Two Black Sheep

Chicken Dance

For the past couple of weeks, I've been trying out different slow cooker books.   I love the idea of a Crock-Pot.  I love how your house smells like someone has been cooking for hours while you were busy at the office.  I love how you only have one pot to clean when you've finished dinner.  But what I hate about a Crock-Pot wins every time I enter this fantasy.  In the past, everything I dump into it comes out tasting like pot roast.  Chicken with raisin.  Pot Roast with raisins.  Beef fajitas.  Pot Roast fajitas.  Soups & Chilies usually don't, but I don't feel like eating soup every night for dinner.

During the past couple months with my road schedule, I became determined to make my Crock-Pot work.  It was going to be my bitch if it killed me.  I'm happy to say, she's my bitch!  After a couple of duds from the library, "Make it Fast, Cook it Slow" finally came in on off my reserve list.  It looked promising.  Lots of different dishes that didn't scream "Crock Pot Pot Roaster!"  When I flipped to Buffalo Chicken Lasagna, I had to try it.  First, I can't go vegetarian because of my love of chicken wings.  It's true.  Second, there's no way it could taste like Pot Roast.  I've said this before & the Crock Pot proved me wrong.  I was almost begging for the Frank's sauce to taste like Roast.  The day came & I realized my current Pot was too small.  I know believe that its size is the reason why a couple of my dishes failed in the past.  With determination bubbling, I ran to Target & found a 5.5 quart oval pot.  I got home just in time for the 4 hour cooking time.  I began to layer & said a prayer.

I wish that I could show you a picture of the finished dish, but I can't.  It was so good that it's gone.  SK told me that night that he couldn't wait to eat it for breakfast.  Which he did.  Not a single hint of Pot Roast.  Since the recipe was so yummy, I decided to try another from the book.  Soup.  Soup always turns out ok in a Crock Pot.  "Ok" is key though.  Nothing I'd rave about.  Just soup.  I made the Refried Black Bean soup for dinner.  Again, our socks were blown off!  How can she do it?!  SK's dilemma at lunch was how to eat soup & lasagna in one sitting.  He did it & I was jealous.

I usually get pissy when a blogger puts out a book & you can find all the recipes on their site.  I tip my hat to Stephanie O'Dea.  SK told me the night of Buffalo Chicken Lasagna, "You will have that book for Christmas." 

L

Big Legged Mommas are Back in the Style

Oh good god, we've got cable!  I think that if I had to miss The Office or 30 Rock, I may have lost it.  No power for almost a week, I can deal.  No Jim & this city would have had a problem.

I think that everyone will eventually have to go through an extended power outage.  We just got one sooner. So how did the Great Blow of '08 prepare us for the next black out? I've put together a list of tips & tricks.

If your child's daycare is closed for 2 days, give them plenty of new toys.  Gus was trying to lure Tuck into the basket by placing a book in the bottom.  I'm not sure what he would have done if Tuck had taken the bait.  We didn't get that far because Gus decided to wrestle with him.

Always purchase the large box of wine, you never know when a freak hurricane will hit.  I don't know why it should be a box.  I think it just sounds cooler when you're sitting in the dark.

When finding a book to read during a freak hurricane, don't pick a book about climate change.  While I really enjoy this book, it's not an appropriate book to read at this time.  But who kept reading it for the first 3 days?  Yep. 

If you choose to ignore the above rule, look at the Box of Wine rule.  If not by the fourth day, you'll be in the basement building a fabulous new bunker for your family.  That's not something to do without a couple glasses of Merlot.

When your husband (and your own sanity) kicks in & forces you to chuck the Climate Change book, don't read a cookbook. You'll only be attracted to recipes that start with "Preheat the oven to 400 degrees."  Thankfully, I found the new Mason-Dixon book the day after we lost power.  Ann & Kay saved me.  I also got The Gentle Art of Domesticity from my library the day before we lost power.  It was a nice book to look at, but no power equals no pretty domestic duties.

Never ever try to knit lace by the freakish glow of a halogen bulb.  Cleite didn't see much action during my week vacation from power.  I did rip Tuck's Trellis & started a knit that doesn't require light.  A nice little EZ sweater for the holidays.  Like Kay & Ann, it saved me.

Find places that don't need power & let your kid show you the way.  Gus loves maps, especially zoo maps.  He'd pull it out & show us the places we'd been & where we needed to go.  edit to rule: Never go to the zoo if your son got 4 hours of sleep.  Eventually that map will be crumpled up & thrown in the trash by your son.  Then you'll have to deal with a melt-down in front of the tigers because "My Map" is in the trash.

When the power goes out & you have a load of wet towels in the washer & dryer, go to the laundry mat immediately! If you ignore this rule for 3 days, enjoy the sounds of your husband dry heaving.  This is another reason why I could not block Amanda.  She'll get done today!

When you have no tv & only AM radio, use your kids for entertainment.  Gus & I watched Tuck toss his pacifier out of his crib.  Gus would give it to him & tell him "Don't do it again Tuck!"  When he'd toss it again, we'd belly laughed for 15 minutes.  And when Gus' teachers asked the kids if they had lights, Gus responded "Yeah we got lights, they're just outta power."  Good times, but I'm ready for some quality tv laughs.

When cleaning the fridge, go back to the Box of Wine.  The smell & sight of dried breast-milk was not an enjoyable way to spend a Monday.  At least the Great Blow forced us to get rid of those 3 year-old salad dressings.

It's so nice to be back.  I missed the Internet.  Ava & I were trying to figure out how to tell if eggs were bad.  She says "I'd tell you to go online, but that'd be mean."  I had to tell her that I actually went into the office before I realized that it wasn't going to work.

L

p.s.  Of course, I'd try to see if the new Knitty was up from my Blackberry.  Why make myself suffer?  When all of the schools were open, I hit the library.  I'm thinking of making L'illo in pink for my newest niece.  Tatiana made me smile at the library's computer dock.  Probably will never make them, but I love 'em.

Blow the Man Down

Finally a FO!  This was a truly fast and dirty project that I enjoyed.  I love twisted knit stitches.  I think that it's because I really can't see a difference until a few rows have been completed.  There's a section in the pattern where you do a turning row.  That's where you see the difference between a sad and boring knit stitch and a sexy little twisted number.  The one thing about twisted stitches that irks me is how they don't like the other stitches.  Call them snobbish.  They seem to sit a little farther from the purl stitches which makes the rib not so tight.  SK has already asked for the same cap and I'll probably make one for myself before winter hits.  For details, click on the picture.

Currently, it's all baby knits around our house.  I have two friends that have announced their pregnancies, and I'm gathering steam for some baby blankets.  One of the friends is on Baby #2 and already is a the proud owner of the Moderne Log Cabin from MDK.   I really liked this pattern and am thinking about making it again.  I just need to decide if I should knit her the same blanket out of new colors or do a different pattern for Baby #2.  I'm also thinking about starting Curve of Pursuit.  But do I have it in me to complete that one?  It seems like I'd need lots of cables and brush off my short-row skills.  I've got to start making decisions and quick.

Last week, we got some "pickles" from our CSA.  I had no idea what to do with these suckers.  I've never canned anything in my life.  I remember our Grandma's shelves full of jarred veggies.  I think that we even had some of her veggies in our basement for years past their prime.  I really didn't want these pickles to go bad, but what to do?  If I can knit queen sized blankets, I can water-bath something.  Dammit, I can can!  I had to buy the jars and a large enough pot to cover those jars.  I used this recipe and got to work.  After fumbling around trying to get the jar out of the boiling water with tongs, I realized that I should have bought the canning tongs.  I'm lucky that I didn't burn my toes with all the water flying out of the pot.  I pressed the center of the lid down and didn't feel it move, so according to websites I processed it correctly.  Now we'll have to wait 2 weeks to try the pickles.  I'll bring them home for the wedding.  I bet they'd be delicious in Bloody Mary's.

Lola

Pocketful of Sunshine

There's no good excuse for why this is not a knit heavy post.  Both of us have made significant progress on our items, especially Ava.  But I'm in a slumpy mood.  It usually happens when Ava leaves.  I mean, how can a girl get excited to drive to Cincinnati after spending 3.5 days with her sister?  I've also put a pretty firm "No News" policy in place.  Not that I don't care, but I need a break from natural disasters, food shortages, soaring gas prices, & campaign promises.  It really is starting to chip away at my "cheery" attitude.

Here are a couple of our favorites from Ava's visit.  I'll give you some links, because we firmly believe that you'll add them to your List as well.  And if you don't, SHAME on you.

Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day:  Holy shit this an excellent book!  I've seen it floating around the Blog World, but I love my bread machine.  I almost felt like I'd be cheating on her if I gave into temptation.  Since our library had a copy, I requested it.  The first batch didn't work.  I was halving the recipe and I added the whole amount of water.  I tried to scoop it out, but that was a ridiculous attempt.  The next time I made it while the Boys were awake.  I was knuckle deep into the sticky dough when SK asked what I was doing.  "Just leave me alone for a couple more minutes," I begged.  An hour an half later, SK told me it was worth all the mess.  Best part was that I had another 3 loaves in the fridge.  Ava had some for breakfast and told me that she pays a lot for bread that taste this good.  We made an olive loaf for Mother's Day & she wanted to watch the process because she couldn't believe it was that easy.  Mix, rest and bake.  That easy and beyond delicious.  I've only made the basic loaf, but today I'm going to try out the Light Wheat recipe.  I'll post results.

Saint Bridget's Porter: I grabbed this for two reason: the chick on the box and the name.  We wanted Other Sister with us in spirit.  On Monday, we popped the caps & experienced true beer love.  Ava took a sip and said, "Mmm, chocolaty."  I took a sip and said, "Mmm, coffee."   I'm horrible at tasting the hints and undertones of a beer.  I'll read the bottles and search for lemons and oranges, but I usually take the brewer's word.  This time it was really easy to spot those ingredients.  I'll look for this beer again and again.

Honey Roasted Peanut Butter at Whole Foods:  This is a true treat!  I only get this when Ava comes to town.  For as long as I can remember, she's always eaten peanut butter from the jar.  I enjoy peanut butter, but not like she does.  Enter this fresh peanut butter.  Smooth, delicious, heavenly, gotta-be-like-heroin.

Sea-Salt Brownies from Trader Joe's:  The angels start to sing when the top is popped on this babies.   SK saw these and turned his nose up.  We both said, "More for us."  And we finished them in record time.  Want a good recipe?  Vanilla ice cream topped with the honey roasted peanut butter and cram the bowl full of Sea-Salt brownies.

Do some searching and find these goodies.  You won't be upset.  If you are, email us and we'll take the left-overs off your hands.

Lola

Barracuda

Dear Ava,

Remember when I told you that I wasn't going to watch Idol Gives Back?  Guess who got sucked in?  Guess who sat on the couch crying, feeling sorry, feeling grateful, pissed off & angry?  For the past two years, I've had mixed feelings on this show.  On one hand, I applaud them for showing a new & younger audience the atrocities that are ongoing in our world.  But on the other hand,  I'd like to see how much Idol actually gives back.  How much money do they put in their bank account for the Give Back show?   And on a purely selfish stance, I can't sit and watch 2 hours of suffering children.  I don't care if Brad Pitt is going to stop by, it hurts by the end of the night.  This whole week has felt like we've been waiting for an enormous shoe to drop.  It started on Sunday while I was reading the paper.  I swear that our paper was completely filled with Dooms-Day info.  How to pay for your climbing energy cost.  More people are buying their clothes at thrift stores because they can't afford food let alone brand new clothes.  People are taking 2 jobs to build up a cushion for when their job lays them off.  I'm learning to live in the moment more often, but people are making it hard.  How did I combat my depression at 10 p.m. last night?  A little bit of our guilty pleasure always helps me sleep at night.

This summer we joined a CSA with another couple.  Starting May 23, we'll be able to pick from some yummy local veggies.  I've made 2 of the Saturday Market bags.  I struggled with the stitch pattern which made it a horrible project.  I powered through both bags, but swore I wouldn't use that pattern again.  Because we're in the Earth cycle of Project Spectrum, I wanted to make a reusable bag for our friends.  I needed to find a new string bag.  There are tons of crochet patterns & I'll attempt one soon, but it isn't the time.  I stumbled on this pattern, so I grabbed my needles.  I loved the easy pattern & the 2 handles.  I didn't realize until the very end that the handles are actually large buttonholes.  They make it a little difficult to put on your shoulder.  I only knit the bag for 10 inches instead of 15 inches because I can't stand when my veggies are slapping my knees.  The yarn is Peaches & Creme 213 Sour Green Apple that I first saw on Amy's blog.  These cones are wonderful.  There's so much yarn & it works well for a number of projects.  Bags & towels for everyone!  I plan on trying out these patterns (ravelry link) to add to our shopping bag collection.  More string bags means less plastic bags in our house.  Since we've been watching our material consumption, I have noticed a definite decrease in plastic bags.  We used to have a full recycling bag of them.  I reached in yesterday & noticed it felt really empty.  It made me feel fuzzy inside.

Keeping with the Project Spectrum Earth post, here's some more green goodness:

• 2 environmental blogs that I enjoy reading
• 2 lovely green photos.  It's hard to see a pattern, but this yarn is so gorgeous that I don't care!

Gust is such a simple pattern to remember.  I'm horrible at memorizing a stitch pattern, but this one's easy.  The only thing that makes this pattern difficult is knitting with silk.  I'm sliding all over the place when I'm knitting the scarf.  I'd love to have it finished by the end of May.  We have a wedding & I think it'd be a fabulous accessory.  But we're in the midst of potty training & that's requiring a lot of my attention.

Off to pump.  I'm long over-due.

L

Apples & Bananas

I've got a problem.  One that pops up every other month or so.  When you have guests, do you cook what you love or what they love?  Example...

SIL & BIL are coming over tonight for dinner.  I was planning on making this dish.  I love all the veggies, but I just remembered that she's not a huge veggie lover.  I'm not real sure what she lives on since she isn't a fan of fruit either.  But I love lasagnas & it doesn't make sense to make them for just SK & our family since they usually serve 8.  SK says make it & let it be.  Should I be nice & find a veggie-free or less veggie-ish dish?  Or stick to our Eat Meat Less life-style?  Did I mention that I really want to try it?  And did I mention that I just started back to work on Wednesday & my loving Husband said "yes" to Thursday instead of Wednesday because he was being nice to me?  Nice.  I doubt they would give a dirty look.  I'm also sure that they will bring over other food (no matter what I cook) for their toddler, so she won't go hungry.  I'm also planning on making an Balsamic Caramelized Onion bread (read this post for helpful bread machine advice),  I guess they could load up on that.

What to do?  What to do?

-L

p.s.  I know that I'm probably going to make the damn dish, but am I being mean?

p.p.s. Had to share a picture of Tuck in his EZ special.  Fits perfectly!  Once again, thank you!

Is there anyone out there that actual doesn't think their baby

is the cutest baby ever to have pee'd on them?