December 26, 2008

Christmas was quiet but very nice. Santa was very nice, and he brought cashmere! I received 2 really lovely cashmere sweaters. One I am wearing today and thank goodness because this may be southern CA, but BRRRR! It's suppose to get below freezing tonight, I do not remember it ever being this cold here. Anyway, this pic is of a ring Mamacita gave me. I just love it, it's silver and amber. Santa also brought Michael Kors Bermuda perfume, a yoga mat, yoga dvd, Duffy and John Legend CD, lip gloss, makeup kit, chinese cooking book, Martha Stewart's Cooking School book, martini glasses and a raincheck for a wii fit b/c it was sold out! My brother got a wii console with the sports game package and dang if i can figure out how to set it up. I'll keep trying.

Tom enjoyed us opening presents Christmas morning too.

Here is our tree pre-opening.

This is the only knitted gift I gave this holiday season. It's the wavy lace pattern and it's blocking here. It really was lovely after blocking. It felt really nice and the best part was the recipient absolutely loved it and it looked lovely on her. I knew this was for her after I met her.

We were suppose to go to a family celebration today but Mamacita wasn't feeling well. I'm bummed we missed it. And I just found out that my cousin found out tonight that she is going to be a Grandma! How exciting! I was also suppose to meet a special someone, a new family member at the gathering today. I hope to meet them soon.

And oh, the food! We made lasagna for Christmas eve, Rib Eye roast for Christmas day, tamales Christmas morning. Oh, my poor tummy. I'm not used to eating like this anymore, although I thoroughly enjoyed it.

I have acupuncture tomorrow morning. And then Sunday and Monday are the services for my best friend's Father. I'm going to help with the food and set-up on Monday. What a horrible end to the year with his passing. I'm already feeling the new year jitters and all I can say is I'm hoping 2009 has much better things in store for me. For all of us. Seems everyone has been touched by job loss, the sagging economy, just worried about the future. It has to be better, right?

Merry Christmas!

December 24, 2008

Merry Christmas!

We just had a lovely dinner. Homemade Mama's lasagna, garlic bread and salad. Mamacita made us a dirty martini before dinner too and boy were we ready for a nice cocktail.

We spent the day trying to put together an Ikea bed for my brother whose bed broke last week. I woke up last weekend to a loud thump and turns out my brothers bed frame which is over 40 years old finally gave way and it didn't seem fixable to Mamacita and me so we bought another one. Easy peasy right, Ikea is great. Ya, great! I think I hate Ikea. I may like the items they have, and the prices, but I do not like the maze they make you go thru to find what you want. Oh, but there are shortcuts, they say. Ya, but if you don't know where you are going, those aren't shortcuts. So we walked thru the whole friggin store to finally find bed frames. And then, you have to go downstairs and find your own crap and then another maze to find the checkout.

Then we tackled putting the stupid thing together this morning and I ended up sweaty, irritated, bloody, and my back went out. I think we only have 3 more screws to tackle and put the base boards in and then make the bed.

My best friend's Father passed away yesterday and my heart just breaks for her and the family. From the time he knew he had cancer, it was 6 weeks and he was gone. Very aggressive. The timing really stinks, but when would be a good time? It was the day after his wife's birthday, I think he tried to wait until after that. He was a really nice man and I have good memories of him. He was handsome and had a full head of hair still and did not go gray. He always wore Van's tennis shoes and he loved to tell stories. He liked to dance with his daughter at parties and he also played the saxophone.

So it's a great time and it's also a sad time.

Enjoy your loved ones, tell them you love them, even if it feels odd for you, put yourself out there and tell people what they mean to you.

I hope you have a blessed holiday season!

Thursday Thirteen #40

December 27, 2007

Thursday Thirteen #40

Thirteen things Mitchypoo received for Christmas! My thankful list. An Ipod Nano in "Blue" but it's really my favorite aqua color! I'm having so much fun with it! A Mary Engelbreit wall calendar. A spa set that has a neck wrap, heated slippers and hand mitts. Very cool. 2 plaid flannel nightgowns. A Cashmina robe. A gold flat snap wallet. A silver and turquoise ring. A work of art. The book, Meditations for Women Who Knit Too Much by Stephanie Pearl McPhee. A CD~ Frank by Amy Winehouse. A pink and gold bag. I am thinking I'll use it as a laptop case. Cat slippers. Chanel No.5 perfume LAMB L perfume by Gwen Stefani ...and there was more! I am blessed! I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas! And it isn't about what you got or how much, it has nothing to do with that, it's the feeling you get, the love you give.

A Very Merry Christmas!

December 26, 2007

A Very Merry Christmas!

Before the destruction ensued.














We put the tamales on the stove to steam while we opened gifts. Then I made a pot of Jingle Bell Java with the beans that my Coffee Swap pal Janice sent and that was good coffee. We also opened a bottle of champagne and put a sliced peach in each glass.





Here's Mamacita looking at her very own cookbook that I put together for her with a lot of her favorite recipes. This was the project I worked on because I had a deadline to get it in time for Christmas. Mamacita said it was the greatest present she ever got. I am so impressed with this company and it's what I've been looking for for Mom. Her copy has 57 of her recipes and each book you purchase you can add 100 recipes. The quality of the book is really nice. Check it out at Tastebook.
Do you think Gary got a lot of gifts?











Here's some of the aftermath and Gary got a beer making kit! He's making beer next weekend!










Tommy made himself comfortable on the wrappings.
























I love this kind of mess! Santa was really generous!










And this was our Christmas dinner! Mamacita outdid herself again. We had the perfect prime rib, cooked to perfection, crisp on the outside and medium rare on the inside.

She also made us twice baked gorgonzola baked potatoes, corn and wheat rolls and a lovely Napa Valley Cuvee Cabernet Sauvignon.

We really missed Dad again this Christmas but we talked about him a lot and knew how happy he would be about the great Christmas that we had.

Christmas Eve we made our trip to my Aunt and Uncle's and we had a lot of fun. There were about 17 of us there and we had a Bad Santa Exchange that was fun and then some regular gift openings. Great food, I enjoyed seeing everyone and someone I hadn't seen in years, Annie. She is my cousin's ex-sil, long story but I hadn't seen her in about 15 years so it was great to catch up.

Then Christmas day was exactly what I had hoped for. I stayed in my jammies all day after gift opening. The whole Christmas morning was really special. Then we had our tamales for breakfast and then we played with our new toys. Santa was really nice to me. I got an ipod nano in a cool turquoise color and I just love it. I've been busy downloading podcasts and my new CD by Amy Winehouse, Frank. I also got a spa set, a wallet, Chanel No. 5 perfume, Lamb L Perfume by Gwen Stefani, 2 flannel nightgowns (flannel is my favorite!) and a cashmina robe! There was also a Meditations for Women who Knit Too Much by the Yarn Harlot, a Cat Encyclopedia, a Book all about Christmas including history, recipes, craft ideas, you name it. I got a really cool silver and turquoise ring that is just a work of art, I tried to take pics, but they didn't come out good, so I'll try again, you just have to see it, it's amazing. There was much more and I'm very blessed.

I couldn't help but be a little glad that all the hoopla is now over. But I'm already planning what I want to do for next year!

Thursday Thirteen #39

December 20, 2007

Thursday Thirteen #39

Thirteen things on Mitchypoo's Christmas list! (Not that I think Santa is bringing all of this, but it's a WISH list, right!?) The yarn to make Fair Rosamund A treadmill. (And the energy to start using it!) This ring, given by the right man who is able and wanting to commit. A little handbag. A Table Loom! All of this roving to spin! A $500 gift card to Nordstrom. This bed. This boyfriend. This body. A Champagne Burmese. A beach house with a separate room reserved for the cats. 13. and peace for all and for everyone to feel the Spirit of the Season.

Goodies in the mail...

December 17, 2007

Goodies in the mail...

I have a favor to ask...I have a friend who's having a really hard time right now. She's married and has 3 little girls and she lost her job today. Long story, but she was not expecting this and is really having a hard time. Would you consider sending her a note of cheer? She reads this blog periodically and she hears about all you bloggers and how cool you are and she's even learning how to knit and may join us someday, but I would love for her to know that she is being thought of. If you want to send her a note, please do so at krueger_julie@hotmail.com and you can put in the subject line, From a Friend of Mitchypoo... thank you!

Now, let me show you what my sweet Secret Pal Sassy from Knit, Shower and Shave sent me! I'm sorry it took me so long to post pics but I had so much going on this weekend I couldn't take pics until tonight. But would you look at my goodies, she said she was going to spoil me and wowsy, she sure did. K, first of all, there are 2 things not included in this pic because I took them to work. One is an adorable green felted box, perfect size for me to put my business cards in and there is this adorable pink ribbon around the top, it is just adorable. The other thing is a really cute holiday ornament snowman and that greets my customers. I love it! Then in the pic there is 3 skeins of a beautiful silver gray bamboo yarn from Plymouth yarn. I've wanted to knit bamboo and now I have the opportunity. It's such a pretty color and I think I'll have to find the perfect scarf pattern that will show off the yarn. The beautiful yellow, orange, light pink and light green yarn is The Painted Sheep Superwash Merino in the Foot Prints color. It's soft and squishy and I can't wait to knit me a pair of socks out of it! The blue skein is Trekking XXL from Germany and again, it's going to make a nice pair of socks! and THEN there is 3 skeins of Mille Colori from Lang Yarns in this beautiful teal, blue, purple color. I wish you could feel it. Then there is this really cute bag that I will definitely be using to pack a project with me and an adorable red Peace coffee mug that I'll be using soon and a Sundried Tomato Dip that looks yummy, I may take it with us to my Aunt and Uncle's for Christmas Eve. There is a Knitting Notes journal that I'm going to log my projects when I start because I forget. Then there is a cute pink journal and a monogram journal. And...a cute tin of Newman's Own Organics Wintergreen Mints.

And you know the best part about Sassy? She not only is a great pal, generous, sweet.....but she's really nice and I feel like I've made a friend. We seem to have a lot of things in common. Thank you Sassy, you are the best!

So I came home tonight and had a package from Ada in the Netherlands. It is her offering from the Pay It Forward offer. She is a soapmaker and I am so impressed! They all smell so pretty and one of them has coffee in it.

And so here is some varied pics I've taken lately. This is the beautiful pink poinsettia that Mamacita found. I just love it and it matches our tree just perfectly!

Here's some kitty pics of Tom and Henry

Thursday Thirteen #38

December 13, 2007

Thursday Thirteen #38

Thirteen things about Christmas that Mitchypoo loves! Christmas carols, music. Tra la la! It's just cheery and it makes me feel good. People are festive and decorate their houses with bright shiny things! It tends to bring out the child in you. People wear funny hats to give out presents, people sing and act goofy. It gives you an excuse to be a goof. Egg nog! I love egg nog even though it's not exactly good for you or health conscious. But I'll have mine hot and with some whiskey in it, thank you! Tamales. It's the only time we really eat them, unless someone we know makes them at another time during the year. They are so good! The Christmas Tree. It's so beautiful in the house, with the lights low and the Christmas lights on and the angel on top. So festive and pretty. People are sentimental. I like how it usually brings out the best in people. They go out of their way to make someone else happy. Or they get so excited to find just the right gift for someone and delight in watching them open it. You get to be with family. In our busy hustle bustle lives, sometimes we don't get to spend as much time as we want with family but over the holidays we get more time together. Time for reflection. Time to think of why we really celebrate Christmas or the holidays and what it means to us. And being at the end of the year it makes you think of your past year and what you want in the coming year. You get to write out a wish list and tell people what you would really like to receive! How cool is that! Peanut brittle! It's the only time of the year that we make it and it doesn't feel like Christmas without it. Seeing snow and winterscapes. It's pretty and all....but I'll pass on living in it! I'm a CA girl thru and thru. Watching children, how excited they get when they have a present to unwrap and then they rip open the box and have to play with it.........NOW!! I love the look on their faces when they are in awe of something and so excited they don't know what to do with themselves!

I love experiencing every age. I rejoice in each passing year.

December 12, 2007

I love experiencing every age. I rejoice in each passing year.

I recently posted about Sinterklaas and I got to thinking about family traditions around the holidays. I had heard from my old boss that she was putting the shoes by the door for her grandkids and she would fill them with candy but I didn't know it was Sinterklaas. Now i know.

So we have 2 of our traditions for Christmas taken care of. The first is that I've ordered our tamales! I'm not sure when this started, I think it was when I worked at a place in the 80's and I did a lot of company functions and ordering of food and one of the girls had a sister who made tamales and we ordered them for work but I also ordered them for our Christmas Eve. And then the tradition became that on Christmas morning after opening our presents, we would have breakfast and it included the left over tamales. And so now, it's not Christmas morning unless we have tamales.

Last year I forgot...someone, I think it was my customer actually, asked if we had tamales for Christmas and I said....oh crap! I forgot to order them. It was like Christmas Eve eve and here is Mitchypoo running around all of East Los Angeles looking for tamales. It was no small feat. Someone told me about this place they use to go to all the time, they had great tamales, so I went there to find it was gone, it was a hair salon now....went to another place, they didn't have any more available. I kid you not, I went to about 4 places before I found somewhere, not our favorite place that had them, and so I took what I could get.

So this year, that same customer came in to make a payment last week, and she asked again, did you get tamales? Um.....no....but it's almost 3 weeks before and I had time, so I went that night after picking up Gary. I told him that we were on a tamale quest and we drove to our favorite place and I was able to order with no problem! So we have a half dozen beef with red chili and a half dozen pork with green chili and a half dozen green chili and cheese! I pick them up on the 22nd because the 23rd and 24th were booked. We in LA take our tamales seriously now, don't we!

So we'll take them and put them in a steamer pot, steam them for about 20-30 minutes and then enjoy! We'll have eggs, maybe a frittata or an egg bake, but the highlight for us is the tamales.

Our 2nd tradition is to have champagne with peaches! Mamacita already got the champagne, we just have to remember to chill it and we always have a can of sliced peaches. We get up Christmas morning, turn on the Christmas Tunes on Sirius channel on TV, turn on the lights, make a really nice pot of coffee (meaning freshly ground beans), open the bubbly, put in the peach slices........and THEN....we can open our gifts! When I was married, I carried on those traditions too and the ex loved it and it made me feel nostalgic and also a little home sick. And I usually got looped because he didn't really like champagne and I'd end up drinking the bottle because it was just us 2. So then the tradition included a serious nap after opening presents! :)

How do you like our pink tree?

Oh, my, look at the pattern I ordered! Is it gorgeous or what!?

I love this so much! I have to make it and it'll only cost about $200 for all the yarn and shipping if I buy this exact yarn which I think I want to do. That would be all the yarn for the sweater, tam and scarf! I saw this on a blog that for the life of me I cannot find and desperately want to because she made it and it is GORGEOUS. If I find it I'll post a link for you to take a look.

When I searched for a pic this came up, I think it was based on this painting. It looks like the drapery detail was incorporated into the trim design. I love this pic too. Hmmm, think I have some research to do. So next year is going to involve some fair isle knitting for me!

Pics as promised!

December 18, 2006

Pics as promised!

I allow change to occur without resistance or fear. I am free.

I allow change to occur without resistance or fear. I am free.

Pretty good weekend. It rained. I love it! I got some more bead and wire knitting done and we finally got our tree up! What a feat. Something like that should be so simple, but no.... We have to put the tree on a table and the base was about 1 inch too big, so Mamacita went to an unnamed home center to get a square cut of wood. So voila, we got the tree up. She asked me if I knew where my ornaments were and I knew they were in the garage with all my other stuff, but it was destined to be because I went in the garage and the box was right there and i didn't even have to move anything to get it out! So we have an all pink and silver tree and it's simply gorgeous. I took pics and will post tonight. We needed a little change on our tree and Mamacita absolutely loves the tree. I think the other colors and ornaments made her miss my dear Dad too much. Now she wants to get all pink and silver paper for next year...I say why not!

I also made 2 batches of peanut brittle, which set up just fine. And I made caramels that I will cut and wrap tonight. Still have to make those marshmallows.

As a gift to all of you I'm posting our Peanut Brittle recipe. This is a tried and true recipe and in our family it is not Christmas until a batch of this perfumes the house. You need a really good and sturdy pot to make it in. We use the bottom of a small pressure cooker. Enjoy and if you make it, tell me how it comes out, k?

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peanut brittle

2 cups sugar
1 cup corn syrup (white Karo)
1/2 cup water
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups raw peanuts, no skin
1 Tbsp. butter
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. baking soda

In heavy pot put sugar, corn syrup, water and salt. Over high heat, heat until hard ball stage , stirring almost constantly with long handled wooden spoon. Use candy thermometer to check when at hard ball stage or get a cup of ice water and drop some in, if ball is hard, proceed.

Add peanuts and butter and continue stirring. Peanuts will roast. When they are light brown and you can smell them, it is done. Take off the heat. Be quick on the next 2 steps. Add in vanilla, stir well. Add baking soda, it will foam up, stirring. Pour into a buttered sheet pan. Let sit until set, break into small pieces and enjoy. Happy Holidays!
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Promise I'll post pics of the tree tonight!...