Inspired by my sister’s request for a pair of knit boot cuffs, I put together a new pattern over the weekend. “Jen’s Boot Cuffs” has already been completed by one test-knitter and I am sending it off to a technical editor when I am done this post. While my first pattern “Everyday Hoodie” is still being perfected, this new pattern has flown off the needles and should be released very soon. I can’t contain my excitement!
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Sunday Confessions Vol. 2
I don’t like cleaning. I don’t know very many people that do. But most people, when faced with the choice between cleaning or letting their house fall into disarray and filth, would choose to clean. Not me. Until a few months ago I would just let it get really nasty and then do the bare minimum to keep the place from being a health and safety hazard. Now I just don’t clean at all, I pay someone else to do it for me. So there’s my confession, I am so lazy that I’m willing to spend good money to not have to clean my own home.
Tomato Noodles…
…is the really classy name we use at our house for the pasta dish I made for dinner tonight. A more suitable name might be “Versatile Noodles” since they are very easy and inexpensive to make, kid friendly, yet classy enough to serve to company. I started making the Penne Arrabbiata recipe from the Williams Sonoma Pasta cookbook, but they offered a variation on the recipe to turn it into Puttanesca instead. While I liked the idea of adding capers and olives, there was no way I was even going to think of adding anchovies. So what I make is somewhere in between the two recipes, but cannot really be called either. So we call them Tomato Noodles, and we eat them once a week.
Note: I tend to switch things up every time I make this, depending on what I have on hand. Sometimes I’ll add a splash of red wine if I have an open bottle that hasn’t, for some strange reason, been finished. Sometimes I’ll add basil paste if I don’t have any fresh. Tonight I added parsley out of the garden because I had a lot of it.
Ingredients:
1/4 C olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
Generous pinch of red pepper flakes (I tend to cut back so the kids don’t scream)
1 (35 oz) can of plum tomatoes, chopped with juice
salt & pepper (if adding capers I tend to not add any extra salt)
12 fresh basil leaves, coarsely chopped
Generous pinch of dried oregano
Splash of balsamic vinegar (optional, but I find it really brightens up the flavor)
1/2 C olives, halved and pitted (I just add whatever olives I have on hand)
1/4 C capers
1 lb pasta (I usually use penne or fusilli)
Directions:
Put large pot of water on to boil and cook noodles until tender
Meanwhile, add olive oil, garlic and red pepper flakes to large skillet and heat over medium heat, being careful not to burn garlic
Add tomatoes and raise heat to medium-high
Simmer for 5 minutes or so
Add salt, pepper, basil, oregano, balsamic vinegar, olives and capers
Simmer until pasta is done, but do not let it reduce too much (if it gets dry you can add some of the pasta water)
When pasta is done, drain and add to sauce. Mix, serve with parmesan cheese.
Enjoy!
Must Stop Making Pillowcase Dresses
I made yet another pillowcase dress on the weekend, and it was the cutest one yet! I’m going to have to stay out of Walmart’s fabric aisle for a while because it’s becoming a serious problem. I got to deliver this one to the little birthday girl this morning but I snapped a picture before I let it go.
Booties Galore!
I just finished another pair of custom booties for a friend. She wanted them for her little girl to wear with her pumpkin costume for Halloween so we picked orange for the booties and green laces. The pattern is Ruth’s Perfect Baby Booties and I used Just A Leaf for the leaves on the end of the laces. The finished product is really cute but the pattern had a few problems. If I had it to do all over again I would use Judy’s Magic Cast On and try to knit them in the round.
I think these will look adorable on the little pumpkin!
Cowtown Knits 