Fall Recipes

Since the weather has turned, here in Sacramento, I have been craving comfort food. Looking in my pantry, I found sweet potatoes, sweet onions, and arborio rice, so sweet-potato risotto was born! With some fresh goat cheese on top, this is one of my favorites recipes this year.

Sweet Potato Risotto with Goat Cheese

Ingredients:

• 1 cup of arborio rice
• 1/2 onion, chopped well
• cup of white wine (one you like to drink), preferably chardonnay or sauvignon blanc
• olive oil
• butter
• 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, grated or shredded
• at least 4 cups of chicken or vegetable broth
• 1 small to medium sweet potato (or yam or 1/2 cup pumpkin)
• 2-3 oz. fresh goat cheese

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Briefly scrub the sweet potato and stab a few times with a sharp knife. Place in oven on a piece of aluminum foil to prevent your oven from getting gross. Cook for about 30-40 minutes, depending on how big your potato is. You can always throw it in the microwave for a few minutes at the end if you take it out too early.

2. After your potato has been cooking for at least 15 - 20 minutes, get started on the risotto. Risotto takes about 22-25 minutes to cook, and you will need to add the cooked sweet potato after 22 minutes, so time things carefully.

3. Pour your stock into a medium sauce pan and heat it on a back burner until almost boiling. Keep a ladle (or a measuring cup) handy to transfer stock to your risotto pan as you cook it.

4. Heat one tablespoon of olive oil in a large pan over medium heat. If you use a non-stick pan, you won't need as much oil or butter. Add the chopped onions and saute until they are translucent (no color).

5. Add one tablespoon of butter and the rice, stirring well to coat the rice in butter/oil. Saute for a minute or until the rice's outer coat looks clear. DO NOT COLOR THE RICE!!!

6. Add the cup of white wine and stir well. Add a ladle of stock and stir well.

7. Keep a close eye on the risotto as it absorbs the liquid. Add more stock as it cooks, one ladle at a time, making sure to not over-stir the rice. Stir it gently and often. The rice should be in individual grains, and not breaking apart or mushy. As it cooks, it creates a creamy sauce.

8. It will take about 20 minutes of stirring gently and adding more stock for the rice to finish. Taste the risotto and season with salt/pepper to taste. If the rice still tastes too firm, keep adding stock. (If you run out of stock, add hot water)

9. Open the cooked sweet potato and remove the peel. Roughly chop it and add to the risotto at the end of cooking. Stir gently, using the the back of the spoon to mash some of the potato into the sauce. Remove from heat.

10. Add the Parmesan cheese and fold it in gently.

11. After you have put the risotto on plates, add crumbled goat cheese on top. It will melt slightly.

*SERVES 4 PEOPLE AS A SIDE, OR 2 PEOPLE AS A LARGE MAIN DISH

My husband and I ate this entire dish. It was so good!
Sorry for no photos...maybe next time.

Doggles and Elephants

I just posted a new elephant on the etsy site (see side link). I will also be working on the pdf soon to put up on etsy. When I was looking at elephant designs in the past, I had a hard time finding one I really liked, so I made one up myself. It turned out pretty cute, if I do so say so myself!


We also just received a gift for our dog, Wally. My mother-in-law dropped off a pair of "doggles," so we had to break out the camera!

From the start, Wally did not like his doggles. He spent most of the time rubbing his face on the ground to get them off; but we managed to get just a couple photos (in focus) before he got really tired of them. We plan on trying them out next time we take him swimming, although it doesn't look like they are water-tight. They remind me more of little motorcycle goggles. That would be cute.

Inspiration

After visiting some of my favorite blogs, I was inspired to make a granny-square blanket. Attic24's (http://attic24.typepad.com) use of color was so pretty, that I tried to imitate it with the yarn that I could afford (acrylics, but soft ones from LionBrand) before I start work again. I really like how the individual squares look, and I think the light pink is my favorite color: it looks very antique-y. I have started to put them together and outline them in lilac, but I am unsure which color to use on top of the lilac.....pale blue? another purple?

My squares, once joined into groups of four, also look a little wonky. I hope this is normal and will start to go away once I add more yarn and start connecting even more of them together.

Last day of freedom!

Yesterday I got the call to let me know that I could start my new (old) job on Monday. Which meant that I had exactly less than two days of freedom before I had to jump into a 40/hr/wk routine again. So what did I do?

• Spent the day in pjs, until just before J came home.
• Watched the entire, 5 episode long, Torchwood: Children of the Earth mini-series (which I highly recommend, by the way)
• Continued to crochet my granny-square blanket (stay tuned for pics as soon as camera battery is charged)
• Made freezer jam, both strawberry and cherry varieties.

I think I will miss the days at home where I could decide: "I think I will try to make bread by hand today and not bathe, either." Oo! Actually, I will have Sundays and Mondays off this time 'round, so that will give me Mondays to myself where I CAN lay around all day thinking of new pillows to knit or toys to crochet. Not too bad, then.

Flying puppies

Our dog Wally (full name Wallace) has become obsessed with the game 'fetch'. This is funny because, when we were first training him, he wouldn't fetch anything, no matter what treats we bribed him with. Jay would throw the ball, and Wally would either 1) look at us like we were crazy for throwing his toy away from him, or 2) run after the ball to look at it, then run back to us, sans ball, but very excited nonetheless.

However, since he has reached his full size, (see top picture below, he is the long-hair with the blue collar), he has not only learned how to fetch, but it has become the only thing he ever wants to do, sometimes to the point of physical exhaustion. We spent last weekend visiting my in-law's pool (100 degree weather and our air conditioning was out) and playing fetch with Wally in the pool. He has become quite fearless of the pool and chases his ball into it every single time we throw it, which you can see in the picture of our flying puppy.








These two photos are from our first few weeks with Wally. I just thought they were cute. I miss how fuzzy he was and little. I don't miss the constant "potty-watch" though.

Crochet updates

Bunny is not for sale...yet. I haven't yet decided to sell him. His face is a little lopsided and he is a sad bunny.



Weiner dog amigurumi. His nose is so long, and it kind of looks like he has a booger sticking out. He isn't for sale, but I will be modifying and trying to come up with a hairy version of the doll.


These three ARE for sale. They are now on Etsy, too, so please check them out. I try to keep prices down, and they are according to the materials/time it takes to make each item.



Baby booties: organic cotton and vintage buttons. I will be making a few sets of these, more if they sell quickly.

Kidney – Urine Good Hands « I Heart Guts

Kidney – Urine Good Hands « I Heart Guts

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