There is so much going on! I anticipate tonight or tomorrow I will have The CEO's second sock off my needles and a lovely hot water bottle cover on them. This is being made with Artesano Aran in C853 pine. It came in my April Knitcrate and I am finally casting it on. How the time flies.
I need to get back in the habit of photographing my food as I made a doozy of a dinner Monday night. We had Emeril's bacon lentils...sort of. I used pre-cooked bacon (thank you Costco) and added some olive oil to substitute for the bacon grease. (I realize there is no real substitute for bacon grease but it worked and saved time). I also forewent celery but otherwise I followed this pretty closely. And it turned out great.
With it I served my own strange interpretation of this recipe. I've noticed lately that The CEO loves things that have red wine vinegar in them. I've been testing this theory by slipping it in almost everything and each time he says "wow, this is even better than last time." So I am starting to think that red wine vinegar, very much like red wine (and bacon), makes everything better.
I used boneless skinless chicken thighs, used elephant garlic instead of regular, substituted the tomatoes and tomato paste for one can of tomato sauce (organic...again Costco), and totally didn't bind my herbs together with twine. Do I look like Martha Stewart to you? I just fished them out in the end like a normal person.
The result is The CEO loved it. And so did I. He ate two servings of bacon lentils and I ate one whole thigh and a tiny mound of lentils. And it all stayed down! Woot!
Alas, no pics. But it was thoroughly enjoyed and will be entered into the rotation. The bacon lentils recipe makes a bunch!
Then, last night, I had a knitting lesson. I was very hesitant about doing this but I just had to know if my technique was terrible and I really wanted to learn how to cable knit, which seemed incredibly daunting to me. I am SO GLAD I booked this appointment. Honestly, having someone show you a new technique for an hour and helping you get out of your own way is tremendous. I went to La Casita and I want to say my teacher's name was Hannah but I am horrible with names lately. At any rate, she was fabulous. I was so nervous that I couldn't cast on, knit rib when she told me to seed stitch, and totally knit with my tail instead of the damned yarn on the ball. But we made it through.
The pattern that Knitcrate sent for the water bottle is from a British knitter so the terms are a little different. She helped me decode them. And then she taught me to cable knit. And it was so so simple. While there I learned the following knitting lessons, many of which can be applied as good general life advice:
- I'm not the only one who gets squirrely when I have downtime and no knitting.
- Don't listen to the people who judge your technique, or your approach to knitting as there is no right or wrong way as long as you get the result you want.
- It isn't necessary to beat yourself up if you get it wrong many times, as you only have to get it right once.
- Almost everything is easy once someone takes the time to show you how its done.
Well worth the cost of the class. When I get stuck again, I will have another. I am almost feeling brave enough to try socks on two circular needles. GULP
NoM
~ EK
P.S. Some guy on the F train told me yesterday that I was making a "good looking sock." As he seemed genuinely into the socks and not me, I am hugely complimented and very excited to see them both on The CEO's feet.
I need to get back in the habit of photographing my food as I made a doozy of a dinner Monday night. We had Emeril's bacon lentils...sort of. I used pre-cooked bacon (thank you Costco) and added some olive oil to substitute for the bacon grease. (I realize there is no real substitute for bacon grease but it worked and saved time). I also forewent celery but otherwise I followed this pretty closely. And it turned out great.
With it I served my own strange interpretation of this recipe. I've noticed lately that The CEO loves things that have red wine vinegar in them. I've been testing this theory by slipping it in almost everything and each time he says "wow, this is even better than last time." So I am starting to think that red wine vinegar, very much like red wine (and bacon), makes everything better.
I used boneless skinless chicken thighs, used elephant garlic instead of regular, substituted the tomatoes and tomato paste for one can of tomato sauce (organic...again Costco), and totally didn't bind my herbs together with twine. Do I look like Martha Stewart to you? I just fished them out in the end like a normal person.
The result is The CEO loved it. And so did I. He ate two servings of bacon lentils and I ate one whole thigh and a tiny mound of lentils. And it all stayed down! Woot!
Alas, no pics. But it was thoroughly enjoyed and will be entered into the rotation. The bacon lentils recipe makes a bunch!
Then, last night, I had a knitting lesson. I was very hesitant about doing this but I just had to know if my technique was terrible and I really wanted to learn how to cable knit, which seemed incredibly daunting to me. I am SO GLAD I booked this appointment. Honestly, having someone show you a new technique for an hour and helping you get out of your own way is tremendous. I went to La Casita and I want to say my teacher's name was Hannah but I am horrible with names lately. At any rate, she was fabulous. I was so nervous that I couldn't cast on, knit rib when she told me to seed stitch, and totally knit with my tail instead of the damned yarn on the ball. But we made it through.
The pattern that Knitcrate sent for the water bottle is from a British knitter so the terms are a little different. She helped me decode them. And then she taught me to cable knit. And it was so so simple. While there I learned the following knitting lessons, many of which can be applied as good general life advice:
- I'm not the only one who gets squirrely when I have downtime and no knitting.
- Don't listen to the people who judge your technique, or your approach to knitting as there is no right or wrong way as long as you get the result you want.
- It isn't necessary to beat yourself up if you get it wrong many times, as you only have to get it right once.
- Almost everything is easy once someone takes the time to show you how its done.
Well worth the cost of the class. When I get stuck again, I will have another. I am almost feeling brave enough to try socks on two circular needles. GULP
NoM
~ EK
P.S. Some guy on the F train told me yesterday that I was making a "good looking sock." As he seemed genuinely into the socks and not me, I am hugely complimented and very excited to see them both on The CEO's feet.
I am complete agreement that red wine vinegar makes everything better. Balsamic is for the birds.
ReplyDeleteI like balsamic, but in its place...which is mostly as something to dip bread in, reducing to a sweet syrup of yum, or a salad dressing. To me, it doesn't integrate as well into dishes as red wine vinegar or even apple cider vinegar.
ReplyDelete