Its time for some surfing and linky love..

Bento Yum. I adore Bento stuff. I'm addicted to looking at it. I want it all. The bonus is that one of the mamas who writes this blog, also writes another I've enjoyed for a long time, The Lactivist Blog.

Colored Paper Art. So much fun to look at. I swear!

Country Living, Country Skills. There are so many things on the list that I've wanted to know about. Homesteading has always interested me (on some weird level,) though I need my basic technologies.

Mr Picasso Head. Make your own Picasso!

The Sheep Market. Though I don't totally understand the why of it. I like mousing over the images and who doesn't like sheep?

Beer Cupcakes. Yes you heard that right.. BEER cupcakes.

Love Americans, Hate Bush. I don't think I need to say anything more.

Knitting post later.. ok maybe later. I'm having a bit of a painful issue in my upper right arm. I'm not sure if its tendonitis or something else, but it started bugging me on Saturday and has gotten progressively worse since. I don't think its related to knitting since I haven't been doing much at all. Its also aggrivated by typing and using the computer mouse.

Anyway, I'm up to chart three on the Dark Mark Illusion Scarf. And I started another project.

I already mentioned the iPod last night. How cool, right? And just as I was about to start whining about not getting my invite to Ravelry yet, it magically appeared in my inbox. If I could only find a few more hours in the day to start plunking images and data in there, I'd be golden.

But the even cooler thing than all of that, is a contract knitting gig I was offered. Its super double secret, in that I can't really talk about it other than mere mention (like this, no details) and I certainly can't post pictures of progress (duh). But this is a really big deal as far as I'm concerned, and I'm incredibly excited to be working on this (and future projects). Vague huh? I will be able to share once the project is done and published, so stay tuned on that.

As for our holiday. It was rainy. Thats it. We didn't do anything special except make spiedies on the grill, in the rain. Richard's friend, Steve, stopped by to hang out for a few hours, but thats it. We were going to go to the state fair grounds for fireworks, but we were fearful of parking the car, getting in there, and trying to make it back to the car in a downpour with the tribe in tow. The kids were a little bummed, but there are more fireworks in the area through the weekend, so hopefully we'll get another chance.

Knitting? I have absolutely nothing to show. I started the baby set for Richard's sister (shes due in August), but admittedly I didn't get very far. I really need to whip this out though, at least while I'm waiting for new Sockapalooza yarn and the super double secret project packages to arrive. This little break is good though, because the next 30 days are going to be filled with time sensitive knitting. Fire up the coffee maker.. lots of late night knitting ahead!

So this morning we had on News10Now (our local 24hour news channel) and their chef guy, Dan Eaton, was making grilled eggplant sandwiches. They looked so yummy, we had to give it a try! We didn't check the recipe before going to the market, and I thought the red he was putting on the sandwich was tomato and not roasted red pepper. But my version still came out incredible! The key really is the fresh mozarella so if you try it, definitely use fresh! I also opted for a softer Italian bread vs. ciabatta.

Richard made a Mexican version with homemade red ancho chili sauce, roasted poblano peppers, tomato, avocado and fresh colby/jack (we couldn't find queso fresco!) In any case, both sandwiches were mouth-watering good, and definitely a new favorite. Get the recipe here.

Llamie, you need to email me your mojito recipe. I had a craving today and the Bacardi was the best I could do ~ However, it goes well with my fine china paper plates.

Double posts today, so that Nana and Grandma and the aunts and uncles can view the modest celebration here at Chez Martin...

This was probably the best birthday cake I've ever made, and I'm no Martha Stewart, as you can tell by my awful cake decorating skills. Now my Llamie... that is a mama that can decorate a cake!

For the interested, I used this recipe (cake only, not the frosting). I've had it printed off for several months now and glad I finally got around to trying it. I definitely declare it a winner.

The icing however.. I was out of milk and/or cream and unable to make a standard buttercream, so I took a simple "boiled" frosting recipe, and instead of using vanilla to flavor, I obliterated about 3/4 cup of fresh strawberries with my stick blender and added just shy of a half teaspoon of lemon juice. Take the strawberry slurry and place in a metal bowl (or the top of a double boiler), and add 2 egg whites, 1 and a half cups of white granulated sugar, a smidge less than 1 teaspoon of light corn syrup, then zapped it for a few minutes with the stick blender while waiting for water to boil on the stove. Move the metal bowl to the pot of boiling water and use like a double boiler (unless however, you are using a double boiler.. I don't own one!) Cook for about 6 minutes (this is how long it took my stove) the whole while, using a stick blender on the lower speed. If you don't have a stick blender, you can whisk by hand (though it could get tiring) or a regular electric mixer. At this point it should start to form very soft peaks. Remove from heat and continue to whip the heck out of it.. I put it in my Kitchen Aid stand mixer on high and walked away for a few minutes. I came back to perfectly stiff, spreadable peaks.

I kid you not.. this stuff tastes just like Strawberry Fluff! And this is an interesting thing, because my Aunt makes this strawberry fluff desert that my kids LOVE, and which we try to limit because of the red dye in the strawberry flavored Fluff. My kids can handle a sugar high and come down a few hours later. But that red dye high lasts for up to 72 hours! You wouldn't believe how they act on red dye unless you were witness to it. Anyway.. I'm wondering if we can replace the strawberry fluff for this "frosting". Hmm!

So anyway, on to more pictures..

Daddy unfortunately had to rush off to teach class tonight, and we're missing him already. But we have a full evening planned! Alex received two new XBox games for his birthday, so it will be video games 'til bedtime.

I always get a little delight out of a packages with foreign postmarks! My SP10 sent this delightful package from across the pond!

ORANGE candles, Lindor chocolate truffle eggs (there were originally two Lindor eggs.. I couldn't wait to dig into one of them!) And British Blue Faced Leicester DK weight yarn, which she hand dyed herself - orange (swooooon) and mossy greens (more swoooooning!) They are soo soft that I want to knit them right away, like right now, but I need to formulate a plan - find the perfect project - this kind of softness deserves a special project!

And the boys, especially Connor, loves the goldfish note card, repeatedly pointing out the bubble.

Thank you Secret Pal.. you made my day!

And all the way from Japan, two little items that tickle my funny bone, and made for some fun time in the kitchen yesterday.

Last week after reading on Julie's blog, then on Oiyi's Crafts, a trip to a Bento store on eBay was in order!

I didn't take any pictures of the process, but if you look at Julie's or Oiyi's blogs you can see what they do. Basically you cook some hard-boiled eggs, and while they're still hot, peel them and place them in the mold, then submerge in cold water for 10 minutes. The end result? An incredibly cute shaped hard boiled egg! I still need to get the bunny and bear molds, so I see many more Bento accessories in my future. I just think they're all too cute for words. This particular Bento seller was incredibly quick! I ordered on Sunday and they arrived on Thursday. Wow!

As a knitting side note, I did indeed cast on Wing Of The Moth with lilac Cotton Fine on Thursday. I'm several repeats into the first chart, but I forgot to take some pictures while I had the camera out. So I'll devote an entire post to that project in the next few days. Who knows, maybe even tomorrow. I'm really enjoying it, having already memorized the chart, so this one should go fast.

A day late, and a dollar short (aint that the truth!)

But anyway, yesterday was my three year blogiversary. I intended to post to celebrate, but the day got away from me (A girl scouts outing, a sick kid, a cooking marathon in the kitchen including baba ganouj, chocolate chip pumpkin bars, and Carole's chicken tomato stroganoff. I know - weird combos, but I had some cravings)

Anyway, its been three years.

Heres to many more!

Remember I mentioned mac and cheese a few days ago? Well I did make some - but I'm just now getting around to posting the recipe. We've had this recipe floating around the house probably as long as Richard and I have been together, but over the years we've tweaked it. Doubles easily to be baked in a large lasagna type pan, and makes for excellent leftovers! Note: whenever I make a ham -  you can be sure I make this macaroni and cheese the very next day.

• 4 Cups (1lb) elbow macaroni
• 5 Tablespoons unsalted butter
• 4 Cups milk (whole!)
• 1/2 medium onion
• 4 cloves of garlic crushed
• 1 bay leaf
• 3 sprigs of fresh thyme (or dry from your spice cabinet works well too)
• 1.5 teaspoons dry mustard
• 2 Tablespoons all purpose flour
• 2 Cups grated cheddar, plus 1 additional cup, cut in big chunks
• 1/2 cup grated parmesan
• kosher salt and fresh ground pepper

(Optional but suggested):

• chunks of ham (use your leftovers!)
• seasoned bread crumbs
• additional butter

Cook macaroni in a large pot of salted water until done (5-7 minutes) Drain, then toss with 2 tablespoons of butter - set aside

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Coat large baking dish with 1 tablespoon of butter and set aside.

Put the milk into a heavy saucepan and add the onion, garlic, bay leaf, thyme and mustard. Warm over medium low heat until the milk starts to steam a bit - about 10 minutes. Remove from the heat and let the flavors infuse while making your roux.

In a large pot over medium heat, add 2 tablespoons of butter and the flour. Cook, stirring for about 2-3 minutes, not letting the roux color. Strain the infused milk onto your roux, whisking to avoid lumps. Cook, stirring often for 5 minutes until the sauce is thick. Remove from heat and add half of the parmesan, and half of the grated cheddar, stir until melted and smooth.

Taste, and adjust seasoning with salt and pepper. Pour this over the macaroni, add chunks of cheddar and mix until well blended; put this into your prepared baking dish. (If you are using the optional ham, add it now)
Sprinkle the remaining cheddar and parmesan cheeses evenly over the top. (if you plan to use the optional breadcrumb mixture for the top, do the following: melt butter - about 2 tablespoons worth in a large pan - add breadcrumbs, stirring well to "wet" the breadcrumbs - sprinkle on top of grated cheese topping)
Bake until the top is golden brown and crusty, approximately 25-30 minutes.

This dish has become one of my favorite staple cold weather day foods (along with chili, black eyed peas, or green chili stew) The bonus? Its kid approved and so much better than that neon orange crap in a box!

Bon appetit!

What a week (in more ways than one!)

I have plenty to post about this past week, a rant, some knitting, holiday happenings.. but I wanted to get this out right away.

See, chances are you tried to come here all week.. and got a server not found error? And the rest of you came here and wondered where the hell I was all week, right? Well, a router went wonky from what I'm told, and half of the country couldn't resolve the dns or ip, or something or other. Many days went by with one company saying "its not us" and the other company saying "nope not us either". But finally... YAY... we're working again!