foodie penpals - round 1!

I signed up for Foodie Penpals this month, and I am so so glad that I did! The way it works: the organizer sends a spreadsheet at the beginning of the month and each person is given a person to shop for. The person you're shopping for isn't the person who shops for you, so you have two people to chat with each month (twice the fun!). The price limit is $15, and you can take any approach you want with it - a few big things, several smaller things, ingredients to cook with or snackish items. Endless possibilities.

So this month Chris was writing to me. She did a ton of leg work go find out the details on gluten-free foods, and she did an amazing job of shopping for me. First of all, just look at the adorable job she did of wrapping each piece:

Apologies for the grainy pics, I was excited to unwrap and consume, so I used the camera on my phone.

So what did I get?

Glutino Gluten Free Pretzel Twists. Yes. Yum. Love them. When I initially went gluten-free I ate these all the time. All. The. Time. Then at some point they just slipped out of the rotation, but now they are solidly back in. I took half the bag and dipped them in chocolate. I had intended to post photos of that, but while it is easy to make chocolate-dipped pretzels delicious, it is very difficult to make them look fancy. Or even decent. Anyway, they were amazing!

Pamela's Dark Chocolate Chocolate Chunk Cookies. Wow. I've had Pamela's chocolate chunk and peanut butter chocolate chunk cookies, but I've never ever seen these here. I had declared that I wouldn't have them until I had a mug rug to enjoy them on, and that lasted like 9 days. Not bad. I finally opened them up this week and crumbled them on top of vanilla ice cream. Wowzers. I've sealed the rest away to wait on a mug rug, and if I ever find a box in stores, I'm totally making a pie crust with them.

Justin's Almond Butter. Regular AND chocolate. I've been saving these bad boys for a day when my schedule is slammed and I'm in need of a mobile snack. Apple + almond butter = happy Tif!

Organic Peppermint Tea. This is one of her favorites, so I can't wait to try it. In the past few years I've really been digging minty things, and I'm always interested in trying new teas. Ultimately, I think that Foodie Penpals is perfect for me because I tend to buy the same things over and over and this will break me out of my ruts.

Thank you, Chris, for the delicious treats and for breaking up the monotony!

This month I was writing to C over at Girl Meets Happy. She's gluten-free, so I t00k this opportunity to buy her some things that I love and some that I'm too cheap to buy for myself. Can't wait to hear her review - check out her blog to see her thoughts on my picks, and for workout inspiration!

WIP Wednesday - two-at-a-time socks

I'm STILL working on my sweater, and I'm still working on these two-at-a-time socks. To be fair, I really haven't knit much lately because I've been sewing (and reading and cooking and working), but I'm ready to pick them back up and finish. The yarn is really grabby, so it's kinda driving me crazy...but looking at this pic reminds me why its worth it. Love the colors, gotta stick it out.

huevos rancheros!

I have a love affair with huevos rancheros. It all started about two years ago when I ordered the dish for the first time (in my whole life) at SunnyPointe in Asheville. I had a crazy migraine and I was trying to rally for a day out at the Biltmore with Jose and his family, so I pulled out all the stops by ordering a diet coke and huevos rancheros, simply because it was the spiciest thing on the menu.

It doesn't make sense that I'd never had huevos rancheros before because 1) I really don't like breakfast food and 2) I love Mexican food. This is literally the most un-breakfast breakfast that there is. As soon as I realized that I could have this very delicious dish in place of eggs and bacon or pancakes, there was no turning back.

Since then I've cooked it a half dozen different ways, always declaring that the most recent iteration is my favorite. It just occurred to me that I should start posting the recipes so that I remember for next time.

Ingredients:

corn tortillas, lightly steamed

chorizo (GF, from Whole Foods)

bacon (baked until crispy then chopped)

black beans (with an ounce of recaito cooked in)

shreeded cheese

sour cream

eggs, over easy

I took the corn tortilla and piled it high with all the ingredients, leaving the egg for last. I cut into the egg, allowing the yolk to spill out and make the whole thing more juicy and flavorful.

SO GOOD. Seriously. I don't like eggs over easy unless they are in some version of huevos ranchero. To be fair, I don't really like eggs, so that says a lot about this dish.

Mods for next time: goat cheese instead of shredded cheese. Yes, please!

honey cowl - FINITO!

The honey cowl is finished. Ends sewn, blocked. And it's been worn a few times. Truthfully, I finished it weeks and weeks ago and I've been slack in posting it.

My two cents - it's a nice, mindless pattern, and I loved knitting with the MadTosh yarn. It was really soft and plush, and the color variation was nice to watch unfold. For the right pieces, I would definitely use it again. So, if anyone wants to gift me some, I'll totally take it. I mean, that's the kind of nice person I am. You can count on me.

The name of the band is...

I love Cowboy Mouth. So much. And I know I've talked about that at length before, so I'll spare you. Here's what you really need to know. I caught a drumstick. YEP! I caught the second drumstick tossed, and it was during the first song of the night - Light it on Fire. So awesome.

We were this close to JTG all night!

AND, we each caught one of his guitar picks. Jose actually caught one that he threw specifically to him, because he liked the way Jose wore his red spoons. If you don't know what THAT is about, you should definitely, definitely go to a show near you and/or buy and download one of their shows. now.

This is me with my drumstick and pick, post-show. Smug mug.

This is me with Cassandra, the hottest bassist this side of Mike Gordon.

And this is Jose with Fred.

upcycling t-shirts into pillows

Jose has several Phish shirts acquired during years of fanhood and touring and show enjoying, but not enough for a quilt or any other large projects. When we pulled them all out to look at them, I realized that they would probably make pretty good throw pillows. We've painted most of our walls grey to serve as a backdrop for colorful art and accents, and these shirts are certainly colorful. Plus, you know I love adding some sentimental touches wherever possible.

I looked at patterns, but couldn't really find one that I liked. So I made it up. And surprisingly, it turned out well!

And the back:

Jose helped me pick the fabric, which is fun. We have four or five to go...looking forward to having them finished! By the way, thanks a ton to Tina for the interfacing tip. The stuff is magic.

pugz

Ever seen anything cuter? Not likely.

pizza & subs

Some old favorites are hard to duplicate as gluten-free dishes, but we're getting better at it. Which mostly has to do with finding better products. Against the Grain has FANTASTIC pizza crusts and baguettes, which make pizza and hot subs possible once more!

This is a fresh mozzerella and sausage pie with Jose's homemade sauce (yum!). The sausage was freshly made at Whole Foods and we chatted with the maker herself to find out what was in it, and to confirm that it's GF. Hooray for nice people!

We bought some additional sausage and Jose made meatballs to go with his amazing sauce. We had just enough leftovers for an easy meatball sub dinner. Seriously, that was the best meal I've had in 2012. We used to do the meatball sub thing pretty regularly, but I hadn't been able to have one since last April. Being gluten-free doesn't kill me the way I thought it would, but it certainly does make me appreciate the little things in life!

fun with paper!

I went to a card making party that my friend Robin had a few weeks ago. Initially I was intrigued because all the things she makes are so beautiful, but I was really skeptical about whether my finished projects would be any good.

Surprise! They turned out pretty well! Admittedly, it's because I was modeling mine after one that was already done...but having seen some of my past paper projects, I was pleasantly surprised.

And I want to do it again! Instead of going full steam ahead and buying lots of supplies, I'm opting for the class route...and you can too! Check out the class instructor's website and order stuff or sign up!