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Archive for February, 2009

W.I.P. for St. Patrick’s Day

February 28, 2009 · Filed under Dublin · Tagged knitting, ravelry, st. patrick's day

I joined a KAL, (that’s knit-along for you non-knitters), over at the Dublin Knit Collective for St. Patrick’s Day. So, I’m using a bit more of my huge bunch of tweedy green stuff and making a cabledy bag. It hurts my hand if I do more than one repeat in a row. This is just the top edge. The body of the bag is much bigger and with many more cables. I think I will modify.
One of my favorite online haunts is Ravelry. It has been described as ‘Facebook for Knitters’. It’s rad. I can list my projects and books and needles and yarn and looks up new patterns and see what people all over the world are making and get ideas. You understand. Before I started used Ravelry, it was really easy for me to start projects and forget about them. Now, whenever I log in, they are there. Staring me in my lazy, easily-distracted face. This means I’ve been finishing projects faster than a burning cake. Maybe not that fast. But it’s sort of become an obsession. Oh dear.
Anyway, more about Paddy’s day later. As far as I can tell, it really isn’t that big a deal here, oddly enough. We’ll see.

propped-up1

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Oven Woes and Rejoicing

February 26, 2009 · Filed under Dublin, Home Cooking, Mumbling

We’ve had some bad luck with this apartment.
I swear, we seem to have had a problem with every appliance in this apartment. When we moved in, the boiler was broken and wasn’t fixed until 6 weeks later. This is in the middle of winter.

The washer/dryer sucks. It washes fine, if you don’t mind waiting 3 hours. The dryer function is laughable. But honestly, we weren’t expecting anything great. The dryer in the hotel was the same way. So we just hang our laundry up in the living room, now.

I don’t use the dishwasher anymore. It just leaves soap on the dishes and takes forever, as well.

So, I can deal with these other problems. But the oven? No way. Regardless of the set temperature, it would run for 25 minutes and then shut off. No begging or pleading or adjusting or stern talks could change this pattern. Finally, I discovered that many other people online had experienced the same problem with this oven model. So, we ordered a part, which seemed to be the culprit in our oven, and waited until our trip to Swansea to pick it up (they didn’t deliver to Ireland).
And…a week or so ago….Shane replaced the burned out cooling sensor…and it works!!!!
I’m so thrilled. I’ve made bread twice and muffins twice. I don’t even know what to bake next. It doesn’t matter! I can bake anything I want! 232-bread-side1

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Happy Pancake Tuesday!

February 24, 2009 · Filed under Dublin, Home Cooking · Tagged crepes, culture, pancakes

“What’s Pancake Tuesday?”
That was my question last week at my volunteer job. I was answered with bewilderment. “You don’t know about Pancake Tuesday?”
Eventually, I realized that it’s the Irish equivalent of Fat Tuesday, or Mardi Gras. Duh. But seeing as I’m not Catholic, it took awhile for me to remember the significance of the day. Apparently it’s a really big thing here. Stores take out whole ads devoted to pancake ingredients and fixings. While grocery shopping yesterday, there was a lady set up with a griddle and a big pitcher of batter, ready to entice shoppers with her flat, golden wares.
Anyone who knows Shane won’t be surprised that he was very excited when he heard about the upcoming holiday, although he had trouble believing it, at first. This is one holiday he can definitely get into. Personally, I’m not a huge pancake fan. They’re fine, but nothing earth-shattering for me. But, I guess I’ll make some pancakes this afternoon. I don’t want to buck tradition. crepe-ready-to-eat cooking-crepes

BTW, they were awesome. I found the crepe recipe here: http://www.recipezaar.com/Vegan-Crepes-20437.

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Valentining in Bristol

February 23, 2009 · Filed under travels · Tagged bristol, raw, valentine's day

Bristol was great. I wasn’t sure what to expect, because neighboring Bath is so much more famous, but it was really pleasant. We found the semi-outdoor market in St. Nicholas’ place and various cathedrals, monuments, and green spaces.

Shane and I caught the bus to St. Werburgh’s, where we found our lovely couchsurfing host, Maddie.

After a quick shopping trip, (The Better Food Company was wonderful. Cheaper than Dublin, too), Maddie, her friend Hannah, and I prepared a raw coconut curry, raw rocket and sprouted chickpea hummus, and crudités. I’ve always been kind of suspicious of raw foods that are trying to pass for cooked things, but I really enjoyed the meal and even more, the company. Good conversation, surprisingly delicious food, and glimpses of their adorable cat, Tia.

After supper, we gussied up and headed to a Valentine’s ball to benefit the Big Green Gathering. Shane and I had gone back and forth about whether we wanted to go to the ball. We’re not very good at parties, and Shane doesn’t like dancing, unless he’s just being silly.

However, we had a very enjoyable time. The atmosphere was very relaxed and welcoming and we talked to some fascinating people, ate tasty cake, and listened to music that was in turns awful, awesome, pounding, and chill. Not all the same group, mind you.

The next morning, Maddie took us to the neighborhood of Clifton, where we got to check out the suspension bridge and see Guthrie Road; so exciting.

Back on the bus, to the airport, a short flight, and home again. This was one trip we would have liked to extend. Normally, it doesn’t take long for us both to be worn out and ready to go home. But we would have enjoyed another day or two in Bristol to hang out with our new friends and explore the area a bit more.

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Swansea Again

February 19, 2009 · Filed under Uncategorized

Our friend Graham is living in Swansea, Wales and running a bimonthly poetry reading, as well. On Thursday, we made our way over to the UK so Shane could do a feature and show off his new chapbook, “Inverted Umbrella”.

complete with hand-stitched binding

The reading wasn’t until 8:30pm, but we had to leave home at 9am.

First we took a bus, which was just fine and timely. b-at-bus-stop

Then we took a plane, which was about 15 minutes late.

Next was another bus, which was fine

Then one train, an hour late

The lovely and disorganized Bristol Temple Meads

And another train which was on time

Finally, after approximately 9 hours in transit, we made it to Swansea, about 120 miles from Dublin. Huh. swansea-station

After some tasty curry, we went to Mozart’s Wine Bar for the reading.

I married a celebrity!

I crocheted through most of it. I would have brought my knitting, but I’m paranoid about getting my tools taken away in airport security.

The reading went very well and we met some lovely people.

crochet makes me angry?

The next day brought wandering around Swansea, checking out the park and amazing duck pond (more like a duck lake) brynmill-park

Swansea University: swansea-u

Charity shops, the central library:

I love the library

The beach:

It looks chilly, but the weather was even worse during our visit in June.

It looks chilly, but the weather was much worse during our visit in June.

And we went to the surprisingly extensive waterfront museum. We intended to eat at Govinda’s, but they were closed for the evening.

Don’t worry, we found food, eventually, walked home to play games with Graham’s landpeople, and later we met up with some of the people we’d met at Mozart’s at the Uplands Tavern. uplands-tavern

The next morning, we bid Graham and Swansea adieu and settled onto a train bound for Bristol and full of rugby fans headed to Cardiff.

Shane is not amused by the beer-swilling teenagers across the aisle from us. Actually, he is. We both thought it was pretty funny, if annoying.

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A few yummies

February 9, 2009 · Filed under Dublin, Home Cooking, Sweet Tooth

: Donut Holes for Chinese New Year? Of course!

This baked donut holes recipe is from “Lickin’ the Beaters” by Siue Moffat. Chocolate with icing sugar on the left and spice with cinnamon-sugar on the right. I was a little concerned by the lack of oil in the dough, but they turned out fine. The texture was a little chewy, but that might have been because I handled them too much. They kept sticking to my hands.

: Dinner last night

I got some wide rice noodles from Asia Market and I knew I wanted to make swimming rama to go on top. So, I boiled the noodles, steamed fresh spinach, made Isa’s peanut sauce, and Shane prepared cornstarch-dusted, frizzled tofu. Upon steaming the spinach, I realized there would be a very small green factor, so I steamed some broccoli, too. This was one of those dinners I wanted to eat a lot more of, even though I was quite full.

: Stop me before I eat the whole thing!!

Our oven sucks. One of the sensors is broken, so it shuts off after about 30 minutes. This means I have to choose my recipes carefully and work quickly. Due to this predicament, we haven’t had cake since…I guess since we left the states. But I realized my favorite German chocolate cake recipe only needs to bake for 15-20 minutes! So, I made a cake yesterday. So awesome. Then I started hoping that games night would still happen this week, (I like to bring sweets to share), because keeping an entire cake in our house is a dangerous thing.

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Medieval Beanpod Slippers

February 5, 2009 · Filed under Old Time · Tagged knitting

I’ve been meaning to make myself some slippers for months. However, other projects always seem to get in the way. I’ve also been having trouble finding the ‘perfect’ pattern.
A couple of days ago, I had an idea for how slippers could work in one piece with minimal weaving.

Basically, I thought I could start with a toe, in the round, on double-pointed needles, knit the foot, and then when I got to the ankle, work back and forth, (instead of in the round), to leave an opening for the foot, knit until I got to my heel, and weave the ends together.
I tried it out.
I’m am very pleased with the results.
Shane remarked that they look like beanpods, and I think they look like those pointy medieval shoes. Thus, the name.

The way I made them, I ended up with plenty of comfy toe room, but I suppose you could start with more stitches if for some strange reason you aren’t into medieval style.

All measurements are for my feet which are US size 8.5 (39 EU)

My gauge was 9 stitches to 4″ in stockinette in the round.

I used size 13 (9mm) needles and about 1 1/2 skeins of Bouton d’Or Orlov yarn, (a hand-me-down from a friend) but by all means, use whatever needles and yarn you have to get this gauge.

Cast on 3 stitches using Emily Ocker’s circular cast-on. Place stitches on 3 double pointed needles.

Mark beginning of round

Toe

Round 1: knit

Round 2: (k1, m1) 3 times

Round 3: knit

Round 4: (k1, m1, k1) 3 times

Round 5: knit

Round 6: (k2, m1, k1) 3 times

Round 7: knit

Round 8: (k3, m1, k1) 3 times

Round 9: knit

Round 10: (k4, m1, k1) 3 times

(18 stitches)

Foot

Knit until slipper reaches ankle [for my foot this was 20 rounds, (30 total), to make approximately 8 "]

Ankle

Round 1: Turn, sl1 pwise, p17

Round 2: Turn, sl1 pwise, k17

Repeat rounds 1 and 2 (4 times for 8 rows)

This will leave an opening at the top of the slipper for your foot

Heel

Round 1: Turn, sl1 pwise, k17

Round 2: Turn, sl1 pwise, p8, p2tog, p8

Round 3: Turn, sl1 pwise, k17

Round 4: Turn, sl1 pwise, p6, p2tog, p1, p2tog, p6

Round 5: knit

(15 stitches)

Finish

Cut yarn, leaving a 10-12″ tail.

Using a yarn needle, weave together the stitches on needles 1 and 3

You now have 3 remaining live stitches. Thread tail through 1 stitch, pwise, then sew through heel fabric, then through another stitch, alternating until you have satisfactorily closed up the hole.

Tie off the yarn inside the slipper and weave in ends

Make another one!

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Greystones to Bray

February 1, 2009 · Filed under Ireland, Outdoor

Two weekends ago, Shane and I took the DART (Dublin Area Rapid Transit) to Greystones in Co. Wicklow. We then took the Cliffside walk (approximately 7 kilometres) into Bray and caught the DART back to town. It was good to wear our hiking boots again, the weather was surprisingly agreeable, and we got to see sheep and messed up fences on the way.