Home-made jam

Made some quick raspberry jam this morning - may have to get some raisin challah from Whole Food Market to go with it...

Cashmere alert

Yummy cashmere by The Plucky Knitter - if you have not checked out their yarns... you are missing out on some amazing yarns in most gorgeous colourways.

These are some examples of her cashmere 2ply (heavy lace/light fingering) - I started a plain cowl in Hayride right away and knitting with this yarn feels like cuddling a kitten! More to come...

Happy Thanksgiving!

So much to be grateful for - family, friends, health... and well, good food too :-)

Iseabail at last – FO

Ishbel by Ysolda Teague has thousands of projects on Ravelry and that must mean something right.

Looked at it frequently but never got around to it until I recently saw some Ishbels knit up as bridesmaids’ shawls. At same time Ysolda had a sale on her single patterns so I finally bought Ishbel.

It is an easy lace pattern with lovely results but don’t be fooled that you do not have to pay attention at all… ask me how I know – I knitted in front of TV and really tired after work and had to tinker back several times so going forward when knitting lace I will finally put in life-lines. Guess that is what you called lesson learned.

I still loved knitting this pattern and will do it again.

Only used about 300yards of lovely antique-rose coloured cashsilk by The Plucky Knitter (highly recommend any of her yarns) – shawl blocked out beautifully and to very decent size:

Iseabail at last - happiness: 8.5 out of 10

Is it working again?

Have been quiet on this blog as I could not get the interface for posting to work for quite a while.

This morning I decided to give it another shot and upgraded interface seems to work... which would be fantastic as I love to share some knitting WIPs/FOs and gardening/cooking adventures.

Here's an early photo of WIP that will turn into FO this week... more to come and happy to be back :-)

Purple Love

Love to find some yarn to go with this Iris from my garden...

Orchids - Still Alive and reblooming!

Cowl in the making

Amaryllis reemerging

Second Chances

This was my Amaryllis a week ago:

After the bloom wilted I realised that there were two tiny leafs sticking out... so I felt bad to throw her out and look what's happening:

Giving second chances usually pays off!

Eggs

Look, I found heirloom eggs that match my china... and they are super-yummy too!

Getting excited about SPICE!

I love cooking - when I am stressed I cook, when I am bored I cook, when I am happy I cook and I love cooking for others! Oh, and I love to eat even more :-)

Therefore it is only logical that finding good ingredients make me happy. While I try to grind and put together a lot of spices myself (once you use fresh ground pepper you will never touch that pre-ground stuff again - I use a dedicated coffee mill BTW) - sometimes a good spice bought at a store is great as well.

This week I was going home from work and decided to go through Grand Central market - and came across the spice market "Spices and Tease". As I love all kinds of Curry I decided to give their Garam Massala (Moroccan coriander, cardamom from Tamil Nadu, India, Bay Leaves Tellicherry pepper, cinnamon, caraway, Zanzibar cloves, China #1 ginger and nutmeg) and Massale (coriander, turmeric, black pepper, cumin, cardamom, nutmeg, clove, cinnamon, hot pepper and fenug) a try.

Yummy - spruced up some veggies I had left over with the Garam Massala which is on spicier side. Next day used the Massale for making curried rice - it added such a nice warmth to the dish and went perfectly with the chicken.

Next on plan for this week marinated chicken using with Garam Massala and a veggie stew with Massale.

I felt that the spices were fresh and like that you can buy them in small units and best of all "Spices and Tease" also have a Website where you can find their offerings online (they also carry tea and sugar... I will be busy this year cooking myself through their options!).

Will report back with recipes using more spices!

Quick and simple Raspberry Jam

I went to Whole Food Market and saw some really yummy Raspberries and also picked up some Raisin-Challah.

So when I got home I felt like making a quick home-made raspberry jam to enjoy with my Challah:

1 Pint of Raspberries

1 Apple peeled and cubed (I used Granny Smith for pectin)

1/2 cup of fine sugar

1/4 cup of water

Zest and juice of 1 lemon

1/4 cup good Orange Liqueur

Combine Raspberries, apple, sugar and water, bring to boil and then reduce to simmer for 10mins. After that time add lemon zest and juice and simmer for another 10 minutes. Take off heat and add orange liqueur.

If desired puree with immersion blender and fill in clean jars and store in refrigerator.

Enjoy with Challah or another bread of your choice!

Happy 2012

Wishing you all a very Happy & Healthy New Year!

I am not into resolutions as they just make you feel bad as soon as you break them (which is usually on about Jan 02nd).

What I like to try this year though is to send a postcard to a friend or family member each month (birthday cards not included - and yes, I usually still write hand-written cards :-)) and post on my blog once a week.

That's all and take life easy - in the end all will work out in magical ways anyway!