Runner-up for Queen of the UFO's

And I’m exhausted. Everywhere was more crowded than normal for a Monday and I no longer people well. I did consider putting it of to tomorrow hoping for better roads, but more snow tonite and possibly rain tomorrow. Yikes!

No studio time today, but I have managed to work in a little knitting. For the past couple of years I have been making an effort to work through at least some of my UFO’s. This month I picked up a long abandoned henley style pullover. Not completely sure when I started it, but the pattern was released on Knitty in 2006 and I printed out a copy of the pattern in May of 2008. I know I had to order the yarn from the US, so not sure if I waited to print the pattern until yarn was in hand or I did it before. Either way, I figure sometime end of May to mid-June of 2008. It will be a lovely layering piece when it’s done. Soon hopefully, the body was completely done and since I picked it up again I’ve finished one sleeve and am more than 1/2 way on the second.

Question of The Day:

March 25 - In Sweden it's Waffle Day - are you a fan of waffles and do you own a waffle maker? Have you a favourite recipe?
Yes and yes. I’ve tried several different ones over the years, most recently a Norwegian one. That one was really good! The one that gets the most requests though is the one I have for gingerbread waffles.

Zed

P.S. High today was -7C / 19.4F and it is in fact snowing again.
 

Good, not fantastic, but hey, we’ll take it. So we’re sort of celebrating today. And maybe playing hermit as it’s still snowing and the roads look horrible.

In the morning, I mucked about online and did a few household adminy things. Then I spent the afternoon in the studio (mostly-Thing Two needed some help). Note to self – faux suede/microfibre is not suited to involved patterns with lots of points/darts/shaping. Pressing that stuff is a nightmare.

Thing Two set us up for a celebratory dinner by making tortillas and then spent a whole lot of time cleaning and testing the sewing machine we borrowed from my sibling. We picked it up when we were in the city earlier this week. It’s been sitting collecting dust (and cat hair) since about 2013, so it needed a lot of cleaning! It looks like it’s in decent working order, so Thing Two can now get to work on the quilt they designed. Ahem, I have not volunteered my beloved Bernina for this endeavour. I don’t share well ;D

Oh, and dinner was tacos, yummy.  Also, we opened the bottle of wine we’d been saving. Usually we’d have beer with tacos, but eh, we had wine and no inclination to go out to get said beer.

Question of The Day:

March 22 - World Water Day - a day to remember that not everyone has access to clean, safe water. Has the water to your home ever been cut off?
Yep, multiple times. Plumbing issues are a PITA. So are renovations. But those were situations where we had (some) control over when and how long. One summer, due to water main replacement/repairs, we did have the city shut off the water to our entire street but we were warned ahead of time and it was only for one day. My parents lived in an older area and similar work went on for weeks. At one point they were trucking water into the neighbourhood.

March 21 - National French Bread Day - the BBC Maestro website identifies 10 types of French bread - which one is your favourite?
Huh, I don’t recognize most of those types. Here we get baguettes and “french” bread which doesn’t really resemble anything described in that list. Generally, we opt for baguettes.

Zed

P.S. More snow today and -6C / 21.2F for the high. Snow is to continue through the weekend. Gonna stay home!

Today. Our day spent in the city is always hard work, that requires a lot of standing (usually on hard surfaces) and my poor body, especially my feet, does not want! But, eh, it is what it is.

However it did mean I spent less time in the studio today than I might have. My next few steps require a lot of standing, of course. I did what I could manage today and set myself up to jump right in to things tomorrow. I did let myself get a bit sidetracked by starting the project journal entry for this. I can draw/trace and colour while sitting down!

Question of The Day:
February 17 - Today is the beginning of Real Bread Week - have you ever made your own bread?

Yes I have, completely by hand and also with a bread machine. I’ve also made doughnuts, cinnamon buns and other fun yeast based things. In the last few years, Thing Two has taken on the bread making duties and generally makes a couple of loaves a week via the bread machine. The repertoire has expanded out to pizza shells, naan and even bagels.

Zed

P.S. Warm, relatively speaking (+2C / 35.6F), today and the snow is melting off the roof. I can hear water running in the gutters.

Not my favourite wake up call. At least it means I don’t have to drag myself out to shovel!

Late lunch for me today as there was someone in the kitchen all morning. I’m not mad about it though, as the result was an apple strudel for dessert. Yummy!

I’m planning several hours in the studio this afternoon. I’ve lined up 2 new sewing projects. One is already partially cut out (the lining) so I think I’ll put that together today. Then if I have time I'll set up to cut out the rest of it, as well as all of the second project tomorrow.

thefridayfive 

1. At what age did you discover you had a favorite color?
Hmm, about 4 or 5, I think.

2. What type (genre) of film do you prefer to see in a theater versus one you'd watch at home?
I rarely watch films in a theater. I guess I’d prefer to see the big spectacle films with lots of special effects on the big screen, but I don’t mind watching them at home either. Stuff that’s likely to make me cry~that I wanna watch at home!

3. What's your oldest object or item since childhood?
A stuffed black poodle toy, ‘twas a first birthday gift from an Aunt and Uncle.

4. In what book would you insert yourself as a side character or friend to the protagonist?
All of them? Oh, okay, I wanted to be friends with Anne of Green Gables.

5. What's your favorite shape or type of cloud?
The Chinook Arch. Means warmer weather soon (just have to live through the wind first).


Question of The Day:
February 9 - National Pizza Day. Have you ever made one from scratch - what are your favourite toppings?

Yes I have, though these days it’s usually Thing Two doing the cooking. My all time favourite pizza is Hawaiian – ham and pineapple. As an aside, Hawaiian pizza is actually a Canadian invention.

My second favourite is Vegie. This one is variable, depending on what we have in terms of suitable vegetables. There’s always thin onion slices and big slices of fresh tomato, then some combination of spinach, mushrooms, red/yellow bell peppers (never green-ick!) or black olive slices. We’ve also used fresh basil and feta once or twice.

Zed

A good day to have a warm, tasty and filling brunch. I made what the recipe called a “Dutch Apple Pannenkoeken”. A brief research dive let me know the recipe I used was more of a “Dutch Baby”. It’s an oven baked pancake that can be filled or not. It puffs up, sort of like a souffle, in the oven and if there is filling the sides puff up around it creating a pie(ish) look and you cut and serve it in wedges.

Pannenkoek on the other hand is more like a crepe and it is generally rolled up around the filling (either by the cook or by the diner). There is a pretty well known Pannenkoek restaurant in the city and their menu has some interesting filling options!

That said, along with sausages it did fit the bill for brunch. Yum!

It does mean I’m getting a later start to my day, I don’t often cook like that and forgot how long it would take me to slice and peel several apples. Still, I will be able to get some time in the studio before I completely lose what little light there is today.

Question of The Day:
February 4 - It's British Yorkshire Pudding Day. Have you ever had Yorkshire puddings and have you ever made them?

I’ve had them, but I don’t like ‘em. Gasp! So, no I’ve never made one.

Zed

P.S. High today is -4C / 24.8F and there is no discernible horizon as the fresh snow is blending into the completely overcast sky.

Almost didn’t bother to post. Decided that might set a tone for the month I didn’t want to get into. So here we are.

Today’s high was 13 C / 55.4F and sunny. Which was a good thing because there was an incident in the oven with seasoned butter than necessitated opening everything, including the doors, to air out the house!

Question of The Day:
February 1- Dark chocolate is now considered to have significant benefits for your good gut bacteria and is an excellent source of fibre and antioxidants. But you must eat around 20 g (0.7 oz) of chocolate containing at least 70% cocoa daily to get these benefits - do you like very dark chocolate?

Yes, yes I do. In small amounts though. A little goes a long way!

Zed

Out today. We have a pickup at Food Rescue later this morning and then after lunch we need a quick trip to the grocery store. We’ve also decided, since we are out, we’ll make a trip to the library. It’s been a while since we did more than a quick stop to drop off or pick up items.

This does mean I probably won’t get any studio time today. The tee shirts are in the state they where when I quit on Saturday. I did get studio time yesterday, but I got distracted by the research project I started on Sunday. I may be avoiding dealing with that stupid fabric. Tomorrow for sure!

Question of The Day:
January 30 - It's croissant day - do you prefer sweet, savoury, plain or would you rather not eat them at all?

No preference, I’ll take them all, TYVM!

Zed

P.S. It’s +8C / 46.4F at 8:30 am. High is expected to be +9C / 48.2F, but it’s windy. Gusts are up to 26 km/hr (about 16.16 miles/hr) so not horrible, but noticeable.

Memes today.

thefridayfive 

1. Do you cook regularly or does someone else cook for you?
I do some cooking, but not like I used to. Thing Two has taken over the bulk of the actual cooking these days.

2. Which are you better at making: sweet or savory foods?
I used to be excellent at both, but am out of practice. Probably best at savoury now.

3. If you had to work as a chef in a restaurant of your choice, which restaurant would best complement your current culinary skills?
Gah! I would hate, hate, hate to work in a restaurant. If I had to, probably a soup/sandwich shop as that’s what I seem to specialize in.

4. What is a cooking tip that you know, but other people generally aren’t aware of?
Huh, this one is hard. I know what I know, but not sure what others know. Guess the best tip is that it’s okay to deviate from a recipe and to experiment. Some of our most frequently made dishes are either totally made up or have deviated from the original recipe so much they aren’t recognizable.

5. Do you have a recipe you would like to share?
This one is a staple for us at Christmas. We didn’t get to have it this year because we could not find coloured marshmallows. It’s just not the same with plain ones.

Confetti:

1/2 cup peanut butter (smooth)
1/4 cup margarine (or butter, but we’ve always used margarine)
6 oz / 28.35g butterscotch, semi-sweet OR milk chocolate chips
1 bag of coloured mini marshmallows (size available may vary, see note at end)

1. Melt the peanut butter and margarine together in a large pot (you need to allow room for the marshmallows) Use medium low to low heat.
2. Add whichever flavour of chips you’ve chosen. Stir until all have melted.
3. Remove from heat and let cool. Do not refrigerate at this point. It needs to be cool enough the marshmallows won’t melt, but not so cool the mixture hardens. If the mixture has begun to set, warm it up again slightly.
4. While this is cooling, line a 9 x 9in pan with wax paper.
5. Add marshmallows and stir to coat.
6. Pack into prepared pan and refrigerate. Cut when set.

Makes 36 squares

Note: This is an older recipe and the size of bags of marshmallows has changed since. We now only find 400g / 14.11oz bags and a whole bag is too much, so we use about 3/4 of the bag. We mix in a little over half and then add more a bit at a time until everything is coated well.

Question of The Day:

January 26 - International Customs Day - have you ever been stopped at Customs when travelling?

Once, when we were small and the family took long driving trips. We were stopped by US customs for an inspection, but upon seeing the mess 3 kids had made of the back of the station wagon we were in (back before seat belt laws) they changed their minds and waved us on.

Zed

P.S. High for  today is +5C / 41F and we hit that by about 1pm. Could possibly go higher, but it's getting cloudy, so maybe not.

Yesterday. It was very long, with a lot of really hard work. And I was right about driving home in the dark. We didn’t even leave the city before sunset, so very dark (and occasionally very slippery) the whole way home.

Going to be a very quiet day today while we recover. I’m pretty stiff and sore, so giving any studio time a pass. Hopefully I’ll be up to some tomorrow, but it might be Monday. I will get in some knitting today. I have a new test knit coming up in February and I want to start swatching to prepare for it.

Question of The Day:

January 20 - What is your favourite cheese on Cheese Lovers Day?
I have to pick one? Nope, no can do! I want a blend of Cheddar and Monterey Jack on my nachos, the good cream cheese on my bagels, stringy/melty mozzarella on pizza......! I do have a bit of a preference for a good smoked Gouda for snacking, but only slight.

Zed

But in spite of it, did get the 2^nd t-shirt cut out and finished the knitting on another UFO! Just have to weave in the ends today and I’ll have a(nother) nice warm cardigan.

The interruptions proved to be quite useful too. We unearthed the rotary cutter (with extra blades) I’ve been looking for since our move almost 7 years ago!!!! Also re-discovered a bunch of great yarns including some vintage stuff I’d forgotten Mom had passed down to me. Speaking of passing stuff down, we found a bin with a huge lot of acrylic I was unlikely to use any time soon, so Thing Two (who can’t wear or work with wool) happily took that.

Question of The Day:

January 18 - Do you like Chinese food - what would your ideal meal consist of and would you eat in a restaurant, get a takeout/delivery or cook your own?

I do, though if given an option in terms of Asian cuisines, I’d go with either Vietnamese or Thai. These days we pretty much never eat out or order in, so it’s all home made “inspired” options. Neither of us is well versed enough in any of these cuisines to claim any sort of authenticity. Pre-pannini Dad used to come down for meetings and such at least once a month and we’d always go to the local Chinese buffet for lunch. Pretty tasty and filling, but very Westernized, it reminded me of every small town Chinese diner I ate in as a kid. Dumplings, Won Ton soup, Singapore noodles, mixed vegetables, Sweet and Sour Chicken (with it’s totally not natural sauce colour) and Ginger Beef. Okay, the ginger beef is a more recent addition, it was developed in Calgary sometime in the '70's, but has become much more wide spread since.

Zed