[cooking] Hmart

A couple weekends ago I made an Hmart trip with my mom, sister and niece. We had a nice lunch before doing all our shopping.

My lunch- kimchi jjigae. They've started giving out packets of seaweed with the lunches now!

I bought a quarter of a jackfruit and tried it back at home (after I watched a YouTube video on how to peel it and what parts to eat). I liked it!

For football watching, I made some ssam, my favorite post-Hmart-shopping dinner. Simple lettuce wraps with spicy pork and spicy ssamjang sauce.

I also made gaji-namul with Chinese eggplants. I watched this Maangchi video on how to make it.

This was easy to make- just steam and then mix with just a few ingredients.

I've been having bibimbap non-stop. And last night I finally got around to cooking some marinated galbi beef shortribs that my mom marinated for me.

I did make a pepperoni pizza for Dollar's birthday in the midst of all this Korean food. He was starting to get sick of all the spicy food. :(

[knitting] Slytherin Ribbed Hat

While I wait on brown yarn to finish my Starfall sweater (I did find one ball and it's on it's way), I wanted a filler project to work on. I grabbed a ball of Elann Pippi Longcolors (now called Impromptu) worsted weight and cast on for a simple ribbed hat.

Perfect Slytherin colors.

The yarn is okay. I did find a knot but thankfully it joined similar colors. I have many more balls in different colorways- I think I'd like to try a stranded pattern with this yarn next time.

I cast on 96 stitches with US 7 needles and worked K2P2 rib.

I found my missing ball of Cascade Longwood Sport in white and have enough to make Cthulhu mittens to go with my hat. In a little over a day, I completed one hand (sans thumb) and started the second. It's been MUCH more fun knitting than the above hat.

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I've got a short work week this week. I'm taking Weds-Fri off (wooooooooo). I'll be doing as much Thanksgiving prep work as I can on Wednesday. We have to try to eat everything in the fridge over the next few nights to make as much room as possible for all the leftovers. Mmmm... Thanksgiving leftovers...

[knitting] Starfall Sweater Progress

Progress on the Starfall sweater:

I'm using Knit Picks' Main Line yarn, which I bought when Knit Picks was a new company. Then it was discontinued, then brought back, then discontinued again. It's been discontinued for a long time and I'm definitely going to run out of the brown yarn. I found a few balls in Ravelry stashes for sale and sent some messages. I'm waiting to hear back...

So I've got to start something new in the meantime. I grabbed a ball of yarn and started a basic ribbed hat... two inches in and I'm already bored. I need something a bit more challenging. But what?

(whisper: Cthulhu mittenssssssss) 

P.S. I still have enough of the Main Line in the other colors (ivory, tan, pink) to finish the sweater... but I would prefer to have one more ball of brown

[knitting] Send in the Clowns

I finished my socks:

The pattern is Send in the Clowns (free on Ravelry) and I used my own hand-dyed yarn. This pattern has lots of nice texture:

Purl rows and slipped stitches- good for preventing color pooling. I think this pattern is best suited for variegated "clown barf" yarn.

Nice to have another pair of hand knit socks to keep my feet warm in bed throughout the winter.

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I am down to one knitting project- the Starfall sweater that I started in February. I'm actually nearing the end- I've joined the sleeves and worked most of the yoke, but I've run out of one of the colors. There are a few people selling this discontinued yarn/color on Ravelry- hopefully I'll be able to get more. In the meantime, I need to figure out what to work on next...

[misc] Goodbye, Rocky

We had to put our rabbit, Rocky, to sleep yesterday:

He came to live with us for a short while in September 2014. Then came back to live with us for good in August 2015 (his previous owner was moving to Florida). I didn't post a lot of pictures of him but he was a sweetie every day.

Around the time of my Chicago or Omaha trip, I noticed he was starting to have trouble running around on the rugs- he couldn't seem to get his hind feet back under himself easily. He started going to the bathroom on the rugs, rather than in the litterbox in his hutch. Then he even stopped going up to the second level of his hutch.

We brought him to the vet yesterday. They did an x-ray and it was bad. There was a tumor taking up 80% of his lungs and his lower spine was fractured. The vet said we really didn't have a choice so they gave him some pain meds and we said our last goodbyes. We brought him home and buried him under a couple apple trees.

I've clean up all of his stuff- food, toys, hutch. The hutch is still in the living room (I'll trying incorporating it outside in my gardens next year) and every now and then I hear a phantom scratch on the floor- just a familiar sound that Rocky would make. It's unnerving and sad and makes me miss him all over again.

Love you, Rocky. 

[cooking] Mini Turkey Pot Pies

I had a bag of leftover turkey meat in the freezer that I recently thawed to use for turkey noodle soup and turkey pot pies.

I made up some all-butter pastry dough and let it chill in the fridge while I worked on the filling. I boiled some diced potatoes and carrots in stock with minced garlic. Once they were al dente, I added diced turkey, onion and peas just to warm it all up. Salt and pepper. I thickened the stock with cornstarch.

I rolled out the pastry and cut large circles to line my hamburger bun pan.

I spooned in filling, covered with more dough circles and tried to crimp the edges as best I could to seal the pies. Then I used my turkey cookie cutter to cut out decorative pieces from the dough scraps. I brushed with milk and baked at 375 for about 45 min.

If I were to do this again, I'd make the pot pie filling and let it chill in the fridge for hours or overnight before assembling the pies. My filling was still rather hot when I made these and it caused the dough to be difficult to work with.

Individual pies are so cute and special. I don't really like one big pot pie because the filling runs out of the entire thing when you cut the first slice. But these little things were such a pain in the ass to make. Maybe if I did them over a couple days, it wouldn't have been so bad. Next time...

[knitting] Lovecraft's Bane

Finished a new hat:

The pattern is Lovecraft's Bane - Cthulhu Hat (free on Ravelry) and the yarn is Cascade Longwood (one ball each of green and white). I duplicate stitched red yarn over the eyes (or, what I presume are eyes).

I did a provisional cast-on so that I could knit a lining:

Tucked up inside:

This is a nice hat- very squishy and plush. I have an extra ball of green yarn and I'm sure I have another ball of white...I just can't find it at the moment. There is a Cthulhu mitten pattern on Ravelry that I want to make to go with this...

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Didn't do any knitting last night. I spent literally the whole evening making mini pot pies. They were so good but way too much work for a weeknight meal. At least I made several so I don't have to do any cooking tonight.

[knitting] Sockhead hat

Sockhead hat (pattern free on Ravelry):

Finished on the way to Chicago a couple weeks ago, was able to wear it around. It's nice; fold-over brim and long enough to be slouchy. Even all the k2p2 ribbing and stockinette on 2.5mm needles wasn't so bad when knitting continental style.

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We signed up for Disney+ and logged into the app yesterday. The first thing I started watching was Swiss Family Robinson from 1960. I looooooooved that tree house. Later, we watched the first episode of The Mandalorian. So good. Looking forward to new Marvel shows in the future.

[travel] Omaha, NE

Traveled at the end of last week- two nights in Omaha. I've never been before but got to see a bit on Friday morning (my flight out wasn't until 1pm).

There are some wonderful bronze statues in Pioneer Courage Park in downtown:

They're all really amazing- detailed and dynamic. It does give you a glimpse at the pioneer spirit, moving west, all your stuff in a covered wagon. Crazy.

This guy- trying to push his wagon out of a rut (and some passenger looking back!):

Some of the buffalo escaped the park and were along (and in) nearby buildings:

I loved all these statues so much.

Then I walked down to the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail and Visitor Center by the river. There's a pedestrian bridge that goes over the Missouri River, from Nebraska to Iowa.

I took about 5 steps into Iowa and then headed back to the hotel- it was pretty cold and windy.

It was a long, long travel day back to Vermont but I made it home. I didn't even mind the snow.

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The rest of the weekend was super chill. Lots of home cooking (after two weeks of travel and eating out). Getting back to quilting. Crocheted a little doily. Finished up several knitting projects (I'm down to one (ONE) wip- a sweater). Actually, I'm kind of filled with knitting ennui. I'm not feeling particularly inspired but I should start making Christmas things...

Planning to take a trip to Hmart with my mom on Saturday- I'm out of everything.

[cooking] Budae Jjigae

Had a hankering for some Budae Jjigae (Army stew) over the weekend. Maangchi's recipe has about a million ingredients but I feel like you can use whatever as long as there's SPAM and other meats, veg, tofu, seasoning paste, ramyeon noodles and american cheese at the end. (I've done baked beans in the past but I don't enjoy the texture in the stew.)

Mine started with:

Clockwise from the top: kielbasa, zucchini, onion, hotdog, scallion, tofu, zucchini, spam, scallion. With a decorative crimini mushroom in the middle, on top of seasoning paste (gochujang, gochugaru, garlic, sesame oil, maple syrup, soy sauce). Add some kind of broth and boil.

I love my shallow covered Le Creuset for this. (I'm really trying to not pine for the Star Wars pots because they're unreasonably expensive but... that Darth Vader dutch oven. Omg.) Anyway, once things get nice and boiling, nestle in a disk of ramyeon noodles (Nongshim for life). Get it all cooked, soaking up the spicy broth, add a slice of government cheese for the last 30 seconds. Throw on sliced serrano peppers to make it fancy and hotter.

This is so good, stick-to-your-ribs winter food. I can't imagine eating this in the summer- all the meat and noodles. But when it's cold out, it's the ultimate Korean comfort food.

[travel] Chicago

Was away in Chicago last week. I didn't see as much as I could have liked (landmarks, museums, etc) but the food was amazing. Had to get a Chicago dog (twice):

I went to a great Korean restaurant:

All the food I had everywhere was good. I missed out on authentic deep-dish pizza (which I'm actually pretty annoyed about)- we just never got around to a proper place. I did very minor yarn shopping (two skeins at a local shop). Really, these work trips are pretty mundane. It's just nice to hang with everyone that I email/talk to frequently but only get to see once a year.

My first snow of the year was in the city:

I came home on Friday. A big storm came through the night before and we were without power for more than a day. But that's okay, I needed a day and a half to sleep and cuddle with the kitties: