cinderella

Well, that elephant I started yesterday now has his head and trunk, but I got side-tracked with finishing this lovely Cinderella doll before I could finish his ears. Soon, Dumbo. Soon.

The pattern for this doll is called 'sisters' and it's just written as two ladies with different colour dresses. I improvised the pattern a bit to make a Cinderella doll.

I had to wing it for the hair as the original pattern just has the ladies in hats. There must be a better way to get full and voluptuous-looking hair, but I guess my method worked okay. The hair just parts in funny places, like Cindy is suffering from bald spots.

Whatever you want to call these toys -- reversibles, topsy turvy dolls, inside-out dolls -- they make me giddy. I swear, this Itty Bitty Toys book, which has a whole chapter of them, has been one of my best knitting purchases ever. So much fun.

elephant in the room

I'm neglecting my to-dos this weekend, but I have a really really good excuse: I wanna work on a little knit elephant. (details on ravelry)

purple bunny blanket

Here's a completed quilt for my gal. It's her 'purple bunny blanket' since she's got a thing for rabbits.

soft chenille back + plain cottons + a few of my favourite prints =

I've been noticing appliqued animals all over blogland (cute onesies, anyone?) and I was inspired by the lovely quilts here and here to try my hand at it.

My free-hand bunny came out a bit fat plump, but until my kid gets really into aardvarks, I'll enjoy trying to wing it without clip art. Handmade is supposed to have imperfections, right?

Of course, now that I've done one rabbit, I have grand plans for a whole quilt full of critters. We're supposed to be optimistic, right?

squash and lentil curry

Man, I'm on an Indian kick and boy, do I love curry. I'm finding that curries are very forgiving of my lack of knowledge about Indian spices. They're great for dinner, and maybe even better for lunch the next day. What's not to love?

This recipe is one I adapted from this curried soup recipe from Gourmet--adding a couple extra spices and using more veggies but less onion (and adding less water, of course.)

squash and lentil curry

serves 6

3 Tbs vegetable or canola oil

2 Tbs unsalted butter

2 small butternut squash, peeled and cut into 1/2" pieces

1/2 large onion, chopped

2 carrots, peeled and chopped

2 celery ribs, chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 Tbs minced peeled ginger

1 Tbs curry powder

1 teas cumin

1 teas garam masala

1 C red lentils, picked over and rinsed

3 1/2 C water

fresh cilantro

plain yogurt

basmati rice

Heat oil and butter in large pot over medium heat. Saute onion until beginning to soften, then add garlic and ginger. Saute the aromatics a couple of minutes before adding squash, carrot and celery, seasoning the pot with a bit of salt. Cook, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are softened and beginning to brown (15-20 mins.)

Stir in curry powder, cumin, and garam masala. Cook, stirring frequently, for 2 minutes. Add lentils and water and simmer, covered, until lentils are tender (25-35 mins.) Season with salt and pepper if necessary. Serve over basmati rice. Top it all off with a small handful of fresh cilantro and a dollop of plain yogurt.

pintos galore

Quadruple the beans, people!

In a little experiment, I bought some dry pinto beans. I paid what I would have for one can of beans. But after just a bit of soaking (I only ever soak for an hour or two -- anyone know why they recommend overnight?) and boiling for about an hour, I have a potful of beans. That's one pot full! What's that, like the same as four or five cans? But I don't have any BPA-lined cans to show for it, and I'm only out two bucks!

Now I can make chili, try my hand at refried beans, and still put lots in the freezer.

No doubt, more time is required than using a can-opener. But it all can happen before noon and in my book, that's worth repeating in a smug voice. 'This all happened before noon.'

cranberry-lemon scones

All too often, cranberries get paired up with orange in baked goods. Why is that? They aren't that great together (in my humble opinion, of course) and there's a far better option: cranberries and lemon.

Need convincing? Try these cranberry-lemon scones.

roasted cauliflower pasta

We eat a lot of broccoli and nut pasta around here. Roasting vegetables and then tossing them with pasta is molto semplice. So naturally, this recipe for roasted cauliflower and proscuitto pasta caught my eye over at Simply Recipes.

It was earthy, roasty, and salty. Delicious.

kindle cover

I suppose it's time to show you a Christmas gift I made for Jeff. It is February, after all.

Both Jeff and I weren't really keen on the kindle when he got one as a gift from work, but it's grown on us. In those early days of rocking (and rocking and rocking) the babe to sleep, one-handed reading came in very handy.

As it came into our good graces, I decided it needed a handmade cover. Enter this great tutorial. Do you know a kindle that needs a cover?

mocha pot de creme

We have some friends who, whenever they are over, one of them asks, "Is there dessert?" as we are sitting down to the meal. And while the other one, the wife, rolls her eyes and laughs off her husband's faux-pas, I always wonder if he doesn't have a good point. Would it be good policy to let our guests know what's for dessert so they know how much room to leave for the sweet ending?

Not sure why these are called 'mocha' pot de cremes because there isn't a shot of coffee or espresso in them. They're more like chocolate custards. But I didn't name them, Martha Stewart did, so we still call them mocha pot de cremes.

And just so you have all the facts, one requires hardly any room at all. Enjoy seconds and dessert.

mocha pot de creme

serves 4

1/4 C dutch-process cocoa powder

1/2 C + 1 Tbs skim milk

1/4 C low-fat evaporated milk

1 large egg

1 egg white

3/4 C white sugar

pinch of salt

confectioners sugar

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line shallow baking pan with cloth towel and set aside.

Place cocoa powder in medium mixing bowl. In another bowl, mix milks. Slowly whisk 3 tablespoons of the milk mixture into the cocoa and whisk for a thick paste. Whisk in remaining; set aside.

In large bowl, combine egg, egg white, sugar, and salt. Whisk until combined. Whisk in cocoa-milk mixture. Divide among 4 4-oz ramekins. Place in towel-lned pan and pour hot water into pan, until water is half-way up the sides of the ramekins. Transfer carefully to oven. Bake until puddings are set with slightly jiggled, about 50 minutes. Remove from water and transfer to wire rack. Let cool 20-30 minutes. Dust with confectioners sugar and serve warm. Excellent with mint tea.

indian beans and rice

When someone says rice n' beans, I usually assume we're talking about Mexican food, but that just shows my ignorance because it's a super common dish around the world. This Indian version, called rajma chawal (pronounced 'chavel'), is made with kidney beans and it's got umpteen layers of flavour.

In their new cookbook, Vikram Vij and his wife say it felt silly to write down a recipe like this, one so common in an Indian household. But I'm glad they did because I needed help with the spices. They encourage folks to play around with the amounts of spices to find a combo that works for their families. We made the dish as written and it's fairly spicy, but so delicious I doubt we'd change a thing.

rajma chawal

from Vij's at Home

serves 6

1/2 C cooking oil (canola, olive oil, ghee, your choice)

1 1/2 C chopped onion (1 medium)

2 Tbs finely chopped garlic

2 Tbs finely chopped fresh ginger

1 1/2 C chopped tomatoes

1 1/2 Tbs chili powder (mild Mexican)

1 tsp turmeric

1 Tbsp ground cumin

1 Tbsp ground coriander

1 1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp black pepper

1 tsp ground cayenne (optional, but in my opinion, essential)

1/2 C plain yogurt

5-6 C water, depending on how soupy you want your curry

3 14-oz cans kidney beans, drained and rinsed

5-6 C cooked basmati rice

Heat oil in a medium pot on medium-high. Add onion and saute until slightly dark brown, 8-10 minutes. Add garlic and saute for another minute, then add ginger and tomatoes. Stir in spices -- chili powder, turmeric, cumin, coriander, salt, pepper and cayenne -- and saute this masala together until oil glistens on top, 5-8 minutes.

Place yogurt in a small bowl. To prevent curdling, spoon about 3 tablespoons of the hot masala into the yogurt. Stir well, then pour yogurt into the pot. Saute for a couple of minutes, until the oil glistens again.

Add water, stir, turn up the heat to high, and bring to a boil. Add kidney beans, stir and bring to a boil again. Reduce heat to medium and cook for a few minutes, until beans are warmed through.

Serve over rice, adding a dollop of plain yogurt if you wish.