HaPpY hALLoWEeN!

Saturday Sky a Little Late

One of the advantages (among many) of living near a county airport is spying interesting planes on a weekly basis. When returning from a few errands yesterday we caught 5 planes flying in formation, the 5th went a little wide but rejoined the group later. They flew directly over us as they took off, it was really cool. By the time I grabbed the camera and handed it over to Kyle (since I was trying to drive) this is the best photo he could manage. One of these days I'm just going to sit outside and wait for these moments.
Splatgirl had me over on Friday afternoon to meet her new boy, he is SO mellow. We snuck in some knitting too, the only knitting I did all weekend. Last night we attended a Halloween party and today I raked the yard. Hopefully on Tuesday I'll get some WIP photos so I can update you on my knitting progress. Until then...

Warm Woolly Mittens

I hope to get this pair of mittens knit up before the weather becomes too cold. The yarn is Malabrigo, a super soft kettle dyed merino wool. Now where am I going to find the time to actually work on these?
I'm almost finished with the slippers I was working on last time you saw knitting here but the socks I started for Socktoberfest have been seriously neglected.
Did you happen to catch Splatgirl's new addition today? So adorable...

Bacon & Eggs is Never Bad

Spaghetti Carbonara is the recipe I tried yesterday for this weeks WFDW. I found the recipe in Garlic & Sapphires, a book recommended by my super foodie friend Splatgirl. Kyle & I both agreed it is a keeper if we use more bacon grease next time. For some reason the moment I hear the words bacon grease my arteries clog instantly. But how can you go wrong with bacon & eggs and pasta & cheese?

7-1

I've gone and joined another knitalong, the Hockey Knitter's Knitalong. The premise is to knit for charity while cheering on your favorite hockey team. My favorite team is of course the Minnesota Wild (they're 7-1!!!) and my charity is the Red Scarf Project. So, the games that I'll be watching from the couch I'll be busy knitting a red scarf and the games that I attend at the XCel Energy Center I won't be knitting at all...the games are too exciting to be knitting.

Vegas Baby!

Let's see, where do I begin. So I don't bore you with my vacation details I put together a mosaic with some of the highlights from my super fun Vegas trip. From right to left, top to bottom: Caesar's lobby (this is where I stayed), a Caesar emblazoned cover from the front circle drive (maybe a water line cap?), Sarah & I with our Bobby Flay margaritas, a view from the Eiffel Tower, Chihuly sculpture in the Bellagio lobby, Caesar's Palace tower, dancing fountain at the Bellagio, Flamingo at night, suited up ready to go indoor skydiving, hanging off the side of The Stratosphere on the X Scream thrill ride, a view from the top of The Stratosphere, tastes from around the world at Coca-Cola, me sitting in the Coca-Cola bears lap, New York New York, Almond pastry from LeNotre in Paris, night time volcano eruption at The Mirage, the world's BEST mojito from Mesa Grill (Bobby Flay's restaurant in Caesar's), truffles from Vosges Haut-Chocolat.

One more highlight from the trip, I met Joe M. and had my photo taken with him while at PURE nightclub.

Knitting? Me?

Last weekend while away with girlfriends I started a pair of felted clog slippers, pattern by Fiber Trends. I can't tell you who they're for. I'm hoping to be finished with the first slipper before tomorrow morning when I fly off to VEGAS! I'm going there for work and a little fun too. See you back here next weekend!

Saturday Sky Take 11

Following a completely crazy week of weather, today was clear and sunny. This morning when I left for work (yes, on a Saturday) the sky was a gorgeous shade of red, the color was bouncing off the scattered clouds but by the time I was in a position to grab a photo the sun had come up enough that the brilliance of the sunrise had disappeared.

What's For Dinner Wednesday

Once again Wednesday dinner is going to be served to us from someone other than one another so I am leaving you with a stand in, Tuesday nights meal. You see, I don't work on Tuesday so it's much easier for me to plan and cook a meal on that evening rather than on Wednesday night. Splatgirl, can I still play along even though I'm cheating? I would be happy to leave you with a photo of what I'll order tonight but I almost guarantee it's not quite as interesting as what I can make in my kitchen.

Anyhow, last night we had cheese ravioli with butternut squash pasta sauce. It was good but next time I'll make a few changes. I used a carnival squash so the flavor may not have been what was intended, although now that I look it up it's described as a similar variety to butternut. I tasted different flavors in each bite I took. Sometimes sweet and sometimes savory. As recommended in the recipe, the pasta was topped with shredded Parmesan and toasted walnuts. We froze the remainder of the sauce for a quick weeknight meal and I took some for lunch today too. I'll make this recipe again. Where did I get it? The latest issue (October 2006) of Everyday Food.
I think the meal was even worth nearly losing the tip of my index finger from the vegetable peeler! Don't worry, it looks worse than it feels.

Apple Pie

I was in charge of bringing desserts to our weekend away so I naturally thought of an apple pie since it's apple season and I just learned how to make them. I included 5 types of apples, the crust mixed up perfectly and the girls said it was the best apple pie they had ever tasted! Sweet.
ETA: Wow, I didn't think anyone would be interested in the types of apples I used but it seems to be the most popular question. I used McIntosh, Red Cortland, Haralson, Paula Red and 1606 (an apple the U of M hasn't named yet). All apples were purchased at local orchards.

Book Club Getaway

I just returned from a weekend away with my book club. We went to a resort in Northern Minnesota and couldn't have asked for a better weekend, it was beautiful! The girls took me horseback riding for my birthday, we took a hike and climbed a fire tower, played dominos, knit, watched The Office, picked up some pumpkins, giggled and ate. Oh, we discussed the book a little bit too, Garlic and Sapphires by Ruth Reichl. For dinner on Saturday we had a recipe straight from the book and ate my apple pie for dessert...more on that later along with my knitting update! I hope everyone had as good a weekend as mine.

Eye Candy Friday

Last weekend my sedum was in full bloom. It's nice to have some color in the garden these days.
This coming weekend I'm headed up North with my bookclub friends, see you next week!

In the mean time, I REALLY hope the Twins win Friday night against the Oakland A's and Happy Birthday Kyle!!!

What's For Dinner Wednesday

Following Splatgirl's lead, I'm starting to post for What's For Dinner Wednesday. If you want better looking and tasting food you'll have to visit her instead.
Tonight we had a free birthday pizza (pepperoni, pineapple and 1/2 green olive) at Old Chicago in celebration of Kyle's 35th year. Of course we put down a few beers too, who wouldn't at Old Chicago? My favorite is Ace Pear Cider.
Ready. For. Bed.

Socktoberfest

I have one project on the needles right now, this scarf which I started almost 2 years ago. So...I was thinking I needed to cast on for something and it needed to be something portable since I'll be doing some traveling this month. Lolly put together Socktoberfest again this year so that was my answer, a pair of socks. Surprised? Ya, me either.

My Birthday Just Won't Quit

My mom made me & Kyle a really yummy birthday dinner on Saturday night of Mexican chicken, mashed cauliflower and fresh tomatoes with basil & feta cheese. We followed up dinner with chocolate ice box cake.
Because I love ice cream so much, I received an Izzy's gift certificate and a pair of Longaberger ice cream dishes which resemble the shape of a sugar cone. I may just have to have some cotton candy ice cream for a snack tonight!

Mom & Dad, thanks for the great dinner and super fun presents!!!

Project Spectrum Grand Finale

Lolly designated September as the Project Spectrum clean sweep month for finishing up any projects that weren't done during the 6 months of the challenge. Since I finished all my projects, I chose to do this very colorful mosaic for your viewing pleasure. Enjoy!

If you missed any of my PS projects...
March
April
May
June
July
August

If you would like to see all my mosaics, click here. Click here for all my PS photos.

Thanks for an inspirational challenge Lolly! Now she's hosting Socktoberfest!