All I want for Christmas is a Fern Glade beret

 

21 DECEMBER 2009

This is the Christmas present I made for my daughter. It's a slouchy hat from the pattern Fern Glade. You can find it at knitty.com, my favorite site for alternative knitwear patterns.

I've used this pattern twice before and absolutely love it. I'm looking forward to making another one for my mom.

My yarn of choice is the bamboo-blend, "Spa", from Naturally Caron. The color of this hat is 'naturally 0007'.  I've used 'ocean spray' for this pattern but I also have 'rose bisque' and 'soft sunshine' in my stash, patiently awaiting their turns.

The only adjustment I advise for Fern Glade is to take out the K1 stitch on Row 14. (Now that I look at it again, the editors have struck that stitch out and all is right with the world of Fern Glade.)

If you decide to knit this one up, you might want to use a stretchier yarn than I did. Knitting the headband too tightly or loosely can backfire if your yarn can't compensate and bounce back.

Lastly, I don't use circular needles. Just can't get a good rhythm going with those things. So I use dp needles. No matter which you choose, you'll need U.S. sizes 3 and 6.


I hope you enjoy creating Fern Glade as much as I have. You can find the author of the pattern, Megan Marshall, on ravelry.com or at her blog, I saw her STRANDing there.

Happy Knitting! ~ j

Breakfast for Dinner!

Here you have keto biscuits and poached eggs topped with blender hollandaise.  All three things are delicious and extremely easy to make.  The keto biscuits are from Suzanne Ryan's book, "Simply Keto", and they're called 60-second Mug Biscuits.  You can find out more at her website.  The poached eggs are courtesy of Julia Child, and the hollandaise is from Tori Avey.   

One of the ways I use my Recipe Keeper daily is by storing my breakfast recipes in it.  Especially recipes with video instructions.  For example, I love Julia Child's method of making poached eggs.  They come out perfectly every time.  And, really, what's more Keto or Paleo than a hot, runny, yolk first thing in the morning?

I can store the information from not only a website recipe but from a video, as well.  It helps.  I like watching the original chef putting the dish together, preferably while they're explaining and troubleshooting. 

Watch the video yourself, then get the recipe, with clearly written instructions, here.  You can print it out.

Try it now!

Mmm!  Dinner! 

Note:  Keto English muffins are featured in another post on this blog.

Keto/Paleo English Muffins - Assorted

There are SO MANY recipes for keto/paleo English muffins that I couldn't pick just one to highlight, so here's a list for you to conduct your own baking experiments.  Try a new recipe every day until you find "The One"!

Delicious Low Carb Pizza

 ... finally!

Mmm!  Dinner!
Photo credit:  Julie Negron

This one's in my Recipe Keeper and I use it often.

• Course - Main Dish
• Category - Chicken, Keto, Pizza

KetoConnect.net blew everyone's minds with this chicken/egg/parm pizza crust.  Not only is it quick and easy, but it's also very delicious!  Boasting a hefty 17g fat and only 1 net carb for the crust, it's the newest rage in the Keto world.

Go to their website for the recipe and how-to video for this amazingly simple creation.  The recipe is printable, too!

Basic chicken, above-average flavors

 

Crispy chicken thighs and steamed broccoli with butternut squash and sage from Evol.

Photo credit:  Julie Negron

Dinner doesn't have to be fancy or take hours to make or even to plan.  For tonight's dinner, I grabbed a pack of chicken thighs on the way home from work and turned on the oven when I walked in so it would be ready when I was.

Everything else, I found in the fridge.  Sort of like a mystery basket on Chopped where the "Cheftestants" make something incredible out of random ingredients.  While the photo above shows what is obviously a simple plate of food,  I can testify that the flavors of the dish were incredibly tasty and received 5 out of 5 Mmms from my family.

The cooking techniques used to ensure maximum flavors from such a basic dish were learned from one of my all-time favorite teachers:  Michael Symon.

Mango + Orange + Jicama = Best Fruit Salad EVER!

Photo Credit:  Julie Negron

Doesn't that look delicious?!  That's because it IS!  I saw this on America's Test Kitchen (Season 16, Episode 21 - Dinner in Cuba) and it's now my favorite fruit salad of all time.

I recommend watching the video so you can see how to cut the fruits properly.  

This recipe is definitely NOT Keto-friendly but it may be Paleo-friendly.  Again, check your guidelines.  

Whole30 looks okay with this one, minus the sugar.  Try it, it might be really great without the added sweetness.

Duke's Chicken Salad

                      

Photo Credit:  Dukesmayo.com

A recurring favorite from my Recipe Keeper is Duke's Chicken Salad.

This salad is tangy, sweet, crunchy, and filling.  It has a whopping 63 grams of fat per serving!  The downfall is that it delivers 14 net carbs, all from sugar.  If you can replace the honey with a sugar substitute, you might have a Keto-friendly dish here.  Also, don't add the grapes.

This is also Paleo-friendly if you make homemade mayo.  There's a super simple, tasty recipe here.

Homemade mayo is the way to go if you want to comply with Whole 30 guidelines.  Again, check your guidelines to ensure you're staying on the plan.  You're putting in a lot of work to fall off the wagon over a salad.  A damn good salad, to be sure, but not worth throwing away all the progress you've made.

Go to Duke's website for this recipe.  Also check out their links for other tasty, simple eats such as their Chicken Curry Salad.

This salad gets 5 of 5 Mmms! from everyone I've ever made it for.

Happy eating and

Mmm!  Dinner!

One Night on Mt. Fuji

 28 AUGUST 2008

I was walking on Mt. Fuji one day...



Okay, wait a minute.  Change that first sentence to "climbing miles of rock, straight up, in the rain, in the freezing cold, in the dark" - and then add that all of this was just to see the sunrise from the summit of Mt. Fuji.

My husband has been planning this trip for months and I was never really fully "on board".  Climbing Mt. Fuji, after all, is a tad outside my comfort zone and just doesn't sound like that much fun.

Nevertheless, I went, I climbed, I froze, I endured, and I survived - rather sore and barely able to walk, talk, or think straight for the first couple of days - but I did it.  

We both did it.

So now we look at these pictures and groan together. (It's a strange way to bond, I know.)


Before the ordeal...around 12:30 pm on Monday, August 25, 2008. We went to the Sengen Shrine - the gateway to the mountain itself - to start getting good vibes.

It begins. 5:08 pm, 25 August

Two Hours Later: wet, cold, tired.  Taking a brief break at one of the
many mountain huts on Fuji-san. 7:32 pm

How dark was it? The photo below was taken at about 4:24 a.m.  Those bright dots are headlamps.  That's about all you could see.  Earlier, when we were rock climbing, all we could see were the rocks right in front of our faces.  The sky was so overcast and wet that no moonlight shone through at all.  At around 11 p.m., we found room to lay down at one of the huts and slept for about three and a half hours.  Just enough to get us to the top in time for sunrise.

The Sun.  Almost at the top of Fuji, the sun begins to wake up. 4:43 am

We made it! Just as the sun pops over the horizon, we're standing in front of the final station's Torii gate. 5:21 am

Rainbow at the End. We were so tired and just relieved that it was over. We walked around the compound on top of the mountain in sort of a daze but my husband was lucky enough to get this shot... 5:31 a.m.

That's about it for now. It's three days later and we're still tired, sore, and recovering. Take it from me - it's a hard hike. Seriously.

~ j

Posted by jennyspouse.comat 7:29 PM 

3 comments:

Bec said...

We did Fuji last year and I was terrified! I know exactly what you mean about looking at the pictures and groaning...I keep thinking "one day I'll look back on this fondly" but it hasn't happened yet. I'm not sure it ever will. We did it in the daylight... I can't imagine climbing up that thing in the dark!

August 30, 2008, at 5:14 PM

jennyspouse.com said...

Thank you! I was terrified out of my mind! I was shaking and breathing like I was getting ready to have a heart attack. One of our friends said "Yoga breaths" but I couldn't even do that. I hated every second of it. It was dark, wet, slippery, scary, and hard.

I don't know if I'll ever look back on it as a good experience. My husband didn't like it too much, either. He said, "Don't worry, honey, we're never going to do anything like that again!" :-)

That's why I love him. haha

My brother is a climber determined to climb the highest peak on each of the seven continents. He's been doing this stuff for years. Fuji was my first and last.

Sorry, but I'll just wait for him on the beach! haha

August 30, 2008, at 10:53 PM

Living in oblivion said...

Too funny! Thanks for sharing your story! I climbed it for my 40th birthday this last summer and was soo confused by the stations that when i was at the top getting my markings burned into my stick i asked how many more stations there were!! I had NO idea i was at the top!! I just figured all the stuff for sale and stuff was because this is where most people stop climbing! LOL!

January 29, 2009, at 6:02 AM