I did it all by my self!

I feel like a big girl because I got to cook dinner all by myself tonight. See, here's the issue, while at my folks house, I have Poppy in the kitchen which is A) awesome because he enjoys cooking and B) let's face it, food always tastes better when some one else makes it. However I do miss being in my own kitchen cooking my own meals sometime. I found a recipe for "Chicken Under a Brick" in some America's Test Kitchen cook book and have been wanting to give it a spin for quite some time.

The idea is you butterfly the chicken, sear it on the stove top under weights (classically, a brick is the perfered weight of choice, but c'mon now, who has bricks haning out in the kitchen, so I went with a pot filled with water and the bottom covered with foil because I'm lazy and would rather waste resources than wash a pot. So there.) to get a crisp skin and then finish it in the oven. It's supposed to cut down the cooking time on a roasted chicken to under an hour. It took me longer than the recipe said, but hey who's counting.

America's Test Kitchen recipies can be a bit fussy. They do a lot of partial cooking so that things don't get over cooked. Usually it does work and the dish comes out delicious. In Chicken Under a Brick, once you get the butterflied chicken browned, you take it out and dump in some potatoes to the pan and rest the chicken back on top of the potatoes with a drizzle of some oil, garlic, lemon juice and thyme. The whole things then goes in the oven. Then once the chicken is done, you let it rest on the cutting board...

... while the potatoes finish cooking and get golden brown and delicious in the oven.

Well, I'm sad to report that golden brown and delicious potatoes did not happen, even with doubled cooking time and a jacked up oven. They were edible, and not bad tasting by any means but not golden brown and delicious.

All in all it was a pretty good meal and I made it all by myself!

And yes, I enjoy eating on divider dishes so that my food groups don't touch. Yes, I am a 12-year-old apparently.

And yes, that is a ruby red dot of Sriracha sauce.

Sriracha goes with everything. Didn't you know that?

The Rents are coming! The Rents are coming

The Parents, the Mamajama and Poppy, are coming for the weekend. Of course I have a sink full of dirty dishes but I did manage to wash sheets and vacuum so my house isn’t a total wreck. And I just realized that I forgot to leave them a key to the house! OH NOS! It will work out one way or another!
We have an action packed weekend planned.
The Mamajama and I have some serious yarn dying plans. In one of her wacky plans, the Mamajama convinced me to participate in a KoolAid swap. In short, you send your partner Koolaid packages so that they can dye some yarn, then you dye yarn with the packages you receive and then you send your partner some of the yarn you dyed. It’s very complicated and I’ve already screwed up several times (mostly because I did not read instructions fully). Then we want to dye some yarn for the upcoming Sock Knitter’s Pentathlon. We need two colors for a stranded color work sock. Also, the Mamajama has roped me into participating in the Sockdown. Sockdown is another year long challenge (with prizes!) with each month having a designer or specific technique that you have to conquer. There will also be Mystery Socks! I’m not sure how that will work. So, September’s sock for the sock down needs to be orange. Now, I’m considering dying orange yarn in two different shades so that this one sock can count for both the Sockdown and SKP2008. Whew. That’s a lot of socks!
But the weekend will not be all yarnie goodness We’re going to this HUGE antiques show on Saturday. The weather should be cool and sunny, which will be perfect. But that also means there should be HUGE crowds! I’m hoping we can get out of the house early as I have a feeling that parking will be a nightmare.

LeeLuu's Big Adventure

LeeLuu and I went to visit Nana and Poppy for July 4th. LeeLuu was quite excited about the prospect because, well frankly, Poppy sneaks her unlimited treats and Nana lets her sleep on her head. Really, in the Pugiverse, you can't beat that. She was excited. WAS. Until the seatbelt appeared. You see, after LeeLuu decided that she could drive and shifted the car into neutral one too many time, I decided it was safer all the way around if seatbelts were involved. After all I have to wear a seatbelt. I can't go all loosy and fancy free while operating a motor vehicle. It only makes sense that the pug passangers wear seatbelts too.

LeeLuu did not agree.

She whined and wiggled but finally got buckled in and endured the ride to the Isle of Long.

Then commenced three whole days of puppy bliss. LeeLuu made it very clear to all those present that she does not adhere to Halal customs nor does she keep kosher by eating all the ham she could possibly get. She was rather put off that she did not get any lobster. Finally the dreaded seatbelt made another appearance and it was time to drive home. LeeLuu protested and said she wanted to stay and have more fun (eg. eat more ham) but within moments, it was very clear, she was tired.

She could not even appreciate the truckstop sunset.

Have you ever seen a more tired pug?

Thankfully, I had to work the next day. I assume she had herself a wee (8-hour) nap.

The Cast of Characters

My dream is to get the whole Gang involved in this little blog project so I thought I'd introduce the Cast of Characters to you.

May I present....

The Mamajama. Matriarch, Enabler. The Mamajama is the driving force behind GlassNeedleArts. It is her dream to have a shop and share her obsessions (and nuttiness) with the world! The Mamajama's current obsessions are: Knitting, quilting, tatting, just about anything that gives her an excuse to go to a craft store.

Poppy. Patriarch, Driver. Poppy begrudgingly humors our crafting madness and is ever so kind to drive the Mamajama on said craft store adventures. Oh yeah, and he makes the most fabulous stained glass creations you could ever imagine.

Claire. Crocheter, Mensa Brat. Claire is the hipster in the group, keeping tabs on the fashion trends and what the cool kids are doing. And yes, she really is a member of Mensa. Brat.

The Russians. We may on occasion make reference to "The Russians". You see, we are not a normal family. The Bro, his wife and the neices now live in Russia. I could tell you why they are there but then I'd have to kill you. Loose lips sink ships.

LeeLuu. Pug Monster, Direction Eater. Ah, the joys of the pug. LeeLuu loves to help with crafty adventures by getting her curly tail tangled in the yarn you're working, or eating directions, laying on your freshly washed fabric, or getting scrapbook paper stuck to her feets. She's very helpful. Bonus points if you can tell me where her name comes from!

Amy. Action Plan Girl, Tinkerer. Yup this is me. I do a little bit of everything. From knitting to origami.

Now, on with the show!!

It has begun!

On a dark and stormy night (ok, it was really mid afternoon and it was actually pretty sunny) my Sister and I received a package.... of... knitting lessons.

And the world ceased to exist as we knew it.

You see, my mom, known affectionately as The Mamajama, went on a rampage declaring that traditional crafts like knitting and tatting were dying out and that she was duty bound by her ancestral heritage of nutty women to bestow onto her daughters the fine art of making things for yourself.

Every generation of my family has had an artist of some kind. Nana painted china. Grandpa work wood. Dad fashions stained glass. Mom does almost anything with a needle (get it, "glass" and "needle"!?) If my ancestors wanted a pretty dress to be married in, they made it. If they needed socks to warm their feets, they knitted.

And so began our adventure into Quirky Art. In these pages, you will find the crafting and creating adventures of the Glass Needle Artists.

Enjoy.

Amy