This picture is really awful but here’s what I’m knitting. This is Granny Cheyne’s Shetland Shawl from Wrapped in Lace by Margaret Stove (mine’s on Ravelry here). Way back (ha!) in 1999 when I started knitting I would sit and drool over the few pictures of Shetland shawls that I would see online and I loved them. They always seemed like something to shoot for, to be able to knit with that super thin yarn on those long, little needles and have this gorgeous lace come out seemed almost unattainable. I’ve felt up to the task for a few years but never found a pattern that called out to me (except the Princess Shawl and I will knit it someday) until Wrapped in Lace came out. This pattern just looked perfect. It’s a big square traditional Shetland shawl with true knitted lace, with patterning on both sides of the fabric) knit in real lace yarn with tiny (US2) needles. It has a variety of patterns and it’s just difficult enough to be interesting but not so much that I’m ripping my hair out in frustration (I have had to rip back a few long rows and I completely frogged the border twice about halfway through it). This is the only thing on my needles right now and I’ve only had time to do a row or two before bed but it is enough. The shawl is slowly growing and I’m just a few rows from finishing the borders and then I have a lot of sewing to do.

More next week. Have a great weekend. I’m going to read about nutrition and menu planning.

Today was my first day back at school after my winter break and it started nice and early, at 8AM, with my CUL101- Intro to Food Prep & Theory class. It was a little overwhelming, the amount of equipment, the things we have to learn, trying to remember how to use the ranges and ovens and the dishwashers. We took a tour of the kitchen and the one thing I took the most notice of is how tall everything is and how high off the floor everything is stored. I can barely reach the Salamanders (the big industrial broilers) and the light switches are about a foot higher than I can reach. Those are things I can deal with. The chef who is teaching the class says he’s had other vegetarians and they did good in the class, most of what we will be cooking is meat, I’ll even have to breakdown a chicken in a few weeks. Yuck. I was worried about the meat stuff but I think it’s going to be fine. I’m nervous about this class but still very excited.

Tomorrow I have my Purchasing and Product Identification class and then next Monday I start my Intro to Baking and Pastry class. That’s the one I’m most excited about. Sure, sauces and soups and hot cooking is fun but it’s the baking and pastries that I’m in school for and what I’m ready to start.

The biggest problem I’ve had so far is actually with my uniform. I had to have the basic student’s uniform, a white coat, checkered pants, baker’s cap, and four-way apron. I had to buy my uniforms from the school so I could have them deducted from my grant so they cost a little more and the sizing was crazy. My uniforms are three sizes bigger than my street clothes. And my pants were about six inches too long and the coat was huge in the arms and chest so I have to have it taken in. I found someone to alter it and they are both there now and I just hope they’re back on time, I called them today to ask if they can be rushed. It’s just crazy. I got my shoes over the weekend and ended up getting a pair on sale half off that fit great and they are really comfortable. I got these Dr. Scholl’s work shoes on sale for $25 and they are just perfect. I hope they hold up.

So, I’m really happy to finally be in my cooking classes. I feel like I’m actually starting school now and it’s a lot of fun. I know I haven’t written about crafty knitty things in a while and I promise I’m not going to turn this into a culinary school blog. I am knitting on my Shetland shawl at night before bed and it’s going very slow and just looks like a blob right now but I’ll try to write a little about it Friday.

Not a lot going on here lately. What I have been doing is spinning and I’m trying to get in at least an hour or two a day. I’m still spinning on my rose gray Shetland and I’ve finished about a bobbin and a half, maybe six ounces. I have three pounds of this wool so I’m going to be spinning for a while. I’m spinning the singles super thin and then I plan on three plying it and hopefully I’ll have enough yarn for a sweater. Hopefully.

Last week I ran up to my school and ordered my uniforms and got my knives and baking kit. These knives are so much bigger in person than they look here. The blade on the big chef’s knife (second to the right) is 12”. They’re huge. I can’t wait to start class next week, I just hope my uniforms get here on time.

And, just because, here’s Peanut. It was really warm and sunny yesterday and she slept by the back door in the sun all day. She looked so cozy.

Anyway I made some really yummy cupcakes yesterday so if you would like to make them, too, here’s how.

This little jar is the secret to these cupcakes. I filled them with this coconut crème curd and it is so good, it’s all creamy and smooth and there are these tiny bits of coconut, yum. I found it at the grocery store with the jelly.

Here’s my finished cupcakes. I didn’t even try to frost them neatly, this frosting didn’t want to stick to the tops of the cupcakes so I just kind of piled it on and smoothed it out a little. They still taste good.

Pineapple Cupcakes with Coconut Curd Filling and Vanilla Frosting with Toasted Coconut

First, make the cupcakes. These are adapted from Who You Callin’ Cupcake? by Michelle Garcia

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 2/3 (that’s one and two thirds, it looks weird to me) cup all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1/2 cup milk, divided
• 2 eggs
• 1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
• About a cup of pineapple tidbits or you could used crushed pineapple. Next time I make these, I’m going to use a little more pineapple.

How to:

1. Preheat oven to 350° and line a cupcake pan with liners.
2. In a medium bowl, mix together the sugar, flour, baking powder and salt.
3. Add the butter and mix (I did this by hand, you can use a mixer) until the butter is completely mixed in and there is a mealy consistency. It’s going to be dry, like sand.
4. Add 1/4 cup of the milk and mix slowly to make a dough-like paste. This should break up any lumps that are forming.
5. In a separate bowl, combine the eggs with the rest of the milk and the vanilla, and slowly pour this mixture into the batter. Mix for about ten seconds with a mixer or by hand until combined.
6. Fold in the pineapple.
7. Fill the cups in the cupcake pan about 3/4 full and bake for ten to fifteen minutes. The cupcake tops will slightly golden.
8. Let them cool.
9. This will make 12 cupcakes

Make the Frosting:

• 4 Tablespoons unsalted butter, room temp.
• 2 cups confectioners’ sugar (powdered sugar)
• 2 Tablespoons milk
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• Pinch of salt

1. Mix everything together until light and fluffy, easy.
2. I don’t know where I got this recipe, I found it on a post-it in a drawer in my kitchen. Yay, organization!

Toast the coconut:

1. Preheat your oven to 400°.
2. Spread out a handful of coconut and let it cook for about five minutes, then stir and let it cook for five more minutes. Repeat as necessary until your coconut is toasted.

Put it all together:

1. Fill the cupcakes with the coconut curd using whatever method works for you. I poked a hole in the top of my cupcakes with a spoon handle and used a Ziplock bag to pipe some of the coconut curd into the middle of the cupcakes. If you have a piping bag use that.
2. Plop some frosting on the tops of the cupcakes.
3. Top with toasted coconut.
4. Eat the extra toasted coconut because you made way too much. That could just be me, though.

And that is it. The coconut curd needs to be refrigerated so I would keep these cupcakes in the refrigerator, not that they’re going to last very long.

I’ve also been doing a bit of knitting. My cold went away and then two days later decided to stage a comeback, so I spent a couple days doing nothing but sitting in bed and reading and then I decided to knit. I found this old thick and thin black yarn and knit a Dorflinger Tee from the Fall 2010 Knitscene. I washed this up Wednesday and it’s still drying, it will probably take a few days since it’s cold. I made this in a size 47 so it has a little over an inch of ease and I should be able to wear a shirt under it comfortably and I’m blocking it pretty aggressively so the lace shows better. I almost didn’t have the yarn to finish, I have about five yards left, it was close, but I made it.

Then today I buckled down and finished my BSJ that I started in June. This is such a neat little sweater, I can’t believe I waited so long to knit one. All I had left to do was seam up the sleeves and knit the I cord around the neck and it took all of 30 minutes to do. So this is done but I think it’s still a bit big for the baby I made it for, oh well. Next time I’ll know to use thinner yarn, this is worsted weight. Now I just need a couple little buttons.

Here’s another picture from my new camera. It has a toy camera setting which changes the colors and puts a vignette on the edges. This is picture hasn’t been retouched at all. It’s nice having a real camera again.

So, I’m bored tonight and feeling a little better, the cold is almost gone, and I got an e-mail a few weeks ago asking me about school, so I thought I’d talk about it a little. I’m on winter break until mid-January and I actually miss it, which I’m kind of surprised about. This is my school in the picture above. I’ve mentioned before that I’m taking a baking and pastry certificate course at OTC, my local community college. There isn’t a “real” culinary school anywhere near where I live and there is no way I could afford to move away to go to school. I’ve been asked if I’m worried about being able to get a decent industry job after school since I’m not going to a fancy culinary school and I’m not, at all. From what I’ve read it really doesn’t matter where or even if you went to school, it matters what you know how to do and how good you can cook. I know I’m a good cook, I just need to learn the proper skills and I can get that just easily at community college as at a culinary school and it’s about $40,000 to $50,000 cheaper (and yes, those numbers are right).

As far as the classes I’ll be taking, they are the same as any other culinary school. Last semester I took my ServSafe class, kitchen safety and sanitation and I’m now ServSafe certified, I passed the test a couple weeks ago, and the school requires a public speaking class so I took it, too. They also require an English 101 and Math class but I had transfer credits from when I went to college before so I don’t have to take them. In the Spring I’m taking Purchasing and Product Identification, Intro to Food Prep and Theory, and Intro to Baking and Pastry. And then next Fall I’ll be taking European Pastries and Classic Desserts, Quick Breads and Yeast Breads, Cakes and Cake Decorating, and Chocolate, Sugar and Confections.

So I’ll be getting a well-rounded eduction in all desserts and pastries. I would love to be able to take some other classes at other schools but I doubt I’ll be able to afford that for a while. I do plan on taking workshops to learn new skills through my career, though. I’m not really sure what I’d like to do after school, if all goes to schedule I’ll be out in a year. The city I live in doesn’t have any really nice restaurants with pastry chefs and there aren’t any big hotels or convention centers that would have a pastry chef on staff, so I’m looking into moving out of town, I’ll have to save up some money first. I’m looking at Chicago, Seattle, Portland, Minneapolis, and possibly St. Louis or Kansas City or Little Rock, since they’re closer to home. I might be able to swing something in Branson, though I would rather not work there if I don’t have to, maybe just to save some money until I can go somewhere else. I’ve also been researching catering around here and maybe doing wedding cakes or something until I can leave.

Now I just need to go buy my books, uniforms, knives, and baking kit and I’ll be all ready for school to start again. I’m really excited about my cooking classes and I’ll keep the blog updated.

This is all the knitting, well, technically half is crocheted, that I’m doing for Christmas. My cousin wanted a black hat with kitty ears so I used the pattern in Stitch ‘N Bitch with some black (I know it doesn’t look black but it is) acrylic and made her a kitty hat. And since her favorite color is neon green (she’s 10) I whipped up a crocheted scarf. I used a pattern from Stitch ‘N Bitch Crochet for it. And that is all I’m making for Christmas. I’m sick, I’ve had a cold that I can’t shake, and I’m tired and don’t feel like messing with it. So there.

Here’s a list of what I read. I’m not going to review them all, there’s just too many. I put links to the books on Amazon, too.

• Full Dark, No Stars by Stephen King
• The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins- This series was fantastic. I highly recommend it and I’ll be reading it again, soon.
• Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
• Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins
• The Brief Wonderous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz- This was one of my favorite books this year.
• The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi. Very good book, starts slow but the second half is good.
• Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro. Heartbreaking book. So much better than the movie.
• The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver. Loved it.
• Griftopia by Matt Taibbi
• The Hangman’s Daughter by Oliver Potzsch
• The Passage by Justin Cronin. This was really good, too, and really long.
• World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War by Max Brooks. I’m not really into the whole zombie thing but I had heard this was good and it is. It’s going to be made into a movie, too.
• Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman
• Dead Reckoning (Sookie Stackhouse #11) by Charlaine Harris
• Divergent by Veronica Roth. This is being billed as the next Hunger Games but it’s pretty different, just more dystopian young adult fiction. I liked it and part two will be out in May.
• The Iron Heel by Jack London. This was good, that’s all I can say. Nothing like London’s nature writing.
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by JK Rowling. Had to read it again before I saw the last movie.
• 63 Documents the Government Doesn’t Want You to Read by Jesse Ventrua.
• Veganist by Kathy Freston. Read this after I saw her on TV, maybe Martha Stweart, I don’t remember. I didn’t like it but I can’t remember why. I actually don’t remember anything about this book except not liking it. If I was going to recommend a book about veganism it wouldn’t be this.
• Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Café by Fannie Flagg. Loved it but I loved the movie, too.
• We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver. I don’t know what to say about this. The book was good, the story was good, the writing was good, but it dragged on forever. I’ve heard the movie is excellent, though.
• Before I Go to Sleep by SJ Watson. Another good book but I figured out the ending really fast so that disappointed me.
• Forks Over Knives: The Plant-Based Way to Health by Gene Stone. I go on these kicks where I read these vegan diet books, the next is one of them, too. I do recommend this for someone who is thinking about veganism or vegetarianism and the documentary is fantastic as well.
• The McDougall Program: 12 Days to Dynamic Health by John McDougall.
• Free-Range Knitter: The Yarn Harlot Writes Again by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee. I found this under my bed, didn’t know I had it. It was good to read in bits and pieces before I went to sleep while I was all stressed over finals.
• The Light of Other Days by Arthur C. Clarke and Stephen Baxter. I loved this. I want a Worm-Cam.

And that’s it. I should have enough time to read at least one other book by the end of the year if I can decide on a book. I’m either going to start on 11/22/63 by Stephen King or Ready Player One by Ernest Cline, I don’t know which, maybe both.

But my biggest thing right now is trying to decide what to knit next. I have a little money, I’m trying very hard to keep this under $75 since I’m basically broke. I really need a black cardigan. I have a couple that are gray, one blue, and a really heavy bulky black, but I need a black sweater that I can just throw on over a shirt when it’s chilly. I want it to be either solid or slightly heathery, no tweeds, and I’d prefer a v-neck with cables and maybe a shawl collar. And I don’t want to have to pay extra for a pattern, so it either needs to be free or in my library. So I’ve been scouring Ravelry and I found five that I like and that fit all my criteria and one that doesn’t fit but that I think could work.

Here’s the candidates and I’ll link to them on Ravelry.

First up is the Dollar and Half Cardigan by Veronik Avery from the Spring 2007 Interweave Knits. The pattern calls for a linen yarn but a lot of people have used wool and it seems to work fine. I like the closer fit of this and the low v-neck with the mix of cables and lace.

Next is the Central Park Hoodie. It seems like everyone but me has knit one of these, it really made the rounds of the knitting blogs a few years ago. I like that this is open but I’d probably put some buttons on it anyway and it’s nice and simple and looks very comfy.

The last on the top row is the Montview Cardigan from the Fall 2011 Knitscene. I keep wavering on this. I like it but there’s something about it that keeps making me change my mind. I like the fit and the slight shawl collar. Maybe it needs more complex cables? I don’t know.

Down to the bottom row. First is the Livingstone Cardigan from the Winter 2011 Interweave Knits. This is the one I’m leaning towards. I like the pretzel cables and I love the collar, the deep front ribbing, and the loop and toggle buttons. I could definitely see this in a heathery black or very dark gray over a t-shirt and jeans.

The next sweater is probably my second choice, it’s Breezy Cables, and it’s been on my to knit list since 2006. This cardigan just looks so easy to wear, I love the collar and the open front and the pockets and the long fold up sleeves. This looks so snuggly and warm.

The last is the outlier, Takoma from the deep fall 2011 Knitty. This is more of a jacket than an easy cardigan, it meets none of my criteria, but can you just imagine it done all monochrome in a black, white and gray?

So, there’s my choices. I guess it all comes down to me deciding if I want something like a cardigan or something more like a jacket. Decisions, decisions. Maybe I’ll just scrap the whole idea and make a St. Brigid.

My Favorite Cake-Thing

Ingredients:

• One yellow cake mix. It doesn’t matter what kind.
• 28oz Canned pumpkin. I have two smaller cans here.
• 3 Eggs
• 1.5 Sticks butter
• 12oz Evaporated Milk
• 1.5c Sugar
• A bag of pecans. I used a 1.5 cup bag of chopped pecans and it was plenty.

Preheat oven to 350. Mix half the cake mix (I just eyeball it), the pumpkin, eggs, evaporated milk, and sugar in a bowl. Don’t worry about getting all the lumps out, just make sure it’s all moist and combined. Pour the mix in a 9”x13” pan and sprinkle the rest of the cake mix and the pecans on top. Melt the butter and pour that over the cake mix and pecans. At this point you’re going to have a soupy looking mess but it will be fine. Bake for about 60 minutes. It’s not going to look like it’s done but it is. When you move the pan it will probably wiggle around a little and it may look kind of puffy on top. Let it sit on the counter and cool and it will firm up. Store it in the refrigerator and I always have to put mine in a different pan or the bottom will turn black, your pans may be different, though.

Here’s the finished product and I know it’s not the best picture but, trust me, it tastes like nutty pumpkiny heaven. I’m going to sneak a piece right now.

Happy Thanksgiving!