Cooking Through the Kimchi Chronicles

I love to watch the Today show in the morning. Having it on in the background as I pick up the house, start the day, and work on pattern and projects keeps me in touch with a variety of topics. Late last year I saw a segment with the author of The Kimchi Chronicles. My hubby and I used to love our local Korean restaurant, but it closed several years ago. I was intrigued by the segment and book (and there is a tv series on PBS). We bought an ebook version of the book and decided to make one recipe from the book each week.

Off PK went to our Asian market. After LOTS of time in the store he found someone who could point him in the right direction and translate the labels. He came home with all the staples we would need and I have to say it was really cheap. Two bags of stuff for $25, and all of it would last us months and months for our recipes. Our first dish was the BBQ chicken with eggplant...amazing. I can't wait to try this one on the outside grill. I think it will just improve the taste. After that, I get a little fuzzy on the order. We have tried the fish pancakes, pork stir fry, and homemade kimchi. We haven't tried anything that we didn't love and many of the dishes have entered the regular rotation.

Then, we tried the seafood stew. YUMMY and BEAUTIFUL! The resulting broth of the soup was so yummy and great for your sinuses, too. If you are someone who likes Korean food or wants to try and be more adventurous, go out and get this book. If you don't have an Asian market near you, we have found ordering off of Amazon to be a great option.

Click here for link to Amazon

Review of Brava Worsted from Knit Picks

I love merino wool. I love soft wool. However, wool doesn't always love me. Sometimes, I end up turning to cotton or acrylics because of allergies and such. I know that some knitters/crocheters swear by wool. I just simply cannot because my body rejects it. So I'm always on the lookout for alternative yarns that will perform well and be SOFT. The recent launch of Knit Picks Brava got my attention because of the yardage, price, and colors. I read some online reviews that raved about how soft it is. I have a new design in my head that would require a lot of yardage, colors, and easy care. So, I put together an order and waited for the box to arrive.

The colors are so nice and vibrant! Each ball is 219 yards and it is SO soft. Retailing at $2.99 a ball, you really cannot beat the price. Often times I find acrylic to be like working, well, with plastic. Does this feel like wool, no. Am I happy to crochet with it? Yep. With the softness and machine wash and dry instructions it is a no brainer for baby, pet, home items, and gifts.

Stay tuned for the release of my new pattern in a few months!

Oh my...

Kennedy has started standing on Riley's back. I caught her twice in the span of 20 hours. He just acts like it is nothing. I feel somewhat like I should make her stop, but I suppose if it bothered him he would move or at least give her an evil doggy look and growl. They do make for some pretty cute pictures!

Welcome Home, Little Plants!

This past weekend we were out and about and decided to stop in our local nursery on our way home. It is in a very convenient location as it is at the start of the road to our house. They had a sign up advertising their house plant sale of 30 to 70% off. Excellent! After looking around for a bit and peppering the helpful staff with questions, I settled on these four new additions to our home.

Norfolk Pine...I wanted to get one of these after noticing my MIL and a friends. I also wanted a tall tree like plant for the corner of the plant room (commonly called Riley's room in our home as he loves to sleep in there). Isn't it pretty?

Aloe plant...reminds me of ones my mom, grandma, and great aunt had when I was a kid.

Hoya plant...This will probably be known in our house as Kennedy's plant. After I bragged on the blog that the dogs show zero interest in the plants, that little stinker went crazy sniffing this plant. It is listed on the ASPCA site as safe for dogs, so at least she picked a safe one to find intriguing. I love the curly nature of this plant.

Ming fern...Wispy and fun!

I also found out that the plant I couldn't identify earlier is a hypoestes. Mystery solved!!! I was told they are sometimes called the polka dot plant. The nice lady was also able to confirm I correctly identified all the other plants I have. I was all proud of myself! She gave me a quick air plant tutorial and I can't wait to put one of those together and a terrarium. Dropped a hint to PK that those would be great Valentine's gifts that are pretty cheap, too! We also picked up a few bulbs to try some paper whites. These are in the warmest and sunniest spot in PK's office to force them to bloom. Then they will be our kitchen table centerpiece. 

What are your favorite house plants? I'm working on building a jungle!!!! But, it sure helps to pass the cold winter days...

Time for a Dog Blog

Riley being super cute...

And these are dark, but J and E got the dogs Christmas gifts. They LOVE them and have been fighting over them constantly...just like kids...

Squiggle Hat Finds a Home

Also in E's stocking was her squiggle hat. As I originally feared, it was snug, but I think she will get some use out of it over the next month or so. According to mommy, she got lots of compliments on a trip to IKea.

I just love her little nose and lips!

Hey Little Sister!

Back in March I blogged about making the Little Sister Dress/Vest. It was one of the items in Miss E's stocking, so I finally get to share a picture of her modeling it. She is 9 months in this picture, so I was right on with the original post that said even though I used the 6 month instructions, I was a little off on gauge and thought it would be more like 9 months. I love that because it buttons at the top, it can be a dress for a bit and then worn as a top as she grows. 

Don't you just love her fuzzy hair?!?

Pattern: Little Sister (free download in Ravelry); not my design

Yarn: Madelinetosh Tosh Sock in Milled Wine

US Needle: 3

Size: Followed 6 month directions but it is more of a 9 to 12 month size

From the original post: I started this on a Tuesday at knit night and finished by lunch on Thursday. I was really tight on yarn, so I used my handy dandy yarn scale to measure of how much I had left. I figured it took 3 yards to knit one row and the bottom. In fingering weight yarn, 1 gram is 4.4 yards. So, as I worked I knew exactly how many rows I could squeak out. If you don't have a yarn scale, I highly suggest investing in one. Santa purchased mine from Knit Picks. It measures in both grams and ounces and has a conversion on the back to help you figure out the yardage per yarn weight. So nice to have!

When I first finished the Little Sister it was the same size as the Sock to Frock dress. Then, I blocked them both, and you can see how much longer the Sock dress grew in the skirt area due to the ribbing. I thought I'd include the layered picture to show how much of a difference blocking can make!

Back to the Little Sister pattern...this is a great concept because the little girl can wear it as a dress and then when they grow up a bit, wear it as a vest. I used some silk buttons from my button stash. They don't match perfectly in color, but I liked that because it added character and depth. I'm also on a mission to use some of these buttons I've collected so that I can buy more!!!