Cravings

Last Saturday was the first day that I’ve made it to the Cherry Street Farmers Market in Tulsa this season. Once upon a time I was there every Saturday. But life changes and now it’s a once-in-a-while thing.

Since summer arrived I’ve been craving tomatoes. Not the cardboard tasteless things at the grocery store. No I’m craving tomatoes with flavor. Heirloom tomatoes. I’m talking Cherokee Purples people. Saturday my mission was to get several Cherokee Purples and a quart of Sun Gold cherry size tomatoes, along with other locally grown meats and veggies. Mission Accomplished.

I’d show you pretty photos – but to be completely honest we’ve devoured the Cherokee Purple already. It made a delicious bruschetta, mixed with garlic, basil (also from market), onions, extra virgin olive oil, and sea salt. I toasted some Tuscan Bread (locally made) with browned butter and brushed it with a slice of garlic. It was – beautifully delicious.

One of the other things I scored at the market was a pork tenderloin. I was standing at my favorite pig farmers booth when the market bell rang. He had one tenderloin. I bought it. Fresh pork tenderloin is wonderful. I beat the dickens out of this one with a wooden tenderizing mallet to thin it a bit. Then in a bowl I mixed a medium-firm white cheese with parsley (again from the market), and lemon curd (yes the stuff that normally goes on toast or English muffins). Once it was rolled and tied with twine I browned it in a skillet, then I roasted it for twenty minutes in the oven on a bed of blueberries. I sliced it about 3/4 inch thick and spooned a few blueberries over the top. It was a big hit!

Another big hit – but not in the food department – is my new Kindle. I never thought I’d be the type who bought an e-reader. I like the feel of a book. I like to dog ear corners of pages and write things in the margin if a sentence or concept strikes me. I like looking at the spines of books other people are reading too. It tells me a little something about them. But with all of the travel we’re doing with Lost City Knits I decided lugging a book around was cumbersome and weighed down my knitting bag.

The first few books I downloaded were free classics. I’ve read Mansfield Park, The Call of the Wild, and The Picture of Dorian Gray since I bought the Kindle. I wonder how many other people read classics on their Kindle just because they’re free? Currently I’m reading The Kashmir Shawl by Rosie Thomas. I have to admit to being skeptical about this one. The brief reviews I read made it sound a little too much like a romance novel and I like a little more bite to my books than the standard bodice ripper. But the book is set in Kashmir and involves a shawl. I took the risk. It’s actually a nice book with some definite twists and turns. The early part of the novel has some weird verbiage and what I’d consider as downright misspelling. I think the editor – whether British or American – blew it when they allowed titbits instead of tidbits.

My knitting has been rocking along nicely. I’m about halfway through my second Lafitte, this one studded nicely with beads. The deep blue makes the silver lined crystal beads really POP!

I took a week break from Lafitte to knit a new sample of my Pecan Grove pattern in our new yarn, Twin Canyon. It’s a luxurious 50/50 blend of merino and silk in fingering weight. Twin Canyon is a great choice for small shawls and scarves since we’re offering it in 500 yard skeins. The full selection will be up on our website very soon. I’d been wanting a yarn in our line-up that was a step above your regular sock yarn for fingering weight projects. I really think this is it. Here is the Pecan Grove – preblocked. It’s a lot like a puddle of green before the magic of blocking, isn’t it?

In fact, I’m claiming two skeins of the colorway Silver Bells in Twin Canyon for my Ravellenics Project. I’ll be competing only in the Cast On Trap Shoot this year. My project is the Tibetan Clouds Stole by Sivia Harding. There is just no way I expect to finish a thousand yard intricate stole in the timespan of the Olympics. But I do think I can get 30% of it complete, so Cast On Trap Shoot – or as some knitters are calling it Cast On Crapshoot. Roll the dice, let’s see how far I can get!