Kitchen crafts

Weekends are for shopping at the Farmers' Market and cooking. Here are a few of the FO's from the kitchen:

• Focaccia with Onion and Rosemary
  
  Focaccia
  
  The recipe is from Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day and I used the light wheat bread dough. Easy, relatively fast (much faster than a loaf of bread) and very tasty. It makes yummy sandwiches too.
  



• Peach/Pear-Apple Jam
  
  Peach/Pear-Apple jam
  
  These were the last peaches from our Farmers' Market and some pear-apples from my parents tree. I love the color and the intense peach flavor.
  



• Garlic Dill Pickles
  
  Garlic Dill Pickles
  
  The recipe is from Food in Jars. These are easy to make and taste really good. The combination of vinegar, salt, and peppers really gives them zing. I had almost a quart of brine left over, so next time I'll make 3/4 of what the recipe suggests.
  



• Apple Pie in a Jar
  
  Apple Pie in a Jar
  
  4 lbs of Granny Smiths and yielded about 3-1/2 quarts of apples. I used this recipe and didn't have any issues with overflowing jars.
  



• Rustic Apple Pie
  I was going to make an apple crisp with the canned apples but realized that I didn't have any brown sugar.
  
  Plan B: Turn a Rustic Apple Tart into a pie.
  
  Pie plate lined with Pate Sucree.
  
  
  Pate Sucree as Pie crust
  
  Dumped 1-1/2 quarts of Apple Pie in a Jar into the pie crust (which used up the 1/2 quart from the most recent batch).
  
  
  With apple pie filling
  
  Edges of the crust folded up, brushed with milk, and sprinkled with coarse sugar.
  
  
  Ready for the oven
  
  Baked at 350F for 30 min in the bottom third of the oven, then in the top third of the oven until nice and brown. Pie!
  
  
  Apple pie
  
  
  a la mode
  
  The juice bubbled over the sides of the pie plate and made a bit of a mess. Thankfully I had a sheet of foil on the bottom of the oven so clean up was quick and easy. Next time I'll put a cookie sheet under it.
  
  
• Lemon Lime Marmalade
  
  The Meyer Lemon Marmalade recipe from Epicurious has only yielded ~4 pints for me in the past. That's a lot of work for not a lot of marmalade.
  
  This time I added 3 Bearss Limes from our tree and increased the recipe by 33%. Total weight = 2 lbs.
  
  
  Meyer Lemons and Bearss Limes
  
  
  Slicing, slicing, slicing
  
  The lemon seeds were secured in a cheesecloth pouch--they are a natural source of pectin. The fruit and seeds soaked in water for 24 hours.
  
  
  So fragrant
  
  The next day the solution was reduced for 45 minutes, sugar was added and it cooked for about 15 minutes, then the marmalade was transferred to pint jars and processed in a water bath.
  
  
  7 pints of Lemon Lime Marmalade
  
  I ended up with exactly 7 pints of beautiful marmalade. Yesss!
  

You Give Love a Bad Name

Remember when the price of a concert ticket was dependent on seat location? Closer to the stage = more $$. Now you'll find packages that have a variety of perks--an opportunity to rub elbows with members of the band, seats in the front, preferred parking--and that all translates into a premium price.

Let's look at what's included in "The Diamond Circle VIP Experience" for Bon Jovi:

• One Incredible Front Row* Ticket inside the Exclusive Circle!* Or in the First Three Rows in the following markets: East Rutherford, Chicago, Foxboro, Regina, Toronto, Winnipeg & Edmonton.** Please note there is NO CIRCLE SECTION IN CALGARY - the Diamond VIP Package will be based on the First Row
  
• One Exclusive Collectable Bon Jovi VIP Concert Chair (You sit in it, you watch the show, and then you take it home with you!)
  
• Special VIP Cocktail Upon Arrival
  
• Deluxe Catered VIP Preshow Hospitality
  
• Deluxe VIP Open Bar*
  
• Dedicated On-Site VIP Host
  
• VIP Preferred Parking* (Where available)
  
• VIP Priority Check-In
  
• Separate VIP Entrance at Venue (Where available)
  
• One Autographed Bon Jovi Souvenir Tour Program!
  
• One Premium Bon Jovi Leather Messenger Bag (Created Exclusively For Circle VIP Packages Only!)
  
• $150.00 Gift Card to the On-Line Bon Jovi Store
  
• One Limited Edition Circle VIP Laminate*** & Matching Lanyard
  
• One Commemorative Souvenir Concert Ticket***
  ***Commemorative VIP Laminates and Souvenir Concert Ticket are for commemorative purposes only. The VIP Laminate or Souvenir Concert Ticket does not gain or authorize access into the venue, VIP or any backstage areas.

The price for this exclusive experience? $1,875. Per person. And TM only sells these tickets in multiples of TWO.

That must be one super-fantastic chair. I wonder how fans are supposed to get them home--certainly they're not fold-up or inflatable (heaven forbid), not for that price.

BTW, did you notice what's missing in this package? The list of bene's doesn't include a meet and greet with the band. LOL. That's hilarious!

I have no doubt that someone somewhere will buy these tickets. Maybe they'll write them off as a business expense or something.

FO: Beaded shot glass cozy

Looking to dress up your shot glasses? (Honestly, who isn't?)

At the last Knitspiration of Silicon Valley knitting guild meeting, Spinnity introduced us to knitting with wire and beads. The project was a bracelet, but I cut mine short and made a cozy for my ripped/frogged shot glasses. Pretty!


Beaded shot glass cozy
Project details on Ravelry

I like the texture and sculptural characteristics of knitting with beads and wire, but it was hard on my hands and needles.

But I love my new FO. :D

HKF

It's hand knit Friday! What hand knits do you have on today?

I'm wearing


Zigzag sweater
Project details on Ravelry

Keeping the vampires at bay

Halloween (yes, yes, I'm almost 3 weeks late with this post) is usually spent at home, waiting for the doorbell to ring. After answering the door 5 or 6 times the bell stops ringing and rest of the candy is ours. That's not necessarily a good thing. We have kids in the neighborhood, but they must go elsewhere because I've never had many trick-or-treaters. And no, the house isn't especially unapproachable.

This year was different. I had to work on Halloween day, but we decided to go out in the evening and have some fun. (Fun, what a concept!)

I put a paper plate filled with store bought candy on the front porch and hoped the kids would do the right thing. I thought about putting up a sign, "Take One", but let's be real. Sign or no sign, they would do whatever their conscience would bear.

I dressed as character that was sought by many in the 90's.


Waldo

The hat isn't quite right, but it's what I had on hand. Apparently Waldo joined Team Zissou.

We drove to San Francisco and headed to Columbus Ave. Traffic wasn't that bad and parking was easy. Crazy, right?! We were expecting the worst with it being Halloween and all. Perhaps the Bay Bridge closure kept people away.

Dinner was at The Stinking Rose.

I had the pork chop which was good, but the halibut was the winner by a mile.


Garlic with pork chop, apples, and smashed potatoes


Garlic with Halibut

After dinner we walked to Bimbo's to see Super Diamond. The guys are so nice and they put on a very entertaining show. This was the 3rd (or 4th) time we've seen them. Most of the audience was in costume and the band was doing a pretty darned good impression of the Captain & crew of the Starship Enterprise--if Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Scotty and no-named red-shirt guys were in a band that is.


Channeling Kirk

Okay, maybe that doesn't make any sense but you get the idea.

We had a fun time singing along to Neil Diamond favorites.

On the way to the car, I ran into two other Waldos. "There you are!" was heard x3.

When we got home the paper plate was empty--no surprise--and there was a footprint on it. Hmmmm, maybe one of the kidlets got angry the candy was gone? We had a good laugh over it.

What's going on here?

Only HKF posts with an occasional weaving post? Bad blogger.

Actually, work was overwhelming for weeks. Our year-end was at the end of October and the madness started a few weeks before and continued for a few weeks after. So one month out of three is a trial and year-end is the worst.

Work is still stressful, but not as crazy as it was before. And what's up with Thanksgiving being next week? Goodness I'm not ready for the Thanksgiving/Christmas/New Year's rush because guess what comes after that? Quarter-end!

I have been knitting though. It's necessary in order to retain a shred of sanity through all of this.

Here's what's been happening on the knitting front--

• 1 new pattern knit in 2 sizes and submitted for publication.
  *fingers crossed*
  


• 4 chemo caps--a beanie, a hat with fold up brim, a slouchy beret, and a turban. Patterns for the first 3 need to be finished.
  


• Another FO which cannot be shared at this time.
  


• Snowman Illusion Mitts designed by Fiber Fiend
  
  Snowman Illusion Mitts
  

4 chemo caps? Yes, unfortunately. I'm knitting them for friends who have been diagnosed with breast cancer.

More about Halloween and kitchen crafts coming soon.

HKF

It's Hand Knit Friday. What hand knits do you have on today?

I'm wearing


Lite Brite socks
Project details on Ravelry