How to kill a Vampire within ten paces

So, everyone requests my hummus recipe. I swear people must get tired of me making it, but they claim otherwise. I happen to like it very garlicky (hence the title of the post) but you can tone it down by using less fresh garlic or by using roasted garlic. Nice thing about hummus is that you can change it up just by adding a little something extra. Roasted red peppers, black olives, pesto, parmesan cheese, etc can all be added to make a spectacular and special hummus. Experiment and see what you come up with.

Terra's Basic Hummus

3-6 garlic cloves
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 tbsp plain yogurt
1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
juice of 1 lemon
1-2 tsp cumin (start out with 1 and add till you like it)
Salt to taste
cayenne optional (for a little extra kick)

In a food processor, mince garlic until fine. Add olive oil and yogurt, pulse till smooth. Add the remaining ingredients and blend till desired consistency. Add salt to taste. Cayenne can be added last if desired. Any extra ingredients can be added now or to left over hummus. Enjoy with pita and crudites, spread on sandwiches or wraps or as a condiment with various middle eastern dishes.

Now in the knitting world, I am almost finished with my spiral shawl. Only 5 more border rows and the bind off left. This thing is really sucking the life out of me. 600+ stitches for 1 freakin row is so crazy. Makes me just want to run screaming into the hills (this is FL and we don't have any hills so maybe run into the swamp instead). Lets just say I will be glad when it is done.

Keelin's Debbie Bliss sweater is coming along. Almost done with the last front panel and all that will be left are the sleeves. It is a nice fun and simple project that is a nice getaway from the soul sucking shawl. My traveling project are the jaywalker socks from Grumperina. Also a fun project. I am knitting them from the Socks that Rock yarn that lovely Ruthee gave to me. I need to start a sweater for Draken but that must wait till we are moved. Will be packing up my remaining yarn in a few days just to make sure it is safe and does not get left till the last minute :)

So, does someone want to come pack my house up for me? I am getting tired of wandering from room to room packing as I see something I can live without for the next month. The half packed, open boxes are driving me nutty. Maybe I should just pack all this crap up and live minimally for the next 26 days (yeah right).

Two posts in one day!

Amazing I know. Just thought I would share some pics of the town my clan will be moving to. Maybe that way my friends will not be so bitter if they see what a beautiful place I will be living in (yeah right). As I was searching out pics of Mendocino County I came across this great site that had some very lovely pics. Nice little commentary on there about driving through the redwoods. Also, you can visit the townof Willits website. Some nice info about the place if you want to look around. Maybe if I can get you all interested you will want to visit me :)

We have less than a month before our big moving day. It seems like that is still alot of time but the days seems to be going by fast. Only four more Thursdays with my Knitting Bitches. It will be very sad for me on that last night since I have come to cherish each and everyone of those ladies (and Robbie too). I know that I will never be able to find such a wonderful group of friends anywhere else.

Chicken, Chicken, whose got the Chicken...

So, I am being harrassed by Ruthee to give you all my Curry Chicken Salad recipe. I don't really have super precise amounts on it since I like to change it around depending on who I am serving it to. It is a recipe I adapted from an issue of Cooking Light (I don't remember what month or year right now). You can use left over chicken or bake some breasts up just for this purpose.

Curry Chicken Salad

2 large Chicken breasts, cubed (approx 1 1/2 cups)
1/2 c apple, diced (peeled if wanted, I prefer skin on)
1/2 c seedles grapes, halved
1 to 2 tbsp raisins (I like the golden variety)
2 tbsp nuts or seeds (I like sliced almonds, but pecans and walnuts are good. Sunflower seeds are also a nice change)
3 tbsp Mayo
1 1/2 tsp curry powder
1 tsp honey
Juice of 1 lemon
Salt and pepper to taste

In a large bowl combine first 5 ingredients. In a seperate bowl combine Mayo, curry, honey, lemon juice, salt and pepper. Mix well. Add more curry or salt and pepper till satisfied. Pour dressing over chicken mixture until well coated. Chill for an hour before serving. I prefer to let it sit over night so that the flavors blend better.

Serve it wrap style or in a pita with spring mix. Also great served with crackers, pita chips or crostini as an appetizer.

More recipes coming soon. Will leave you all with a picture of my cheeky child :)
(Yes, he is wearing his shorts on his head and his shirt like they are pants. The scary thing is that he came out of his room like this himself without any encouragement from his father or myself. Tells you a little about what kinda family we are, lol)

Baby Knits

I am starting on my second sweater for Keelin. First one I finished knitting but never got around to making it up. Of course she is too big for it now. So I decided to start on a second one that will fit her in time for the beginning of cold in N CA.

This is the sweater I am making in Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino. I love this yarn and since this is a Debbie Bliss pattern, why not use the yarn called for.

The pattern is from this book (which I plan on making the cover pattern for the babe too). Great little book with lots of cute stuff, including a little stuffed rabbit which I plan on being my next project. I have finished the back and both the pocket linings and am starting the fronts (pics later).

Still trying to finish the SSS but it is sucking the life out of me to work on it. I have 8 more rows before I start on the border so the end is near. I want to have it finished before we leave since it was a group project. I know it will look great when it is done, just have to keep telling myself that.

KB was great tonite but I missed my Ruthee. Her beautiful daughter Grace was sick so she could not attend. Hopefully next week.