Tag Archives: food

From Soft Ball to Hard Crack

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This photo is from 2010 ... not yesterday!

I got three loads of laundry done yesterday. It’s a bit different here. I always know we’re home in Belgrade when the first load of wash goes up on the line. It’s totally old fashioned or retro or green or whatever you want to call it, but it’s comforting and I love looking out to see the clean clothes flapping in the breeze (or gale) off the lake. Towels were drying in an hour yesterday despite no sun. Everything smells better when it’s been dried outside – the towels are only a bit rougher!

Yesterday was a productive day – may be because the sun actually peeked it’s head out. I made some really yummy toffee with cashews in it (and dark chocolate on it!) Making candy is really a cinch if you can resist touching it when it’s all in the pan. It wasn’t easy the first time I did it but this time, I didn’t mind at all. A good candy thermometer is just about all you need … watch the mercury rise from soft ball to hard crack and then turn off the heat! The candy is yum-ers! If you’d like to get the recipe for the Sea Salt Chocolate Cashew Toffee, visit this wonderful blog … just click HERE and you’ll be magically transported (you may have to search for the recipe, links aren’t working properly, sorry!)! Since I changed a couple of things, you’ll have to know my toffee doesn’t look exactly like this (this is pretty but too “fussy” for me in Maine). I didn’t use sea salt because I used salted cashews. I had no Karo Syrup so I substituted honey. Finally, I used one 13 oz. bag of dark chocolate chips which I spread on top of the hot but starting to set toffee rather than dipping it in melted chocolate. If you let it get warmed up sitting on top of the hardening candy, you can easily spread it around with a knife. Then watch it disappear!

I’m finishing several little side projects.

You’ve already seen the picture of the Senorita Lolita Sweater (the first design for Prima Dogma by Queen Bee Knits). In case you’ve missed it, I’m providing another shot of the first and second iterations here. The first one “placed” in a design contest using Koigu skein-ettes. I am over the top pleased with it! The second, while it is not nearly as special visually, it’s perhaps more special to me in that it means that the pattern is written down and I’m making progress!!!

Senorita Lolita (Copyright 2011 Prima Dogma by Queen Bee Knits

 

I have finished the fingerless mittens … these are a gift for a very special person. The pattern was great to follow and you can find it HERE … I did change just a few little things. I didn’t use the smaller needles to cast on (because I like the wider, looser, mitten cuffs and these climb up your arm), I likewise, didn’t cast off two stitches for the thumb (thought it might be too tight). But I love the yarn I used and they’re really pretty – can’t wait to present them to my sweet girl recipient (ha! thought I’d tell you who they are for, didn’t you?! Ha!) I used some yarn that my daughter gave me for my birthday last summer from KnitPicks. Click HERE to be magically transported … I used the “Enchanted” colorway. Pretty!

I did finish the boulette blanket (and wrote down the free pattern which is posted here in my blog) and it was really warm. Ugly but warm for the baby when he was here visiting!

Ugly but Warm - "Boulette" blanket copyright 2011 Queen Bee Knits

I’m finishing all these little already-on-the-needles projects because I forgot all the patterns that I had intended to knit while we’re back East. They’re all down south. Go figure. Lucky we’ve got an event to attend and are flying back there for a long weekend so I can get the patterns and continue my knitting progress.

In the meantime, I have a cowl on the needles and the second design for the Prima Dogma line. Only “problem” is that with all our gray and rainy weather, this designer doesn’t feel a lot like designing.

I have a third pair of Birthday Party socks (thanks to my sister Kathy for the name!) on the needles, too. The first pair was a gift to Kathy for her birthday. The second pair is for sale in my Etsy shop. You can click HERE if you’d like to visit my shop. (Thank you, BTW, for supporting the talented artisans on Etsy.com … if you’ve never visited the site, it’s really quite amazing.)

So, I’m going to go out and brave the wind off the lake and the drizzly rain … just as soon as I have a cup of tea!

Gone knitting!

 

 

Crazy Socks … Northward Ho!

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An uneventful trip north this year. Orlando to Atlanta to Cincinnati to Belgrade!

Day 1- Atlanta and a brief overnight visit with the best “Roomie” in the world, my friend Carrie. She’s about the only brave soul who would have us visit with our four-legged brood. And especially with the crazy old Cushingoid cocker who is like having seventeen puppies all rolled into one – we’re never sure if he’s housebroken or if he’ll eat the paintings off the wall.

Day 2 – Cincinnati and a 21st Birthday dinner with my son, my ex-husband and his boyfriend. Long story short, my ex had picked the dinner spot and it was obscenely expensive and not the most wonderful food ever. Over $500 for five and we only had a glass of wine and my ex’s boyfriend doesn’t drink. The plus side was, however, that I got to spend a few hours with my son. He is a very special kid and I was so happy to see him.

Day 3 – Rochester, NY which is on the way to Maine and there’s nothing special there. It was so windy, however, that the Hobie Cat was blowing away (and the sail wasn’t even up!)

trying to relaxThis is a photo from the back seat on day 4 on the way to Marblehead, MA and my youngest brother and his family. Too bad my little boy isn’t getting relaxed in the back seat! He does make us laugh with his antics. We love to visit my brother and his family. My three nephews are growing taller and handsomer every time we see them. Ninth grade, sixth grade and fifth grade this year and they’re all involved in various sports, etc. Ski and snowboarding season is now over so it’s time for track and baseball. Max (our Cocker) got bitten by Caspian (my brother’s German shepherd) who he fought for a ball but still a fun albeit brief visit.

in the bag?One more photo from day 5 when we stopped at LL Bean this is what I found in the back seat. My little boy, again, this time he’s chosen to sit in my computer bag instead of the seat … go figure. We had to stop in Freeport to get a warm jacket (we also found a jacket for poor old Max who’s losing his hair and shivers or shakes all the time, a couple of gifts for later this summer, and I found a great corduroy shirt that I’ve coveted … and it was on sale! Woo HOO!) After a quick lunch, on to Belgrade and “opening camp”. It’s a lot of work but it seemed like more this year. By the time we got the first floor of the house all wiped down and disinfected and swept out (not too much mouse evidence this year and no skulls), the furniture unwrapped, sopped up the puddle on the bed from the leaking master bedroom roof, and then unpacked the car and put away the groceries, we were beat! Thank God for the good old electric blanket. We climbed into bed and slept like babies and I didn’t get up until nearly 8 am which is unusual because we have no window coverings on the windows and it gets light early here! I did hear the loons calling in the middle of the night but it’s such a sweet sound, I smiled and rolled over.

I had a lot of fun knitting a second pair of stash-busting crazy socks on the way up here. They’re really cute. The first pair went to my sister, Kathy, for her birthday. This pair will likely be a gift for some lucky soul, too. I think they’re fun and they certainly are colorful! The best news is that I still have a ton more bits and pieces of sock yarn to make a few more pairs.

Another 1976 miles of road trip adventure … (ha! That was the year Ned and I first started dating. Coincidence? Maybe. Maybe not! Life is good!

 

Breakfast

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a typical breakfast at home ...This photo is a breakfast I was presented with here at home … lucky me, right?

As you may or may not have read, we’re remodeling a house and it’s kitchen time. So, this morning when we found out that the dry wall guys were not coming today to mud and tape, we decided to go out to breakfast at a new place (well, new to us!) down the street – Pickles NY Deli.

We walked in and were greeted nicely and offered one of three options at the front desk … ham and egg or bacon and egg sandwich or bagel. We were handed a couple of coffee cups (paper) and “allowed” to serve ourselves. Our sandwiches were brought to our table by the same woman who took our order but with latex-gloved hands (not very appealing to a customer in a restaurant!) N’s ham and egg had deli-sliced (thin, thin, thin!) ham and my bacon and egg sandwich had the thinnest bacon (I’m guessing microwaved) I’ve ever seen. Both had orange (American?) cheese. Ya know, you’re open for breakfast and I’m wondering why… it doesn’t seem that  there was commitment to serving customers beyond having unlocked the doors and because, maybe, they had to be there to make food for a catering event.

We probably won’t go back – and you’re in our neighborhood!

A few other nails in the coffin: no table service (although lunch appears to be different, waiter and waitress came in as we ate), coffee refills were offered by the aforementioned waiter with an untucked shirt, waitress/order taker took one glove off to ring up the cash register (and appeared to be thinking of putting them back on!) and she argued with me when I said the coffee pump/dispenser was empty. I was right. She complained about having had to brew coffee all morning due to a couple of cater-outs … I’d say in this economy, that’s a nice problem to have! They were out of creamers and she offered us a gallon jug (mostly empty) of milk with which we could lighten our coffee. Lame.

Do we accept mediocrity too readily? If my customer service is ever that poor, I sure hope someone says something to me to knock me out of my reverie! Thank goodness for places like First Watch where it’s consistently consistent – fresh, friendly and dependable is a really good thing.

Passion … fruit?

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My baby RIPE Pineapple

I love to “cook” (translation – bake) and wanted to share a few recipes with you that are my favorites in this blog. While this isn’t actually a baking recipe, it’s one of my favorites!

Pineapple-infused Vodka

1 fresh, ripe pineapple
1 bottle cheap (or pricey) vodka

Peel and slice the pineapple and place the good stuff in a large plastic or glass container with a lid. Open the vodka bottle and pour the contents over the pineapple. Put the lid on the bottle and stash it in the refrigerator for no less than two weeks. Strain vodka, toss out the pineapple (taste it, it’s nasty now!) and keep refrigerated.

(I love this over ice, equal parts of pineapple vodka and pomegranate juice with a wedge of lime, squeezed.)

LOL!  … guess my priorities are enjoyment.

Lesson 1: I like to have fun … a cold beverage is lovely at the end of the day and I do enjoy one  … or two.
I am a (mostly) happy person and embrace life with an open heart and an open mind … and am truly blessed.

PS – the little pineapple grew in a pot at our front door. Right before we were to leave on vacation, we picked it and ate it. It was good. Thank you pineapple!