Pineapple Quiche

I finished knitting my pineapple bag and finally finished finishing it!  In this case, I had to weave in all the loose ends of thread which can be a tedious and hateful job.  That little pile of thread is all that's left of those beginnings and endings of thread skeins.  Had I been thinking, I would have taken a "before" picture with all the threads hanging out.  The bag is inside out in this picture and is quite pretty even on the wrong side.

Finishing also involves blocking which is something I never fully appreciated until recent years.  When you knit anything, it is a lump of yarn until you block it into shape.  Blocking is very similar to what we do when we wash and set our own hair.  The item is thoroughly soaked to fully saturate the fibers and then layed out and pinned into shape so it dries and "sets" the way you want it.  I had to get a little creative and stretch this over a canister and then thread tiny knitting needles through the leaf tips to bring out the points.

I wanted to line it since it is lacy with openings in the stitches.  I did some measuring and math (pi and all that) to assemble an inner bag with a circular bottom.  That is some bronze colored acetate fabric I had in my stash.  It is beautiful and shiny but very slippery and it frays if you look at it wrong.  I just hope no frayed edges show or poke through the open areas of the knitting.

I impressed even myself with the nice fit of the lining.  I hand stitched it to the knitted bag while Marek was napping yesterday.

Here is a shot looking down into the bag at the lining.  I'm still trying to decide how and where I want to thread the cording for the drawstring.

Finally here is my glamour shot of the pineapple next to the real thing.  Dave stood against the wall to hold the bag while I took the picture.  It has been cloudy and raining all day and this is the most lit area of the house at the moment.

Here is a closer up shot.  I was so worried the bits of green in the thread would be too overpowering but it gets quite lost in the variegation.  It really is more yellow than anything.  There are gold beads on the tip of each nub but they don't really stand out.  If I ever make another one of these, I might skip them altogether, or at least I wouldn't be heart broken if I did.  And again, I'm not totally happy with how I have the drawstring at the moment.  I like drawing the base of the leaves together but then the tops flop over.  I could draw it together towards the tops of the leaves but then I don't like the shape of the fruit.  I'll have to tinker with it.

And now for the quiche!  I got to take an unexpected but totally welcome vacation day today owing to a utility failure in my department at work.  While Marek was napping today, I decided to fire up the oven on a terribly humid and warm day!  I've been suggesting a quiche to David for some time and he always says no.  I decided to just make one to show him what he was missing!  Quiche is basically a baked omelet in a crust.

I used this recipe as a guide/inspiration and basically cleaned out the fridge.  I love hiding as many vegetables as possible in our food.  In this case there is sauteed red pepper, red onion, mushrooms, asparagus and chopped spinach in here.  I also put a little diced ham and some grated cheese in it.  When I was growing up and learning to cook, I'd make quiche with hash browns, cheese and bacon only.  Is it any wonder I got fat?  I partially blame it on my upbringing because in my rural and isolated hometown, you just plain could not purchase fresh vegetables locally.  My parents still live there and their nearest grocery store is now 11 miles away.  Growing up we could get fresh potatoes and onions, apples, oranges and maybe bananas.  Vegetables came frozen and fruit came in a can.  I've been so spoiled ever since moving to "the city" because I can buy whatever I want or need at the supermarkets.

Marek and I went to his well baby appointment yesterday and he got more shots.  He was such a good boy though and flirted and smiled with everyone he encountered.  He is such a happy kid!  I'm always amazed when I take him out in public because people stop left and right to wave and interact with him.  He must get his charm from his mother!  ;)

Kitchen Musings

I was cleaning and organizing my spice cupboard and thought I'd show it to you.  Every time I opened the door, things would fall out on me so it was time to consolidate and rearrange things.  I've had those magazine clippings of Jacques and Julia and Father Dominic pasted inside my cupboard ever since I've lived on my own.  They were carefully removed from my Iowa apartment cupboard door and tucked into my recipe binder for the trip up here.  They lived in the Minnesota apartment cupboard until they were permanently installed in this kitchen when we moved in.  Jacques looks about 19 in that picture!

On a side note, years ago when I still worked in the nursing home, I'd go around on Saturday afternoons and tune all the ladies' tvs to PBS so they could watch Breaking Bread With Father Dominic.  I'd recently backpacked across Europe and sent him a letter care of the public access station that produced the show.  I wanted to tell him about my trip and the baking souvenirs I'd picked up along the way and how much he'd inspired me and how I shared his message with the residents in my care.  I especially wanted to tell him about an exhibit about communal bread ovens on display at the folk museum in Athens, Greece.  These large ovens were used by entire villages and fired once a week.  There was a villager quote on the wall that said, "Like God, bread is everywhere yet so valuable that it is sold nowhere."  He sent me a thank you card that featured the detail of a stained glass window depicting loaves of bread.  He closed the letter saying, "Bake and Be Blessed."  I keep it in my recipe binder and treasure it to this day.  Before today, I didn't realize he had a new website.  When I finish this post, I will be heading back over there!

Speaking of bread, here is the last packet of yeast I brought home from Norway.  Each envelope is the equivalent of two of our yeast envelopes.  I used this to make Finnish rye bread to take home to my parents' house for a family weekend with my sister and her kids.

I made grilled chicken marinated in yogurt and spices including saffron.  This was purchased in Paris and the pistils are grouped in little plastic pods inside the jar. 

I cook with a lot of thyme and keep filling up my Aldi jar.  This large envelope came from Poland and was about 30 cents!  Once this is gone, I have another packet from Norway.

We've had such a goofy summer so far.  We finally got the garden in on June 1st because before that it was cool and rainy.  The seedlings I planted are just sitting in the ground and not growing.  I finally have some zucchini and cucumbers coming up and a single solitary bean.  Really?  Here is Marek in the Pack and Play in the yard while we worked.  My sister gave me the great tip that a standard crib sheet fits perfectly over the playpen to keep bugs and direct sunlight out.  He entertained himself and did very well while we labored.  Lopi supervised.

He isn't walking yet but he edges around the couch and hutch and table.  He is such a happy kid!  Lopi is so patient with him.

I finally finished his cabled sweater and it will be a while before he can wear it.  I need to block it and get it and all my other entries ready for the Ramsey County Fair.

Zak dog came for a visit last weekend and he took his usual seat in the front window where he could watch the neighborhood.  I loved this picture of Marek because he isn't smiling.  He looks so serious!

Vegas Loot

I took a little Uber adventure to Heddy's Fabrics while in Las Vegas.  I know I've mentioned before that I am not a Las Vegas person and wasn't horribly impressed the last time we went.  I've also concluded that Vegas is more expensive than London, and that is really saying something.  If I'm going to spend that kind of money in a city, I at least want to experience some culture.  Now that I've said that, I'm done being a total Vegas snob.

Back to Heddy's...  We had a free afternoon and Dave was going to play cards for a few hours.  I can't stand casinos and I'd already been to the yarn shop so I wanted to investigate the fabric in town. 

Heddy's has been privately owned for over 50 years and specializes in occasion fabrics.  This was not a Joann's fabric store and all these gorgeous fabrics were way out of my league.  I can sew but I am in no way a seamstress.  My mother would have appreciated it here.  I'm told many of the entertainers and drag queens come here for their costume materials.

I just loved this rack of elegant remnants.  I see pieces like this as total inspiration or something to throw in the dress-up box and watch kids be creative with it.  This reminds me of some blogs I happily discovered when I started working on my pineapple bag.  These gals SEW and they talk often of trading and giving remnants and full cuts to each other for various projects.  When you're sewing accurate Dickensian ballgowns, there is a lot of fabric involved and if you can do it economically, all the better.  I've always been a big believer in stash and stash karma and when you see something that catches your eye for a great price, BUY IT.  It may take 10 years but the perfect project and true purpose will eventually come to you in a dream.  That being said, I didn't spring for any remnants.

These are just a sample of the gorgeous specialty fabrics.

Here are more.  It took everything in me to not touch the fabrics.

Glorious bridal fabrics, trims and laces.  I had to bite my fist.

I was especially thrilled with the selection of trims on bolts.  You can never have too many trims and braids in your stash.

I loved the colors of all the sequined trims.  These were a little too flashy for me but I enjoyed the eye candy.

A close up of bridal laces.

Rhinestone trims.

Rhinestone appliques.  Seeing raw materials like these just sets your mind racing.  Imagine working with these and turning them into stunning gowns and costumes.  I wish they had a project page or photos of finished garments in the store.

I bought some African wax fabric--one of the few cotton bolts in the store.  The clerk also pulled that tacky bolt of Vegas print out of the back so of course I had to get a yard.  I picked out some trims, a wax thread cake and happened to find a bowling patch in the clearance bin!  I had a nice visit with the clerks before taking my Uber back to the hotel.

We also stopped at Sin City Knits on our first day.  Once again I felt guilty making Dave wait on me and I forgot to take pictures.  As of posting this, their website is being updated.  There is a gentleman who is a regular there and I mean absolutely no offense when I say he looks like Fred Willard.  He was featured in their old website photos and we saw and visited with him on both trips when we visited this shop!  Everyone we've met there has been friendly and lovely.  We'd come from snowy weather and Nevadans can visit about the weather and everything else and made us feel very welcome!  If I ever have to go back to Vegas, I will be stopping in again.

I bought some Tink and Sin City Yarn, both of which are produced and dyed in Las Vegas.  They are lovely slightly variegated gray/blue fingering skeins.  In the picture it looks like one is Ocean Gray and the other is Military Gray but I promise they are quite different from one another.  I also got some fingering Wool Addicts in a white/cream for a baby sweater I have in mind.  Two Knitter's Pride cable needles came home with me too! 

My sainted mother stayed at our house while we were gone and babysat Marek and Lopi.  We made  up our bed for her so she was across the hall from Marek but her biggest concern was that our dog sleeps in bed with us.  I'm still not quite sure what she was afraid of, but she was convinced our dog would injure her knee somehow or another and did not want Lopi in bed with her.  We have a king size bed so there is plenty of room for the two of them but she was adamant.  I told her Lopi likes to lay on the couch but warned her that even if she went to bed alone, she'd probably wake up with a dog.  This was her solution:  She put the Pack and Play in the hallway and opened the baby gate all the way to close any gaps.  This was her Berlin Wall and poor Lopi had to sleep all night out on the couch alone.  Poor dog. 

My brother engineered the install of that baby gate at the top of the stairs to make it secure.  I'm always happy when he comes to spend a Navy weekend with us.  I feed him really well and he does odd jobs for me around the house!

This was our first overnight trip away from Marek and I never knew it would be so hard.  My mother is the most trustworthy and capable person on earth, but I couldn't help but worry.  My sister in law and nieces also came for the weekend to keep her company and help and yet still I worried.    The trip home was agonizing and I counted every minute.  It was late when we got home but looking in on him sleeping in his crib was the best feeling in the world.

I joked that I'd like to have him potty trained by the time I came home.  When I was a toddler my Mom went on a trip to Norway and my grandma, her mom, stayed with us kids.  Mom made the same potty training joke except she came home and Grandma had in fact potty trained me!  In this case, Grandma got him to use his sippy cup all by himself.  Such a big boy!