Coffee, Tea, and Spinning

(No, I wasn't doing the spinning {I'm still resisting taking up spinning - for now}.)

Last week, I met one of my Weaving classmates from last semester for tea at a Coffeehouse that was new to both of us. We visited the Cartel Coffee Lab - the location on Campbell.

It was Stephanie's suggestion - and I think, a good one. 

We both had tea {I believe she brought a cup with her - clever and green!} and I tried the coffee cake. Her omelet looked good and was handily consumed so I think we can offer 2 "thumbs-up" on the Cartel food and beverage. (I plan to take the DH there for coffee - his AM beverage of choice.)

We were also appreciative of the wood-n-iron tables, chairs, benches - which I understand the owner constructs. It was an open, pleasant environment {with sparkly lights!}.
Oh - and they recycle!! {Which deepens my positive impression.}

As usual, I brought my knitting - working on the Comfort Shawl and the heel flap of the Jaywalker Socks.

Stephanie brought her spinning wheel AND she gifted me with a lovely sampling of her handspun yarn! {Happy Feet!! Thank you again!}
And I discovered Stephanie has an Etsy shop: SpinstressInTheMakin.

(As always, please click on the pictures to enlarge. Disclaimer - these pictures do not do these spun fibers justice. {Woof - getting a semi-accurate picture of red stuff is always a challenge…}) 

This is Forest Stream:
Love the blue and blue-green in this. The plied color contrast makes me smile!

 

And Frankenstein: 
Ok, I know purple and green are supposed to give off a Halloween vibe, but this yarn has me thinking of blooming flowers in rich brown earth. Spiffy!

 

And my tactile favorite, Red Whisper:
{The red in the sunshine is the closest to color-reality.} Yummy. Soft. Excuse me whilst I go pet that skein a little more. {Happy sigh.}

 

I knit and Stephanie spun the majority of the time we were there and she very patiently answered my ignorant questions about spinning and fiber.

Graceful hands creating a fine yarn. Pretty cool. 

 

Now, I've mentioned before that Knitting in Public is pretty much an every-day thing for me. People will stop by and ask questions, usually commenting that they "don't have the patience to knit", their "Grandmother used to knit", and {wry grin} I'm often asked if I'm crocheting. ;-)

 

Stephanie's spinning drew a variety of people over to admire her work, the wheel, and to ask questions. One very young man-ling had no interest in watching - he wanted to hands-on spin the wheel himself! Some people asked about the yarn she was making, what she would do with it, how the wheel worked, where to get one (Grandma's Spinning Wheel), and more than one person asked if she was working on a Loom. {grin-er}

All in all, it was a excellent outing and we're plotting another in the future.

{Updated later to add - I've heard from several Crocheters that when they are crocheting in public they are often asked if they are knitting. {grin}}

Pesto! (Not "Road Apples", really.)

One of the things I have done with my extra time this week is a bit more cooking.
Not a lot...just a few things. With my previous work habits, cooking when I got home from work was pretty rare.

Last week I did a modified version of Crock Pot Alfredo Lasagna - with some substitutions and a mildly tragic addition of broccoli. For color - it looked quite nice. The mildly tragic part was the flavor. It was pretty decent...just "ennhh" on the broccoli bites.

I made chicken soup for the DH on Sunday to help him combat a cold that had been making him frog-voiced since Friday.
Minced Garlic + chicken broth + pasta + rotisserie chicken pieces I'd frozen + frozen veggies (Trader Joes with Garlic sauce) and...oh, dried onion. Came out rather well. The DH had seconds. {Woot!}

So...the "Road Apples" of the Blog Post name?
It pertains to another experiment I tried when a friend gifted me with a branch of basil from the expansive bush o'basil from her back yard.
Fresh Basil is a lovely thing....but what to do with a quantity? The friend suggested Pesto Sauce.

I pulled out a few cookbooks, considered the ingredients...

Basil? Garlic? Pine Nuts? Olive Oil? Parmesan Cheese? 

Yum! I gotta make me some of this! 

And I did - I plotted to combine 2 of the Pesto recipes. I plucked Basil leaves, rinsed them off, christened my purchased but never used Cuisinart, and combined the loverly, basic Pesto ingredients to make Pesto for the first time.

I put the resulting yummy green goo into ice cube trays and froze them for ready-use at a later date.

I was a bit pleased with myself and the following Monday at the office, I showed a couple of friends pictures of my new culinary achievement.

A friend of many years couldn't help but laugh...and point out that the frozen green lumps I was so tickled about looked very much like...Road Apples.
She was right...I couldn't help but laugh and now when I pull out the frozen balls o'pesto to add to eggs, pasta, soup....I think of "Road Apples".  Leetle teeny ones.