The Honeybee Clutch

Autumn Flower Pocket Potholder

 

Autumn flower potholder 

Lily sugar n cream cotton yarn in harvest and yellow 

6mm metal hook or 6.5mm resin/plastic hook 

Special stitch:

Puff: yo, insert hook pull up a loop 3x, pull through all loops.

Yellow:

Mr, 10 dc, slst to join 

Ch2, *DcInc in each stitch to (20), slst new color to join 

Row 3 harvest 

Ch2, *(DcInc, dc) around, slst to join (30)

Ch2, *(DcInc, 2 dc) around, slst to join (40)

Ch2, 2dc sk1, *(3dc, sk1) around, dc in first stitch and slst to join  (20 clusters)

Ch1, *(Sc3, dc to st between in row below) around, slst to join 

Ch2, *(3 yo puff stitch, ch1 sk1) around, slst to join 

Ch1, Sc around, slst to join  

Ch2, *{(Sc, hdc), (dc, tc), (tc, dc), (hdc, sc), slst 4} around slst in first st base then slst first st, finish.

Make second flower but do not cut yarn.

Ws together ch1, sc around both, leave 2 petals unsewn. Ch1, turn.

*Sc4, ch1 turn 

Repeat * rows until about 3", finish with a long tail 

Sew short end to back of potholder, finish and weave in ends!

First Time for Curry

I decided to try my hand at a few new recipes, and I found several curries that looked good. I chose a Chickpea Curry with Roasted Cauliflower and Tomatoes, adapted from an Epicurious recipe here.

It needed a few changes, so I have added them here. I made homemade Naan for serving, which I may need to tweak the recipe for someday, but I have so much in the freezer, I don't need to do it again for a while. You can also serve this with Udon noodles or rice.

Also, it should be noted, that grill pans have a learning curve! Make sure not to drip your butter (Naan recipe) outside the pan or you get a nice small burst of flames....yeesh.

Chickpea Curry with Roasted Cauliflower and Tomatoes, adapted from an Epicurious recipe here.

• 1/2 head cauliflower, trimmed and cut into florets and stems
• 1/2 pint cherry tomatoes
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/2" piece of peeled ginger, minced
• 2 cups baby spinach
• 1/2 large onion, chopped
• 14.5 oz. (can) chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• Extra virgin olive oil
• Course salt and ground pepper
• 1 tablespoon and 1 teaspoon curry powder (I used yellow curry, but the choice is yours)
• 1/2 teaspoon Garam Masala (or to taste)
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro

Preheat oven to 375F. Toss cauliflower with olive oil and arrange in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet, season with salt and pepper (optional). Roast for 15 minutes. Toss tomatoes with olive oil, season with salt and pepper, and add to baking sheet. Roast until cauliflower is slightly browned and tomatoes are soft, about 10 more minutes. Tomatoes should be slightly bursting.

In a medium pot, heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil on medium high. cook onion, stirring occasionally, until soft and slightly translucent. Add garlic, ginger, Garam Masala, and curry powder and cook, stirring until fragrant, about 1 minute.

Add chickpeas and 1 1/2 cups water; bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer about 10 minutes. (For a thinner curry, add another 1/2 cup water and cover to retain moisture). Stir in cauliflower, add spinach to top and cover, let simmer about 2 minutes, until spinach is wilted, and fold spinach into chickpeas.

Stir in cilantro, and any salt or other seasonings to taste.

Serve in bowls, adding tomatoes as garnish (to prevent becoming mushed in the sauce), add additional cilantro if desired.

I loved this recipe with traditional "store-bought" curry so much, I purchased a few ounces each of Lemon Curry and Muchi Curry to try the next time from Sunrise Natural Foods. I have also been roasting more veggies; I like how they turn out, especially tomatoes. Cauliflower is especially nice because it is usually rather bland...roasted gives it a nice flavor and eases the texture up a bit.

Wine Grapes- A Fall Project Revisited

So in the fall, I made grape syrup...from Smith Vineyard & Winery Merlot grapes. They were gracious enough to let me come by the vineyard during harvest, and box up some grapes. They are so beautiful, and smell so nice.

To start, I had to remove stems and leaves. This is a long, sticky process, so I put a movie on and got to work. I picked them right into the strainer and washed them in batches, Then I moved them into bowls. They look so pretty!

That was really the hardest part. I found that gloves help, because there are also spiders and other bugs in the grape stems. After a few crawl across your bare hand....eeek, gloves!

The next part is pretty basic, just like canning any other jam or preserve. They go into a pot, seeds and all, and I poured enough sugar to just cover the grapes. I found that proportion seems to work well, but if you want more jam consistency instead of syrup, you can add more....but it will need to be a lot more, wine grapes do NOT set up like other fruits, even with pectin.

On the stove, medium simmer, covered, for a long time. I usually go several hours on low, to get as soft as possible. While the grapes are cooking, I kept squishing them with a fork to break the skins, and push the fruit and seeds out. This is really important because you cannot eat those seeds, they don't get any softer.

I didn't take a picture of the next part because it was messy, and difficult to stop, but it made all the difference. I strained the grapes in batches through a mesh strainer, rather fine, and squished as much juice out of the skins as possible. Then I poured them into my hot canning jars and put on the lids. When my water bath canner was ready, I placed the jars in, boiled them about 15 minutes, and voila! Completed jars. I made about 24 jars of syrup, and it is dark, rich, and beautiful on ice cream, pancakes, or as a base for a sweet glaze.

Mini Hydroponics

I finally got the hydroponics system I've been dreaming of...if a little smaller than I thought it would be. Living in the city makes for smaller growing spaces.

I bought an AeroGrow garden from AeroGarden, the six pod style, and set that baby up. It was very simple, and is sitting in the kitchen on the counter by the fridge. It makes a great nightlight too.

It's been up a couple weeks now, and I have several sprouts. You leave the little plastic domes on the plant until they hit the top, so only one has escaped yet:

Look at that cute little Dill!!! The Thai Basil (on the right in back), should be just about ready to pop the top soon too. The Mint, to the left of the Dill, is getting bigger now.

I got the herb pack, which came with the garden kit. It's got some great things in there. Just a note, when opening the full kit, the nutrients come with the seed packs...I was worried at first, but there it was!

Sauerkraut

I got new fermenting lids from FARMcurious, and wanted to get started right away. After extensive research, I discovered the easiest, and cheapest, item to try first was...tada! Sauerkraut.

I picked up a head of green cabbage, and got going. I removed and saved the outer leaves, and shredded the whole head on my little mandolin. After sprinkling it generously with sea salt, i started the process of beating up my shredded cabbage.

This is GREAT anger management, by the way. I pounded it until I could pound no more, and it got juicy. I then shoved the whole batch, liquid and all, into a quart mason jar, pushed part of an outer leaf on top to keep it down, added my lid, and stuck it in a corner...and forgot about it.

It took about three weeks for me to decide that we should try it, as we decided on bratwurst for dinner, and sauerkraut on dogs is good. It was fantastic! So I stopped the fermenting by closing the top of the lid and putting it in the fridge.

First experiment went well, and I am looking forward to spring farmers markets to find more goodies to ferment.

Starting Over!

I tried to post about trips taken, and it seems I just can't write about and take enough pictures while I am on them to justify, so I am starting over.

I would like this blog to simply be about the things I am doing, and enjoying. I have been in the kitchen more, doing more crafts, and generally having fun whenever I can.

I hope you enjoy this new version; hopefully I will be able to post at least once a week.

Monterey/San Simeon-Day Three:


In the morning, we packed ourselves up, and started the trek down. It took only three trips this time, and with the loading zone out front, we made it out of our hotel in only 45 minutes…which is still TOO long. We decided part of the way out to stop and eat, so we backtracked, found the least busy café in Pacific Grove; Mauricios, and had breakfast. The food was great diner food; scrambled skillet with avocado, cheese, and hash browns with eggs. Service a hair slow, but the food made up for it. After that it was off to the 17 Mile Drive. The views here were phenomenal. We enjoyed multiple beaches, (those lumps are sea lions)

where I had from the softest to coarsest of sand to massage my now tired feet. Best pedicure I can recommend. I found a few lovely shells, a small crab on his quest for food, and more seaweed than the kelp forests of the aquarium. We stopped just short of the Carmel gate, at the golf resort in Pebble Beach. With a fantastic vista, we sat there for an amazing glass of wine. A couple of competitive blackbirds flew inside, chased each other around a bit for a scrap of food, and easily found their way out despite the picture window.

This was a nice stop before our drive to San Simeon. I was amazed to find just as many wonderful beaches, and a few beautiful stops. We made sure to hit the famous Nepenthe, where we stopped for a glass of champagne, a coffee, and a trip to the shop. After taking a photo of a couple with a view, my first, we headed down to the shop. I bought a floating lotus flower (no Nepenthe magnets) and off we went.

San Simeon was a beautiful place. Just off the town, we found the elephant seals. Massive, brutal, ritualistic animals, lounging on the beach, fighting for dominance, or just out for a meal. Please ignore the man on the right, but watch these two seals fighting, not to the death, just for the win. Amazing creatures.

Our hotel, a basic lodge, seemed to have more amenities than we had thus far. We had food vouchers, a mini-fridge, less stairs, porch furniture, and a great view of the ocean. We ate at the base of the hotel, San Simeon Lodge, a family owned restaurant with a single great presence. A lovely older woman made sure that we were well taken care of, down to boxing our food, running for additional silverware for our room, and generally making sure we were happy. We finished what we could of our meal, took the rest and headed to our room. After sitting and watching the sunset on our “porch” and having a nice conversation from a state disability manager from Fresno, we watched Dr. No, and headed off to bed.

Monterey-Day Two:

In the morning, we were up fairly early, which turned out to be a good thing. After dismounting and mounting the three flights of stairs for our free continental breakfast and coffee, we dressed, and left. We drove to Cannery Row, and actually found a great parking spot. Good idea to get here right before everything is open. We made our way to Monterey Bay Aquarium, noting the various places we may like to check out later. After a brief 10 minutes in line and waiting for the doors to open, we were let in in groups like cattle. It was an amazing space. All the beams, pipes, and structure from the original cannery were still in place. We tried the otters but they must have been up top sunning. I snuck into the gift shop quick for my token magnet, the best choice in my house for a souvenir. We went to the kelp forest instead, tried to see the octopus through a crowd of excited children, and got a chance to touch a few starfish and crabs in the touch pool. The stingrays weren’t playing, however, so no touching today. My videos are rather short.

They had a very cool tide pool wave that you could stand under, under the plexi. Then the wave would come over you like you were one of the rocks in the ocean. Neat. By this point, having skipped breakfast in favor of a croissant and coffee, I was pretty hungry. We stamped our hands to come back later, and went to find food. We landed at the door of Bubba Gump’s Shrimp Company just as they were opening for lunch. We sat on the bay side and looked out on the otters, seagulls, kayakers, and divers. The restaurant has a Forest Gump theme, with a flip-over sign to tell the waiter to stop. The food was tasty, and they were large portions. We couldn’t quite eat it all. I had to get a Bubba Gump magnet too.

Back to the Aquarium. Our invisible hand-stamps let us back into the aquarium without incident, and we went upstairs to finish our tour. We started with the open sea, saw beautiful jellyfish (which I could have watched for hours),

wandered past playful puffins, and zipped over the bridge to the penguins….and apparently all the children too. This was the splash zone, an area just for kids, with just water in thigh high pools and toys in the water….goody. Here we were able to stand under the plexi again, this time with a wave of seaweed overhead. We were at the top of the kelp forest now. This is so peaceful, or it would be. After about a million strollers later we made our way back to the bridge, realizing we had missed the seahorses. I am so glad we went back for them. Such delicate little creatures. 

I was astounded at the tiny jellyfish, but the dwarf seahorse was so small, like a tiny bath toy, smaller really. Something you might out in a dollhouse. By this point, we were getting tired of maneuvering around people, and made our way back onto Cannery Row. Slipping a few more coins in the meter, we went up to the Taste of Monterey wine bar, overlooking the bay with a huge glass window.  

We relaxed there, me with my chardonnay, Dan with his sauv blanc. This was a nice way to relax. Afterwards, we tried a little shopping and headed back downtown. We parked, found a couple of nice shops, moved the car (parking time limits), found a little wine bar/tasting room (Wine from the Heart),

moved the car, shopped the other side of downtown, moved the car the last time, and finally went to the hotel. On the last pass to the hotel, the same street kids were playing the bongos, interrupted by a man from the bar claiming to be “better” on the drums. He was invited to play, and quickly declined. Coward. I slipped out later to view the crowds, and the “lead” kid from this group sent a friend to fetch me for conversation; an apparently drugged conversation. I politely chatted, and escaped back to the hotel.

After, again, a brief nap, we decided dinner and a drink were in order. We called Montrio, the best looking bistro we had been by, who said there were no tables until 9:30. It was 7:30. No. BUT, I had a feeling…we went by there anyway, with our bottle of wine from Wine from the Heart, a corkage Voucher for that purchase, and high hopes. Good call. Apparently there was bar seating and we were seated in moments. We had a little table near the door with a nice windbreak. After reading the short and sweet menu, we had our uncorked bottle and were prepared to order. I ordered a beet salad and truffle tater tots. I was expecting great things from the beet salad, but I ended up not so sure about it. The cheese was not strong enough for the tasty, potent beets, and the whole thing was in a broth-like substance, not a salad. The blood oranges were a nice complement to the beets, but again, the cheese felt like they ran out of the right one. Now, let’s talk about those truffle tater tots I mentioned. These are to DIE for. They are basically a deep fried mashed potato with some cheese in the middle. But I must say, wherever they added this truffle oil, it was perfect. I am a truffle fanatic, so too much or too little is easy, I know, I’ve worked with it myself. This was such a basic food, but so elegantly done, that, for those almost solely, I will eat here again and certainly recommend it to others. The service was quick and friendly, and the atmosphere smart and cozy.

We (tried) to end the night with a martini (giving a second chance to My Attic) at our “local” bar. We walked in, dressed very well, and were completely ignored for 15 minutes. We ultimately walked OUT. We found quick service and friendly people back at the Crown and Anchor. This martini was great, prepared correctly, and on our outdoor/patio spot-table within 8 minutes. Much better. I couldn’t take anymore, and decided we would be best off in our room. Climbing again our stairs, we put on an old movie and fell asleep to the sounds of downtown.