British Invasion

Simon arrived from England on Friday. I'm determined to learn about British food, so I thought I'd start with the basics: making a proper cup of tea.

We experimented with different brew times. Top row, L to R: 2 tsp English breakfast tea, per 4 cups of water; 4 min brew; 8 min brew. Bottom row, L to R: 12 min brew, 16 min brew; coffee, for comparison.

In the end, we decided that the 4 min brew is good for tea black, and the 16 min brew is good for tea with milk.

Wee Flock

The wee flock has started marching in.. :)

Wee Flock..

..is starting to look like a sweater! :)

Wee Flock

I brought the little one with me to Wisconsin for the night, and spent the night knitting in the hotel bed. 

Pound Cake

I wanted something hearty for breakfast this week. And I needed to make up for Friday's post. 

Wee Flock

I got about 6 rows in while the pound cake was in the oven. It's not much but it's better than nothing.

Wee Flock

The sleeves are done and the body's been started.. Wee Flock is coming up so nicely so far :)

Welcome to the Flock

A second wee little sleeve..

Wee Ones

This is the start to a wee little sleeve that will eventually be attached to a wee little sweater that is intended for a wee little person :)

Bray

Bray is working up quickly, fortunately, since my pile of Christmas knitting is not getting any smaller..

I had a brief moment of panic earlier when I realized I was running out of yarn. I only have one skein of this and since it's handspun and I bought it in upstate New York, the likelihood of getting more is pretty much nil. When it finally occurred to me to just try the hat on, I realized that it would be too long anyways. I ended up only knitting 2 repeats of the second chart, which will leave me with just enough yarn for the crown :) Although, whew! that was a close one. I really didn't have it in me to rip out the entire hat and start over..

Bray

Winter is coming and I need a new hat. I searched for a while before I found Brooklyn Tweed's Bray. I'm using a handspun I bought in the Catskills a couple months ago. The pattern also seems fun, interesting, and fast. The ribbing is done and I can already tell that this is going to be a warm and sturdy hat :)

Veg + Lentil Soup

Made a simple lentil soup this evening, and to last me a couple more meals throughout the week. I don't eat lentils often but I always find them to be hearty and filling - just what's needed on a fall or winter day.

Egg: Sunny Side Up

So apparently the best way to cook an egg sunny side up (according to America's Test Kitchen), is to crack an egg into the pan, let the whites spread, and fry for one minute. Then cover, take off heat, and let steam for one more minute (two minutes for a less runny yolk). Then plate and enjoy!

Boxy

Boxy has sleeves(!!) which means that all the knitting is done and all that's left is the finishing :) :)

Baked Breaded Chicken, Roasted Broccoli & Chocolate Chip Muffins

Dinner and dessert :)

Chicken seasoned with fenugreek and Hungarian chili powder, broccoli seasoned with caraway and cumin. Both delicious. Muffins seasoned with chocolate chips and we all know that chocolate makes everything better :)

Boxy

Back to Boxy today and Boxy has shoulder seams!! So close to done on this one, hoping to finish over the weekend :)

Leafy #2

This one in garter, increased to 39 stitches, and without the stem detail. This is the companion pattern to the Leafy I knit a couple days ago, and I'm giving it away :)

Salmon + Broccoli

Salmon in my standard soy-poach and broccoli roasted with cumin, coriander, and chili flakes. Same spices used for the salmon. Yum! 

Leafy #2

Started another leafy washcloth, but unlike yesterday, I didn't have the energy to finish. I guess there's always tomorrow :)

Leafy Washcloth

This little leaf stemmed (ha!) from three individual forces: (1) I need a break from Boxy. I need some instant gratification in my life and I'm bored of miles and miles of stockinette. (2) I hauled my entire stash out onto my living room floor. I really want to stash bust and while I know this little guy isn't even going to make a small dent, I do feel good that some leftover scrap yarn became something pretty. (3) I kinda want to decorate/redecorate my apartment. Maybe redecorate is too strong of a word. In any case, I want to change a few things. This seemed like a good place to start.

Also, I'm a day behind. I couldn't muster the energy for anything other than a bath after sailing yesterday.

Apple Crisp

A perfect fall dessert..soo good :) I really had to have the willpower to not eat the entire thing tonight (success), which means I get to have the rest for breakfast tomorrow :)

Recipe by Mark Bittman.

Boxy

Fell asleep yesterday before I could post this, but boxy's front is finished and the back is nearly there as well :) So close!

Pasta + Bacon

I desperately need to go grocery shopping..

Ripping Back

Aaand it's come time to rip back. I started the shoulder shaping but it doesn't look quite right so I'm starting this part over. I think I was just too tired working on it the first time.. I should've known nothing good was going to come of it and I should've just gone to bed instead. Oh well. It's not really knitting if I don't have to rip it back at some point.

Shrimp 'n Grits

Except that I didn't have grits, I had instant polenta and no one but me cares about the difference. Toppings include bacon (yum) and green onion. I also rendered the fat off the bacon and cooked the shrimp in that (double yum). Recipe by The Minimalist.

Boxy, continued

I finally split the front and back for boxy; the front is now ready for shaping, but I am now ready for bed. More to come later this week, and I'm exited to finish this sweater and start wearing it :)

Oatmeal

I ran out of both cereal and instant oatmeal, so conventional stovetop was the way to go this morning, apparently. Oatmeal with maple and nutmeg syrup, and walnuts turns out to be a hearty pre-frostbiting (sailing) breakfast :)

Bigos!!!

Nom nom nom :) 

Fall made her presence known today, the temps dropped into the 30s; this was the perfect dish to warm up my kitchen.

And yes Mom, I'll bring some home :)

Banana Bread

Banana bread (finally!) subbing coconut oil for butter and using buckwheat flour, 1/4c of every 1c. Not too bad overall, although the batter seemed a bit dry (I blame the humidity levels in my apartment) and the bread came out a bit dry as well. I knew I should've added a bit more liquid.. Oh well.. It's still tasty! :)

Finished Scarves: Trellis & Ribby

Both these scarves have been done for a while; I finally had the chance today to photograph them (and convince Manny to model for me) :)

Kombucha

It's been several weeks since my last brew. The jar was a mess, the SCOBY is huge, and the brew is super sour. I pulled everything, bottled about 8 cups, and brewed a new batch of tea. Tomorrow I'll put it all back together and a week from now, I'll be drinking kombucha again :)