Can't Read Charts in Karate

I desparately needed a finished object from being so frustrated at the Koolhaas hat that I had been working on, so I started and finished a pair of Maine Morning Mitts instead. The mitts (my second pair) are such a relaxing knit, that I may have to knit a bunch more for Christmas. The Koolhaas hat, which was almost half finished last week, ended up being frogged due to mistakes made while watching D's karate classes. I fixed some of the mistakes, but more mistakes were made after re-fixing, so I gave up. I should just not bring any kind of chart reading to any of D's lessons. That concentration of mine needs some fine-tuning...

Anyhow, it's just too bad that the Bernat Alpaca seemed a bit itchy after trying on the finished mitts. I had to put in a cuff lining just to remedy the problem before gifting the mitts to a friend at work.

As for the flan from yesterday, I pretty much licked the plate spotlessly clean. I resisted the temptation to gobble up a second serving, despite the boys not liking it, but who'd a thought that D would reject dessert! And because D thought the flan tasted like "barbeque", R pushed it away at the table too. I guess the "burnt" sugar taste isn't for everyone, especially for those with simple tastes. Hey, wait a minute, D loves cambozola and blue-veined cheeses on croissants! Oh well, I'm sure he'll acquire the taste for sophisticated desserts in time. For now, that just means more flan for M, me and baby #3.

A Little Baking... A Little Patching... on a Rainy Thursday

I've been craving flan or creme caramel for weeks now and have finally gotten down to making it. I went through a whole pile of recipes on different sites, but decided on a lighter, Mexican version without the condensed milk. The ramekins are in the fridge chilling until dinner, so we can't wait! My boys have not been eating eggs lately, so this is a good way to disguise a little protein in their meal.

Otherwise, I've also been trying to think of cool ways to patch up D's trousers and sweatpants, which are usually relatively new except for the holes that a six-year-old wears into them right away, more specifically, on the right knee for every pair that needs patching. I love the look of leather patches, but I just don't have the time and patience to hand sew through thick leather sometimes, and for some reason, I'm not very skilled at using a thimble. I just never got used to using one. So, imagine how excited I was to find some bargain iron-on patches at Dressew last week while doing some last-minute Hallowe'en shopping. (Two patches for 25 cents!) This is what I came up with for D's pants.

I simply cut out the skull design I wanted and ironed it on for 30 seconds.

Then I outlined the eyes and nose of the skull using a chain stitch.

That was it! Other designs to consider without having to do the extra embroidery might be a star, a car silhouette, or animal (ie. a dragon, etc... )

Comfort Food

Yesterday afternoon, a well-intentioned family member brought over some "jook" or congee for me to eat, knowing that it was one of my favourite cravings from time to time. I hate to say, but it was just not the best congee that I had ever eaten--way too watery and just nothing in it that I liked. So, today I set out to make the most satisfying, congee that I could with all my favourite garnishes. I debated over adding meat to the pot, but decided against it, since my plan was to make my congee egg-heavy with salted duck eggs and century eggs. I was also going to buy some crispy barbequed duck to eat with it on the side, but wouldn't you know it, the closest bbq meat store in my neighbourhood just happened to be closed today. So, I got full this afternoon on plain, but delicious basic white congee to which I added chopped scallions, slivers of peeled ginger, chinese doughnut (yiao tiew)--something I haven't had in a long,long time, century eggs, salted duck eggs, sesame oil, and soy sauce. Now, I don't know if I'll be able to ride to work on such a full stomach....

February Flu

On the very first day of this month, I got the flu, and no sooner did I return to work five days later, did the rest of the family start failing in health. Miserable we all were for two long weeks. D slept for three days. It was pretty strange not hearing him talk and carry on for long stretches of time. The over reactive hubby experienced extreme symptoms like night sweats and chills that I didn't get and eventually drove himself to the ER where he figured he'd feel better by waiting around with a roomful of sicker patients, including those with gunshot wounds. R was the only one who remained somewhat happy, despite catching a cough and a runny nose. But I can now safely say that we are back to our old selves and back to our regular routine. In fact, I've even started biking to work again, but you won't catch me in any downpours. I'll be avoiding the heavy wet weather riding for awhile. Why get drenched when you don't have to. Besides, look what I have to drive! The old Plymouth died, so the hubby went on a hunt for a new family vehicle last week. This is what he came up with....a '94 Toyota Previa van. I've been driving it for the past two days everywhere, and I think I quite like it.

























Here's what I've been experimenting with this past week......making pho soup from this site, which turned out fragrant and delicious (and so easy to make too)! Do you see the star anise and cloves floating around in the soup? I wanted to learn how to make it "from scratch", not only because I've been doing pho take-out too much, but because I've been told how much MSG is in a lot of the restaurant versions. Lucky me, I found a great, authentic recipe, and the boys like it, especially R.

On the fibery front, I continue to be enamoured with some Patons Shetland tweed yarn and a simple beret pattern. This tweed has a little too much acrylic for my taste, as you can see by the shine of the photo, but the yarn is soft and the color is super yummy! Does anyone know of a similar colored tweed yarn with more wool content? I'll post a finished pic of this soon....