Uber-Homemade

I'm oddly motivated to make foodstuffs from scratch today. Maybe it's the recent successes egging me on (apple-bran-whole-wheat muffins, pumpkin risotto, heavily modified pesto), or maybe it's the fresh ingredients needing to be used up (apples -- so many apples -- from an orchard adventure a few weeks ago, leeks in the garden, minimal amounts of spinach and lettuce in the garden).

I think the underlying culprit, though, is a continuing desire to eat affordable, wholesome foods. We aim to steer clear of processed foods in our household, mainly for health and mindful nutrition reasons (pricing differences usually don't hurt, either). Even in trying to make smart grocery choices, though, it's easy to fall into the "wow, that's a lot of unnecessary ingredients" trap. There are lots of high-fiber options in the bread aisle, which is great, but it can be tough to find one that doesn't have high fructose corn syrup, or any number of other substances I just don't need in my system, and doesn't cost four dollars. Our bread machine and about three minutes of measuring time does the trick splendidly (though I'd also like to try one of the many versions of no-knead bread out there). Pasta sauce? For years, I steadfastly stuck with the one brand I'd found that offered an option without added sugar, until I realized that the sodium content was through the roof. Canned tomatoes + herbs and spices + red wine + immersion blender = problem solved! And don't get me started on salad dressing (if you add mustard to oil and vinegar, it acts as an emulsifier and is darn tasty to boot, yo).

So, getting back to today: I've got a batch of yogurt -- which I've never attempted before, so cross your fingers for me -- going in the crockpot. Next up, I'll set up that bread machine I was talking about, once I decide whether to make regular whole wheat or cinnamon-raisin whole wheat. I'm also hoping to attempt (another first go!) a batch of homemade mayo this afternoon.

I do not, as yet, have any desire to venture into the homemade-protein arena by raising livestock. Awesome Fiance, if you're reading this, you can rest easy there!

Craftosaurus: now with more photos!

Howdy folks. We've just returned from a very nice weekend in the woods. It was a great trip, with good camp fire conversation with some of the Awesome Fiance's nearest and dearest, hiking through some of the most wonderfully balsam-y trails I've ever smelled, and ooh-ing and ahh-ing at a remarkable array of wildlife. There was the moose couple that meandered through a marshy area about 100 yards from our campsite, and a bald eagle that flew even closer than that. The fox, chipmunk, and heron we saw were (perhaps unfairly) less exciting to see, and the bear that apparently visited the campground under cover of darkness was, to my great relief, not actually seen at all.

Sadly, I've got no photographic proof of the moose or the eagle, or, really, of any of the wildlife... only of the beautiful surroundings and the fact that we had lovely time.

Setting up our campsite. Note the awesome proximity to the water.

View from the site, toward the river and mist.

There was lot of photographizing.

Also, the coining of the term "photographizing."

Some of the shots even came out all artsy and cool.

Fall has definitely arrived.

We did some hiking, but not *that* much hiking. Mountain was for aethetic purposes only.

This is us having fun and, for my part, at least, being thankful to've avoided any direct encounters with bears. Yay!

Yeah, that's pretty accurate...

Le Fiance and I had some engagement photos taken yesterday. Our awesome photographer, Clare, suggested that we do some uber-casual, outdoorsy shots, then some slightly fancier stuff in an area of the city with some cool architecture. (How'd she know that that's a nice representation of Le Fiance's love of camping and hiking and fishing and my love of, well, an opportunity to wear a cute outfit?)

First day of autumn that it was, we ran out of daylight after the outdoorsy photos were taken, and Clare -- have I mentioned that she's awesome? -- insisted that we'll set up a second day to meet for the downtown shots. Seriously, how great is that?

She also managed to get a couple of sneak peek photos up on her blog an impressive two hours after we wrapped things up for the day. Awe.Some. In one of them, we're bustin' a move (to no music, I'll note), and in the other we're laughing ourselves silly. So I've got dance-face in one and crinkled-up-laughing-face in the other, but it's ok, because that's presumably what I look like the majority of the time when I'm around Le Fiance anyway. Awesome and accurate.

List-Fest

Flowers I *think* we might be able to grow on our property that would be blooming, in light pink, at the right time to be able to use them for our wedding (how cool would that be?)
- chrysanthemums (the big, showy kind)
- phlox
- dahlias
- zinnias
- cosmos (if they're available in true-pink, as opposed to lavender-pink. must research.)
- dianthus
- begonias (LOVE them, but suspect they're not good as cut flowers)

Possible knitting projects to cast on for this weekend, in light of the fact that I'm pretty sure the scarf I mentioned has defeated me for now
- Hew (good opportunity to use up yarn remnants from a previous project)
- Trina (could actually be season-appropriate when it's done)
- Owls ('cause it's just plain cute)

Dinner ideas for the upcoming week
- Greek turkey burgers with black bean salad and sweet potato fries
- Martini Chicken
- Homemade butternut squash ravioli (well, everything here would be homemade, but I mean, seriously, the real deal, homemade pasta)
- Pesto Pasta
- Leek and Mushroom Quiche (I won't even bother linking to a recipe, because I won't follow it anyway)

What am I missing, in any of these categories?

Running +/-

+ Went running outside yesterday.
+ Went running outside today.
+ Remembered to wear new running shoes today.
- Spent the second half of my workout trying to keep a blister from forming along one of the shoe seams.
+ Used new mp3 player that actually works...
- ... but that isn't fully stocked with music yet.
+ Still had enough peppy and/or angry tunes to keep me motivated.
+ Ran farther today than I did yesterday...
- ... but less than I was used to a few months ago.
- Knee ached in the first quarter mile (this is why I haven't gone running much in the past few months)...
+ ... but didn't hurt much after I got going (does this really mean it's ok to run on it?)
- Local race listing website changed their format and no longer includes location on first glance.
+ Found some possible 5ks to run on October 10, October 18, and November 22.

Knitterrific

In case you've been wondering, yes, I'm still knitting. Right now I'm working on a scarf that's actually holding my attention. And by "holding my attention" I mean "is complicated enough that I'm now on my third attempt to get going without errors." When you're using size 2 and size 3 needles and fingering weight yarn, and when each row has 400 stitches in it (the scarf is knit lengthwise), starting over three times is decidedly unfun. That, and I hate casting on. Hate. Thankfully, though, I'm a few rows in and it looks ok. Fingers crossed.

For those of you who have no idea what fingering weight yarn is or why size 2 needles can be infuriating, I'll be much less technical in discussing my other recent project, a modified version of this pattern. All there is to say is that it's done!

Warms my bleeding heart...

Did anyone else happen to catch the health care reform conversation on Meet the Press this morning? To summarize:

1. Rudy Giuliani stoops to inane fearmongering in the use of the phrase "pulling the plug on Grandma."

2. Harold Ford Jr. picks up his pen and crafts a reasoned, logical, scathing response while Tom Brokaw speaks.

3. Ford maintains his composure and gets several valid points across while Giuliani tries to interrupt with objections of varying degrees of substance. Ford points out the holes in Giuliani's argument and generally appears the more intelligent and rational of the two.

4. Senor Wonderful and I raise our coffee mugs in delight and cheer out loud from the comfort of our couch. Yes, we really did.

Watch numbers 1-3 here: