Amigurumi

Again, in preparation for the hurricane we got old school activities that don't require electricity. I bought a kit from barnes and nobles on how to make Amigurumi (crocheted animals), and re-taught myself how to crochet. I tried to use the instructions in the 1st chapter of the book but some didnt make any sense at all or left out steps, so i went to youtube for that portion. Once I figured out all the stitches I started with the kissing fish pattern.

It turns out that I was reading the instructions wrong and was more than half way through before i realized. For example the instructions would say *1sc, 2sc in next stitch* (12). I read this to mean 1 single chain then 2 single chains in the next stitch and repeat this entire cycle 12 times. Instead what it actually meant was that in the end you should have 12 stitches (not the 36 I was doing). I started to notice the fish wasn't very 3d (minus the lips i did perfectly), I thought maybe at a later step it would pull the stitches in and it would become spherical.

I finally re-read the how to section and realized I had been reading the instructions wrong. Luckily its easy to undo this and I started over from scratch.
I didnt quite get some of the steps on the fins but i think i improvised well.

Hurricane Chili

This weekend in preparation for Hurricane Irene to blow through town (probably an over statement since there was barely even wind) we stocked up with water, batteries, flashlights, and non perishable food. Peter had the great idea to make a big pot of chili and just eat that all weekend. My favorite vegetarian chili is hard times cafe at the ball park. Infact last time we went i got stopped by FOUR seperate guys who wanted to know where I had gotten the delicious looking chili (at first I thought they were just trying to make an excuse to talk to me, but by the 3rd i realized it was the chili not me). We started with a base recipe and added corn and peanuts.

The chili looked great even before the beans and tomatoes were added


The part you could really taste the most were the spices

The recipe calls for Chili Powder ( we added a bit more than it called for), Cumin, Coriander, and a tiny dash of Cinnamon...even though the smallest amt of spice in there was the cinnamon it was the most easily distinguishable with both the final taste and final smell of the chili.

I made nachos with my portion :)

Pea Pesto

Last night I followed Smitten Kitchen's recipe for Pea Pesto. Smitten Kitchen has never let me down so I love trying recipes from this site (see corn pie). English peas aren't quite in season so I had to make do with frozen peas. I also left out the pine nuts since I don't like them at all (although if i were to try it again maybe I'd give toasted pine nuts a chance). Peter also wanted me to add basil, but I left it out this time in curiosity for what a non basil pesto may taste like. In the end it was very nice looking, and pretty delicious, but definitely lacking something. Maybe that Basil and Pine nuts are what I needed. I do love this color though!


All in all I'd file this under a recipe to try again with modifications

Candied Pecans

One night last week I caught a bit of an old Julia Child episode while at the gym. She had a guest on showing how to make some lemon chiffon cake with candied pecans on top. The cake itself didn't look good, but the pecans sure did. I decided to play around with ingredients and make my own. First I tried just plain sugar (1/4 cup pecans, 2 tbsp water, 2 tbsp white sugar). This one was pretty good, but a little too sweet. Next I tried a batch the same but added a few grounds of sea salt. This one was definitely on the right track, but not quite there yet. Then I tried one last one with the sugar, salt, and then added a few shakes of ground cloves, and a few shakes of cinnamon. This one was the clear winner. For all these recipes all you have to do is throw all the ingredients in the sauce pan at once and stir till sugar dissolves and begins boiling, then reduce the heat and let cook for about 7 to 10 minutes stirring occasionally. If you take it out too soon the sugar coating remains sticky. You'll know when you are done when there is almost no sauce left in the pan.



I topped my salad with the cinnamon pecans and it was delicious!



The two things i'd try next time, is first maybe i'll try a batch using brown sugar instead of white, and second maybe i'd try toasting the pecans first.

Vegetarian White Wine Sauce

I didn't take any pictures, so this wont be a visually pleasing post. But it was so delicious that I'll just try and draw a picture with my words...just kidding, who do you think i am? seriously, I'm an engineer the best I can do is give you a picture in numbers.

I tried to find a recipe online but there were none that fit the idea i had in my head so I made up my own and it came out pretty well if I do say so myself.

this recipe made 2 generous portions
*1/2 cup of dry white wine...I went with barefoot chardonnay b/c i happened to have little bottles sitting around
*1/2 cup of vegetable stock. I used the Trader Joe's vegetable reduced sodium savory broths.
* 1/4 onion chopped
* 1 large shallot chopped
* 1 clove of garlic chopped and crushed
* 1/4 lemon
* 1/4 tbsp salted butter (b/c i like it healthy like that)
* 1 fresh ear of corn, kernels cut off
* 1/2 cup frozen peas
* 1 handful of fresh chopped spinach
* cream to taste

1. Melt in your prettiest le cruesette the butter, and throw in the onions, garlic, and shallots to sautee.
2. squeeze in the lemon juice
3. Once sauteed add the wine and broth and put the top on to simmer.
4. after a few min add the corn and peas.
5. Reduce heat and Simmer longer
6. add a dash of cream
7. Boil up some water and cook the pasta
8. Just before the pasta is done throw in the spinach.
9. Mix and serve
10. On each plate mix in goat cheese, and then top with parmesean cheese
11. if desired add salt to taste.

Note: I used zucchini in mine but i don't recommend it so I wont add it here.