No worry beef curry!

That's just something we say in Hawaii, kind of like "don't sweat the small stuff".  Tonight's dinner is beef curry made with a chuck roast, Japanese S&B curry in  medium hot, & typical curry veg: onions, carrots, potatoes & celery.  Missing was the bell pepper.  I've been craving this for days!  Time to get my grind on!

Great! I'm not just getting "old"...I have fibromyalgia!

I'm 48 years old.  It doesn't bother me to say it or to be it.  It is what it is.  My kids love telling me that I'm OLD.  If I didn't color my hair, I'd be completely grey, like my daddy, who was not only grey, but white in his early 40's.  No one knows when my mom would have been completely grey or what her exact natural hair color was, as she has been Loreal's Dark Auburn for as long as I remember.  God, please make Loreal discontinue Dark Auburn.  It is a rather unnatural color and doesn't appear anywhere in nature other than in a sunset, but I digress.

All of those aches and pains I've been suffering on and off for a couple of years made me truly believe what my kids were saying.  Getting old sucks!  I just tried to accept it and deal with it.  Finally, last week I decided to go see my GP just for shits and giggles.  I actually told him when he walked into the examining room that I didn't know why I was there and that he probably couldn't help me.  He asked me questions, gently poked and prodded, and said, "You have fibromyalgia".  I almost burst out laughing because all I knew about fibromyalgia is that you hurt all over.  My husband and I have been joking for a couple of months because after watching me walk painfully after getting out of my chair I exclaimed one night that I must have fibromyalgia, haha.  I was somehow relieved that there is a reason for my pain and it's not just me getting old.  He put me on a combination of vitamins and minerals plus something called Tangy Tangerine that I had to buy from Amazon.com to see if that would help and wants to see me back in 6 weeks.  I'm not relieved to have fibromyalgia.  It sucks like an open chest wound.  Especially what happened next.  The very next day I was in so much pain from my left shoulder that I really wanted to die.  You would just not believe how many movements you make involve your shoulder!  That was on Sunday.  Aleve didn't touch the pain, 800 mg of Motrin didn't touch it and I was looking through my husband's mini pharmacy for some oxycodone but didn't find any.  By 5:30 am on Tuesday I had had enough.  Three days without sleep and I was in tears.  I begged him to take me to the ER.  Did I tell you that my husband doesn't believe in fibromyalgia?  He doesn't have a clue!  Luckily, at that time of the morning I was the only one in the waiting room so I was taken back and immediately given IV morphine.  I was in heaven!  After 5 hours there I was sent home with prescriptions for oxycodone, Motrin 600 mg, and I think doxepine for sleep (which I didn't need, thankfully).  I mostly slept for the next two days.  I finally felt more like myself on Friday and feel pretty great today.  I made an appointment to see my doctor again on Wednesday because I wanted him to know what happened.  He said that after 6 weeks on the supplements, if they didn't help he'd prescribe a pharmaceutical for treatment.  I think the options are something like Lyrica, Cymbalta, or Savella.  We shall see!  I also made sure that my husband's appointment coincides with mine so our doctor can tell him that yes, Virginia, there is such a thing as fibromyalgia!  Argh!

Steep and Go Cold Brew Tea Infuser

I'm not sure what I was looking for when I happened upon the website for the Steep & Go but it was so compelling that I had to have one.  It is a way to cold brew loose leaf green & white teas and be able to take them on the go.  It's really simple.  You buy a bottle of water (they list brands it fits although it comes with an adapter so I assume it will fit those not listed), add your loose tea to the bottle, insert the Steep & Go, shake to mix leaves, & wait 10 minutes before drinking.  I like to add a squirt of agave, too! Surprisingly, I prefer the taste of 1 tsp of tea for a whole liter of water.  I tried it with 2 tsps at first but it tasted a bit bitter to me.  The filter keeps the tea from getting into your mouth while drinking (even the tiny ones).  I have infused the same leaves multiple times and am pleased with the way it works.  It is BPA free, dishwasher safe, and at $6.95 is very reasonable.

Before I got this, I used one of my son's sport water bottles with a wide mouth, dropped two green tea bags into it, a bit of agave, and filled with water.  I put it into the refrigerator for at least 10 minutes and it was ready to drink.  As I got close to empty, I just refilled with more water and set it back into the fridge.  I think I infused the same bags at least 3 times before I threw them away.

Cold brewing tea is a really great way to make delicate green and white teas.  When I first got into teas, I complained to my tea purveyor that I didn't like green teas because they tasted "fishy".  She couldn't tell me what I was doing wrong.  I figured out that I was trying to brew them at too high a temperature.  I was still convinced that they weren't my favorites until recently.  With all of the wonderful loose leaf teas that I have, I preferred the taste of Lipton Green Tea with Superfruit.  It is still my go-to green tea. 

Happy Mother's Day!

Flowers from my youngest son.  Love both boys so much!

Bisquick 7 Up Biscuits

Oh my!  I am such a sucker for a good biscuit and have made a few that I thought were good but this one knocks them all down.  The ingredients are very surprising.  My friend, Steph, told me about these today.  A recipe she saw on Pinterest by plainchicken.com. 

Bisquick 7Up Biscuits

2 c. Bisquick
1/2 c. Sour cream
1/2 c. 7 Up
1/4 c. Butter, melted

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.  I also preheated my cast iron skillet but the recipe doesn't use one of these.  Stir sour cream into Bisquick then add 7 Up and stir until well mixed.  The batter will be very soft.  The recipe says to flour your board with more Bisquick and pat out the dough then cut out biscuits but I didn't do that either.  I took my hot skillet out of the oven and melted my butter in it.  Then I used a large ice cream scoop and dropped the dough onto the butter.  Bake for 12-15 minutes until golden brown.  This made 8 biscuits.

Pork roast made easy!

Pressure cooker pork roast

2 1/2 to 3 lb pork loin roast
1 pkt ranch dressing mix
1 pkt Italian dressing mix
1 pkt mushroom gravy mix

Pat pork roast dry & season w/salt & pepper, garlic & onion powder & brown in oil in your pressure cooker.  Mix dry mix packets with 1 1/2 cups water and our over pork loin.  Cover and cook at high pressure for 45 minutes or until internal temperature reaches 170 degrees.

Serve with garlic & parsley mashed potatoes & your favorite veggie!

Crocheted onion/potato keeper

I love storing my onions in panty hose with a knot between each onion.  When I need one, I'd just snip off the bottom onion.  The panty hose allows air to circulate around the onions, which keeps them fresh longer.  What does one do when they have a few onions and no panty hose?  If you're me, you crochet a solution!  It works for potatoes as well.

Start with a circle of 12 dcs and increase 12 sts in each round of the next 3 rounds for 48 sts total.  To make the mesh portion start with a ch5 (counts as 1 dc + ch2), sk2 sts then dc in next st.  Continue to *ch2, sk 2, dc* around then join in the 3rd st of the ch5. Work to desired height.  I worked 25 rounds then worked sc all the way around the top, ch6, sk 2 mesh squares & join with sl st then turned and worked 10 sc to reinforce the loop.

Maple chocolate chip scones. Yum!

This morning, I was watching an episode of a Bobby Flay show in which he makes pumpkin/cranberry/candied ginger scones with maple butter.  It made me really want to eat a scone!  My son, Anthony, is home for spring break and his favorite scones are maple, so maple it is!

I adapted a biscuit recipe I found on the back of a Crisco can to make a great scone.  I have changed it up so many ways by substituting different extracts, adding fruit, nuts, chocolate chips, etc.  Whatever I add, I usually use about a 1/2 cup.  This recipe makes 8 or 9 scones.  Here it is:

 

Basic Crisco Scone Recipe



 

Preheat oven to 425 degrees

 



2 cups all purpose flour



3 Tbsp sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1 1/2 Tbsp baking powder

 

Combine dry ingredients then cut in with either fingers or pastry cutter until size of small peas:

 

1/2 cup Crisco

 

Add:

 

1/2 cup milk

1 egg, beaten

1 1/2 tsp maple extract  (vanilla extract in original recipe)

 

Finally incorporate 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips (optional)

 

Mix wet & dry ingredients until just combined.  If you overmix, your scones will be tough.  I don't roll out my dough and cut into shapes.  I use a large ice cream scoop then gently pat down the scone dough to flatten it a little.  Brush tops of scones with milk or cream.  Bake for 12-14 minutes until golden brown and skewer inserted in center comes out clean.

 

For maple icing:  I don't really measure anything for this.  I just put about a cup of powdered sugar in a quart sized freezer bag.  I add 1/2 tsp of maple extract and add milk one tablespoon at a time until it reaches a nice pourable consistency.  After scones have cooled, snip a small corner of the icing bag and drizzle icing over the tops.  Let set a few minutes before eating.



 

 

 

Aerolatte...frothed milk awesomeness!

I am absolutely obsessed with frothed milk.  I have a Breville espresso machine which makes great froth but since I've been using the Keurig more, I don't want to turn it on just to froth my milk.  I have been using an inexpensive hand held wand-type frother that I bought on eBay and it works well but when I saw how quick the Aerolatte froths (thanks YouTube) I had to have one.  I decided on the stainless steel version with stand from Amazon.com.   I am in love!  It makes easy work of my other new love, So Delicious Barista Style Coconut Milk Creamer.

Macarons!

Last week, my friend, Erika, and I went to a local farmer's market where I went especially to buy macarons from Sweets 507.  I had never had a macaron before but was so intrigued by them.  I wasn't disappointed at all.  These macarons were fantastic!  They were a box of 4 for $5 or two boxes for $9.  I bought a box of caramel filled and an assorted box containing one caramel, one raspberry, one pina colada, and one tropical hibiscus filled.  While the homemade caramel filling was delicious, the assorted box was exciting.  I polished both boxes off in two days and had dreams of macarons every night after that.  As usual, I checked YouTube for a tutorial and found many to chose from.  I chose this one but looked at a couple more as research.  I also have the current issue of Tea Time magazine which happens to have macarons on the cover and a recipe inside.  Most recipes I found have measurements in volume but the recipe I chose uses weight as the measurement. 

Macarons

3 egg whites, aged in fridge 3 days
180 g powdered sugar
100 g almond flour (Bob's Red Mill)

I filled with cream cheese frosting and jam or cream cheese frosting and Nutella.

Please follow the video for instructions.

I'm really excited because I was led to believe these cookies were hard to make.  They were not. 

Afternoon tea @ English's Quintessentially British

Today my friend, Stephanie, and I went to English's Quintessentially British Gastro Pub at Town Square here in Las Vegas.  I just recently found out that they serve an afternoon tea service and we wanted to try it.  We both decided on the cream tea for $20 pp.  It was a beautiful day so we decided to sit outside on the terrace.  She ordered a blackberry black tea and I ordered the tropical green tea.  Right away I spotted a problem.  The tea was served loose in the pot with strainers on the side.  It continued to steep and eventually both of us were left with bitter tea by our second cup.  Our favorite savory was the cheddar cheese with branston pickle.  Our least favorite was the egg sandwich.  The scones and strawberry jam were very good and the whipped cream was so delicious that we agreed we could have eaten it right out of the cup.  Unfortunately, after two pots of tea, extra sandwiches, and two scones, I didn't have room for the sweets.   We were the only ones at the pub having the tea.  All of the other patrons were having beer and the regular pub menu, which, judging from the scents wafting our way, must have been scrumptious!  I can't wait to share this with the other girls!

After tea, Steph and I hit the Teavana store.  I really wasn't expecting to buy anything but because it is my birthday month I treated myself to this Russian inspired infuser mug.  Years ago, I fell in love with the Cobalt Net pattern from the Lomonosov Porcelain Factory in St. Petersburg, Russia but it is out of my price range at $80 per cup and saucer set.  This infuser mug was only $21.95!  Of course, what good is a new tea cup without new tea?  A customer ahead of my bought some of this Cococaramel Sea Salt herbal tea and when the tin was opened, it smelled so good!  I usually don't like Rooibos but I am willing to try this one.  It has bits of chocolate, caramel, and sea salt.  How can that be bad?

Thanks for a great day, Steph!

Pork Paprikash with Nokedli

We just had a houseguest over the Christmas/New Year holidays from Budapest, Hungary.  She is such a sweet girl and I miss her.  I don't know why I didn't think of doing this while she was here, but tonight for dinner I am making a Hungarian inspired dish. 

Pork Paprikash

9 - thin sliced pork chops, cut into pieces
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
2 onions, sliced thin
2 tsp crushed garlic
1 diced tomato
salt
pepper
3 Tbsp Hungarian sweet paprika
1 1/2 cups water
1 Tbsp chicken bouillon
1 cup sour cream
1 Tbsp flour

Heat oil in large caldero or chicken fryer over medium to medium high heat.  Trim excess fat from pork chops and cut into 3" pieces.  Salt and pepper the pork.  Brown the pork in oil in batches and set aside.  When all of the pork is removed from the pan, add the onions and saute until translucent.  Add garlic and tomato and saute for a couple of minutes.  Add the pork back to the pan with the water and chicken bouillon.  Set the heat to low and simmer for 45 minutes.  Once pork is very tender and onions are nearly disintegrated, add flour to sour cream and add approximately one cup of sauce to sour cream/flour mixture to temper and pour over contents of the pan.  Mix thoroughly.  Serve over nokedli or spaetzle.  I'm sure rice or egg noodles would work too!

 

 

 

Nokedli/Spaetzle

2 cups flour
2 eggs
1 tsp salt
3/4 c milk or water

Mix all ingredients thoroughly.  Using a spaetzle maker, drop dough over boiling salted water.  Cook until the dough rises to the top.  Drain but don't rinse.  Serve with paprikash on top.  Yum!  I also like to make spaetzle and after it has drained, I will saute in some lightly browned butter and top with Parmesan cheese.  YouTube has many spaetzle/nokedli videos.  I bought my spaetzle maker from Amazon.

 

Knitted headband/earwarmer

Sorry for the cell phone photos but these are all I had of this headband/earwarmer. 
I am not a good pattern writer but this seems straightforward to me.

Knitted Headband/Earwarmer

Worsted weight yarn held double throughout
Size 11 US knitting needles
1 button 30mm

M1 by YO

CO 5 sts and knit across.  You will be increasing in the stitches before and after the center st so you may want to mark it.

Row 1: K2, YO, K1, YO, K2 = 7sts
Row 2: K2, purl YO through back loop (PYOBL) throughout so as to leave no holes, P1, PYOBL, K2
Row 3: K3 (from now on K3 selvedge sts on each side on every row), YO, K1, YO, K3 = 9sts
Row 4: K3, PYOBL, P1, PYOBL, K3
Row 5: K3, K1, YO, K1, YO, K1, K3 = 11 sts
Row 6: K3, P1, PYOBL, P1, PYOBL, P1, K3
Row 7: K3, K2, YO, K1, YO, K2, K3  = 13 sts
Row 8: K3, P2, PYOBL, P1, PYOBL, P2, K3
Row 9: K3, K3, YO, K1, YO, K3, K3 = 15sts
Row 10: K3, P3, PYOBL, P1, PYOBL, P3, K3
Row 11: K across
Row 12: K3, purl across to last 3 sts, K3

continue rows 11 & 12 until there are 31 garter row bumps (along selvedge edges) ending with a row 12.

Decrease rows:
Knit side: Work opposite of increase rows by K2tog before and after center st. 
Purl side: K3, purl across to last 3 sts, K3
Decrease  until 5 sts remain then BO leaving 12" tail

Use tail to crochet 3 chains and attach to opposite side.  Weave in ends.  Sew on button and accessorize with a crocheted flower of your choice.

Crocheted dog harness

I had to take my Samantha to the vet the other day for an eye infection.  Our vet is in PetSmart so after we were done, Chris and I took her for a stroll around the store and I started looking at dog harnesses.  I have wanted one for her for awhile but don't want to pay $25+ for one.  I actually wanted to sew one for her but came across pictures of a crocheted one upon doing a Google search.

I actually didn't follow the pattern but used the pictures as a jumping off point.  My notes as follows:

Size I crochet hook.  Red Heart worsted weight acrylic yarn, doubled.  This gives you a nice firm harness.

Using 2 strands of yarn held as one, chain 43.  Work sc in next 42 sts.  Work 3 rows in sc.  Chain 36 and join to other end of strip.  Work 3 rows in sc.  Work 5 sts along short edge and work sc dec in next three rows until you have 3 sts left.  End and leave a long tail.  Do the same to other short end.  Sew on a side release buckle to each end.  This is to keep the harness attached to your dog.  Then I tatted a loop on each side to attach the leash clasp to.  If I had some metal D rings I would have used those instead but these are nice and work very well. 

Don't let Sam fool you.  She likes it.  She just doesn't like having her picture taken.  I think she needs another one in pink.



New scarf pendant

Just got this pendant from my friend, Pat.  So excited!!

Argo Tea Bottle Cozy

I didn't waste any time making this cozy for my tea bottle.  After brewing some green tea in my bottle, I realized it was too hot to handle.  I crocheted this cozy using a size I hook and some Lion Brand cotton yarn.  Round 1: ch4 then dc 11 in 4th ch from hook.  Sl st in top of 3rd ch of beginning st to join.  Ch 3 & turn.  Round 2:  Make dc in same st as ch 3 then 2dc in each st around.  Join w/sl st.  Ch 3 & turn.  Round 3: 1 dc in back loop of each st around.  Join w/sl st.  Ch 3 & turn.  Rounds 4 - 10:  1 dc in each st around through both loops.  Join w/sl st.  Ch 3 & turn, except for round 10 where you'd end w/sl st.  End off & weave in ends.

Argo Tea

Whilst shopping at my local Albertson's tonight, I spotted this tea.  I was originally drawn to the heavy glass bottle but the flavor, mojitea, is what made me buy it.  It is a combination of lime, mint tea, and pure cane sugar.  This turned out to be some of the worst tasting tea I've ever had!  I couldn't even finish the scant 13.5 ounces.  Hopefully, my $2.99 will not be entirely wasted and I can reuse the bottle as sort of a travel tea tumbler for green tea.  I'll bet if I put the tea leaves into one of my reusable drawstring tea bags it will work.  Cross fingers! 

Salads in Jars

Salads in jars!  Why is everyone doing it?  Because they're freaking awesome, that's why!  My first attempts are pretty boring but still great.  I made these on Wednesday and ate one the following day. The lettuce was so crispy, as were the mushrooms and golden cherry tomatoes.  I added ham, cheese, and Greek Feta dressing.  Yum!  They're supposed to last at least a week.  I made 3 all together and the other two still look great as do the strawberries I jarred on Monday.  Oh, I vacuum seal them as well.  I have a FoodSaver machine ($$) but I also bought a little hand-held model for $20 at WalMart that works very well.  If you want to keep the jar lids intact, you'll need to get a wide mouth jar vacuum attachment.  If not, you can puncture a hole in the lid with a thumb tack, lightly cover with a square of electrical tape, then place the hand-held vacuum sealer over the tape and seal.  Listen for the change in sound and you might even hear a slight "pop" as the lid is sealed.

Crocheted "frisbee-like" disc

My friend, Pat, called me today and asked if I was interested in making a crocheted "frisbee-like" thing for her husband's co-worker.  I had never heard of them but a Google search of "crocheted frisbee"  gave me a good idea of what he was looking for.  Since I'm sick today and watching my British dramas, something to crochet was a good distraction.

I came up with this: 

 

It flies straight and for quite a long distance.  I was throwing it in the house so I don't know exactly how far it could have gone. 

Crochet hook size I
Worsted weight cotton yarn held double throughout.  Make color changes as desired.

Rd 1: Using magic loop method, make 6 sc in loop.  Join with sl st in 1st sc, ch 1 and pull closed.
Rd 2: Work 2 sc in each sc around.  Join with sl st in 1st sc, ch 1.
Rd 3: *Work 2 sc in next st then 1 sc* around.  Join with sl st in 1st sc, ch 1.
Rd 4: *Work 2 sc in next st then 1 sc, 1 sc* around.  Join with sl st in 1st sc, ch 1.
Rds 5-9: *Work 2 sc in next st then 1sc, 1sc, 1sc* around.  Join with sl st in 1st sc, ch 1.
Rds 10-11: *Work 2sc tog in next st then 1sc, 1sc, 1sc* around.  Join with sl st in 1st sc, ch 1.
The decreases in these last two rounds create the lip of the disc.  Fasten off and sew in ends.  Done!  Go fly a disc!  Beware, you can't make just one!

Bento bag lunch kit

Like my friends, you may be wondering why I need a bento bag when I don't work and, therefore, don't have to pack a lunch.  I just wanted one...that's why.  They're cool!  I pack my husband his meals for work, but because he works 24 hour shifts, a bento box just isn't practical.  I usually have to pack his meals in a shopping bag!  So, my son asked what I'm going to do with my bento bag.  "I'll pack a lunch and have a little personal picnic", I said.  I can see it now.  When the temps aren't in the 100's, I can go to the park with a good book and my bento lunch. 

I have a container that measures 8.5"L x 5.5"W x 3" H.  I figured that I wanted it a bit more than 2x taller than my container.  My pattern pieces measured 15" W x 12" H with 3" notches cut out at each corner.  You can get instructions on how to customize your bags here.  Besides making my fully lined bag, I also made a matching napkin and a sleeve for my chopsticks which ties shut at the top.  I love it.  The colors are so bright! 

 

 

The pink and blue set were my first attempts.  I don't know what I was thinking when I cut the fabric.  I only had enough for one side of each color!  Doh!  So it's unlined and half is pink print and half is blue.  It also was meant to be like the black one, taller and with a drawstring, but I didn't realize how short it was until after I cut out the corners for the boxed corner and knew I had to add height, which wound up being 4x the height measurement of my container.  I altered it to mimic another bento bag I saw online with the ties.  It's still cute, just not what I wanted.  It's all good, though.  Now I have two kits!

My friend, Steph, and I are going to a couple of Asian markets tomorrow and I'm going to keep my eyes open for more bento accessories. 

When I was a kid, going on a field trip for school meant taking a bento lunch.  They weren't the cute things you see on the blogs.  They consisted of a bed of rice sprinkled with furikake (toasted seaweed with sesame seeds), maybe ume (pickled plum), teriyaki beef, a piece of fried chicken, and a piece of Spam.  It was perfect because it didn't need to be refrigerated and would keep until lunchtime.  Add to that a can of fruit punch or passion-guava juice that I froze the night before and it was great!  Almost better than the field trip itself!  I felt so sorry for the kids who brought sandwiches!  My field trip days are over now that my youngest son is in middle school.  Boy, I wish I had thought of this earlier!  Maybe I can persuade him to take a bento for lunch?