cosmicpluto knits!

temptations

Really Must Stop Looking At Yarn!!

(Although if you like the colour of Silk Garden that I used for Rayne, it’s on sale at Littleknits under the word “looking” above :p)

Must not buy yarn! It’s tough when there are such pretty things out there, but I have GOT to save some money to spend across the pond. Also, I really, really, really don’t need any more yarn. I’ve got plenty. And I have lots of knitting to concentrate on for the time being.

I got all the way to the midpoint of the edging of the Mooi shawl (actual name: Niji Baby Cable Shawl) when I realized that something was off. Sigh.

I’d made a mistake wayyy back in the first pattern repeat (there are 17 on one side of the shawl). It bothered me enough that I ripped the edging all the way back and redid it. The shawl is a store sample, too, so I didn’t want it to look wrong! When I got to the middle again…still off. But only by 2 stitches, so I was able to fudge it a bit. Finished shawl photos soon!

Since that’s about it for the knitting, how about some food?

The now-infamous NY Times chocolate chip cookies:

It was a good time to make them this past weekend because my sister was having birthday parties (multiple!) so there were lots of people around to eat them! I made the dough on Saturday morning and baked some that night (7 hr chill), some the next night (32 hr chill) and some just last night (umm…50ish hour chill?). I must say that I wasn’t super blown away. I mean, it was a good cookie, maybe a great cookie, but the best ever? I don’t know. Anyway, they’re still really good.

Dinner Sunday night: tempura-style fried okra, spaghetti in roasted Ontario tomato sauce with goat cheese. Mmmm!

cheery cherry

I’ve always considered myself to be more of cake person in the cake versus pie debate (Mel is a pie person), but this one…this one moved me a little more towards the middle.

The pile of cherries that I picked from the tree in my yard (Montmorency sour cherries) were sitting in my fridge while I dithered about what to make – they sat a little too long, actually, and I had to toss a few. But I still had enough to make this delicious cherry pie with a little less filling!

The recipe was from the June issue of Bon Appetit – it’s been reproduced on another blog here. I halved the filling, but made the same amount of crust, and didn’t do a lattice (obviously).

The crust was perfect – super duper flakey and delicious! It’s been a long time since I’ve made pastry – actually, now that I think about it, I’ve never really done much! My mom used to bake things with crusts, and I’d get the leftover scraps to make mini-strudel shaped things with jam inside. Never too late to get started though! I used a few tricks I’ve heard here and there – I cut the butter into small cubes then stuck them in the freezer for about 15 minutes; I also measured the dry ingredients into a bowl and stuck that in the fridge for the same amount of time. I also used the pastry cutter rather than my fingers, although I did have to use my hands a bit to get it to stick together before I put it in the fridge.

The dough was a bit crumbly to work with, but overall it wasn’t bad – although my rolling technique needs some work! I saw a pie/pizza dough lifter thingy on a blog somewhere, but now I can’t find it – that’s what I need! My pie’s kind of ugly, but did I mention the yummy-ness? I think a homely pie is kind of cute, anyway.

Did I mention the flakey? I was so amazed. I’ve been brainwashed by grocery store pies.

Please note that this slice was the second (messy plate); photo taken before the addition of a scoop of Hagen-Daas Half-fat Vanilla (which is very good!).

Now I can think about is pie.

strawberry season

Friday I went strawberry picking with Dr. Steph and Denny and their kids, and it was so much fun! We went to Reesor Farm, not far at all, and pick your own sure is pretty cheap! We picked for about an hour, and I came away with 5kg (11 lbs.) for my very own. (Denny and her son had about the same as me, Dr. Steph and her two kids picked 9 kg! Whoa.)

Yum. Have I mentioned lately how much I love my new camera?

With my family away on vacation and me on my own, there’s just no way I could eat them all myself. I wasn’t planning to, anyway. So once I got home, I got busy right away putting up the fruit.

I washed, hulled, and froze 2 baking sheets’ full (then put them in freezer bags the next day; it’s so they don’t freeze in a big clump):

I made “fridge jam” (as opposed to freezer jam, because I just stuck it in the fridge) – just fruit, sugar, and lemon juice, macerated for awhile then cooked down in a pot. An intermediate step on the road to jam tarts!

Then the next day, I made strawberry ice cream! In my old-school hand crank machine. I used this recipe, which uses eggs but is uncooked. It’s yummy! I don’t think I have a photo of a bowl of it, but I’ll try to remember later when I’m eating it! (We’ll see how that goes!)

And yes, there has indeed been some knitting around here parts. I had a bit of the knitting ennui there for awhile, but I think I’m back on track! Finishing up some old projects, starting some new ones. An older one that’s almost done, the cashmere sweater:

Just in time for the sweltering weather, eh? Well, that’s kind of how the knitting goes. I am planning on writing up my notes on how I converted the Unwrapped pattern to a cardigan and the other details – I don’t feel comfortable writing up the whole pattern since I used Jody’s yoke, but I’ll write up a little bit on how to make your own. The sweater just needs some type of closure, and a good blocking. Maybe clasps, maybe not.

Oh, and the handwoven scarves in my Etsy shop are now on sale – each is just $85. I’ve got more in the works, but just need to clear some stuff outta the studio!

good food

My first no-knead-type bread, from “Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day” (a great book, but check the errata!!).

With butter, of course.

Leftover risotto + chunks of mozzarella (inside) + egg + breadcrums + oil = deep fried arancini goodness.

Also, homemade oreos. Need I say more?

(Next time I’d roll the dough into a log and slice-and-bake, so they’d all come out the same size! Also, my icing is not really white because I use very dark Mexican vanilla extract. But it’s okay, they’re still awesome.)

File under “good enough to eat”, my tube scarf out of Handmaiden Swiss Mountain Cashmere and Silk is progressing nicely, and causes knitters to say things like, “oh my god, what is this?! I want to roll around naked in it!”