I'ma Bear! RAAAAA!

Mum's new kitten!

And this is my mum's new kitten!
There are new kittens everywhere!
I can't wait to meet her on Thanksgiving :)

Her name is Vita.

Jake's new kitten!

His name is Eddard!
He's cuteness all over the place!
He kept rushing the camera and wouldn't stop moving long enough for me to get a sharp picture but here he is!

<3 

Forest

I walked through the forest,
I followed the narrow path,
Shadowed by the children
Of the trees.

They watched me quietly
With those wild eyes;
Glassy round and wide

Beautiful copies of yours and mine.

Yummies

Hey, just felt like sharing a recipe for one of my favorite fall foods: roasted butternut squash soup. It's like, so good.

It's dairy-free but still so creamy somehow, and you can make it vegetarian by substituting vegetable stock for the chicken stock.

I like to make a lot, either to share with people or to freeze some for later. So this serves about 5-8 people. Also, it tastes so much better if you can use all organic ingredients (stock and veggies are pretty cheap).

Ingredients:

2 medium-large butternut squashes

2 quarts/cartons chicken stock (homemade or store-bought is fine).

2 stalks of celery

1 large onion

1 large carrot

3 shallots

2 apples

olive oil

cayenne pepper (or chile powder is fine too)

curry powder

allspice

cinnamon

rosemary

salt and pepper

Directions:

Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees. Peel and chop squash into 1-inch chunks, scraping out all seeds from the middle (this is a pain in the ass). Arrange in a large baking dish with shallots (peeled and chopped in half) and sprigs of rosemary (dried rosemary is fine too). Season generously with salt and pepper, and drizzle a little olive oil over the whole thing. Roast in the oven for 20-30 minutes, until squash is tender.

Chop the onion, peel and chop the apple, carrot, and celery (you don't want celery strings in your soup). Heat a large stock pot over medium-low with a little oil or butter (I like to use butter for this, you just need a little). Once the pot is hot, pour in the onion, carrot, celery, and apple. Season generously with salt and pepper. Cook them all together for 10-15 minutes until the veggies are soft and translucent. You don't want to brown them or caramelize them, so make sure the heat isn't too high. At this point, pour in the roasted squash and shallots, and then pour in enough stock to cover everything. Add in a healthy dash of cayenne, a tiny dash of curry, a regular dash of allspice, and a regular dash of cinnamon. It's very technical so get it right. Bring soup to a boil and then lower heat. Simmer for 5 minutes. At this point, you must blend the soup. If you have an immersion blender it is so much easier, but it can be done in a regular blender. Just add the soup in small quantities, and go REALLY slow. Once blended, if the soup is too thick, you can add a little stock to thin it out. You want it to be thick, but not like baby food. Taste for seasoning, and add whatever is missing. And then, voila! Soup du jour!

Serve with a little dollop of sour cream or yogurt, or toasted nuts if you're fancy. Crusty bread is a must!

There you go loves!

Oversized slouchy gaby-hat

The Smalls keep asking for their own slouchy Gaby-hats.  

Here's the pattern in case any of you feel adventurous 'cause there's no way I have the time to whip one of these up for each of you, no matter how deep my love for your pretty pretty faces.

P.S - My mum hopes ya'll like your Jammy-jams. <3

Now you too can make the slouchy green hat I'm wearing in this picture (you can't see it, but it's extra roomy in the back, and in general....I have a rather large head though :P ).

And hey don't forget guys...an apple a day keeps the doctor away (see evidence of my own impending apple consumption below) (also see close up of finished Gaby-Hat):

Let us now commence the knit-o-log!

The Yarn

I found the yarn at Michael's! It's a wool blend, and it stripes all fancy-like all by itself. :)

Lion Brand Amazing yarn in Rainforest

Gauge

4 stitches = 1 inch in stockinette stitch

Fit

Custom sized to fit an average Smalls head, in a slouchy way.

Note: A Lisa-Smalls head may warrant a decrease of about 8 or so stitches...though her hair may make up for it.

Especially perfect for stuffing up-and-in some poofy Lisa or Nina hair. <3

Cuff

Cast on 78 stitches to the size 8 circular needle. (Nina, size 8 is not THAT small. Get over it :P ).

Join for working in the round, being careful to not twist the stitches. Place marker to indicate the end of the round.

Round 1: *K2, p2, repeat from * to end of round.

Repeat Round 1 until the piece measures 6 inches from the cast on edge, for a wide, glorious cuff.

Crown

Change to the larger needle, and knit every round until the crown measures 7 inches from the top edge of the cuff.

Time to decrease! 

Next Round: K17, k2tog, k17, k2tog, k18, k2tog, k18, k2tog (74 stitches)

Knit 2 rounds.

Next Round: *K2, k2tog, repeat from * to end of round.

Knit 2 rounds.

Next Round: *K1, k2tog, repeat from * to end of round. 

Knit 2 rounds.

Next Round: *K2tog, repeat from * to end of round (This round will be a litle tight on the circular needle.)

Just a few more seconds...

Cut a 12 inch tail and thread the tail through the remaining stitches.

Remove the circular needle and pull the tail tight. Thread the tail through the center top to the inside of the hat.

A Halloween Story

I was just reminiscing about Halloween.

And how as kids my brothers and I went out all decked out in my mom's most recent sewing projects armed with nothing but a pillowcase each and the pure resolve to fill them to the brim.

I don't think we ever actually got them that full, but in my mind the pillowcase was always half-full.

(being of an optimistic nature)

Anyway -

THE best part about all the trick or treating was coming home, dumping our candy out on the living room floor in three piles, and tallying up the goods. We never mixed our candy (NO WAY), but rather took careful stock of what we had (in preparation for impending thievery), disposed of anything open (popcorn balls?), broken (lollypops), or unsavory (peanuts/raisins) and then proceeded with the process of trading goods.

This was way more badass than any monopoly property trades, and definitely had way more on the line.

This was like, little-kid-trade-your-soul-for-a-mounds seriousness right here. And we definitely had a barter system...like:

One name brand candy (milky way) = six shitty candies (excluding gold pirate coins)
One mini Three Musketeers = one full size Snickers
One Starburst packet = two Dum Dums.
One Nerds box = One Nerds box (seriously)

And so on.

And we knew that we damn well better save a few blow pops for mom (as payment for making our costumes, of course), and almond joys and Reese's peanut butter cups for dad (as payment for escorting us safely through egg-bombed streets) or else use them as decoys to steer him away from the full stash later on. (I don't know about you people, but I had an entire drawer devoted to halloween candy, and the stock would last until Easter...albeit by then it consisted of stale tootsie rolls and the occasional starburst)

And then when the trading and packing away and tallying was done, I rationed it out until the next appointed mass-candy-receival (i.e. Easter).

Like, I'm talking, I get ONE Three Musketeers a week ( my favorite halloween candy).

Now I just buy a bar of super dark chocolate and I'm set for approximately ten days before I need to replenish the supply.

Extreme Mountain Camping

www.slightlywarped.com/crapfactory/curiosities/2011/february/extreme_mountain_camping.htm

Volcano erupts on a deserted Cape Cod

Woahh I had a dream that a volcano was erupting on Cape Cod and I was in the car with La and Nina and Lisa driving away and saw it erupt in the distance. And in the dream I was like "it's sooo funny that to counter strike a volcano they were able to evacuate the entirety of cape cod in one day". And you guys were like, whatever Gaby, you're such a nerd. It was just like real life!

LOL It was so crazy!

And also really pretty when it erupted.

Here's one from Antonio...

Take any piece of prose about 3-5 pages long. It could be a short story, selection from a novel, science journal--anything with interesting language. Go through the piece and highlight words that stick out to you. Create a poem with these words, but DO NOT change the order that they're in. Your poem must use these words in the order that you found them. Have fun!

Dear Friends:

Send me writing prompts.  They best be good. :)

And then I will surely entertain you.

Lurve,

Jabbers

Feels like

A million bucks
kissing a summer breeze
slowly slipping down to grace
the still waters of a fountain
black and cream and green.

Tuna Yogurt Tomato Sandwich

This sandwich is BOSS. It is my brain child. :)

Ingredients

• 2 slices multigrain bread
• 1 can tuna
• 6 cherry or grape tomatoes
• meunster, provalone, or cheddar cheese
• plain greek yogurt
• mayonnaise
• dill
• pepper
• a handful of mixed greens
• IF I had them....I would add cucumbers too.

Directions

1. Open, drain, and prepare the tuna as you normally would -- i mix in just enough mayo to coat it (no sogginess!) The yogurt will add creaminess later.
2. Chop up the tomatoes, and add them to the tuna with a generous amount of black pepper and dill.
3. Slice up your cheese and lay it on a slice of bread.
4. Add the tuna in a layer.
5. Add a layer of mixed greens
6. On the other slice, spread some plain greek yogurt, generously.
7. Put it together and slice it in halves or triangles :)

A girl.

Once in the world there was a girl who could only speak in a box full of muffins.

She had nine toes and one nose and a tiny mark on her hip that looked like a chicken.

If she rolled on her side at night, the mark made a noise like this - baaagahhhhhk!  ha!

One day this girl purled a whole scarf, well, knit a whole scarf if you look at it backwards.

Then she took the scarf and she wore it to a play on the life of Shakespeare.

Which was not like his plays at all and it sort of dragged until the end when, well, I won't say...don't want to ruin the ending.

It should be clear to you now that this girl was the coolest.

eggs in lisa's life

For those out there who don't know, I used to hate eggs.

I mean, I used to HATE EGGS!

Eggs made me gag and my mother made me eat them and it made me really dislike Sunday mornings; we had eggs on Sunday mornings before going to church.

Now, I could tolerate a scrambled egg. Fried eggs of any kind made my Sunday morning breakfast jump into my napkin and down the toilet. (See my eggs really didn't like me either). Hard boiled eggs were the absolute worst. It is no wonder deviled eggs come from these. They are definitely born in hell. My throat began to close up even at the mention of a hard boiled egg and the smell made me run across the border into Canada. (Fact: There are no hard boiled eggs in Canada).

Things change, people grow up, eggs become more friendly. I began to start enjoying scrambled eggs and would order them on the rare occasion we went out for breakfast. I would even partake in the scrambled eggs at the DC.

Now most of the time I wouldn't condone this kind of behavior, but in college there are those far and in between nights when the alcohol comes out. On one of these occasions in junior year, whilst living with some of the most glamorous people on Stanley Street, one of my housemates decided to whip up a late night fried egg, oe. (That means over easy). Damn! Did that egg look and smell fantastic! I couldn't just watch as Nina ate her egg alone. I would have to eat one for myself. And guess what? I enjoyed it. And it wasn't just the slight inebriation because I continued to cook and eat an oe egg on top of a slice of toast as a breakfast staple a good three or four mornings out the week.

I will put that same oe egg on top of a bowl of oatmeal, grits, rice and beans, in a sandwich or burger, and more. Oh the delights of the incredible edible egg!

The hard boiled however, has been a harder egg to crack. But today might have marked the day that Lisa came to terms with her last egg demon. While reading Rebecca Currie's food blog, I came across a recipe for egg salad. While quite common and served at numerous functions, egg salad has always been another egg "no-zone" as they are made from hard boiled. Reading this post, the thought came that I may be ready for the final leg in this journey; that now is the time to accept hard boiled eggs as a part of my life. Here is the post:

"I made this for the first time maybe a year ago when I was really hungry one afternoon and everything I thought of making was missing some key ingredient. After running through a dozen potential options in my head, all of which weren’t going to work for one reason or another, I was left with eggs as the only possibility. Scrambled eggs didn’t sound good or fried eggs either, I didn’t want breakfast, and then I realized I had mayonnaise and I could make egg salad.

Egg salad! Brilliant!

And it was fabulous. And then it was vastly improved the next time when I had it on an everything bagel.

So my new favorite thing is egg salad on an everything bagel.

And it seems sort of silly to give a recipe for this — like telling people how to pour a glass of milk — but I’m going to anyway, because it won’t hurt and it’s the first recipe I’ve put up in a really long time. You gotta to start somewhere.

My New Favorite Thing Egg Salad

[I think everyone knows how to make hard-boiled eggs but just in case ... place eggs in a single layer in a pot and cover with cold water. Cover the pot. Put over high heat and bring to a boil. Turn heat to low and let simmer for 15 minutes. Remove eggs and chill.]

Makes 1 large or 2 small servings

2 hard-boiled eggs
1 Tablespoon mayonnaise
1/2 teaspoon mustard
salt
pepper
paprika

Remove shell from eggs. Slice eggs crosswise, then chop. Put the chopped egg into a small bowl and add mayonnaise and mustard. Stir to mix. Season to taste with salt, pepper, and paprika.

I use yellow mustard, cause I’m a yellow mustard kind of person, but I think whatever kind of mustard you like and/or have around should work.

Serve on bread or crackers or a tortilla or a bagel. If it’s your lucky day, you’ll have an everything bagel in your house and you’ll get to eat it on that.

Yum."

So tune in to see if I've gone from this to this

Cat in a Box: Take II

If all of my Polar Seltzer boxes came like this, I would drink wayyy more Polar Seltzer.

Share your toys

At a meeting yesterday about forming a council to create "visionary" solutions in the Nashoba region, a woman from Ashburnham made an analogy that just made sense. You know, it was one of those times when you read or hear something an think to yourself: "Now why haven't I heard about this before?!"
This woman works with kids. And we all know that as kids, you must learn to share, to get along with the other children in your class (or at least tolerate them). One child gets time with a toy and if another child wishes to play with it, they either wait their turn or the children use it together. The teacher or parents doesn't immediately go running out the door to buy another of that toy so that both can have one.
Sharing is such an important part of a child's social life and parents and teachers seem to constantly stress this ideal. So if it is such an important teaching while we are in our developing stage, how come it doesn't carry on into our adult life?
Does every house need a swimming pool? A big screen tv with a bluray player? Does every town need its own senior center?
This woman merely pointed out to this room full of people the idea that we as adults can utilize this concept of sharing in developing solutions to our current economic and social problems. We must do it as kids, so why ever stop? There doesn't have to come a time in our life that we forgot that basic principal we all grew up on.

A little Sun-Hog :)

My Mom has a lot of Pie Birds.

I think the magpie is my favoritest.

Twin Kids Dance to Outkast's "Hey Ya"