operator, get me sweden

Use any methods you require to get her on the wire
I know you understand me you've heard it all before
Because you are this earths' long distance love ambassador

I went to Stockholm!






Our apartment is one of those buildings. Maybe the yellow one second from the left? I forget.


It was kind of eerie because it never really got dark. We could go sightseeing at night, even. It was nice except for when I would wake with the sunrise every morning at 4 am. Then it was kind of shocking.

These pictures were taken around 9 or 10 at night without a flash!



Remarkably, the Swedes seem to like food in tubes:

I bought some tubed "bacon ost" but haven't tried it yet.





Not wanting to show up empty handed, I knit a sweater for the son of my swedish friends. I used the pattern for the Shawl-Collared Jacket from Baby Knits For Beginners by Debbie Bliss. It was the first time I've knit anything without deviating from the pattern. I even bought the yarn specified. But even then I still had to buy a sixth ball of yarn. I must be a tight knitter. It was my first garment, but I think it turned out not bad, right? The kid's freaking gorgeous so I'm sure anything would look good on him. I think next time I'll try to add pockets.

This was knit with Debbie Bliss merino aran (colour: 325300 black, 6 skeins) on size US8 needles.

fun park fugitives

from our heads down to our sneakers
we're natural born thrill seekers











I told you I'd eat it.

I wish that I was beautiful for you

On Saturday I went to Brooklyn and took a lot of pictures for a friend. Then she took this one of me:

(for the gender confused. hee.)

and I wish that I was beautiful for you
I wish that I could change things with a pill
for a quick fix modern tonic that would change me with one swallow
I would kill
watch folks line up to pay
to stare at me all day
but I’d turn them all away if that be thy will
one tiny little innocuous pill
but a wish is just a pin in a swimming pool of needles

Sometimes life is easier when certain aspects of it are blurred.

double decker fun

So I went to see Low the other day (well, weeks ago now), and when they came back for the first encore (yes, they did two!) Alan Sparhawk (who, by the way, is quite sexy. y'know, in that rock star kind of way) said in his deep baritone, "We're going to do it a little different. Everybody clap your hands. C'mon. Pretend you're eating cake."

ingredients:
1 cup butter
2 cups white sugar
2 eggs
1 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 1/2 cups flour
2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup boiling water

instructions:
1. preheat oven to 350 degrees F
2. grease and line pans with parchment paper
3. sift together cocoa, flour, baking soda, salt

4. cream butter and sugar
5. beat in eggs one at a time

6. alternately beat in flour mixture and buttermilk

7. mix just until incorporated

8. add boiling water, mix for one minute

9. bake ~40 minutes



I found that recipe for Jan's Chocolate Cake online back in January and have been obsessed with it ever since. I can't stop making it!

I even had to buy a second cake pan to be able to bake it faster (and therefore more often!).

I've added mint extract to make it minty, substituted hot coffee instead of boiling water to make it coffee-y, added raspberries, blueberries...

The possibilities are endless!


For Party Bobobomo (happy birthday to me!) I used canned blueberries between the layers.



Though now I'm on the hunt for a vegan cake recipe.

Do you know of one?






We also made cupcakes!

candle with care: music to hold hands to

Look what came for me today:

It's the end of an era. Or at least the end of Candle Records. In a panic I ordered all the Lucksmiths and Darren Hanlon recordings I was missing. I can be a bit of a completist when there is a sale.

If I could only listen to one band for the rest of my life, it would have to be The Lucksmiths. I love them. Not only are they extremely catchy but their craftsmanship of the English language never ceases to amaze me. So many times I'll be dancing around my apartment like a loser and then struck absolutely still by the beauty of it.

How does Tali White sing so flawlessly while banging the drums at the same time? It's a mystery.

Though I've got to say, of all my new CDs, I like the cover art of Darren Hanlon's Hiccups EP the best. Brilliant.

I am such a sucker for a catchy tune and smart lyrics. There's a long list of songwriters that just break my heart.

And now instead of my taxes, I'll have to rearrange my CD shelf.




you can't keep a secret
but you keep a diary anyway
and you get away with murder
because you've got a way with words

This was supposed to be a knitting blog, but whatever.

mak'n maki

My cereal cupboard is empty, and while I still have leftover chowder in the freezer, a recent tea break at Pearl River Mart in SoHo -->
has got me drooling over ceramic dishes and craving avocado rolls.



Check it:



I like to use the pressure cooker.







Janet says for every cup of rice, dissolve 1/4 cup of sugar in 1/4 cup of rice vinegar and add a bit of salt to taste:

But I never end up adding even half that.
















I've got your picture, I've got your picture. I'd like a million of them all round my cell.
I asked the doctor to take your picture, So I can look at you from inside as well.

hail ceasar

Rosie came to visit the other week and brought me 10 litres of Clamato juice!

Some interesting trivia (from here):
"The Caesar, a quintessential Canadian invention has been one of this country’s most favored savory cocktails for over 35 years. Spiced up, or spiced down, each year, over 300 million Caesars are served to Canadians across the country (almost ten times the nation’s entire population) reflecting the fact that the savory Caesar is a cherished part of Canadian life. -- The tale of the Caesar began in 1969 when inventor, bar manager and mixologist extraordinaire Walter Chell was challenged to concoct his own unique cocktail creation to mark the opening of a Calgary restaurant. Since then, the infamous blend of vodka and Mott’s Clamato tomato-clam cocktail (a combination of tomato juice, mashed clams and a top secret blend of spices) has become a true Canadian icon."

Here we go, yo:
















So anyway, I guess this evens the score: New York 1, Toronto 1



Isn't celery lovely?