Archive | April, 2010

A Knitting Kind of Night

26 Apr

It’s a rainy, stormy evening tonight and all I want to do is knit. I have an ongoing project I like to call The Ugly Blanket. I started my first ugly blanket in high school. I started crocheting it using leftover balls of cotton that my mom had around the house. It used a whole mish-mash of brown, blue, yellow and pink cotton. I was a bit of a geek during high school, so there were many Friday and Saturday nights spent at home watching movies and crocheting. The end result was a queen sized blanket. I still have it and it reminds me of who I was and where I come from.

The Ugly Blanket 2.0 is being knit out of some wool bought on sale. Blue, white and bright orange. There’s one row at the bottom that’s all messed up. I’m not sure what happened, but it’s part of the Ugly Blanket look. You don’t go back and fix an Ugly Blanket.

The last knitting project I finished was a pair of socks. I was given a skein of beautiful blue wool for my birthday from a knitting friend. She gave me a sock pattern that suited the wool as well. Now she’s one of those super talented knitters and her skill level should have been taken into consideration when she said, “Oh yeah, it’s a really easy pattern.” I ended up starting the first sock four times before I finally got it. The little needles were so fine and finicky to work with. But I did it. Here are my finished socks (and the needles for scale)!! I’ll actually be able to wear them.

Now, back to the Ugly Blanket 2.0 and reasonably sized needles.

Testing Tricks: The Pie Pastry

25 Apr

I love to bake. Cookies, muffins, loaves, tarts, pies, cakes, squares and bars. Here’s the problem: I live on my own. A single woman should not have a whole cake or pie to herself. In reality, I’m fairly disciplined and won’t eat it all in one sitting, but still, a piece of cake a day for a week is not a good thing for a woman in the dating world. Being invited to potlucks is always a good excuse to bake something, but with no potluck to go to this weekend I invited a few friends over for tea and pie.

I’m far from a perfectionist when it comes to cooking and baking. I think it has something to do with my hippy upbringing. I grew up in a community where if the pie wasn’t chunky, funky and made out of whole wheat, it wasn’t worth eating. I prefer my baking to take on a more traditional look and feel. In an attempt to refine my pastry skills I decided to try a few tricks that I had read about.

The first trick is to make finger indents around the edge of disc of pastry before rolling out the pastry. This helps to prevent cracking around the edges during the rolling process. This makes rolling out an even pie shell quite easy.

The second trick is chilling the pie shell before blind baking it. The change in temperature is supposed to create a flaky crust and prevent the shell from shrinking. I’ve read that the dough needs to cook before the butter melts, so keeping the shell as cold as possible before putting in the oven is key.

I put the pie shell in the fridge for 30 minutes before putting it in the oven. The crust had a decent amount of flake to it, but the shell still shrunk away from the pie dish.

I used my stand mixer to make meringue for the first time. I didn’t realize how quickly egg whites and sugar could go from liquid to hard whipped egg whites. I completely missed out on the “soft peaks” stage and was left with thick meringue. Despite having a slightly shrunken crust and over-whipped meringue, the pie turned out quite well. It was a hit for afternoon tea and luckily there’s not enough left to last all week!

Survived

23 Apr

I’ve survived another semester. Whether or not I passed is yet to be decided, but there’s not much I can do about that now. I figure the absolute worst case scenario (which has yet to ever happen to me) is that I failed and have to redo the course. In that case, I probably deserve to do it again. Is the world going to end if I have to redo a class? No, it’s not. It won’t even come close to ending.

Tonight is the first time in recent memory that I have no plans on a Friday night. This afternoon my mind was racing with ideas of what I could do. The freedom and endless possibilities were verging on overwhelming me. Yet, with all of these options, I just wanted to do nothing.

So that’s what I’ve done. Well, I ran some errands, did some shopping, picked up some sushi and am now watching a hockey game and blogging. But I’m not cleaning, organizing or making something. More importantly, I’m not studying or feeling guilty about not studying!!!

Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to get back to the couch.

UnStable

18 Apr

This weekend was the last big study weekend until September. As usual, I resorted to some trashy procrastination. I found myself watching the Country Music Channel at 5:00 on Saturday evening. I ended up watching part of a show called UnStable. I assume it has something to do with horses…and stables.

I could only stand watching about three minutes of it. One character, Megan, explained why she was excited to go to France. Here’s her list.

Megan’s Top Three Reasons She’s Excited To Go To France

1. London is an awesome city
2. Berets
3. Hello? Poutine!

Seriously? I guess one out of three isn’t bad? All I can say is, it sure will be great to have this course complete so I don’t have to procrastinate so often and subject my brain to this mush.

What has your boss done for you lately?

13 Apr

Last week my boss was away giving a TED talk. This was quite a big deal and everybody around the office was quite excited. He arrived back on Monday and came into my office first thing. I enthusiastically asked “How did it go?!”

“It was fine, but more importantly, I talked to Leonardo DiCaprio last week. I told him I have Marina working for me and that she is single. Unfortunately he said he has a girlfriend.”

“Wow. Thank you. You know, when I was thirteen I named my cat Leo, after him,” I responded.

With a deadpan expression on his face, my boss said, “Your cat was probably more interesting and communicative than Leonardo was.”

We came to the conclusion that he really wasn’t worth it. So I started my Monday off hearing that not only had my junior high, movie star crush heard about me, but also that I could do better than him. Not a bad start to the week.

DIY @ MOV 2

11 Apr

DIY @ MOV 2. Sounds cryptic doesn’t it? Turns out it’s code for a whole lot of crafty fun! Or “Do It Yourself and the Museum of Vancouver 2″.

I’ve been trying to focus on doing fun things that I want to do. It’s a part of the process of figuring out who I am and what I want out of life. I think this is part of enjoying being single. It’s easy to focus on being lonely or being the 8th wheel when you’re out with a group of couples. Instead, I’m focusing on the things I want and making plans for myself. Or at least working towards this concept.

I had read about the first DIY @ MOV but hadn’t been able to make it. I decided that I would make it out to the second one whether it was by myself or with some friends. I tried recruiting a group of crafty girlfriends, but in the end it was just me and one other friend.

It was a great evening. There were booths selling hand made products, from pins to storybooks to jewelery to bags. As we headed into the main room we were handed goody bags full of items from the craft stations to try at home. The room was full of craft stations and people to demonstrate or help you get started. There was a “Knit Pit” with a huge pile of yarn and needles, a collage station, a colouring station (yes I sat around with a pile of crayons and a colouring book on a Friday night), a weaving station, a spinning station, a felting station and a jewelry making station.

The room had bowls of candy and chips spread around so you could grab a snack when you wanted something to go with your glass of wine or beer. My friend sent me a text message the next day saying “My perfect night…crafts, wine and chips.”

We spent most of our time at three of the stations. First we tried felting and made a bangle bracelet. Mine turned out too small to make it over my hand, so Mittens has a new toy, but she’s very happy with it. It was just enough to give me a taste of what sorts of things you could do with felting and has left me considering taking a class in it.

After that we went to the collage station. I love taking images and text from old books and magazines, and combining them with different textures to create an image.

We also made a brooch at the jewelery station. We were given scraps of cloth (looked mostly like old sweaters cut up), some beads, buttons and a needle and thread.

The atmosphere of the group was great. It was mostly women, but there was the occasional man who was obviously there with a girlfriend. The people there were very friendly and conversation was easily started with lines like “Do you collage often?” In any other group, you’d think that was a cheesy pick up line. I loved looking around the room and seeing people standing around knitting.

This was the second time I’d been to the Museum of Vancouver and I had a similar experience of enjoying being single, exploring my own interests and being independent. I ended up buying a membership for the museum. I mean, the next exhibit opening in May is all about shoes. Really, you can’t get much more “me” than that!

Slow Cooker Saturday

10 Apr


I have a little weekend tradition around my place that I like to call Slow Cooker Saturday. It doesn’t happen every Saturday, but rather only when the freezer needs to be stocked up with easy weekday meals and lunches.

This week is an off week since the freezer is packed full of deliciousness. I thought I would share with you the recipe I tried last weekend. I added some white buns and coleslaw and this was the perfect addition to a potluck I hosted.

The recipe is based on the Saucy Pulled Pork found in Canadian Living’s the Slow Cooker Collection. One of my guests had several food allergies that included coriander, so I made some adjustments and created this.

Pulled Pork

Mix together a spice rub of:

4 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp kosher salt
1 tbsp paprika
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/4 dried thyme

Rub this over a boneless pork shoulder blade roast (about 3 1/2 pounds) and let rest in the refrigerator over night.

In the morning, brown the roast in about 2 tbsp of oil and then transfer to the slow cooker.

Next, in a large frying pan cook the following ingredients until soft.

2 onions diced
4 cloves garlic
2 bay leaves

Add to the frying pan:

1/4 cup tomato paste
1/4 cup BBQ sauce
1 can tomato sauce (14 oz.)
2 tbsp brown sugar
2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

Bring this to a boil and then add to the slow cooker. Cook on low for 8 hours.

After eight hours, remove the pork roast to a cutting board and let it rest, covered, for 10 minutes. Take this chance to skim off any fat that has accumulated at the top of the sauce and to remove the bay leaves from the slow cooker. Then use two forks to gently “pull” the pork apart. Transfer the pulled pork back to the sauce in the slow cooker, stir and serve.

Enjoy!

Busy No More

7 Apr

I had a revelation on the weekend and I’ve decided to give up on being busy. I was at a friend’s house and she asked how my weekend was going. I responded with the usual.

“Busy. Really busy.”

She said, “Of course. That’s your usual response. Your usual schedule.”

Later I began thinking about how true that statement was. I’m ambitious in my scheduling and all the things I want to do. It can be tiring and overwhelming if I let it.

So much of life is about attitude and I’ve decided to change my attitude about my busy lifestyle. I’ve decided to stop saying the word “busy”. For me, being busy has become normal. It’s just the way it is. I’ve made choices in my life that has led me to doing so many things. Most is out of interest (Ultimate, dance, cooking, crafting) and others out of necessity (work, school). Either way, it’s just what’s going on right now. So it’s normal.

Instead of thinking of how busy I am, I’m going to look at it as how full my life is. I’m lucky to have a life so full of friends, interests, activities and passions. Sure they all take up time, but isn’t that what life’s about?

Hot Crossed Waste of Money

3 Apr

I ran a few errands yesterday in preparation for today. I’m having a few friends over for a potluck dinner. While I was at it, I thought I’d pick up an Easter treat for myself. Hot Crossed Buns. I love them. My favourite part…the cross. I don’t know what it is made of, but it’s the best! Sweet, sticky and really the most important part. What would a hot crossed bun be without the hot cross?

I went into the bread store around the corner from me. I was the only customer in there and two employees looked at me eager to help. I saw the pile of hot crossed buns with a sign that said $6.50. I thought, “$6.50 for 6 buns?! Really?” I turned around and walked out without saying anything.

As I picked up a few other things, I got thinking about how I’m not really doing anything else for Easter. Why not treat myself to six little buns? I contemplated how that $6.50 could pay for a movie rental or a drink out with friends. I decided to stop being so neurotic, so I took the plunge and bought the stupid buns.

I just heated two up in the toaster oven to have with my coffee this morning. They were horrible. Dry and stale before I toasted them. The crossed topping had no taste at all and was a dried up mess. Turns out I should have trusted my first instinct. Instead I ended up with a hot crossed waste of money.

A Leaky Life

2 Apr

Back in the middle of February I noticed a stain developing on the ceiling of my hallway. A few weeks later, I noticed bits of white stuff on the floor of my hall closet. I looked up and discovered a hole in the ceiling where a leak had eaten away at the drywall.

The landlord’s handyman came and the hallway stain was “solved” by painting over it. The hole was filled and painted over. A week later he came by to finish the job, and imagine this, the hallway stain was back and the closet fill was still wet! Since the actual leak was never looked at, the problem had not been fixed.

It’s been a month and a half and I still have a closet’s contents dumped on my bedroom floor!! The leak has been fixed, but now I’m waiting for the ceiling to be patched and painted. I feel like I’m being an impatient, annoying tenant by calling once a week to see when it will be finished.

I grew up on a small island, which most definitely has a slower pace to it. Lately, my life in the city has been go-go-go. I have to be disciplined with scheduling in order to accomplish all that I want. I get from A to B as efficiently as possible. I schedule each hour in a day to fit in as much as possible. I expect others to be as efficient with their time as I attempt to be.

There are times when I feel incredibly impatient with people. I’ve gotten caught up in this fast-paced city life. Growing up where things were slower and more relaxed, has left me reeling in this busyness. I know that life can be different. I’ve made a choice to live in the city and not go back to a beautiful, quiet spot in the world. And yet, I wonder, would I not be as frustrated and tired as I am right now?

Have I become one of those high strung people that think everyone else incompetent? No, I don’t think I have. It’s just that I am not one to cross my fingers and hope that paint covers up a leak.

I spent the first 18 years of my life waking up to this view everyday. Knowing that a place like this exists in the world makes me realize that this life I lead is a choice. And only I can change the pace at which I live. So here’s hoping my leaky hallway problem will be solved soon and I can bring a little piece of the island peacefulness that I grew up with into my everyday city life.

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