Hi everyone,

         Sorry, it’s been a while.  But now, it’s time for… risotto!  Although the pronunciation is argued, the dish is the same: rice cooked in broth with cheese.   I just made this for dinner last night, and it was very yummy.  Personally, I always use vegetable broth, because I like it better that way.  But, chicken broth is also an option, so you are free to choose.  This one is also a crowd-pleaser, as it is very mild and kids and adults alike enjoy it.  It can be eaten as a side dish or as a main meal, depending on what else you are eating.  This recipe will serve at least 4 people (probably more) as a main meal, or at least 8 people as a side dish. 

Risotto (adapted from a magazine, I think it was Real Simple)

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 small chopped onion
• 2 cups rice (any kind works, but for risotto I particularly like Arborio or Basmati)
• 1 cup dry white wine
• 4 cups low-sodium vegetable broth (or chicken broth)
• 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese (plus extra to taste)
• Pepper to taste (skip the salt- it’s already salty enough)

Directions

1. Melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat.
2. Add the onion and cook for 3 minutes.
3. Add the rice and cook, stirring constantly for 2 minutes.
4. Reduce heat to medium-low.
5. Add the wine and cook until the liquid is absorbed.
6. Add the broth, a half cup at a time, stirring constantly and waiting until it is absorbed before adding more.  It should take about 30 minutes for all of the broth to be absorbed.
7. Remove the saucepan from the heat and stir in the Parmesan cheese and pepper.
8. Spoon the risotto into bowls.
9. Sprinkle a little bit of the extra cheese on top of each bowl.
10. Serve… or better yet, EAT!

Some advice:

• Whenever I chop an onion, it makes me cry.  To ensure that this doesn’t happen to you, try lighting a candle and putting it next to you while you chop the onion.
• Make sure that you are constantly stirring and the heat isn’t on too high when you are adding the broth, because the rice will easily stick to the bottom of the pan if you are not careful.
• Anything can be put into risotto- vegetables, meat, fish… whatever you want in your meal.
• There are some foods that are better as leftovers, and some that are better the first time.  Risotto is better the first time.  There is nothing wrong with leftover risotto, but it thickens as it sits, so the texture changes a bit.  Make sure if you are eating it as a leftover that you heat it up and maybe add a little water or broth.  

Enjoy!

Sincerely,

Greengazini

Hi all!

I have some exciting news for you all (and especially mellowyellow). I AM BECOMING A KNITTER! That’s right! I am currently attempting to knit a pillowcase as my very first project! Kind of ambitious, and I’ve only knitted four rows so far. But it’s pretty big, so I hope to have a nice, fuzzy blue pillowcase at the end. I’ll keep you posted!

Oasiss

I know it’s been a really really really long time since I’ve posted……. so now that I finally have the time I’m including lots of pictures to make up for the lack of any in the last few weeks….

That would be my lovely Juno Regina It’s grown quite a lot– I’m now past the diamond lace part and into the main lace pattern… which goes on for 42 inches. Which is a long time. I’m in no rush to finish it though, as I probably wouldn’t even wear until next fall. I’m quite proud of how it’s turning out, as it’s my first lace project.

The color is fairly off in both of the pictures, but the upper one is closest to reality. It’s actually a softer, lighter purple than the top picture.

I had been wanting a knitting bag for quite a while, as I take my knitting with me a lot. I searched the web for knitting bags, and I found some that I liked, but they were fairly expensive for a bag that I could just make myself. I used Pam Allen’s design from Bag Style. The only modifications I made were making it a bit taller and making it two colors (I ran out of green and I had some purple of the same yarn, so I just used that.) I used Cotton Ease, which worked quite well for this bag. After checking out other Raveler’s ideas about the bag, I decided to knit the handles in seed stitch with the yarn held double for strength. If I made this again (which I very well might) I would make the handles shorter than I wanted, as they have already stretched some.

To prevent needles from poking through, I lined the bag with some cheap fabric I found at a craft store nearby. I used my sewing maching to sew the lining, but as I’m not much of a seamstress I was afraid for the results. Luckily most of the loose threads and messiness is hidden.

This is practice for my latest idea. I recently got the book Knitting On the Edge by Nicky Epstein, which includes 350 fabulous edgings and ideas to apply to whatever knitting project you wish. I absolutely love the book, the designs are beautiful and there are pictures for every single design which are lovely and clear. My only complaint is that often there are several designs on a page and it’s difficult to tell which instructions go with which picture. I decided I wanted to design my own tank top for summer. After looking through the book I decided to make a baby doll sort of effect with the bottom of the “skirt” being lined in “casey’s picot point” (it’s on page 84 for anyone who has the book). This was my first time trying a picot edge, which I have now fallen in love with. Although it took me quite a while to sort out some confusion about the instructions (there’s a mistake in the abbreviations in the back- sk2p stands for slip one, knit two together, pass the slipped stitch over, not slip one, knit two together, pass the slipped stitch over, knit two together) it moved along quite fast. I love how it looks and can’t wait to get started on my top. I just recently bought a set of Denise Interchangeable needles which are now my absolute best friend! I’ll be using those to knit it in the round. Of course I need yarn…… I probably won’t use what I used for the above picture- Lion brand microspun- because it’s not very nice (acrylic) and very splitty. I’m hoping i’ll be able to find some kind of not-too-expensive silk blend. Wish me luck!

Gosh, it’s been a while. It seems like every time I sit down at the computer with the intention of writing an article or nagging the staff, I get caught up in email or work. May is (at least for me) a time where everyone wants to get their work done, before the summer. “Work now, play later” is the motto of the month. Bank balances are being scrupulously checked, houses being cleaned, term papers being written, and vacations planned. And above all, empty promises are being made left, right, and center. “I’ll do the bills later, honey” or, “I’ll get that paper typed ASAP, sir!”. You make promises to your boss, your spouse, your teacher, even yourself, that you know you’ll never fulfill. And then, a couple weeks or months or years later, when the “promisee” confronts you about the promise, you just blush or stutter or feign confusion.

Perfect example. Go, Monkey!

Oasiss

What kind of yarn are you? I discovered this quiz from this post. The quiz is here. Go try it- it’s pretty fast

You are Mohair.
You are a warm and fuzzy type who works well with others, doing your share without being too weighty. You can be stubborn and absolutely refuse to change your position once it is set, but that’s okay since you are good at covering up your mistakes.

Birds are twittering, grass is turning green, flowers are popping up everywhere, and there are no patches of snow in sight! I adore the springtime…It’s like everything has gone out of hibernation, just to say hello to the warm weather. The one fairly amusing thing about spring is how everyone dresses like it’s either 90 degrees or 20 degrees (F) outside. I was walking down the street the other day, and it was 60 degrees out. Everyone was commenting on the balmy spring day saying things like, “My, isn’t it hot out today?” and “I haven’t seen this kind of warm weather in years!”. And what’s funny about that is, in two or three months we’ll all be groaning about how hot it is outside, and we’ll think back to April and say, “But at least it isn’t April, it was so cold back then,”

I woke up this morning to the sound of little birds cheeping outside my window. (Well, it was mostly crows making that hacking sound and sparrows and pigeons, but still…) People were jogging up and down the street in shorts and t-shirts, waving hello tho all of their neighbors. But when I glanced at my thermometer, it was only 40 degrees! It just shows how spring can be so gloriously unpredictable!

Happy spring!

Oasiss

     I’ve made a fair amount of progress on my Juno Regina scarf. The pattern requires a lot of attention, but the results are beautiful so far. I’m all done with the increases, so it should start getting faster (as I have to pay less attention to it). There’s one odd part where one diamond flows into another that appears to have an extra row of yarn overs, but I don’t know how I could have managed that without changing the number of stitches (I still have the right number). Maybe it’s supposed to be like that….. Even if it isn’t, the mistake isn’t particularly noticeable so I’m not going to go through the bother and stress of trying to undo it and fix it.

     As for my Unbiased bag, I’m going to frog it. I only had enough yarn for 2 pieces and then about another half, so I would have to either buy more yarn or substitute something, which I didn’t want to do. It also just looked really large and strange. I’ll probably end up using the yarn for another bag that I’ll design.

     I’ve been wanting a knitting bag for quite a while now, and I finally found a great pattern so that I can make one myself! The pattern is from Bag Style, and it’s knit in berry stitch. I’ve only done about 3 inches of it so far, but I absolutely love the way it’s looking! Berry stitch is easy (once you get the hang of the p3t’s) and looks a lot like mini bobbles. I’m using Lion Brand Cotton Ease in a light green that I had in my stash. I figure I’m going to run out of green so I’ll probably do part of it in a darkish purple I have. I’m thinking that I’ll also line it with some fun fabric to keep needles from poking out. Do any other knitters find it annoying that the knitting bags out there (not patterns for ones, ones you can buy) are almost all very expensive? I guess I can see why they are so pricey, as making them is probably fairly expensive and people want to make a profit, but I just don’t think that it’s worth the money. I would much rather make one myself that I can customize exactly to my needs and preferences

Love these quotes.

Anyone else have any quotes (from anyone) that just…don’t make sense? Post them in a comment!

Congratulations to the two WP blogs that received book deals (and one received a buyout)! I’m so happy that bloggers’ opinions are starting to be noticed.

I’m slightly disenchanted too. (Have you read the news article relating to this yet? You probably should, to get the scoop. Also note that I am talking about Target buying the popular WP blog, “Stuff People Like”) I mean, money is great. Fame is great. Knowing that people care about what you write is fabulous, and I’m glad for the author. But I feel that this buyout is a reality check of sorts. I mean, what is a blog, if not a place where someone can express their unbiased, uncensored feelings? The fact that a big corporation like Target is now funding the blog means that writing is likely to be more controlled in the future. And I worry that, as more of these super-companies buy out blogs, the majority of the WordPress community’s independent blogs may be affected too.

I love WordPress, don’t get me wrong about that. I was first introduced to it by a family member, and I have been hooked ever since! WordPress has been a friend of mine when I needed a space to write something. WP’s independent take and non-commercial background appealed to me, but now I fear that they too are getting drawn into the money-obsessed cyclone of media intervention that our society is spiraling towards. I don’t want to take away from the bloggers’ successes, but honestly WordPress? I’m disappointed in you.

I’m not saying that the authors of the aforementioned blogs should feel bad, and I don’t mean to make them. I just want to show people how money can go to a small company like WordPress’s head. I don’t want to be blogging on an ad-infested, money-focused site with pop-ups everywhere. Sorry to be a pessimist, but that is what most sites have amounted to these days.

Take a look at YouTube, for instance. Before the big Google buyout, YouTube was almost 100% ad-free. But then the super search engine came along and shelled out a couple billion dollars, and Banner ads appeared by millions, infecting the site with a disease, just as the chicken pox leaves ugly red spots everywhere. Even AOL instant messenger has a few scattered ads. Not only do the colorful boxes get your attention, they get in the way, and make you forget what you were thinking about momentarily. This is why having ads on WP would be disastrous.

I sincerely apologize if anyone objects to this article, I mean no offense by it.

Yours,

Oasiss

Edit: And, happy April fools’ day, everyone! 

I am pleased to inform you that Google and Virgin are joining forces to create a colony on Mars. They have created an extensive 100-year terraforming plan, and are even launching an essay/video contest for people who hope to win a spot on the Virgle mission.

APRIL FOOLS!

Go to http://www.google.com/virgle/index.html to read all about this hair-brained colony! It sure put a smile on my face. And be sure to take their quiz determining whether you are a qualified applicant. This is one VERY good April Fools’ joke. Thanks, Google and Virgin!

Happy April Fools!

Always,

Oasiss