I got my write on!

It sucked. But it felt soooo goood.

I may even write some more of it. Or maybe something else. Who knows? But it felt good to get some quiet time in a noisy coffee shop and write some words.

If only I could get some knitting done, I'd feel a good deal less creatively constipated.

It's possible that there may be some new yarn in my future, so maybe I'll get an impetus to knit again, too. It's the dark time of the year, though, so that may be retarding my ability to feel creative in any real way. I just have to push through, I guess.

If only it weren't so hard.

How do I always do this?!?

Solve problems way past the eleventh hour, I mean.

I have a scarf I wanted to knit for a friend, for her conjoined birth/giftmas days. So I've been trying and trying and trying different methods to get it to do what I want -- with little success. I finally put it in the naughty corner and went off to do other things.

Her holiday complex is in less than four weeks now, so it's too late to get it done -- even if I knit my fingers to the bone for it. I have no interest in knitting that hard on anything.

So she gets lamps, instead. But now that I know there is another possible solution to the problem I've been having with this project makes me feel a little better. I've been having some...issues with cognition and creativity this year. So much of my mental ability has been stifled, so to get an idea like this, for free.... yeah. That's awesome.

And of course I have to have this idea on a day when I'm beyond exhausted and overtaxed. Great. I haven't got the energy to do anything, but at least I know what I will do when I get my energy back.

Until then, I'll be hiding in this pillow pile with Rex. All snuggled up and warm and smooshy.

I may have found the next best thing in pasta....

We went to a family style Italian restaurant for my aunt's birthday today, and due to my food allergy I had to cobble lunch together from bits and bobs. I might have found the best pasta dish ever:

1 plate of perfectly cooked spaghetti (it's wonderful if done right)
1 large platter of caprese salad (mozzarella, tomatoes, basil leaves, salt, pepper and extra virgin olive oil)
a little more salt

Cut up the salad, top it with more olive oil and some excellent balsamic vinegar, nosh. It tastes like summer and heaven and sunshine.

I had half this afternoon, half tonight (even though I wasn't even hungry -- I just needed that balsamic vinegar, tomato and cheese). I'm starting to think of other things I can add to spaghetti when there's good oil and vinegar involved. Although it would also be excellent all on its own -- oil and vinegar and pasta? Awesome.

Oh, my blob. Is this turning into an ersatz food blog?

I don't even know what I'm doing.

Honestly, I have no idea.

But I know that when I don't write, when I keep the words bottled up, my stomach problems get worse. I've been bottling up a lot of words. Granted, what I write here isn't all that much, but I need to get myself back in the habit.

So, here I am.

At least I can report that I've been enjoying French toast casserole all summer. It's lovely.

I haven't been knitting (although some of this is due to Rex still being a bit of a wool moth, and part cat), I haven't been writing. Working and watching old Law & Order reruns. I gave up on CSI, they got weird there at the end.

Although I have been working on some things at knit night, so at least there's that. In between trying to hold myself together with both hands and having what felt like a nervous breakdown, that is. And I've got some new projects I'd like to work on, but first I have to find time to do it.

Hopefully, starting up the blog again will hold me accountable, and I'll be able to have some kind of routine to make me feel...comfortable again.

And we have a winner!!!

I have found my go-to French Toast casserole recipe!

Well, I've innovated it. I had to combine two different recipes to get here, but now I can sleep secure knowing that, should I ever need to serve brunch to people, I know precisely how to put the French Tioast casserole together.

I combined the most fragrant of the custards (let's be honest, with really excellent vanilla, the Pioneer Woman's Baked French Toast has a nice, basic custard base) and the best topper (the caramel on the Skier's French Toast Casserole is...mind-shatteringly fabulous) and made the French Toast Casserole la prima.

Here it is:

Surly Knitter's Super Duper French Toast Casserole

You will need: 9 x 13 baking dish, oven, and a spoon to get it from the bowl into your mouth. You will definitely want to get it there efficiently.

Ingredients

For the caramel:

1/2 cup butter -- one stick, for Americans playing at home

2 Tblsp corn syrup, light or dark

1 cup dark brown sugar, packed

For the custard:

8 whole eggs

2 cups whole milk (2% will suffice)

1/2 cups heavy cream (I used half and half, it works)

3/4 cups sugar

2 tbsp vanilla extract -- buy the best one you can afford; I accidentally bought a $6 bourbon vanilla that's organic and free-trade, and I'd willingly pay that again, even if I only made $6 an hour

One loaf of crusty bread, sourdough or white, dealer's choice. Cut or torn into bite size squares/cubes.

The night before, make the caramel. In a sauce pan on the stove, melt your butter on medium to medium-low heat. When the stick is melted, stir in the corn syrup and dark brown sugar. Stir occasionally and let simmer lightly until the sugar is completely melted into the butter and no crystals remain (it takes a bit, be patient).

Meanwhile, grease your pan. Use butter or spray stuff, it's up to you. When the caramel is ready, pour into the bottom of the pan. It's not going to like the spray stuff or butter that you used very much, so you may have to spread it out with your spoon. Let set aside.

Mix the custard ingredients (I prefer to whip the eggs and sugar together before adding the rest of the ingredients, but last night I put them in as I could get to them and it turned out really well). Spread the bread bits on top of the caramel in the baking dish, using them to spread the caramel a little more. Pour the custard on top of the bread, making sure to get all the top pieces wet (unless you like chewing on broken glass, which is sort of what baked stale bread feels like in the mouth).

Cover and refrigerate overnight.

Next morning, rise, shine, get a cup of joe and preheat your oven to 350 F. Pop the casserole in for 40-45 minutes (checking at the 40 minute mark for done-ness). Bake longer for a drier texture, less time for a more squishy bread pudding experience.

Remove from oven. Nosh. You don't need (nor will you want) maple syrup. Sausage is a good pairing, although bacon is always welcome in my home.

I promise you, this one is the best possible French Toast Casserole. At least, by my reckoning. Here, have some pictures:

 I wasn't home when it came out, and if you could smell it, too, you'd understand why half of it was gone before I even got here.

 Close up of the lovely, lovely custard and goo.

In my bowl, on the way to in my belleh.

You can be sure I'm already on to my second serving. This stuff is excellent.

Awesome new toys

I went to my local art museum today. They're talking about charging an entrance fee come spring, so I'm trying to get my visits in now. 

I'm looking to decorate my "modular work station", and it is my favorite place to find decor. So I toddled around for a little while, enjoyed my favorite pieces a bit, then hit the shop. And got myself some super awesome new toys.

The MoMA Modern Play House and MoMA Modern Play Family.

Aw, yeah, baby!

I think I'll have a hard time on Tuesday when I go back paying attention to actual work. Look at these things:

Both sets, people, I now own both sets! 

I'm going to clear my shelves, put all my pretty tchotchkes on display and hide the stuff I need for work in my closed door cabinet. It doesn't lock, anyway, so I can put my statues and stuff out and it's no safer or more endangered than it is inside the cabinet. We have a kick-ass cleaning crew, anyway. They don't take things. Heck, my boss left cash-money on top of her filing cabinet the other day, and they dusted around it. 

Those are some honest people, yo.

The best part of it all is that I used to be addicted to Colorforms, and these are basically glorified Colorforms in a swanky, modernist design structure. 

I'm going to have so. much. fun.

I can't wait to put them together and put them up on my shelf. They will go so great with my little plaster skull in a tiara (called Gertie, aka, Queen Gertrude), ceramic cat and turtles and plant. 

All that color! It will go fabulously with my various art postcards/magnets!

Well, it's pretty, that's for sure.

I took a commission from a friend a month ago, to make an infinity scarf. It is taking a blue forever, for reasons I've whined about before.

I love Rex, I really do.

Anyway, I bethought myself to finally take a picture of it. I screwed up the night-time knitting project (the one I keep in my bedroom to knit on before I go to bed) and will need the assistance of my knitting group to repair it. So this project, herewith called "Water Melons", has been promoted from knit night knitting to bed time knitting. I'll work on both of them, alternating, until one of them is finished. Or I'll go crazy and eat my own yarn, one or the other.

Here is a picture of Water Melons:

The stitch pattern is called "melons", and I found it in my favorite yarn porn book evar: Victorian Lace Today, by Jane Sowerby.

And I just about fainted when I looked up that link. The book is now under $10 cash American. I won't tell you what I paid when it was brand new, but I'll tell you what, just looking at the pictures is worth every penny.

Anyway, the yarn is Crystal Palace Yarns Panda Pearl in the color "Blue Lagoon" -- hence, Water Melons.

Hey, I've been getting more and more tired lately, all my wit and humor burned off well before I get home, and all that's left over is the burnt out husk of a woman who used to be absolutely clever on this blog. Cut me some slack on the stupid puns, ok?

I probably need more protein. And maybe some exercise. And to be not dehydrated (why oh why can I not keep myself in the habit of drinking water? Yes, I know it's bland -- I mean, duh, it's water -- but you'd think I would remember how tired and headachey and miserable I get when I don't drink it and just...do my duty to myself, you know?)

Anyway, Rex is looking a bit sheepish. He knows I've outed him for his luxury yarn fetish.

You'd think it would be a point of common ground between us, wouldn't you? If only he'd leave my stash alone, it probably would.