I scream, you scream
For Mother's Day, my magnificent husband-and-father-of-my-children got me exactly what I asked for: the
Cuisinart Duo Ice Cream (etc.) Maker. A note to husbands everywhere: I don't care what conventional wisdom says about appliances not being "romantic" or "thoughtful." To me (because I don't dilly-dally or beat around the bush about it) the most thoughtful and romantic gift is the one that's
exactly what I asked for. It doesn't get any better than that.
So anyhow, I got this ice cream maker, and seriously, I love it. I've made 8 quarts of various flavors (and levels of success) so far. One of the most successful was the chocolate ice cream (aside from it being not fully set when we took it out of the maker, but that's because the tubs didn't have time to properly refreeze between batches -- it set up just fine in the freezer). It had a really rich chocolatey flavor and was super easy to make. Wanna know my secret? You know you do.
Let us being by being perfectly honest: I am inherently lazy, and also, I hate to wait (I blame microwave oven technology for this). I don't mind doing things that take a lot of effort, but if there's an easier way, I will find it. And if it takes a lot of effort, it better have a pretty immediate payoff. So when I found all of these recipes that involve melting down the chocolate etc. and then making sure everything's super cool before it goes into the ice cream maker, I wanted no truck with that nonsense. But I (and my naggy little three year old :) ) wanted chocolate ice cream. What to do? Wheels began turning in my little noggin. Ice cream is milk (well, and heavy cream -- that was another "ice cream learning experience"), right? You make hot chocolate with milk, right? There's no real reason it has to be hot, right? Hey! Hot cocoa mix and milk/cream = immediate gratification low effort chocolatey goodness! So, my vanilla ice cream recipe calls for 1 3/4 cups heavy cream and 3/4 cup whole milk (except I use reduced fat because I already have two kinds of milk in my house and I'm not buying a third because that is just Crazy Talk) (20 oz. of liquid total). My hot chocolate mix calls for 1 scoop per 8oz of liquid, which would be 2 1/2 scoops of mix. I like very chocolatey ice cream, so I round up to three scoops of hot chocolate mix. Mix it all together (without heating the milk/cream), dump it in the ice cream maker, turn on and wait. Voila!
Please note that this does NOT work as well for frozen yogurt. Possibly the yogurt I used was just extra yogurt-y, but the chocolate seems to both bring out and clash with the yogurt tanginess. But for ice cream (and cream ice, which is what you get if you use reduced fat milk for all of the liquid), it's da bomb. Da chocolate bomb. Mmmmm...chocolate munitions...
What to do with two kids and a mother-in-law on a beautiful spring day? Head to the local county zoo, of course! Wednesday my MIL was up from her summer residence down the shore, so she asked if it would be okay for her to come spend some time with the kids. I was already planning on taking the kids to the zoo and figured an extra hand would be great, so I invited her along.
Our county zoo is small, but has some nice variety and is really just about the right size for my little ones. Plus, there's a little train that runs around it and across the street there's a big outdoor carousel and playground, so there's plenty to do. Usually. Apparently, this year Wednesday is Maintenance Day, which meant no train and no carousel, and also the big playground was being rebuilt so just the small one was open, and because it's pretty early in the season, a lot of the animal exhibits were closed. So, everything that was open was super crowded. Not ideal, but Becky was really wonderful (Zack was happy just to stuff snacks into his face as we pushed the cart around). No big meltdowns, even when we told her that the train -- her favorite -- was being fixed and she wouldn't get to ride it. I was very, very proud of her. And hey, look, pictures! Including one of what was probably the highlight of the day, baby geese. They're so fluffy!
And that last one is special for our San Clemente friends: look, we've got your goat!Next time, we're going to the zoo on a Monday so we can ride the train and the carousel, too!
Open rant to online vendors
Dear everyone selling things on the online,
When you have a picture next to the description of the whatever-you're-selling, and that picture has a button or text link that says "enlarge," I expect when I click on that button/link that I will be greeted with a
larger picture than the one I started at. Seriously, "enlarge" is not synonymous with "look at the exact same picture in a different window." What the hell is wrong with you people? If you don't have a bigger picture to show me, don't tease me with an "enlarge" link that does not, in fact, offer me something larger. Thanks for your attention to this matter.
Love,
Me
Big News! (and other stuff)
As you can see over at the right there, I've officially launched my Etsy store. Currently, I'm featuring handmade pincushions and tshirts -- more products are coming soon (keep your eyes peeled for handbags made from recycled clothing, crocheted necklaces and bracelets, knitting patterns, and more). Please shop, tell all your friends about me, ask me questions if you have any, place a custom order...you get the idea!
And now, more regular bloggy-type content:
Knitting:I spent 2 hours yesterday fighting with yarn. In the end, the yarn won. I just wanted to get three skeins of yarn wound into balls so I could swatch for possible replacements for yarn for a design that's not working out in the yarn I originally chose. The first skein broke. Three times. And not "hit a snag, jammed hard and snapped," just...broke. Obviously, a weak batch of yarn. I won't be using it for socks, obviously (I'll probably reserve it for weaving). Skein the second had a few tangles, but at least didn't break. I eventually got it wound into a proper ball -- it was actually the most cooperative of the three skeins. The third skein...ah, the third skein. Tangled beyond belief and constant snarling around itself resulted in a more loosely wound ball than is really good, and eventually resulted in a tangle around the ball winder. So I tried rewinding it. Same problem. Repeat 6 times (yeah, I can be stubborn. What's your point?). I finally gave up and took the two ends downstairs, weighed them, fudged around until they were pretty even, and called it a day.
Kids:And here are a couple of things I hope never come out of my mouth after the kids hit puberty:
"Zack, quit playing with your sister's dirty underwear."
"Yes, Becky, you can take off your clothes while you dance."
Pics of said kids:
Yes, that is a fluffy pink backpack on Zack's head. Why do you ask? Becky is modeling this season's delightful "blue box" hat.
Cooking:I got the dual ice-cream maker I requested for Mother's Day. I now have 4 quarts(ish) of ice cream in the freezer. The chocolate I made was the most successful -- I've learned a ton just from those four quarts. I'm really excited about trying frozen yogurt and sorbets next! Tomorrow I'm going to finally make the spicy cheddar potato soup I promised Ab the recipe to, and I just read a fascinating article in Cook's Illustrated about how to treat potatoes so they don't get tacky (because who wants a potato in aqua sequined pants and a leopard skin top?). I just read my first issue of CI, and I kinda love it. It's not just recipes...they talk about the things they tried on the way to the recipe, what problem(s) they were trying to solve, how food works...it's pretty awesome. I'm looking forward to more issues. And also to trying the Chateaubriand recipe from this issue. Mmmmmm...meat...
How do you make a hormone?*
I was just over at a message board I'm considering frequenting, and I came across a thread where they were laughing about how hormones make them crazy sometimes and sometimes it's not even in synch with their (as Tampax's ad campaign so delightfully phrases it) "Monthly Gift." I got all cheesed off because seriously? Sometimes I'm just in a pissy mood. I'm allowed to have a bad mood without it being caused by hormones. Men have bad moods all the time and they don't get to excuse it by blaming it on their hormones. This kind of crap is why women are still not taken seriously in a lot of male-dominated spheres. Own your bitchiness and bad moods, ladies. You can so control it. If you can't, get medical help (I'm serious here -- there are actual hormone disorders that you can get treated if you're really out of control and there's no shame in that, just like there would be no shame in getting high blood pressure treated). /rant
* You punch her in the stomach. Yes, it's an awful joke and I'm going to burn in hell. You should hear my wife-beater jokes sometime.
For the past week or so, I've been working on a pair of socks.
As usual, I learned a lot while designing and knitting these. For instance, no matter how cute it is, no bind off that increases stitch count by 75% and then doesn't decrease it again is not going to work. It's just not. Also, try not to forget that you're working in the round when you're translating from stitch dictionaries, because that's going to go badly. When you hit a snarl in the yarn, just go ahead and cut it out and reattach the yarn then. You will not be able to make it all the way to the end of the socks. If you try, you will end up with the reattachment one row before the bind off. It's a Knitting Law. And, I did something I've never done before: used the wrong strand of yarn to knit the second sock on the needles when knitting two at once. I mean, I've done it for a few stitches, but this time I got all the way around the sock before I realized.
I don't want to say too much right this sec about the inspiration or events surrounding them, but they are done and the pattern is written. I'm just waiting for some feedback from some folks before I publish it. When I do publish, it will be available at my new
Etsy store and on Ravelry.
What? I didn't mention that I'm launching an
Etsy store? Yup, I'm finally putting my mad crafting skillz to good use and selling the stuff I make. Featured items for now will include hand-painted organic t-shirts, knitting patterns, and pin cushions. I will eventually be featuring jewelry, and may come up with other miscellaneous items as well. (There is nothing in the store right this very second -- weather here is not conducive to picture taking. I'll remove this comment when there's stock in the store, and also, there will be a nifty widget over on the right there.)
I'm going to focus on being eco-friendly, and will also be donating a portion of each sale to Heifer International (the exact amount will depend on the item and will be part of the item's description. T-shirts, for example will give $1, while patterns will only give 25 cents).
In other knitting news, I've finally found someplace to go hang out and knit. It's a store a couple of towns away that I had never made it over to, but the one I always used to go to moved (and they weren't real conducive to just sitting and knitting anyhow. I mean, they were nice enough, but I didn't ever feel like they would encourage me to just sit and knit and chat, even though they had a very comfy couch in the store. Honestly, it was kind of a weird vibe.). So I happened to see on the Ravelry group that this other store (
Creative Knitworks in Hillsdale) was going to start having open knitting from 11-3 on Thursdays, which is perfect for me since the kids are at school that day and I don't have to give up Kit time to have knit time. So I went a couple of weeks ago for the first time and then again last week (I skipped the week of Becky's party), and I already feel at home. Sharon (the owner) and Lori (who has been working both times I was there) are just totally my kind of people. They were both super welcoming and interested in what I was knitting without being pushy or making me feel bad about not having purchased the yarn there (which I will definitely be doing in the future -- they have a great selection and variety...something else that was missing from the other store I used to go to). So far, not many other people have been dropping in during that time, but they tell me that it's only on the weeks I go that no one else comes, so hopefully that will change.
Finally, RIP to The Point in NYC. The demise was quick (email sent out last Sunday night saying the last three days were last Monday-Wednesday...what?!?!?!) and a little painful. There's more specific info in the Ravelry group, including where to get the patterns they used to have and how to keep in touch with all the employees. Sadly, there is no quiche or cupcakes. I'm going to miss you guys.
