Bento Box Lunch

I thought yesterday's lunch was lovely tucked into its bento box, although the lighting could have been better for a picture.

Castelvetrano (green) and cerignola (black) olives in the top left corner along with carrot sticks that were picked the day before. A few Marcona almonds and dried apricots in the container to the right, and a bit of hummus in the bottom corner. The remaining container has two mini whole grain pitas and a handful of dried pineapple wedged between.

Whenever I have to do something that involves a lunch, I prefer to pack one over running out to buy a sandwich. Usually the refrigerator holds enough fresh food or leftovers to put something together. I ran this meal through my nutrition analyzer and it received an "A" (and had a HUGE amount of Vitamin A between the carrots and the apricots!). I had a bottle of mint and water in the fridge and I was happy to pour that into a travel bottle. 

Here's the closed box; technically it is DS2's, but I appropriate it as needed. It is from Laptop Lunches. The bottle is one of the many MANY Sigg bottles we had to replace recently.

Moleskine News!

In a fun day of shopping with DD and, for part of the day, with DS2, we managed to buy a lot of birthday presents for June people.  I can't put up pictures because some of those June Birthday People read this blog, but I can, however, share the excitement of a new line of Moleskine journals - "Passions" journals. I bought a "Recipe" journal today - and it has stickers!

AND, for all you Moleskine fans, have you been to their website?? You can use templates to download and print extra pages, import your calendar and print it out to use in your Moleskine, or even...wait for it...design your own pages - with images - and print. 

Customize your Moleskine. Print extra pages. I can hardly stand it.

Spring Minestrone

As I was flipping through Moosewood's "Daily Special" cookbook the other day, I realized that I have marked a ridiculous number of pages without trying the recipes, so I tested two of them a few days ago. French Barley Salad which is, alas, not pictured, was a delicious mix of barley, yellow bell pepper, carrot, mushroom, green beans, and walnuts tossed with a lemon vinaigrette. Lovely, and I'll make it again. The Spring Minestrone is a delicious and healthful clear soup that I will make variations of this summer.

It started with a homemade broth that included some of the trimmings from the barley salad - green beans, mushrooms - and my standard onion, garlic, celery, peppercorns, carrots, herbs, cloves, potato, and whatever else needs to be used up. Actually the soup started much earlier when I soaked a pot of white beans, which I prefer over canned if there is time.

I boiled the beans for two minutes then covered and soaked them for just over an hour. They were tender, but not done. After adding salt and pepper they probably simmered for about 30 minutes before I took them off the heat. 

While the broth simmered I prepped the soup ingredients:

 Frozen peas, salt/pepper/oregano/tarragon, zucchini, onion and garlic, celery, and kale, all waiting to go into the pot. The leeks hadn't looked good at the market, unfortunately, but they would have been nice.

The onions were sauteed for a few minutes before adding the celery and seasonings for their turn. Stock and zucchini, beans, greens and peas were added with a simmer between each. 

A splash of cider vinegar finished each bowl, with a pass of parmesan. Quite easy, light, and good for you!

Finally, it's been a while since a gratuitous picture of Rusty showed up. Here he is visiting my local yarn shop. Yes, he poses. 

Look What I Found

I was digging through a basket of yarn - actually, I was dumping the basket because I wanted to use it - and I found this little baby sweater. 

 I stared at it blankly for many minutes before I remembered it at all. I started it a few years ago while recuperating from surgery, as a charity piece. (In my defense I completed several charity items during that time, and shipped them all off to their respective organizations.) This must have been the last one. I remember that my daughter went out and bought the yarn for me but I don't know which pattern I was using - luckily there isn't much left to do but finish the sleeve and continue adding trim and a button band to the front. I wonder what else is in that closet.

The Next Sweater

DS1 is a sweater kind of guy, which is lucky, since I'm a sweater kind of knitter. I'm starting a new one for him in a light color - a first in his collection of dark browns, blues, greens, and charcoals. The plan for this sweater is to fit it to him along the way, so I will work on bits of it to the point where he is needed, and then wait to see him to check the fit and plan the next step.

This is the yarn, Cascade Ecological Wool,an undyed Peruvian wool that has not been chemically processed. It's a heavy worsted, very smooth yarn with a nice drape and feel. Now let me tell you, that is a huge basket and those skeins are enormous as far as skeins of yarn go - 478 yards. I bought 6 skeins, which is probably enough to clothe a giant, but I'll just return the extra.

The price of receiving a handknit sweater is helping to wind it from the skein. This used to be accomplished by children who sat for many long minutes with their arms extended, yarn draped between their hands, while I wound the yarn into balls. Being intelligent children, they quickly bought me a swift and a winder at the earliest opportunity. 

Here is the wool unbound and held in suspension on the swift. If you are lucky it takes as long to put it on the swift as it took to type this sentence. Every now and then you have a mess, a tangle of yarns that have no intention of unwinding smoothly or even in the same direction. Somewhere close to the swift you have...

...the ball winder. DS1 is the operator here, winding with one hand and keeping the other on the yarn for tension. The goal is a compact ball of yarn that will not collapse into a huge knot or be so tightly wound that the yarn is exhausted from being stretched.

We wound four of the skeins, leaving two intact in case of returns. Since this sweater is being knitted without a pattern I only have a rough idea of how much yarn I'll need, so I'll wind the other skeins if I need them. The wound balls are gorgeous, as always, and very big! There is nothing for scale in this picture but they are large, two-handed, 6-inch diameter, not-going-to-stuff-into-my-purse balls of yarn.

They also, incidentally, pull from the center. As all balls of yarn should.
Finally, here's the beginning. Worked up from the bottom, this is the ribbing at the waist with a few inches of body worked. It looks small but that's because the circular cable is shorter than the circumference of the sweater, to keep the stitches moving along. The pretty stitch marker indicates the beginning of a round of knitting. Once I reached this point in the knitting, I slipped it onto a larger cable so it could be tried on and we could confirm that it is the desired width at the bottom. 

Last night I cast on for a sleeve ribbing and knitted a cuff for DS to try on. It was a 48 stitch ribbing and just a little too loose, so I pulled it and will cast on 44 stitches for a better fit.

Now if only I could just sit down for hours and hours at a stretch and knit....

Graduation and Funeral

A blog post without pictures, for me, is unusual but I will try to be brief.

Yesterday was a study in contrasts for me, and I was constantly aware of it and mentally flipping back and forth between what I was doing with my husband and children, and what another part of my family was doing.

My stepfather, who I love dearly, lost his mother, Concetta, a few days ago. She was 89 and lived a good, healthy life that took her from a village in Italy to Philadelphia. I only saw her sporadically but enjoyed her broad smile and fantastic cooking, and she appreciated that I also cook, and do many things by hand. 

The funeral was held yesterday, which meant my mother and stepfather couldn't attend my daughter's college graduation, and we could not attend the funeral. The two events happened simultaneously and I was vividly aware that while we were assembling at the Dell on campus, my brother and parents were in church. I couldn't help reflecting on Concetta's path as on this day my daughter's feet were placed on hers in a tangible, intentional way. Everything about the ceremony I was attending - the families coming together, the prayers,the processions, the flowers, the sadness of an ending mixed with the hope for a beginning - echoed what was happening a few hours away, and the shadow of a funeral took place in my mind the entire time.

This is not to say that I was distracted by grief or focused on the funeral; I simply could not shake the feeling that I was living in a split screen movie scene. We were the actors on the stage yesterday, and I felt it most powerfully.

Gotta love a good brunch!

The Be Hungry Brunch for eight people, in honor of my Aunt Stella and Uncle Jim visiting from out of state, was a lovely way to spend a Sunday morning cooking and a few hours of the afternoon enjoying the food and guests.

Publishing the menu on my Facebook page was the final straw that brought DD home from school for the day. I think it was the chocolate croissants.

 If you've every "made" mint water, have you found it's the first pitcher to go?

A little slice of the table...

Waffles were made in the room, on the server, which was really handy. 

An interesting cook's note: For the first time, I boiled the potatoes for a few minutes before draining and preparing for roasting. They were quite good and had a very crispy exterior. I'll do that again.

Miso Happy and Knitting Too

I love the UPS man. He is always smiling and happy, and he gives me things. 

Yesterday he gave me two boxes. The first one had an order from South River Miso. While I can buy their miso locally, their website has all their current products and the ones that are, most importantly, soy free. DS2 has a soy allergy and while I have become adept at whipping up a soy-free soy sauce (say that 3 times fast) I thought we'd try their Miso Tamari, Chickpea Miso, and Azuki Miso, all of which are delicious. (The tamari is from chickpea miso.) I also ordered a sample pack including Sweet White, Dandelion Leek, and Three-Year Barley. Yep, Miso happy.

The next box was from Knit Picks, and was a combination of things for me and for DS1SO. (That cracks me up, by the way. She came up with it and it stands for, of course, Dear Son #1's Significant Other.) They make really nice quality circulars with changeable tips in different materials. She needed to replace a pair of Harmony wood tips, which are her tips of choice, and wanted some really small (0 and 1) double pointed needles. I needed extras in my favorite tips (nickel) in sizes 7, 8, and 9 as well as a few more cables. I also ordered a pair of Harmony tips for myself and a pair of acrylic Zephyr tips, just to check them out.

And this is another gratuitous picture of Rusty.

Whew! That was close.

Enough said.

The Olympic Shawl

A friend reminded me some time ago that I still need to post a picture of the Olympic Shawl. I did not finish it during the Olympics as planned but did finish it in time to wear once or twice, and I really like it. 

 I could have arranged this more artistically but in the end my knitterly and crafty friends really want to see the stitches. This display makes no attempt to hide the uncrossed cable that still needs some fixing!

Juicers and Brothers

I stole my brother's juicer. 

Well not really, but I feel kind of guilty about this since I borrowed it months ago and haven't returned it. I don't think he reads my blog anymore, but I'll play it safe and offer my apology for being a bad borrower. I borrowed it because I wanted to check out the whole juicing thing, and since he's a great brother (and handsome too) he offered me his. I'm going to get it back to him right away. (Really handsome.)

This is his juicer, a Moulinex, easy to use, easy to take apart, top-rack dishwasher safe, but still a big old mess to use and clean.  If I ever decide to get one I will rank "ease of cleaning" high on the list, since I'm far more likely to use it if it is. On the plus side, what a boon to the compost bin! Or to the mice who shop at my compost bin!

Interestingly, even though I haven't used it in months, I found myself thinking about a particular juice I made. Over the weekend I bought a variety of fruits & vegetables for juicing and have been experimenting for a few days now. (Sorry Bro, really, I'll give it back.)

I made a cucumber - lemon hydrator, basic enough, which I mixed with water and shared with DS2, who was only so-so on it.  My favorite one, the one I was thinking about, is as follows,

involving fennel, lemon, and green apple.

Yum. 

Worth the mess of cleaning it up. Mostly.

Surprise Spring Bag

I saw this fabric and thought DD would like it....

I made this bag with it. I wanted to mail it (and some chocolate chip cookies) to her at school as a surprise but I went to her campus yesterday for something else and gave it to her in person instead.

I was right - she liked it!

Spring Green

This is a cute bag! I finished it last night and will be carrying it immediately. Love the fabrics and the perfect spring green. 

The bottom of the bag, which you can't see, is the polka dot fabric of the strap. The inside, below, has just one simple pocket and is lined in a lighter fabric so I might actually have a chance of finding what I'm looking for.

 
I like it!

Ingenuity

Too funny, really. Since the carpets have all been cleaned in the bedrooms, DS2 hasn't really "reassembled" his room. I went in to wake him this morning and walked into this contraption, built because his nightstand is not back in its place. 

Telephone charger tied around the headboard.....

 Linked to another bit of wire tied to the ceiling fan pull.....

So that one need only reach out and pull the cords to turn off the light.

There you go - a little bit of ingenuity to get around having to clean your room. Love that boy. Yes, those are Sponge Bob sheets. Never too old for SB.

Signs of spring

Goodbye winter, hello spring!

 Goodbye lovely scarves, see you in the fall.
But hello yards of cotton for summer skirts....

Japanese, above, in a slightly weighty fabric.

Gorgeous Italian woven, front and back. Everything is line drying during this dry, breezy day.

A few of DD's sweaters drying, ready to be stored.

 Houseplants, fully awake!

 Flower seedlings, under the lights.

Finally, farewell to the Olympic Stole, which may or may not be blocked before it goes into storage for the summer. (Ditto on the one or two cables that didn't cross, which now need to be fudged just a little!) I'm looking forward to the fall, since I only wore it once!

Forty Napkins

Although I do not quilt I went to a huge quilt show in Lancaster last week with my friend Eleanor, who is a quilter. I can admire the art and the craft, and let's not forget, fabric is fabric. Notions are notions. Cute bag patterns are cute bag patterns. 

What made me happy was to find a stack of homespun (which means it's the same on both sides of the fabric, as opposed to being printed on one side and having a shadowy wrong side) in colors that weren't in dark browns, reds, and blues. I've needed to restock our "every day" kitchen napkins and haven't been able to find any fabric. Until now:

I loved them. They are perfectly casual and a good quality cotton. Notice, before you think I turned and hemmed 40 casual napkins, that they are serged with a rolled hem.

And look how lovely they are with my shiny red dishes...

I did buy two printed fabrics that will make lovely napkins with the dishes as well, but I might have to back them with a solid.

I cut and serged the Forty Napkins in a few hours, any of you who sew know how really easy that project is. I listened to a Trollope novel while I serged what felt like miles of napkin edges, then seam-sealed and trimmed the threads. Voila. Table linens I don't have to be ashamed of - I have been quite remiss in replacing our existing pile.


There was one vendor with fashion fabrics, all natural fibers, from Italy. To. Die. Boiled wools, linens, amazing shirtings, cashmere, and cashmere vicuna. Cashmere vicuna, which I have never even touched before. At $115 a yard, a bargain compared to pure vicuna, which starts at $1500 a yard. Yes, you read that right. I bought a lovely woven cotton for a skirt. From another vendor I bought a Japanese cotton that I think will make a nice skirt or pair of capris.

I chatted with friendly women throughout the day, Eleanor and I had and enjoyable dinner with two women we met that day, and it was a fun Friday!

Tie Dye Eggs

This was a fun Easter egg project! I was in a little fabric store that sells designer ends, and another customer told me about a way to use the silk tie fabric. They had rolls of tie fabrics for $1 a yard, and since I am not making any ties for DH (!) I bought a few to try this egg thing. The fabric, by the way, is pretty cool - cuts are clearly indicated and the blue one has the designer's label strategically printed so that it will end up on the back of the tie. If I was going to make it into a tie. Not.

However, if you don't have a access to $1 a yard tie fabric, you are supposed to take an old silk tie (or blouse, or whatever) and pick the back apart so you can cut the bottom of the tie off to make a square. It must be 100% silk.

Wrap the egg in a square of tie fabric, printed side facing the egg. Twist-tie it closed.

 Wrap a small square of cotton fabric - old sheet, muslin, whatever you have - around the egg and twist-tie it closed as well.

 Put all the eggs into your egg-boiling pan, add 3 tablespoons of vinegar, bring to a boil, and simmer for 20 minutes. Remove them and allow to cool COMPLETELY before you oh-so-excitedly untwist the ties and open the fabric to reveal...

 Ta da!! You can see that the darker the tie the better, because the color is light. And I see my fold marks, which I might be able to work on if I decide to dye more eggs. However, every small detail from the tie is there. If you like your eggs you can polish them with some cooking oil so they are shiny. 

Happy Easter!

Olive Oil!

Have you been to A Taste of Olive in West Chester, if you are a local? An entire store of olive oils and balsamic vinegars, with a few other specialties as well. That's right. Entire store. Check out the website; it's an education in oil and vinegar. Every one of them is set up for tasting - lovely dispensers with stacks of small tasting cups.

I think it's interesting that on my first and second trips there I chose the same olive oil without realizing it. There are perhaps a dozen filtered and unfiltered EVOOs from all over the world to choose from, and I clearly know what I like: the Italian Leccino. Yesterday, however, I nearly bought an unfiltered Grecian, but decided I didn't yet need another bottle of unflavored. What did I buy? Glad you asked.

 Aren't they lovely?
Lavender Aged Balsamic Vinegar, Modena, Italy
Grapeseed Oil (Which I used sparingly, for a high-heat sear or when I need a no-flavor-at-all oil.)
Persian Lime EVOO, Tunisia
Honey Ginger Aged Balsamic Vinegar, Modena, Italy
Roasted Sesame EVOO, Japan

Both my sons were with me, one willing to taste a few things, one looking forward to tasting everything. DS1 bought a few things to take back to Virginia. His selection:

Aceite Nuevo, California - an unfiltered EVOO
Golden Pineapple Balsamic, Modena, Italy
A jar of Himalayan Salt. Gorgeous color, eh? A strong salt, to my taste.


DS2  really liked the Lavender Balsamic, and he isn't a huge balsamic fan in general. Last night I made a delicious dressing with it and the lime vinegar for a spinach and walnut salad. Delicious.

Good Karma Day

Yesterday was a remarkably busy, productive day. I have been home alone for several days, prevented from participating in an annual family ski trip by a nearly-but-not-quite-healed injury. I have, however, enjoyed my time alone and spent a great deal of it sewing and reading, with just one morning for household projects. Yesterday, however, I had to make up for it with a highly organized list of things to do, wash, cook, return, purchase, and put away.  It was a lovely day and I was humming along, enjoying the day, when increasingly good things started happening:

• As I was paying for a gift for a friend, a strange woman offered me her "secret" scratch-off coupon for 30% off of a total purchase. Nice! I not only used it for the present, but backtracked and did some more shopping in that store.
• As I was paying for shoes - one pair for me, one for DD - at DSW, the woman in front of me handed me her reward coupon, saying she couldn't use it. (I have no idea why; she was buying shoes.) It was for $20 off the purchase. That's right. She basically handed me a twenty! 
• My last stop of the day was at Target, and I went to the service desk because my very favorite handmade, elbow-length, purple gloves disappeared about a month ago, on my last trip to Target. I remembered walking into the store wearing them but walked out without them. I looked for them at the time but they weren't around. Last night I tried again, searching through their collection of lost umbrellas, totes, hats, gloves, and toys. No gloves. Later as I was bagging my purchases into my own cloth bags, I found my gloves stuffed into the bottom of a bag! I was so happy!

I went home and put the groceries and stuff away, grabbed the dog, and went out to buy a lottery ticket. Seriously, wouldn't that be funny?