First Place goes to Persimmon Leaves, the clear winner with the most votes.  Y’all especially loved the transition between the deep blue-green leaves, to the lighter ones, so I knew it would be perfect for our transitions base.  Perfect for faking complicated colorwork.  Congrats to Erin!  You’ll be getting a scarf you can knit from in the mail soon.

Next comes Urchin Tones.  Soft greens and blues with hints of silvers.  I am in love with this colorway!  You can find it in the shop on our bamboo/merino sock blend, our Squishy superwash/nylon blend and in our Bambino fiber.  Makes me want to visit the ocean and smell the salty air.  Congrats to Liz on this one! 

And last, but definitely not least is Black Raspberries.  Another favorite, gorgeous pinks, both deep and soft, a hint of black and leafy greens.  I am craving summer berry pies already!  Faith is going to get one of these in her mailbox.  Start stalking those mail carriers!

If you didn’t win this time, no worries, we’ll be posting the next contest tomorrow!  I’m going to keep it to one winner this time, but the good news is, you don’t have to suggest the winning skein to be entered into the drawing, anyone who participates will have a chance to win, and you’ll be able to suggest 3 colorways.  If there’s not a clear winner, I may do a vote off of the top three.  Yay I can’t wait!  Off to pin some more inspiration to the board…

In the meantime, I love love love me some pancakes.  We have breakfast for dinner at least twice a month, especially when I’m spending a lot of time in the dye studio.  I discovered Ricotta pancakes awhile ago and used to think I had to do some kind of special fancy recipe to make them.  But I’ve discovered an amazing secret – just take any recipe, even a mix, and add 1 Cup of ricotta or even cottage cheese.  Instant ricotta pancakes!

Speaking of pancakes, check out this hilarious music video.  I went to high school with the drummer.  I love it when a band has a sense of humor.

(Pancakes by Eclectic Approach)

I’ll post a pattern for you when I’m all done writing it up.  They’re the perfect project for your first pair of socks, or just some instant gratification.  I came close to finishing the first one in just one afternoon. 

and it’s like waking up from a hazy sleep deprived zombie like state.  I’m having flashbacks to the newborn phase, although it’s not that bad because hubby has been taking on at least half the load.  3 kids, all with double ear infections.  Bleh!  The good news is I think I’m on the cusp of being able to count on some consecutive hours of sleep.  Sometimes just the hope of some really good sleep keeps us going!

Last week there was a crazy icy day here in Cinci, and the antibiotics were just kicking in enough for the kids to not be in constant pain.  We needed something special to remind us of better times… summery times.  It was time for indoor s’mores! 

I like to make mine with Nutella.  A. because I’m totally obsessed with Nutella, B. because you don’t have to deal with the chocolate that isn’t perfectly melted issue I hate about regular s’mores.

So here’s the easiest snack ever, perfect for  cabin feverish winter days – I even make them in the summer when it’s too hot to think of sitting around a campfire.

Spread graham crackers with Nutella.  Both crackers.

Toast marshmallows over your stovetop.  Just be careful not to touch the marshmallow to the stovetop – so hard to clean!  Hold them about as close as you can without risking that and you’ll know when to turn them because they’ll start smelling amazing and start to steam up a bit. 

Slide that toasty, gooey marshmallow onto your crackers to make a perfect s’more sandwich.

Enjoy!

Do you remember any of your bubble bursting moments?  I remember thinking these cookie bars were the most amazing secret recipe of my mom’s – simply because she’d make them all the time without looking at a recipe.  The are so yummy, and perfect because every ingredient either comes straight from the pantry, or is always on hand (butter) so you can stock up and have everything you need at a moment’s notice.

Anyway, the first time I was away from home and wanted to make them myself I picked up all the ingredients from the store.  While shopping I saw the recipe for Magic Cookie Bars on the back of the can of Eagle’s Sweetened Condensed Milk I was buying.  What?  My Mom is famous!  Her recipe is on the back of a can!  Pause…  Thinking it through…  Oh. 

Oh well, they’re still awesome. 

I have a friend who was going through a very rough time so the kids and I made up a yummy batch and sent it her way.  Sometimes it’s important to make the extra effort to send a handwritten note and homemade treats instead of an email or a Facebook comment.  And I loved that the kids got into it.  I’m sure that knowing they’d get to taste a few before we boxed the rest up had nothing to do with it.

So, so easy! You can just follow the recipe on the can, or use my family recipe, which is ever so slightly different, or adjust it to fit your liking.  Sub in walnuts for pecans, leave out the nuts or the coconut, whatever.  I remember my mom only put coconut on half the pan, since she liked it and the kids didn’t.  It ensured that half the pan would always be reserved for her.  There was even a time when she’d make 2 pans, one for the kids, and the other which she would hide in her room somewhere.  Probably to eat with the door locked while we knocked on the door asking her what she was doing in there.  Bless that woman!

Ingredients: 2 packages of graham crackers (1/2 box), 1 stick of butter, 1 can sweetened condensed milk, 1 bag chocolate chips, 1 C chopped pecans, 1 C unsweetened coconut.

Step 1: have kids crush 2 packages of graham crackers (half a box)

make sure they really get into it.

Step 2: Put 1 sitck of butter in a 9×13 pan and put it in the oven.  Turn the oven on to 375 and let the butter melt as the oven pre-heats.

Step 3: mix the melted butter and graham cracker crumbs.  Press them down to make a crust on the bottom of the pan.  Pour in 1 can of sweetened condensed milk, a bag of chocolate chips, 1 cup of chopped pecans and 1 cup of unsweetened coconut.  Press them all down into the condensed milk.

Bake at 375 for about 25 minutes, or until the sweetened condensed milk is a golden brown and bubbling up around the other ingredients.  Mmm.

Try to let them cool completely before cutting.  Or scoop out some before they’re ready and burn your mouth a bit because they smell so good you just can’t wait.  I won’t tell.

I loved Laura Dern’s dress.  Even though it’s stunning and gorgeous, it has this aura of integrity to it.  I know that’s an odd word to use when talking about fashion, but what I loved is that it looked like her.  It looked somewhat effortless, like she wasn’t trying to be someone else’s idea of fashionable or sexy.

If it inspires you to take a peek at Andrew Gn’s 2012 Spring Collection too, I’ll save you the google search – just click here.

Ready to become something special…

My kids called this “Shrimp with Frosting” and they weren’t far off.  That’s right – shrimp, frosting, candied walnuts – how could this be anything but awesome?

Giant bowl of Chow Mein lasted 2 full dinners and a lunch!  So yummy!

Here’s another link to the book, and to the author’s website Rasa Malaysia, which has lots of other great recipes.

This is my all time favorite salad.  I would say “for the moment” because I do like to  change it up, but I’ve been constantly craving and eating this salad for over a year now.  I look forward to pomegranite season just for this salad!

Pomegranite Pine Nut Salad

Serves 4

(4 regular adults, or 2 adults who are obsessed with it and 2 kids who are being forced to eat it)

Ingredients:

1 head of romaine lettuce

        short cut! Just use any Bag ‘O Salad, I especially like the baby spring greens.

1/2 C pine nuts

1/4 C French Feta Cheese

1/2 C pomegranite arils/seeds (about 1/2 a pomegranite)

Briannas Real French Vinaigrette (short cut built in – yay!)

First off, toast the pine nuts.  I usually put them in a 350 degree oven for about 5 minutes.  You’ll know they are done because they’ll start to smell all kinds of wonderful and look lightly browned.  (I know some people like to do it in a dry skillet, I just always seem to burn them that way)

While the nuts are toasting, chop up your romaine, or dump your bag of salad into a bowl.  Toss with a couple Tablespoons of dressing.  (I like mine lightly dressed, how do you like yours?)  There’s probably an amazing home made dressing out there that rivals Brianna’s, but I just love this stuff and it saves me 5-10 minutes.  I’d love to see links if you know of a recipe though!

Crumble your Feta Cheese on top of the dressed lettuce.  (If you must, use the dry greek stuff, but I think it’s the creaminess of the french feta that makes it so so yummy.  I’ve found the french variety at Kroger, but the Tnuva brand at Costco is imported from Israel and also has that slightly less mature mild and creamy texture.  It looks like a lot to buy, but we always go through it before it goes bad).

Dump the warm nuts on top.  I love how the heat softens the cheese ever so slightly.

Slice open that pomegranite and harvest the deliciousness inside!  Warning: things will get messy.  Your countertop (and sleeves) may look like there’s been some kind of massacre when you’re done, so just be forewarned!   

If you’ve never had pomegranite before, don’t be intimidated!  It’s a bit messy, but you will be rewarded.  Just slice it into quarters, peel back the white membranes and pluck out the seeds (aka arils).  If you see any that are milky and soft, those ones have gone bad, just skip them and focus on the firm, bright garnet colored ones.  I thought for so long that you were supposed to suck off the juice and then spit out the fibery part of the seed, and it seemed like a lot of work for a little bit of pomegranite.  Now I just eat the entire seed – more fiber for me!  My kids eat them like candy.  So pop out the second half of seeds too, save them in a jar in the fridge – instant snack.  Or toss them over your oatmeal the next morning – so yummy!

Dump on those arils, lightly toss.  (Just a note, if it’s not pomegranite season, dried cranberries make a pretty good sub, so you can feast on this year round.)

Enjoy!  My kids will eat everything but the cheese.  My husband and I devour the rest.  I could have this every day.