Maddox Monster
Maddox the Mischevious Monster by Rebecca Danger (Ravelry link)
More babies are on the way in my circle of friends. D's longtime friend T and her husband are expecting a son on or around April 2nd. Since her shower was last weekend I cranked out a couple of gifts for the little guy. She's also a graphic designer and we share similar tastes, particularly when it comes to color. No pastels for her baby, just bold, strong colors. I knew that the nursery is painted in blue and orange so I thought this cute, squishy, toothy pal would be a perfect match.
Knit in Blue Sky Alpacas Dyed Cotton, it took less than one skein and 2 days to knit (I could have done it all in one day but tightly knit cotton wears out my hands and causes flare-ups of my repetitive stress issues.) The pattern had a few small typos in it, but I'm sure that they've been corrected by now. It was an easy thing to knit and super cute. I made a couple modifications--sewing the crotch area closed before stuffing and then using kitchener stitch to graft the head closed at the end instead of the 3 needle bind off recommended. I should have stuffed it as I went along instead of all at the end, but I was lazy. I also sewed on the teeth in addition to gluing them down to double insure that the little one will have a hard time ripping them off.
Leafy Curtains
When we moved in to Casa de Baya, the bedroom had a very make-shift curtain hanging in the window. Made from a sheet, it had faded pink flowers and was generally sad. It wasn't my style and it just looked out of place, especially after the fresh coat of sage green paint that we put on the walls. I found this fabric online (it's a Robert Kaufman fabric, panda print in tangerine and it's a bamboo/cotton blend) and ordered 4 yards of the 54" wide fabric.
The trickiest part of this project was ironing the fabric. I only have a mini-sized tabletop ironing board, so it took a lot of shifting and hoping that it wouldn't re-wrinkle as I ironed the next piece. Then I cut it in half and hemmed each edge--twice. Once to pull back the raw edge and the second time to hide that raw edge (I decided not to line or make the curtains double sided in any way, the thought of wrangling that much fabric made me blanch). Then I folded the top over to make a pole pocket, hung them up and had curtains. The fabric was less expensive than panels big enough to cover the window, especially since I wanted a custom length as the window sits above a baseboard heater. It did take about 8 hours of pinning, ironing and sewing time, because I am both fastidious and slow because of my relative lack of sewing experience.
Mushroom Soup
Now that we're at least partly settled in the new place, I am getting used to an electric stove/oven after almost five years of cooking with gas. I grew up with a gas stove, it's natural to me. Electric--especially the stovetop--is highly frustrating but I'm getting used to it again.
My husband loves soups. I'm not nearly as much a fan, I've been known to state my serious hatred of all thing soup-like. That's changing due to a nagging desire to eat different things. And so here is a delicious soup I made last week. It's a simple thing, less than a half hour from start to finish, and it is even better reheated a few days later.
Mushroom Soup
1 pound mushrooms, any variety, roughly chopped
2-3 slices thick cut bacon (about 1/4 pound), chopped
1/2 onion, chopped finely
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups beef stock
2 tblsp dry sherry
1 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
salt and pepper to taste
small amount of yogurt, sour cream or similar
In a 2 quart sauce pot fry bacon over medium heat until cooked, but not crispy. Add onions and garlic and cook until translucent. Add mushrooms, salt and pepper to taste and sautee until mushrooms have given up the majority of their liquid. Add in the beef stock, sherry, oregano and red pepper and heat until hot, but not boiling. Using a food processor or blender, puree the mixture leaving some texture (don't puree it until it's smooth.) Ladle into bowls and top with 1 tablespoon or so of your yogurt/sour cream. Serves 4.
The herbs are entirely interchangable. Rosemary and thyme would be good as well I think. If you have fresh herbs, feel free to substitute those. You want to aim for about 1.5-2 teaspoons of dried herbs or 1.5-2 tablespoons of fresh. I recommend pairing it with a salad and some crusty bread, you won't want to leave any of the soup behind in the bowl!