Here's that coconut butter.
Tuesday, February 25, 2014
Friday, November 29, 2013
The making of a minion cap
Minions
Worsted weight yarn in bright yellow, white, black, brown,
blue and gray.
I hook and G hook (G
hook is only used for pupil and iris of eye)
YOUTUBES TO WATCH BEFORE YOU START
How to use the Magic Circle http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V41BPEFoBWQ
How to end a spiral with a duplicate stitch. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W_sW4xX_O70
For a duplicate stitch ending that is not on a spiral, just
end the same way but in the next stitch, not skipping a stitch (watch the video
again and you’ll see what I mean…if not, call me) BTW, I do that with a yarn
needle instead of trying to do it with a crochet hook.
HEAD
Row 1 – With yellow yarn put 6 sc into magic circle as above
but instead of doing a slip stitch to join, I just begin Row 2 by working 2sc
into the first st. Do not join
throughout; it is one continuous spiral. Mark beginning of round.
Row 3 – (Sc in first sc, 2sc in next sc) Repeat around – 18
sts
Row 4 – (Sc in first 2 sc, 2sc in next sc) Repeat around –
24 sts
Row 5 – (Sc in first 3 sc, 2 sc in next sc) Repeat around –
30 sts
Row 6 – (Sc in first 4 sc, 2 sc in next sc) Repeat around –
36 sts
Rows 7 – 10 proceed in this fashion until you have 10
stitches on each side of hexagon. – 60 sts
For adult size hat add one more row
of increases to make 66 sts.
Rows 11 – 13 Sc
straight around for 3 rounds, changing to black yarn on last stitch of last
round. Don’t worry about the switch over between yellow and black not being
exactly even. The eyes will be sewn over top of the join and it won’t show.
(I don’t break off yellow but just let it wait until I pick
it up again 3 rounds later.)
Rows 14 - 16 With
black sc straight around for 3 rounds, changing to yellow yarn on last stitch
of last round. Break off black and hide ends.
Rows 17 – 23 Continue
sc until you have completed 7 more rounds in yellow.
For adult size hat add one more row
here.
Row 24 On this round proceed as before but stop 4 sts short
of beginning of round, ch 8, skip next 8 sc, sc around. You have made your minion’s mouth. Another option is
to just keep sc’ing all the way down in yellow and use black yarn to stitch on
a smile/frown/whatever after the rest is done.
Keep the pattern of
single crochet all around until you have 3 rows (adults
4 rows) below the mouth hole. I
stop the last row at the back of the neck (opposite side from the mouth)
because the break between yellow and blue is going to show at least a little;
I’d rather it were in the back. Break off yellow and switch to blue.
Sc for 3 rounds in
blue and break off and close with the duplicate stitch ending as explained
above. Weave in tail.
EYES
Beginning with white and magic loop, make 11 dc into loop
and pull closed then join with a slip stitch.
Ch 3, dc into same dc as chains, then 2dc all around – 22 sts. For 2
eyed minions, fasten off white. For
single eyed minions, I like them to be a little bigger so I add one more row of
sc in the first dc and 2sc in the next and repeat this pattern all around. 33 sts total at the end.
Leave one of the white tails for the
eye highlight.
To make the goggles attach gray yarn anywhere on the circle
and sc all around for one row.
The next row you will slip stitch in the back loop only all
the way around. Finish off the gray with duplicate stitch as in the video
above. Leave a loooooooong tail since you will
be using it to sew the eye to the hat with this yarn.
Put aside and begin pupil with black.
With magic loop, make 6 sc into the loop and pull closed and
join with a duplicate stitch ending. Weave in tail.
(Paton Metallic in color gold, which is really a bronzy brown, is a great choice for the iris color. )
With brown join anywhere and ch2, then hdc into same stitch. Make 2 hdc all around. Join with duplicate stitch but leave a longish tail which you will thread onto a yarn needle and sew the colored part to the white part after deciding how you want your minion to be looking (glancing left or right, up or down, deer-in-the-headlights, cross-eyed)
With brown join anywhere and ch2, then hdc into same stitch. Make 2 hdc all around. Join with duplicate stitch but leave a longish tail which you will thread onto a yarn needle and sew the colored part to the white part after deciding how you want your minion to be looking (glancing left or right, up or down, deer-in-the-headlights, cross-eyed)
Remember that white tail that we left, thread it onto a yarn
needle and take a little stitch through the edge of the pupil to add a
highlight. It should be going the same
direction on both eyes if it has two
eyes.
Sew the eyes above the mouth with the pupils directly over
the black band and notice how it hides the slight zigzag of the color change.
If it is 2-eyed, the goggles meet in the center and you can sew them together
or not.
Cut 5 (or however many you want) pieces of black yarn and do
a latch hook kind of thing to attach them to the top of your minion’s head. I
tried tying them on with just a granny knot and it doesn’t work as well because
they lie flat instead of sticking up.
If you want him to smile and you have skipped doing the open
mouth thing on row 24, then you can embroider a smile for him.
Enjoy!
Friday, August 30, 2013
SPAGHETTI SQUASH PAD THAI
SPAGHETTI SQUASH PAD THAI
One of my favorite
foods is Pad Thai. I found the recipe I often used in Family Fun, a magazine
for parents and kids. I thought it was pretty nutritious until I saw the
numbers on the rice noodles. So I considered what would work instead. (For
years we've been using French cut green beans instead of spaghetti when serving
spaghetti and meatballs so I know pasta can be replaced). I came up with spaghetti squash. So I tried it today and we loved it. All the
taste without the empty carbs.
Ingredients:
1 medium sized spaghetti squash,
split, seeds removed and brushed inside with olive oil
1/4 cup Asian fish sauce
2 T. sugar (optional)
2 T. tamari sauce
1/2 t. dried red chili flakes
1 egg lightly beaten
3 T. olive oil
1 large clove garlic chopped
1/4 lb. chicken cut into bite
sized pieces
1/4 lb. shrimp peeled and cut
into bite sized pieces
1 c. shredded carrot
2 c. fresh bean sprouts, rinsed
and drained
juice of 1 lime
chopped peanuts (optional)
Preparation:
Roast squash cut side down on baking sheet in 400 degree
oven for 40 minutes.
Meanwhile get everything else prepped to assemble.
In a small bowl stir together fish sauce, sugar, tamari, and
chili flakes. Set aside.
Heat 1 Tbl of the oil in wok or large skillet. Add the egg and cook until no longer runny.
Transfer to plate.
Swirl another Tbl of oil in pan and saute garlic until it
flavors the oil. Add the chicken and cook until it changes color; push to the
outside and add the shrimp to the center and cook until they have changed
color. Add the carrot to the center and cook everything a couple more minutes.
Scoop all this out onto a plate and add the third Tbl of oil to the pan. If
you've timed this right, the squash will be done by now and you've used a fork
to pull the squash into strands. Spread the squash in the pan and cook for a
minute and then flip the whole mass over and brown a little on the other
side. Pour the sauce mixture around the
sides of the pan. Add the chicken, shrimp, carrot mixture, the egg, bean sprouts,
and scallions. Gently toss and heat through. Sprinkle with lime juice and
chopped peanuts. Serves 3-4.
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