All posts by alaskaknitnat

Welcome to Alaska Knit Nat! I was born and raised in Anchorage and have always had a passion for making useful things, whether they are eaten, knit, crocheted, sewn or randomly glued and assembled. I received my bachelor’s degree in French and journalism from the University of Alaska Anchorage and work almost full time at a nonprofit and way over time as a mom.
Cooking, mexican

Guacamole a la Moña

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This is one of the recipes that our housekeeper, Moña, makes. I’m not sure of all the proportions since the ingredients back home are slightly different. I will try and provide the U.S. equivalents.

2 roma tomatoes
1/3 English cucumber, peeled
1/4 sweet onion
2 green chili peppers (smaller than jalapeños, but 1 jalapeño could work)
3 ripe avocados
a couple of tablespoons of cilantro, chopped
juice of 1/4 lime
dash of apple cider vinegar

Directions:
Chop the sides of the tomatoes off, leaving the juicy core. Discard the core and mince the sides. Mince the cucumber, onion and pepper (choose to remove the seeds for less spiciness). The tomato, cucumber and onions should all be about the same quantity when minced. Add the cilantro and mix up with your hands. Add the avocados to a bowl and mash up with a potato masher. Add all of the other ingredients to the bowl. Serve with chips!

Knit & Crochet, Knitting

Charcoal + Teal = Lovely New Hat

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My boss needed a new hat since he must have shrunk his other one. He usually goes for what a small group of us calls “hot-boy green,” but this time he wanted a turquoise and grey hat.

Yarn used: Bernat Roving, flint color
Loops & Threads Charisma, electric blue color

Made on size 10 needles, 72 stitches in the round, six rows of K2P2 ribbing, 32 rows tall before decreasing.

asian, Cooking

Gyoza with lemon ginger sauce

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This is home cooking at its finest.

Click here for my homemade gyoza recipe. The following is a lemon ginger sauce I made.

Ingredients:
Juice of 1/2 lemon
a few tablespoons of Ponzu (orange-infused soy sauce)
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 tsp. grated ginger
a couple of teaspoons of rice wine vinegar
2 scallions, chopped finely
several dashes of chili sesame oil

Comine all the ingredients. Serve alongside gyoza. SO GOOD. Here is a picture of Stephen full of gyoza:

Cooking

Orange Honey Pork Chops with Green Beans and Israeli Cous Cous

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This is a modified recipe from this month’s Bon Appetit magazine.

Serves 2 really hungry people

Ingredients:
2 thick pork chops
3 Tbs. honey
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon orange juice
Salt and pepper
1/2 cup white wine (I used Chateau Ste. Michelle dry riesling)
Herbes de Provence (or thyme and rosemary)
1 cup dried whole wheat Israeli cous cous
2.5 cups chicken stock
1 tbs. Wondra flour (or regular flour)

Directions:
In a pie pan, combine the honey, OJ and garlic. Add the chops to pan and flip over a couple of times till they are coated. Sprinkle salt and pepper on both sides of chops, cover, and marinate for at least one hour.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Coat an ovenproof frying pan with olive oil and turn to medium-high heat. Add the chops (reserve the marinade) and brown on both sides, about 4 minutes total. Move pan to the oven and cook for 20 minutes, flipping chops once halfway through.
When 10 minutes remain, heat 2 cups of chicken stock in a small saucepan till boiling. Add 1 Tbs. olive oil to another small saucepan and place over med-high heat. Add the cous cous and stir for two minutes. Add the boiling chicken stock, turn heat to low, cover and simmer for 10 minutes or until most of the liquid is absorbed.
Steam the green beans.
When chops are done, remove them from the pan and add the flour to the juices over medium heat. Stir and cook for one minute, then add the rest of the chicken stock, herbes de Provence and the white wine. Stir till sauce is thickened.
Top the chops, cous cous and green beans with the sauce. Serve with the bottle of white wine.

appetizers, Cooking

Shrimp Cocktail with Creamy Horseradish Sauce

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This was really easy and totally satisfying.

Ingredients:
1 lemon, halved
1/2 teaspoon lemon zest
1/2-3/4 pounds of raw unpeeled shrimp
1 bay leaf
1 cup dry white wine (I used Chateau Ste. Michelle dry riesling)
2 cups water
salt and pepper
1/4 cup light sour cream
1 green onion, chopped finely
1 tablespoon horseradish sauce

Directions:
Combine water, wine, 1/2 lemon, bay leaf and a pinch of salt to a medium saucepan and bring to a boil. Meanwhile fill a medium bowl with ice water. When water is boiling, add the shrimp and immediately turn heat to low and poach for 4 minutes. With a slotted spoon, transfer shrimp to ice water. To the poaching liquid, add the juice of the other half of lemon and bring to a roaring boil. Boil for about 20 minutes till there’s only a couple of tablespoons of liquid left. Meanwhile, peel the shrimp leaving the tails intact. Set aside.
In a small bowl, combine the sour cream, horseradish, salt and pepper, zest, green onion and 1 tablespoon of the shrimp reduction. Hang the shrimp on the edge of the bowl and serve.

Sewing

I am SO ready for mexio — my homemade swimsuit

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I’m a knitter, not a sewer. Sewing frustrates me. Bobbins, pins, cutting, cutting, cutting….sigh. I wanted a two-piece bathing suit for Mexico, but I don’t have the right proportions for the cute bikinis at Target and Old Navy. It’s frustrating. So I decided to sew myself a swimsuit. Finding a good pattern wasn’t easy. Jo-Anne’s only had three patterns in all of their books. Two were triangle tops, not supportive enough, so I went with the third — a conservative two-piece with a built-in shelf bra.

I only had one meltdown, thanks to my patient husband.

The pattern is Butterick #B4526. I haven’t sewn from a pattern in years, so I forgot sizing is wonky with patterns. I bought the smaller size, but I didn’t want to drive back to the store so I just went for it. It turned out really well:

appetizers, Cooking

Packers vs. Steelers — how to feed a hungry crowd

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It was a good six hours of football today. Both Packers and Steelers fans had a good day. Good thing we had provisions!

Speedy Guacamole

Ingredients:
Two ripe avocados, smashed
Two small tomatoes, diced
1/4 cup salsa
dash of white wine vinegar or a squeeze of lime
salt and pepper
a couple of dashes of hot sauce

Toss together all of the ingredients. Serve with corn chips

Gotta-have-it Cheese Dip

Ingredients:
1/2 block of velveeta
1/2 cup salsa
1 small can of diced green chiles
2 tbs chopped jalapeños (from the jar)
a few dashes of hot sauce
1/2 lb. ground pork
smoked paprika
chili powder
salt and pepper

Season the pork with a couple of shakes of paprika and chili powder. Add salt and pepper and mix thoroughly. Brown the meat and break into small pieces. Add pork and all the other ingredients to a medium sauce pan and cook over medium heat till the cheese is melted. Serve with corn chips.

Uncategorized

Not to Brag, but….

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I’m a little excited because this morning, I checked out my favorite craft Web site, craftster.org to see what new knitting projects were posted. As I scrolled down, I noticed my Braided Winter Headband was near the top of the list, meaning someone must have commented on it. When I opened it up, I found this little picture:

I’ve been a member of this site for seven years and few people have even commented on my crafts. Thanks to the girl in Seward for letting me spy on her headband. I wouldn’t have won this award without her.

Knitting, Patterns, Tutorials

Left-handed hat video tutorial

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My husband’s mom, I recently discovered, knits left-handed like I do. She knows how to make scarves and blankets, but she wanted to learn something new. Since I don’t spend much time up in Fairbanks, AK (I like things to be above -33 degrees), I decided to make a video tutorial. iMovie rocks!