appetizers, cocktails, Cooking, Crafts, DIY, Holiday, side dishes, snacks

Grinch-themed birthday party

April 18, 2016 alaskaknitnat 2 Comments

Our son, Jack, turns 4 this week. Since his second birthday we’ve let him choose his party theme. At 2 it was Pingu (please, have a look at this adorable Swedish claymation penguin show), last year it was the Lorax and when I asked him this year what he wanted, he chose the Grinch.

A Grinch-themed birthday party | Minimal organization and lots of running around is all you need for a fun kids birthday party. A photo gallery from alaskaknitnat.com — Pin the heart on the Grinch. It’s more of a tradition on my part to get me into the spirit of party planning. The kids play with it for about 5 minutes.

During the holidays we took Jack to a local restaurant to see the outrageous film based on the Dr. Seuss character. It was his first big screen experience so it must have left an impression on him.

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asian, Cooking, recipes

30-Minute Fried Rice

March 22, 2016 alaskaknitnat 3 Comments

I recently got a full-time job. This means I come home at 5:15 and if my husband and I want some non-kid, sane time I have 45 minutes to get dinner on the table before we start our son’s bedtime routine.

This is not a lot of prep time, I’ve discovered. It takes all my strength to make something nutritious and non-mac & cheesy.

I am realizing that I need to strategize. I can’t expect to chop veggies, thaw chicken, marinate steak, or do all the other simple, yet time-consuming preparatory steps required to make tasty food.

Here’s the first of hopefully many recipes where you can come home from work, make the food, and then spend some quality time with your family, such as watching “Bob’s Burgers” (that’s what we are currently doing).

30-minute fried rice

Serves 4-6

To make delicious fried rice you really need to start with cold, cooked rice. That’s hard to do when you want to cook a meal in 30 minutes. But if you make the rice the night before while you’re binge-watching “The Voice,” and stick it in the fridge, you’re good to go the next day.

Ingredients:

2 cups uncooked rice, prepared and refrigerated overnight
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, removed from freezer the night before and placed in the fridge (I forgot to do this so we went without today)
vegetable oil
3 eggs, lightly beaten
2 cups frozen vegetable medley (whatever medley you prefer)
4 tablespoons softened butter
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 an onion, diced
2 tablespoons chicken stock or water
1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
3 green onions, chopped finely
3 tablespoons soy sauce
pepper to taste

Directions:

Slice the chicken into bite-sized pieces. Season with salt and pepper and set aside. Combine the butter and garlic in a bowl. Set aside. Heat a large skillet over high heat. Lightly coat the pan with vegetable oil.

Pour the eggs in the pan and let set for a minute before stirring vigorously. Set eggs aside. Wipe pan clean and add a little more oil. Toss in the chicken and sauté till cooked through. Set aside.

Add the chicken stock, veggies and onion to the pan. Sauté until veggies are cooked through. Add the sesame oil and 1 tablespoon of the garlic butter. Start crumbling the rice into the pan with your hands, about a cup at a time. Add a little more butter between handfuls. Add the green onions.

When butter and rice are incorporated in the pan, stir in the eggs and chicken. Add the soy sauce and cook until rice gets a little crispy if you like. Add pepper to taste.

Store the leftovers for lunch or cook up some ham or Spam and have breakfast fried rice.

appetizers, Cooking

The secret to perfect hard-boiled eggs

March 19, 2016 alaskaknitnat 2 Comments

There’s no other time that I feel as though I’ve failed at life as when I hard boil eggs. It seems like a simple endeavor: boil eggs, cool them, peel them. But usually my eggs are impossible to peel.

When I asked my friends on social media why I can’t seem to successfully peel an egg, I got all sorts of egg-cellent suggestions from running them under water as I peeled them, to shaking them vigorously in a jar of water (totally didn’t work). The most frequent response I got was I was using too-fresh eggs.

I dutifully tried every suggestion but got no closer to a peelable egg. Finally, I heard a new one: steam the eggs.

I tried it. It worked. Here’s how to make the perfect hard-cooked egg. *note: after trying this method three times, the only successful batch was when I steamed 4 eggs. When I tried to steam 12 they didn’t get cooked through enough — but they were incredibly easy to peel!

What you’ll need:

Some eggs

A pot

A steamer basket

Directions:

Fill your pot with about an inch of water and bring it to a boil. Place your eggs in a steamer basket and lower them into the pot. Cover, turn the heat to medium and steam for 13 minutes.

A couple of minutes before the eggs are done, fill a bowl with ice and cold water. Transfer the eggs to the bowl and let them cool for 15 minutes.

They peeled perfectly!

Yay for life hacks.

Looking for a good egg salad recipe? Try my chicken salad but substitute eggs!

Cooking, recipes, soup

Easy sweet potato carrot soup

February 21, 2016 alaskaknitnat Leave a comment

Today is a soup day. It’s rainy, grey and I just want to stay inside. Plus, after recently having major surgery, I’m on a limited diet of soft foods. When I noticed I had a couple of sweet potatoes in my pantry I decided to use them to make a blended, flavorful soup.

I’m not much of a soup chef. I have my minestrone, but that takes a lot of chopping. When a friend brought me some butternut squash soup last week she said all she did was roast everything and put it in a blender with some stock. Easy peasy.

This soup is sweet, savory and slightly creamy. Perfect for a day like today.

Easy sweet potato carrot soup

Serves 5

Ingredients:

2 sweet potatoes
3 carrots
3 cloves garlic
1/2 onion, chopped
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon butter
8 fresh sage leaves
3 cups chicken stock
4 oz. Neufchâtel cheese (or cream cheese)
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Peel the carrots. Place the carrots and the whole sweet potatoes on a parchment-lined baking sheet and bake for one hour. Remove the carrots and place the whole, peeled garlic cloves in the pan. Roast another 15 minutes or until garlic is golden brown.

Meanwhile, heat the oil and butter in a pan and sauté the onions until translucent, about 7 minutes. Roughly tear up the sage and place in the pan. Sauté for another 2 minutes. Turn off heat and set aside.

After the sweet potatoes have cooled slightly it should be easy to remove the skins. Chop them into rough pieces and place in a blender with the carrots, garlic, onions and sage. Add 2 cups of stock and blend for a few minutes, scraping down the sides if necessary.

Put contents in a soup pot and add remaining cup of stock. Bring to a boil, turn down heat and simmer for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

A few minutes before serving stir in the cream cheese until melted and well combined. Serve with a sprinkling of freshly grated parmesan.

Crafts, DIY, Knit & Crochet, Knitting, Patterns

Reversible chevron scarf

February 8, 2016 alaskaknitnat 3 Comments

A couple of weeks ago I was packing for a two-week vacation in Mexico. Our family trips consist of sleeping, eating and lying around, so I have a lot of time to knit. I wanted to work on a pattern that was easy and quick to finish.

I’m not usually a fan of knitting scarves as they go on forever and ever, but I realized I don’t have many scarves and the cowls I’ve made muss my hair when I take them off.

I don’t do lacework and cable scarves have a wrong side, which I find unattractive. That’s when I found a free downloadable pattern from Ravelry called the Reversible Chevron Scarf designed by Debbie Seton of The Crimson Rabbit.

Click here for the free pattern.

This scarf has a beautiful texture and the design, which is made up of just knits and purls, looks the same on both sides. Just what I wanted!

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appetizers, Cooking, mexican, recipes, side dishes

Moña’s Fried Cauliflower — A Mexican side dish

February 6, 2016 alaskaknitnat 3 Comments

Our family just came back from a two-week vacation in Nayarit, Mexico. One of the perks of the place we stay in is a housekeeper who cooks for us. Moña used to run a restaurant out of her home and she’s the best Mexican chef I know. I yearn for her chiles rellenos and chilaquiles.

One of her specialties is battered, fried cauliflower. I’m not a cauliflower enthusiast, but when it’s prepared like chiles rellenos, I’m sold.

Florets are coated in a delicate egg batter, pan fried and tossed in a simple tomato sauce. The florets turn out perfectly tender, almost like al dente pasta.

The difficulty with my trying to make Moña’s recipes back home is our lack of delicious produce. Our fresh tomatoes are usually terrible and our onions aren’t nearly as sweet.

Here is my attempt at one of Moña’s signature side dishes. It’s accompanying pulled pork enchiladas and mexican rice. Look for the rice recipe below.

Moña’s fried cauliflower

Serves 4

Ingredients:

1 head of cauliflower, trimmed into small/medium florets
5 eggs
1, 14.5-oz can of diced tomatoes
about a cup of vegetable oil
1/4 onion, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
2 tablespoons flour
1/2 cup chicken stock
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon chile powder
1/2 teaspoon oregano
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Place the flour, chicken stock, sugar, chile powder and tomatoes in a blender. Blend until smooth. Set aside.

Separate the eggs and whip the whites until stiff. Fold in the yolks.

Pour oil in a small sauté pan. There should be about a half-inch of oil in the pan. Heat over high heat. When hot, dip florets in the egg batter till covered and drop them in the pan. You’ll need to do several batches but they brown pretty quickly. Spoon oil over the florets as they brown on the first side, then turn them all over and brown on the other side.

Drain the florets and place on a paper towel-lined platter. Set aside.

Heat a tablespoon of oil in a large skillet and sauté the onion and garlic until soft. Add the blended tomato mixture and oregano. Stir until thickened. If too thick, add more chicken stock. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Add the cauliflower florets and simmer for 5-10 minutes.

Serve on a platter and sprinkle with cojita or monterey jack cheese.

Mexican rice

Serves 4

Ingredients:

1 cup white rice, uncooked
2 cups chicken stock
1/4 cup onion, finely chopped
2 tablespoons butter
2 carrots, grated
1 clove garlic, minced
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Heat the butter in a large sauté pan. Toss in the rice and cook, stirring for a few minutes until the rice is lightly toasted. Pour in 1 cup of stock and bring to a boil. Cover and simmer for five minutes.

Add another cup of stock, the carrots, onion and garlic. Cover and cook for 15 minutes.

Check the rice every now and then to see if it needs more liquid. Add more stock if necessary.

Add salt and pepper to taste.

appetizers, Cooking, recipes, salad, seafood, side dishes, snacks

Smoky tuna dip – a healthy snack

February 6, 2016 alaskaknitnat Leave a comment

In Alaska we are pretty seafood-centric. Although we have more than 47,000 miles of shoreline my husband doesn’t like seafood so I rarely cook with it.

I have access to Alaska halibut and salmon, but sometimes I just want a good old-fashioned can of tuna. Recently I was in Mexico and a friend served up a dip made with smoked mackerel. I don’t have any smoked fish lying around my freezer so I tried my own tuna dip. With a tiny amount of liquid smoke and just a few other ingredients I came up with a smoky, delicious tuna salad that’s perfect for a mid-afternoon snack — and it’s healthy too!

I love tuna packed in oil, but that can run pretty expensive at our local fancy grocery store. The big grocery store carries the next best thing for about $2.50 a can.

You can use any can of tuna you’d like.

Smoky tuna dip

Ingredients:

1 can of tuna
1 teaspoon of chile in adobo sauce
1.5 teaspoons lime juice
1 tablespoon mayonnaise
1 tablespoon plain, Greek yogurt
1/8 teaspoon liquid smoke
2 teaspoons capers
salt and pepper to taste

Drain the tuna and place in a small mixing bowl. Combine all the other ingredients. Serve with corn chips or crackers.

baby, Crafts, DIY, Knit & Crochet, Knitting, Patterns, Tutorials

Little lady scarf — a free knitting pattern

February 6, 2016 alaskaknitnat 10 Comments

Last week a friend asked me if I could make a toddler scarf for her little niece, Amelia. The idea of a toddler wearing a scarf is funny to me. I can’t imagine it staying on a wriggling little 2-year-old. But that got me thinking: why not make a scarf that will stay put?

I searched Pinterest and came across the most adorable scarf pattern that uses a bow as a button. This was definitely the right idea. Create a buttonhole near the end of the scarf and secure a knit bow in the buttonhole. That should keep the scarf in place on a hippitty-hoppity hyper toddler.

I love the look of seed stitch, a.k.a. moss stitch. It keeps the knit piece from curling on the edges and it looks attractive on both sides of the fabric. And it’s a little fancier than garter stitch.

This is a simple weekend project that’s bound to keep your little lady cozy and warm.

Little lady scarf with bow

Materials:

1 skein Lion Brand Woolspun in Fisherman
1 skein Lion Brand Woolspun in Charcoal
Size 10 US needles
darning needle

Seed stitch:

Row 1: k1, p1 across all stitches

Row 2: p1, k1 across all stitches

Essentially, you knit where there’s a purl and purl where there’s a knit on the previous row.

Note: I slip the first stitch of each row, knitwise, and purl the last stitch of every row regardless of where I am in the seed stitch pattern. This creates a neat edge. It is not required and therefore I haven’t included it in the row-by-row instructions below.

Instructions:

Cast on 20 stitches.

Seed stitch for 18 rows.

For the buttonhole:

Row 1: Slip 1 stitch, seed stitch for 9 stitches. With the left needle, pull one stitch over the other stitch, *knit one, pull the second stitch over the knit one; repeat from the * twice more. You have now cast off 4 stitches. Continue with the seed stitch for the rest of the row. You should have 8 stitches on either side of the cast-off stitches.

Row 2: Slip 1 stitch, seed stitch to button hole, cast on 4 stitches, continue the seed stitch for the rest of the row. – 20 stitches.

Continue the seed stitch pattern until the whole piece measures 25 inches. Cast off and weave in ends.

Bow: Cast on 10 stitches and knit in garter stitch for 10 rows. Cast off and weave in ends. Wrap grey yarn around the middle of the strip several times and tie the ends in the back of the bow.

Using the fisherman color yarn and darning needle, sew the bow to the end of the scarf opposite the button hole, the same height as the button hole (about 4 inches from the edge).

I don’t have a little lady, so my little gent got to be the model. Kind of looks like a bow tie, right?

The top can be folded down a bit like a collar to make it a little narrower and warmer.

Crafts, Knit & Crochet, Knitting, Patterns

Feather-light triangle scarf

January 18, 2016 alaskaknitnat 1 Comment

After knitting about 30 Alaska flag hats, I was yearning to knit myself something this winter that I would use every day. I love cowls, but often my hair gets all frumpy and frizzy when I try and put one on over my head. I really wanted a scarf that wouldn’t require a lot of thinking.

After many searches I came across this simple pattern from Leah Michelle Designs. The elongated triangle turns out less like a shawl and more like a bandana scarf. Just my style.

I fell in love with Mano de Ururguay’s Clara yarn the other day at the yarn shop. It’s soft, feathery and fluffy. Just my style.

This pattern is so simple. It increases by one stitch every four rows. No need to count stitches or rows. You just weigh the yarn before starting and increase until you’ve used half the weight, then start decreasing.

I also learned a simple technique that I’ll be applying to all scarf patterns in the future. You slip the first stitch knitwise and purl the last stitch on every row. This creates the perfect edge. I love it!

alaska

An ode to Anchorage snow

January 14, 2016 alaskaknitnat 6 Comments

Anchorage winters have changed. When I was younger I remember making snow forts, sledding and snowmen. On Halloween I’d have to wear a snow suit over my costume (or choose a warm costume such as a bear or a flapper girl moose). I remember yearning for the city plowers to pile a mountain of snow at the top of our driveway (we were at the cusp of a different subdivision so the city plows would stop at our house and leave all the extra snow in our driveway, much to my dad’s distress).

It's beginning to look a lot like winter | An ode to Anchorage snow by Natasha Price of Alaskaknitnat.com — Christmas photo outtake, circa 1995

The past few years have been much different. There’s no more snow. The famous Iditarod sled dog race start was relocated to snowier Fairbanks last year. It’s just lame – the cold with no snow. My mother-in-law bought our son an amazing wagon with interchangeable sled runners. We eagerly installed them two years ago and never used it.

I’m not the only one bemoaning the changes. Anchorage’s mayor said that street lighting in inadequate these days because we used to rely on the snow’s reflection to see better during the dark winter months. Ski races have been postponed and cancelled.

It’s a real bummer when you have a small child who wants so badly to participate in winter activities.

But yesterday, finally, we got a few inches of the fluffy white stuff. Our son couldn’t have been more thrilled. I mean, LOOK at the joy in his little face: