I'm Back! And ready to dig in!

Vacations, time off, long weekends, holidays, sunshine, puppies... yes...all distractions from coming here and writing a few lines.  But, I'm back and ready to share all the cool things I've been up to.

Speaking of cool things, here is one way to beat the heat... puppy style!

Looking forward to getting back in the groove!!

日本のための多くの愛
Much love for Japan

Nesting Bowls

I think I mentioned some time ago that I fell head over heels for crocheting.  (And I haven't really shown you anything I've created -- I'm starting to fix that!)

I have always had a thing for fabrics.  Yarn is a natural extension of that. 

I made these nesting bowls as a gift and really like how they came out!

The colors have so much personality here!  And I really liked seeing the shape form as I completed each row.

As you can imagine, each bowl got just a smidgen bigger.  (smidgen is such a fun word!)

You know how you make something with the intent to give them as a gift... and then they are done and you secretly wish you could keep them? 

Yup, that happened to me with these.

I've seen this type of bowl done with a different colored bottom... it was a really cool affect!  I think the next time around I will give that a try.

It doesn't help that I already have a love for bowls.

Or the fact that I could see a million uses for these.

Or, that the colors matched my living room so well.

Wouldn't a plant pot be really adorable with one of these bowls nested around it?

At least I know the maker and I guess if I really wanted I could whip myself up a couple of these!!

I finished the set off with a ribbon for giving away.  So darling!!

It was really really tough to let them go. 

But, I got an even better feeling to see one of my favorite people light up in a huge smile once I gave them to her!

Making something with your own two hands and then sharing it with someone you really like = happiness!

Raappiness!

Random Happiness = Raappiness.  Don't you just love made up words with lots of double letters?

So, yesterday was supposed to be aquarium day here.  As in I show you all the cool photo's I snapped from our recent trip to a totally rad aquarium.  And instead, I got sucked into painting the next layer of my chair.  I am nearly finished with that project and really happy with how it's coming together. 

That said, I thought I would post aquarium pictures today... well, looks like that will have to wait a little bit longer -- as I don't have my camera cord with me right now.  *sigh*  Some days I am sure I would forget my head if my neck didn't hold it on.

So, I am digging through the photo's I do have handy and found these.

Nope, not some fancy yarn or fabric.  This is a close up of Katie's soft amazing fur!  Love the texture brought out in this photo!

This is a close up of Katie's tail.  Funny how it has a different look than her midsection.

Ms. Ladykins herself!  What a mischievous look here.  What did you do?

I also made up a batch of Thai Red Bean Tapioca pudding a few weeks ago.  It's not 100% what I remember, but it surely brought back a TON of childhood memories!

I followed this recipe as a base and also modified it a bit with cinnamon and cayenne pepper.  I used the colorful tapioca pearls from my local asian market and they really made this look like a bowl of fruit loops. 

Made me giggle!

Hope you are finding reasons to smile today and don't worry so much if not everything goes your way!

Straw-pple Sauce!

I think you are beginning to notice that I am enjoying myself more and more in the kitchen.  In fact, after a long day at work, I enjoy getting some time in there to be creative, expressive, and try a few new things.

This week Straw-pple Sauce was born!

It's not a 100% unique idea.  Strawberry-Applesauce has been around for some time. 

Just the same, I like to think that I am breaking new territory, because 1) I haven't made applesauce often, 2) I never used a blender to smooth my sauce, and 3) this is the first time I have added strawberries!

Let's see what craziness unfolded...

I got a nice big pot.

And two types of apples.  Four Granny Smiths and six Fuji's.

My helper was at the ready offering her assistance!

I always joke about this... I am secretly on a show called, "Cooking with Katie."  She is my trusty assistant for things like creative ideas, clean up, and of course tasting!

Since I was making a small batch and since I don't have a Foley mill (fancy thing to remove skin and seeds from a cooked down pulp mixture), I peeled, cored, and chopped all the apples. 

Those pieces went right into the big pot.

Next up... strawberries!!  Same deal here; clean and slice.  I used the whole carton of strawberries.

My helper has a special admiration for strawberries!

"Who me?"

Then the strawberries were added to the big pot and the pot was placed on the stove.

I did add some apple juice and water to the fruit to prevent the bottom from burning and helping the pulp to break down.

A quick stir later and we were in business!

As it bubbled, the kitchen became filled with the autumn smell of apples.  If we could have smell-o-rama blogs, this would definitely be the post I would use it on. 

Can you smell the cooking apples now?

Once I was satisfied that the mixture was cooked through, I transferred it to a mixing bowl.

Then scoop by scoop, I added a batch to the blender and gave it a few whirls to "sauce-a-fy" it!

Once all the mixture had gone through the blender it looked so smooth and yummy!!

This is the part where you season it to your liking.  I decided it was sweet enough, so no sugar was added.  I did add cinnamon and nutmeg.  YUM!

It's funny how more of the red color from the strawberries came out while I re-heated the sauce for canning.

I took this as a chance to practice my canning skills.  This was the first time doing it on my own.  I followed the instructions to re-heat the sauce to boiling and to heat the jars, lids, and rings.

Filling the jars was hot, messy, and nerve-wrecking.  But I got through it. 

A reward for my efforts?  A nice big bowl of Straw-pple sauce that didn't fit in the jars.

My assistant was spent.  Done. Tired.  Zonked.  Wiped.

Although, I bet if I had said the word "apple," she would have jumped up on fresh legs ready to do the whole thing over.

And here we are...

...a fun night spent in the kitchen.
...amazing smells throughout the house.
...a few jars of tasty sauce to brag about and scarf.
...a quieter mind that is much less focused on stresses.
...a happy assistance with a belly full of apples and strawberries.

Have you made something lately that tickled your taste buds?

Cucumber Delight

I was given a rather large cucumber by a neighbor.

I really like cucumbers, but have a problem where I cut up a plain cucumber into slices, put them in single serve baggies, and then stare at them each time I open the fridge.  And they sit in the fridge.  And I don't eat them.  And I feel bad.

I didn't want this to happen to this cool cucumber gift.

So, I set out to make cucumber salad.

I've never made cucumber salad (at least I don't think so). 

There are a million and a half recipes for cucumber salad on the web. 

I had no idea which one to use.

So, I read a bunch of them.  And read about ingredients like vinegar, sugar, onions, garlic....

I headed into the kitchen to whip something up that was inspired by those other recipes, but that harnessed the ingredients I already had in the house.

I started by slicing the cucumber into paper thin round slices with my crazy sharp and fast slicer. (Thank you again Beka for that awesome Christmas gift.  Yes, I still have all my fingers intact.)

My next leap was to all the ripe peaches I have been hoarding.  I'm thinking how good would a sweet and spicy salad be.  Enter the peaches.

I pitted and sliced two of them.  Next time I think I would use a few more for a more even mix of peaches to cucumber slices.

Oh, so pretty against the fresh light green of the cucumbers.

Next up. Rice vingear!  This is the first time I got to use this ingredient.  I think we originally bought this bottle a few years ago when we thought it might be fun to make our own sushi.  And we never ended up making it.  Maybe the open bottle will inspire that next?

I didn't really measure any of the quantities, but I began to pour some on.  Then gave the cucumbers and peaches a good mix.  I was looking for a very tiny coat of rice vinegar throughout.

Enter salt.  About two pinches.  I would later add another two or so pinches.

Cayenne!  This is where the spicy entered.  A few dashes, then a few more.  Then a few more. 

I live for the heat that cayenne brings to the party!

Honey.  Instead of sugar I wanted a more pure sweetener. 

This is a local honey purchased from a local orchard.  Local honey is supposed to help with seasonal allergies.  I have been busy trying to work honey into everything I am making lately.

I drizzled about two tablespoons-ish on the top.

Basil!  Fresh basil at that.  From my garden.  Love it!

About 6-9 leaves here.  I rolled them together and then sliced and chopped them. 

Cilantro.  I was a smart cookie this year and put hebs in two places.  This meant that the recent bunny invasion only wiped out a portion of my herb garden. 

Smart cookie, right?

I included a few sprigs.  Pulled the leaves off and tossed them in.

Here are all the treasures together!

The results after a nice mix.

The last two additions after tasting were a couple of shakes of cloves to give it a bump up in spice.  And a drizzle of olive oil to bring all the flavors together.

I was so happy with the result that I ate a bunch.

Then I packed a bunch more in my lunch for the next day. 

That's a combo of rice noodles and cucumber delight.

The right food, can really make your day!

What are you eating today?  What is your latest creation?