Strawberry Hill

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Originally uploaded by tinyloop.

The latest sweater, and boy, was this one taxing. Not because it was difficult (it was easy as pie) but because halfway through I realized that knitting with yarn in a color even close to a neutral is Not My Thing. So I lost steam and had to push myself to the finish line. But here it is, and I'm not unhappy with it; it might even not drain all the life from my skin if I wear it with some other color next to my face.

On an unrelated note: my quasi Olympic metaphor above reminds me that if you haven't yet read the Onion article entitled "Michael Phelps Returns to his Tank at Sea World" you've got a real treat in store.

Pork Chops

broiled, with okra and corn on the cob.

Leftover Peanut Stew

with brown rice and a sublime salad mix salad.

Coho Salmon

with quinoa and roasted cauliflower. Hard to beat.

African Groundnut Stew, Round II

Just as good as the first time, maybe a little better: this time I threw in an ear's worth of fresh corn.

Rodarte

Speaking of knits, we have to talk Rodarte. Do you know who they are? They are sisters Kate and Laura Mulleavy, born, raised, and still residing in Pasadena, California, in their parents' house, no less. Let me reiterate: they are sisters in their mid-twenties, living at home, and they are already more or less legends in the fashion world, with show after show that simply flattens people with their imagination and craftsmanship. I am a raving fan. This is the second season in which they have shown lots of knits, and I'm of two minds. On the one hand, I think the photo here is pretty rad, and I get where they're going with the concept. On the other, and I say this having examined the goods up close on my last trip to LA, they are a knitter's nightmare. Gigantic gauge! Synthetic novelty fibers! The knitter in me dies a little every time I look at it.

Alexander McQeen

I had a dream about Alexander McQueen last night. I was at his house, and he was demonstrating that he was as ingenious and skilled a cook as he is a designer; I was also focused on the fact that (the fashion magazines tell me) all his friends call him Lee. Anyway, it was a moody, strange, pleasant dream, so today I looked up his fall show on Style.com. As it turns out, the subtitle of his show could well have been "Knitter's Paradise," so full of marvelous knits (many of them lace, oh heaven) is it. I could have picked any number of pictures, but for sheer volume of stitches, this one wins.

Skirt Steak

with roasted cauliflower and shiitakes, and the best conr on the cob the campus farmer's market has to offer--outrageously good.

Whole Wheat Egg Noodles

with pesto and sauteed summer vegetables, heavy on the eggplant. The pesto was made with homegrown basil, which brings me to a long-belated post. Behold, the AeroGarden! Perhaps you've seen one in SkyMall? I'm pretty sure that was where I first saw it, and the thought of it marinated in my brain for a long time before I thought to give it to my spouse for his birthday. I would say it's my second most successful present ever (right after the family albums I made for Christmas). The herbs grow as beautifully as advertised, and the basil in particular was towering and lush before I harvested it.

Chicken

with okra and brown rice. It's hard to focus on dinner, however, when lunch was the remaining African stew. How I miss it already!

Sweet Potatoes

Baked, with chicken sausage and arugula salad. There's nothing quite like the look of sweet potatoes and dark greens on the dinner plate. Also nothing like the spicy, complex, sweet flavor of baked sweet potatoes.

African Groundnut Stew

Omigah. Sometimes making dinner is like playing a seven-letter word in Scrabble. The spouse came home from the farmer's market today with fresh peanuts and black-eyed peas, and we harvested the little pumpkin from our backyard. What does that spell? It came to me in a flash: African groundnut stew. One trip to the internet for a recipe later (http://www.care2.com/greenliving/african-groundnut-stew-recipe.html) and I had my plan; it came to thumpingly delicious fruition at dinner time. I ate two bowls (over brown rice) and only stopped because I couldn't hold any more. Score!

Incidentally, do you know what fresh peanuts look like? Imagine a gargantuan bunch of dark green sage from the bottom of which dangle little peanuts.

The Fruit of our Endeavors

The Mighty Mystery Squash Vine has died, leaving behind a single heir (pictured). One way to look at it is: all that vine for one little pumpkin? Another is: where in the world did this perfect little pumpkin come from, and why are we so lucky that it appeared right in our backyard? Guess which is the view to which I incline.

Snake Gourd

The farmer's market was especially triumphant this morning, and the crowning glory was definitely the pictured "snake gourd." Even better in real life; the scale of the picture is wonky.

Potato Frittata

with roasted brussels sprouts. Highly delish.

My First Scarf

How is it that I never before knit a scarf? It is the classic learning-to-knit project, but I skipped it somehow (mainly by diving right into sweaters, I think, with unaesthetic but nonetheless educational results). At any rate, it seemed like it was time, and here is the result. The pattern is called "Lace Ribbon" and spread like wildfire on the internet: there are 2,000 finished scraves at present, with many more underway. Who am I to resist that kind of popularity?

Check out the way the bright green part of the yarn forms its own zig-zag pattern perpendicular to that of the lace; that's the kind of happy chance that using hand-painted yarn allows. (As always, the color in the pictures is not true.)

Sockeye Salmon

with quinoa and fried okra. Plus an ice cream sandwich for dessert. What devil brought ice cream sandwiches into my house?

Chicken Sausage

with brown rice and roasted cauliflower. This meal is my version of beans and franks, clearly: easy and requiring no thought. We did some major eating in LA, the pinnacle of which was a meal at Lucques. Words fail me when it comes to the food, so I'll simply say this: Seth Rogen's name was right above ours on the reservations list. That was it for celebrity sightings in LA, but I think it's a pretty good one.