Deb on the Web

Healthy eating

So I'm looking at healthy foods that still make people happy right now.  It has been very hard in household of Italian cooking to say no pasta, bread, pizza and definitely no sugar.  But enjoy dinner honey!  And honestly how many of us really need to eat all of these carbs anyway?  So going out has been interesting--sushi has always been a favorite, but there is sugar in sushi rice.  Sashimi  just needs to become a favorite now.  Italian food?  Try the entrees instead.  Have a salad instead of the salami antipasta.  Wine is fine with food so finish your glass instead of having dessert.
At home snacks need to become popcorn (organic), fruit (although that can be bad too!) and trail mix.  Tea (which I love) is becoming even more popular in our house.  Water getting boring?  Buy some with bubbles!  Lemon flavored Perrier is a fun treat.
Cooking at home can be a fun new challenge.  I have a friend that writes a column for Culinate.com.  We were talking about cooking in parchment the other day.  My favorite asian meals are often prepared this way--cook some rice ahead (brown for us) with ginger and finely chopped herbs.   I make seperate parchment envelopes for each person.  So in each I put rice on the bottom, place a piece of raw fish (ling cod is perfect for this) on top and around this I put pea pods, asian greens or par boiled harder vegetables.  I season with a little sea salt and fold the whole thing up.  The envelopes now go in the oven or under a broiler for a few minutes (10 at the max so it doesn't overcook).  Each person gets a perfect amount of food (no worry of overeating with this) it is a fun presentation on the plate with a salad on the side.
How about serving some green tea in decorative small cups to go with the theme.

I am in the mode now!  Next time I'll be talking about a couple of good cookbooks I've found.
I do have to say that the most important thing I am finding is to gradually change versus overhauling one's life.  The stress of change is just as unhealthy.
Oh and joining a gym!  Haven't done that in many years.  Swimming is the new bike riding since riding in the rain is just not my cup of tea.  And they have yoga so both of us will be happy.

A catch up post

It was so wonderful to be taken out of my normal schedule for my friend's visit.  Five days of talking and talking (a little bit of knitting) and talking (some great food) and talking.
The Race for the Cure was amazing--40,000 people downtown.  I knew my mom was there somewhere, but I also knew I would never see her.  We had 9 walkers and 1 runner from Nostrana and we were getting donations right down to the time we walked out the door.  Gotta love that!
Oregon Flock and Fiber was short but always sweet;)  I was very good about purchases--a stop at Blue Moon got me 2 skeins of "Mill Ends" A beautiful skien of Seduction (merino/tencel) in "Blue Brick Wall" and a little fun for the holidays I'd been eyeing "Gingerbread Dude" online for a bit.  The lightweight appealed to me more than the other weights I have to say.  I was also gifted some beautiful blended fiber by my dear friend.  More on that when I start spinning it.  And folks that is it for me and the shopping at OFFF this year.  Pretty shocking.  It was so fun just to show all the fun fibers and yarns available I was satiated.  I was sad not to be able to locate booths for A Swell Yarn Shop and Abundant Yarn and Dyeworks.  60 minutes was just not long enough for a fiber fest.  However, work did call (and lunch too).
A little mail that flew in over the weekend This is from Cary and it is from a swap past.  She knit me a sock and sent the yarn and pattern to knit the second.  Fun!  And I love it.  Here is a bonus Cary added to the package Fabulous fiber from her sheep!  I love it!

I have more to add, but it has taken me quite a while to get this out of my head.  Talking about more serious stuff tomorrow.

Busy Weekend

As my houseguest is in the shower I thought I'd jot down a few thoughts on the last week and this weekend.  A very! dear friend of ours is having her (almost) annual running away from home weekend.  DH and I have planned the food part of the trip and I the rest.
Today is the one chance we have to visit Oregon Flock and Fiber!  blogless Cyndi is a new knitter and I am going to corrupt her and how:)
Tomorrow is Komen Oregon's Race for the Cure!  Team Nostrana will be representing with the addition of a bit of Reno along;)  I didn't do a big fundraiser here since I have recently hit you all up for money.  Our team didn't do so well on the extra fundraising, but just signing up and a few local donations have us at $800.  Pretty good. 
There will also be trips to Powell's, eating at both our restaurants and other places that are new since the last visit.  A great weekend over all.  Most of our time so far has been all about yakking.  About 30 seconds from pick up time with only sleep shutting us up:)  I love that!

Also on my mind--this week I found out that a friend of mine has MS.  That along with my dad being diagnosed with Parkinson's a couple of weeks ago and DH's Diabetes has me thinking a lot about medications and supplimental therapies.  I have always looked to food as medicine, but now I am very interested in looking at food, herbs and exercise in a theraputic way.  Your be hearing a lot of these thoughts in the near future.  If you know of sites I should visit or articles I should read pass them on.  I'll be doing the same.

Off to have some fun!

Fan Club

Did you ever have that actor that you always knew exactly what you would say if you ever met them?  Well I got to meet that person tonight--David Ogden Stiers.  Now I'm sure you're wondering why him.  Well he is from the same area as my grandmother's family and he looks just like my great uncles.  I have always wanted to introduce myself and say 'hey, I think we are related'.  Well I did and he looked at me and said 'no we are not'  in only the way that Charles Winchester III could have.  I almost laughed!  I wasn't even insulted.  It was so fun to have finally "acted out" my fantasy scenerio:)
Speaking of fans--I am a huge fan of Amy King's Spunky Club.  And this week I finally knit something from the rovings I spin up! This is about 2 oz of shetland in the "Celebration" colorway.  The pattern is from the new Knitty--Foliage.  You can't see the lace work unless it is on a head.  This yarn is pretty springy.  I love it!

Let's amend that last post

I'm feeling better today.  I got photos uploaded this morning--stocked older projects on Ravelry.  And here is a little tour around the Nostrana kitchen (with little stops at the stove here and there)-- There's the beginning of that soup mentioned yesterday!
I still don't feel like I can show off my sock club yarns, but here are the boxes I know really no fun at all!  There will be sock excitement soon I promise:)
So who else is in the Fall mood already?  It has been pointed out to me that I am already wearing a fleece lined vest and wool stockings.  I can't help it I'm ready (it goes with the bean soup).  So I am ready to bring back the DH aran sweater last seen in this post.  However, as I have signed up for a class the Ruth Brown Reinsel(so excited) I feel I should wait until after the class to continue.  I am seriously considering ripping the whole thing out and making it a top down piece.  It is a conundrum! 
Back to the baby blanket for me.  I took it to the shower last night where it was oohed and aahed over.  However I think that little one might come a little early so I need to get a move on!
While knitting I have two new (to me) podcasts to which I'm listening--Sweaters for Dragons and Stash and Burn.  Both are great.  It is interesting to me that I enjoy podcasts by male knitters as much as females.  I am finding that I really do like a podcast with some music in it, but the only podcast I enjoy that gets off topic is Lime and Violet.  Others that get off topic I tend to get rid of.  Interesting.

I got me a bug

Well I guess the seasons they are a changing.  As I have the first flu bug of the season to prove it.  I've tried to talk myself out of it for days.  If I just take it easy I'll be fine.  No knitting guild on Thursday, no work on Friday so I could work Saturday (I didn't have anyone else to work).  I made it 6 hr and then at 7:30 when the rush hit so did my tummy.  I think it was the kitchen heat and starting to move faster than my head could take.  I yanked a busboy into the kitchen (he loves it when that happens thank goodness) and ran home.  My tummy has calmed but I got no energy. 
Not even enough to load fun pictures!  The only bonus to being home sick the other day was the arrival of 2! sock club boxes (imagine pictures here).  Both A Swell Yarn Shop and Woolgirl have jumped on the club wagon and I'm so very happy they have!  Lovely yarn, terrific patterns and goodies galore!  I really can't show the inside of these boxes yet anyway as many have not yet gotten their packages.  I wouldn't want to blow any surprises.
In other knitting news I have not finished the entrelac baby blanket for a shower-TODAY-but I have high hopes that I will beat the baby's arrival:)  I do have a darling Cowichan sweater from a class I took a couple years ago (just been waiting for some sweet someone) and a little vest made from Rowan cotton in a denim tyedye look.  I still need to do some shopping before tonight's party.  So if my energy could find me now I'd be greatly appreciative.
I also have some lovely pictures on my camera of cooks cooking great food.  I took a liite tour around my kitchen the other day to catch some "in action" shots.  It all started with a pot of fresh shell beans cooking into soup.  They are definitely my favorite part of fall.  Shell beans cooked in a meat (or veg) broth with fall greens, herbs and just dug carrots.  YUM!  I can write about food, but eating it forget about it.
Well now that I have spread my bug around the World Wide Web I will go back to lurking on other blogs and Ravelry (yes that is the reason I have been blogging less).  I'll try not to leave any germs behind;)

New Knitty is Up

And there are some great patterns.  A lot of new to Knitty designers as well as some favorites.  Here are the  patterns I really want to knit up (if only there were more time in the day!)--
Neiman

Pecan Pie

Tussie Mussie

Muir

Woodins




 

NYT Sunday book review

There are Sundays where I get so absorbed in the reviews.  Today was that kind of morning.  Here are the  books I can't wait to read:

Brother, I'm Dying, by Edwidge Danticat

The Zookeeper's Wife, by Diane Ackerman

And a couple that also look interesting and fun (the second)

The Sacred Quest, by Louise E Langley

Baltimore or, The Steadfast Tin Soldier and Vampire, by Mike Mignola and Christopher Golden

Lastly, I am a great fan of Gregory McGuire books!  I was so thrilled to see an advertisement for his new book--What The Dickens.

Oh yea

The reason I was blogging in the first place yesterday was to post a finished sock! This is the first anklet from the August shipment of the Rockin Sock club.  I love this pattern.  I think I probably should of knit about a half inch more before starting the toe, but hopefully a bit of blocking will take care of the length.  I started the second one right away, but had to rip out most of what I started.  I don't know what I was thinking--garter stitch instead of stockinette.  Knitting when tired is not a good idea!
Big sale at AYD yesterday.  I had planned on sitting this one out, but a Gino's customer cornered me the night before in the restaurant and couldn't believe I wasn't going.  As I felt the need to just put in a presence;) I dropped by before work and picked a 15% discount candy bar (yum).  I left with 5 projects (I haven't photographed yet).  But realized later that I had used my credit card to pay.  Umm yea, that kind of wiped out the discount.  doh!

You gotta check these out!

I friend forwarded me the link to these tasty morsels.