pies and pierogie

well here was my fairly successful mystery pecan pie in the oven last night. the crust came out decent as far as i can tell (haven't tasted yet). i also made a pumpkin pie (libby's of course). i am a huge pecan pie fan but my parents are not. i decided to make one anyways and am hoping my brother might have a slice. also hoping that the addition of the cream cheese layer might sway my parents. the mystery pecan pie is new to me so hopefully i like the cream cheese layer as well. (p.s. the mystery is that the layers swap when baking!)


and this thanksgiving i am thankful that there is a store brand of pierogies out there that taste like the ones my grandma made. no holiday meal would be complete without them.

Happiest of Thanksgivings to you!

frustrated..venting

*updated* it is almost 9:30 p.m. and my 2nd pie is in the oven. round 2 of the crust turned out pretty well and i am content. whew! there will be pumpkin and pecan pie after all! thanks everyone for the tips and well wishes. off to iron my tablecloth now, HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

in an effort to finally make a decent pie crust i relied on a copy of my friends "baking illustrated" from america's test kitchen. i read the explanation of how to make pie crust (several pages) over last night and realized where my recent problems with pie crust have been (using the freezer to speed things up). so this morning i started to prep all my ingredients for the crust so they would be well chilled. i wasn't paying much attention until i started the food processor and realized that the amount of shortening it called for was extremely high considering there was butter as well. the mixture came together immediately and was not the fine sand texture the book called for. i knew it had to be the shortening and sure enough, i find a message board online that the shortening was double what it should be and no errata was done for this recipe. you know, the basic pie dough recipe with pages of explanation on how to make it perfect? HELLO. i cannot believe an error on what i consider to be one of the top staple recipes in the book would be wrong. now i have wasted flour, shortening and butter and have to start over.

not a good way to start my thanksgiving prep. ugh. stupid book.

chev version 3

yes that is another chevron scarf (my third)! this is a gift for a friend of mine. it is a "congratulations on the new job" scarf. she picked out the yarn herself (shibui sock yarn). very bright! i haven't gifted it to her quite yet, probably tonight. she is headed to the oregon coast for thanksgiving and i think she is going to need it there!

i tried to use up all the yarn to make it as long as possible. just an itty bitty ball was left. someone found it overnight.

lily says "yarn? what yarn?"

marker sale

happening now over at the shop blog

new fav

my latest obsession is marzipan. last year in london i picked up some marzipan tea in covent garden. it is one of my most fav teas and i was just about out when i decided to google it. turns out it isn't easy to find, so i ordered it from a place in london (not the covent garden shop, they don't have a website). i was happy to find that when it arrived it is the same tea i had. yum!

now i know a lot of people think that marzipan tea would be the same as almond tea but it isn't - i have had some almond teas and there is just something different about this.

just before that, i had found some marzipan hot chocolate from the vermont country store. it arrived just a few days before my tea and i had no idea they were made by the same company. both are delish!

and then there was the trip to ikea last friday with ellen. i picked up the marzipan logs - seriously, i told you i was obsessed! (and fyi, ritter dark chocolate with marzipan is also at the top of my list).

anyhoo, not much knitting this weekend. i gave my credit cards a workout by going to ikea one day and then drove to portland to pick up a bed set at west elm another day. i heart west elm. i got some really cool accessory stuff besides the dresser, bed and nightstand. it barely fit in the car (i had to borrow my parents highlander - my mini would not hold that much!). looking forward to finally getting my bedroom in the works!

**there will be a stitch marker sale this friday at 9 a.m. pacific. i have a small assortment of things, most of which are new designs. **

finally...

last night i popped into michaels for like the 100th time this last week. i was on the lookout for the martha holiday crafts and they finally got it in! i was able to resist most but couldn't live without the ribbon above. of course the punch job on this ribbon isn't that great so i have had to pick out the pieces that didn't pop out like they were supposed to. at $6.99 a roll that is a bit annoying (i did use a coupon though).


yesterday while i was working on my pc, lily was sitting in front of my mac watching meerkats on you tube (oh how she loves the meerkats, she will even sit patiently through the commercials for their return - i on the other hand have to leave the room because the show makes me cry). isn't she too funny?

i should have another fo to show you. i just forgot to take a picture of it. i whipped up a scarf yesterday with 2 balls of rowan ribbon twist. Only took me 1/2 a day. love that!

baby knits are so quick!

this was a pretty quick knit, finished the set over 2 days. my mom is going to a baby shower on saturday and asked me to knit a hat. baby hats are so quick and easy how could i say no? i didn't follow any specific pattern. i don't know why the pom pom looks ginormous in the pic but it really isn't that big. :)

i have been fairly productive on the knitting front. cold weather helps, makes me want to stay inside and knit. it is a frosty morning here in seattle and definitely scarf weather.

just an fyi, i have been making stitch markers for the holidays. i am hoping for a sale next friday, but it may be the friday after that. i want to have plenty of inventory this year so i don't have to take orders like i did last. i am also trying to get inventory done at the same time for village yarn and tea. last year they sold through a lot and i want to ge them stocked up.

happy friday!