Have a Great Weekend!
Friday, March 04, 2011
Thursday, March 03, 2011
My Upcoming Silk Project
There's a wedding in my future, not mine (been there, done that) but my cousin's. It's in April, like next month. A few years ago I made her sister a wedding shawl. Guess what? Now she needs one too.
So, her Mom and I picked out one that we thought would suit her and it's the Echo Flower Shawl by Jenny Johnson Johnen. I'm making the shawl size and the yarn that I've picked out is this one:
So, her Mom and I picked out one that we thought would suit her and it's the Echo Flower Shawl by Jenny Johnson Johnen. I'm making the shawl size and the yarn that I've picked out is this one:
It's from Woodland Woolworks and is a 20/2 silk lace weight and absolutely gorgeous and soft.
My problem with making this shawl in less than a month is that next week I'm going to be up to my eyeballs in a children's consignment sale that I'm co-chairing. There won't be any knitting time for me next week or this weekend for that matter as I'm starting to prepare for it. God help me.
Wednesday, March 02, 2011
From Olives & Grapes
http://fromolivesandgrapes.com/Site/Welcome.htmlIf you are ever in the Cocoa Beach, Florida, there's a shop you should take time to drop into. It's called From Olives & Grapes and it's a very unique little place. They specialize in flavored Olive Oils and Balsamic Vinegars. Sound weird? I thought so until I went in there.
It's set up in a huge circular bar and there are little cups for tasting the oils and vinegars. There are so many flavors! You can check them out on their website. I brought home Expresso Balsamic Vinegar and Pomegranate Balsamic Vinegar. My brother had already given me some Chocolate Balsamic Vinegar and Basil Olive Oil.
I played with the pomegranate one tonight by making a reduction. I cooked 1 cup full in a small sauce pan on the stove until I had about 1/2 a cup and it had thickened up a bit. Then, I put some chicken on the grill and glazed it with the reduction. It was absolutely fantastic! Just look how beautiful the chicken turned out:
That's not burned by the way. The reduction was a very dark brown and it carmelized while on the grill. Oh so good! By the way, I am not affiliated with this shop in any way, shape or fan, but I am now a big fan!
It's set up in a huge circular bar and there are little cups for tasting the oils and vinegars. There are so many flavors! You can check them out on their website. I brought home Expresso Balsamic Vinegar and Pomegranate Balsamic Vinegar. My brother had already given me some Chocolate Balsamic Vinegar and Basil Olive Oil.
I played with the pomegranate one tonight by making a reduction. I cooked 1 cup full in a small sauce pan on the stove until I had about 1/2 a cup and it had thickened up a bit. Then, I put some chicken on the grill and glazed it with the reduction. It was absolutely fantastic! Just look how beautiful the chicken turned out:
That's not burned by the way. The reduction was a very dark brown and it carmelized while on the grill. Oh so good! By the way, I am not affiliated with this shop in any way, shape or fan, but I am now a big fan!
Monday, February 28, 2011
The Trip
Did you think that I fell off the face of the earth? Almost, but not quite. We took a quick trip to Universal Studios in Orlando, FL. Two 12 hour trips (there and back) with two kids in the car. Oh boy. Made for a long, long ride. Thank goodness for portable dvd players and headphones!
It was me and the Eldest that actually went to the park, everyone else crashed at my brother's pad. The Eldest has been desperate to go see the Harry Potter part of the park so we hit there first. Unfortunately, the only camera I have was on my crappy phone. It has a very poor excuse for a camera, but I did get a few fuzzy pics for ya.
Here's the Hogwart's train, the Eldest and two old folks we didn't know but were captured in our memory forever:
The Castle and a really odd smile from the Eldest:
The highlight of the Harry Potter stuff was in Ollivander's Wand Shop. We stood in line for an hour to finally be ushered in the door with about 20 other people. The shops are all tiny and you have to stand in line just to get into the gift shops. It's utterly ridiculous. I don't care if it's supposed to be true to the size of the shops in the books, it was poor planning for an amusement park. Anyway, once in the shop, the kids were told to go to the front. Ollivander came down the steps and welcomed the crowd and then began studying the children. Only one child is chosen per group to be "measured" for a wand. He made a beeline for the Eldest. It was so much fun to watch.
He made him hold out his "wand arm" and the Eldest did so while the guy carried on teaching the crowd how a wand chooses it's owner. Every time the Eldest's arm started to droop down the guy would stop what he was saying and just stare at the poor kid until the arm came back up. It was so funny. Then he gave the Eldest a wand and had him perform a spell to move a ladder. Drawers opened instead. Not the right wand. He picked another for the Eldest to try. This time he was supposed to make one bell ring. Tons of bells rung. The guy said, "Obviously not the right wand, but we're getting closer!" When the Eldest took the last wand, light started streaming down on him and a chorus of angels started singing. It was very well done and it totally made the kid's day. The only drawback was they made us pay for the wand, but we can't have everything, can we? :)
The Eldest was ready to leave the park right then. I could have wrung his little neck. We paid that much for tickets and he didn't want to see anything else? Good thing I'm a mean Mommy or we wouldn't have got this pic:
Or this one:
Or this one:
It really was a lot of fun.
It was me and the Eldest that actually went to the park, everyone else crashed at my brother's pad. The Eldest has been desperate to go see the Harry Potter part of the park so we hit there first. Unfortunately, the only camera I have was on my crappy phone. It has a very poor excuse for a camera, but I did get a few fuzzy pics for ya.
Here's the Hogwart's train, the Eldest and two old folks we didn't know but were captured in our memory forever:
The Castle and a really odd smile from the Eldest:
The highlight of the Harry Potter stuff was in Ollivander's Wand Shop. We stood in line for an hour to finally be ushered in the door with about 20 other people. The shops are all tiny and you have to stand in line just to get into the gift shops. It's utterly ridiculous. I don't care if it's supposed to be true to the size of the shops in the books, it was poor planning for an amusement park. Anyway, once in the shop, the kids were told to go to the front. Ollivander came down the steps and welcomed the crowd and then began studying the children. Only one child is chosen per group to be "measured" for a wand. He made a beeline for the Eldest. It was so much fun to watch.
He made him hold out his "wand arm" and the Eldest did so while the guy carried on teaching the crowd how a wand chooses it's owner. Every time the Eldest's arm started to droop down the guy would stop what he was saying and just stare at the poor kid until the arm came back up. It was so funny. Then he gave the Eldest a wand and had him perform a spell to move a ladder. Drawers opened instead. Not the right wand. He picked another for the Eldest to try. This time he was supposed to make one bell ring. Tons of bells rung. The guy said, "Obviously not the right wand, but we're getting closer!" When the Eldest took the last wand, light started streaming down on him and a chorus of angels started singing. It was very well done and it totally made the kid's day. The only drawback was they made us pay for the wand, but we can't have everything, can we? :)
The Eldest was ready to leave the park right then. I could have wrung his little neck. We paid that much for tickets and he didn't want to see anything else? Good thing I'm a mean Mommy or we wouldn't have got this pic:
Or this one:
Or this one:
It really was a lot of fun.