I love New York!

Salami shaped like hearts and flowers

Cheese, magnificent cheese

Every olive under the sun

Pizza the size of my leg — yes, I ate the whole thing

Thanks to all who entered the Knit Nat Giveaway. The winner was chosen and contacted this morning.

Keep your eyes peeled for any upcoming giveaways, as I plan on doing this in the future.

-Natasha

Creativity is in the air here at Knit Nat AK, which means it’s time for a crafty giveaway. One lucky person will win a hand made craft from Knit Nat!

Yesterday was crystal clear and bright and today’s looking good too. Stephen and I busted out the horseshoes last night. He beat me, as usual, but I managed to get some ringers of my own.

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.

December 21 can be a strange day. In a sense it’s depressing because it’s the shortest day of the year. The sun rose at 10:11 a.m. and set at 3:41 p.m. Not a lot of daylight. But the solstice can also be uplifting. Every day after this day it will be lighter and lighter and before we know it, summer has arrived and the sun will never set.

We gained 17 seconds of daylight today.

These were the best beans I’ve ever made for taco night. No photo because we ate them all.

Baconated Beans
Add one can of black beans (do not drain) to a small saucepan. Turn heat to high and bring to soft boil. Mash up beans several times with a potato masher. Add one small clove of garlic, roughly chopped. Meanwhile, chop up a slice of bacon and brown in a pan.  Add the bacon and a pinch of salt and simmer till liquid cooks down, about 10 minutes.

Red Quinoa
Cook 1 cup of quinoa according to directions on bag. Add about 1/4 cup of spaghetti sauce, a dash of salt, a dash of chili powder, a dash of cayenne powder and a couple of teaspoons of cumin.

Brown some meat and add taco seasoning. Combine shredded sharp cheddar, baconated beans, red quinoa, lettuce, sour cream and salsa to a tortilla. Roll it up and eat it up!