oh yeah, i knit too

I feel as though I haven't posted any of my knitterie in... weeks. No, months. Hold up... let me check. Wow. Yup... since this post, Ysolda Teague's "Cairn" hat. Nearly all of my posting recently has been food/recipe related, hasn't it? Hmm... I'm not quite sure how that happened (... or how I managed to drop five pounds, despite the massive amounts of cooking and recipe trying) because I feel as though most of my time over the last month has been spent either working on auditions, working out, or crafting like a banshee. Yet I haven't posted any of it -- my knitting, specifically. I did post my first pattern last week, but I haven't shown what I've been working on since I knit up those cute his 'n hers hats for Jeremy & Amber... in September. Let's fix that, shall we?

Well, I knit two more Cairn (Do you think that word is both singular and plural... like "moose"?) -- one for my nephew, Ian, and one that I initially knit for myself but which wound up looking infinitely better on my friend MacKenzie. The colors were better for her goldilocks. I then started another Cairn, this one in colors that would compliment my auburnlocks, but I ran out of one of the colors. I can easily pick up another skein at my LYS, but as I'm still unemployed (Five months, now. Five. Months.) that one will have to wait.

Moving on...

Last year, my good friend Ron - Brooklyn Ron, as I just decided to call him - gave me one of the most amazing gifts I have ever received: five skeins of Jade Sapphire cashmere 8-ply in a gorgeous blue/teal color. My jaw dropped when I opened the gift box and I'm pretty sure I jumped around for about five minutes. If you have ever seen/felt this yarn you know exactly why I reacted that way. It is pure lusciousness. I'm still searching for the perfect thing to knit with all that cashmere - I'm being uber picky because yarn like this doesn't come around that often, if at all, so I'm taking my time. Along with this generous gift Ron also gave me three skeins of the same yarn in a really cool, variegated black/white/gray... to be used to knit him a scarf. Smart man. Bribe a girl with cashmere. You see, Ron has a thing for cashmere and he boasts one of the most amazing collections of cashmere sweaters I have ever witnessed. Apparently, he would like that collection to also include a hand knit scarf. I can't blame him. The man may not be subtle, but he has good taste in fiber.

It was a tricky task, coming up with the perfect pattern for this scarf/yarn. It couldn't be just any old scarf - I was knitting with Jade Sapphire cashmere!!!! I didn't want it to be cabled either because I knit Brooklyn Ron this scarf a couple of years ago, so I wanted to do something different. And not all patterns look good with a variegated yarn... so... although I searched far and wide for a new pattern, I wound up going with an old standby: My So Called Scarf. I love this pattern. I don't generally care for scarf knitting - gets a bit redundant after awhile - but this scarf is my exception. It practically flies by. Of course, knitting with this yarn could have "enhanced" my scarf knitting experience, but I do think I actually like the stitch pattern as well.

Here I am modeling the scarf because Ron is on the road with the national tour of The Color Purple, and I haven't quite figured out how to get it to him yet. I know all too well the transient life of a theatre gypsy. Ron has "suggested" that he hasn't received it yet because I've been wearing it out and about town, but he is wrong. I've only worn it in my apartment. (Smile.)

The only adjustment I made to the pattern is that I knit this on US10 needles and cast on 36 stitches. The pattern gives you a relatively thin scarf and I wanted this wider. It's been my experience that men like shorter, wider scarves. At least, Brooklyn Ron does. (I'm not sure he's going to like that I've deemed him "Brooklyn Ron.")

Next up, a lil' something I knit up for my friend Rob's baby girl, Sydney. Rob calls her the Tale of Two Cities baby because not only was she born while we were playing on the Broadway, but her name was inspired by the lead character of that famous story, "Sydney Carton." (May she have a far, far better fate than him.) I had the pleasure of babysitting her for four days while Rob rehearsed for a NAMT reading of a new musical. So while she took her afternoon naps I whipped up this little hat for her...

Nothing fancy, but cute n'est-ce pas? I crocheted (Is that even a word? Crochet, past-tense?) a circle and topped it with a pom-pom. It turned out looking something like a flower. I don't really know how I made this. I am a bad crocheter (Again - is that a word?) and sort of just ended up with this ruffled thing and added a pom-pom... but I actually kind of like it. I think it gives a run-of-the-mill, striped baby hat that extra lil' touch.

Now for some sock action...

While picking up yarn for all of my "Cairn" hats I stumbled upon a beautiful skein of Malabrigo sock yarn. I don't have a great picture of it, but you can see it in the background of this picture I took of some gorgeous sunflowers my friend Jon gave to me...

Feeling in the mood for some tow-up lace knitting, I decided upon the pattern Interlocking Leaves, from Knitty Fall 2008. The suggested method of beginning this tow-up pattern (Magic Cast-On Method) was a bit tricky for a first-timer, but I eventually figured it out. I don't really see why this method is better than any other (aside from being able to tell yourself you started the sock in a really cool way, which no one will ever know or care about but you), but I found it interesting nonetheless.

I apologize for the poor iPhone photos. I seem to work on these late into the night and believe it or not, my iPhone takes better pictures in low/fake light than my actual camera.

Can I take a moment to state my opinion about something? Of course I can. It's my blog. It is rare to see an attractive photo of a knitted sock on a foot. In my opinion almost all photos of hand knit socks on an actual foot make the person's foot or leg look huge or bloated or cartoonish or hobbit like. I'm sorry to say it, and I certainly don't mean to offend anyone. I'm including myself in this. Almost every picture I've ever taken of socks that I've knitted have been just plain unattractive. And most pictures I see on Knitty and Ravelry leave me feeling the same way. Do you think there's a trick to it? I mean, aside from hiring a foot/ankle/calf model to sport your latest sock endeavor? I'm serious. This is something I've spent a fair amount of time agonizing over. Le sigh...

So, there it is - off the foot - and knit to just above the heel. I like the pattern quite a bit and the color is perfect for the leave motif. Very fallish. I've finished one sock, and now I'm trying to not fall prey to second sock syndrome. Ugh. It's just so hard to get motivated to do the second one! Plus, I had some trouble casting off for the first one. I've tried it a few different ways and none of them leave enough ease in the ribbing to be snug-yet-loose against my calf. Any knitters out there with some suggestions?

I have a pile of projects and yarn that I hope to tackle soon - even another free knitting pattern or two - but I shall leave all of that for another post. This one has been rather lengthy, and I'm getting sleepy. It's almost 3 AM. I've found it difficult to sleep lately and have become something of a "night owl." How appropriate.

Bonne nuit.

P.S. One more picture of those gorgeous sunflowers... because they make me smile.

pesto & puccini

If there were a fire in my apartment and I could take only two things with me...? I would take Rupert and the Cuisinart Food Processor.

I love both of them - truly, truly love them. Of course, the food processor isn't a living, breathing, fluffy being that jumps around in countless circles every time I walk in the room... but until Rupert learns how to chop, blend, puree, and basically make everything in the kitchen easier for me - he's got some competition. And this marvel of modern day kitchen appliances' invaluable worth was once again proven the other afternoon during my first attempt at making pesto. (I made that last sentence way more complicated than it need be.) You see, I gave my precious basil plant a trim the other day and wound up with three cups of fresh basil leaves! Three cups! It was one of the most exciting things to happen in my life in weeks. Sad and slightly pathetic, but true. So, what does one do when one has loads of basil? Why, one makes pesto, of course!

I had been perusing various pesto recipes for the perfect one for a few weeks and finally settled on Ina Garten's because... well, she's simply fabulous and I love all her recipes. She rarely, if ever, leads you down the wrong path.

This may sound silly, but I was a little nervous about making pesto. I know, I know... it's supposed to be the easiest thing in the world, but for some reason I was intimidated! Nervous, even! Music generally helps sooth my nerves if I'm about to tackle something tricky - specifically, classical music - and I felt that for this particular culinary feat the big guns needed to be called in.

Big guns = Puccini.

Ahhhh... serenity, peace, romance, and Luciano Pavarotti singing "Nessun dorma." Yes, please.

I (mostly) followed the recipe, except that I had just under five cups of basil leaves (after getting some store bought to supplement my home grown), so I used just under the cup and a half of olive oil called for. It turned out... mmmm... okay. I don't know if it was the skimpy amount of basil or the inexpensive olive oil I bought at West Side Market, but it tasted oily. Cheap olive oily. One thing this experience has taught me that in recipes where the olive oil is a major component, don't use cheap olive oil... it really affects the taste! As I didn't have any more basil and I wasn't about to go to the store for the third time that day, I just added more pine nuts... then some walnuts... then a tad more parmesan - all of which helped. Then I added a wee bit o' salt and pepper which helped even more... and then at that point I decided to stop before I futzed with it too much and ruined it.

The result? A pretty decent pesto! Really! It's a bit on the nutty side, but still... quite tasty. Letting it set in the fridge these last several days has allowed the taste to improve somewhat -- something Kate assured me of after my underwhelmed response to the recipe. I'm not sure I would use it as the main attraction of a dish - well, a dish for company. I am fine with it, myself - but I will certainly use it as a spread for sandwiches, homemade pizza, or even in an omlet loaded with cherry tomatoes. I would certainly try this recipe again but with more basil than suggested and muuuuuch better olive oil than I have now. So basically... when my basil plant has grown back in and I'm employed again.

Probably the best thing to come out of this experience - aside from a continued and undying love for the Cuisinart food processor - is this recipe. Pesto and cheese filled chicken breasts. Mmmm. I made it for Marisa and MacKenzie the other night (They raved!) and I'm making it for myself again tonight. It took me awhile to figure out how to tie the rolled chicken breasts with kitchen twine, but once I did the cooking was a cinch and it was yummy! Tonight I'm using some of the left over grated parm instead of goat cheese and I put a few slices of (homemade) roasted red pepper in there - for color... and because I love homemade roasted red peppers.

A couple more things about pesto - if you do as Ina suggests (pour a thin layer of olive oil on top of the pesto when you store it) it will keep in your fridge for a long time. I even stuck some in the freezer to use later in the winter. Also, as shown in the above picture, you could pour some in a wee mason jar and give it as a gift! Who doesn't love homemade pesto?! Especially when it comes in a several-dallop-sized, cute jar!!

**********

Pesto:

• 1/4 cup walnuts
• 1/4 cup pignoli (pine nuts)
• 3 tablespoons chopped garlic (9 cloves)
• 5 cups fresh basil leaves, packed
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 1/2 cups good olive oil
• 1 cup freshly grated Parmesan

Place the walnuts, pignoli, and garlic in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade. Process for 15 seconds. Add the basil leaves, salt, and pepper. With the processor running, slowly pour the olive oil into the bowl through the feed tube and process until the pesto is thoroughly pureed. Add the Parmesan and puree for a minute. Use right away or store the pesto in the refrigerator or freezer with a thin film of olive oil on top.

Notes: Air is the enemy of pesto. For freezing, pack it in containers with a film of oil or plastic wrap directly on top with the air pressed out.

To clean basil, remove the leaves, swirl them in a bowl of water, and then spin them very dry in a salad spinner. Store them in a closed plastic bag with a slightly damp paper towel. As long as the leaves are dry they will stay green for several days.

perfect lil' seed stitch hat

I would like to take this opportunity to post for the very first time my very own knitting pattern! This isn't a new pattern. In fact, I've been knitting this hat for years and sold the pattern - for a very brief time - in the knitting store I worked at in LA. So, as this is one of my oldest patterns, I thought it would be appropriate for my foray into the world of free pattern posting. Here's to many more to come...

Side view of the hat. Yarn: Tonalita

This is a great, easy, quick-knit that's perfect for a gift. I used to suggest it for customers at the shop when they wanted a project to work on that a bit more challenging than a scarf and maybe help introduce to them the world of pattern deciphering. Believe me - not all patterns are decipherable!

Mother Dearest doesn't care for this picture, but I do. She has often told me, "Honey, you would be beautiful even if you wore a paper bag over your head!" but somehow she doesn't care for this picture. (Smile.) I think there's something quirky about it, "crazy eyes" and all. Quirky = interesting and charming, n'est-ce pas? Here, the yarn is Manos del Uruguay

I think the hat looks best with the gorgeousness that is Manos del Uruguay or Tonalita or even some Malabrigo because of the color variations. They knit up well. However, I have knit this hat several times using solid colors and it's still cute as a button.

I once knit a variation of this hat for my entire family - all 19 of 'em. Here is my niece Sophia sporting her hat on Christmas morning:

I hope you enjoy this hat and pattern! If you download and make it, please let me know in my "Comments" section - I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Download this free pattern here.

rewind: my trip to boston this past september

I am currently in Boston, MA.

I love it here. I mean, loooooooooove it here. My love for this city is similar to my love of Chicago and (parts of) Brooklyn. Each city has their unique qualities, of course, but Boston has an old world charm that I find irresistible. It's just so... old, and quaint, and historic, and European. I feel like I can walk down just about any random street and say, "(gasp!) It's so cute! I could totally see myself living here!!" Plus, it is also home to my best friend Stephen. That alone puts it miles ahead of Chicago or Brooklyn.

I came up here in September for a few days to visit Stephen and reacquaint myself with this New England metropolis. I had such a great time that I started planning my return trip before I had even left. So, when I found out that my former job, the National Tour of FIDDLER ON THE ROOF, was going to play Boston for two weeks in November, that was it; sealed the deal.

So... here I am. Visiting Stephen and this city that I have grown an affinity for... and visiting my FIDDLER fam.

I haven't taken many pictures this time around, but I figure now is as good a time as any to post some from my last trip up. Please to observe a random sampling of pictures:

Rupert chillin' out in Stephen's apartment. Because of the cashmere blanket pictured, my sometimes-unruly puppy has become a fiber snob and will only snuggle with this particular luxury item. He's been forever spoiled. Goodness me...

Stephen lives in Beacon Hill (my favorite neighborhood!), which is home to Beacon Hill Chocolates...

They're famous for their chocolate sushi... chocolate, marshmallow, and caramel. UN-REAL!

Ah... the Boston Gardens. This looks like a George Seurat painting to me...

Of course I made Stephen stop at Mike's Pastry. I've been dreaming of this canoli for years. Years, I tell you.

... and maybe we added another cannoli, some marzipan, and a lobster tail... and maybe a cookie or two... just maybe.

This is a lobster tail. I had never seen or heard of one, until watching the TLC show "Cake Boss" - which I love and can't get enough of. The whole process of how they're made is fascinating to me. I wasn't prepared for just how big a pastry it is, though... "It's huuuge!" (Spoken like Buddy Valastro from Cake Boss.) And the filling...?!?! Oh. My. Goodness. Me. Better than cannoli filling. Stephen and I were floored.

One afternoon we took Rupert and window shopped our way down Charles Street, and slowly wandered our way over to Newbury Street to a wine bar that Stephen had been wanting to try out. It was a not-too-warm, beautiful early Fall day, and an afternoon glass of vino seemed in order. We found a table outside and I tied Rupert up to the wrought-iron fence around the sunken (below street level) patio. Stephen and I rested, the sun shining on our faces and Rupert busied himself by making friends with anyone and everyone who passed by. Here is Stephen smiling at what a ladies man my dog is...

We ordered our vino (we both had one of my favorites - a Rosenblum Zin) and a cheese plate. As soon as that cheese came to our table, Rupert forgot all about his race to get as much love as possible in the shortest amount of time and found a new goal: the cheese plate.

He stood like that looking over my shoulder for minutes at a time. It was hysterical. Occasionally, when I would look back at him, he would give me actual puppy dog face... heartbreaking!

I admit I caved in a few times - he does love gourmet cheese, and seeing as how I do too - how could I refuse him? And then after his belly was full and happy, he laid down and rested for a bit. He looks a bit like he's in a cheese-induced food coma here... he actually feel asleep for a few minutes. Melt my heart.

I have a few more tidbits of fun from that trip, but I'm going to save that for another post. Plus, I don't want to waste any of my precious time being back in this city! I'm itching to get out and explore some more before seeing the show tonight!

Au revoir!

pumpkin roasting, or the most fun way to spend an autumnal afternoon... ever.

I've been wanting - craving - to roast a pumpkin in my oven for weeks now. My sweet friend MacKenzie put the idea in my head, but after Halloween passed and I was no longer seeing buckets of pumpkins lining storefronts of the local bodegas I sadly wondered if I had missed my chance. However, last Thursday in my elevator I fortuitously overheard a mother who was pushing a giant SUV-type stroller assuage her son's morning crankiness by telling him he could have an apple cider doughnut when they got to the University Farmer's Market. Aha! Maybe they would have pumpkins! So, as soon as the elevator door opened, Rupert and I walked as fast as our little legs could take us to the University Farmer's Market in search of pie pumpkins.

They had them! Two small-ish, lovely little things...

(That lil- lil' guy there came all the way from a Seattle pumpkin patch just for me - he was a gift from my friend Jon. He makes me smile... both the pumpkin and Jon.)

In my pumpkin picking, I chose a gorgeous, near perfect Cinderella looking pumpkin, and then a not-so-pretty but comparable-in-size pumpkin to go with it. You really only need one pumpkin to make enough puree for a pumpkin pie or batch of pumpkin bread, but I wanted to have enough around to stick in the freezer.

I don't have a lot of experience cooking or roasting squash, so I prepped by doing a fair amount of research on the subject. During my web perusal I found this great website, which breaks it down for you in ten simple steps. So, instructions in hand, and perfect playlist rocking out of my speakers (Monsters of Folk, A Fine Frenzy, and Andrew Bird) I got to roasting.

My pumpkins were a pound or two heavier than hers, but it was still the same idea. I chose to roast the pretty one first, you know for blog-picture taking reasons. Here it is all hallowed out (seeds removed for later roasting, of course.)

I popped it in the oven for just over an hour...

... and Voila! As this was my first time roasting a pumpkin and the website didn't mention anything about the "doneness" - other than sticking a fork in it to make sure it's tender - I think I under-roasted this one. You can see that the flesh varies from light to a darker color. I now know that you want the darker color pretty much throughout. Of course, you don't want to over-roast, but I thought this guy was a bit under-done.

After letting it cool slightly, I scooped out the flesh into my favorite appliance in the apartment, the Cuisinart Food Processor, to make a puree:

The puree turned out a bit watery; nothing like the canned pumpkin puree I am used to dealing with. I had a hunch it might need to strained through a cheese cloth overnight, and after some quick research and finding this great blog, my hunch was proven right! Out came the cheesecloth and strainer.

At this point I tasted the puree and I have to admit I was a little disappointed. It was nice and fresh, but it wasn't as sweet - as pumpkiny - as I was hoping for. It was more squashy. Which is fine and could easily be fixed with the amounts of sugar/spices/etc. that you add to the recipe... but I really wanted that fresh, sweet pumpkin taste. So, after I placed Pretty Pumpkin #1 in some cheesecloth (set in a strainer and over a deep bowl), I grabbed the other, less pretty pumpkin, and started in on that one. Somewhere in the back of my head I remembered reading a web article claiming that smaller, darker pumpkins were more flavorful. I was curious to see if this theory was correct.

This time I roasted it for a solid hour and a half, the flesh was even more tender, and the color of the roasted flesh of the pumpkin was even throughout. After pureeing it, I gave it a quick taste, and it was pure pumpkin perfection. Yes, please.

I repeated the cheesecloth technique with this batch and popped it in the fridge with the other one.

Cut to: the next morning. There was a good inch or two of pumpkin juice in the bowl , so it was definitely a necessary step! I couldn't believe just how much pumpkin juice drained out of it! And what was left was the perfect pumpkin puree consistency.

Here are my jars of puree and you can see that the two jars on the left are lighter in color ("Very pretty" pumpkin #1) than the two on the right ("She has a great personality" pumpkin #2). Both yummy, just different tastes.

Again, with the difference in color:

My overall assessment of pumpkin roasting is that smaller, darker pumpkins work better and even if a recipe doesn't ask you to, you must drain the puree overnight in cheesecloth before adding it to a recipe (... unless, of course the recipe specifically asks for this watery version.)

Addendum: I roasted the pumpkin seeds using this recipe, and brought those up with me - along with the fresh puree - to Boston so that Stephen and I could use them somehow. And use them we did! But more on that in another post...

herb obsessed

Remember this post when I first planted my urban herb garden and was incredibly angsty over whether or not the wee seeds would make it? Well, I'm not entirely sure how it happened, but they're not only making it, they're growing like gangbusters! And I can't stop taking pictures of them. They're so green and vibrant and healthy looking, not to mention their amazing smell - pure, lovely herbiness! Aside from Rupert and the food processor, they may be my favorite thing in the apartment.

As I previously mentioned I may have to do, I ended up transferring them from their small pots to a bigger, deeper window box...

Here they are after I first repotted them... about three weeks ago, I think...

I started the parsley and sage in the same pot, but I wanted each bunch of herbs to have as much room as I could give them, so I left the parsley in the biggest of the small pots and planted the sage in the windowbox with the basil and thyme.

I placed it in another window with the not-yet-shown-on-this-blog wee pot o' chives.

I used my basil for the first time the other night. Snipped a few leaves, chopped it up, and sprinkled it on some left-over pasta. Yum. I'm convinced that this basil tastes better and more fresh than any other basil one could get their hands on. Probably not true, but this is what I've been telling myself...

I haven't used any of the other herbs yet. I've been waiting to let them get "established" before I start snipping off bits of herbiness. This is probably not a theory backed up by actual, real gardeners, but it makes sense in my own mind.

Seriously, isn't sage beautiful?!?! I could not stop taking pictures of it this afternoon!! I think I'm going to snip some off to take up to Boston with me this weekend. I spent the afternoon roasting and pureeing a couple of pumpkins and I have grand plans of Stephen and I making pumpkin ravioli from scratch with a brown butter sage sauce. He doesn't know anything about my plans yet... so... I hope he's game.

And here is a current picture of my window box herb garden...

A veritable forest of herbs, n'est-ce pas?

I've been rotating the box every week or so so the herbs don't only grow in one direction. The sunlight, although constant throughout the day, is pretty specific (if that makes any sense), so rotating which side leans against the window makes me feel like the sunlight is being evenly distributed, if you will. Again, probably not an actual gardener's trick... but it makes sense to me... so I do it.

The chives and thyme look good, but not as hearty (robust? strong? developed?) as my mother's real garden herbs. The thyme specifically doesn't have the 'woody' stalks from which the delicate leaves grow. Both the thyme and the chives are very flimsy. Mother Dearest says that this is to be expected. The first year's growth may seem a little weak, but that during the second year of growth the plant is stronger. However, I'm growing these guys in a window sill when most other herbs are hibernating. So, I suppose I'm conducting a bit of an experiment here.

I also asked Mother Dearest what the next step is in the life of my wee sprouts of hope. She said she would take a look at the pictures and let me know, but she guesses it will be actually using the herbs, thus pruning and encouraging more growth in the plants. I guess I'll have to find some recipes and creative ways to use these guys...

... twist my arm.

makes me tired

There are about a zillion things I want to post about to catch you up on what I refer to as "the ridiculousness that is my life in New York City." I've attempted to catalog my various "creations, curiosities and musings" several times - but the very thought of telling you about every interesting thing I've done/made (or even just posting a picture montage of them) makes me tired. The overwhelmed, cranky, fussy kind of tired that is often exhibited in young children who don't know any better... and myself. And I'll admit, it isn't fun for anyone. The good news is that if I've exhibited my crankiness around or toward someone, I will usually bake them a batch of cookies or a pie to make up for it... once I've had my snack and a nap.

At least there's that.

That being said, I believe crankiness is often a choice, so... I suppose I can choose to sweetly and happily update you here and there on things that have happened in the last couple of months.

Don't pressure me, though, because if you do I'll get not-by-my-own-choice cranky and you won't get a pie... and I have a pumpkin roasting in my oven... and a pumpkin pie recipe sitting out on the counter.

I'm not sayin', I'm just sayin'.

(Smile.)