Coasters, dishcloth and can cozy for At My House Group Exchange

I belong to At My House group on Yahoo and participating in the monthly coaster exchange. The rules are pretty simple: By joining this exchange, you are committing to
send 1 coaster made of either yarn or thread (to your assigned exchange partner. It can be either crocheted or knitted.

I crochet 4 coasters, 1 dish/washcloth and a can cozy out of Peaches & Cream, color 180 Peppercorn Ombre. They will go to Pam in Kalamazoo MI, hope she likes them.

The coasters are just 4 rows of double crochet and one of single crochet not really a pattern.

The can cozy/sox pattern can be found here

The Basket Rib Dishcloth pattern is here 

Great Recipes thanks to Becky and Alex!

We had a wonderful surprise on Saturday, April 3rd. Alex and Becky invited us to a cooking class at Great News in Pacific Beach. The class was given by Jean-Paul Weber. Jean-Paul is a native of Alsace, an Eastern region of France which has one of the richest and most varied cuisines in the country.

He prepared four salads, a marinated fish dish and Individual Wild Mushroom Pate in Phyllo Dough with Tarragon Sauce and a Pear and Almond Tart for dessert.

Everything was DELICIOUS!

We made three of the salads and the fish for friends on Friday, April 9 and everyone loved the food. Forgot to take photos but we will be making the recipes again and we'll take photos then

Check the RECIPE page above for the recipes.

Scarf for Superbowl XLVI in Indianapolis 2012

I knitted this scarf with instructions from the Indianapolis website.They are looking for 8,000 scarves for the 8,000 volunteers.

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I used the yarn the committee approved: Red Heart Super Saver, color white 0311 and blue 0385 and size US 8 needles. Other patterns are available on the website.
The pattern is Basket Weave. I knitted the neck part in Knit 2 purl 2 ribbing so the scarf stays in place.

Mid March 2010 KAL - Monthly Dishcloth Group

The pattern is called "Fruited Plains" and the pattern can be found at the Monthly Dishcloth Yahoo Group. I used Peaches & Cream 100% Cotton Yarn, color #184 Colors of Spring.

March 2010 Mystery KAL Dishcloth - Rachel's Knitting Room

This was a fun cloth to knit. I used Peaches & Cream, color #89 Camel and size US 6 needles.
You can find the pattern at Rachel's Yahoo Group

A Sunday morning walk over the Lake Hodges Bridge

Having talked about it for over a year, this morning we walked across the Lake Hodges Bridge. Where to park was our first problem. We parked on West Bernardo Drive by the retirement home and walked on a sandy path next to the street. The path slopes downward and only allows one person behind the other.

Click on the link above to read about the construction.

The West side of the lake finally has water again after many years of drought.

After the rain, the wildflowers and weeds are abundant.

Looking west toward Del Dios.

Walking under I-15.

I decided to walk back towards the East - Via Rancho Parkway, much easier. Many folks with strollers and bikes come that way. Yes, Armin picked me up!

Lunch on the patio - first day of Spring

Warm weather, barbecue - what could be better?

I saw a recipe for two in the Char-Broil's Everybody Grills! book: 

Grilled Chicken Skewers with Grilled Caesar Salad.
 

With a few changes, here are the recipes:

2 - 4oz boneless skinless chicken breasts (we had enough chicken for the next day)

1 cup BBQ sauce of your choice

2 whole heads of romaine lettuce (we used one)

1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil (used less)

1/2 cup shallot, minced (used less)

1/2 cup fresh garlic, minced (used less)

salt and pepper

Bamboo skewers soaked in white wine for 1 hour (didn't use)

1 prepared log herbed polenta (made our own, recipe follows)

1 cup balsamic vinegar

1 jar of your favorite Caesar salad dressing

Cut the chicken breasts lengthwise into four equal slices. Place chicken in a plastic bag with the BBQ sauce; seal and marinate for 1-2 hours or overnight. 

Cut the romaine heads in half lengthwise. Drizzle olive oil over both sides. Spread the shallot, garlic, salt pepper over the cut side of the heads, set aside.

Preheat grill to high. Place chicken on skewers (or not) and grill until the meat reaches 165º. Slice the polenta into slices, grill 5 - 8 minutes on each side.

To make the balsamic reduction, place vinegar in a pan over medium heat and cook until it reduces in syrup. Cool and reserve.

Grill the romaine lettuce on both sides for 2-3 minutes until just wilted. Remove, slice lengthwise, then roughly chop.

Toss lettuce very lightly with Caesar dressing. Place salad, chicken and polenta on plates, drizzle with balsamic reduction. YUM!

We had the same meal today, sitting outside again, enjoying the weather after a walk over the Lake Hodges Bridge.

For the polenta I used this recipe Grilled Herb Polenta step 1 - 4, putting the polenta in the fridge, since I didn't plan this until Saturday morning.