Dinner and an update

I got my July Phatfiber colorways listed by the skin of my teeth, today, as well as a few other colorways.  I'm still working on editing and then listing the rest of my June yarns.  But first, I have to cook dinner!

This is one of the colorways I listed last night. It's called "Monster under the Bed" and is a combination of a red burgundy or maroon, purple, and bright greens shot through with chartreuse and light blue. The picture will take you to the listing.

Now, on to dinner!  I'm working with not a lot of sleep, so simple was intended as the order of the day.  I was going to do chicken cutlets, but someone cut up my chicken breasts. Needless to say, I couldn't pound them and then coat them with flour and pan fry them anymore.  Add to this that the tooth challenged member of the family requested rice instead of pasta, and my entire plan for the evening was shot.

So, since I couldn't go simple, I went complicated. But not too complicated.  In this case, a kind of chicken croquette.  I ground the chicken breasts with salt, a little thyme and black pepper, added some egg, and wrapped them around a bit of cheddar cheese. Coated with flour since I have no bread crumbs, and then fried in a pan with some oil and finished in the oven, or toaster oven in this case.


Recipe below the fold.

And the random number generator says....

2!  That means Deb is the winner of the July 1 giveaway for some delicious Urbbody products and a KIP bag from Ruddawg.  ... I just noticed the double letter confluence in both shop names. That's pretty funny. :D

Deb, please contact me with your address so I can send out your prize!

Meanwhile, I'm busy making stitch markers, labeling yarn, and editing yarn pictures. But I did get one thing done today.  I've finally listed yarn samplers in my shop. These have the same composition as my Phatfiber Box samples.

A sample booklet with 6 yarn snips and a mini-skein. This picture links to the listing.

These samplers have a mini-skein with about 20yds of yarn, and 6 snips of all the bases at about 2yds each. They cost $4 plus shipping, and they come with a $4 coupon off one's next purchase. The coupon is good for six months, so there's plenty of time to touch the yarn and swatch before deciding. 

I've been thinking about offering samplers for a long time. It's practical and low commitment compared to a full skein of yarn purchased on the merit of pictures and feedback alone.  I know that I'm always curious about the hand of yarns before I buy them.  My Phatfiber Box sample format is perfect for this application as well, so it was a natural extension.

The yarn is all random colorways, assembled from what I have available.  The mini-skein in all of the packets I have right now are in the Dutch Iris colorway on the Jackrabbit base.  I can't guarantee being able to switch out the mini-skein for a different base yarn, but if asked I'll definitely look through the yarn I have reserved for samples and try.

Melting

First a reminder!  Today is the last day to comment for the July 1 giveaway! I'm giving away some lovely Urbbody products, you know you want 'em!

Meanwhile, it is hot. It is ridiculously hot. I have to give the rabbit outside ice bottles three times a day so he doesn't overheat.  He's hiding in his little house cuddled up to a cold water bottle.  For some reason, the cats have insisted on staying outside, however, and we're treated to melted cats draped over all the available cool surfaces.

Bergil and Banquo defying sense and staying outside in the stunning heat.

The last few days have been taken up with preparing my Phatfiber samples.  July and August were mailed out today.  Sending 2mos at a time is more than a 50% savings in priority shipping, and that alone makes it worthwhile. They should get there in plenty of time for box drop.

July samples shown in colorways Sea Wrack and Long Walk, Jackrabbit base.

And it's Wednesday, which means it's my day to cook.  I refuse to heat up the house by turning on the stove, so I'm getting creative with leftovers. Especially after picking up a chocolate bar I left in my office and it squished. 

Fifth of July, not fifth of gin

First things first, I'm giving away some delightful Urbbody products in this post. 

Meanwhile, the quip "Fourth of July, fifth of gin" passed through my radar yesterday.  We missed out on fireworks, but stayed inside and tried to keep cool.  Our family barbecue is today and all that cooking I haven't done lately came to a head.

I'm historically in charge of dessert and I usually bake.  Unfortunately, we're in the grip of an entirely ridiculous heat wave. It went up to 100°F today, according to the thermometer on the front of the house. Mind you, our house is usually a good 4-6 degrees cooler than street level because we're on a hill surrounded by trees.  I can't remember a July this hot before, and we're all hiding inside as much as possible.

Luckily, we have a gas grill with a side burner, and a full tank of propane. I've made cobbler on the grill in the past, so today I decided to try clafoutis.  Clafoutis is a custard fruit tart and one of my favorite things. And then, because I've been wanting it for a while, I also made mango ice cream. A new recipe for me, that I like very much and can also see my way to modifying.
 
Blueberry and cherry clafoutis, and mango ice cream with a sprinkling of sweetened flaked coconut.

Recipes and more chatter after the jump.

July 1 giveaway - Urbbody is good for your body!

I'm up to my elbows in hot, wet wool but I had to leap in and post the next giveaway. I hope you'll love this one, because I do!  July's drawing is for a delicious set of moisturizers from Urbbody.


Solid lotion, cuticle balm, and two lip balms.

Urbbody is an old friend of mine from waaay back, and her products have been delighting people since 2007.  The set I am giving away has one solid lotion in the Jasmine, Rose and Ylang Ylang scent; one cuticle balm in Lemon; and two lip balms, one vegan White Chocolate and Rose and one Herbal Mint.  The cuticle balm has a handy applicator brush built in to the tube.

I'm also going to add in a small KIP bag from Ruddawg that I received in a past Phatfiber box, as well, as a carry-all.  It's not pictured here, but it's a red print.

To be entered in this drawing, all you have to do is comment here with what your favorite fragrances are for bath and body. Do you have a dream fragrance no one makes?  Let us know! And it wouldn't be amiss to go and visit Urbbody and take a look at her wonderful  products, too.  She has licorice and donut scented perfume. Who could resist that?

The giveaway closes on July 7th, and I'll pick a winner out of a hat on July 8th.

Sometimes

Sometimes I get really tired and discouraged, depressed, frustrated. But sometimes, sometimes things click.

This has been a very busy week, and it's not getting any less busy any time soon. I didn't cook dinner tonight because I had to finish updating the shop so I could finish working on my page for the Fiber Cooperative.  14 colorways went up in the shop, I have another dozen or so to photograph yet, and the end of this week is full of dyeing and sample making.  Meanwhile, tomorrow I'll hold another give-away, and then there's the holiday weekend coming up.

I hit 400 sales this month, another little milestone.  Even with a package missing in the mail, even with several lackluster advertising attempts this month and the bills they generated, I look around and feel proud of my accomplishment this week, and it's good to feel good about this and about myself.

And tonight, as I was editing pictures, I got this:

This is the colorway Starry Night and it is the most perfect example of a desire turned into reality that I have ever managed with my yarn.

Fiber Co-op

I'm busy busy busy trying to get things done in the ridiculously sweltering heat, but I'm very excited about something so I'm dashing in to post. What is it, you say? It's The Fiber Cooperative, which will go live in July.

Basically, it's like an online fiber festival, with yarnies and other such folk presenting their "vendor tables" with the best and most representative of their wares each month. It's not a shopping venue, but rather a browsing venue. If you see something you like or are intrigued by the shop, you can click through to the shop and browse everything the shop has to offer.

It should be fun and informative and full of eye candy all collected handily into one location.

It actually reminds me a little bit of the Etsy Promotional Tool someone posted about on the Etsy forums last week, but on a much grander scale.  The EPT is a simple tool that collects the 5 most recent items in one's shop (or the top of one's 'featured' list) and displays them linked back to the shop.  It's very new and very simple as of yet, but it's fun to scroll through.

And in something completely unrelated, I leave you with a YouTube video gleaned from my cousin. Lenny Kravitz crashed a choir performing one of his songs (none of them minded!). It's a delight. Can you imagine being one of those kids? Event of a lifetime, truly.  It goes a little out of sync by the end, but it's still eminently watchable.


Now I've got to go back to editing yarn pictures. I'm planning a big shop update starting tomorrow since it's too hot to dye. Mostly Jackalope (merino/nylon sock yarn) and March Hare (light worsted superwash merino).

An experiment in mini (micro?) s'mores

So, have you ever looked at a Teddy Graham cracker and thought "Teddy Graham, mini-marshmallow, chocolate chip!"

I've had this idea for a long time, I just never implemented it before.  (Apologies for the blurry pics. Unfortunately I didn't get a single unblurry one!)


I overtoasted them, so they were like napalm. We did a second batch with the chips and marshmallows on the same half, and we toasted the marshmallows until they were just turning golden.  That worked better, but the general verdict is that they're too fussy.  Big ones are easier and better.

The biggest problem is that Teddy Grahams tend to rock on their bellies, so the marshmallows roll off.  The second problem is that chocolate chips tend to get stiff/dry when they get too hot, even if they're not burnt. They have less cocoa butter in them than bar chocolate, and lecithin, etc.  Sooooo, these weren't really smooshy.  They tasted good, however. And I tested out an idea that has lurked for a very long time. :D

An early Midsummer Night's Dream

It's not yet midsummer, but this month's theme for the June Phatfiber box has arrived right in the middle of some mid-summerly heat and humidity.

Before I get into the glories of the box, however, here's a picture of a visitor to our carport this afternoon.  I don't know why it was in the middle of our carport instead of wandering amongst the trees.

It looks like a luna moth caterpillar to me. I put it in the ground cover out of the way and hopefully it's made its way safely to wherever it was going.

Now, on to the box!  Lots of beautiful and large! samples this month.

This was the great "program" Jessie sent in the box to hold the cards and such.

Pictures of the box contents and shop links after the jump.

Phood

I received my June Phatfiber box today, and as usual it's full of lovely softness. But I also cooked an off the cuff dinner tonight, and I want to record this recipe for posterity as I think it came out very well. So tonight's another double poster.

I basically made up a mango chicken recipe as I went along and it came out a very pleasant sweet/savory combination. The mango was too ripe for this application, so the texture suffered but it tasted good. We had it with a simple salad dressed with oil and vinegar, and rice.


Recipe after the jump