Taste test

Just because I haven't been blogging for a little bit doesn't mean I haven't been reading other blogs. I've always read other knitting blogs, and I've been reading other food blogs for a little while, but this was the first week that I actually decided to try some recipes from some of the blogs I read. Judging by how the recipes came out, I think I'll be doing this more in the future.



The first thing I tried are these Spicy-Sweet Glazed Pretzels and Nuts from the blog Everybody Likes Sandwiches. This came out sooo good! The glaze is amazing, at first when you eat it it's yummy sweet, and crunchy and buttery. And then that spice sneaks up on you on the back of your tongue and then you realize you must eat more! Besides being so tasty and delicious I'm thrilled to add this one to my repetoire of gift recipes. The pretzels make me the happiest. I'm a big pretzel eater. I eat them plain as an almost daily snack. In a gift recipe they're a nice change of pace from plain nuts or cookies all the time. Plus-not to sound like a penny pincher, but pretzels are super cheap. And when you give as many food gifts as I'm giving this year (translation-I bought 8 pounds of butter at Costco and STILL HAD TO GO BUY MORE) cheap tasty fillers are very appreciated!

The other recipe I tried and liked was the Crockpot Chicken Makhani from A Year of Crockpotting. Sorry I missed out on a photo op, this was made on a busy day, but there's a photo if you follow the link. I love this blog so much. Nothing holds Stephanie back, she makes everything in her crockpot, chocolate, beverages, side dishes, dips, you name it! Once in awhile she has Fondue Friday, which is just so fun. Because who doesn't like fondue? Anyway, I knew this was going to be good before it was even cooked. The spices smelled just like when we get takeout from our favorite Indian place down the street. And when it was done, it tasted just like it too! Complex and fragrant and creamy and wonderful. Delish! I don't think this will be the last recipe I try from this blog either.

December happens

So I know I haven’t blogged in a long, long time and I miss it. It’s sad, it’s just there is always so many thing I always want to do and never enough hours in the day, never, ever. November was a crazy month for me. First I went to Stitches East with these fabulous ladies.



Oh my god we had such a good time! The laughing and the food (and the drinks, oh yes, the drinks) and of course oh the yarn! Such good yarn. I promise to take a picture for you soon I promise it is very, very pretty.

And then almost immediately after Stitches I went on a cruise! The husband and I went on Royal Caribbean’s Adventure of the Seas out of Puerto Rico to Aruba, Curacao, St. Martin and St. Thomas. It was wonderful. We relaxed a ton. We didn’t even do any crazy scuba or sightseeing excursions or anything like that. Most days we laid on the beach, and then laid by the pool. Ate a lot, napped a lot, caught up on some reading it was wonderful.

And then Thanksgiving hit and now somehow I’ve found myself drop dead in the middle of the Holiday season! And I’m up to my elbows in cookie flour and wrapping paper and decorating and loving every minute. And I’m still knitting Christmas gifts too! This a sock for my godmother. Hope to finish these soon!



You can see I'm knitting on my lunch break in my car here. I took this photo then because it's dark so early nowadays, there's never any natural light. It's been hard to get good photos and this has made it hard to blog. Also must make deadline! Must make deadline! I do not want this to be the first year I give a gift with the needles still in it, I don't! I fear that is a slippery slope I just don't want to go down. I also have to knit through lunch because of course the baking at home has cut into the knitting time in a big way. I would say this stresses me out but I don't know, there's just something about giving lots of plates and baskets of cookies that makes me really, really happy. Cookies make it hard to be stressed.