tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-70160118141020246722011-04-21T21:49:49.617-04:00Catherinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15836641128954553218noreply@blogger.comBlogger121100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7016011814102024672.post-28401052184921906522009-01-01T22:29:00.003-05:002009-01-01T22:35:11.084-05:00

This is a gift for a friend of mine who watched the election returns with me. In anticipation of the evening, I baked some "Obama cookies" that were based on a Snickerdoodle recipe but were iced with a loose approximation of Barack Obama's logo:We joked about making cupcakes with the logo, which would either be "Hopecakes" or "Copecakes", depending on the election's outcome. So, based on a

Catherinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15836641128954553218noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7016011814102024672.post-46662870223095581682009-01-01T01:04:00.004-05:002009-01-01T01:20:12.864-05:00

Black-eyed peas are a part of my annual New Year's Eve tradition. I don't make this recipe the traditional Southern way (there's no bacon or pork product involved!). I make the recipe a little differently every year; this year, it was based loosely on this recipe.Ingredients:Counter-clockwise, from center: black-eyed peas, fresh tomatoes, onion, garlic, turmeric, cumin, cayenne pepper, and

Catherinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15836641128954553218noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7016011814102024672.post-79136751597388616752008-09-28T19:20:00.005-04:002008-10-01T07:05:04.558-04:00

Yet another recipe from Mes Confitures: a Plum, Gewürztraminer, and Vanilla Bean Jam. Pictured above are the plums in question, an Italian prune-plum purchased at the farmer's market. Those plums are mixed with sugar, lemon juice, and vanilla beans (split lengthwise to release the innards): Heated over the stove:Then the Gewürztraminer is added (I used a 2006 Villa Wolf Gewürztraminer), it's

Catherinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15836641128954553218noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7016011814102024672.post-72998510796317157272008-09-14T21:16:00.007-04:002008-09-14T21:50:26.727-04:00

Ordinarily, I don't post about stash additions in this blog, because I wouldn't want to draw attention to the disparity between the (high) rate of stash increase and the (low) rate of project completion. However, this addition to my stash is too cool not to share with the world. Back in July, Ms. Numma Numma did me a huge favor in getting some yarn to me super-fast so I could make the Go Blue!

Catherinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15836641128954553218noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7016011814102024672.post-12266844529378903192008-07-14T09:49:00.008-04:002008-09-12T10:56:16.747-04:00

Have you ever wondered, "Could I make an entire afghan in 9 days?" Apparently, for me, that answer is yes. I started this afghan officially on July 4th and finished it yesterday. (Why the clarification of "officially", you might wonder? Well, I tried two other patterns and two other hook sizes before I finally settled on this pattern and hook size, which means I technically started the

Catherinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15836641128954553218noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7016011814102024672.post-64449209116301019822008-07-06T15:14:00.006-04:002008-07-14T10:12:14.763-04:00

The above photo is what my Mediterranean Lace shawl looks like after I picked up the stitches around its perimeter for the border. I never realized how painful a process that would be, but now, 1,108 stitches later, I've got the foundation for my border. I had all the math worked out so I'd make the body of the shawl the right size; the original pattern called for 2 stitches picked up for every

Catherinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15836641128954553218noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7016011814102024672.post-86069037439577323832008-07-04T10:40:00.003-04:002008-07-14T10:12:45.487-04:00

One of my favorite things about summer is making jam, and I finally got back in the swing of things last weekend with the gooseberries pictured above, purchased at the local farmer's market. As usual, Christine Ferber's's excellent Mes Confitures provided the recipe, which consisted of about 2 pounds of gooseberries, sugar, and lemon juice.

Catherinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15836641128954553218noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7016011814102024672.post-11279024954439279122008-06-17T21:56:00.005-04:002008-06-18T10:29:11.667-04:00

OK, I have a confession: one of my favorite foods in the whole wide world is garlic, and the best part of the garlic are the garlic scapes. The only bad thing about garlic scapes is that they're around for just a few weeks a year.I'm a shareholder in the Bull Run Farm CSA (what this means, in short, is that I pick up vegetables from a local farmer once a week from June to October-- there's more

Catherinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15836641128954553218noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7016011814102024672.post-53951911645998446112008-06-08T18:10:00.015-04:002008-06-11T20:44:59.004-04:00

I did a lot of travelling in January and February, and I decided to use the time away from home living in hotel rooms to learn how to crochet. So I picked up a copy of Jan Eaton's 200 Crochet Blocks because it would give me a lot of different patterns with a lot of different kinds of stitches and techniques. It ended up being a great strategy-- I loved the book, and I loved seeing all of

Catherinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15836641128954553218noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7016011814102024672.post-34292801230611210522008-06-01T18:56:00.003-04:002008-06-11T20:45:11.592-04:00

There's no reason for this week's project still to be on the needles; I started it in July of 2007! The pattern is Here and There Cables from Scarf Style; I modified the pattern to add one extra repeat widthwise. It's a really easy pattern to remember and makes a nice scarf that's very stretchy and warm.I have a tendency to pick really fine yarns for really large projects, and this is no

Catherinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15836641128954553218noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7016011814102024672.post-88410336767321663162008-05-25T16:04:00.003-04:002008-06-18T09:15:25.653-04:00

This week's featured project is a wool afghan pattern from Quick and Cozy Afghans; the pattern is called Spring Throw but I've obviously picked not-so-springy colors for my version.Overview: The pattern is crocheted in strips that are then stitched together, which makes it a surprisingly portable project despite its ultimate size. I'm using Ella Rae Classic in three colors, from darkest to

Catherinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15836641128954553218noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7016011814102024672.post-50337411927675354962008-05-18T19:49:00.004-04:002008-06-18T09:15:47.510-04:00

I've been meaning to start this blog for a while now, and now is as good a time as any. This is the inaugural of what I hope will be a weekly feature called "On the _____" to showcase a knitting project (or crochet, or other creative endeavor) currently in progress.Today: Mediterranean Lace shawl from Meg Swansen's A Gathering of Lace. I modified the pattern from its original shape to be a

Catherinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15836641128954553218noreply@blogger.com3