Enabling

 

Sometimes I don't think friends should enable.

 

 

 

I can only hope they are only available for the holiday season.

 

Thank you sooooo much Cathie.

Kale Pesto

Today I had lunch with my friend Liz and she mentioned making shrimp linguine with kale pesto for her husband the other night and she thought we might enjoy it.

 

After lunch I headed to the grocery store to do my normal weekly shopping and bought a bunch of kale and some shrimp to try it out.

 

Liz is a trained chef and didn't really give me an exact recipe so I winged it.

 

1 bunch kale, cut from stems

4 garlic cloves, roughly chopped

1/2 cup shelled salted pistachios

1/2 cup grated Parmesan

pepper

Process adding olive oil to desired consistency.

 

 

 

 

 I cooked some fettuccine noodles, sauteed 1/2 pound raw deveined seasoned shrimp in some olive oil and mixed together.  I only used half the pesto so I put the rest in the freezer for another day.

 

The dish is delicious and Jim gave it a two thumbs up.

 

I failed to mention to him and he didn't ask that I used kale so please if you see him don't let him know.

 

 

 

Design Wall

 

My new design wall I bought at the Pacific International Quilt Show in Santa Clara arrived today.

 

 

 7 lbs in a bag that becomes a design wall measuring  72" x 72"   from Cheryl Anns Design Wall.

Out of the bag.

 I thought I'd share with you the blocks I have completed for my Dear Jane quilt.

I'm obviously working verrrrry slow but steady.

And here for your viewing pleasure is a finished Dear Jane quilt from PIQF 2013.

 

I'm thinking you can probably find my finished Dear Jane in 2016, maybe.

Boo Hoo

 

 

I was so excited to finish the second clue for the Boo MKAL and was knitting away on clue three when I realized I was off a stitch.  I was off a stitch because I hadn't stopped to read the instructions for row 7 which says to move your markers over 1 stitch.  I was at row 9 which was not coming out properly and after fiddling for over an hour I finally read the pattern.  Duh.  So now I need to tink (that's knit spelled backwards for you none knitters) back 2 rows or about 800 stitches.  My norm is to rip and go but this being lace I decided the more prudent approach is to tink.  Not a process I wanted to deal with so instead I cast on something new.

 

As Jim said "That's a big ball of yarn!"
 

And yes it is.
 

  1717 yards of Wollmeise Lacegarn in amethyst dark given to me a few years ago by a wonderful friend.

 

It has now been cast on to become Viajante by Martina Behm.

Yarn from Germany for a shawl by a German designer.

 

And what's even better I truly think this is a hard design to mess up - I hope.

Clue 2 Spoiler Alert

I'm a little behind on knitting the clues for my Boo mystery knit along but still loving the process. 

 

Tonight I finally finished clue 2 which was only 24 rows but I had some deadline knitting to finish and I also attended the Pacific International Quilt Festival in Santa Clara over the weekend.

I now have 379 stitches on the needle.

 

 

Clue 3 is another 24 rows.

 

Clue 4 which I haven't even looked at was released today so I need to get going.

The First Clue is Finished

 

WARNING:  If you are doing the Boo Knits Halloween KAL 2013 and do not want to see spoiler pictures read no further!

 

I have participated in a few mystery knit alongs and have not always been happy with the resulting end product so I tend to stay away from them. 

 

One of my favorite go to shawls is called Heaven Scent by Boo Knits.

 

 

When I saw there was going to be a Boo Knits Halloween Mystery KAL I gave it some thought before deciding to do this one.

 

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/morticia---halloween-mkal-2013



The shawl is called Morticia and if you can keep up with the clues you will be done in time to wear it for Halloween.

 

I had 2 skeins of Madelinetosh silk lace that I had gotten back when Amy was first starting in the business and would come by the shop with a basket of yarn she had just finished dyeing.

 

 

 These two skeins of silk lace she had done as a special order for me.

 

 

And I have been saving them and decided now was a good time to enjoy them.

 

There will be four clues in this mystery KAL.  The first clue came out on Tuesday, October 1.

 Dru Ann was still visiting so I cast on after I dropped her off at the airport on the 2nd to help cheer me up.

 

 

Knitting beads and lace makes me happy, especially when it's purple. 

 

 

 The shawl starts on a US 4 needles and after the first three rows you switch to a US 5.

I missed that instruction until after the first repeat of Chart A so I switched to the US 5 on the second and third repeat of the chart.

 

 

I decided I would make the large so I did one more repeat of the chart on a US 6.

 

The clues are scheduled to come out October 1, 8, 15 and 22.

I finished with the first clue last night and the second clue came out today.

 

Perfect timing.

 

 

Farm To Fork

Saturday, Jim, Dru Ann and I attended the Farm-to-Fork Festival at the Capitol Mall in downtown Sacramento.  The festival was part of a week long celebration promoting Sacramento's title as the "Farm-to-Fork Capital of America".

 

 

According to Farmtoforkcapital.com the festival featured a little bit of everything. "From local chefs, farmers and other food producers to food trucks, animal displays, a kids’ zone and live music, festival goers can expect to learn about food from its source to the plate."

 

I had hoped to visit with the local farmers and their produce.  Unfortunately many of the booths were actually the middlemen between farmers and retail.  One booth we stopped to visit featured several varieties of pears but neither of the gentlemen manning the booth could answer our question of how to know when your pears are ripe and ready to eat.

 

We did managed to come across a few interesting finds.

 

While I have eaten endive I was not aware of how it is grown.

 

 

California Endive Company is the major American grower of endive. 

 

"Chicory seeds are sown in the spring producing a root the size of a large carrot by fall. Those roots are harvested from the field and then placed in dark, humid, “forcing” rooms to produce endives. Yes, endive is actually the second growth of a chicory root!"

 

We also bought two Mexican avocados.

These were black, smooth and thin skinned.

 

 

Their flavor is much milder then a Haas avocado.

 

And the pit is much larger.

 

Last but not least I came home with a chayote squash.

 

 

I am told this squash is commonly used in Mexican and Caribbean cuisine but I have yet to do anything with it.

 

I'm taking suggestions.

I only came home with one.