Twin Calorimetries & Cookie #5.

Hi everyone! Sorry for being so quiet lately. It's been an insanely busy week. I was battling a sinus infection, helping out at my aunt's flower shop, and doing lots of school work. Now I'm feeling better, done with the flower shop until Mother's Day, and wishing I could spend the weekend kicking back & relaxing with some good knitting. Unfortunately, that's not going to happen. I have midterms next week & therefore tons of reading/studying/writing/etc. to do, plus I'm leaving for Montana Thursday (yay!) so there are things I want to get out of the way before then. Blah.

I've barely knit at all since completing that hat, though I did take a trip to an LYS just the other day, in search of yarn for a nice neck-warmer. I left with a nice big skein of Araucania Nature Wool. It's very pretty but it's also much thinner than I'd realized at the time, almost more of a heavy DK than a light worsted, and I'd wanted a heavy worsted. Oops. So I don't know what I'm going to do about that. I did find a pattern I liked written for 2 strands of DK held together, so I might use that. I might also just go buy different yarn over the weekend, we'll see.

The cardigan is moving slowly. Well, really it's not moving at all, because I STILL haven't started the second sleeve. I don't know why, but I always convince myself that picking up stitches is some horrible ordeal that I just don't want to deal with yet. In reality it's an easy & quick thing to do, but I put it off anyway. I promise I'm starting that sleeve tonight, though!

I can finally show you the two Calorimetries I made last week, though, since my friend Kenna received hers the other day & seems to like it! :) Here's a picture of her wearing it:


I was so happy when she sent me that! It just feels really good to see something you made being used by the recipient. I'm sure you all know what I mean. Here are some other shots I took of it before sending it off:


The orange was my favorite color in there and I'm thrilled that I had a button that worked with it so well. Also this yarn makes me want to take back every mean thing I've ever said about multi-colored yarns because it's so damn beautiful, especially with this pattern!

As you know, as soon as I finished that one for Kenna I cast on this one for myself:


The lighting is all weird/cool because I took these as the evening sunlight was streaming in through my favorite window. I've been wearing it nearly every day & loving how warm it keeps my ears.

For both of these I cast on 96 stitches & only did 5 repeats of row 5. To get 2 out of just one skein, I had to cheat a little on mine & knit to 8 stitches past the marker on a couple of the last rows. I was nervous about that but it worked out fine.
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I really need to finally blog Cookie #5, since it's been at least a week since I made it!

Recipe: Chai Snickerdoodles

Modifications: I don't think I made any other than halving the recipe because having that many cookies around didn't seem particularly wise.

Review: I was so excited when I saw this recipe! I love snickerdoodles & I love chai, so combining the two seemed brilliant. Basically it's a traditional snickerdoodle recipe, but instead of rolling the dough in a simple cinnamon-sugar mixture, you add cardamom, ginger, & allspice, too! I love those spices & had fun mixing them up & making the cookies, but the end result tasted almost exactly like a basic snickerdoodle to me. I'm not complaining, since there is nothing bad at all about a basic snickerdoodle, but I was mildly disappointed that the chai flavor wasn't very pronounced. There's a good chance I'll try these again & just use much more cardamom, ginger, & allspice -- if I do, I'll let you know how it goes!

Right now I've got a loaf of this in the oven and if it tastes half as good as it looks & smells right now I'll be in heaven. I keep making breads & not blogging them! Basically that oatmeal bread I gushed about a couple weeks ago is on its way to becoming a weekly staple. Everyone likes it and the few scraps that are left over at the end of the week become the most delicious croutons the world has ever known. I also tried making English muffins for the first time a while back, following this recipe. I was amazed by how good they were for a first attempt, but they still weren't perfect. They were bland and I also didn't roll the dough out thin enough at all. My family still liked them but I hope to do better next time. If nothing else it was satisfying to know that I made them out of a few simple ingredients while the ones from the store have an ingredient list that's about two inches long and filled with unpronounceable words.

Ok, that's all for now, have a great weekend everyone!

Baking! Breads & Cookie #3.

I made my 3rd batch of cookies for the year just the other night. There are unfortunately no pictures because they've somehow all disappeared since then. You'll just have to trust me that they were pretty in addition to being tasty. I was craving my old favorite, the ever unpopular oatmeal raisin. Yes, that's really one of my favorite cookies ever. What can I say? Oats and raisins are two of the greatest things on earth as far as I'm concerned. Anyway, I almost went with the recipe I usually use, but something compelled me to flip through the meager Dessert section in my New Laurel's Kitchen cookbook. Lo & behold, a slightly more nutritious version of oatmeal raisin cookies! If you're going to make 50 cookies in a year you should probably try to make some of them that aren't 100% terrible for you, right? Right.

Recipe: Oatmeal School Cookies from The New Laurel's Kitchen.

Modifications: Tragically, I only had like 2 walnuts left in my cupboard (probably because I can't stop snacking on them), so I obviously didn't get to use the full amount. Also I left out wheat germ because I didn't have any because I can never find the damn stuff at the store. (I've honestly seen it once in my life, at Target, of all places.)

Review: HEAVENLY!! One bite & I knew this recipe had replaced my old stand-by. Despite being somewhat healthier, these are definitely not any less delicious than your usual oatmeal raisin cookies. Fresh out of the oven they're especially amazing, but I have to admit they didn't keep well. That's ok, though, because they will be eaten before anyone will ever have to worry about keeping them.
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So, remember earlier when I said that I am a tremendous failure as a bread baker? No? That's ok, just trust that I said it, because up until last weekend it was true. It might still be true, actually, but there have been TWO recent instances of me making delicious bread! The first was last weekend, when I finally tried out the No-Knead Bread recipe I'd been eying for ages. The New York Times article about the recipe features a claim that it can be mastered by a four-year-old, though Mark Bittman himself revises that to an ambitious 8-year-old. I am older than both of those ages combined and at least a little ambitious with the baking, so I felt up to the task.

I mixed the dough up on a Saturday afternoon and then let it rest for a whole night, trying to contain my urge to constantly peel back the foggy plastic wrap & see what it was doing. After 18 hours of that I got to shape it & let it rise for forever before finally baking it. The patience was definitely the most difficult part of the whole equation but it was worth it because the product was my first decent loaf of non-bread-machine yeasted bread EVER! Admittedly, the crust was too tough & thick in many places, but it was still delicious, especially toasted. I'll probably play around with the recipe some more and hopefully master it someday. It's really amazing what you can do with just a few ingredients & a lot of time. For the record, I used a mixture of whole wheat and bread flours on that attempt.

Yesterday I made really good bread AGAIN! The bread machine was involved but I did some parts by hand & baked it in the oven, so it's still sort of an accomplishment. (For the record, I have nothing against the bread machine & it's actually one of the coolest things I own. But when you let it do all the work for you it's somehow less satisfying, plus the bread is never as crusty as I would like it to be.) The recipe was for oatmeal bread and it came off my bread flour bag. I used half whole wheat flour again, substituted water for the milk & olive oil for the butter, and left out the raisins because I wanted a simple toasting/sandwich bread. What I got was actually the best bread EVER! It toasts beautifully and would be perfect for grilled cheese but is also nice with just some jam or cheese or even on its own. The crust is the perfect thickness, just a little crunchy. I'm a little embarrassed to admit that this bread has been a component of all 3 meals I have eaten today, it is really that good. My family even likes it, too, so I just might have to get into the habit of making it regularly.