Adventures in Paradise

Walking Home

I had a pretty decent weekend, although the Saturday night birthday celebration was maybe the reason I didn't make it to the market on Sunday morning, but it was worth it :-)  I still did yoga Saturday morning and on Sunday I hung out for a few hours at Knit Happens.  Where, happily, nobody was at all interested in Destroyers, Littoral Combat Ships or anything else work-related.  And I got some puppy love!

Today I spent a few hours on the Hill, starting on the House (east) side and ending on the Senate (west) side.  Despite the miserable heat, I walked from one side to the other, because there are a couple of views that never get old for me, like looking down the entire Mall to the Washington Monument.

And in the other direction, the Capitol Dome...

After I took care of my stuff, I headed towards Union Station (with a stop to play with a 12 week old Springer Spaniel who thought my dangling of leaves in front of her was the coolest thing evar)...rush hour hadn't started yet.

Then I decided that it was silly to have walked three blocks to get to the metro station, then take the train past and maybe even under my house, then walk another four blocks home when it is only a five block walk to my house from the vantage point where I took this picture.  So I walked home.  (I did take my jacket off, because walking even that little distance in a black suit and 2.5 inch heels while wearing the jacket is completely insane.  And I'm only a little bit insane.) 

I came across this almost completely gutted school house about halfway home.  I don't know what's going to go in there, but it's cool the way the outside is all propped up and the insides are all gone.  I'll have to keep an eye on that.

The Comfort of Good Food

It's probably a good thing I've never billed this as a knit blog exclusively, because that doesn't seem to be what I'm talking about these days.  At least not much.  But I'm going to Knit Happens this Saturday!  There will be knitting and bonding with people who don't care what kind of destroyer the Navy wants to build.  Which is something I need right now.  Really really.  REALLY.

I can't talk about that or about much else at work and the knitting is not progressing significantly.  So here's what I can talk about.  Dinner.  On Tuesday I had a craving, so I went to the grocery store across the street from the Pentagon - in the middle of the day - and bought fish, corn on the cob, peppers and a few other things.  From that $24, I have had this for dinner for the last three nights.

That would be a simple ceviche (Tilapia, though I would have preferred Snapper or something similar) and a roasted corn relish made with red and purple peppers, tomatoes, hot peppers, a little salt, lime and cilantro.  The crackers and beer are just compliments to the main event.  There's enough leftover for lunch tomorrow and I'm not at all sick of it yet.  I love it when cravings are simple and mostly healthy!

Then there was dessert, inspired by this post at The Kitchn. 

I grilled my peach on the George Foreman, and the whipped cream is spiked with Grand Marnier and vanilla and then topped with black raspberries.  And yeah, I really love fresh whipped cream.  This dessert is yummy all around.

It's Purple!

I have nothing interesting to show you on the knitting front, so I'll share my food adventures instead.  Yesterday I made dinner for a friend and decided it was the perfect chance to try the cauliflower.  Here it is on the cutting board...the colors fade as they reach the core.

And I roasted them, as Kathy suggested...before the oven:

And after (a little overcooked, but if he'd arrived on time, it would have been perfect.)

The color didn't fade at all.  I thought it tasted like regular cauliflower but my guest didn't.  I think he may not have been used to roasted veggies though, and I had used garlic scapes (bad idea...they overcooked really fast, but they did add a lovely aroma.)

In other news, on Sunday I washed a huge batch of sweaters and a knit dress that I wear for work.   I laid everything out to dry and Stormy had a field day deciding which thing to lay on first.  The dress won, and while everything else has been put away...here's what the dress looks like every time we're in the living room.

Maybe she's trying to keep it from falling off the chaise?

Reaching for Routine

So things still haven't settled down.  My summer, and my Dad's, have been nightmarish at best.  I'm hoping the fall will be better.  And that I will get into a normal rhythm at work again, because right now I'm looking at 12 hour days until I get things figured out.  Not that I could imagine a better job, I just want to be good at what I do and sometimes that takes a little extra work.  Which impinges on the social life I have actually been able to enjoy lately.

I did slip into my usual Sunday routine this morning, for the first time in over a month.  I got up bright and early in order to be at the Farmer's Market right as it opened, along with my chocolate croissant and an iced chai.  I found some lovely veggies, including this broccoli and purple cauliflower, bought out of curiosity.

I'm thinking that will be part of dinner Monday or Tuesday.  And because it's summer, there is fruit.  Glorious fruit!  Like these peaches that might become another batch of almost-ice-cream.

And berries, black raspberries on the right and wineberries on the left.

I'd never heard of wineberries before, so the guy at the stand gave me one to try. I bought the pint on the spot and they're already gone, dessert to my lunch of caprese salad.  Summer food is the best!

My knitting is progressing, with a completed Cinnabar back on the bottom, the cast on front and my tie-dye scarf on top.  It can be too hot to knit on the train some days, but I'm still moving forward.

So, tomorrow morning I get up at the crack of dawn to bring a bunch of guys down to visit ships in Norfolk, VA and then we drive back the same day.  It's not a bad day trip, but long.  After that I have a little bit of time in town, so here's to hoping I can figure things out quick!

Thursday's Rambling

This week has gone by faster than I realized.  Mostly that's because it's the first week in the last three that I've worked the entire week.  On top of that, I was giving up one job and taking over another at the same time, so there hasn't been much in the way of down time.  In fact, by about five o'clock yesterday, my head was spinning.  Or maybe that was the beer I had at the outgoing guy's farewell party.  Probably a combination of both, actually.

So, while I'm trying to figure out what I'm doing, I'll show you what I did over the last couple of weeks.  The knitting was minimal, but I am almost done with the back of Cinnabar. 

And I finished the second lacy scarf, this one will be for me because there is a serious mistake that I noticed only after I finished.  It won't bother me all scrunched up under a coat during the winter, but I'm not going to give it away.  You can see the size difference between the two below.

And I've started another scarf for commuter knitting, this time two repeats of a feather and fan pattern done in a hand painted 50/50 silk and wool blend.  It's a bit on the girly-girl side for me and I can't for the life of me figure out why I bought it, but it's turning out  kind of tie-dyed looking.  I think one of the girls at Ciudadela might like it, so that's where it will be headed when I'm done.  (Note the feline approval.)

I also did some cooking, turning these lovely peaches (with a dash of cinnamon, vanilla and some sugar)

into a close approximation of ice cream. 

It would have been ice cream except that I appear to have lost the piece of my ice cream maker attachment that attaches the paddle to the actual mixer.  Which means no mixing and therefore ice crystals.  I'd try to figure out how to get a replacement except see above where I'm not sure where I'm coming or going this week.  The ice cream is going to have to wait. 

And, as I mentioned in the last post, on the 3rd of July, I got to hang out with friends on the Capitol Lawn.  The best part was getting to dance with my boyfriend...