Kranz!

This pastry is a family recipe, from the Polish side. I never got to meet my grandfather, nor any other members of that line. The siblings of my father, yes, but no one from beyond that. Who knows who they are? Falkowski isn’t common, but it's not uncommon in certain areas either. So, the secret history of the Falkowski version of Kranz may never be known!

Anywho, the recipe that we have is somewhat cryptic and it's very strange for a pastry. I am not publishing it because it is truly unique to my family and if you want something similar you can try this
Recipe. It's very similar, ingredient amounts and how it's all put together are different, but it's very close.

Our recipe starts out like you are making biscuits, cutting butter into flour and sugar and stuff. Then, you add egg yolks to that, and cut them in (I have never ever added eggs to a recipe this way, is it truly as odd as I think it is?). Then you add yeast and milk (not warmed) and stir a bit. You have a lumpy, gooey batter now and it sits in the fridge for usually over night when we make it. Then you treat it like bread dough, kneading it with flour and stuff. The end result is soft, rich, eggy danish and it's very, very good. We usually have it at Christmas.

I made some for a dinner/D&D (dungeons and dragons) night I have with co-workers this week, because one of our group is off to Germany. It's a German/Polish/Jewish food, with large number of variations and so I thought it would be good. And one of my co-workers, who is more Polish than I, has had it before. So I was relived to finally meet someone outside of my family who has heard of it.

If you ever want my family's kranz, you will have to join us for Christmas or a special occasion. =)

Burn, Baby, Burn

First BBQ night 'o the year was last night. YEAH!

Library Thing

So for months now I have been wanting to try, try being operative word here, to upload my library onto this site. I discovered it via Mr. Gaiman's blog a long while ago. And, not doubt, he has a great many more books than I.(And, it is worth nothing he has not uploaded his own library to it yet for more or less this reason.) I, however, do have a great many books. Books on the shelves, books in stacks, books in the bedroom, books in the basement, books in the closet and books that will someday join these books as I cannot seem to stop buying them.
Library Thing is awesome, but there is considerable time required to use it, unless you own 20 books or so. I am rather looking forward to getting suggestions based on my library compared to others' libraries who own the same books. I think I will find exciting new things to read.
I have only uploaded some of the fantasy and sci-fi books I own. Some. The authors that I collect religiously or love and remember off hand. Single non-fiction titles will take more time to input as I will likely need a stack of books at hand to type in one by one. And then, then there is Matt's books...but he can do those if he wants.
Anyway, this site has cool features that you do NOT need to enter in your whole entire library to use, such as the un-suggestion engine. Just trust me and go.
I did not know there was a blog widget for it until J9 put one up. Thanks J9.

Cocoabunny

Easter is one of my favorite holidays. Good ole' Eostre (prolly sounds like ohst-ray), Angelo-Saxon goddess of fertility, gave rise to the month April, Easter bunnies (she was symbolised by a hare) and egg hunts. Easter is and should be a separate holiday from the Resurrection of Christ, but the early Christians didn't want Eostre to stick around anyways. They weren't fond of pagan deities you see. Dirty heathens! I have nothing against the son of a god and his rebirthday, mind you. But I do have equal respect for the gods of all people and seeing as how there are few female deities that get any press these days I think I will celebrate Eostre with chocolate and marshmallows and all the burgeoning sings of spring and fertility that surround me. Go forth and multiply like rabbit marshmallows, that's what spring is all about. Even Christ knew spring was about rebirth. I am sure he would have loved Eostre if they ever met.

Harry Potter and the Magic Yarn

The new, and last Harry Potter book is out in June...I plan on being at Powell's City of Books for the midnight book release block party. Which is utterly amazing and this year will no doubt be an all out party for us muggles to remember for ever.
Anyway, this lovely lovely lovely yarn appeared in one of our LYSs, Yarn Garden and if it isn't meant to be a magical scarf or cloak or something I don't know what is. I now need to find a pattern worthy of the yarn, I also got a dark blue mohair to complement it and make it fuzzywonderful.
Since the new movie is also out in June, and no doubt we will be attending the midnight release of that as well, the magical scarf or something will get lots of use!
and then I will cry when three days later I finish the last book in JKR's amazing series, and know that there will be no more.

knitting now!

Lately I have been making washcloths and dishrags. Dishrag pattern is from the Mason Dixon Knitting Book which has a lot of wonderful stuff in it and I love it. The washcloths are generally just random swatches of stitch patterns in a nice soft cotton yarn.


Now the new exciting project is a tank top. It's exciting 'cause I have not ventured out of the squareish shaped knitting projects often. I have been knitting for about 2 years, but the sweater seems so daunting. I have completed things like cool hats and fingerless gloves and even a BABY sweater, but a full size adult shirt of any sort? Nay. Same for socks, and lace patterns. So this project is a new foray! Lacework! Shaping! more than 3 balls of yarn! (ok the baby blanket and shawl were more than 3 balls of yarn too, but they are rectangles and therefore do not count!)
SO here it is as of now:

And a recently completed project, which was also a triumph, was the pattern I had been eyeing ever since I was a knitting neophyte, from the book Scarf Style. The pattern is Lady Elenore's Entrelac Stole and it's lovely. My mom bought be lots of yummy yarn, Trendsetter's Tonalita in several different colorways, when I went home last to visit. Entrelac is not hard, but all I had to explain how it worked was the written pattern. Of course after I finished the stole, Interweave Knits magazine had a lovely illustrated tutorial in the new spring issue...*sigh*

getting someplace!

So this is blog three of the rarely used and updtated blogs, but since one is just for photos and one is pretty much about gardening and food and enviornmental things, a separate blog was in order for all other things. So here is where I will talk generaly about knitting projects, crafty things, cooking, video games, books, D&D, work, family, freinds, cool things in Portland, my cats, newsy things that are intersting, you get the idea. so, if blogger will let me post pictures today, i have some stuff to share! YAY!

nothing here to see...move along

blog is under construction.