March 5, 2022 · 10:02 am

thin.banana.pancakes

While it’s true that I am a sourdough snob and prefer my dad’s pancakes, there is room for one more variety in my heart (quite literally only one more): my grandmother’s super thin crepe-like banana pancakes. I have spent years trying to get them “quite right”, and the trial and error has paid off.

Truth time: I buy bananas and secretly hope I get to use them solely for banana pancakes…shhh…

Plop a nice ripe banana in a bowl and add 1 cup flour, 1 1/2 TB (or so – I don’t measure these things) sugar, 1 egg, a splash of vanilla and a dash of salt. Slowly add milk as you mix together with a hand mixer, until the batter is a melted milkshake consistency. That’s it.

Drop onto the griddle or pan of your choice. Always a low to medium heat. You know it’s ready for batter when the pan does a little sizzle when you flick water on it. An aggressive pop and sizzle will result in burnt cakes with raw middles and no one but the family dog likes that nonsense. Oh. And be sure to give it a quick squirt of non-stick cook spray, (or some lard if you are OG like me) so your pancakes will easily lift when ready.

For me, the thinner the pancakes the better and while these aren’t exactly my gram’s, they are pretty close.

Now, drizzle with loads of real maple syrup and some butter and you are reliving my childhood weekend’s at grandma and grandpa’s. And special weekends in my own home now. These are so good my sorta-anti-pancake-husband is into them.

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February 12, 2022 · 1:32 pm

serial.domestic.violence

Human beings are incredible. But incredible in that way that the Chinese proverb “may you live in interesting times” is not necessarily a good thing. Humans can be amazing to one another, and they can be amazingly awful. I believe each and every one of us has experienced abuse of one form or another. While some pick themselves up and dust themselves off determined to not allow it to define them, others wrap their trauma around themselves and own it as an identity. Neither is necessarily correct, but one will certainly allow you to live a more fulfilled life that the other.

I don’t think I realized I was in an emotionally abusive relationship (because that shit only happens in the movies, right?) until I was so far down the well of degradation, I was looking out at the sun of the rest of the world from a very, very, deep hole. It’s hard to pull yourself out of that shit. Because you don’t know who you are anymore, and your abuser has done such a fantastic job of convincing you that you’re worthless, you feel you deserve the constant correction, taunting, public embarrassment and unwanted physical advances (“You should be happy somebody actually wants to sleep with you.”), as direct result of your terminal stupidity.

My friend Amanda did a thing a few days ago. A really fucking brave thing. She spoke about her experience with an abusive partner and laid herself bare for the world to see and hear. Patrisha McLean is an award-winning photojournalist and the founder/president of Finding Our Voices, the survivor-powered and grassroots nonprofit organization breaking the silence of domestic abuse and interviewed Amanda and another victim of the same abuser’s serial abuse. I am so fucking proud of Amanda for doing what she did, and am honored to call her a friend. I hope you give it a listen by clicking here and know that if you are in an abusive situation there is help out there for you. Know that you don’t deserve it. No one has the right to lay hands on you, or psychologically manipulate you. And just because you are in a relationship, the other person never has rights to your body.

If you or someone you know has been a victim of domestic violence, please call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233

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February 9, 2022 · 7:10 am

variegated.bobbin.blanket

I did a post a moon or two ago about my own baby blanket, that at over 40 years old, is still in my possession (Lovey is held together with years of love, dirt and willpower these days). It was knit in the feather and fan pattern and was my obsession as a kid. I now knit the baby blankets I gift (and sell) in the same pattern, and each time I post a picture, my Facebook followers go all nutty and lust for the pattern and the deets. So, I figured it was high time to reblog, and share this winning beauty (literally – I have fair ribbons to prove it) with the masses. Huzzah!

Feather and fan is actually a super easy pattern that only requires counting (up to 6!) every 4th row. Combined with these totally amazing yarn bobbins I stumbled across from Premier Yarns, these blankets are absolutely drool worthy. The bobbins come loaded with 3 skeins worth of anti-pill acrylic yarn – which is totally perfect for baby blankets, as I am told that babies tend to leak and/or spew various liquids and things, and need to be washed often. These require no special laundering and are just as cozy as they are gorge.

I use US 8 circular needles, 24″ long. I use circulars as often as possible as your project is literally contained within itself. This pattern works in multiples of 18 (Whoa. Math.) but I find a cast on of 154 stitches works perfectly into a tiny human sized blanket (8 pattern repeats with 10 for a border). The pattern below is for my blanket, but you can obviously tweak for a smaller boarder, etc. I also slip the first stitch of each row to the new needle (which counts as your first stitch), which in the end automatically creates a nice clean edge.

  • Cast on 154 stitches and knit each row until you have a border approximately an inch wide
  • Row 1: Knit
  • Row 2: K5, purl entire row, K5
  • Row 3: k5, * k2 tog 3 times, (k1, yo) 6 times, k2 tog 3 times * repeat from * to * until last 5 stitches, K5
  • Row 4: Knit

Repeat these 4 rows until you have the desired width for your color band (or just go to town if you’re going the single color route) and knit the last inch to bind off your border. The Premier bobbins work nicely into 7 row bands, and give you 5 blocks of that gorgeous variegated hombre. 2 bobbins work into a single blanket with plenty left over for a crocheted border and a matching cowl or something similar of the middle block color.

My blankets knit into approx 30X40”, but since you have the magical key of the 18 stitch pattern repeat, you can make it as large or small as you want.

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February 6, 2022 · 1:37 pm

leftover.kitchen.sink.pizza

I don’t know many people that don’t like pizza. (And if that is you, you can clearly skip this entire post and go merrily along your way). Homemade pizza is actually ridiculously easy to make, and with the tiniest bit of creativity, or perhaps just *permission* to think outside the box, you can whip up totally trendy hipster style pizzas at home that restaurants charge a stupid amount of money for.

First step? The dough. Dough is crazy easy, and something kids can help with if you happen to have that particular affliction in your home. It becomes even easier if you have a stand mixer.

Proof 2 tsp dry yeast with a pinch of sugar and 1 cup of warm water. After the yeast is bubbly and happy (proving that it is good and hungry), toss 3 cups of flour, a generous squirt of honey, 1 tsp salt and a drizzle of olive oil in the bowl and start your dough hook. Slowly add more warm water as needed until you get a nice, slightly sticky, dough. Knead with the dough hook for 5 or so minutes, and set aside in the same lightly oiled bowl to rise.

Need a rise hack? Put that covered bowl on a heating pad on the lowest setting. These little babies are year round Christmas miracles and will change your life, especially if you live in a space that isn’t warm and fuzzy all the time.

A standard heating pad is key to a fast and efficient rise in Alaska.

It will take an hour or so for your dough to rise, which will give you plenty of time to poke through your fridge to find whatever you will be using to make your super hipster, primo delish, leftover incorporating pizza.

Need a push? The following make amazeballs additions to any pizza you can create: cream cheese, jalapenos, chicken breasts, bacon, lunch meat, pasta sauce, sauteed vegetables, roasted vegetables, savory jams, literally any kind of cheese, eggs, and garlic in any form. The list is obviously almost endless. Get creative. Use what’s in your fridge or cupboards and get ready for deliciousness.

Last night’s pizza utilized leftover vodka cream sauce in the place of traditional marinara, dollops of salty ricotta (I.Love.Ricotta.Cheese. I can literally eat it with a spoon and salt shaker out of the container), leftover ‘chicken wing chicken’ (chicken breasts chopped with wing sauce), green onions, both fresh mozz and sprinkle mozz, as well as some chopped fresh jalapeno. Salt, pepper, and cayenne to taste.

When your dough is risen, assemble your ingredients on your dough as pressed on your chosen pan, and pop in a 475-500 degree oven for 15 or so minutes. Check on it toward the end (like you do) and tweak as needed. Allow to cool, and stuff face.

Add an egg in the last 5 minutes of cooking to up your hipster game. Sprinkle fresh basil or *gasp* arugula (mad hipster street cred for the latter) after baking. What will you make with your leftovers? And how freaking delicious was it?

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January 26, 2022 · 6:18 pm

not.hotplate.ramen

I was not one of those dorm dwelling kids that cooked ramen on an illegal hotplate. I was one of those dorm dwelling kids that cooked 10 Minute Rice on an illegal hotplate. This may be one of the reasons I am still a total ramen nut.

Remember when I went to Japan and ate all the ramen and gyoza I could sniff out? Now, I cannot even pretend to come close to conjuring the magic I had while shoveling those amazing bowls in my face, but I can certainly improve upon that dorm room prison style ramen.

Cook up your noodles and the spice pack in a pot (stovetop, hotplate, whatevs). While that is cooking, throw a small handful of frozen peas in your bowl and chop up some random fridge bits to toss in the bowl as well. Today, I added some fake crab for my bowl, and some leftover chicken for my partner’s. Peel a boiled egg (a 6 minute egg is purrrfect) and slice. Grab your never ending green onions and slice those babies on a sexy bias (it helps if you pretend Gordon Ramsey is yelling at you).

When your noodles are cooked, pour the broth and the noods into your bowl and give them a light stir. Sprinkle your green onions and drop a shrimp or two on top (I always have frozen shrimp in the freezer. Imma seafood ho.).

But wait! What takes this beyond random ramen with kitchen sink leftovers? A splash of soy sauce, a dash of mirin, and a generous sploosh of sriracha. That’s it. It’s so easy. It’s so delicious. Are you ready to up your ramen game??

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July 29, 2020 · 4:18 pm

caprese.compulsion

I am not a raw tomato fan. Even a little bit. However. I would consider pushing old ladies aside for some badass mozz, basil and tomatoes.

I culled some of my beautiful curly leaf lettuce basil and stacked the goods for an over the top salad. Drizzle with olive oil and balasmic, salt, and boom. Obsession.

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May 26, 2020 · 8:36 am

ham.love

I scored an almost 10 pound ham for less than $12 last week and we have been making use of it in alltheways, which makes me happy. Little to no waste is always the goal, and this former oinker was no exception.

For the first meal, cover and bake at 325 for 15 minutes per pound. Have a relatively rough day and literally serve said ham on a cutting board and say “have at it”.

Pick at the ham in the fridge for the next few days and throw some slices on a breakfast sandwich or two. And obviously stuffed hashbrowns.

For the final encore, clean the remaining meat from the bone and set aside to throw into the final stages of some yummy hipster lentils.

Drop the bone into a pot and cover with water. Or, in my case, use a slightly smaller pot because the soup pot is simmering some white chicken chili at the moment….cover and simmer for 1-2 hours, skimming foam and ick as it bubbles.

After the bone has simmered and given its deliciousness to the water, toss the bone and cool. Add your lentils to soak in 1 cup broth and 3 cups water.

Simmer down later with some onions and carrots, adding ham chunks at the end. Everything is delicious. And nothing has gone to waste. Woo hoo!

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May 24, 2020 · 10:10 am

stuffed.hashbrowns:the.sequel

I posted about stuffed hashbrowns way back in 2011. Since then I had a little brush with fame and the recipe was posted in a magazine (but don’t worry, I’m still super humble about it and haven’t let it make my already huge ego any bigger. Because come on, girl still needs to walk through doors.). I also have made it once or twice and today was no exception.

We couldn’t decide what to do for breakfast, and I have been having this weird texture thing with eggs lately (it’s just a phase). So, a quick scan of the kitchen and stuffed hashbrowns (with a few tweaks) was the obvious answer. Aside from using some leftover ham (I scored a 9 pound ham for $12. How do you NOT buy it and use it for allthethings?!) and shredded jack cheese as opposed to pepperjack (And no, I don’t actually use frozen hashbrowns. Ick. That was a change the magazine wanted to make for “ease of use for the regular homecook.”), today’s version was the same. And oh so good!

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April 26, 2020 · 7:48 pm

live.stream

As you may or may not know, I make jewelry for a living. I went to school for jewelry design and metalsmithing back in the day, and am super hashtag blessed to be able to put that edjumacation to use in a field I truly enjoy. I work from my home studio (hello pj’s even before Covid Life!!!) and sell to retail stores as well as online (think Etsy and Amazon) as well as festivals and shows.

Well, since the world started slowly burning to the ground in a pretty terrible and scary way, festivals and all that face to face stuff has been cancelled. So! I am hosting a super fun live stream shopping event on my business Facebook page. Woo hoo! I’m working on some brand-stinkin-new designs to be unveiled during the show and you can shop from my website:

I’m super excited. I’m super nervous. But I’m also super stoked. I am going to try my hardest not to swear, but I promise to have some super badass new designs. Will I see you there?!

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April 17, 2020 · 9:27 pm

carrot.soup

You know when you have the best of intentions to eat a whole bag of carrots, but then put them somewhere just far enough out of your eyeline that you forget about them and they all suddenly need to be used all quick-like….? Time to make soup.

Pull some of that badass homemade stock you have in the freezer and drop in a pot.

Dice and entire onion and one seeded jalapeño and dump in a pot. Peel and chop all of the carrots that you lovingly rediscovered and dump in as well.

Simmer, covered, until the carrots are soft and cooked through stirring as needed. Zip with your handy dandy immersion blender (or in an actual blender if that’s your style), throw in a generous dollop of sour cream (I’m an addict) and salt and pepper to taste.

Add more sour cream and garnish with green onions.

It is so super easy to make and is super delish. The jalapeño gives it just a tiny kick and loads of depth. Now, go ahead. Forget about some carrots. You’ll thank me later.

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