Zeneedle...needleart as life

It Was a !*^# Cold Weekend

An inch of snow covered the jolly jonquils
despite the snow, the weekend went on undaunted filling up with food, friends and laughter

Chef Rick made a beautiful plate of sushi for two of us to share (GF of course)
Mango on top made it sweet and delicious
I love heat and sweet together
I purchased my first prescription sunglass (bifocals) and they're very cute and cool (even if I say so myself)
Photos when they arrive....promise

Hopefully, there will be a use for sunglasses in the near future
Mom nature-we're ready for a warm-up, please

Eye Candy Fun

Yesterday couldn't have been a more perfect day for a birthday. The sky blue canvas of sky was painted with feathery clouds, the temperatures near record highs, and the air clear and clean. We hiked up Elbow Fork in Millcreek Canyon and reveled in the perfection of the day. Afterwards, I just just enough time for a pedicure (Bite Me, thanks, Cookie!) and ended the day with sushi!

I call this "the perfect bite".

Thank you for the wonderful birthdway wishes! I have the best friends and know the nicest people. xoxo

Happy Weekend!!

Time for a Confession

Some time ago (last fall, to be exact), we found new homes for our chickengrrls. It was a bittersweet parting, but every grrl found a new and (from all reports) a happy home. Few of the community gardeners (as in none) wanted to take their turn to feed and care for the chickengrrls, which was a considerable amount of work. Smith and I faced another winter of being in charge without the support of others (either that or we wanted all the eggs, so there). We've missed our grrls in many ways, but we were also relieved when the cold and snowy days arrived.

Happily, we have a very kind neighbor who owns a dozen banty hens and last weekend she dropped off a basket full of darling little eggs. It was as if we’d received a gift of gold.

Smith is quite a master with eggs, although he likes his eggs cooked into dust. How I love the flavor of a perfectly cooked egg and dipping bread into the golden yoke creates such a deliciously delightful bite (even though the bread is gluten free).  I miss our Millie, and the other chickengrrls, and I miss their delicious gifts, but they are now part of the past.

Pickled Spring

Every summer, and through the fall, my mother and grandmother harvested from their gardens and preserved the bounty by canning.  For months on end, almost every day for months on end, in a hot kitchen, you'd find my mother slaving over peaches, pears, green beans, apples, berries, grapes, tomatoes, tomatoes, tomatoes, cucumbers (pickles, pickles, pickles), the rewards of which we'd eat through the winter.

The "charm" of  bottling and canning never carried over and the thought of spending hours and hours and hours in the kitchen just turns me cold.  I'll make gallons of Vicki's Roasted Tomato Sauce (to freeze) and may try my hand at one or two other garden delights...but canning will not happen. 

When I read Amanda's post on pickling radishes I was reminded of my childhood summers in the kitchen, but her idea didn't require any canning techniques and, with a bounty of radishes in the garden, I had to give it a try. 

This recipe was quick, easy and preserved spring in a jar of golden liquid. The results are crisp, tangy, and tasty.  We have enough radishes to make a second batch, but not to worry...this is so easy, there is no danger of my turning into a domestic goddess.

Green(s)

It's no secret, green is not a color I like, wear or enjoy.  There are a few green colors (I won't name names), that turn me cold, greens I truly do not like, but do not dispair the world is full of good greens.

Smith planted half a row of kale, a beautiful green row of kale, and the first thing I thought of was kale chips.  Several friends have made and enjoyed this healthy snack, so I did a little research and found a recipe I liked.

After cutting, washing, and drying (thoroughly) the kale I mooshed it around in a baggy to give it a lovely olive oil bath.  The leaves were then laid out in a sinlge layer on a cookie sheet, sprinkled with red chili flakes, and put it into a 350 oven.

Fresh from the oven they were lightly sprinkled with kosher salt and left to cool. The first batch was consumed completely by moi. I could.not.stop. eating. I made six batches (about 8 large leaves), but made a couple of goofs...I left in the stems (...lazy...next time I'll cut them out) and the leaves were a little too large for easy consumption.  The next batch will be perfect.

Within hours we had consumed all of the kale, in the form of roasted, spicy, crispy and lovely green kale chips. Healthy, delish, and addicting.

It's June!  Time for some green PS love. Yes, truly.

Have You Ever

We needed a quick dinner, something nutritious, flavorful and extra fast, as we both had meetings last night. Smith suggested pizza because Udi's GF Pizza Crusts are always in the freezer. (They are the best!)

In order get an extra helping of veggies I decided to try Brussels sprouts pizza.  I caramelized Utah Spanish sweet onions and, just before they were done, threw in thinly sliced Brussels sprouts. (Next time I'll throw in a red chili pepper for extra flavor, a touch of heat, and color.)

The first layer on the crust was mozzarella cheese (fake for me), then sliced Roma tomatoes, the onion/Brussels sprouts mixture, and Smith's favorite Italian sausage. We decided to use up the last of the prosciutto and topped it all with sprinkle of Parmesan cheese.  We liberally sprinkled red pepper flakes on each slice as we ate. It was a winner and we'll do it again with a few extra additions for flavor.

Good Stuff

Two posts on "what I'm knitting" are in the works, but because things have been a little busy, there are no pictures of progress.  Therefore, today I'd like to share with you what other blogger/friends have going. 

The Gluten Free Girl and the Chef is one of my favorite cooking blogs. Notice I didn't say one of my favorite gluten free cooking blogs, because Shauna and her hubby Danny make some of the best food you'll taste anywhere.  This post, about the IFBC, lists a ton of wonderful cook books that are not GF.  If you love food, love to cook (and even if you don't), you'll love Shauna's blog.  I'm drooling for her cookbook which should be released soon! It's here!

Next, I bring exciting knitting news. Anne, of Wooly Wonka fame, and Lori, of Oceawind Knits fame, have teamed up to create the Ennea Collective, an e-zine of spinning, knitting and weaving.  I can't wait to see what they spin up (October!).

And, here's something for you now (no waiting)!  Miriam Felton has published her first book, a treasury of patterns for commercial or handspun yarn.

 

Inside Twist and Knit you'll find patterns for socks, shawls, scarves, mitts and cowls, each with a unique lace pattern. Miriam used both handspun and commercial yarns for the patterns, which offer the knitter versatility, variety of yardage, and weight of yarn, needed for a design.  The book is available in print or as a digital download. If you're on Ravelry, you can download collections of 3-4 patterns, or the complete book, to your library.  Please check Mimknits for full details or questions.  Later you'll learn about the two skeins of handspun pictured, along with a shawl I test knit for the book. Hey-more to come!

And, there's more! Amy has designed a sock that may bring back Mr. Sock Mojo. The plan is to invite Mr. Mojo to be my guest, and main squeeze, at the Knitters Retreat.

The yarn, should also be an attraction for Mr. Mojo, as it's The Woolen Rabbit's Pandora in the Forever in Blue Jeans colorway (be still my heart).  (Speaking of Woolen Rabbit, tomorrow is Kim's birthday!) 

Now, back to Amy!  If you have trouble fitting a sweater to your body type, check out Amy's Fit to Flatter tutorials (and her sweater patterns).  She's truly onto to something.

The Weekend in Pictures (and few words)

The pedicure was fun and I opted for cute flowers (ala TeresaC, however no blue toes).

Amazingly, we had chicken nuggets with oven fries for dinner.  The recipe for the nuggets is from Gluten Free Girl and it was yummy! (Yes, we made fry sauce.)

 

We did a little happy dance after finishing the puzzle (1,000 pieces and 24x30"). 

 

The pansy garden was planted (4 pots full) and I'll love watching it grow.

The bonus was warm weather all weekend (albeit a little cloudy).

Sunday we went to the Artesian Well and filled three jugs full of extra good drinking water (Smith brews beer with it). 

   

While driving to the Salt Lake City Cemetery (where family is buried) we enjoy looking at the older homes.  The purple door caught my eye (I've always wanted a bright red door), as did the Trompe l-oeil vine.

 

The City cemetery is full of history, and it's a beautiful, peaceful, interesting place to visit. This man lived right, eh?  The new headstone is my favorite. We should all live as "Marvelous Marv" did.

Tasty Tuesday III

Several friends have birthday's in March (so do I), which means there are many celebrations throughout the month.  Saturday I took a gluten free carrot cake to my needlepoint class, as it was Suzy's birthday.  I'm the only person who needs to eat GF, but everyone loved it.  Beverly Hills makes fabulous cakes and the GF chocolate is to live for. Who says you need to be denied good food if you eat GF?  Not me!

Tasty Tuesday

You know that 'stressed' is 'desserts' spelled backwards and this chocolate goodness is a wonderful stress reliever. CherylS thought the recipe from Pioneer Woman Cooks could easily be made gluten free and she was right! I used a featherlight rice flour mix from Blue Chip Group. Cooking isn't my forte and baking less so, but this was easy peasy and extra delicious.