of choice, those Ziploc plastic containers. Worked just fine. I suppose I could have just made less ice cream, but that's no fun. I chose ice milk since I wanted to save the fat grams for the chunks rather than the ice cream.

My Super Fudge Chunk Ice Cream

Easy chocolate ice milk base*:
2/3 cup cocoa (I used Scharffen Berger non-alkalized)
1/2 cup sugar
dash salt
4 cups whole milk (or use low-fat milk, or half-and-half, or a milk/half-and-half/cream combo, but NEVER skim milk)
1 tsp vanilla extract

Combine all ingredients in a saucepan over medium heat. Heat, stirring with a whisk, just until cocoa and sugar have dissolved. Chill well. Place in bowl of ice cream maker and process until nearly firm.

Mix-ins:
About 4 oz. white chocolate, roughly chopped (I used Ghirardelli, but Lindt is fantastic, too. Look for cocoa butter, not tropical oils, in the ingredient list.)
About 4 oz. dark chocolate, roughly chopped (I used a 3.5 oz. bar of Ghirardelli Twilight 72% cocoa, but use your favorite.)
1/3 cup walnut pieces
1/3 cup pecan pieces
1/3 cup chocolate covered almonds

*Use your favorite chocolate ice cream recipe as the base. I was sorely tempted to try this one by David Lebovitz because it uses agave syrup (and I'm obsessed by my Super Natural Foods cookbook right now, which talks about agave syrup) and because Lebovitz wrote The Perfect Scoop, a book of ice cream recipes that is on my "must get" list, but I decided to do a quick and simple base, since the chunks are the real feature here. The ice cream is really just there to hold together the nuts and chocolate. I'll try the agave one some other time, though the five egg yolks put me off a bit. I'm not much for custardy ice cream.

Hahaha! It's a good thing I had fun coming up with how to make this, because when searching for chocolate ice cream recipes on the internet, I found a New York Super Fudge Chunk recipe everywhere. Here it is. Mine is more weighted toward chocolate than nuts because I was using up two bars I had hanging around, but I got it more or less right as far as chunks/dairy products ratio goes.

Cookies and Cream Ice Cream

3/4 cup heavy cream
1 1/4 cup half and half
2 cups whole milk
3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
15 Oreo cookies, crushed (I chuck them in a big baggie and break apart with my fingers)

Mix together all ingredients except Oreos. Pour into canister of ice cream maker and run until it's almost solid. Add Oreos and keep going until they're mixed in. Easy peasy.