Almost Easter

 It's almost Easter, which means I've got an impressive amount of goodies to handle the next couple days. Well.. mostly I need to make a Blueberry Strudel pie (SO GOOD.) but I'm also making rice crispy treats (easy) and Lemon Bars (Also pretty easy). In the wings and probably not being made this week are pecan bars and blueberry muffins.

 We'll be having Easter Dinner at Auntie K's house, probably Ham (last years was amazing, and I don't usually like Ham.) Last year they got it from a farm up the road, and it being locally raised may have made a big difference. Instead of that squishy, damp, sponge meat I'm used to calling "Ham" it was dense, tender, and delicious. There were also amazing baked beans and other goodies, and a nice sense of family community. The first year we did it I felt... enormously awkward and out of place, but last year was better. I felt a bit more like I belonged there, and I hope that continues.

 We colored Easter eggs, including some blown eggs I plan to run ribbon through. I don't know how long they'll last but they would make a fun decoration while they do, and a bit more personal than just hanging plastic eggs.

Creative Cooking, Crockpots, and Funky aromas

 I feel like I've come a long way with cooking since my Husband and I got married and got a house. It helps that we have a stove but no microwave, and it also helps that my husband has been patient with my tedious little baby steps in figuring out how many things taste not only BETTER but some things just outright taste GOOD if there's no microwave involved. I know there's some studies that suggest Microwaving actually destroys FEWER nutrients (I don't know how true they are) than using the oven, but goddamn it does godawful things to the taste.

 I don't think I'd have ever eaten vegetarian lasagna if I had to eat it before, I made it and loved it here, and even MiniMonster ate some. He said "BLEAH!!!" loudly about SOMETHING but ate most of it, so I suspect he got a small chunk of onion. He doesn't mind the taste of onion (onion powder, grated onion dip...), but the texture seems to really get his goat.

 I still have a lot of things I need to work on, like cooking steaks in the oven (or getting the Huzbeast a grill.) But still I think I do pretty darn well, and we eat really well I think. Maybe having two kids younger than three isn't the time to start learning "Long hand" cooking but so far I'm doing pretty well in spite of the extra complication, and maybe I'll do even BETTER when I don't have to worry about little fingers reaching for pot handles if I loose track of someone for more than a second. ((MiniMonster isn't supposed to be within two feet of me when I'm cooking, and we've set rules on where he can stand to watch, but you know... things happen to other people, so they could happen to us too.

 Unfortunately I think we may need to replace the Crock Pot, which is a big staple for me because I can put delicious things in to cook and then get on with my day. Chili's and Curry's and Soups, even BBQ or Pot Roast... but a while ago I noticed that the black enamel had super fine cracks. I can't FEEL them to touch, but I can see them, and the Crock Pot, even when vigorously cleaned, now really kinda SMELLS. Not like food but more like something just... just BAD. I might try boiling some water and pouring it in there, and see if that kills it for a little while, but I think that ultimately we just need a new Crock.

 Sorry Crock, you've been lovely, and I'll really miss you.

Skin

Please pardon me this morning: I've lapsed into the dramatic and the poetic:

Skin

 I keep thinking about the way my family's skin smells, especially Bean, who I have more cause to be constantly snuggled up to than the others. Monster, for example, who smells faintly like some sun warmed wood, maybe sandalwood, and a hint of spice. Tilmani, who's personal scent while a bit like Monsters is more of an aged, sturdy forest with a touch of warm stone. His is particularly hard to describe. Bean smells like real Vanilla, and Cinnamon, just faintly for both, with an whiff of some more exotic aroma tickling around the edges, being impossible to name.

 People who aren't fans of kids are probably turning up their noses right now and declaring that babies and children smell like pee, poop, spit-up, and dirt... and they have times when they do, but those are all odors of incident. They aren't THEIR smell, just smells that happen to end up ON them, the way we create our own more 'notable' aromas by spritzing ourselves with perfume and cologne, deodorant, body wash and shampoo.

 That's what makes these subtle, personal skin smells so intimate. So personal. You have to be right there to catch it. You have to be in the throws of a really good hug, a snuggle on the couch with a little person leaning into you with their head on your shoulder. There's a bit of trust and closeness involved before you can pick up that faint, unique perfume.

 Maybe thats why it's so particularly comforting.

This Yarn Hates Me

I've tried working with the skein of Claudia Hand Painted Silk my friend bought so I could make her something with it, oh, something like twenty goddamn times now. It's constantly ended up frogged, because something ALWAYS. ALWAYS. ALWAYS. Goes wrong.

 This gets even more frustrating when you get a decent way into what you're doing, realize you made a mistake, attempt to tink back, and realize one, tiny little stitch has escaped like Harry Houdini and run back just about as far as it can go and left a gargantuan swatch of destruction in it's wake.

 Seriously this goddamn stuff has me about ready to cry. OVER YARN. I'm just so frustrated at failing with this stuff. I could technically just make a garter stitch shawl and have done with, but after making her daughter a Holden, that feels like cheating. Maybe I could do a garter stitch with this stuff and make her something flashier later? I mean it's really a pretty enough yarn... or would that be copping out?

 I don't know...

Eye of the Storm

 I'm currently enjoying one of those rare and amazing moments when there's actually quiet in the house. Both of the beasties are down for a snooze, MiniMonster in his room and Bean in the Swing chair, curled up under a big ol' blanket I made originally for MiniMonster.

 It's bright colors and maybe a smidge in the 'girly' spectrum, but it's soft and washable and snugly, and they both enjoy curling up under it. I hope they continue to. That's one of the reasons I craft. I like the idea of passing along something that I made with thought and care, to someone who knows how it was made, because it's a little like giving someone a hug they can wear over and over, as long as they know the thought that went into it.

 Maybe thats just me being a little sappy but I think I've got the right to be where my kids are concerned.

OH LOOK. PICTURES! HOW EXCITING!

OK yeah so I'm in my PJs....

Dark Water

This is the Holden Shawlette, ((look for the pattern on Ravelry)). I actually did this one some time back, but never got around to wetting it down and pinning it to block it into shape. So I did.

 It's pinned to one of our bathroom towels on top of an indoor-outdoor carpet in the basement that's there to keep feet from freezing if we dash downstairs to throw something in the laundry. The yarns are Blue Herons "Rayon Metallic" for the stockinette sections, and Dream in Color "Smooshy" for the lace.I originally wanted to do it all in the Rayon Metallic, but the skein had been turned into a gordian knot by impatient winding *cough* I'm looking at you Tilmani...*cough*...So I wasn't able to actually USE all of it. So I switched to some 'Dream in Color' I had around and created my first two color Holden Shawl. I'm actually working on a second one now, but it's for a friends daughter. It's still in the works but I've got a decent photo of it still on the needles anyway.  It's actually kind of wild how much more clear the stitch definition is on the green "Springtime" colorway from Knitpicks than it was with the Plum Paisley Smooshy.