Happy Thanksgiving

Holiday EtsyFest

Laura’s Blog Entry

I have joined together with some other Etsy artists to offer a special Thanksgiving sale, November 28 – December 1. Starting on Friday, I will offer free shipping on all orders at my Etsy store.

The other participating artists are offering individualized discounts. Check out a listing of them here.

Avoid the crowds and purchase some handmade goodness for the holidays! There are lots of special, affordable things for stocking stuffers and teacher gifts.

OK, commercial over. Resume your regularly scheduled blog reading now.

Winter Knitting

Laura’s Blog Entry
There is nothing better than curling up in the evening, or heck even during the day, with a nice ball of wool and some pointy sticks. It’s productive, yet comforting. It lazy, yet I have something to show for it.

As I near my two year knitting anniversary, I have decided that winter is the very best knitting time of the whole year. You get to make mittens for your child… and then she can wear them!

You get to make crazy hats… and give them as Christmas gifts. Except when they are hijacked for use in November. Oh well.

And you also get to knit yourself some fingerless gloves. And let your child model them because they almost fit her because you have freakishly small hands.

This was my first experience with cables and I can’t wait to do more. The twists seem to happen like magic, even though I know how it works.

Once again, thanks to Random Nicole and her gift box. She sent me the Knit Picks Palette yarn that I used for the gloves and mittens plus the mitten instructions.

As a result of all this yarn happiness I’ve decided to cram in two more Christmas gift projects. Hee Hee. I am giddy with knitting joy.

Pattern Guide:
Mittens: “Plain Jane Mittens” by House of White Birches (a brochure). Three strands held together – Knit Picks Palette in black.

Hat: Knitty.com. Pattern: “Jackyll & Hide.” Yarn: Lion Brand Wool-Ease in 99 Fisherman for washability.

Fingerless Gloves: Knitty.com. Pattern: “Fetching.” Yarn: Two strands held together – Knit Picks Palette in Ash.

Zone Out at Work iMix

Neil’s Blog Post

This iMix is a series of instrumentals by several of my favorite bands and musicians.Some times while I’m working on a particularly big and/or time-consuming project, I like to zone out a bit and this is the stuff I listen to do that. While technically speaking, they’re not all instrumentals, they all have that something that simply removes all sense of time while you’re slaving away at your desk or wherever it is that you work. So just set it to repeat over and over again for the whole day and have at it. NOTE: For optimal listening pleasure, set your iTunes preferences to a 6-10 second crossfade. Enjoy!

TRACK LISTING

1. New Order – Elegia from “Low Life”
2. nearLY – Blackwing from “Reminder”
3. Stray Theories – Part of Me from “Eyes Closed”
4. This Mortal Coil – Ivy and Neet from “Filigree and Shadow”
5. Faunts – High Expectations from “High Expectations”
6. nearLY – Liars Day from “Reminder”
7. BT – See You On the Other Side from “This Binary Universe”
8. Trentemøller – Moan from “The Last Resort”
9. Neil Smith – 0006 from “When All Is Said And Done”
10. nearLY – One Day I Was Gone from “Reminder”
11. Nine Inch Nails – A Warm Place from “The Downward Spiral”
12. Neil Smith – 0001 from “When All Is Said And Done”
13. Cocteau Twins – The Thinner the Air from “Victorialand”
14. Cocteau Twins – Otterley from “Treasure”
15. Mogwai – Kids Will Be Skeletons from “Happy Songs for Happy People”
16. Satellite City – Palm Canyon Drive from “Travels”
17. Neil Smith – 0008 from “When All Is Said And Done”
18. Nine Inch Nails – Leaving Hope from “Still”

Still with no pithy catchphrase,
Neil

Sneaking in a Depeche Mode Friday

Laura’s Blog Entry

This just up – a third in-studio video clip. I am loving the sound of things.

Vienna Bread

Laura’s Blog Entry

Cool weather is baking weather. I’ve been trying to bake a homemade loaf every week for toasting at breakfast and for Mari’s lunches. I recently reworked my entire recipe organization system (more on that later) and found this handwritten recipe languishing away in a jam-packed file folder. Who knows where I got it. I made a few alterations to make it slightly easier.

It has the extra step of making a sponge, but the texture and flavor is worth the extra time. Allow about 5 hours, start to finish.

Vienna Bread

This is a soft loaf with a firm crust. It doesn’t dry out quickly, and stores well. I use a stand mixer for the kneading and this recipe reflects that.

Sponge Ingredients
2 ¼ teaspoons yeast
1 ½ teaspoon sugar
½ cup water, heated to 105 degrees
½ cup milk, heated to 105 degrees
1 cup bread flour

Dough Ingredients
1 ½ teaspoons yeast
1 1/2 Tablespoons butter, melted and cooled
1 ½ – 2 cups bread flour
Sponge

Sponge Instructions
In a large bowl, whisk yeast, sugar, water, milk and flour. Mix until smooth and creamy. Cover loosely and let rise at room temperature 1 hour or until bubbly and double in bulk.

Dough Instructions
Add salt, butter, and ½ cup flour to sponge. Mix one minute. Add remaining flour ¼ cup at a time to form a soft dough that just clears the sides of the bowl.

Knead 3 minutes to form a smooth, springy dough. Add 1 Tablespoon of flour at a time if it seems too wet. It should be firm enough to hold its shape.

Place in greased container, turn to coat, cover and let rise at room temperature until double or triple in size – about 2 hours.

Turn out and roll into a log shape to fit a bread pan. Grease the bread pan and put in dough. Cover and let rise until double – about 1 hour. Preheat over for 20 minutes to 425 degrees.

Bake 10 minutes. Reduce heat to 375 degrees and bake additional 25 minutes or until brown and crusty.

Depeche Mode Wednesday

Laura’s Blog Entry

There have been two videos released by Depeche Mode so far, chronicling their work on the new album. Mr. Fletcher is filming. Here they are in all their 55 seconds of glory.

Very interesting sounds, Gentlemen. VERY interesting!

The Pea Pod Café

Laura’s Blog Entry

Melanie Moore has opened a new little vegetarian restaurant in Pleasant Ridge and I shamefully took way too long to get in and check it out.

It’s called The Pea Pod Café and it is a community oriented restaurant that offers organic and vegetarian foods like salads, wraps, soups, quiches and sweets; fair trade and organic whole leaf teas; organic raw fruit smoothies; art exhibits, live music, and community events.

Last week Neil and I had time to stop in for a nice lunch. We enjoyed some absolutely delicious soups – both the pumpkin carrot and the black bean. We also fell in love with the yummy smoothies, especially the seasonal apple cider one. Their menu varies depending on what foods are in season, and you can learn more about it on their website.

They recently kicked off a farmer’s market on Saturday mornings in their community room. We stopped by and got some organic (Andrew, cover your ears) meat and sausage. The farmer also had some fall vegetables, eggs, breads, jam, and he plans to bring his homemade ice cream to future dates.

Live music events happen regularly in the community room and I think it will be a hopping little destination for the neighborhood.

There are many tea selections that I am quite curious about. I’ll be popping back in to investigate those. And get more soup. Yummy, yummy soup! Best of luck to Melanie – go visit her and I promise you’ll feel healthier!

Tres Charmant!

Laura’s Blog Entry

There’s gonna be a run on little French girls for Christmas. I’m just sayin. (Thanks, Divy!)

Compliments Will Get You Everywhere

Laura’s Blog Entry

Check out this short but sweet blog post by my most fabulous and wonderful Mr. Bee. And he is MINE, so hands off.

I’ve never been so pleased to be compared to a corpse in all my life. Love you, Kevin!