YarnFoodCoffee

Awesome.

I just received a call from Hilltop Yarn, great shop in an old house on Queen Anne Hill, and they informed me that I won a drawing for a $25 gift certificate.

...Wait.

...Did I hear that right?

Free... yarn? Life is good.

A Midsummer's Day

Have a lovely day.

WIP's

[Sorry about the ridiculously-sized photos. Photobucket hates me right now... time for a Flickr account.]
[Edit: photos magically fixed themselves, but now I'm on Flickr. Come find me.]

In the knitting sphere, here's what I've been up to:

Summer quarter has been kicking my butt, (at least, as far as me getting enough sleep and preparing to move) but I've been giving it back in spades.

And then there's been the attempt at starting on Christmas gifts, which around here have come to be called X-mas Projects:

A buttoned tab hat, with the beginnings of a matching seed stitch scarf. Don't really much care for how this hat turned out, so I probably won't use the pattern again. (If you want it, send me a note and I'll send you the link.)

A sweater for my cousins' new baby boy (a girly-colored version in shades of violet and sage green are in the works for his big sister) from RYC Classic Bambino.

Another sweater for another new baby cousin from Weekend Knitting.

Leg warmers, in a variety of colors, for my friends, again from Weekend Knitting (though, I like the burgundy color so much, I may keep those for myself!)

Oh, and my first attempt at Vegan Blueberry Muffins, which was almost entirely by accident, and one rather rude neighbor. I was doing laundry mid-morning on Thursday, and left the front door open (we live on a very quiet, safe street), and my keys on the table. Well, by the time I came back upstairs, with a full load of clean sheets, the door was closed, and I knew it was my upstairs neighbor because she had left some mail out to be picked up. Not cool. So, I had to climb up the back of the building and onto my second-story balcony, which caused me to utilize muscles that have happily lied dormant until that moment. So, after I'd scrambled up and over the deck railing, I realized I'd pulled my left pectoral muscle. Nice. After taking some ibuprofun, I grabbed a bag of frozen blueberries and slapped it over my boob, which really didn't help at all since the muscle was under mammary tissue, and therefore couldn't really get any relief from the cold fruit. But I knew that once the berries had thawed, I couldn't let them go to waste. So at first I thought of a pie, but then figured that was too much effort, since I only had one frozen pie crust. Then I remembered one of my new favorite books, Vegan Cupcakes Take over the World, by Isa Chandra Moskowitz. I thought, Well, Mom and Dad are coming into town today, and Dad lurves blueberry muffins...

So I started on a simple vanilla cupcake recipe, and halfway through combining ingredients, while searching through the packing boxes for sugar, I remembered Oh crap, Mom shouldn't have sugar since she's borderline diabetic... Oh! There's a recipe in here for Agave Nectar cupcakes! Sweet! ...no pun intended So, after two very minor alterations, I was able to change the recipe to allow for low-glycemic index sweetness. Awesome. When they first came out of the oven, they didn't feel moist enough or taste sweet enough. But, the next morning they were incredibly moist, and even sweeter, I assume since the Agave Nectar had time to work its magic.

So, an entirely crappy situation was quickly turned into a sweet treat, made of two happy accidents.

Which, I'm happy to report, disappeared quickly. I smell a sequel...

Mea Culpa

I know, I know. I've been a bad weblogger. My excuse is a good one, though:

Over the last 6 weeks, I've been taking part in the very cruel and agony-riddled gauntlet that is Summer Quarter: 12 weeks of classes crammed into 8 short weeks.

Having said that, I've managed to have one of the best quarters, academically speaking, in a long time. For my math midterm, I snagged a 97.5%, or a 3.9 (if you go by the 4.0 GPA system.) For my history midterm, I sinked a solid 4.0 (that's 100% for the rest of us!)

Needless to say, I was ecstatic. (My friend Karen and I joked that, when I learned the results of my math midterm, I was going to get a gold star and an extra cookie at nap time. Good times.)

So, yeah. Although I've neglected other areas of my life, my schoolwork, the first priority at this critical juncture in my existence, has made massive headway.

In conclusion, ladies and jellyspoons, I'd like to beg your pardon, and extend a peace-offering:

Poached Salmon, Pineapple, and Sweet Onion Salad
Pretty basic recipe, but with lots of flavor. If you're lucky enough to get Walla Walla sweet onions, use those; there's nothing like it. Try for fresh pineapple, but if it's to expensive, canned can work in a pinch, too (I just happened to find organic pineapple on sale, $4.99 each.) Also, if avocados are ready and ripe in your area, serve a quarter with each dish. It gives it an extra richness. If you don't like avocados (*gasp!*), it's OK to omit them... just this once. Remember, make it organic! It will taste better.

Ingredients, per person:
1/4 - 1/2 lb. poached fresh salmon, cut into 1" chunks
1/2 - 1 c. pineapple, cut into large chunks
1/4 sweet onion, cut in half and sliced thin
1/4 head of romaine lettuce, well washed, spun dry, and chopped
1/2 c. lemon juice
2 Tbsp. good, flavorful olive oil
1 tsp. sea salt (large grain, Celtic Grey is best)

Place all but last three ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Whisk together lemon and olive oil, then pour over salad, and sprinkle with salt. Mix together gently but thoroughly, then let sit a few minutes for the flavors to meld.

Also, new recipes will be on the way, once life around here slows down a little more.

Enjoy your Monday, friends.