KnittyOtter

A Tale of Three Jams, Strawberry, Raspberry & Apricot

Here are all three Jam fresh from the freezer Friday Morning. Strawberry is on the left, Apricot in the middle and Raspberry on the right side.  The half full container on top is a mix of the three, the bits that weren't enough for their own container.(Clickety Biggety All Photo's in this post)

Last week Sandy posted on her blog about some Freezer Jam she had made. This intrigued me as I had never heard of freezer jam and I like the idea of making my own jam using whatever fresh fruit and however much sugar I want. After a couple of days with me leaving multiple questions for Sandy about this mysterious sweet substance and her being gracious and kind enough to post all the details on her blog I was ready to give it a try on my own. :D

Beverly also posted Jam on her blog and sent me some info to help me get started on my way. :D

Thursday I went to the new Whole Foods here in town. I wanted to go early in the day because I figured every asshat in the world would be shopping in preparation for the 4th of July weekend. I was wrong. Every freaking grocery store tourist was there inspecting the new whole foods. It was like a food zoo full of idiots. There was a handful of people with shopping carts and actually picking up stuff, but the place was packed with people being general irritating Looky Lou's. Literally pointing out stuff that they would have to come back to actually shop for. Blew my fucking mind.

I am a woman of little patience and these human road blocks were not moving out of my way.

The other half of the people were there just getting quick serve pre-made foods for lunch. There are several seating areas in the place and it was full with many more people just milling around complaining about having to wait. Milling about blocking walkways to get around the store. *head desk*

I didn't even stop to look at those areas most crowded with human speed bumps. I had a list and I treated it like an Olympic sporting event getting what I needed and going to the next item. The only reason I went there a week after it opened was because I had a $10 off coupon and it wasn't far from my previous errand stop that day. I think I'll be waiting a while before I go back. It was cool to have so many naturally grown items at hand, but damn I hate people. I hate stupid people. *icky shivers* The only good thing about all that was the fact there were no lines at all to check out since most of the people were just taking up space and not buying that day. *L*

/end mini rant

So back to Jam, I grabbed the only fruit pectin the store had, Pomona's Universal Pectin. It said it would work on traditional cooked or freezer jam. PLUS it said I could use as little sugar as I wanted. AND it said I could use honey instead of sugar. *SuperOtterHappyDance*

How freaking sweet is that?! SuperSweet!

So in addition to the pectin and fruit I grabbed some yummy Blackberry Honey and some Agave. The agave is for a future batch of jam or baking. It's a nice sugar substitute when you don't want that honey taste. Though the jam doesn't really taste like honey at all, just bright pure fruit yumminess. :D

The box came with a recipe leaflet, which you can find here on their website. It's Recipe Card 1. I used the no cook freezer recipe. Though it did say to cook the apricots beforehand and let cool.

The only thing I needed my stove for otherwise was to heat up the water and pectin for each batch. That was good as the kitchen didn't get hot and irritate me. *L*

Here's the organic fruit I used for my jam.

First I made the Raspberry Jam. I followed the instructions and made the Calcium water and set that aside. Then into the Vita-Mix went the raspberries. I had 2 cups of the puree so I added 1/4 cup honey, 1/8 cup lemon juice and the water, pectin and calcium water. Though I didn't read the directions clearly and had failed to heat up the water and pectin separately. *sigh* So after I mixed it all together I put it on the stove to get hot to activate the pectin.

Naturally it didn't work out as well as I would have liked. It didn't set as solidly as the others as you can see by the photo here.

I'm thinking of making a Raspberry Jam Cake to take to a knit-together later this evening with the rest of the Raspberry Jam. Having never made a cake with Jam this should be interesting... Mmm with a light lemon glaze on top. We'll see how the day goes.

The next Jam I made was the Strawberry. I had 4 cups of pureed fruit and used 1/2 cup honey. This time I followed the directions properly. :D

We had the strawberry Jam with biscuits for breakfast Friday and the Raspberry and Apricot with biscuits on Sunday. I also learned I could make a small batch of 4 biscuits at a time. *L*

The last jam I made was the apricot. It is by far my favorite. Which surprises because I thought it would be strawberry. The other two jams are raw fruit and this one is cooked. I'm not sure if that what's makes the flavor seem more pronounced or what. Next time I'm going to try to cook the berries and see what becomes of that. I only had one cup of the cooked apricot puree so I only used 1/8 cup of the honey. I let the fruit cool down before making the jam as per the box instructions before adding the pectin and calcium water.

It has a very bright apricot flavor and I loves it muchly.

It was a lot of fun to make and definitely worth the little bit of effort to make it. The honey loves the taste and loves that there isn't any white granulated sugar in it.

I think next time I will try my hand at peach jam, cherry jam and kiwi jam. :D

Big Thanks to Sandy & Beverly for introducing me to the world of easy to make, super yummy freezer jam.

So when are you going to try your hand at Jam Making? :D

Recipe: Garlic & Ginger Shrimp

Clickety Biggety for a clear photo:

Several days ago in a conversation with My Best Friend she mentioned that she was going to have shrimp for dinner. I asked her how she makes hers as I have never been successful with those little guys. I used to have a fear, almost, in cooking shrimp. I didn't trust them to be "right" or something. Since Cookie told me what she does I've made this twice. Once on a night when the honey wasn't around, just cooked a small portion for myself and then again on Saturday for the both of us. My honey is not a fan of shrimp in general. This is the one way of preparing shrimp that he can get behind. He even asked if it could be put into the rotation of things I make on a regular basis. *happy dance* I said yes, naturally.

This dish is inspired by Cookie's recipe. There are a few differences, Lime and Pasta, that I changed for what I had on hand and what seemed like an interesting add in. The most important thing she told me about was the type pf shrimp to get. Her wise advice was to seek out the already peeled & deveined shrimp, which is something I had never done before. I gotta tell ya, I hate deveining shrimp. There is always the worry and doubt that I didn't get it all and then I no longer trusted it. This pre-de-ickified shrimp is freaking AWESOME. The kind Cookie  told me about was Full Circle Organic Shrimp. I already enjoy this brands fresh frozen fish. The Tuna, Mahi Mahi & Halibut are my favorites. So easy and no gross weird stuff to be cut off or removed. It's only been in the past year or so that I got over my reluctance to prepare fish and in part it was due to this fish and the fish over at Trader Joe's.

Garlic & Ginger Shrimp

You can make 6 Shrimp per person and I'll tell you how I made mine for two.

Take 12 shrimp out of the bag and place them in a bowl with some cold tap water. Let them sit ten minutes or so and then drain the water. If you are going to make them in a few hours cover and set aside in the fridge, otherwise let them stay in the bowl on the counter a little longer until they feel thawed. Though to be honest with ya, I let mine sit in the water like 20 minutes or so and they were just fine. Once they are pliable remove the tails and there is still a black stringy thing on the inside curve of the shrimp. Under some running water that scrapes right off though. I don't want anything weird on my shrimp, thank you very much.

While the shrimp are thawing bring your water to a boil for the pasta. Lightly salt the water to your desire and once it's boiling add your two servings of Linguine. Cook it per your box directions. Mine said 20 minutes so that's what I did. :P

Go ahead and slice up your Garlic longways. Don't make it too fine or too small. For two I used 4 or 5 small cloves of garlic.

Mince your fresh Ginger root. I peeled the ginger and the sliced it longways, then sideways to make it a fine mince. I used one large nob off the ol'  Ginger root for this. Next time I think I will add more.

Cookie told me to use more ginger and garlic than you'd think and it will be fabulous. As usual she is right. *L*

You can also go ahead and slice up a green onion at this time. I used one this time and think I will double that next time.

Once the pasta is done and draining and the shrimp are ready to go put a tablespoon of olive oil in your pan. When that's starting to get hot add the garlic and ginger. Give it a stir and let it sit a minute or two.

Next add in a bit of butter, tablespoon or so, then add your shrimp. Let them turn pink on that side and then flip them over. Shrimp cook pretty fast and have a lovely built in color change guide so you know when they are ready. ;^)

Set half of the cooked shrimp onto your cutting board. Cut those shrimp into 4 or so pieces each. I did this because it makes nice bite size pieces of shrimp and gave each bite of pasta more shrimp tasting opportunity. I left half whole just cause they look cool that way. :P Add the chopped up shrimp back to the pan.   

Now you can add your pasta to the mix.

Add in your sliced green onions and a several big dashes of red pepper flakes.

Take a lime zest it and add the zest to the pan. Slice the lime in half and squeeze all of the lime juice from both halves into the pan as well.

Use your tongs or whatever to toss the shrimp mixture and pasta together. It will look fabulous!

Finally, you can plate it and have dinner. Very Simple, Fast and DELICIOUS!!

I served this with a green veggie filled salad and a Flying Dog Pale Ale. Though you can serve it with whatever you want. :P

Ingredient List - Serves Two

12 Shrimp
4 or 5 cloves Garlic
1 Large Nob Ginger
1 or 2 Green Onions
Several Dashes Red Pepper Flakes - depends on how spicy you like it
Tbsp Olive Oil
Tbsp Butter
Whole Lime - Zest and Juice
Linguine

That was so good we may have it again sometime this week or weekend. I may experiment with adding Lemongrass and Cilantro to the dish as well. Maybe instead of mixing it with Pasta put it on top of Jasmine Rice like Cookie does too.

Thanks for your recipe/tips that led me to make this dish, Cookie!! :D

Monkey Muffins and George in a Charity Hat

I can't believe I  haven't posted recently. It's been pretty busy over here since... oh a while now. But I truly thought I'd have more time to post than I have. Granted this weekend I wasn't posting due to a yarn crawl with MonkeySocks. Yarn was had. *GRIN* But that's not what I'm here to talk to you about today. Hell I said I'd post about my travels in my next post, which would be this one and that's not going to happen either.

The intentions I have, the promises I make, my failings are all heavy hearted within myself. It kinda stops me, keeps me silent, when I can't follow through on the things I wish to do. So if you haven't been getting your emails returned as timely and whatnot it's because I am feeling silent within myself. This too shall pass and until it does it's nothing personal. Though I do feel like a right crappy friend. I recently had a friend thank me for being a good friend. I feel bad though, cause I certainly have not earned that.

I have a lot of black cloud musings I could bore you with but I'm here to talk to you about Monkey Muffins.

A few weeks ago my friend Monkey Socks made some Pineapple Upside Down Muffins. They were VERY Yummy. The sorta thing you wish you had more of. With an added bonus of being something not entirely awful for you. There's enough personal guilt inside me to deal with without adding muffin guilt to it to ya know. Heh.

This past Thursday I got it suddenly and without warning into my head to make this fabulous muffins. All I new about her yummy baked creation was that it had pineapple, a cup of grated carrot, raisins and nuts... and flour and those basic baking things cause it is a muffin afterall.

Taking that knowledge mixed with a basic carrot muffin recipe, my pineapple upside down cake recipe and my own twisted ideas about what a might go into a tasty muffin created what I like to call Monkey Muffins. Not only as a homage to the one and only Monkey Socks, but because they have Banana and other yummy things in there that any lucky monkey would be happy to nosh on.

So without further adieu here are the Monkey Muffins.    (All Photos Clickety Biggety)

Just ignore the fact there are only 10 muffins shown in the photo. They were so yummy I forgot to take a picture until they had been sampled. :P And yes these are Honey Approved Monkey Muffins.

Monkey Muffin Recipe:

Preheat Oven to 400°F

Monkey Muffin Pineapple & Pecan Topping

1/4 Cup Pack Brown Sugar
2 Tablespoons Chopped Pecans
10 oz Pineapple Slices - drained and cut into sixths (Use one 20 oz can, just set the other half aside for the next part)
1/4 Butter - melted

Place a teaspoon of Butter in each muffin cup of your Muffin/cupcake pan. Then sprinkle in equally the nuts & Brown sugar. Finally place 2 to 3 segments of pineapple into each cup, so that it comes out about equal depending on the size of your pieces. I didn't cut that uniformly, so smaller pieces got 3 to a cup. It should look like the image below when you are done.

Monkey Muffins

1 Cup King Arthur Wheat Flour
1 Cup King Arthur All Purpose Flour
2 Teaspoons Ground Cinnamon
1 Teaspoon Baking Powder
1/2 Teaspoon Baking Soda - For the photo below I put the Baking Powder & Soda together in the same dish to save room... ran out of little bowls. :P
1/2 Teaspoon Sea Salt - regular "salt" grind, not the big flakey stuff

Mix flour, cinnamon, baking powder, baking powder & baking soda & salt together in a bowl.

In a different & larger bowl mix together the following ingredients.

2 Eggs
3/4 Cup Packed Brown Sugar
2 Tablespoons Safflower Oil or regular Vegetable Oil
2 Teaspoons Pure Vanilla Extract
10 oz Pineapple Slices - drained and chopped into small pieces
1 Cup Finely Grated Carrot - Do not use Baby Carrots for this as it takes so much longer than normal carrots. If you can find normal old fashioned sized carrots that is. I did not, so I used the Babies. Took ages.
3/4 Cup Rough Chopped Banana
3/4 Cup Trader Joe's Golden Berry Blend Dried Fruit - Blend of Golden Raisins, Cherries, Cranberries & Blueberries
4 Tablespoons Ground Flaxseed - I use Nature's Path Flaxseed Meal
2 Tablespoons Chopped Pecans

Once you have gently mixed together the second bowl of ingredients you can start adding the first bowl of dry ingredients into this bowl. (Which is why it will need to be larger.)

After the ingredients are gently folded together evenly spoon the muffin mixture into the prepared muffin pan.

Bake for 20 to 25 Minutes or until Golden Brown and you can cleanly insert a butter knife. You may need to run a butter knife around the edges to loosen the muffins from the pan before turning them over onto a cookie sheet.

These Monkey Muffins were Super Yummy and will be made again soon. I was going to mail some out, but the Honey really liked them and before I could wrap some up to freeze for travel he devoured them. :D Which is fine cause I like it when he enjoys the stuff I make. I'll just have to make more. Maybe a double batch next time. ;^)

In other news I have been knitting. I have several finished projects I need to photograph and post. For now here is a Hat I made for the Charity Box at my Favorite Local Yarn Store, Deluxe Yarns. Later this month we are going to get together and hand things out to people who need them at a shelter. :D Should be very interesting seeing people get my Charity Knitting in person.  I need to get on it and knit a bunch more for the box. :D

George and The Local Charity Hat

George always looks so enthusiastic about whatever he happens to be modeling. He even wore this hat to a Halloween Party we attended last week. Yes, I took him as my guest. :P

What you don't take your Zombie for Outings? Weirdos.

;^)

Spanish Rice Supreme

Recently I went to a gathering with some friends. Before hand MonkeySocks and Florrie asked that I bring along my yummy Spanish Rice Thingy. It's really yummy and easy to make so I happily agreed. Then it occurred to me that I needed a name since not everything I make can have Thingy in the title. Trust me it gets a little weird. Plus when people ask you to make that one thingy it can get confusing. ;^)

As a working title, since I decided I'd write the recipe out having had a few requests I wrote down the name Spanish Rice Supreme. It's better than having meat in the title, although to be more accurate it should be called Buffalo and Cheese topped Spanish Rice. That's kinda long for a name though, dontcha think. *L*

So without further adieu here is Otter's Famous Spanish Rice Supreme!

List of Ingredients:

2 Packets Mahatma Spanish Rice
  2 Tablespoons Ketchup (trust me!)
  2 Tablespoons Butter

1 or 2 cans Mild Ro*tel Diced Tomatoes & Green Chilies (I like a lot of tomatoes so I generally use two)

1 pound ground buffalo
1 pound ground mild Italian sausage (optional, or you can use 2 pounds of buffalo instead.)

2 cloves of garlic
1/4 cup of diced white onion

1 8oz package of Tillamook Queso Blend Shredded Cheddar

In a sauce pan prepare your packages of Mahatma Authentic Spanish Rice. Follow the directions exactly. Including the odd as it sounds Ketchup. Trust me. *L*

Now I like it a little extra spicy with the green chilies and tomatoes so I add in one or two cans of Mild Ro*tel. The can actually says "Milder". *L* Add that in stir and let sit for a few minutes.

I open the cans of Ro*tel before I prepare the rice and drain the liquid into the measuring cup and use that as part of the water that is needed to cook the rice. If you don't want to do that drain the tomatoes before adding them in or it will get too mushy when you bake it later.

In a skillet brown your ground buffalo & mild sausage along with the garlic and onion. Drain when done if there is any grease.

You can cook the rice and meat at the same time, obviously. :P

Spoon your prepared rice into your baking dish as the bottom layer.

Then spoon the ground buffalo & sausage mixture on top.

Finally top it with a layer of mild cheddar cheese and bake in the oven at 350° 20 or so minutes until the cheese is melted and bubbly.

I forgot to take a photo as it came out of the oven, so here it is after it had been attacked served.  ;^)

I first heard about Mahatma Spanish Rice from my best friend. She sent me a package and told me to follow the directions. Including the ketchup. Sounds weird, but it works. *L* Best Spanish Rice EVER. :D

I only make this dish for large groups of people. Groups that can handle onion and a little spice that is. At home as a side dish I normally just make one package and use one can of Ro*tel without the cheese or meat. Super Yummy. Although the honey likes it better without the Ro*tel, so your millage may vary. *L*

In other news in addition to the lovely skein of Cherry Tree Hill sock yarn that Rachel received for naming my most recent soup creation, Margarita Chicken Soup. (In the colorway BlueBerry Hill) I took her a container of the soup. Not only did I not poison her, but she loved it muchly. I also took soup around to a few other peoples and they loved it too. It's a Win!

*Happy Otter Dance*

Margarita Chicken Soup & an Almost Sweater!

... *sneaks back in*

It always feels weird to make a blog post after an absence of posts. I don't know what to say, while at the same time having WAY too much to say.

Or it could be a symptom of life and all the stuff I'm dealing with right now. Some things you can talk about and some you can't.

Been busy, but before I get into all that I'd like to announce the name of my recent unnamed soup. The lovely and talented (and glowing and recently married, complete with three heart beats on her person right now!! OMG go check out her blog and her wedding photos AND news of the people inside her!!!) Rachel came up with the winning name. The others were very good also, but the soup didn't cure me a bit. (Still coughing, but MUCH better) It also wasn't as spicy as you'd think. It was more tangy than anything. So the name Rachel came up with fit the bill and is something I love.

The name you ask? Margarita Chicken Soup

In addition to the prize she will get that will be selected just for her amusement, I will also make a batch of it up for some upcoming and not too distant get together type thing. (If A is there I'll mix up a batch of the Margarita Vegetable Soup as well.) :D

It's soup AND it ties in with Resolution #10. Perfect! *L*

On the knitting front I am doing well. I am In LOVE with sweater knitting. *giddy laugh*

Oh knitting, my fibery true love, how you keep me enchanted. My passion for you never wans and even during stressful times I come back to you, like lovers parted but never unhearted. *makes sloppy wet kissy noises*

Hi, Still Weird! :P

So the sweater I'm making  for Dulaan is coming along well. I started it last Tuesday (5/8/07) and I'm certain I will finish well before the deadline. :D

Here's a progress shot with George trying it on.

I'm really enjoying the repetitive and simple knitting in the round on this. Plus it's worsted weight yarn on size 10.5 needles. (Larger needles, cause my gauge seems to be extra tight these days. Thanks stress love you too! *pokes stress in the eye* Bitch.)

It's funny how many half finished projects I have going right now. I barely have enough Know Knit, GoKnit Pouches from Scout to hold them all. *L* (Love them, highly recommend them!)

Now I could finish up some of my current projects as soon as this sweater is done... OR I could cast on for my own sweater.

We'll see. Maybe I'll finish this project and knock out two more. Then I could start another project relatively guilt free.

It will be interesting to see which projects are selected to be finished. I've got my own pile/island of misfit knits going on over here. *L*

Crappy Day, Laugh it Away & a New Soup

So today is kinda sucking ass. More like a continuation of sucking that has been taking place off and on for a while now, but perhaps a bit more amplified it was today.

I don't feel like posting about the stuff that's not so wonderful, nor the way I feel as that is still ass sucky too.

I will say this though, no matter how hard you try to believe it, York Peppermint Patties don't count as a throat soother. Even if they kinda do "help" some. :P

I've been doing some knitting lately. Almost done with the second magic 28 sock. Watched The Godfather parts 1 and 2 while knitting on it off and on this weekend. If my happy knitting mood doesn't return soon I'll have to make it an offer it can't refuse. Capice!

As for the funny well today I was bumming around trying not to think too much about anything in particular when remembered this Lip Dubbing thing Ugly Fat Lady (who is not a bit ugly) mentioned on her Vlog the other day. It was too damn funny. So yeah I wasted a bit of time watching this interestingly cute fellow Jakob Lodwick's Lip Dubbing pursuits. I guess the folks over at Vimeo know how to have a good time. Or at least be brave and a hellavu lot of don't give a damn how silly they look. I wish I was more brave like that. I wish I didn't care what anyone thought. Life would be so much more interesting and free that way. :D

In other news I made soup a few days ago. I intended to post photos and the recipe. Eh. Never got around to it. Never even got around to naming it actually. It was yummy though. Super Yummy in fact. Finished off the last of it for lunch today. The honey even liked it and he's not much of a soup person. So maybe after seeing it and seeing the ingredients y'all can help me come up with a good name for it.  If I choose the name you submit maybe I'll even send you a little surprise or something. ;)

Edit: Rachel has named the soup Margarita Chicken Soup!! :D

List of Ingredients:

1 tablespoon Meyer Lemon Olive Oil
2 Shallots
2 Cloves of Garlic
1 Jalapeño Pepper

1 cup Brown Basmati Rice

1 32 oz container (4 cups) Pacific Organic Free Ranch Low Sodium Chicken Broth
1 32 oz container (4 cups) Pacific Organic Low Sodium Vegetable Broth

4 medium chicken breasts - roast in oven beforehand
1 bunch Asparagus
1 bunch Broccolini
1 small carton of Crimini Mushrooms
1 bunch Cilantro
3/4 cup frozen peas (I can never find fresh peas, if you got 'em use 'em.)

1 teaspoon Lemongrass powder, or fresh lemongrass minced
1/2 teaspoon Garlic Chili Sauce (best stuff EVER)
1 Lemon
1 Lime
Fresh Ground Black Pepper
Sea Salt

To start roast your chicken in the oven. I've found this keeps the chicken from becoming too soft in texture in the soup. It also adds a nice flavor. Once done let cool then tear into small bite site pieces. I prefer to tear the chicken rather than dice it. Has a nicer texture and appearance, in my not so humble opinion. :P

Clean and remove the seeds and membrane from your Jalapeño. Next I roast the Jalapeño over the open flame of my gas burner. Watch your eyes as the capsaicin oil can pop out at you during the process. Roast until the outside is darkened all over, scrap off the blackened skin and dice into small pieces.  Once cooked it will blend with the flavor of the soup rather than stand out on it's own. Think the size of a match head.

Thinly slice your Shallot and chop your Garlic into small pieces. Set aside with the Jalapeño.

At this time rinse the Brown Basmati Rice very well. Set it aside to drain.

In the pot you will be using to make your soup, preferably something with a heavy copper bottom, pour your tablespoon of Meyer Lemon Olive Oil. Once the pan is hot add in the Garlic, Shallot and Jalapeño. Stir until coated with oil and let blend at a decent heat for a few minutes. Once everything has softened up & looks a little caramelized add in your rinsed and drained rice. Turn up heat a little more and cook for a minute or so.

Now add in some of your chicken broth and vegetable broth, but only until until rice is covered. It won't take much. Maybe a half a cup of each. Set aside remaining broth for later.

Put lid on pot and reduce to a low heat to cook the rice for 20 minutes or so.

While the rice is cooking you can prepare the rest of the vegetables.

Clean your Asparagus and Broccolini. You're only going to use the yummy ends of these two veggies. At an angle cut off their heads! Off with their heads! *L* I love that. I may be a little weird though. Set these aside. Clean and slice your mushrooms at this time as well.

Clean and remove the stems from your Cilantro. You can add the leaves in whole or gently slice them up a bit. Be careful not to bruise the leaves as it will make them wilty and have dark spots of color. Granted as they are being introduced into a hot soup they will become wilted regardless. *L*

Add in the rest of the broth, your hand shredded chicken, the heads of your Asparagus and Broccolini, your sliced mushrooms and cilantro. Stir in the lemongrass, garlic chili sauce and a few cranks of black pepper.

Once the temperature comes up a bit you can add in the frozen peas.

It won't take long for all the flavors to come together and the veggies to become soft yet retaining some crispness. Once the veggies look ready and poke without too much fuss zest the lemon and the lime. Add the zest to the soup, then add in the juice of both citrus fruits as well. Add a few pinches of salt, whatever your taste desires and serve. :D

I was sickie and wanted a light and refeshing soup. But I also wanted something kinda healthy and with yummy veggies that would also be hearty enough to make the honey feel like he had a real meal and not just soup. (which he doesn't see as a full meal most of the time) I was looking for something with a hint of a kick to hopefully open up my sinuses, but not so much it'd make my throat burn. This was just the thing. Completely perfect and yummy.

The funny thing is that I would have just made the Tom Yum Gia Soup if I'd had the recipe with me. This was more or less the stuff I was able to pick up on a recent quick trip into Trader Joe's.

Here it is in the pot:

So what do you think it should be called? :D

Good Things, Not So Good Things & Apple Upside Down Cake

The week has started. It started and here I am still wondering, "what day is it?". While I'm pretty sure it's Tuesday it also kind of feels like a Monday or a Wednesday. Isn't it funny how certain days of the week have a feeling, a familiar place, good or bad that help define where you are.

It doesn't feel like today. Maybe because the Free Music on iTunes wasn't ready to be downloaded just yet when I was there this morning. *L*  Then again this week doesn't feel quite right either. There are good things happening and some not so good things.

On one hand Vickie has completed her first pair of socks for Round One of Sock Madness. You should have seen her knitting on sock one Saturday. I've never seen her be so quiet or focused before. I'm guessing if I'd licked her at that moment it would have been like taking a dose of Ritalin. Yeah, Fun for the whole Family. *L* (Not that I've ever considered licking a fellow knitters before mind you. :P) Congrats, sweetie! Good Thing.

But then my brother leaves for Italy tomorrow and won't be back for a few weeks. Why it makes such a difference in how I feel doesn't exactly make sense to me. He's already 2000 miles away from me, but when you add in the extra distance and an ocean it feels like it might as well be outer space. It makes me nervous. He's not necessarily thrilled to be going this time either, which kinda makes me even more nervous. He's been over a lot. The longest trip which ended at the end of this past summer was for a year and a half. Hopefully he'll be safe. I'm going to feel on edge and just not right until he gets home. Not So Good Thing.

On the other hand Eunny was announced (PDF) as the new editor for Interweave Knits. Very Cool. I love her style, the way she designs very yummy pieces and also how well she can write up a technique tutorial. It makes me love my already well loved subscription to Interweave Knits so much more. The best part is when I tell someone *cough* MonkeySocks *cough* that I'm about to start a Eunny Jang Sock Pattern I won't have to explain who I mean. :P Congratulations, Eunny!! Good Thing.

But it's also the final week for The Show with Ze Frank. I only discovered the show last May or so. It's a one year project that ends this week. It was nice to know there was someone else out there who saw the world, especially our political system/the assholes in charge at the moment with some goddamn sense. Plus he is just a funny guy. I didn't even finish my Double Knit Duckie Hat aka My Sports Racer Hat in time. :(  I'm going to miss Ride The Fire Eagle Danger Day the most I think. Not So Good Thing.

But there are many more good things than bad coming up. My honey's birthday is this week.  I'm going to meet with Rachel and workout later today. I got a new swimsuit, had to go down a size even. The sun is shining. The Kitty feels better. I'm going to hang out with knitting friends. Plus a whole bunch of other good stuff coming up that I won't go into details about. There's also some bad things I won't go into details about too so it all balances out.

Over all everything is good though. The week just feels weird.

Or maybe it's the fact that the living room floor is covered with the contents of the past as I go through more boxes. Almost done. Still finding a few things that are too sentimental to part with, like the sheet music for plays I did a million years ago, or from a choir that used to mean the world for me to belong to. These things have no relevance on my daily life, but I guess without the experiences I wouldn't be who I am today. I'm sure some day I'll part with them.  Maybe I'll even change my mind once the honey packs all the boxes into the storage thingy and we see that I have yet more decluttering to do. *L*

After the boxes are done then I'm going to take a hard look at the stuff on the shelves, cupboards and closets. What is taking up space without a real purpose and what is earning a right to be here. Oh and are y'all done guessing how many skeins of sock yarn I have? :P

I'll unveil my SIMS, Stash Inventory Management System, in my next post. *GRIN*

I'll leave a Good Thing with a Photo to wrap this up. If you were at last Mondays Knitting Meet Up then you were one of the people who got a chance to sample this: Clickety Biggety

Otter's Faboo Apple Upside Down Cake

Upside Down Apple Topping

1/3 cup butter
2/3 cup packed golden brown sugar
Generous sprinkling of Cinnamon over the brown sugar before apples are placed in pan
3 Crisp Granny Smith Apples cover the bottom of my 13 x 9 in baking pan
Optional: 6 to 8 Kraft Caramels to be melted and drizzled over the top of the apples once the baked cake has been removed from the pan - Or any other caramel topping can be used as well.

Cake

1 cup all purpose flour
1/3 cup wheat flour
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup raw sugar
1/4 cup room temp butter or shortening
3/4 cup 2% or nonfat milk
1/2 cup Apple Sauce
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 egg

Here's a photo showing the apples before the cake batter was poured on top, as well as the cake before the caramel was drizzled on top. Clickety Biggety

Assemble and Bake with the same directions as the Pineapple Upside Down Cake I posted a few weeks ago. Further Baking Instructions on this post. This cake was well received and tasted pretty yummy if I must say so myself. ;^)

The honey liked it too, but said he still wants a Pineapple Upside Down Cake for his birthday. *L*

Eye Candy Friday - Pineapple Upside Down Cake

It's Friday!!! :D

You know what that means don'tcha. Get your mail and banking done cause Monday is Presidents' Day.

o.0 I thought it was this Monday. But Cookie set me straight after I had a panic attack. I'm gonna blame her mum for this. Trust me.

*looks innocent*

So far the week has been good. In fact the last several weeks have been good. Much Fun. Much Happiness. *happy otter dance*

Yesterday I made a Pineapple Upside Down Cake. Actually I made two.

Here's the first one. It was for my Honey. Clickety Biggety.

He loves Pineapple Upside Down Cake. He is a fiend for it. Much the same way MonkeySocks' Dad is a fiend for Pie. Heh. The honey was kind enough to let me have a small taste of his cake to see what it was like before I left the house with the other cake. I was messing around with the recipe again and wanted to make sure it was good. It was, and now there isn't anymore of his cake left.

There was one piece left by the time I got home around 8:30. He told me this morning that he saved it for me in case I wanted some. *snort*

I told him I'd give him the piece of cake if he went and got me coffee. (He would have anyway, and I was planning on letting him have the cake since he loves it so much, but it was funnier this way.) He agreed and that piece pf cake didn't last another minute before it was totally gone. He's a Pineapple Upside Down Cake fiend I tell ya. *L*

Since I finally have the recipe where I want it I'll share it with y'all. :D

Otter's Faboo Pineapple Upside Down Cake

Upside Down Topping

1/3 cup butter
2/3 cup packed golden brown sugar
1 1/2 cans pineapple rings (12 rings for my 13 x 9 in baking pan)
Small Jar Marachino Cherries

Cake

1 cup all purpose flour
1/3 cup wheat flour
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup raw sugar
1/3 cup room temp butter or shortening (I made yesterdays with Crisco shortening)
3/4 cup 2% or nonfat milk
1/4 cup pineapple juice (from canned rings)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 egg

Preheat oven to 350°. Coat your baking sheet with a thin layer of butter to keep the cake fro sticking. I'd also suggest lining the bottom with wax paper to keep the pineapple topping from sticking. (set aside 1/4 cup of the pineapple juice for cake mix)

In a small skillet on the stove slowly melt your butter. (or microwave) Once melted pour into your buttered and wax papered baking pan. Spread evenly. Sprinkle brown sugar even over the bottom. Next gently place your pineapple rings in the bottom on the baking pan, on top of the butter and brown sugar. Then place a cherry in the center of each ring. You can also put one in any other open space. That's what I do since my honey likes extra cherries. :D

Set prepared topping pan to side.

In a mixing bowl combine cake ingredients. Mix until smoothly blended.

Gently so as not to disturb topping layer, pour prepared cake batter into baking pan.

Bake 40 to 45 minutes until a butter knife or toothpick can be poked in and removed cleanly. (without any wet batter sticking to it)

This next step is really important if you want your topping to come off smoothly along with the cake.

Immediately turn your hot baking pan over onto a cookie sheet or appropriate sized serving dish. (If using a serving dish it'll have to be heat resistant)

Leave the cake sheet upside down on top of the cake for a few minutes. After a few minutes carefully and with an oven mitt you can gently remove the baking pan from the cake. Do this slowly making sure the cake has come off in one nice piece. Next gently remove the wax paper. If a few cherries pop off the side just put them back into pace with your butter knife. ;^)

There you go an easy to make yummy almost, but not quite healthy dessert treat. :D

The honey isn't a huge fan of white sugar and white bleached flour so I'm always looking for ways of making things that he will love and can feel okay about at the same time. I've made this with honey before and it was super yummy. I've also made it with maple syrup for the topping. That was yummy. That time I replaced the cherries with Macadamia nuts. SO GOOD! :D Another time I replaced the cherries with Blueberries. That was yummy too. So you can pretty much take the basic concept of this recipe and change it around to whatever you want. Apple upside down cake, peach, whatever floats your boat. Plus it's just plain easy to make. It's also a good cake for people who don't like icing. :D

Oh and to those of you who weren't able to attend the knit meeting last night, the large cake went to that and it was yummy. *GRIN*

The honey saw the two cakes and knew one of them was his. When I started wrapping up the larger rectangular cake he asked me why I was taking his cake. *giggles* He's so cute. His birthday is next month so he'll get another cake then. And if he's lucky I'll make him fried fish to go with it. (That's one of his favorite things that I rarely make.)

Now I really want some nice and cinnamony apple upside down cake... Maybe when I get back from Cincy I'll make it. :D

Oh and in Pink Dream Sock News, both heals are now turned and I'm ready to start the gussets! Wheeeeeeeee!

A Tale of Two Pies

Yesterday was Thanksgiving. It was a long day. Mostly a good day. I didn't have to drive to some insane relatives house or spend it with people who make me want to kill them. I got to spend it with my honey and my kitty.

In years past, prior to moving to Reno we'd have to go to TWO Thanksgivings. This was because both our families insisted we HAD to go see them, you know guilt by family.

So that's what we did. Bitterly EVERY FUCKING YEAR.

The morning/Early Afternoon was at my side and the late afternoon/evening was at his side of the family. Two States, Two weird meals, lots of driving and little enjoyment. We'd get home and have just enough time to feed the cat and fall into bed.

Go watch Ze Frank's "Thanksgiving" video blog post to see how it pretty much was. How I guess it is for a lot of people. Pure stupid hell.

Lot's of pointless chatter to fill up the time before we could get the hell out of there. Listening to who died, which pets died. Stories of pets his sister used to have. Some assholes rantings against people who are different. My getting into it with him and being called all sorts of names for daring to think people of different origins could get along. Silly Me. I'm just a dumb girl who doesn't know any better.

And that was the easy part of the day. o.0

The next day, Friday, My Honey would go to work and I'd have the day off. So I'd make us a smaller actual yummy tasting thanksgiving meal for when he got home.

Christmas was an exact repeat of this. (well I didn't bother to make a christmas meal) Only spread over two crazy days, more time spent with each family.

We'd get home exhausted Christmas night and open the gifts we gave each other in bed. Too tired to care. Too depressed to give a damn.

All we wanted was a holiday that was quiet and peaceful. Just the two of us enjoying one another and no family drama.

So we did what any sane couple we do. We moved two thousand miles away from it all. (well there were many reasons for this, but this just rawks!)

The last few years have been really cool. Just the two of us. Doing whatever we want. We fix the stuff we like, the way we like it. We watch movies, hang out, cuddle, play games, knit, cuddle some more and make sure the kitty has plenty of attention.

The day was marred by a particularly frustrating phone call. Blah. But at least it was just a phone call!!!!!!!!!

Still while on the call that very nearly had me ripping my hair out I failed to add a few KEY ingredients to the pumpkin pie. The one made from Harvey. Bob, the last remaining pumpkin still has a chance at being a yummy treat though.

The ingredients I forgot to add you ask? SUGAR AND AN EGG. Basically the stuff that makes a pumpkin stick together/custard up and taste good.

Unsweetened pumpkin pie does NOT taste good. Also the egg helps it set so much. I cooked the pie an extra hour to get it to stop being liquidy. Ick.

I remembered the two lost ingredients as I was taking the pie out of the oven. The honey came running when he heard me say OHHHH FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK!

It was heart breaking. The honey was trying to be a good sport about it. Said he'd love it anyway. Likely more since it had no sugar. (He's anti sugar for the most part... until you get chocolate near him. *L*) For years I've been making pies with raw sugar and/or honey to please him. I was going to make it with normal white sugar this year, just to try it. Alas no sugar was used at all.

After it cooled he wanted to taste it. One bite was enough to make it clear this was a truly inedible pie. He's so sweet for trying though. *L* I wouldn't even take a tiny bite. Hell no!

Here it is. The pie of the damned.

Thankfully I had all the stuff to make a Pecan Pie. So I made one of those.

Well sorta... what's better than a pecan pie? Not much, unless you have some semi sweet chocolate with which to make it a DERBY PIE! :D

So I made a yummy Derby Pie. It's basically a pecan pie with chocolate in it if you hadn't guessed yet. :P

This pie MORE than made up for the wasted death of Harvey. Plus everything else I'd made turned out super faboo. Though I was still edgy and kinda bummed out from the phone call. *sigh*

Here's the yummy Derby Pie.

Chocolate Pecan Pie aka Derby Pie

3 eggs
1 cup light corn syrup
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 1/4 cup chopped pecans
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup semi sweet chocolate chips

You'll need a 9" pie crust. Either homemade or store bought. I used a frozen store bought as I don't have proper counter space to roll a crust out onto. I used Marie Callenders since that has proven to bake up fine each time. It's yummy without tasting fakey. Homemade is better if you can swing it though.

Preheat Oven to 450 degrees F. Mix all ingredients and pour into unbaked pie crust. Bake 10 minutes and reduce heat to 350 degrees F and back another 35 to 40 minutes. After it's cooled off enjoy! :D

We put a spoon of cool whip on ours. If you wanna make real whipped cream that's even better. :D

Not only was the pecan pie yummy, but so was all the other stuff we made. I brined a turkey for the first time. It was good. But then again no different from any other turkey I've made. I make a good turkey. ;) There was also sausage stuffing. I call it stuffing even though I don't stuff it into anything. Mashed Potatoes & Gravy. Mainly because we still have a HUGE bag of potatoes here. A can of whole berry cranberry sauce. The honey also wanted corn bread, even though we had a bread item with the stuffing already, but he's sweet so I went ahead and made it anyway. Normally I'd make Green Bean Casserole. But the honey doesn't like green beans and I didn't feel like having 80 million leftovers. I'll make it for dinner sometime. I've mastered the one can green bean casserole. *L*

We ate salads every day this week since we didn't really have much veggie lined up for yesterday. Do potatoes still count as a vegetable? *L* Well there was a LOT of celery and onion in the stuffing. Yum just the way I like it. :D

It was carb and protein day. Heh.

Now just because the honey and I like to be alone doesn't mean there isn't room in the holidays for others. A certain someone knows she always has a place with us if she so desires. We'd be thrilled, but we also know about wanting to take it calm, so no pressure. I'd also welcome other sane friends and my brother and his wife as well. They are friends as well as family, so they don't count towards my no family on holidays policy. *L*

I didn't get much knitting done and the knitting I did will need to be frogged. Started a new hat.I messed it up somehow. I think I knit the wrong way after I got started. Dunno. Looks weird. I also knit on the red scarf some more. But mostly I just snuggled with the honey and had a calm evening.

Next year I will make the pie early like I meant to. I'll also cook the sausage in advance for the stuffing and peel the potatoes. If you stick them in water they don't brown on ya.

It was a good day all in all. Plus it's the start of a long weekend. I still have a few more uncomfortable phone calls to deal with, but hey that's why wine was invented right. *L*

I think we're going to go bowling or for a walk in the woods a little later and then just hang out, knit and read, just play around at home and have fun together. *smile* It'll be nice. For this I am thankful.

Speaking of thankful, I'm thankful for lots. Everyday. I have a good life. A wonderful honey, special kitty and an extraordinary best friend. I have people who understand me, get me and still decide to stick around. I have more than the basics, which many people don't have, roof, heating, food, clean water, power, security. Plus things that are nice extras like leisure time to enjoy life... and lots of yarn. I told my honey I was thankful for all of my yarn. Good thing he thinks I'm cute. *L*

I really appreciate all the treasures and wonderful happenings in my life. Since I started knitting the treasures I've come across and gotten to know have increased by many.

So my treasures, go have a great Friday and avoid the crazy people at the shopping centers!! ;)

Pumpkin Killing - sweet sweet death

Yesterday I killed the cutest sugar pumpkin and baked her dead little pumpkin self. Her name was Miranda and she is yummy. She became Pumpkin Cookies with Cream Cheese Frosting today. The recipe is at the bottom of the post.

Bob and Harvey, the other two sugar pumpkins are now shaking in fear after seeing her brutal death. This makes them sweeter. *grin*

Here is Miranda's story. A warning to all cute little pumpkins out there. Your time is coming soon, my tasty little friends. >:D

Step One to killing a pumpkin is sneaking up on them. They are faster than they look and sneaking up on them saves a lot of pointless running around.

Then you have to quickly stab them. They don't struggle a bit after that first slashing. :D

WARNING!

The next step is a little graphic so turn away if you are sensitive or easily disturbed.

After killing little Miranda I cut her open and removed her gooey insides. Then I rubbed her skin with a little oil to keep it from cracking and stuck her into a hot oven (350 F) for 2 hours.

This is what she looked like after cooling for half an hour.

Then I pealed her skin off. This is so much easier after baking. :D

After processing the pumpkin to this stage you just throw the remains into a food processor or VitaMix and puree until smooth. Now you can use it just like store bought canned pumpkin only it actually tastes good. *L*

And that's how I kill my pumpkins. Show no mercy! They'd do the same to you if they had half the chance. Pumpkins look all cute and innocent but they are vicious blood thirsty little bastards. Get them first!

Here's the recipe I mentioned earlier. :D

Pumpkin Cookies with Cream Cheese Frosting

Pumpkin Cookie Recipe

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cups white sugar
1 cup pumpkin puree
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Mix flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, ground cloves, and salt; In a different bowl, cream the butter and white sugar. Mix in pumpkin, egg, and 1 teaspoon vanilla to butter/sugar mixture, and stir until blended. Mix in dry ingredients. Drop on cookie sheet by tablespoonfuls. Smush them down a bit as they don't really spread out a whole lot.

Bake for 15 to 18 minutes. Place Cookies on cooling rack until ready to frost.

Once the cookies have cooled they should look something like this.

Decadent Cream Cheese Frosting Recipe (warning: not a health food!)

2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 lb. powdered sugar
1/2 cup butter, softened
8 oz. cream cheese

Mix frosting ingredients until smooth. Frost cookies after they have cooled. (otherwise it becomes a sticky melty mess o.0)

Depending on how big you make your cookies you should get 40 cookies or so.

Very Yummy and Fun to make. Although it would be more fun if I had a mixer. I'm over here stirring with a fork and a spatula. *L* I make these once a year so it's not that big a deal. heh.