Current Events, not of the National Variety

Kind of a quiet-before-the-storm phase here!  We are all glued to the Celtics games, well not so much me, but everybody I know is insane over missing a single moment.  I do have to say things are exciting, in spite of a lackluster game#6, but that was certainly to be expected since the networks have contracted for 7.  OK, so my cynicism is showing.

Good news, the babies were born early this week and that is a load off my friend.  They were nice sized full term babies, rare for twins, but so much better for them to be big and healthy starting out.  So, with the good news I dropped the hats into the mail that afternoon but now I am worried that they will fit maybe today and then the little guys will be right out of them by the time they need them.  That's what I get for not using a pattern that is sized.

So, being project-less I went back to the Noro sweater/coat and tried to pick up where I left off on that, about at the armhole bind offs on the back.  I see the end of this piece coming, thankfully, because I hate hate hate the twisted skeins, and working with 8 skeins of sticky yarn is a pain.  When I start the fronts it will be fewer skeins and hopefully more manageable.

I bought a dress at a consignment shop several years ago, a Shirin Guild long shift in a shot cotton that's purple and red-violet.  I had long ago stopped wearing it because it was somewhat sacky and hung miserably now that my bones are visible.  She is known for her shapeless styles but these no longer work for me and I find them overpowering now.  I finally bit the bullet and sliced it off to be a top rather than a dress, and now I am going to do rows of hand stitching on it with some fabulous hand dyed rayon threads Sylvia gave me.  I think that the stitching will take up the size somewhat so it may be wearable again, or at the very least it will be a project to keep my hands busy these long months in Boston. Initially I am thinking big free form swirls, we'll see how that works.  Update:  I went on eBay to see if I could find a picture and there is the exact dress with a starting price of $229.  Damn, now I am sorry I cut it up instead of put it there!  Oh well, great color, eh?

Nate stopped in for his free-meal-of-the-week the other night and was really looking forward to being free of his job in a few more weeks.  He is heading off to France to meet up with his girlfriend who is in pastry school there and recently got her internship in Strasbourg.  I am living this life vicariously because it sounds like such a grand plan to study pastry in France for 6 months!  Well, except for the fact that I cannot learn French, I cannot eat flour or sugar, and OK, I admit I am an adventure chicken.  But other than that, in my head, I am right there with her!

In fact I was inspired yesterday to make a chicken liver pate, then a batch of so-called cookies where I substituted as many ingredients as possible to make them OK for me.  Oatmeal, nuts, almond flour, and sugar substitute (Splenda seems to be the only one I can eat without gagging) along with the usual ingredient suspects like butter and eggs-  baking them off today so I don't eat all the batter before it even becomes a cookie.

While I am at it, I did find an ice cream that works too, after I adapted it in a few areas:

Coconut Milk Ice Cream

1 can unsweetened coconut milk

1/2 c thickened cream (I had creme fraiche on hand)

1/2 c sugar  ( instead, I used about 1/4 c. Splenda)

zest of 1 lime

juice of 1 1/2 limes  

1 TB fresh ginger finely minced  (I am a ginger freak so possibly added more than this) 

pinch of salt

I combined the sugar substitute and the liquids and let them sit a minute to dissolve, then proceeded to throw it all into my ice cream freezer.  Next time I think I will try it without any sweetener because the flavor was strong enough without needing 'sweet'.  Also, I may substitute buttermilk for the cream to make it more tart, and possibly throw in some fresh fruit just at the end.  (Or a handful of toasted unsweetened coconut!) Whatever, I was delighted to see that it works and I can have a bit of ice cream once in awhile.  

And today I am off to Lowell to deliver the collage to 'Paste-Uo 2010'.  The opening is next Saturday from 1-3 and it will be fun to attend-  I hope many of the artists will be there.