Dandelion Greens--Umm, Er, Maybe Not

I've been thinking for a while about trying dandelion greens. I mean, what's not to like? They grow in our yard like crazy at this time of the year, so since I'm going to pull them up, anyway, we might as well eat them, too. There was so much advice about this all over the Internet that I decided to just ignore all of it and serve the greens raw in a salad.

I enlisted DS to get out the old Fiskars weedeater and rip a bunch of dandelion plants out by the roots. The websites all tell you that the big leaves can be bitter, so I carefully cut off only the small leaves for our salad. By the time DS got tired of yard work (about 15 minutes, I'd say), I had enough greens for the three of us. I chopped up a tomato to add to the "salad" and dished up three bowls of it.

DH tried gamely to eat it, but after one bite DS was through. You can see from the picture how much he didn't like it. Before I had even taken a seat at the counter they were both proclaiming the greens to be inedibly bitter. My first couple of bites were all right, but by bite #3 I was inclined to agree with them, so we picked out the tomatoes and unceremoniously dumped the greens in the trash.

Still, as I was walking outside this morning, I saw a whole fresh new crop of the telltale yellow flowers scattered on the lawn. Maybe I could collect a new bunch and try cooking them...

Teal Suit Finished At Last

Okay, so in February I didn't finish any UFO's; but already in March I've finished two, if you count this suit as two pieces, the jacket and the skirt. This project got abandoned more than once since I bought the fabric a while back (you may remember it from my December 16, 2010 post "Polyester, Nein, Danke!). Despite my earlier reservations, I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out. The fabric is a synthetic suede, very out of character for me (I tend to be Ms. Natural Fibers). It wasn't particularly easy to work with, and then I lost 30 pounds after the jacket was nearly finished. I couldn't take in the side seams without taking out the in-seam pockets, so I just lapped it farther over in the front for a less baggy fit. Fortunately I hadn't cut the skirt out yet, so the size change wasn't a problem there.

I'm also proud that I didn't have to buy any new notions for the suit; the buttons, interfacing, zipper and hem tape all came out of my stash. (And I swear that I will not accumulate any more such items without having an immediate use for them! She who dies with the most fabric, zippers, hem tape, etc. stored in plastic boxes DOES NOT WIN.)

The jacket back comes to an off-center point at the bottom that is interesting to look at and flattering, too. I can probably use this outfit as an excuse to buy new shoes, since my green ones are too green and my navy ones too blue. Styling it, as they say on Project Runway, could be tricky.

My goal for April is to finish a knitted lace top and scarf. I had lots of time to work on it last week, when I traveled to northern Michigan with DD and her boyfriend. I'm using two yarns, a variegated cotton boucle that I bought from Robin Edmundson and some discolored Knit-Cro-Sheen that I dyed dark blue to coordinate. Stay tuned for details and pictures--I'm on a roll!

Deborah Newton Stocking Cap from Vogue Knitting--Done!

As soon as I saw this wild and woolly stocking cap on page 67 of the Holiday 2011 Vogue Knitting, I knew my darling daughter would love it. It wasn't easy to knit; all the color changes, of course, and my own stupidity made it take much longer than it should have, but it's finished with plenty of winter left to wear it in, and my 2012 knitting year is off to a great start. January isn't over yet, and I've already completed something! Here's DD, back in her old room for a night, modeling her new cap.

What's next? I have lots of projects at the museum, and maybe I'll tackle a UFO or two. I've lost 30 pounds so far and nothing fits right, so I might just spend some time taking in my old clothes, although it would be a lot more fun to just make (and shop for) new ones.

It takes a village...of Santas

Remember when the kids were small, and their Christmas presents were Legos and Barbies and board games and picture books? When their eyes shone just looking at the lights on the tree or the twinkling fake icicles dangling from the soffit? When everywhere you went you could find something you knew they would love?

Those days are so gone. Our kids are 20 and almost 17. Their toys are electronic. Their clothes are expensive. Their tastes are unpredictable. But one thing they still love, no matter what is in the gift--the tag.

What? The tag? Who reads past their own name on the tag? Ah, if you do not live in the village of many Santas, you may be missing the best part of gift giving. Let me explain.

Years ago, I got tired of putting "To ________ From Santa" on every tag. It was so boring, so uncreative. And generally left unread. So I started sneaking in different names for Santa. At first it was just alternative monikers like "St. Nicholas" or "Papa Noel" (the French version). The village of Santas just kept growing, though, and DH and the kids got into the spirit and started labeling their gifts with silly Santa names that sometimes hinted at the contents as well.

This year the re-naming of Santa provided us with hours of entertainment. Consider the example above, on a gift of athletic socks (DS goes through at least a pair a week, and they fit nicely into the stocking, but socks are right up there with underwear in the "gift you really don't want to open" category). As it turned out, the tag was more fun than the gift, and we all had a good laugh over it. Other notable examples: on a replacement tripod for DD, who has suffered numerous spills with the cheap one she currently uses for oil painting, "Life is too short to waste on bad equipment Santa." On a gift to my husband of the former California governor's favorite pumpkin seed oil, "Arnold Santa-negger." "Vintage Santa" brought me a lovely beaded scarf, and "Lame Sister" received a book from "Even Lamer Brother Santa." A bottle of Bailey's Irish Cream came from "Tam O'Santa," and "Santa D'Or Dali" gave DD several new tubes of oil paints.

We had so much fun with the Santa village that I'm already thinking up Santa names for next year. I hope you all enjoyed wonderful Christmas and New Year's celebrations. Let's make something wonderful in 2012.

Teal Bulky Sweater - UFO Finished at Last!

Remember that teal Blue Sky Bulky yarn I bought a few years ago? I started by designing an original pattern for a cardigan, made it too big, ripped it out, and made it smaller. I tried it on at the beginning of fall--it was shapeless and too big for my (happily) shrinking figure. I ripped it out again. I found a new pattern on the Blue Sky website, designed by Sylvia Hager. It looked adorable on the website, so I bought it ($9, yikes!). I knitted four or five inches, found it was also way too big, ripped it out and started over. I had some trouble with the directions for the bust shaping, did more ripping out, re-wrote the directions so they made sense, and continued. The Sunday after Thanksgiving I worked most of the day on the sweater and had it almost finished when a giant hole appeared in the front. I don't know what caused the hole, but I'm guessing it was one of my knots tied too close to a yarn end badly frayed from so much ripping out and re-knitting. Vowing not to be defeated by the yarn demons, I ripped almost 70% of my work out one more time, all the way down to the hole, and knitted the sweater again.

Success! All done, and cute! It's so bulky you can't tell I've lost 25 pounds, but that's okay. It's warm and comfy and I still love the color. Plus I get to check a long-festering UFO off of my list, just before the start of a new year.

Merry Christmas, everybody, and best wishes for a happy, productive 2012!

Recipe Report - Roasted Sweets & Greens

I found this recipe in the October 2011 issue of Better Homes and Gardens. You can also find it here: http://www.kitchenmonki.com/recipe/Roasted_Sweets_Greens. It's on the bhg.com website, too, but I needed to log in to access it, and I just refused. I chose this recipe because it packs 6 grams of fiber and 4 grams of protein into a 236-calorie serving, and because I love sweet potatoes.

The recipe took about 45 minutes to make. The arugula was expensive (close to $4 for a box) and I think the recipe would have been just as good with spinach or parsley, frankly. DH was wildly enthusiastic about this dish, and would have gladly eaten the whole pan by himself. DS wasn't that impressed, although he ate a good-sized serving, too. I didn't think I liked it much, but then I caught myself going back for more. All in all, if you want a filling, tasty side dish to make up for a lightweight main course, this is it. After a serving and a half, I had little room for anything else.

By the way, counting my calories and upping my exercise has paid off in a big way already; I have lost 17 pounds. I feel like I'm peeling myself like an onion (at 15 pounds lost, I was back to 2007 when we moved to Indiana from overseas; at 17 lost, I'm the weight I was in 2003 when our daughter was a seventh grader and our son was eight). I'm trying not to set any impossible goals, but 20 lost would be a nice start. Anyone interested in committing to a life of eating what your body needs instead of what it wants might want to check out myfitnesspal.com. It has been a godsend to me; I have the app on my iPhone and enter every single thing that I eat every day.

Where did the summer go?

What a summer! Lots of stuff happened, some of it really good, like the visit by my friend Michelle from New York (shown with yours truly above at Spring Mill State Park) and our trip to Chicago together, some of it really not good, like the four days my mom spent in the hospital (she's better now, thankfully), and some of it just busy, busy, busyness brought on by trying to keep up with volunteer commitments and life in general.

DD had two guests in August; her boyfriend (who has been described in this blog before--tall, handsome, Lithuanian, and now so hairy that her friends have dubbed him "six foot Jesus"), and her former host brother from France, an adorable boy who doesn't speak much English, but when he does, the accent is pure foie gras. When she ran out of stuff to do with them (or food to feed them) in Bloomington, she brought them home to the old jail, which I loved. We traveled around the southern Indiana countryside, we ate, we went out to restaurants, we ate, we cooked up great food in the kitchen, we ate... Did I mention that we ate?

And now time to pay the piper. I avoided getting on the bathroom scale until everyone was back in school and the fun and craziness were over, but on Friday morning I ran out of excuses and faced the music. Not good. Really not good. So now I'm trying hard to get it all back off. I've vowed to work out every day and limit my calories until I can bear to look at a photo of myself in a color other than black. I've appointed DD my "accountability coach" so I won't have to bore you with the details. Wish me luck.