Backroads of Washington: Hood Canal Trip

Back when the leaves started turning Chris, Scooter the Dog and I climbed in the Dodge Ram and drove north for the day.  I checked out the “Backroads of Washington” book once again and we followed a large portion of the Hood Canal route.  Now that we’ve done this twice, the book is on my Amazon wish list.

At this rest stop somewhere before Quilcene, we talked with a lovely couple, also walking their dog, who were closing up their place for the season. They said the family has owned the place from one generation to the next and that back in the day, Erle Stanley Gardnerthe writer known for the “Perry Mason” series had a summer place nearby. Pretty cool, huh?

In case you don’t have a map handy, the Hood Canal flows up out of the Puget Sound and continues north until it reaches the San Juan Islands and the Strait of Juan de Fuca.

Beautiful, beautiful drive, I only took 110 pix!

Basically anywhere I pointed the camera was a good shot.  It was hard to take a bad pix, since the scenery was so beautiful.

See what I mean?

Here is a future camping spot…we may have to come back to…

there is just something about looking out over the water…its very mesmerizing.

Christmas on the Up-Cycle

Here are some earrings I made last week with Christmas in mind, I was trying to go for a holly leaf with berries on it.

My mom and I spent some time making bead stuff last week.   She is really enjoying herself, of course that is because she always hands of the tying off and/or other fiddly bits for me to do, whilst she starts another project!

Some old, some new components, I went thru my 83 year old friends jewelry that she wanted to do away with, and some of the best stuff was several old multi-stranded chokers of Austrian Crystal.  You know the kind?  with 3 strands of graduated sets of beads?

Well, you take just one of those apart and you have a LOT of crystals in several sizes.  Vi had inherited her mom’s, aunts and two sisters worth of that 50’s and 60’s style of jewelry, and I have baggies full of the stuff now!

So all the crystals show in my Christmas inspired stitch markers come from Vi’s cache of up-cycled jewelry.

these blue glass beads, strung by mom,  came from Vi’s too.

Formerly a ugly single strand necklace.  You know the kind? that you used to play “dress-up” when you were a small child?

But you add some modern silver beads and (waves wand around) wah-lah!  A new and shiny bracelet!

The Latest, Cutest Thing

This is Mech, short for Mechanic, because he has a little “grease smudge” on top of his head.

My mom got a new kitten, and we got to “kitten sit” for a week.

After most of a week of listening to my cats hiss and run from him, I found Cali and Mech nearly snuggling…of course Cali is trying to pretend that it makes no diff to her.

It was loads of fun and excitement around here, and after he went back home, it…was…SO. QUIET.

Scary Knitted Objects Alert!

Giant Pink Bunny this thing looks like some play structures I’ve seen inside shopping malls.

House, tree, bike…whatever, lets cover it in a cozy!

Voodoo Doll tell me you haven’t wanted one!

Recycled Knit House clearly they have too much time on their hands!

Grenade Cozies you too can make a fashion statement in Iraq!

Bomb Cozy Uhm,  its  a bomb.

Tank Cosy I have no words, other than its Pink.

Hand Knit Machine Gun click on Previous/Next button at bottom right for more pix.

Guerrilla Knitting start your own knit graffiti movement!

Anybody know of other scary knitted objects?  Let me know.

Last Days at Abundant Yarn

Tom, one of the owners, and fellow knitter, enjoying a laugh …a typical outcome at Abundant Yarn!

Sadly, one of my favorite LYS’s is closing.   This Sunday was the last potluck that they will have there, following many such Potluck Sunday Knit-Together’s.

Abundant Yarn has been the place to eat, drink and knit at for the past five years.  They had  a great sense of community that will be sorely missed.

Everyone came to Abundant from Big Tall Guys to Toddlers!  It was just that kind of place, room for all and so accommodating!

Good by Abundant Yarn  and the Pete’s -Busy Bee Cafe, we’ll see ya online.    But I don’t know where I’m going to go for good knitting, good friends and good coffee or tea!

Best Oatmeal Cookies Ever!

I rarely say something is the best, because the nature of my personality is to always keep my options open…pending further investigation.  However, these cookies are different.

These cookies are all an oatmeal cookie ought to be:   crisp, butterscotch-y, with the perfect amount of chew due to the oatmeal…but not to much, and browned enough, not pale, floury and anemic, but buttery and rich an sweet.

Ahhhh! These, my dear cookie aficionados are THEE Best Oatmeal Cookie Ever!

In case you’re not lucky enough to receive these for you birthday, like my friend Jeff, here is the recipe.

Go Forth, and make your own!

Oatmeal Crisps as modified by me from Fannie Farmer Baking Book

1 cup butter, softened

1 cup brown sugar (dark is best)

1 cup granulated sugar

2 eggs

1 1/2 cups flour

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

3 cups regular oats, place in blender and roughly grind them up

Combine butter, sugars, eggs and beat until fluffy.  Mix in nutmeg, salt and backing soda.

On low, mix in flour and oatmeal, until just mixed in.  Dough will be very soft.

Drop by spoonfuls and flatten somewhat with your fingers.  Keep in mind these cookies need spreading room.

Bake at 350 for about 10 to 12 minutes.

Let sit a minute before transferring to cooling racks.

Eat with the beverage of your choice and do the Happy Cookie Dance

PS:  It makes all the difference in the world to roughly grind the oatmeal before putting it in the cookies.  Please try it, you won’t be disappointed with this little extra step.  As a matter of fact, I now grind more than I need and keep it in an extra container, ready for use.

Cali’s got some bling

I came across this piece of knitted I-cord yesterday and found it was the perfect size to tie around Cali’s neck.

I told her it was a “pretty” and she just gave me the “look”.

and it is difficult to take pix of a solid gray like hers…

still, she is pretty and she wore her bling all day.

And then there is Dexter, who went and got himself locked in the garage all night last night.  He was a hungry boy when he finally got let back into the house!

I think he would have ate anything!

Shannon

My friend Shannon came to do lunch this week and finally pick up her knitting gifts!

Here she is modeling her beret and gauntlets.  I did remind her that it was August here, but she said she didn’t care, she was going to wear them anyway!

Perhaps its to make up for the fact that the hat was originally a Christmas present and the gloves were originally a birthday present, which is in October.  And Yes, I did finish them in time.

Finishing things and getting them to their intended targets are two different things!

We had a nice time visiting and catching up and cooking lunch together.   Shannon brought corn grits, sausage, kalamata olives and fresh parmasan cheese.

I provided fresh local tomatoes, basil, zucchini, and  walla walla onion.  Herbs and  additional things were added, and soon we had a lovely meal!

A lovely visit!  Come again soon, Shannon!

About:

Beret from “Greetings from the Knit Cafe” in Blue Skies Alpaca/Silk Blend

Elegant Gauntlets from “The Purl Stitch” in Buckingham Alpaca

Roast O’Roma!

Guess What???? The tomatoes are on!

Two summers ago I saved a FoodDay article from The Oregonian on slow roasting tomatoes and freezing them, as a way to preserve a butt load of fresh tomatoes.  This year, we have the requisite butt load, so I’ve been busy.  Once these Roma’s started to ripen, they’ve been picked nearly Every Day!

First you pick yourself a butt load, it helps if you have a red Italian Mama Ro bowl, it gives you a more authentic experience.   Then you rinse them, then you drizzle some olive oil in the bottom of the clay roasting pan because only a roasting pan can hold a butt load of tomatoes.

Cut each tomato in quarters, I prefer to use a serrated steak knife when cutting tomatoes, its just quicker, and then toss them in the roasted pan.  Repeat until pan is pretty full or you are out of tomatoes, whichever comes first:P

Now drizzle some more olive oil over the top, don’t be stingy!

And yes, that is some more Mama Ro I am using to drizzle the olive oil with, I am a big fan of  Mama Ro and we are fortunate to have a local store here in Portland.

Slip back outside and pluck a few fresh basil leaves.  What? you didn’t plant any?  Well, there is always next summer, live and learn:)  So, if you choose, (and why would you not)  sprinkle some basil and some sea salt on top.

Kosher Style Flake Salt
If you only buy one salt this year make it this one. Kosher Flake salt has a long history and a great taste. The special shape of the flakes gives this salt the maximum of salt flavor with the minimum of salt used.

Stick ‘er in a 275 degree oven for several hours, giving an occasional stir and pull out when most of the juices have cooked out and it looks like this:

That dark thing to the left is a basil leaf.  It should like pulpy and puree like.  You can roast on higher temps (up to 400 degrees)  for quicker results, but you need to really watch and stir.

You can roast them until they look caramelized if you want too.

When everything cools down, pour into freezer containers and freeze until winter, then make yourself some fabulous pasta with the taste of summer in it!

And you know what I plan to make…Ryan’s Bolognese Sauce.

A LOL Cat for you!