Knitting - 13 in 2013 and Stashdown

I joined two knitting challenges on Ravelry: Stashdown and 13 in 2013.

Stashdown is knitting from your stash, and tracking how many yards you knit vs how many you bring in. I went to Creative Stitch in Hingham in late December so I don't have to count the 1400 yards I bought there, hahaha.

Here are my goals for 13 in 2013, with 3 additional optional, depending on how I do. WIPs means "works in progress" for you non-knitting readers. (Oh wait, are there any readers?)

WIPs 
-Amanda’s purple socks (squishy sock yarn) 
-My purple socks (sereknity yarn…now called mad color fiber arts) 
-My madelinetosh socks 
-Cardigan for a baby girl and find a girl to give it to 
-Add buttons and button loops to Central Park Hoodie

To Dos using stash 
-Featherweight cardigan (with cascade heritage silk blend) 
-I heart Aran pullover (with tosh vintage) 
-A hat or two; I have two skeins of malabrigo to use up 
-Green socks (squishy sock yarn) 
-Other green socks (cascade heritage) 
-Orange scarf (ella rae lace) 
-Morwynn scarf (Rhinebeck yarn)*

To Dos with new yarn 
-Calligraphy cardigan*
-Boxy pullover (maybe)*

Organizing 
-Locate all the notions that are currently in a “safe” place 
-Weed through stash and donate what I don’t want

My madelinetosh socks

Reincarnation

In my next life I hope I come back as a man. Then there'd be no laundry, cleaning, and lots of lounging around from after work til bedtime.

Lobster Bisque

I was flipping through my New England Soup Factory cookbook and passed by the recipe for Lobster Bisque. It reminded me of the time a guy tried to woo me by inviting me to his place for an after-party and as an enticement, he mentioned that he had a huge tub of lobster bisque in the fridge. It was a hot summer night. YUM. Blech.

I went. I used the bathroom. I didn't sit on the toilet seat an after leaving the bathroom, telling him he needed to take his blinds down and just throw them in the trash because the dirt would never wash off, I left.

I don't miss dating.

Updates

I wonder if anyone is reading this blog...

If so, here are some updates.

I haven't been baking, but I have been cleaning. Not as much fun, but infinitely more rewarding.

This week I started an incredible new job. I'm really excited about it and love my new team.

We switched to the dogma box through Boston Organics, and I had kohlrabi for the first time. It's good raw and cooked.

Words heard around the condo this morning:

"Oops, I accidentally used your toothbrush."

"Are you making dinner?"

"When are you going to start cleaning? We have company coming."

"Hiro. Hiro. Hiro. Hiro. Can I ask you something?"

"What? I can't hear you. ... What? What? What?"

Guess who said every one of those. Ha ha ha ha ha! I can be so annoying.

Baking Break

I've missed the past 2 months of Baking with Julia and I have fifteen pounds to lose so I'll be taking the next two off as well. Stay tuned for some good healthy eating posts though! It's almost summer in Boston!

Sheer Pleasure

Plum Almond Tart and Dijon Maple Chicken

I had an urge to bake something with plums. It's not quite plum season, I suppose. I bought a giant box of plums at Costco, and waited a week for them to ripen. They were still a bit tart but seemed to go well with the almond flavor. I searched around for a good recipe that didn't look too difficult. Since I love almond, this tart seemed to hit the spot. I did the recipe exactly as called for except swapped out half the all purpose flour for whole wheat flour in the crust. I also made the mistake of not baking it on convection right off the bat. I switched it towards the end. It came out fine but I've learned the hard way that my oven performs much better on convection and also, that it's a little hotter at the back so things should be turned if possible.

Anyway, this was delicious and I'd make it again. I think it would be good with peaches and apples too.

I also made "man pleasing chicken" - basically, baked chicken with dijon mustard, maple syrup, and rice vinegar. The original recipe calls for chicken thighs, and I know they're more flavorful, but the breast is healthier so I went with that. I cooked 5 breasts, cut in half as they were pretty large. Overall about 3 lbs. And I doubled the sauce recipe to accommodate. Served with brown rice and delicious salad and appetizers that the girls brought to Downton Abbey night! It's great to get together with friends who are as excited about food as I am! I'm picking up ideas for recipes too -- lots of creative salads (last night, T's salad had snow peas or sugar snap peas, celery, sunflower seeds, pretty pink radishes. Great crunchy variety and at one out our other get-togethers, we had a delicious nicoise salad and also one with walnuts, lemon vinaigrette, and grapes. And M's herby dip! And A's meze platter with hummus and olives! 

I would make the chicken again and would adjust so there is less sweetness and more heat. I'll post an update when I do that.. maybe cayenne pepper. Yum.