Simple Knitted Boot Cuffs

September 22, 2013 alaskaknitnat 46 Comments

Don’t know how much Game of Thrones you’ve been watching, but Winter is Coming.

That means scarves and coats and mittens and boots! Knitting season is officially on so why not start off with a super simple project to give your new fall outfits a little more refinement?

These boot cuffs can be made in just a couple of hours. Nothing fancy, but they are the perfect touch for those cute brown boots you’ve been waiting all summer to wear. You won’t have to worry about bulky wool socks and hot feet when your boot cuffs are peeking out.

Here’s what you need:

Bulky yarn — less than one skein
Size 10, 16-inch circular needle
Darning needle

Cast on 48 stitches on your circular needle. Join the round, making sure not to twist the row.

K2, P2 around.

Repeat for 20 rounds.

Loosely cast off. Weave in ends.

Repeat for other cuff.

Wear as is or decorate with a cute button.

Easy as pie! Cute as cake?

Simple Knitted Boot Cuffs from Alaska Knit Nat

Cooking, South Beach

Auntie A’s Choice Chili

September 14, 2013 alaskaknitnat 2 Comments

My little sis has become quite a capable cook. Last month she came up from Pittsburgh to visit the family, but mostly to hang out with her nephew (my son), Jack.

While she was here I asked her to cook dinner for us one night and she could choose what to make.

She concocted a fabulous chili with a couple of surprising ingredients.

Here’s her basic recipe for a chunky, meaty, beany chili with a good kick. I did alter the recipe slightly, but that’s the great thing about chili — it’s really customizable depending on what’s in your pantry. These were the ingredients in my pantry today.

Ingredients (eyeball it):

1 lb. of beef, cut into bite size bits (sub ground beef or pork)
olive oil
1 onion, chopped
1 orange bell pepper, chopped
2 fresh anaheim peppers, chopped
1 canned chipotle pepper in adobo, seeds and pith removed, chopped finely
1 tsp. chili powder
2 cans of fire-roasted chopped tomato, with their juices
chicken stock
2-3 Tbs. cumin
1 can pumpkin (optional)
2 tsp. smoked paprika
2 tsp. garlic powder
3 tsp. oregano
1 tsp. cinnamon
2-3 squares of unsweetened chocolate OR 2 tsp. unsweetened cocoa powder
2 cans of beans of your choice, such as cannellini, pinto, kidney or black — partially drained and not rinsed
salt and pepper to taste
Directions:
If you’d like your peppers to have a smokier taste, do the following steps. Otherwise, just chop the peppers.

Turn your stove to medium and place the pepper directly over the heat, on the burner itself. Blacken the peppers on all sides (the process takes about seven minutes) and place in a Ziploc bag for 10 minutes. The steam should help make the skin come off easily. When cool enough to handle, remove as much skin from the peppers as possible. You now have roasted peppers and have no need to ever buy them in a jar again. Chop them and prepare chili as follows.

Heat a large dutch oven or pot over high heat and coat the bottom with olive oil. When hot, add the cubed meat and brown on all sides. Set aside with any juices. Add a little more olive oil and cook the onion and peppers till onions are soft, about 5 minutes.

Add the meat (and any juices), tomatoes, pumpkin, paprika, chocolate, garlic powder, oregano and cinnamon. Add a couple of cups of chicken stock until it’s the consistency you like. Add the chili powder and cumin slowly. These strong spices are hard to chase away once added. Add a little at a time, wait five minutes, and then taste whether it’s a good move to add more.

Bring to a simmer and turn down the heat, stirring once in a while so the bottom doesn’t burn. If it’s too thick, add some chicken stock. If you like a more soupy chili, cook with the pot covered. If you’d like it more stewy and thick, cook uncovered. Either way, cook for at least an hour. Twenty minutes before serving, add the beans and cook till beans are heated through. Salt and pepper to taste.

Serve with grated cheddar cheese in a squirrel bowl, if you desire.

Cooking, Italian, recipes, South Beach

Chicken with Artichokes in a Smoky Cream Sauce

August 31, 2013 alaskaknitnat Leave a comment

I’m on day seven of the South Beach Diet (or, as I like to call it, the South Beach Challenge) and I’m finding more ways to make delicious food without missing pasta.

Last night was chicken with roasted red peppers, capers and artichoke hearts in a smoky cream sauce. Ok, ok, I broke a few guidelines on this one. I used chicken thighs when the diet recommends white meat and I used half and half. The official cookbooks recommend fat-free half and half (which sounds like an oxymoron to me) but when I looked at the ingredients at the grocery store, the second ingredient was corn syrup. What the? That’s why I stuck to the regular kind.

Here’s how to make it.

Serves 2

Ingredients:
olive oil
2 skinless chicken breasts (or 4 thighs), cut into large chunks
1 roasted bell pepper, sliced
1/2 small onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, chopped
2 Tbs. capers
6 canned artichoke hearts, cut in half
1/4 cup chicken stock (eyeball it)
1/4 cup half and half or milk (eyeball it)
1/4 cup fresh or canned chopped tomatoes (eyeball it)
1 Tbs. smoked paprika
salt and pepper
handful of chopped fresh basil

Directions:
Coat a skillet with olive oil and heat over medium high. Salt and pepper the chicken. When the olive oil is just starting to smoke add the chicken. Brown both sides (about 5 minutes each side). Refrain from moving the chicken around to ensure a nice golden brown. Set chicken aside.

Add the peppers, onion, garlic, capers and artichokes and sauté till onions are soft, about 5 minutes. Add the chicken back to the pan and pour in the tomatoes, stock, cream and paprika. Bring to a simmer for about 5 minutes to thicken it up a little. Turn down the heat and cover. Let simmer 10 minutes or until chicken is done all the way through. Toss in the basil and cook uncovered another minute or so, combining everything.

Serve and sprinkle with parmesan cheese, if you like.

asian, Cooking, recipes, South Beach

Asian Meatballs

August 21, 2013 alaskaknitnat Leave a comment

I’m thinking about doing the South Beach Diet. The problem is, I love pasta and noodles. I had a hankering for gyoza tonight, so I thought I’d just make the filling in the form of meatballs and ditch the noodle.

Turned out I didn’t really miss the won ton wrapper after all. This meal is quick and uses common fridge ingredients. Put whatever veggies you prefer in the stir fry. I happened to find a tasty edible mushroom in my yard right before dinner, so I tossed that in at the last minute.

Ingredients (I eyeball everything):
1 lb. ground beef
1 egg
2 Tbs. soy sauce
2 Tbs. rice vinegar
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup panko flakes (not South Beach friendly, so omit if needs be)
2 tsp. sesame oil
1/2 tsp. fish sauce
1/2 tsp. ginger powder
2 green onions, finely chopped
salt and pepper

For the sauce:
1/4 cup chicken stock
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 tbs. rice vinegar
2 tsp. sesame oil
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 tsp. fish sauce
1/2 tsp. ginger powder
1/2 tsp. corn starch (again, not South Beach friendly)
1 Tbs. oyster sauce (optional)

Broccoli, tofu, zucchini, and other stir fry veggies

Directions:
If using tofu, drain it and cover in paper towels. Place a heavy pan on top to get more liquid out. Mix together the meatball ingredients thoroughly, cover and let sit in the fridge for 30 minutes.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Form meatballs and place on a cooling rack on top of a cookie sheet so the fat is allowed to drain away while they cook. Bake for 30 minutes or until they are browned and cooked all the way through. Set aside.

Whisk together the sauce ingredients and set aside.

Meanwhile, cut the tofu into cubes and cut your stir fry veggies up into bite-sized pieces. Heat 2 tsp. cooking oil in a wok over high flame until the oil shimmers. Add the tofu and brown on all sides, about 5 minutes. Set aside. Add another teaspoon of oil to the wok and reheat. Add the veggies and half the sauce. Mix well, cover and let cook for about seven minutes or until veggies are tender.

Uncover, add the rest of the sauce, the tofu, the meatballs and toss till everything is thoroughly coated.

Serve alone or with brown rice or farro if you aren’t in Phase 1 of the South Beach Diet.

breakfast, Cooking, recipes

Waffle Iron French Toast

August 11, 2013 alaskaknitnat Leave a comment

I’m sure this isn’t a new idea and that there are hundreds of other blogs out there with similar posts, but it doesn’t mean this isn’t a totally great idea.

What’s that idea? Well, french toast on the waffle iron. It’s faster than cooking it in a pan because both sides cook at the same time and it browns evenly and leaves you with a cool waffle pattern on the bread.

Here’s my waffle iron French toast to contribute to blogland.

Ingredients:
Day-old challah or French bread, sliced on the bias 1-inch thick (six slices)
3 eggs
3/4 cups whole milk (I eyeball it)
2 tsp. honey
1 tsp. orange zest (optional)
1 tsp. vanilla extract
cinnamon

Directions:
Preheat oven to 250. Plug in waffle iron and spray with cooking spray. In a pie pan combine the milk, eggs, honey, zest and vanilla. Place two slices of bread into the pan and let soak for 30 seconds. Flip and soak another 30 seconds. Transfer these slices to a cooling rack so any excess egg mixture will drip away (place a paper towel under the rack). Sprinkle slices with cinnamon. Repeat with remaining bread slices.

Place one to two slices at a time into waffle iron and let cook for 5 minutes or until golden brown. Place on a plate in the oven to keep warm while cooking the other slices.

Serve with butter and maple syrup.

breakfast, Cooking, recipes

Mini Breakfast Soufflés

August 4, 2013 alaskaknitnat Leave a comment

I despise scrambled eggs. Something about their boogery texture makes me almost sick. Give me fried eggs over medium any day. I can take my toast and dip it into the yolk — oh yeah, that’s the best.

Well, I’m trying to eat fewer carbs lately so I have to rethink my egg preference. I recently saw a recipe in Cooks Country Magazine for muffin tin breakfast souffles. The recipe is for 12 soufflés and I’m cooking just for my lonesome self, so I decided to wing it and make my own recipe.

Sorry the photo is so bad, the only mini muffin tin I have is shamrock shaped, so they looked pretty weird. My breakfast was not only delicious but also carb free (except for that glass of OJ I drank, hehe).

Here’s roughly how I made them. Keep in mind I eyeball nearly everything, so these measurements are approximations. Use your own judgement, and best of all — add the ingredients you like!

Makes 6 mini soufflés.

Ingredients:
4 eggs
1/4 cup whole milk or half and half
1/4 cup chopped onion
2 crimini mushrooms, chopped
1/4 cup chopped, frozen spinach
2 sun-dried tomatoes, chopped
olive oil
salt and pepper
goat cheese

Directions:
Preheat your oven (or better yet, toaster oven) to 425 degrees. Spray your 6-muffin tin liberally with cooking spray. Thaw out your spinach and squeeze out as much liquid as possible. Set aside. Heat a tablespoon of olive oil in a frying pan over medium high. Add the onions and mushrooms and cook till onions are translucent — about 5 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste. Toss in the spinach and tomatoes and cook till heated through. Evenly distribute these ingredients in your muffin tin. Crumble in a little goat cheese.

Gently whisk together the eggs and milk and evenly distribute in muffin tin so that egg mixture is not quite reaching the top edge (they will grow in the oven). Sprinkle a little more cheese on top.

Bake for 15 minutes. Let sit for 10 minutes. If you have a silicone muffin mold, just pop out the souffles gently onto a serving plate, otherwise use a knife to loosen the edges.

If the egg is still a tad runny, pop in the microwave for 30 seconds.

alaska, cocktails, Cooking

Strawberry Rhubarb Lemonade

July 14, 2013 alaskaknitnat Leave a comment

Mid summer in Alaska means you and your neighbors probably have rhubarb coming out your ears. I never know what to do with rhubarb other than make a pie or crumble, which I don’t actually love. Yesterday my friend brought over some rhubarb syrup and I suddenly had a delicious idea. I’d been wondering what to do with the wild strawberries I picked earlier this weekend and again wasn’t into the pie or crumble idea.

Strawberry rhubarb lemonade was born!

It’s tangy, sweet and perfect for a sunny day.

Here’s what you’ll need:

12 oz. chopped rhubarb (by weight)
about 1.5 cups water
1/8 tsp. baking soda
2/3 cup sugar
1 thingie of frozen lemonade, pink or regular, prepared according to package instructions
fresh, ripe strawberries
lemon slices for garnish

So I actually started this recipe by squeezing my own lemons, but after about three lemons and only a half a cup of lemon juice, I remembered I had some frozen lemonade so I went that route (still using the lemon juice I already squeezed).

To make the rhubarb syrup, place the chopped rhubarb in a small saucepan and fill the pan with water till rhubarb is just covered. Add the baking soda and sugar and bring to a boil. Turn down the heat and simmer, uncovered, for 20 minutes. Let cool and pour through astrainer, pushing on the rhubarb with a spoon to get all the liquid out. This stuff should store in a jar for about a week or so in the fridge.

Place a few strawberries in a glass and muddle them with the back of a wooden spoon. Add ice and pour 2/3 up with lemonade. Top off with rhubarb syrup. Add lemon slice for garnish.

If you wanted this drink to be fizzy, you could add some sprite to the mix. It’s delightful!

Cooking, recipes, salad

Grilled Caesar Salad

July 14, 2013 alaskaknitnat Leave a comment

Yes, I just used “grilled” to describe salad. I made grilled casear salad last night before our steak dinner and not only was it tasty, but it delighted my guests that I put the lettuce on the grill. I used whole heads of romaine lettuce cut down the middle. The char added an extra dimension of flavor to the salad and didn’t compromise the texture at all.

This recipe is from Cook’s Country Magazine. I particularly like it because it doesn’t call for raw eggs. I recommend using romaine from Costco because they’re not loose leaf like what I was finding at the grocery store.

Serves four

Ingredients for dressing:
1 Tbs. lemon juice
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 cup mayo
1/4 cup grated parmesan
1 Tbs. white wine vinegar (I used rice vinegar)
1 Tbs. Worcestershire sauce
1 Tbs. Dijon mustard
2 anchovy fillets
1/2 tsp. salt
pepper
1/4 cup olive oil

For the salad:
Two romaine hearts, halved lengthwise through the cores
1 baguette, sliced on the bias into 12 slices
1 garlic clove, peeled and cut in half
1/4 cup parmesan

Directions:
Combine the lemon and garlic and let marinate for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, add to a blender the mayo, cheese, vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, mustard, anchovies, salt and pepper. Toss in the lemon juice and garlic and process for about 30 seconds. While blender is still running, slowly add the olive oil. Place in the fridge till you’re ready to grill.

Heat the grill to super hot. Brush your “croutons” with olive oil on both sides and toast on the grill. Scrub the cut garlic clove on the toasts and set aside. Prepare your romaine hearts by painting dressing on the cut sides. Place cut side down on grill for 1-2 minutes till you see grill marks.

Serve with croutons and remaining dressing. Top with parmesan cheese.

Cooking, recipes

Shepherd’s Pie — Comfort Food at its Best

July 11, 2013 alaskaknitnat Leave a comment

I love easy recipes, especially if I can use leftovers. Shepherd’s pie is no exception. If you have ground meat and leftover mashed potatoes, you are just a few steps away from a delicious, filling dinner the whole family will love.

Ingredients:

1 lb. combo of ground beef, pork, veal or lamb
4 cups or so of leftover mashed potatoes (or make some fresh)
1 egg yolk
1 tbs. olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
1 large carrot, chopped
1 tbs. flour
2 tbs. red wine
3 Tbs. fresh herbs such as parsley, thyme and rosemary, chopped
Salt and pepper
1 Tbs. tomato paste
1 cup chicken stock
1 tbs. Worcestershire sauce
1 cup frozen peas

Shepherd’s pie is versatile. Throw in whatever veggies you love. Use whatever meat you prefer.

Directions:

Season your mashed potatoes to your liking with milk, butter, salt and pepper. Heat up in the microwave if cold. Stir in the egg yolk. This makes the pie have a nice crust.

Preheat oven to 375. In a sauté pan, heat some oil and add the meat, onion and carrot. Season with salt and pepper. Cook till meat is browned, about 10 minutes. Drain fat and sprinkle in the flour, cooking for about 1 minute to remove the raw flour taste. Deglaze with red wine and cook for 1 minute. Add stock, tomato paste, herbs and Worcestershire sauce. Stir in the peas.

Grease a casserole dish and add the meat filling. Top with dollops of mashed potatoes. Spread the potatoes across the top, trying to create a seal around the edges. I recommend putting a cookie sheet under the dish when you bake it in case anything bubbles over.
Bake for 30-45 minutes, until potatoes start to brown. Remove from oven and let cool for a few minutes before serving.

Sewing, Tutorials

The Best Way to Hem Jeans

July 5, 2013 alaskaknitnat 1 Comment

Have you ever gotten your jeans professionally hemmed? It looks all neat and tidy and they even manage to keep the original hem. If you have basic sewing skills and a sewing machine, then hemming your jeans is easy. Save yourself the alteration charge. Learn to shorten your jeans and keep the original hem. This is the best kind of project because it takes about 15 minutes. Here’s what you’ll need:

Jeans that are too long
Straight pins
Sewing machine
Ruler or tape measure
Stitch Witchery double fusible tape (optional)

First, try on your jeans and figure out how much length you’d like to take off by folding up the cuff and measuring from the edge to the fold. With today’s pair I wanted them to be two inches shorter.

Take your measurement and divide it in half. This is how much you’re going to sew away. Remove your jeans (and continue crafting without pants if you’d like) and now fold up the edge of your jeans till the fabric below the hemline measures half of what you’d like to remove. In my case, I want to remove two inches, so I make sure there is one inch of fabric folded below the hem. Pin in place.

Start your seam in the inner leg and sew right below the edge of the original hem. Repeat with other leg.

You are now basically done and if you are truly lazy you could walk away from this project now. But why not make them look perfect? It will only take a few more minutes.

Turn your jeans inside out and iron the fold you just made. Iron the whole “flap” you just created upward. Take your Stitch Witchery and cut a couple of strips that are long enough to be tucked under the flaps. You may need to trim the tape if the flap is narrower than the tape’s width. Sorry, no photo, but it’s really not that hard. You’re just fusing the flap to the leg so it doesn’t flop around when you wear the jeans. Press your hot iron on the flap, using steam, for about 20 seconds and *PRESTO* your flap has been fused to the leg.* I love Stitch Witchery. It’s one of my favorite sewing notions.

Now, admire your professionally hemmed jeans and how you saved, like, $15.

*If you are shortening your jeans by a lot, such as more than four inches, I would consider cutting the flap till it’s about an inch wide and running a zig zag stitch around the raw edge (which used to be a fold). Then fuse this flap to the leg.