First Bounty

3 Roma tomatoes from the garden.


This is a Vernon Ware platter that I picked up for $3 at Out of the Closet, a local thrift store, last week. I love retro dishes with turquoise blue on them.

Tyler, my nephew, came over on Saturday. We went to the movies and saw Kung Fu Panda. I really enjoyed the story and the animation. It was one of the best animated movies I have seen in a long time. The movie was a great escape from the heat this weekend too! Later Ty and the hubby went into pizza production. They made whole wheat pizza dough & shredded up the mozzarella and parmesan and threw some pies. We used the fresh tomatoes from the garden and those pizzas were elevated to a whole new level. The tomatoes were sweet and juicy. It was like having candy on top of my pizza. Ty puts Ranch dressing on his pizza. Where do kids get this stuff? Joe found it profane. He likes to put on airs and forgets how funny kids are because they are kids!

Later we watched some TV with Bodhi.

On Sunday I had some sort of attack. Not as bad as Carla's attack, but an attack none the less. It started with some cramping during yoga class and then by the time I got home I was achy all over. After my hot shower I crawled under a blanket with the chills while the temperature soared outside. It was too hot to have the chills. I was under the weather as they say. I did manage to do some knitting on my February Lady Sweater.


But then I discovered that I dropped a stitch.

DANG! I was too sick to try and figure it out. I am pretty good at picking up the stitch when it's stockinette but not so good with the garter and I said phooey until later.

Feeling better today & ready to fix my stitch!

Party Train to February

The famous Zimmerman February Baby Sweater.
This is a darned tootin' cute sweater.



This one is knit in Artyarns Supermerino (2.5 skeins) in a color called Monet's Garden (501) on size 7 needles.



I love the buttons. They are from Michael Levine's, which I bought on one of many excursions with Carla. They look like high gloss Skittles. Just perfect hard candy buttons. They really make the sweater. Funny how buttons have the magic power to transform a garment. This sweater was originally made with Kiss in mind, when she was just a tadpole really. But now what is a baby going to do with a wool sweater in the sweltering heat of Texas? Going to have to play with some cool, light and breathable cotton for those cute god babies of mine.

Now the current rage is the February Lady Sweater. Everyone is casting on...Ellen & Carla & me too.



This is the yarn I will be using. It's Takhi Donegal Tweed in wine. I picked up 10 skeins in the Black Sheep Knittery blowout. I was contemplating what I was going to buy when Carla asked me what was in my stash. Holy Cow...a pile of tweedy delicious yarn at my disposal! I have wound the yarn into nice yarn cakes and I cast on last night at SnB. I am on the party train to February.

Tag I'm it

This is the first time I have been tagged for a meme. Ellen got me.

Here are the rules: The rules of the game get posted at the beginning. Each player answers the questions about themselves. At the end of the post, the player then tags 5 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know they’ve been tagged and asking them to read your blog. Let the person who tagged you know when you’ve posted your answer.


1) What was I doing 10 years ago? Full time grad student & part time front desk at an office. Didn’t know how to knit or crochet. GASP! I know it’s hard to believe. I feel like I have been doing this my whole life.

2) What are 5 things on my to-do list for today? Go to market & office; start abstract; cut fabric for didgeridoo; watch EuroCup Germany v. Portugal

3) Snacks I enjoy: Cookies; ice cream, especially mint chocolate chip; raw almonds; farmer’s market trail mix; chocolate covered goji berries; chips and salsa. This list could get really long, really fast.

4) Things I would do if I were a billionaire: The usual things like pay off debts & send nephew to college. Buy a villa in Umbria with some land and olives trees. Go to culinary school, but which one? Cordon Bleu or CIA? Attend Penland School of Craft. Cook, craft, & do yoga in my artist loft in Umbria. Visitors are welcome.

5) Places I have lived: I am a native Angelena. A year in Las Vegas (fieldwork). Four years in Raleigh, NC.

6) Jobs I have had: hair model for Sebastian (Does anyone remember Cassandra 2000? Did anyone carry a big can of Shaper in their purse?); bartender; casino cocktail server; PBX operator for Nordstrom; retail whore for Benetton & Nordstrom. As a joke I once said I was a fluff girl on my 10-year high school reunion questionnaire. That backfired on me when it was printed in the reunion program. I don’t think it helped that I showed up looking like a big tranny (picture navy blue chiffon dress like Marilyn’s but shorter, platform shoes, Shirley Temple curls, false eyelashes and ultra-tan after a trip to Cuba) and my date was a woman.

7) Friends I want to know more about: We all run with the same she-wolves so come on girls get your howl/meme on. Of course anyone else that would like to share is more than welcome.

This is a picture of my sugar pup, Tank, sleeping with her Bobo.












I love this dog.

Knitter's Block is the new blocking tool on the block. It works really well. I have always been a little afraid of blocking due to lack of space and critters running around. I have been blocking of late and have had great results.



Here are the blocks at work. They fit like puzzle pieces so you can make all kinds of configurations.

This is the Mossy Jacket on the racks. This little sweater is very sweet. It is knit from the top down and has an off center button band. It was a very quick knit.

Oh and a little beret too.


Pattern: Mossy Jacket
Size: 6 months
Yarn: di Vé Teseo orange 28222/ yellow 28221
Needles: 10 & 10 1/2
Buttons: Stash
LOVEd it. Would do it again.

Beret: I made it up.
Would do it again & take better notes.

DIY: Dinner

This past weekend we went down to Carlsbad to visit our friends Michele & Jeff. The boys planned out the menu and had some big things planned like cheese and sausage making. Oh yes, you heard right. This was an eight hour jam session of non-stop kitchen stadium action for one delicious meal.

First up 30-minute mozzarella from the book Home Cheese Making: Recipes for 75 Homemade Cheeses by Ricki Carroll. The hubby ordered the book and a cheese making kit from Wine, Beer & Cheese Making Supplies in Woodland Hills, CA. This is the only place in Los Angeles where you can buy rennet.



The hubby did call the only water buffalo dairy in Southern California and tried to get Buffalo milk but he was unsuccessful in trying to charm the old Italian woman out of a gallon of milk. He had to settle for regular milk.


Joe separating the curds from the whey.

Time to shape the cheese





Three lovely balls of fresh mozzarella.

Now it's time to make some sausage.

Jeff is grinding the meat: pork shoulder.


This is going to be spicy Italian sausage with a blend of pork, chicken, and turkey. Jeff had a special sheet with the careful calculations of herbs and spices. This sausage was made with lots of love.


These are the tasting patties to make sure the spice blend is perfect. These tasty bits were a welcome teaser of things to come.

One cheese isn't enough. It never truly is. Now Joe is making ricotta.






Time to stuff the sausage.

The sausage casing is pretty gross so I didn't take a picture of it. This was pretty labor intensive. The boys were at it for an hour or was it two? There was a lot of sausage to be made.

Meanwhile, I was called upon to make sauce. Michele & I were previously told to get the heck out of the kitchen. Ladies, when does that ever happen?! I LOVE IT! We just have to sample most of the time when these two get together, which we are very happy to do. But now I had a job to do.



Here I am adding some bay leaf to the sauce.

Finally...

the sausage is done! Here are the men and their meat! So proud!

Joe also made bread.

A bendy baguette.


And a beautiful focaccia made with fresh herbs from Jeff's garden.

There was fresh pasta to be made and tasted.

Michele could hardly wait. Fresh pasta...yum!

Eight hours later and dinner is finally ready.

Caprese: Made with Jeff's first of the season tomatoes, basil, homemade mozzarella & Michele's vinaigrette.


Herbed focaccia


Grilled spicy Italian sausage


Rapini (gotta get your greens)


Ravioli filled with ricotta and herbs.

Dinner was sooooo delicious. We ate every morsel on our plates. There was talk of making green tea frozen yogurt for dessert. But after the labor intensive dinner, we all opted for some lounging, snoozing and watching Iron Chef on the couch.

The feasting never ends. Here is breakfast the next morning.

This was a jerk sausage made with pork, chicken, and jerk seasonings. Scrambled eggs with mozzarella topped with fresh tomato and avocado.

I haven't eaten anything since Sunday morning.

The Circus for Breakfast

Well I left town for four days and came home to some animals that have completely lost their manners. I made a little breakfast and was coming around to sit at the dining room table when what do I see.













Tank catching a sunny spot on the table! I admit I was absolutely tickled by this and, instead of chasing her off the table, I took a few snaps and then told her she could sit in the chair.













She thought about it for a moment and tried to give me the "look" but she decided the chair had a bit more sun upon it. This dog takes her tanning very seriously. If she were a human she would be unnaturally orange and have and an oh so Sunset Tan.

Meanwhile...back in the kitchen













Koi is skulking around the countertops! This is a cat that rarely comes out of the bedroom.












I have paused from my breakfast to take more snaps.












Look at the face of innocence and bold defiance. I wonder what else they were up to while I was gone? No good that is for sure.

I went to Texas to celebrate my friend Charissa's birthday.



















Here she is wearing the locket I got her for her birthday. Yes, it has pictures of Cookie & Kiss inside. You thought I went to Texas just to get my hands on those babies, well, that was only half the story. HA! We had a lovely day celebrating her birthday. We went and had a casual gourmet lunch and then had mani/pedis at Pretty Nails. We figured out that I frequent Pretty Nails more than I do any place in LA. Afterwards we grabbed a Jamba Juice and went to Target for some shopping. Later at home we had some friends come over and we had Sundaes to celebrate and to top off her day with a cherry!













Here are some of the more rambunctious guests for Sundaes. Freddy & Robert are twins (they have the same eyes) and Sam is wearing red.

What? You are expecting some cute baby photos?!
Oh all right, just because you asked.













This post was so long I am sooooo sleepy.














Yep, That's all folks!

***Cuteness Alert***

This little Kiss is a complete crack-up. He makes the funniest faces. A ham in the makings. And the snorts, chortles, and grumbles that come out of this kid are hilarious.













Here's a sleeping angel. Unfortunately Cookie has been experiencing some serious tummy upset. She has become a spitting cobra and has some potent back end flatulence. I got to experience some 3-D, coming at you spit up, followed by a serious black cloud of funk, and then once all the badness was gone she had a very sweet nap.

Baby Love

Are these the same babies?

Cookie & Kiss are 12 weeks old this week! Before they had little appleheads and now they have big old Charlie Brown heads. I am talking about big round craniums! They are adorable and snuggly. They used to have baggy knees but they have grown into their pantyhose. Okay gotta go and cuddle up with a baby.