uhm...if my dad didn't read this, it would have swearing

so. i'm a big fat failure. i don't remember if i let you in on my little new years resolution. it's what i call "low pressure" as in, do it if you can, if not, don't worry! it's to cook one new thing a week this year. so i should have 52 new recipes...if i hadn't of skipped a few weeks, and if i hadn't screwed up some recipes. now don't get me wrong, the chili turned out awesome. and i owe it to me. really, i do. the original recipe, boring and awful! so i experimented and it turned out great. not once, but twice! i even made it for my dad and mom and my mom and dad have mad cooking skills (dad not so much in the chili department though). and they both thought it was great! me too. i was amazed. cumin and tomato sauce need to be added. note to self: try blending the nasty onions into the sauce next time. and the other successes include a roast chicken which was so good i didn't mind eating it for the next three days. i'm thinking i should switch to roast turkey breast though because i really only like the white meat. also a success the most amazing brownies with peanut butter icing. holy moly were they good. and also (i forgot) my pulled pork sandwiches on sweet potato biscuits. i did also make the white bbq sauce that was supposed to go on them...that was a failure. which brings me to the whole point of this.

i failed twice this week at two new recipes. number one: salsa. now, how can you go wrong with salsa. it all begins with being afraid to chop things small. i can't chop my onions and tomatoes small enough. but don't worry, i come up with a really really great idea. i'll just blend it! i don't like the chunks in salsa anyways! yeah, well it looks like green cat throw up. green you're thinking...but i thought you made salsa. yes, well apparently when you blend up three jalapeno chilis it will greatly influence the color. and the heat. that is some really really hot salsa. but it's okay tasting. tomorrow i'm going to mix some into my hamburger meat and see what i come up with. should be good. you would think after that i would be done with failing this week. but i'm an overachiever (or would i be an underachiever?) and i thought i would try to make porkchops. porkchops and cassaroles are dishes to me that anyone can make. it's such an...american food that i thought if you were born in america you could cook it. well, i can cook them, just not well. i dredge them in egg, then breadcrumbs then flour. i think the flour was my mistake. and then i put them in a pan with some olive oil. now let me also add i bought the thin cut ones (seriously, i haven't found a recipe that calls for these. someone help me out with that). and i started cooking. i thought it shouldn't take very long so i went to flip them after like four minutes. well wouldn't you know that all the olive oil was gone and after i flipped the chops, they started to smoke...and set off my smoke alarm. which truely did surprise me because i only seem to do that when my inlaws are around (they must wonder why dear husband married me). so i thought to myself what should i do? and i knew i couldn't add more oil to the pan because you never add cold oil to a hot pan (thanks food network). so i got another pan. perfect. and this time i put in LOTS of olive oil. well, that fried the hell out of them and they finished cooking in record time. i ate them anyways because i was starving. they were okay. but bland. SALT! that's what i need to add. good to know. so they weren't a complete failure. but not really great.

so i need suggestions on what i did wrong. or if you have an awesome pork chop recipe (especially one calling for thin ones) please let me know. and i'll try it! hell, if i ate the ones tonight, it can only get better!

and finally. when the recipe says medium high, what does that mean? i assume it means halfway between medium and high. yellow-orange is the color half way between yellow and orange, so it only make sense to me.

knitting funk: still in full gear. another 7 inches of snow fell today. no end in sight.

for next time: lactose intolerant? or just some sort of virus?

february 7, 2008

this is for my sister who asks me why i never blog anymore. the short answer: i broke my camera charger and i can't take photos until my cheapness goes away for a few minutes and i buy a new one. and since knitting is sort of not fun without all the photos, it's hard for me to blog.

BUT i have been knitting and i will describe. my favorite knit piece in my absence would be the fingerless gloves that i made my dear husband. because this is the first thing i've ever knit for him. first. thing. ever. after five years! i have friends that i've knit for who haven't been my friends for five years! i have knit for coworks that i've only known a few months and i've knit them something. so he was due. and i tell you, they're beautiful (well, minus the strange purple hue, i swear they were grey!) but the pattern is dashing and i loved it. it's the first time i've done a thumb this way and it totally rocked my socks off! i think all mittens from now on will go this way. it seemed to help me not get that obnoxious hole in the side, so that was an awesome learning experience! the yarn i used was a hemp/wool combo. not at all what the pattern called for or suggested, but they turned out just perfect anyways. i'm a bad knitter: i pick the yarn i want and then the pattern and i make the pattern work, even if it shouldn't. because i live so far from yarn stores or anything, i usually just wing patterns with what i've got.

speaking of yarn stores, my friend melanie cross opened up camas creek yarns in kalispell. B-E-A-U-T-I-F-U-L!!! it has to be the most incredibly yarn store i've ever been in. like...let me die here wonderful! please stop in and visit her. you won't be able to leave empty handed. and you might go back three times in one day and buy something each time. and not because you forgot something but because you love it so much you don't want to go back home. it's really spectacular--i can't say enough about it!

other than that not a lot is up here. we've had wacky weather. as noted in november, part of our roof blew off due to high winds. well today we've had a blizzard dropping 12 inches since 8 this morning and winds well over 40 miles an hour. you could see a block and a half and that was it. so we've been sticking close to home for the most part and enjoying quietness and the wonderfulness of LOST on dvd. no commercials, no writers strike, and no waiting for a week for the next episode. it's awesome :)


happy les? when do you leave?