Upside Down and Fried

Eating: One of predictions for 2013 involved trying a new recipe each month.  February flew by with a plan, but the new recipe did not happen.  In March, I made 2 new things and am just now telling you about them in April.  I am feeling a bit over-extended lately, a little turned upside-down and fried.  Just like my 2 recipes.

The plan for February was to try the Five-Ingredient Pineapple Upside-Down Cake recipe from my Weight Watchers Weekly dated January 27-February 2.  This is the little 12 page magazine-y thing they hand out when I weigh in and go to the meetings.  Then while waiting for the meeting to start, I page through and check out the tips, ideas and recipes.  I should tell you that the meeting I have been going to is at 5pm and the WW center is next door to Dominoes Pizza so I do spend a fair amount of the meeting thinking about food.  I actually think about food a lot of the day, whether or not I am going to Weight Watchers.  Here is the recipe and my photos of the process.  It was simple and tasty.  The recipe as written says serves 10 and is 4 PointsPlus per serving.  Because it is easier to cut into 8 than it is in 10, we made it 8 servings for 5 PointsPlus per serving.  You could make it 4 servings for 10 points each or eat it all and count 40 points.  Whatever you do is between you and your tracker. 

The recipe said to use a "round 9" flameproof aluminum pan" which I thought was too many adjectives to describe a pan.  And I didn't know if mine was flameproof so I used my oven-safe frying pan that happens to be about 9" across, round and flameproof.  It worked splendidly. E and I agreed this cake would be best served slightly warm. 

Five-Ingredient Pineapple Upside-Down Cake


the five ingredients

1/4 C. unsalted butter, divided
1/4 C. packed light brown sugar
3/4 lb. canned pineapple rings in juice, 1/4 C. juice reserved
1 large egg
1/4 lb. vanilla cake mix, about 1 scant cup (FYI, a cake mix is about a pound which means from one box, you can make this 4 times.  For a total of 160 points, which is more than I care to eat in a day.)

Preheat oven to 375. 


Melt 2 T. butter in round 9" flameproof aluminum pan (or similar) over medium-low heat (make sure to cover entire pan bottom); sprinkle sugar over top.  Carefully place pineapple rings in a single layer in bottom of pan (use 7 rings).  Increase heat to medium-high and cook until pineapple caramelizes (isn't that just a yummy word??), flipping once, about 2 minutes per side; remove pan from heat.


mmmmm... caramelizing

Melt remaining 2 T. butter on stovetop or in microwave.  In medium-size bowl (or whatever you melted the butter in), beat egg with the melted butter.  Add cake mix and reserved pineapple juice; combine well. 


pour the batter and then bake

Pour batter over pineapple; bake until a toothpick inserted in center of cake comes out clean, about 30-35 minutes.  Allow cake to cool for about 15-20 minutes; when still warm, loosen sides with a knife (f needed - my pan was non-stick so I didn't) and invert cake onto a serving plate.  Slice and serve. 


The finished cake - Delicious!

The second "recipe" we made in March was my first-ever attempt at fried rice.  One day we had Honey-Hoisin Pork Tenderloin and brown rice.  The next day, the leftovers were combined with a little soy sauce, some ginger, and a whole pile of veggies (we used pea pods, julienned carrots, and water chestnuts) but no eggs (someone doesn't like eggs and I can live without them in my fried rice also).  It was very good and quite filling.  I don't really have a recipe other than chop it all up and cook in the wok until it looks hot and done.  I had a picture of it to show you, but cannot locate the device with which I took the picture.  Dang. It looked really good.  When I find it, I will post.

Until we eat again,
Hallie

P.S., I am not doing the A-Z Challenge this year due to aforementioned feelings of over-extended, frazzled and fried.  I invite you to check out the challenge and browse a few of the blogs who are participating. 

Reflections on the A-Z Challenge

If you are a regular reader of my blog, you will know that in April I participated in the A-Z Challenge.  This was a daily (except for most Sundays) blog post, using each letter of the alphabet.  I am a little hazy now as to why I originally decided to join the challenge but I did and now that I have had time to reflect on the month, these are my thoughts on the challenge.

1. It was a lot of work.  My normal posts are usually about one a week.  True, the A-Z posts tended to be shorter and generally about only one topic as opposed to my longer typical posts which can encompass the 2-3 books I am reading, a recipe or two and whatever gardening or creative activity I am involved in that week.  But there were a couple of days, especially early on when I was near the end of my busy day and remembered I had to post.  Some posts were easier to write (if it was a recipe or included references to past posts, for example) but some were difficult and time consuming (I seemed to struggle with ones that had multiple photos and ones about authors where I talked about multiple books).  It is hard to work 8+ hours, get all my chores and social activities in AND blog every day.  Just saying.

2. There were hundreds of blogs in this challenge, and we were to try to visit at least 5 a day. It was tough to keep up with the reading of the other blogs (see time management issues in previous point), reading new blogs, following the other blogs I liked, commenting on the blogs and reading the comments on my own blog. Whew!  That being said, I "met" a few fun bloggers.  I will post links to some of the new blogs I found during the challenge below.  There are also a lot of blogs that I couldn't get out of fast enough (they probably felt the same way about my blog).  I've determined that just because someone has a blog, does not mean that she/he and I have ANYTHING else in common. 

3. I felt like I was writing somewhat differently knowing that the audience was spreading beyond my family and friends.  Sometimes I found myself apologizing or warning about something I had written or written about.  When I mentioned this to a friend, she asked me if the people I was afraid of offending had apologized or warned me when reading their blogs.  They had not, so I felt a bit more free.  "It's my blog and I can rant if I want to" was one of my new mottoes.  Also, "I like what I like and if you don't like it, too, that is not my problem."

4. I was glad I had decided on my topics ahead of time.  It helped me to start thinking about what the post might be about (though some posts went off in a direction I didn't know they were going to take, much like my writing often does.  One example of this was Irises, which suddenly was more about free plants than it was about irises.).  It also helped me keep a fairly even balance between books/authors, plants/flowers, food, and creative pursuits. 

5. The challenge also challenged me to think about why I blog.  There seemed to be a big emphasis from the challenge organizers to read as many blogs as possible, comment on as many as you visited, respond to comments on my blog and visit the commenters' blogs in return, and in general to get my blog out there as much as possible to gain followers.  There was a statement from the organizers that one of their goals is to see each of the blogs in the challenge have at least 100 followers on their sidebar widget.  Well, I am at 15, though I know I have at least another dozen that don't "follow" the blog but do indeed follow the blog and read a lot of (if not all of) my posts.  They follow through Facebook or by checking the blog regularly for new posts.  I appreciate them as much as the followers listed on the sidebar.  So that was a bit of a tangent but back to me thinking about why I blog.  I blog because I like to.  I blogged back in 2003 when I was pretty sure it was only my mom reading my posts because I wanted to.  I like to write, I like to share recipes and books and other junk I am doing.  So I have this blog that I will continue to write even if no one ever reads it again. 

6. In case you are a geek like me and like statistics, here are some fun ones from the challenge.

•   There were 606 viewings of my blog in April, and about 75 comments.  Since the beginning of the blog, there have been 1385 views. 
• The post with the most views was N is for Nordic Sweaters and O is for O'Brien with 18.  It is the fifth most popular post of all time (see sidebar on left for other "popular posts").
• Most of the traffic to the blog last month was from the A-Z Challenge, though visits from my Facebook link were frequent also.
• Most visits were from the United States, but also a good amount from Canada (I've also discovered I like many Canadian bloggers - it must be a close kinship due to the shared border with Minnesota, or something.), and also some from UK, Trinidad/Tobago, Australia, Ireland, India, New Zealand, Philippines and Singapore.  I love the global reach! 

7.  Will I do the A-Z Challenge again next year?  Maybe.  Don't ask the woman in labor if she will have another child, right?  Maybe knowing what I know now, and thinking about how I might do it differently, I would attempt again.  Would you read it again if I did?

8.  Overall, I guess I am glad I did the challenge.  If nothing else, it got me posting regularly.  If only I could keep that up (seeing that the post prior to this one was a week ago, I don't know if the leopard is likely to change her spots).

And as promised, here are some blogs I found I like while participating in the challenge, as well as a couple of others I already followed before the challenge and really like as well.  Check them out.  Let me know what you thought of the A-Z Challenge and if you would like to see me do this challenge again or another one.

In Which We Start Anew - Full disclaimer - I am related to Jo - she is my cousin-in-law.  Ha-ha!  She is a hoot and has a way with words. 
Walnuts and Pears - Kate blogs about gardening, healthy living, and more.  Her recent post on weedkiller was everything I have ever wanted to say about lawn chemicals but didn't have the words for.
The Odd Particle [Re]View - Kern is one of my new favorite Canadians.  She has a terrific writing style and doesn't cease to amaze me on some of the thinks she thinks.  She unfortunately took a tumble early in the A-Z Challenge and was struggling with some post-concussion symptoms.  I am hoping she is up and blogging again soon. Truly one of my new favorite blogs.
Breathings - Jessica nominated me for an award (The Versatile Blogger award) early in the A-Z Challenge, which I acknowledged but did not do my part of.  I plan to do that later this month, now that I have more time and also have some bloggers to give the award to!
Kent's Bike Blog - Kent is a biker extraordinaire, the kind of biker I have never been and only ever dream to be.  He participated not only in the A-Z Challenge in April but also the 30 Days of Biking Challenge, which meant that not only did he come up with bike rides that correlated to 26 different letters but also biked and blogged about 4 other rides!  Made me almost stop whining about my own busy schedule.  Almost.
Life on the Muskoka River - Cathy cracks me up.  Check out her blog and see if she makes you laugh, too.
Sweet Tea Reads - Danielle and I have similar interests: writing, reading and cooking. 

Okay, well, there are more.  I will post more on another day.  This is enough to get you started.

Until we read again,
Hallie

Z is for Zinnia

Weeding: We have reached the end.  This is the last post in the A-Z Challenge.  I will reflect on the challenge later this week, on what I liked, what I struggled with, what I would do differently and what I would keep the same.  But right now, Z is for Zinnia.

'Profusion Cherry' photo from linehanqazuc.livejournal.com

There are not usually many zinnias in my garden, but the one kind I have grown, Zinnia Elegans 'Profusion Cherry' and 'Profusion Orange I like. They are tough little plants, which can take the heat, and do well without much watering.  I have mainly grown them in containers on the deck or front steps. The flowers last for a long time and the plants get nice and full.

To me, the purpose of annuals is for color when the perennials are not yet blooming.  But I don't tend to grow a lot of annuals.  The two main reasons for this are: I am cheap, and I am lazy.  Annuals usually need to be purchased every year.  A person could start them from seed, which would be cheaper, but them you either have to a) start them inside early and plant them out when they are ready (and the weather is right) or, b) sow the seeds directly outside and then wait for them to come up.  Planning ahead and waiting are not 2 things that I care for.  So, I would typically buy them at the garden center (spending money for plants that are guaranteed to die in the fall), and then would have to plant them all.  So I save annuals for containers, and have significantly scaled back on those now as well, since the perennials are starting to fill in so nicely.  I like geraniums (Pelargonium), dusty miller, zinnias, pansies, and a few others.

What's blooming now in the garden?  Glad you asked.  Here are some photos taken yesterday.  Enjoy and let me know what you thought of the A-Z challenge! 

new little irises - free from the plant swap last spring

The vinca is blooming in the stump garden

Bleeding heart shrubs (seriously - they are huge!) in the stump garden

Front garden - mini daffodils and hyacinth with creeping Jenny and Lamb's ear

Until we weed again,
Hallie

Y is for Young Adult Fiction

Reading: Back when I was choosing on my topics for the A-Z Challenge, Y was one of the first I decided on.  I love Young Adult (YA) fiction.  Then, I read an article about which my cousin-in-law Jo had tweeted and that solidified my decision.  You may have read the article by Joel Stein in The New York Times in which he opined that "Adults Should Read Adult Books".  It's a short column, part of the opinion page "Room for Debate" and of course I understand that it was written to inspire discussion.  And so I will discuss.
My first issue with his opinion is that he has not read any of the books he dismisses because they are for children.  Certainly I have grumbled about reading certain books (the first Harry Potter book, Twilight, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, for example), but then I READ them and could express an informed opinion about them (loved it, hated it, hated it).  One of my favorite things about book club is that we read a wide range of books, and that I attempt to read them all (of the nearly 170 books we have read over the past 15 years, I have not completed approximately 7 of them).  Sometimes I have discovered a new favorite which was disguised as something I was not interested in initially. 
Mr. Stein acknowledges that adults occasionally watch Pixar movies or play video games and his opinion is that is okay because those don't require much from our brains, but that books are one of our few chances to learn.  The implication here is that we can only learn from adult books.  My response to this is that I have learned a whole lot more from reading Harry Potter than I have from reading The Horse Whisperer.  The vocabulary including Latin, sentence structure, plot lines and details, references to mythology and folklore in the Harry Potter books are all more complex and challenging to my brain than a story about a woman who has an affair with a cowboy for no good reason, has sex all night long and then gets up on a horse the next day.  I find the possibility that wizards exist more likely than that.  (That is my official synopsis of Horse Whisperer, by the way.)
He states that he will read The Hunger Games when he finishes "the previous 3,000 years of fiction written for adults".  I just feel sorry for him that he will be reading Nicholas Sparks novels when there is such a richly diverse, well-written world of young adult and children's fiction for him to read.  Here are some of my favorites, in no particular order.
The Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
Dairy Queen by Catherine Gilbert Murdock (I liked this one infinitely better than her sister's book Eat, Pray, Love)
The Giver by Lois Lowry and the companion book Gathering Blue
Hatchet by Gary Paulsen
Godless by Peter Hautman
and of course such classics as The Catcher in the Rye, A Separate Peace, The Chronicles of Narnia series, Lord of the Flies, and more.

Many YA books (and even those written for children and tweens) are written at a higher reading level (and therefore more challenging) than the vast majority of "adult" books.  I acknowledge that there are different reasons for reading: for learning, for pleasure, for passing the time.  And depending on why you are reading, one book may be a better choice at that time.  If I am laying on the beach and relaxing, I want what I call "brain candy" meaning something that I don't have to think too much about.  We don't always read to be challenged or to learn, of course, but let us not dismiss YA books because they are "for children".

What are some of your favorite non-adult books and what do you love about them?

Until we read again,

Hallie

W is for Watson and X is for Xeriscape

Yesterday somehow escaped before I realized I had not done my daily post.  My apologies.  To make up for it, here is a two-fer.

Reading: Before going into my post about Larry Watson, I have a confession.  I love Montana and many things related to it (I would say all things related to it but there are some really messed up things there, too.).  My mom's entire family moved there when I was young and we spent many summers with my grandparents in the western part of the state.  I love the mountains, I love the air, the water, the rocks.  I know the wildflowers and trees of that part of the world better than those in my home state.  And of course I love to visit my grandparents (Underpants Grandma, in case you were wondering).  I also like to read about Montana. 

I am not sure where I picked up Larry Watson's novel Montana 1948 but the slim volume is marked as a library book.  I have bought many a discarded library book but this one puzzles me a bit since it is not from the county I live in.  That matters not.  This little novel packs a punch and I have read it multiple times.  There is a powerful sense of place and the characters are people you know, or think you know.  Our narrator, David, starts with this line: "From the summer of my twelfth year I carry a series of images more vivid and lasting than any others from my boyhood and indelible beyond all attempts the years make to erase or fade them..." And this story is one that made in indelible mark in my mind, too.  David's father is the sheriff in the small town in eastern Montana where they live, his uncle is a charming war hero and respected doctor.  Marie Little Soldier, David's family's housekeeper, becomes ill but refuses to let the doctor treat her.  What is revealed when the sheriff investigates why Marie refuses treatment rocks the foundation of this family and the events that unfold challenge their values, beliefs and ideals.  From the back cover,"It is a tale of love and courage, of power abused and of the terrible choice between family loyalty and justice."  I don't want to give away too much but once you pick up this book, be prepared to read it in my sitting.

Justice is just as good.  It takes place before the events in Montana 1948 with the same family, when Wesley and Frank (the sheriff and doctor in 1948) are in high school, college and young adulthood, and gives more background to those characters, but it is not necessary to read Justice before 1948.  In fact, I think it is even better to read it after 1948, knowing what happens to them in 1948, watching for the clues that led to the events in 1948.  The sense of place is again so strong that you may find yourself longing for small towns and wide open spaces, even if you are not a Montana-phile, like me.

Weeding:  X is for Xeriscape.  Xeriscaping is planting to use less water.  I picked this word because a) it started with X, b) the concept of using less water is very appealing to me, and c) I thought it would motivate me to learn more about it.  As with many of my plans, this one is not fully thought-out or executed well.  I didn't really do any research on it.  But I did realize that I have unintentionally been xeriscaping.  I don't pick plants because they are drought-resistant, but since I am a poor water-er, the perennials that survive in my yard are apparently drought-resistant.  I am xeriscaping by default, by laziness, and by luck.  If you want to know more about this, I would recommend checking out sources other than me.  Sorry.  Some garden related blogs I read are: Walnuts and Pears by Kate who consulted on my yard/garden about 10 years ago, and Gone Gardening by Sherry, a blog I discovered as part of the A-Z Challenge (actually I think Sherry visited my blog first and then I checked out hers and started following). 

Until we read and weed (and blog) again,
Hallie

V is for Voyageur Toque, Viking Hat, and Veggie Gardens

Voyageur toque - Picture courtesy Smoke-Fire.com

Creating and Weeding: Originally I was going to post for "V" day about a Voyageur toque that I was planning to knit.  This was to be a donation for the annual silent auction which benefits a high-adventure camp that E is on the board of.  One of the trips they offer is in the huge voyageur canoe on Lake Superior and I thought there might be interest in a handmade voyageur hat.  Unfortunately, I did not get the project completed in time (full disclosure: I did not even start it.) for a variety of reasons/excuses.  So this post will not be about that.

Minnesota Vikings hat

My back-up idea (I may have had an inkling that I would not finish the voyageur toque) was E's Viking hat I made late last year before he went to the football game.  I have blogged this hat before, though, so that is kind of a cheater post.

I could also have written about volunteer plants but have already done that one, too.

So that leaves veggies, specifically veggie gardens.  A few years we built a small (5'x5' I think) raised bed in the backyard to grow vegetables in.  We packed in corn, tomatoes, peppers, potatoes and carrots.  Most things grew well and we adjusted our planting (fewer cherry tomato plants for one thing) in the years that followed.  Last year we decided to build an additional bed to give more room for the corn and peppers specifically.  And we actually finished it!  We will plant it probably later next month, when it hopefully will be done freezing at night. 

Some people may think we are a bit crazy planting all those things in such a small space but it works.  The weeds are crowded out, it doesn't take up half the yard and other than the peppers getting shaded too much by the tomatoes which grew as tall as trees (I now know to pinch those back), everything did well.  The first year the corn turned out and we had enough.  One of the next years we kept getting summer storms with high wind, hail, etc., and the corn kept blowing down.  Then another year, the deer ate the corn.  We have since added a fence to help discourage the deer.  And now with the new bed, the corn will have more room.  Fingers crossed for our own fresh sweet corn (though last year we got plenty from our CSA)!

Here are a couple photos of the new raised bed.  I promised these last fall after we built the darn thing.  As I have said before, it is big enough to bury a body in there...


The first layer of timbers is in.  You can see the other bed on the far left.  The compost bins and huge volunteer tomatoes are also in this photo, above the new bed.

The new bed is complete! 

Body to be buried?  Nope - It's me! Just to give some perspective on the size.

Until we weed again,
Hallie

U is for Underwear!

Reading: When I was coming up with my topics for each letter, the first "U" word I thought of was "underwriter", probably because that is my job title.  But underwriting doesn't have anything to do with reading, eating, gardening or creating (well, actually there is a lot of reading, but it is 90% medical records which I will not and cannot blog about).  And I have already blogged about underwriting in another post.  So then I thought "Underwear!"  Not the clothing - I don't knit my own underwear or even sew any - but the book.  Underwear! by Mary Elise Monsell is a picture book and the fun story of Zachary the Zebra and Orfo the Orangutan, who love underwear, and Bismarck the Buffalo who does not. Zachary and Orfo love underwear so much that they wear multiple pairs at a time, sometimes on their heads, and have all different designs - spots and stripes and palm trees, even underwear with underwear on it!  They attend the World's Greatest Grassland Underwear Fair to stock up on all their favorites and to see what's new in underwear.  Bismarck, meanwhile, is so grumpy that even the bugs that live on his back fly away.  So Zachary and Orfo challenge him to say "underwear" ten times without laughing - and you can imagine what happens.  This is a fun book to read aloud to children ages 2-6.  My mom does some awesome voices for each of the characters, too.  And of course the giggles that launch into full out belly laughs are as much fun for the reader as for the listener.  Check it out and see if you can say "underwear" ten times without laughing.  One of the other great parts of this book is the pictures by illustrator Lynn Munsinger who has illustrated loads of other books including another of my favorites One Hungry Monster by Susan Heyboer O'Keefe.  The details on the boxer shorts that Zachary and Orfo wear are hilarious and to see them with underwear on every limb and on their heads is laugh-inducing on its own.

Speaking of underwear... In my post on quilts I said that one of my grandmas was Quilt Grandma and my other grandma is Underpants Grandma.  Now how does one get the nickname "Underpants Grandma", you may wonder.  Well, if you start to buy underpants for your grandchildren, and every year either send new underwear for the first day of school, you too may someday be Underpants Grandma.  She told us she liked us to have new undies because she was the youngest of eleven, born during the Great Depression, and didn't get new anything, not even underwear.  I can't imagine wearing hand-me-down underwear.  And thanks to Underpants Grandma, I didn't have to (though I am the oldest so I probably wouldn't have had to anyway).  I'm a little sad that Granny doesn't buy me undies anymore, but then again, I don't have first days of school anymore either.

Until we read (or change our underwear?) again,
Hallie

P.S. I realize this is probably one of my more ridiculous posts, but really, what did you expect for a post about underwear?

T is for The Time Traveler's Wife

Reading: The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger was one of my favorite book club reads.  It is the story of Henry, a man with a genetic disorder that causes him to inadvertently time travel, and Clare, the woman who marries him.  From his point of view, Henry never met Clare until they were both in their 20s but at that meeting, she states she has known him almost all her life.  Henry in his 40s has been time-travelling to Clare even as a child.  Time-travel is dangerous for Henry, as he does not know when or where he will show up and since, for some reason, he usually arrives there naked.  This could be kind of a creepy set up, with a 40-something naked guy appearing to a child in a meadow, but he is never creepy, and doesn't even know her, let alone love her, when they finally really meet in their 20s.

The premise of this novel sounds like sci-fi, a genre I typically really don't like, but I like time-travelling stories.  I like to think about how it would work, how a person could mess up the future if they did too much changing of things in the past (like in "Back to the Future" when Marty's picture is fading away because he is inadvertently changing how his parents meet, for example).  And this novel is also a love story as much as anything.  For a first novel, this had to be such a challenging one to write!  I thought she did an excellent job of keeping the reader aware of not only the time and place, but of what ages the characters are in each scene as well.

The Time Traveller's Wife was made into a movie as well, which was pretty well done, also, but as with most books and movies, the book was better.  This isn't a book you can read without thinking about - your brain will be doing a bit of work here - but it is well worth the read.  If you need brain candy, empty calories for your mind, try another book.  This is another one of those meals that you eat slowly, take time to savor and digest.

Until we read again,
Hallie

S is for Socks



first complete pair of socks

Creating: Seems like a lot of my recent posts have been "creating" posts.  That's just the way the letters worked out.  In a typical blog post here, one that is not part of the A-Z Challenge, I write about a little of each: reading, eating and either weeding (aka gardening) or creating.  I tend to do more garden posts during the spring/summer and more posts related to knitting and other creative pursuits during the winter.  The nature of the seasons in my little corner of the world. So, what I am saying is if the "creating" posts are not your interest, check back in the upcoming days or read some of the older posts.  There are loads of recipes in here and piles of my opinions on books, if that is more your cup of tea.
Anyway, S is for Socks, specifically hand-knit socks.  I was inspired to try socks when my friend Steph, who had only recently learned to knit, asked me to help her with the socks she was knitting.  I think she was turning the heel, a tricky process when you know what you are doing, and even trickier when you do not.  I had never made socks but can usually read patterns well enough.  So in a not-so-quiet corner at book club, we muddled through it together.  Her socks turned out large and bulky, which was fine because they were to be worn with her ice skates.  I thought, "If Steph can make socks, why can't I?"  And I signed up for a class.

The first sock I made was huge.  I have narrow feet so it was very floppy on me and I never got around to completing the pair.  I bought new yarn, smaller needles and tried again.  This is my first pair, which I now realize has faded a bit because I wear them a lot.  The yarn is self-striping. I am not entirely sure how it works - it might be magic. 


Two at once, toe up, on one circular

As I completed this pair, marking down how many rows I did from top of the cuff to start of the heel, and how many rows until decreasing for the toe so that I could make the second sock the same way, I thought, "Wouldn't it be easier if you could do them both at the same time?"  And as I neared the end of the second sock and saw how much yarn I had left (enough to make another sock or not?  I can't tell!), I thought, "Why wouldn't you start them from the toe, make the bottom long enough to fit the foot, then turn the heel and knit either until you run out of yarn or had them as tall as you wanted?"  And the entire time I was knitting on 4 double-point needles, occasionally dropping a stitch off the end and starting a run in my socks, I thought, "Why wouldn't you do this on a circular needle instead of double points?"  So I searched the internet and found a pattern for two socks at once, toe up, on one circular needle.  Yahoo!  I thought.  And then I tried it.  And I found a new meaning for darning socks.  "Darn socks!" I exclaimed as I chucked them across the room, then retrieved them and ripped them out, time and again.  So I found a class, two socks at once, toe up, on one circular needle and a lovely lady who was a retired kindergarten teacher (and therefore had the patience of a saint!) taught me what I couldn't learn from the internet.  And I have been knitting socks this way ever since.  Last spring, I taught my mom this sock method.  She was a good student, but convinced herself that she didn't remember how once I was not there to help.   Someday we'll finish those socks, Mom.

E's socks

Socks are one of the few things I make for other people as I tend to be kind of stingy with my knitting.  I will only knit for people who I think will appreciate the time it takes to create these things.  E has socks, Mom has socks, my sister has socks.  There are more hats out there than socks and I have made a handful of baby gifts as well, but I like socks.  I want to run around with no shoes on when I have hand-knit socks on my feet so that everyone can see them.  I tend to wear them to book club or other places where I know we will be taking shoes off.  And of course I can wear them to work all the time, since I work from home and almost never wear shoes.

When was the last time you had socks that you wanted to show the world? 

Until we knit again,
Hallie

R is for Raglan Sweaters

Raglan sleeve

Creating: Raglan sleeves are those that extend in a diagonal line in one piece from the underarm to the neckline of a garment.  It may be more clear once you look at the picture.  As I said in one of my previous posts, I am a fearless knitter.  Fearless or not smart enough to know my limits?  Either way, after my Fan and Feather afghan, and my first 2 Norwegian sweaters, I moved on to a cardigan with raglan sleeves.  I had asked my mother for a fisherman's sweater (aka Aran) for Christmas.  Her response was to give me the yarn, needles and a pattern book.  Ummm...thanks?  A do-it-yourself gift - to know Mom is to love her.  It took me years to complete the sweater, mostly because I took a several year break from knitting for no good reason that I have figured out.  I took it out again when I remembered the calming effects of knitting and was sorely in need of some clickety-clacking comfort (at the brink of my own sanity was where I was, but that is a story for another time).  I knit at work, in between cranky phone calls with cantankerous clients at a critically crappy corporation.  It helped some.  And my sweater progressed.  The back, then each of the 2 fronts (because of course I chose the cardigan pattern!), then the sleeves, neckband and button placket grew as I took deep breaths (and my anti-depressants).  I learned many new things - cables, popcorn and twists, shaping, buttonholes, pockets, and then finally seaming.  I discovered that although cables and other "fancy" stitches look difficult, it is all just knit and purl.  I love this sweater and the beautiful wooden buttons that E helped me select.  Someday, I may even knit another one. 

Stitch detail

A few years ago, I found a pattern in Stitch 'n Bitch: The Knitter's Handbook that I really liked. It is called "Pinup Queen" but no, it does not make me look like a pinup. It is designed, though, to flatter one's curves. I knit it up with a yummy soft angora-blend yarn in light blue. This sweater taught be short-rows which came in handy when I started knitting socks. It has a deep V-neck which tends to get deeper as the day goes so I always wear a tank top under it. Now that I look at it, though, I realize it does not really have raglan sleeves... So it does not belong in this post but since I don't really have anywhere else to put it, and I already took the pictures, I will post here anyway.  Here is an example of "not-raglan"sleeves.

Until we knit again,

Hallie

Q is for Quilting

one of my quilts from Grandma Ruth

Detail of Minnesota square

Creating: One of the creative pursuits I have tried once and may or may not do again is quilting.  I took a beginner's machine quilting class shortly after we moved into our house over 11 years ago.  I had a dream of making a quilt to hang on the wall in the living room, the big wall over the stairway.  My Grandma Ruth (my dad's mother) was a quilter (thus her nickname "Quilt Grandma".  Our other grandma was "Underpants Grandma" but that is a story for another day.) and I always loved snuggling up her quilts and having my mom tell the stories of the squares. "This fabric was a dress I made you when you were a baby.  This was a shirt I made for your aunt Julie."  The quilts were warmth and family history.  Grandma died when I was a freshman in college but she had the forethought to pack and label the wedding quilts for the younger grandchildren well before she passed so on my wedding day, my mom passed along the quilt Grandma had made for me.  It happened to be one that my mom had helped with.  It is red, white and blue and the squares are embroidered representations of each state - the outline of the state, the state bird and flower, the year it became a state, and a tie where the capitol is located.  Cozy, comforting and educational! 


Wedding quilt

And so I set off to my first quilting class with quilting in my veins.  I liked the class pretty well, and enjoyed getting to sew and learn how to piece the quilt.  I decided to tie my quilt, instead of machine or hand quilting it - if ties were good enough for Grandma, they were good enough for me.  That went fine.  Then I had to stitch the binding on. And to make it look nice, it really needed to be hand-sewn.  Oy.  It took me months to finish.  And the quilt?  I have yet to add tabs to hang it on the wall, so mostly it hangs over the railing.  It turned out pretty well, but I think I would rather knit.  Thankfully I have my grandma's quilts to continue to warm and inspire me.

Quilt I made

Miss you, Grandma Ruth!
Hallie

P is for Pizza

Eating: This feels like a cheater post to me, because I have blogged about this before, but the first thing I thought of when creating my list of topics was, "P is for Pizza".  I love pizza, all kinds, but really like my own homemade 'za most of all.  We call it "ho-made" ever since seeing a sign in Door County, Wisconsin, for "ho-made" jam and laughing about the person who would call themselves a ho just for making jam.  We went through a phase last summer when we made pizza every Thursday for weeks, trying different toppings and flavors.  Our usual pizza is Canadian bacon (ham) and peppers (green, red or yellow bell, depending on what we have on hand) with a traditional red pizza sauce.  We also made sausage and pepper pizza (also with red sauce), Mexican pizza (with salsa instead of sauce and with taco meat, cheddar cheese and a little fresh cilantro), and barbecue chicken pizza (barbecue sauce instead of red sauce, and shredded or chopped cooked chicken, peppers, and if you like, onion).  But our favorite new discovery was Aloha Chicken Pizza which I have already given the recipe for.

Here's how I make my basic pizza.  I always use a pizza stone (Pampered Chef, though I supposed other kinds will work, too).  Some people make the dough in their bread machine, but I think that seems like it creates more work than it saves - I mix it by hand. 

Crust (from Betty Crocker, aka "Big Red") - this recipe is technically for 2 pizzas but we like our crust a little thicker so we use the recipe for one 14" pizza.
1 package yeast (or about 2 1/4 tsp)
1 C warm water
2 1/2 C flour
2 Tbls olive oil (or vegetable oil)
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt (my 'secret' tip - when I am making for a red sauce pizza, I add a sprinkling of Italian seasoning into the crust mixture)
Combine yeast and warm water in a medium bowl and mix until yeast dissolves. Add remaining ingredients and beat 20 strokes. Let rest 5 minutes. Roll out onto warmed pizza stone (or of course you can use another type of pizza pan or other flat pan - I always use my stone and I always preheat it with the oven when making this crust). 

Basic Red Pizza Sauce (also from Betty) - also technically for 2 pizzas but does not seem too saucy when used on one pizza.
1 eight-ounce can of tomato sauce
1 tsp Italian seasoning
1 clove garlic, pressed or minced fine
(and my 'secret' ingredient - a bit of grated Parmesan)

Top with your favorite ingredients, and about 2 C grated mozzarella.  Bake at 425 degrees for 15-20 minutes or until cheese is melted/browned to your taste (we like ours medium brown) and crust is golden.

Yum.  I wish we had pizza on the menu tonight.

Until we eat again,
Hallie

N is for Nordic Sweaters and O is for O'Brien

My apologies - N could be for "not posting yesterday" and O for "Oscar on opiates".  Quick update before the actual A-Z challenge post - My 12 1/2 year old orange tabby, Oscar, had some extensive dental work yesterday.  I was a bit stressed out because of this and then because I couldn't get him to take his pain meds last night (liquid and the vet had instructed to put the syringe in his mouth - has she met my cat?!) so I was worried the little guy was going to be in pain.  I have now been told that, though it is the less desired method of delivery, I can mix the drugs in a small amount of canned food, so Oscar is now hopped up on kitty morphine.  So... on with the actual post.  Thanks for listening to me be a bit neurotic about my cat.

Sweater #1

Creating: N is for Norwegian (or Nordic, if you prefer) sweaters.  As mention previously in post on Knitting, I am a fearless knitter.  As my third ever project, I took a class to learn how to make multicolored Norwegian sweaters.  Techniques I learned in this class included: knitting in the round (on circular needles and on double points), knitting without a pattern and designing as I go, and using multiple colors.  The sweaters are made from the neck down and are completely seamless.   They are lovely to knit and quite possibly my favorite way to make sweaters.  You can try them on as you go to make sure they fit over your shoulders, and the sleeves are long enough and the body is the length you want it.  The first one I made was rather untraditional colors - Chili Pepper, Turquoise and Cream.  It looks like it belongs in Phoenix or New Mexico.  The average age in my class (not including me) was about 70 and the instructor was encouraging those in the group with gray/white hair to find colors which complemented their silvery tones.  Mine did not match my hair.

close up of yoke - sweater #1

detail at bottom - sweater #1

yoke detail - sweater #2

The class lasted 6-8 weeks and I had all except one sleeve finished for the final class. 

Sweater #2

The second sweater was completed that same year.  I wanted one in more traditional colors and I wanted to wear it to Christmas Festival (choir concert) at my alma mater where Nordic sweaters are more common than any other kind of clothes.  This one, I made a little longer and the sleeves were actually long enough (, the first one is kind of a shortie with 3/4 length sleeves because I got a bit impatient).  It is red, black and snow white.  I really like the little leaf pattern on the bottom and sleeves.  Oh, and in case you are wondering, the little dots of color on the body are called "lice". Appealing name, eh? 

Sweater #3

I knit the third just a few years ago, maybe about 5 years ago?  This one I made with mock-turtle neck and a bit more complex zig-zag design on yoke and on the bottom and also a more difficult snowflake pattern.  Instead of color lice, I simply purled the lice instead, so they are textured instead of colored.  This one reminds me of the ocean, which I live nowhere near. 

Yoke detail - sweater #3

 Reading: O is for Tim O'Brien.  Another Minnesota author (see?  We have more than just Garrison Keillor and John Sandford!), O'Brien is well-known for writing about the Vietnam Conflict.  I have several of his books on my list of books to read someday, but one novel that I have read at least 3 times is In the Lake of the Woods.  I selected this for bookclub I think the first year (so back in 1997) because I had read and loved it and wanted to discuss with someone.  The story centers on a John Wade who has just spectacularly lost an election for senate and retreats with his wife Kathy to a cabin in the woods on Lake of the Woods in northern Minnesota (the little "chimney" that sticks up into Canada, if you look at a map).  He wakes one morning to find his wife is missing.  The story is a combination of flashbacks to his childhood, college years,  and his time served in Vietnam, as well as testimony and evidence from related characters.  It presents several hypotheses on what happened to Kathy.  I won't spoil it for you but if you only read books with neatly-tied-up happy endings, you may find yourself discouraged with this one.  Very cleverly written and engaging to read, this book is also disturbing on many levels, as one might expect of a book about a misisng wife and a former soldier who has seen the atrocities of war up close.  It also has a great feeling of place, the isolation of the big lake and surrounding woods.  I would highly recommend In the Lake of the Woods, and plan to also read If I Die in the Combat Zone, Box Me Up and Ship Me Home (memoir), Going after Cacciato (winner of the National Book Award for Fiction),  and novel The Things They Carried.

Until we knit and read again,
Hallie

P.S. We are going to our favorite restaurant tonight for dinner, which could also have been the topic for "N" - Nectar Wine Bar and Bistro.  I have already blogged (and blabbed) about that, though.  Tonight I am going to try the beef bourginon which has never been on the menu before.

M is for Minot

Reading: M is for Minot.  The town in North Dakota?  No, the author, Susan Minot.  Since I read Monkeys and then Lust & Other Stories (both recommended by someone I knew in college who was himself an aspiring writer), I have enjoyed Minot's writing and have read everything she has written, often times more than once.  I chose her novel Evening for book club after I had so thoroughly enjoyed it, only to receive a few complaints and a couple of "meh?!" responses.  But I would still highly recommend it (and as always, the book is so much better than the movie, even if Meryl Streep was in it), especially to writers.  I am writing today about my favorites.

Monkeys is a novel, though it reads more like a series of short stories all about the same family and spanning a period of 13 years.  The large family (7 children and their parents) are a privileged New England family with their share of dysfunction.  Who doesn't love dysfunction??  (Tolstoy said in the beginning of Anna Karenina, "Happy families are all alike. Every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way."  And I would add, "though even if their unhappiness and dysfunction is different than your own, you can probably still relate!")  The writing style is such that the main "events" of the stories often happen outside of the stories themselves.  We learn about them through the memories of the characters as they are revealed and through how the events shape and change the family. 

The collection of short stories Lust & Other Stories revolves around central themes of lust, love, relationships.  The characters are young, mainly in their twenties and live in New York City.  This book may not be for everyone (if you don't like certain four-letter words, or live in a world where people do not "hook up" or have sex with people they are not married to, you may not enjoy these stories), but Minot has such a way of showing us her characters so that she doesn't have to tell us about them, that it is worth reading just for that.  And her use of language, as in all of her books, is simply amazing.  Whenever I read something by her, I find myself thinking, "Now why couldn't I come up with a description/phrase/scene like that?" I just opened the book to find one example - "You wonder how long you can keep it up.  You begin to feel as if you're showing through, like a bathroom window that only lets in grey light, the kind you can't see out." - from the title story.  Now isn't that better than saying, "You wonder how long you can keep it up.  You think your cover is beginning to show." or something like that?

My other favorite novel of Minot's is Evening.  It is the story of Ann when she is 25 and Ann as she lay dying 40 years later, after 3 marriages and 5 children.  She is drifting in and out of consciousness, in and out of lucidity, from the past to the present and back again.  The writing is poetic and and powerful.  One of the complaints from some members of book club was about the lack of punctuation.  Specifically, there are no quotation marks.  This did not bother me.  It is clear when someone is speaking and the fluid nature of the writing does not require quotation marks.  The other  complaint was that it wasn't written in a linear style, but there are some people who will always whine when the story doesn't progress chronologically.  The woman is dying and on morphine, people!  She does not think logically and chronologically.  She is remembering and reflecting on her life, her loves, her passions, memories of people her family has never heard her mention before.  This book may not be easy to read, but then, I believe, as another reviewer has commented (on Amazon.com), that it is for readers who like narratives that ask them to chew and not only to swallow. 

Susan Minot's writing is not brain candy.  It is not something you gobble down because you are in a rush to get on to the next thing.  It is not a McDonald's hamburger.  This is a filet mignon, a full-bodied red wine, a rich chocolate cake.  Take a bite, savor the beauty of it, chew slowly and enjoy the moment.  Her writing is a meal you will still be thinking about long after it is over.

Until we read again,
Hallie

L is for Lamb's ear and Lungwort



Lamb's ear, with hardy geranium in the background

front garden, lamb's ear on left of sidewalk

Lamb's ear in bloom

Weeding:  Besides plants with purple or yellow flowers, I also enjoy plants with interesting leaves.  Two of the interesting leaf plants that I like happen to start with "L".  Lamb's ear (official name 'Stachys') is just as soft as it sounds.  The leaves are fuzzy and silvery-colored.  It gets pink spikes of flowers but they are just an added bonus.  A word of caution about lamb's ear, though.  A little will become a lot. It makes a nice groundcover, and as with many groundcovers, it will cover a lot of ground if you let it.  It spreads by roots, shoots and seeds.  I started out with a normal sized plant and now have a large mass of it in the front bed (might make a soft little place to sit!), a growing patch of it on the side of the garage (transplanted from the mother mass), and little sproutlets all around both areas.  If you don't want it to reseed, cut the flowers off.  And if it is growing where you don't want it to be, rip it out.  But I love it for its soft leaves that aren't quite green.  Sometimes, if everything is the same color, it all blends together. 

Lungwort with hostas and ajuga

The next plant comes first with a bit of a rant about hosta. I know there are 10 million different kinds of hosta and everyone and their brother who has a shady spot in their yard grows at least one hosta, but I am not a fan. I think they just look like big lettuce plants and if I wanted that, I would grow lettuce - at least I could eat it then. The other part of my aversion to them probably stems from my neighbor across the street. She planted approximately 5000 hostas, all the same kind, in a kind of tutu around the mature evergreen trees in her yard. It is one of the least inspired landscapes I have seen. I have a few hosta that I acquired before deciding that I didn't like them. They may go to new homes eventually but that part of the yard (the "stump garden" named for the stump that used to be there until last summer when it finally got ground out) is a major work in progress. So anyway... (if you are still with me after that) what else can we grow in that shady spot? How about Lungwort (official name 'Pulmonaria')? It gets pink flowers but this is one I grow mainly for the leaves. There are different types, but the ones I have are dark green with splashes of silver and are very textural.


lungwort (on the left)

There you have 2 new plants to check out.

Until we weed again,
Hallie

K is for Knitting

Maroon, navy and gold hat for my dad

Creating: I love to knit.  I learned how when I was a jeune fille studying in France.  My mother is queen knitter but I had to travel across a large ocean to learn how to knit from a neurotic French woman, Madame Miclot.  It's a long story about why I didn't learn from Mom - ask her about it sometime when you see her. 

My first project was a scarf.  I bought some lovely soft acrylic that matched one of the colors in my jacket, a kind of teal-green sort of color.  Knitting became my form of meditation and relaxation.  By the time I got home, my scarf was 6 feet long.  Turns out, I had not learned how to stop knitting.  Mom showed me how to cast off/bind off.  It wrapped around my head twice and around my neck as well, so I didn't have to wear a hat.  I wore that scarf for years.  I am not sure where this treasure is now - probably packed away somewhere. Surely I would never get rid of it!

After that, I was given the yarn, needles and pattern for a fan and feather afghan.  This is a lace-type pattern and it was made with an off-white acrylic.  This afghan is still in beautiful shape nearly 20 years later, and in regular use in my living room. 

orange cat hat with ears - looks cuter on my sister

Did I mention that when I was first knitting, I was in college and, at that time, NO ONE was knitting.  It had not yet become "hip".  There were no movie stars "KIP'ing" (knitting in public).  But it was good for me to knit - I had a very stressful senior year and knitting helped keep me somewhat sane.  And I started teaching others to knit.  There is a good picture of our knitting group, sitting in my dorm room.  Me with my afghan, Bruce with the start of his black scarf and Kris with the beginnings of her scarf.  Bruce was a much better student than Kris.  If I could figure out the scanner, I might post that photo...

When I was a nanny after college, I read about a woman who taught classes on knitting Norwegian (Nordic) sweaters and signed up for her next class.  Having gone to a Norwegian-American college, I had been surrounded by those ski sweaters for 4 years.  I will post more about that class and its results in the future (think "N"). 

I was a fearless knitter. No one ever told me what I was doing was difficult, or that I wouldn't be able to do it, so I didn't know any better.  I didn't know that a large lace pattern afghan is kind of a big undertaking for a second project.  I had never knit in the round or with multiple colors or done many of the other techniques in the Nordic sweater class but that didn't stop me.  My project after the ski sweaters was an Aran knit cardigan with raglan sleeves (more on that later - think "R" for raglan), and pockets, and buttonholes.  Since then I have made socks (see future "S" post), more hats than I can shake a stick at, scarves, mittens, baby blankets and sweaters and booties, prayer shawls, a cellphone cozy that looks like an orange cat, and a scarf for a penguin.  I taught 3 squirrely third-graders and a sedate 4th grader to knit.  I taught E to knit (he made a coaster!).  If you want, I will teach you to knit.  I have met so many friendly knitters (and a couple of uppity snobbish ones, too) and even was part of a knitting book club for about a year - we read books about knitting, yarn and, in one instance, sheep.  I have been known to pick up yarn and needles and just start knitting, not knowing what I am making.  That is how I ended up the the red, black and white hat with tassels that fits absolutely no one, but makes a fine Christmas tree topper. 

 It fits no one but now goes on top of our Christmas tree as a quirky tradition.

Think I am off to make those sticks click for a while.

Until we knit again,
Hallie

J is for Jicama

Eating: Jicama is kind of a weird thing.  Pronounced "HIK -ah-mah", it's a root vegetable that looks kind of like a potato.  Some woman at a Weight Watchers meeting I was at a few years ago described its taste as "like a stale apple" but I think she is full of crap.  If I may opine.  It has a slightly sweet taste, and the crunch of a good crisp apple.  I like to eat it raw and serve with a tasty spinach dip.  Peel the thick skin off,  cut into strips and serve.  Apparently it is high in Vitamin C, and can be tasty in salads as well.  And no one ever had to go to Weight Watchers from eating too much jicama.

Here is my dip recipe.  There is a friend of mine who I think only comes to my parties and perhaps is only my friend because I serve this dip. (I may be exaggerating - she is one of my best friends and we get together many times when spinach dip is not involved.)  It can be made no-fat and tastes just as good that way.  Dip away.  And try some jicama today.

Spinach Dip
Combine in a bowl: 2 C sour cream (can also use plain yogurt), 1 package Knorr Leek Soup mix (could also use another brand but I have only ever seen this made by Knorr), 1 package frozen spinach (cook and DRAIN WELL). Can also add some chopped water chestnuts though I find them a little hard to dip. Stir well; refrigerate until serving.  Best when made the night before so the flavors have time to marry and the dry soup mix isn't crunchy. 

Until we eat again,
Hallie

I is for Iris



early miniature iris, the lisymakia in the background is still brown

Weeding: I like irises, from the very first miniature iris that blooms earlier in the spring than anything else, to the majestic beared irises which thrive on the west side of the garage, to the slender-leaved Siberian irises which love the east side of the house.  And most of my irises were free.  The only thing I like better than inexpensive plants are free plants.  I have friends who generously divide and give me plants.  For the past couple of years, I have participated in our city's plant swap.  And last fall I organized my own plant swap.  Free plants release me from guilt the next year when they don't come back, or when I forget to water them and they shrivel up and blow away.  I also love to talk to the gardeners who give me the plants - where did you grow them, what kind of soil do they like, etc.  And to be fair, I am not a total freeloader - I also generously divide and share my plants with others.  I don't know much about plants in general, but I do know the plants in my yard.  Here are some of my irises, purple of course.  Unfortunately, though I diligently took pictures all last spring/summer/fall, the majority of the photos have gone missing.  I may need Tech Support (that is, E) to help to track them down.  There are some glorious photos of the bearded and the Siberian which I cannot find.  I think the ones in the bouquet are the bearded, though.  They are deep purple.

Until we weed again,
Hallie



Bouquet of what was blooming one day last summer