Happy Puppiversary

We're celebrating two amazing years of puppy loving.

Above: Today; Below: Last year; Bottom: The day we brought her home

I think we have a winner

The fall 2009 interweave knits preview is out - and it's gorgeous! I am no longer subscribing because of too much dissapointment, but I am actually going to go out and buy this issue. It is filled with loverly knits and items to inspire. Drool:

Baby Knits

Apparently I am in the midst of another baby deluge. Everyone I know is pregnant, again. And apparently I am obsessed with garter stitch - so squishy, it just screams "wrap me around a little teeny tiny person!" My first baby project is all finished except for those pesky ends to weave in and a quick wash. It's the log cabin above in knitpicks swish bulky. I really like that yarn, especially for a superwash. So squishy. I need to get it all finished and off in the mail because that little one will be here any day now.

And now, I am on to my first attempt at EZ's baby surprise jacket (ravelry link). So far I like it. It's odd not really understanding the construction, but I'm trying to just go with it. I am happy with my yarn choice as well, Mission Falls 1824 Cotton Whirl in a fun pink/orange/purple mix called dusk. It's for my cousin's baby girl due in October, who's parents are the artsy creative type. I hope it turns out, because I think it will be really cute.
I still need to pick up supplies for Emmet's little brother Sawyer's present. He's actually next up for arrival, but I didn't have the yarn on hand and the project shouldn't take too much time. After that there are the two November babies, one boy, one girl, and another baby in January. Luckily no December babies because I have special project for my mom for x-mass this year. With all this knitting, school starting back up next month, and my dissertation trucking along, I should be able to keep out of trouble - mostly.

More Garden Eats

The giant zucchini plants continue to churn out zucchinis. I'm still trying to figure out something to make with the two larger ones... Below, are three of my beets. I'm not sure if I harvested them at the right time, but whatever. The baby carrots are thinnings. The green beans were more plentiful than I expected from our relatively small little plants.
I blanched the beans. Sautéed the smaller zucchs. And did this with the beet greens. It was all really tasty.
The beet greens were a new thing for us. I really liked the recipe (linked above) and would make it again, although I may skip the bacon and go for olive oil. It's been fun trying out all sorts of new recipes to accommodate our fresh garden goods and I have to say that the zucchini from our garden is the best I have ever had - the flavor is just amazing. Now I'm hungry again.

Stuffed Zucchini Blossoms

Our garden has several giant zucchini plants. We have already harvested and had a full dinner of zucchini fruits, but I was looking for more recipes for the delicious veggie, when I came across recipes for fried zucchini blossoms. Apparently they are quite the delicacy and so I decided to try it.

Above the zucchini plants in our garden and below the lovely zucchini blossoms (one girl, up front, and the rest boys)
I followed the this recipe and tutorial to make the ricotta and garlic stuffed zucchini blossoms . Matt helped, and it was really pretty easy. They were really delicious with a nice zucchini taste, but we're thinking the next time we'll just batter and fry the flowers instead of stuffing them because the filling sort of overwhelmed the delicateness of the blooms. The batter in this recipe is awesome - light and cripsy. We used the leftover batter and oil to make fried cheese and onion rings, yummy. (It's salads for the rest of the week - we swear).

If you have zucchini in blossom in your garden I would strongly recommend frying up and eating the blossoms, both male and female are edible and really what else are the boys good for?

Matt turned 30

On July 1st my lovely husband turned 30. At the end of June there was a party, there was cake, the in-laws came. A good time was had by all, and it was not blogged. Oops.

Door County

For the first time in 4 years I was able to join my mother's extended family for their annual trip to Door County (the thumb of the mitten that is Wisconsin for those who are unfamiliar). We had a great time. The weather was fabulous and the sunsets were decent.
While the picture of myself below is not at all flattering, it does prove that this was not a knit free vacation. I cast-on for my first BSJ in mission falls cotton. I'll update that soon (or so I say).
Fun for everyone: