All posts tagged: recipe

week 50 – a holiday cowl pattern, balaclavas, babka buns, and Tucci’s memoir

New Holiday Cowl Pattern Hello! I’ve finished a new cowl. Every winter, I crave something red to go with my black sweaters, especially during the holidays. So, in an attempt to feel like a real knitwear designer (#goals), I decided to get some yarn (Highland Duo alpaca merino wool blend from Cascade Yarns), chose a stitch pattern I liked and tried something on my own. I cast on 50 stitches and knit until the cowl was about 11 inches deep. This yarn will forever be my favorite for things that are close to my neck. It is so soft! I made a blue cowl with it a few years ago. Interested in the pattern? Check out my new Etsy store (a work in progress). After trying the cowl on, I realized it was snug enough to pull over my head like a cap. This got me thinking about the balaclava craze that’s going on in the knitting world. Have you noticed? I first saw one on Petite Knit’s Instagram account and thought they were adorable …

a strawberry tart

baking a strawberry tart for Sarah

It was Sarah’s birthday last week and as usual, she requested a fruit tart instead of a cake. In Marin, you can find strawberries pretty much year-round. Most come from Mexico, but already this week local strawberries are starting to show up in the market, and surprisingly, they are delicious – so sweet! I wish I had bought more. It seems like every time I make a tart I don’t have enough fruit to cover all the custard, but Sarah didn’t seem to mind. Happy kid, happy mom, right? Fruit Tart Recipe Tart dough recipe slightly adapted from my favorite book: Tartine Bakery CookbookPastry cream filling Fruit(s) of choiceJam/jelly for glazing the fruit For the Tart Shell Make sure the eggs and butter are at room temperature. Combine the butter, sugar, and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer. Use the paddle attachment and mix until smooth. Add the eggs, one at a time, until everything looks smooth.  Add the flour all at once to the butter mixture. Blend at slow speed until just combined. …

pork with sage and capers

We’re finally having some beautiful spring days in Marin, so this weekend we decided to go for a hike around Bon Tempe, one of the nearby lakes. “Back in the day,” as Patrick likes to say, hiking was one of our favorite weekend activities. Especially when we lived in Salt Lake City, we made an effort to hike as often as we could. The views from the top of the Wasatch Mountains were spectacular, but Marin has a lot to offer as well! I have several books with Marin trail information. I am not kidding that we could hike a different trail each weekend until we are too old to hike and never run out of options. Both Patrick and I are ready to tackle the pounds we gained last year, and hiking is the perfect way to ease back into exercising more. And with these views and weather, who can complain!? Plus, it’s fun to hike together like we used to. Today, I am sharing a recipe we cooked this week. This recipe has …

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november plans and ideas – wk.47

I was thinking this morning, that on a typical week I find so many ideas for projects I want to try, that I have trouble keeping track of them all. I keep a paper journal where I save photos of things I’d like to make, names of websites I stumble upon and want to revisit, recipes I think we’ll love, gift ideas, etc. My paper journals are complemented with apps like Evernote and Pinterest, and quick snapshots saved on my phone. So, today I had an idea. What if I gave myself a recurring task to review my notes once a week, and select my favorite things to share with you? I got this idea from reading this article on creativity, which I revisit often and has inspired me to try other things like drawing and thinking up my own knitting patterns. I will comb through all my notes every weekend and share them on the blog on Sundays. This will a) motivate me to write more often, b) give all my favorite notes a …