the offWhites

Marching band + (Tetris+Mortal Kombat+Super Mario+others) = awesome

Alas, no pictures of the scarf after all - I couldn’t find any pins to block it with until late this evening, so it looks pretty unimpressive.  It does keep me warm, though. I wore it today on the scooter on a few fairly long trips, and it kept me from feeling the chill of the wind really well.  Yay! Functionality!

Wooooo! It’s finished! The scarf, the beautiful scarf, is off the needles! I still need to block it, but I think that’ll wait until morning.  In the meantime, it’s wrapped around my neck, keeping me warm in our cold, unheated, Taiwan apartment. I did buy a few sweaters today - I could put one of them on, but I think I’ll stick with the scarf for now.

I’ll take some pictures tomorrow when it’s blocking and then some more when I deem it officially done.

Just watched the first miniseries episode of Battlestar Galactica. It was good.

We’ve got the complete miniseries as well as seasons one and two, with season three on the way.

I think I’m set for my knitting tv for a while.

Speaking of knitting, I’m through row 85. The main charted section has 101 rows, so 16 more rows there. Then there’s the end chart, which is 12 rows, only two of which involve any lace stitches, so it should go very quickly. I’m guestimating I’ll be finished with the knitting tomorrow. The last 16 rows of the main section should take about two hour-long tv shows, minus commercial breaks, so, about 1.5 hours, plus another hour, let’s say, for the last one. So, only 2.5 hours of knitting to get the sucker done.¹

All that’s left then is blocking the scarf. That should be interesting, as I’ve never blocked anything before. Also? I don’t have any straight pins to block it with. I guess I’ll figure that out soon enough, right?

1. This all assumes I can knit tomorrow. I’m feeling absolutely wretched, as one is likely to when they ignore a wicked sore thoat and talk way too much all day. My throat feels raw, my nose hurts from blowing it too much, and my ears achy and popping constantly. [↩]

Stupid hacking cough.  Keeping me from getting my dang rest.

I called in sick to kindy this morning after I coughed so hard that I was afraid I was going to puke.  I also sort of felt like crap, and Seth was pretty insistent that I stay home and rest.  Of course, that hacking cough that is the source of my troubles also kept me from sleeping the morning away, so after laying in bed for about a half-hour, and went ahead and got up.  Since I felt yucky but not devastatingly so, I hit play on a few episodes on Gossip Girl and went to town on my scarf.  In all, I got over 30 rows done between this morning and tonight.  Woo! I’m now finished with the vertical repeats and into the last charted section.

I love this part of knitting - when the end is in sight and I find a sort of cruise control for the project.  I guess that makes me a project-oriented knitter rather than a process-oriented knitter, but I’m not sure.  I mean, yes, I do like finishing.  But who doesn’t?  I also love the process (well, usually, anyway - just a few seconds of wandering attention can mean undoing rows and rows, forehead furrowing and my silently cursing the yarn, the needles, the pattern, myself…), and I love having something to do with my hands when I watch TV or ride the train.  I’m discovering that I sort of love lace, even if I’m not ready for the really really ornate stuff.  That’s okay, though - I’ve got a few projects in my stash, just waiting for me to pull them out.  I’ve even got the cobweb-weight yarn for them, if it ever stops freaking me out!

My life is too boring to write about today. I went to work, I worked for over 12 hours, got paid for 6.5 of them, blah blah blah. I came home and our friend Alison was here for tech support, so we been chatted up a storm (shop talk, of course, as it so often tends to be), and I’ve done no knitting (boo). But, time with real people is better than time with yarn, as long as the people are good ones (she is, so no worries), so it’s all good.

I’m just about ready to fall asleep now. I may not actually be able to fall asleep, since I’ve got this hacking cough that won’t leave, and all sorts of sinus drip fun, and sheesh, I think this job (or more specifically, the hours) are killing me. I hope our potential schedule changes work out or I get used to it, because as it is now, something’s got to give, and that something so far, as been my health.

I like my health. I really sort of miss it. I hope it comes home soon. I suppose going to sleep earlier than midnight might help that some. That’ll happen one of these days, I’m sure. I’ll keep on trying to make it happen, at any rate.

So, yeah.  It’s Tuesday.  My plan day.  We have kindy in the morning, and then I don’t have a class until 4:30, so I use the time in between to plan my bushiban classes for the rest of the week, and do any grading or other paperwork I can. So, I planned, graded,  and edited a script before class.  Then there was class, of course, and after I stayed there and wrote communication books (on a Tuesday! so freakin’ early!), so that I’ll have time to write “Teacher’s Words of Wisdom” tomorrow.  We’ve been told that we can type them (”you can write them onna tha computer, make them all the same”), but I’m afraid it’ll still take some time.  I’ve got some “free time” that’s not really free between classes tomorrow afternoon, so I’m hoping to crank them out then.  Wish me luck, I guess.

In non-work related news, I finished another 9 rows on my scarf - woo! I’m up to row 40, so only 60-ish rows to go!  That means that if I can do about 10 rows a night for the next six nights, I’ll be finished knitting in less than a week!  Or, more realistically, if I can do about 10 rows a night every few nights here and there for the next few weeks, I’ll be finished knitting it before the end of February! Woo! Go me!

Whooo, boy. I made dinner over an hour ago and I’m still saying to Seth, “Really - that was really good! It was good, right? I mean, really good? It was good.”

It seems so obvious - mixing two of my favorite pasta sauces together and dumping them on some noodles. But, in this case, I think the sum is greater than it’s parts. I think I’ve found my new awesome fantastic dish to serve people so they’ll think I’m super. I’m almost reluctant to share it, but then, it’s so good, you really ought to be able to have it.

Okay folks, here it is: Macaroni and Cheese with Pesto. That’s it!

Granted, when I say Macaroni and Cheese, I don’t mean the blue box. No, sirree! I mean a home-made mac and cheese. I personally fall in the bechamel/stovetop camp, and I think in this case, especially, the creamier sauce-style dish works better than an oven-baked custard style. Basically, make your roux and then (this is important!) add heavy or whipping cream. Really, 2% or skim isn’t going to cut it. Then add some American (I know! It’s a travesty! But really, the taste works here, I promise), sharp Cheddar (see? I redeem myself), and Parmesan cheese (ooooh! It’s a three-cheese party now!), and mix until creamy. Now, dump in an obscene amount of Pesto. No, really. That spoonful you’ve got there? Not enough. No - more. More. Oooookay, now you’re about there. Taste it real quick. Good? Eh, it could probably use a little more pesto.

Stir the cheese and pesto into some pasta (I used Radiatori - lots of nooks and crannys for the sauce!), add a little salt and pepper if you want, and holy moly is it good.

My macaroni and cheese varies a little everytime I make it, and the variation is always dictated by a few things.  First, the cheese - American, Cheddar and Parmesan were what I had in the fridge.  I’ve made it in the past with farmer’s cheese, white queso, Gruyere, Havarti, whatever.  It’s all good, really. Second - I’m lazy.  I can’t be bothered to measure the butter or the flour or the milk when I make the bechamel.  I do it by feel and smell and the way it looks.  I used to measure and time it carefully, getting out my Joy of Cooking every time. But then I moved to Taiwan, and that was one of many books that didn’t make the trip with me.  So, you know, look up a recipe if you need to, as long as it’s a bechamel with cheese you like, you can’t go wrong.  Third, the pasta! Any shape will do in a pinch, but I find that I take a special delight in eating my mac and cheese when it’s not just a boring tube of macaroni.  I mean, I call it mac and cheese, but that’s so you know what I’m talking about, not because it’s actually macaroni.  Spiral shapes are probably my favorite, but this radiatori may be surging ahead of the spirals and spiral variations.

Oh! And although I may by raked over the coals for this one, you don’t need fresh pesto.  I mean, really? In January?  If you’re living in the northern hemisphere, have fun with that one.  Besides, fresh pesto is best tossed with some bowties on a summer evening, when you’re really craving the flavor of green. As a component, the just-chopped and blended freshness is probably lost.  Don’t get some completely crap canned pesto or anything, but a decent prepared pesto will do the trick - mine comes from Costco.

Oh, my - American cheese and commercially made pesto from Costco.  And still, it was good enough that I’m still thinking about it (and trying to taste it still on my tongue) almost one and a half hours later. Truly, this was swoon-worthy pasta.  Go make yourself some.

*Radiators with cheese and pesto.  Pasta always sounds better in Italian, doesn’t it?

So, we had our big year-end banquet today. You know, where the company spends a lot of money to show how successful we are (nevermind that we can’t get a new, working, cd player in my treehouse class because “it’s so close to the end of the semester”).  The food at the banquet wasn’t really to my liking, but the beer was. Oh, and Seth won $1000! Woo! Cheers, right?

Kindergarten is going to come too early tomorrow morning, I fear.

We’re headed out to Taoyuan, to spend the day with silver-tongued Caleb.  Then we’re planning to hit the bar scene with Mike, another friend of ours. Mike’s girlfriend is in Taiwan visiting, and we want to meet her!  I’m a bit leery of the plan to hit the bars, though, since, you know, I’m old.  Then again, a tequila sunrise might make me forget that.  Cheers!