Tangled and Warped

Friday was my sister’s birthday, so the family gathered at her house for dinner and cake. Mom made a Strawberry Rhapsody cake. I hadn’t made one in years and together we figured out the recipe.

According to my former MIL who used to make this cake all the time “it tastes like you think Strawberry Shortcake ought to taste.”

Here’s the remember recipe

Make one pkg of strawberry flavored jello but reduce the water by 1/2 place in the fridge until it’s a jelly consistency and not completely set.

While you are waiting for that, drain one pkg of frozen strawberries and reserve the liquid for later.

Take a sponge cake or pound cake - you can use angel food cake in a pinch but it doesn’t hold up as well. Break the cake into 1″ x 1″ bite sized pieces and set aside.

Make one envelope of Dream Whip per the box directions.

Once the Dream Whip is whipped and ready, add the jelly jello and whip until it’s incorporated. Fold in the defrosted strawberries. You now have a lovely pink strawberry flavored foam.

Take an Angel food cake pan or spring form pan and spread a small amount of the strawberry cream mixture to coat all the sides of the pan. If you are using and angel food cake pan be sure to spread some on the inside cone.

You are going to layer the cake with the strawberry cream mixture starting with the cake (use less than a 1/3 of the cake to start. Then the cream mixture, then more cake, cream, cake ending with the strawberry cream mixture. Smooth and press down a little to make sure there are no air bubbles and the cake and cream are packed into the cake pan.

Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for about 6 hours - overnight is better.

Just before you are ready to serve:

Take the cake out of the fridge for a few minutes while you make the glaze.

Glaze:

Put the strawberry liquid that you saved in a small sauce pan with 1 tbsp of corn starch and wisk out any lumps then add heat stirring until the sauce becomes slightly thicker and clear.

Once the glaze is ready take the cake out of the tube or spring pan - you can ‘patch’ together’ any flaws at this point, but if it’s properly chilled you shouldn’t have to.

Drizzle the glaze along the top and down the sides. Garnish with some fresh strawberries and serve immediately.

I wish I had pictures, but my camera battery was dead.

So after stuffing ourselves with cake and having a couple of margaritas it was time to go home. Not to mention Darling Daughter was in a foul mood and cranky to be with her friends who she had been attached to the hip with all week long during Spring Break week.

Saturday morning I wake up to a pile o’ teens on the livingroom floor. They had stayed up most of the night playing video games. So I banged around making coffee, bacon and eggs and they soon roused their heads. After feeding them I handed them all rakes cracked the whip and got my yard raked. I thought this might deter them from showing up at my house all the time…..

It didn’t…

They were back on Saturday night. I put them to work on Sunday as well and then sent them all packing at noon. Don’t they bath? do laundry? brush their teeth? Apparently most of their parents don’t care where they are, as long as they don’t have to deal with them. So by Sunday I was done with teenagers for awhile.

Of course having to stick around with the teens around, meant no Fiber for me. I didn’t go to CT Sheep and Wool, nor did I end up going to see the Harlot at Webs. But I have knit this damn baby surprise jacket three times now. The first time I didn’t like the size 5 US needles, so I switched to 8s, then I screwed up the stitch count, then I ran out of my handspun so I need to go back and add a little something something to ‘fill in’. you would think I would have this memorized by now.

Next weekend is Open Studios at Western Avenue, so I have a ton of stuff to get ready for that. Anything that I don’t sell on Saturday goes into the Etsy shop that night, so keep an eye out.

As Kermit says “It’s not easy being green”.

I’ve been trying though, really I have. I must admit though that I hate recycling and do it begrudgingly.

I’ve also had a hard time with grocery bags - I kept buying the reusable ones from Trader Joes and the local grocery store and they would be great taking my groceries home the first time then they would either disappear (my daughter would snag them to carry stuff in) or I would forget to take them or forget to put them into my car, or leave them in the car and only remember that they were in my car as I checked out.

That was until I found these. Actually my sister found one and couldn’t remember where, so I went on-line and bought us each 5 of them. I love that they have little carabeaners on them to clip together and then on to my purse . So far so good, they are easy to remember and carry and so far my daughter hasn’t noticed them!

NO MORE PLASTIC BAGS!

On a scale of 1 to 10 this weekend was an 11! In spite of what the weather people around here were predicting. It was an absolutely perfect weekend weather wise.

I actually got some garden beds raked out, vines and shrubs trimmed too. I can no longer do half the yard in a day anymore, so I have to take it little bites at a time. Lets just hope the weekends continue like this!

I even got a ton of junk cleaned out of the back(sun) room because, it’s that time of year again and I want my sun room back! Then I moved on to the back deck and got that swept off and dragged some lawn furniture out. It’s almost presentable.

I even got to spend a few hours spinning in the sun. It was a perfect weekend.

This some BLF that I dyed a few weeks ago and was begging to be spun up.

It’s approx. 245 yds. 2-ply Sport/DK weight

It was just a nice day to hang with friends, good food, good fun and lots of laughs.

Michelle, Sally, Laural

Mary

And yes Michelle was flying the Jolly Roger yesterday - so look out. LOL!

The pinkletinks are back or peepers as most of us call them. I know a few people have posted that they heard them early - but it’s been a bit colder in the Nashoba valley so my windows and storms were still closed.

Yesterday was so nice I opened my storm windows and put down the screens and actually left some windows open last night since it was still so nice out. As I finally settled down to doze off, there they were the “peep, peep, peep” that always heralds spring.

On this morning’s drive in it seems the trees have budded overnight and the red buds look like they are ready to explode. If it stays this lovely weather wise we will soon have the new bright green haze of the new leaves soon.

I guess I’ll have to drag the deck chairs out soon, even though it feels like I just put them away.

I am busy spinning some BFL hand-dyed for a baby surprise jacket, knitting another BSJ from STR 2007 club - merino superwash.

And that lovely Leicester Longwool Locks are almost dry - I cannot wait to card some and spin up a sample.

Today is my work from home day - fortunately it’s been fairly quiet (please don’t jinx it) and since it is such a gloriously sunny day I decided to trying my hand at scouring some raw fleece I just picked up.

Raw Leicester Longwool - fairly clean of VM

Scouring the fleece - yucky water

Drying the fleece - It appears to have some serious yolk stains so I guess I’ll have to toss this into the dye pot.

But just look at the lovely locks

Well I was actually planning and had been looking for a used fine cloth drum carder.  But last week as I was checking Craig’s list for the umpteenth time I came across a Lendrum ST for a great price.  I thought about it all night.  You rarely see Lendrum wheels come up for sale second hand.    It seems like every time I spin on my wheel during open studio I am asked about lessons.

Not having a second wheel kind of precluded giving lessons, so with this one practically throwing itself at me, I emailed the seller to see if it was still available having be up for sale for almost a month.  Sure enough it was, and it was only a 20 minute drive from my house.  So Friday after work I drove up and picked it up.

It’s a older model, but I am sure my bobbins will fit.  She also had one of the older lazy kates which look much nicer than the one I got with mine.  I look forward to giving it a ’spin’. (hehe)

Saturday was supposed to be a nasty rainy cold day, but the sun came out early and stayed out all day - it was just beautiful.  Unfortunately I had schedule hair appointments for me and DD in the mall that afternoon.  I thought about canceling but my hair was just awful.  So I got it all cut off - lots of layers, and with my hair texture and waves it looks like I just came off the beach.  (Translation- comb in the morning with a little product and no need to do anything with your hair again all day.)

I also need to color it desperately so I decided to throw caution to the wind and went a shade lighter than my normal reddish blond,  Then on a whim I decided to go for the gusto (translation double process - remember those days?) and grabbed a hair frosting kit too.  DD helped me pull my hair through the cap to add the blonde highlights.  I have to say I love, love, love it.  Patty is going to be so jealous!

Sunday, only Jen and I made it to Peddler’s Daughter - the Magner’s was delicious and we had a lot of laughs.

Only two weekends to the CT Sheep and Wool festival and The Harlot at Webs.  Who is going?  Carpooling?

4 oz. Jacobs Roving from The Woolley Farm

I picked a bag of this lovely roving up at Spa this year. It’s from Deb at The Irish Ewe. It was lovely to spin, in fact, it almost spun itself. It required very little pre-drafting and I could even do a long-draw which I’ve had problems with in the past. Nice stuff!

This roving was from their flock of Jacobs. It was two-toned roving that I split the light from the dark then spun each color separately into singles, then plyed the two together (2-ply duh).

I haven’t set the twist yet, so I haven’t measured the final wpi or yardage yet, but I suspect it’s about fingering weight and I am hoping for close to 350 - 400 yds.

Now, I am thinking about kettle dyeing this skein. What do you think? Hot Pink? Turquoise? Another color?

Edited to bitch - WordPress recently upgraded their service and appears to have left out SPELL CHECKER due to bugs.  WTF?

I have been trying to reduce my carbon footprint, and granted it’s been in baby steps at times.

I’ve been recycling faithfully for 10 years. I hate recycling only because of the accumulation of ’stuff’. It seems I unload the paper recyclables one week, only to have the plastics and glass pile up for the following week and vice versa.

I actually stopped my subscriptions to newspapers that I can read online years ago too. What a dent that made in my recycle bin.

I also tried the fluorescent light bulbs. But hate them - they don’t work well outside or in places that get cold. I really hate them so after reading about the mercury that they contain I went back to my daylight full spectrum bulbs. They help with the seasonal disorder as well. I call them my happy lights in the winter.

I also hate plastic grocery bags. I kept buying and forgetting the reusable bags at Trader Joe’s and at the local grocery store - they just seem to disappear or they aren’t in the car when I make a quick stop.

Recently I was with my sister at the store and she popped out this really cool ChicoBag. They fold into this little tiny attached pouched and they have little carabineer to clip on to your purse or belt loop. So I found them online and bought 5 of them. They don’t take up any room and I can toss them into the bottom of my purse or knitting bag.

I also picked up one of these at the Christmas Tree Shop recently. These little market baskets collapse for storage and they are great when you are going to a party and bringing food or other stuff. I don’t know about you but anytime I am going to my sister’s or mom’s house there is always stuff to carry back and forth. This little market basket works great.

After having oil delivery sticker shock this year I’ve also joined a local co-op for oil and gas starting next year. Otherwise I’ll be forced to start burning stash for warmth next year.

And last but not least I have just agreed to buy this. I saw it up on craigslist last night. I even posted it’s availability to an online spinning group. Then I started thinking that every time I spin at open studio I am always asked if I give spinning lessons. I would love to but you really need a second wheel for a student. So, when I saw the Lendrum ST and at such a good price I decided that if it was still available this morning I would buy it. It was, so I did! It’s great that all my bits and pieces (bobbins and WooLee Winder) will fit it. And if the lessons don’t work out or I need the money I don’t think it will be hard to sell and I doubt I would lose any money on it either. I’m so psyched!

Some of these are BFL Superwash and a couple are Shetland. I love the new pastels.

Last Friday I just had to take a day off. My stress level was off the charts and I just needed some down time. Not really ‘down’ time as in spend the day in my jammies and taking to my bed… no, more like I just need to do something other than work today.

I had recently ordered and received some new fiber dyes that I wanted to play with. Gaywool Dyes from Louet. These are really simple to use with a minimum amount of equipment or fuss. There is no need to presoak in anything but water; you see the acid is already in the dye.

These dyes come in crystallized form that you dissolve in hot boiling water. I still painted the dyes on the presoaked fiber, and then used my steamer to set the dyes.

I don’t know if was because I was using the soft pastel shades but they seemed to exhaust quickly and easily, leaving very little rinsing required.

And last but not least the colors came out lovely. I would highly recommend these to anyone who doesn’t want to fuss with chemicals, or vinegar, etc. These can easily be used in a crock-pot or microwave too.

I dyed some BFL Superwash roving that I recently acquired. It took the dyes very nicely. I also had some white Shetland roving that I dyed as well. The Shetland didn’t take the dyes as strongly as the BFL, but I did get a really nice shade with the Gaywool dyes that resemble sea glass. I cannot wait to spin this up.

I was planning on posting the individual rovings but they still are not completely dry - so here is a sneak peak of them on the drying rack.

Open Studios was quiet as far as people passing through, but we did have a good group of people to hang with. Alicia (no blog yet), Brian and my sister Cindy who is currently setting up a new blog here.

Speaking of my sister… check out her latest project. She warped with some of the alpaca she brought back from Peru and she used merino silk as the weft. She dyed the yarns prior to weaving the fabric and she even got the lines in the plaid to match when she constructed the cape. Exquisite no?

Brian and I brought our spinning wheels and got a lot of spinning done. I am almost finished with the Jacob’s fleece that I got at Spa from Deb at the Irish Ewe. I am thinking of over dyeing once I’ve plied it.

Brian and I also took a break to run up to Classic Elite Hub Mills and to say hi to Alice. I also picked up the first volume of Barbara Walker’s Treasury of Knitting Patterns. Lucia will be relieved I am sure - I thought I was going to get booted from the Knitter’s groups when she found out I didn’t have at least one of the books in my library. I think I am safe now anyway.

This weekend I also did some shopping at my favorite Idylwilde Farms again. I did get some more dried beans. This time I picked up the black Turtle Beans. I hope to make a lovely black bean salad with these.

I also made some yummy hummus this weekend. It is so easy that I don’t think I will ever buy hummus from the grocery store again.

Easy Hummus

1 can of good garbanzo beans aka Chickpeas, rinsed and drained well then dumped into the food processor add to it a big fat clove of garlic or two that I pressed through the garlic press, 1 tsp lemon zest, 1 tsp ground cumin, a couple of shakes of tabasco sauce, 1 tsp Kosher salt. Process for a minute then scrape down the sides.

Add slowly 1/4 cup of water that you added 3-4 tbsp of fresh squeezed lemon juice to. Continue to process for 1 minute then scrape down the sides.

Take 6 tbsp of well mixed Tahini and blend with 2 tbsp of good Extra Virgin Olive Oil. then turn on the processor again for a couple of minutes and drizzle the Tahini and EVOO mixture in.

It should be nice and creamy.

Other things you can add for flavor and variation:

1/4 cup of drained artichoke hearts roughly chopped or a

1/4 cup of roasted red peppers

I ended up making two batches of this it was so good and there still wasn’t any left to bring for lunch today.

Another acquisition was made. I found two Royal Worcester Single Egg Coddler’s at the local consignment shop. I love coddled eggs. I wish I had time every morning - but these will have to wait for work from home days or weekends.

On the tube this weekend

I watched “The Fountain” . It was a little difficult to follow as it is three parallel stories that span from the Conquistors in Machu Picchu, some time in the present and some time in the very far future. All starring Hugh Jackman as the main character. But let me just say the hot sexy scene in the bathtub was worth it.

And last but not least, I guess we can pry the gun out of Chuck’s cold dead hands now.