i feel like i'm dying

i have arrived in london. jet lag is kicking my ass.

i miss victoria.

merry christmas

i hope none of you over do the catnip this year.

who is the queen of crafts?

that would be me.

i just made the christmas card star and it's beautiful. it almost made me cry a few times as the base shape doesn't take into consideration that all the points are going to be ever so slightly bigger than the template because of folding and card thickness. so getting your points to lay flat on the base is impossible, but creative gluing can achieve the perfect star!

here are my tips if you want to attempt the crafting glory...

you don't need 20 cards as the instructions say, you need around 10 as you can get 2 points out of every card front.

glue the base shape onto the back cover of a card and score the fold lines with scissors! scoring is your friend. make this first so it's good and dry when it comes to gluing on the points.

trace around the point template on the back of each card front with a pencil and scrape on the fold lines with a ruler and scissors. this way you score the card and it makes for a perfect fold. remember, scoring is your friend.

hold each point in place to ensure it's really stuck before trying to glue the next one.

good luck and happy crafting!

maybe i'll try the 3D snowflake next.

recipe of the week: peanut butter cup cookies

mmmmmm, peanut butter cookies with a reeses peanut butter cup in the centre. it's doesn't get much more decadent.

this cookie recipe is slightly crumbly, if you have a chewy and delicious peanut butter cookie recipe, let me know!

2C butter, softened
1C brown sugar
1C granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2C peanut butter
2 1/2C flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla extract

2 bags of miniature reese peanut butter cups

mini muffin baking pan

preheat oven to 350 degrees.
cream the butter, sugar and peanut butter together.
add eggs, one at a time along with the vanilla
mix flour, baking soda and salt in a separate bowl.
combine flour mixture to wet ingredients in 2 or 3 additions.
spoon a tablespoon full of batter into each muffin cup.
bake for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown. while baking, unwrap the required amount of peanut butter cups.
press a peanut butter cup into the centre of each cookie, while still in the pan, as soon as the cookies come out of the oven.
cool cookies in the pan for at least 20 minutes before attempting to remove them and then complete the cooling on a wire rack...the chocolate will eventually harden again.

happy solstice everyone!

i thought yesterday was the solstice (as did erin and michael so i'm not alone) but as luck would have it, it's actually today. so i'm not late in wishing you all a happy december solstice. what are you going to do with your shortest day of the year?

i know what i'm going to do. more christmas baking! i have a batch of eggnog bread in the oven while i type. as you can seen from my previous posts, all i've done for the past 2-3 weeks is bake, cook and knit. but yesterday i changed it up a bit. with all my knitting now complete, i went for a walk and collected some of the branches that fell during the wind storm and made a christmas wreath. what fun!

i might attempt the christmas card star next.

recipe of the week: fancier old fashioned sugar cookies

these are exactly the same as the other sugar cookies, except these have chocolate and peppermint flavours. and since everyone seems to think these cookies taste better here's the recipe.

1C butter, at room temperature
1C white sugar
2 eggs, lightly beaten
2 tsp peppermint extract
2 2/3C flour
1/3C cocoa
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt

cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.
add the eggs one at a time and blend well after each addition.
add the peppermint.
combine flour,cocoa, baking powder and salt in a separate bowl.
stir the dry ingredients into the wet in 3 additions. i find using my hands for the last addition is easier than the spoon.
warp dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 3 hours. before putting the dough into the fridge, shape it into a log so you can easily cut it into rounds, or leave it in a blob shape if you'll roll it out and use cookie cutters.
cut chilled dough log into rounds about 1/4 - 1/3 inch thick or roll out the dough on a floured surface until the same thickness is achieved and cut out with cookie cutters.
brush the tops of the cookies with a little milk and sprinkle on colourful sugar.
bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes.
cool on a wire rack.

recipe of the week: old fashioned sugar cookies

1C butter, unsalted at room temperature
1C white sugar
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 tsp vanilla
3C flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt

cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.
add the eggs one at a time and blend well after each addition.
add the vanilla.
combine flour, baking powder and salt in a separate bowl.
stir the dry ingredients into the wet in 3 additions. i find using my hands for the last addition is easier than the spoon.
warp dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 3 hours. before putting the dough into the fridge, shape it into a log so you can easily cut it into rounds, or leave it in a blob shape if you'll roll it out and use cookie cutters.
cut chilled dough log into rounds about 1/4 - 1/3 inch thick or roll out the dough on a floured surface until the same thickness is achieved and cut out with cookie cutters.
brush the tops of the cookies with a little milk and sprinkle on colourful sugar.
bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes.
cool on a wire rack.

i found cute little christmas cookie stencils that look great with coloured sprinkles!

recipe of the week: seafood lasagna

holy sweet mother of everything, this is so good. i made it for dinner tonight. it might seem complicated with too many steps, but it's really quite easy and you can do the dishes while the lasagna bakes so clean up after dinner is minimal. score!

12 lasagna noodles
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 1/2 cups half-and-half
1 cup grated Romano
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
3/4 pound sea scallops, cut in half or quartered if very large
3/4 pound medium prawns, peeled and deveined
1/2 cup grated Parmesan

cook the lasagna noodles, in a large pot of boiling salted water, until they are just done, about 8 minutes. drain and set aside. do not over cook them!

melt the butter in a large, heavy skillet and cook over medium-low heat, add the garlic and cook about 1 minute.
stir in the flour with a whisk to make a rue, cook for a few minutes.
vigorously whisk in the half-and-half gradually, allowing the sauce to thicken slightly before adding more, bring to the boil, while whisking.
add the cheese when the sauce has thickened to about the consistency of whipping cream, and stir well.
add the salt and pepper.
add the scallops and cook for about 2 to 3 minutes, then add the shrimp and cook for 1 to 2 minutes or just until the prawns turn pink. turn off the heat. do not overcook the seafood!

preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
spoon about 2 tablespoons of the sauce from the skillet into a oven proof dish that will fit 4 lasagna noodles across.
cover the bottom of the pan with 4 noodles, placing them side by side.
spoon 1/3 of the sauce over the noodles, distributing half of the seafood evenly.
layer 4 more noodles, 1/3 of the sauce, and remaining seafood.
cover with the last 4 noodles and the remaining sauce. (for the top layer, do not spoon any seafood on top of the noodles; just use the sauce.)
tuck in any edges of the noodles so they're all coated with sauce.
sprinkle the top with the parmesan.

bake for 20 to 25 minutes, uncovered, until bubbly. allow to sit for 10 minutes before slicing.

YUM!

so you think you can knit? : the drop stitch scarf

this is a quick and easy scarf that doesn't require much concentration. here's the original pattern that i tweaked my pattern from.

you will need:
15mm needles (or smaller)
1.5-2 balls of thin to medium yarn

cast on 16 stitches
knit 6 rows
knit 1, *wrap yarn around needle twice, knit 1; repeat from * across
knit, dropping extra wraps from previous row
knit 6 rows (you should still have 16 stitches)
repeat until you reach desired length, end on a set of 6 knitted rows, bind off.

Lilly Allen - LDN

have i even played any lilly allen for you lot? she's great and her album 'alright, still' was my summertime listening. she's sort of the softer, girlier, popier version of the streets.

the beginning bit in the record store is apparently lilly taking the piss out of the way people have described her music.

Jose Gonzales - Tear Drop (live)

i'm on a youtube roll.

i might like jose's version more than massive attack's.

the video is a little doggy, but the sound is great.

Jose Gonzalez - Heartbeats, Sony Bravia

this is my favourite commercial of all time and i found the full length version! 250,000 bouncy balls let loose on the streets of san fransisco with only the most minimal product placement. it also introduced me to the glorious music of jose gonzalez.

erin and i had a brief discussion about music in adverts, which inspired me to post this video. has the musician really sold out if they give their song up to the commercial? or is it just a smart way to get their song out there?

the small youtube version does not do this lovely commercial justice.

so you think you can knit? : the beanie hat

this hat is totally adorable and easy. the trickiest part is starting.


you will need:
1 50gram or 75 meter ball of thinner yarn
5mm circular needles
1 or 2 place markers

cast on 91 stitches

do NOT turn your work around, spread the stitches around your needles so that the first stitch you cast on is at the top of the left hand needle and the last stitch you cast on is at the top of the right hand needle.

make sure that your stitch row is not twisted in any place.

place a marker at the first stitch you knit (it's also the first stitch you cast on)

start knitting as normal, the last stitch you cast on will magically become attached to the first stitch you cast on. you should now be knitting in a circle and each time you complete a circle, it's called one round. this is why you need the marker, you need to know where you began so you can keep count of rounds.

alright, are you with me still? if not, check out this site, or this one.

so we've cast on 91 stitches.

4 rounds of knit 1, purl 1, repeat
15 rounds of knit
knit 11, knit 2 together, repeat to the end of the round (k11, k2 tog, rp)
knit 1 round of which you should have 84 stitches (k84)
k10, k2 tog, rp
k77
k9, k2 tog, rp
k70
k8, k2 tog, rp
k63
k7, k2 tog, rp
k56
k6, k2 tog, rp
k49
k5, k2 tog, rp
k42
k4, k2 tog, rp
k35
5 rounds of knit (or until you reach the desired size)
weave the end of your yarn through the 35 stitches, pull tight and knot off. knot the beginning of your hat.

TA DA! you have a hat that you made all by yourself!

recipe of the week: pork tonnato

i made fancy mayonnaise! if you don't have a blender, you're out of luck.

for the pork

1.5kg pork loin
1 large onion, peeled and chopped coarsely
1-2 carrots, peeled and chopped coarsely
2-3 celery, stalks chopped coarsely
3 cloves
2 bay leaves
6 peppercorns
510ml / 18fl oz vegetable stock
275ml / 10fl oz white wine

for the mayonnaise

2 large egg yolks
1 lemon, juiced
150ml / 5fl oz sunflower oil
150ml / 5fl oz olive oil
1 tin of tuna, drained
3 anchovy fillets
3T capers
salt and pepper

place the pork loin in a large sauce pan and add all of the ingredients.
bring to the boil, reduce the heat and simmer for 1 1/4 hours, covered.
remove from the heat and allow to cool.
scoop out half of the carrots, onions and celery as well as 2T of stock and place in a separate bowl.

mix the oils together.
add the tuna, anchovies, and capers to the reserved vegetables and stock.
place the egg yolks into a blender with the lemon juice and a good grind of salt and pepper.
blend yolks for a moment and then add the oil in a very thin stream until you get a thick mayonnaise.
add the reserved vegetables, tuna, stock, anchovies and capers and blend until everything is smooth.
add more stock if mayonnaise is too thick.

slice pork thinly and drizzle with much of the mayonnaise.

YUM! and so easy!

ode to a perfect weekend

i really should ammend the last post because it wasn't just a perfect day...it was really a great weekend.

making perogis *completely from scratch* on a friday night with friends is fabulous.

erin couldn't have said it better...

ode to a perfect day

yesterday was a perfect day.

it started with some great friends, erin and lydia, and a pancake breakfast at open space gallery. but not your average run of the mill pancake breakfast. a pancake breakfast featuring FANTASTICO! aka, the great giffoni, a very entertaining magician who pulled a rabbit out of the hat, literally. he also pulled some radishes and lemons out of cups and stabbed the correct playing card while blind folded. WOW! he was all around great. maybe lydia will post some of the photos.

we then ventured out to market square where we watched (from the rafters) 50 tubas gathered to play christmas carols.









i really enjoyed it! you might expect 50 tubas to sound a little 00hm-paaa-ish, but the music was beautiful. their hats said tuba christmas.we then meandered back to erin's to make angel food cake. any day that involves baking a cake is fabulous in my books. even if that cake is very persnickety and erin is hovering over you, making you nervous.









the cake has to cool upside down in it's pan on a bottle. craziness! and then of course you have to smother the delicate, fluffy goodness in chocolate icing. YUM!

i then wandered from erin's towards my bus stop thinking of what a wonderful day i had had. my bus was supposed to be at my stop within minutes, everything was dandy. and then...DUN DUN DUN...10 police cars with sirens come wizzing down yates street. i'm thinking someone has been murdered. the police start stopping at intervals down the street and i'm thinking someone has been murder right around the corner from where i'm standing. but then, off in the distance, i see terribly bright lights. so many terribly bright lights. and then the first of many colourfully decorated, huge trucks started parading by me. 20 minutes of lit up trucks, it was so great! i'm sorry for the blurry picture, my camera phone was all i had.yesterday was a perfect day.