Pierydys Goes to Dreamwidth

Weekly Garden Update!

2012-05-10T18:28:27Z

Mirrored from Velvet Kerfuffle Kitchen and Garden.

: Bought another aloe at Plantagen last weekend. Can’t have enough of these guys, I think.

: I will definitely have to invest in more fall bulbs if they all do so well here.

: Did I mention some tulips made a guest appearance? I suppose we do have the sort of weather they enjoy.

: View of my cleaned-up greenhouse interior. Still looks pretty tame.

: White dicentra, which will go where there pink one goes.

: Pink dicentra I got on sale last week. Don’t know where it’s going yet.

: Repotted peony. Still don’t know where it’s going yet.

: My 2 year old calamondin has once again been repotted and is enjoying its new greenhouse home.

: The clivia T’s granny gave us has been repotted and is now also in the greenhouse.

: The droopy lavender I seeded last spring is now looking much happier in the greenhouse.

: I put in 9 rows of “cold weather crops” the first weekend of May. We’ll see when they sprout.

: Parsley, purple carrots and cilantro.

: Leaf lettuce, spring onion and salad dandelion.

: Leaf lettuce, mixed carrots and spinach.

: I also plan to plant my cucumbers directly into these bags once the weather warms a bit more.

: My first (and probably temporary) raised garden bed. Made from… bed frames :-)

: There’s a few different types now, but I totally will continue adding varieties starting this fall.

: I love narcissi. Can’t get enough of them. Always wanted a giant bed of them in my garden and now I have some!

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Un-matzo Ball Soup

2012-05-09T14:38:23Z

Mirrored from Velvet Kerfuffle Kitchen and Garden.

Having been a resident of LA’s Westside for a good portion of my life, you could say I was influenced by a healthy dose of Jewish culture. No, really, it was awesome because you could totally walk down the street and think “Hmmm, gefilte or sushi for lunch today?” And stop at places that did BOTH. So I was totally excited when cim invited us to her Hanukkah dinner my first year living in Finland. She was all, “You can make something!” and I was like, “Sweet! I’m gonna make matzo balls!” Because I had (still do, actually) a serious hankering for the giant bowls of matzo ball soup I used to get from the delis for finals week or bad flu days.

Then I realized we are in Finland. 80% Lutheran Finland. If I wanted any matzo, I was going to have to make it myself or have it sent via mail order. While I probably will try to make it one day, I was on a deadline at the time and baking up a batch of the stuff just to crush it into pieces again wasn’t going to fit in my agenda. So I went with the compromise route and used… cream crackers. They’re made with yeast and bit on the buttery side, but we weren’t trying to strictly observe anything anyway.

Read the rest of this entry »

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Spring garden rush has begun.

2012-05-01T17:35:58Z

Mirrored from Velvet Kerfuffle Kitchen and Garden.

The evenings are still just a couple degrees above 0C, but daytime temps are now between 10-20C and very sunny, so it’s definitely spring. Everything is budding, flowers are starting to appear and butterflies are everywhere. I’ve started cleaning up the garden and grounds best as I can, though I’m sure it will take at least a few years before everything is under control. So far, I’ve cleaned up the dead matter from the perennial beds around the house, pruned two raspberry hedges and a grapevine. Definitely have the beginnings of a huge new compost heap in the corner of our lot as a result. Most of the seedlings I started (as well as a good portion of my houseplants) have been moved to the greenhouse and we broke ground today on a new raised bed.

: Small narcissi (pretty sure they’re Tête à têtes) alongside our driveway.

: Larger narcissi alongside our driveway. There are also white ones.

: Another view of the daffodil bank.

: Not sure what variety these big ones are other than some sort of trumpet. We’ll see next week.

: Siberian squill circling one of our fruit trees.

: Snowdrops ringing another small tree trunk.

: My greenhouse! It will need a bit of patching up and repainting in the next few years, but it is made of window glass, so it’s pretty sturdy.

: Rhubarb, starting to grow leaves. Last week, they looked like bright red dinosaur eggs.

: Two days later and you can see how much they’ve grown. Soon, they will be in a pie!

: The buds on the grapevine in the greenhouse are about ready to break any day now.

: Some of my cucurbit seedlings.

: More seedlings. I always plant double since they are prone to dying when transplanted.

: First leaf on my baby pumpkin :-)

: Pumpkins moved to the greenhouse.

: More baby squash in the greenhouse. They look so happy!

: Baby squash at my kitchen window prior to the move.

: Tommi’s grandmother gave me this clivia our first year here. Finally, it has a chance of flowering again.

: I seeded this lavender last spring and it hung on to dear life all winter. Now it’s starting to perk up.

: I bought a new pink peony but still haven’t decided where to plant it.

: There is a little pond with a bank of iris and daylily along the sides. Need to clean it up still.

: Currant and gooseberry bushes all in a row, starting to break bud.

: More currant bush buds. We’re going to have a LOT of fruit.

: Our covered strawberry patch, in need of a bit of TLC. Plants are starting to leaf out so need to fix soon.

: The left side of the raspberry thicket. Pruned down to the just the one year canes after a day’s work.

: Right side of the raspberry thicket. LOVE raspberries, so am happy there are so many.

: Raspberry buds.

: A horsetail shoot — these have been popping up amongst the right raspberries.

: Pepe, the neighbor’s cat. He hasn’t quite grasped that his family moved next door.

: …so he still keeps coming to our door instead and following us around.

: He’s a sweet little guy, though, and will hopefully be taking care of any rodents for us.

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Weekly garden update.

2012-04-25T17:11:09Z

Mirrored from Velvet Kerfuffle Kitchen and Garden.

I’m going to start confining my gardening picturespam to once a week, since I know it can easily get out of hand otherwise. I am keeping more detailed almost-daily notes on Folia, for those who are interested.

As you’ll see below, all my seeds have sprouted with unprecedented speed, so I guess they are as eager for spring to begin as I am! Some of the cucurbits are quickly outgrowing their little yogurt cup starter homes, so I’ve started transplanting them into their own seedling pots. The first batch to get potted up were the Kaempe Melon pumpkins. If they are still looking perky tomorrow morning, I’ll repeat the process for the rest of the bigger seedlings. And yes, I am indeed enough of a geek to have slapped QR codes on the sides of all my seedling pots. They link back to the individual plant history pages I’ve set up for them on Folia. I’ll thank myself once these babies are all mixed up in the greenhouse and garden, and I’m pretty sure the people I swap with will be just as amused.

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Last of early seed starting.

2012-04-18T18:10:36Z

Mirrored from Velvet Kerfuffle Kitchen and Garden.

I did the last batch today, so now all my cucurbits/melons/squashes and tomatoes/eggplants/etc. are cozy in their little plastic incubators. I already can see a few germinated pumpkin seeds from the ones I planted Monday! I’ll wait until they actually sprout before proclaiming it a milestone, though :-) But still, pumpkins in Finland! I’m so excited.

: I love cherry tomatoes. I don’t think you can ever have too many of them, in a huge range of colors. These were a pretty orange variety with the same compact growth that I loved in the ones I had last year, so I’m going to give them a try.

: Had these last year and they were so easy that they had to come back. Container-friendly plants will be especially useful since I will probably be keeping all my nightshades in the greenhouse this year. The Finnish summer just seems a bit too cool for their liking and I’m determined to get a huge crop out of these guys.

: I’m actually not sure why I got these, since they look the same as the Tumbling Toms. Well, guess we’ll find out!

: These just looked so cute! On a practical note, paprikas can be horribly expensive and not so fresh out here. So it’d be nice to have a supply on hand!

: I actually don’t like eggplant that much, but these looked so cute that I had to try them out. Who knows, maybe they’ll be better when they’re fresh off the plant. These will probably go into the greenhouse as well.

: Another one of those “just wanted to try it” plants. I’ve seen these in the catalogues for a while and just now decided to give it a try. It’ll probably also live in the greenhouse.

: These just looked so freakish I had to give them a try.

: Watermelons! They’re horribly expensive and we love them. These could be individual serving sized!

: I’ve never grown spaghetti squash myself, though I’ve brought one home from a school garden before. I think it’s time to get reacquainted with these silly things.

: Another butternut! Wow, I’m going to have a lot of squash.

: A smaller pumpkin, in case the big ones don’t mature fast enough this summer. No eggs in one basket here.

: The full spread on top of the freezer.

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Baby orchids and more seeds planted.

2012-04-17T16:54:14Z

Mirrored from Velvet Kerfuffle Kitchen and Garden.

: My miniature phalaenopsis is having babies! Here, it sprouted both a baby and another flower from the same node.

: Another shot of the bonus flower. I’ve never had this happen with my orchids before, so hopefully it means I’m doing something right!

: Another baby growing on the other flower stalk. This one has much bigger leaves, probably because it doesn’t have a flower as well.

: And the beginnings of a third one :-) I’ll let them all grow until they have about 2 inches of root before separating them.

: My rapidly growing seed germination tray.

: I had a wildly successful run with these last year, so am planting them again. I’m faithful to those who treat me well :-) These produced bountiful, tasty cukes and were very happy doing it within the confines of the bag of potting soil allotted to them. 4 planted.

: I admit to being attracted to weird cultivars. Plus, it would look so cool to have slices of various colored cucumbers on a salad, don’t you think? We’ll see what happens with these. 5 planted.

: I hear melons can be tricky. Both the boy and I adore them, though, so I’m going to give it a try this year. They can get expensive at the store and we could probably eat one apiece if it weren’t so spendy. These might actually end up going in the greenhouse, since I’m not entirely sure they’ll crop fast enough otherwise. 4 planted.

: I know I already planted the golden version of these, but you know how I get about have rainbow colors. And cucurbits really are some of my favorite plants. They make you feel really accomplished, with such large fruits. Anyway. 9 planted.

: Classic summer veggie that I know I should be eating more of. I do like these roasted, so no hurt in planting some. This type in particular looks like it doesn’t even need to live in the greenhouse, which is a plus. 5 planted.

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Spring is here! Sort of.

2012-04-16T17:26:20Z

Mirrored from Velvet Kerfuffle Kitchen and Garden.

At least, the calendar says it is. The snow is also mostly gone and the ice is nearly melted off all the bodies of water. The leaves aren’t out on the trees yet, but we’re seeing all kinds of stuff starting to emerge. Like these pretty little snowdrops sprouting right next to our building.

It’s still damp outside and I’ve been warned that the ground might still be frozen a couple of inches down, so I haven’t actually put a shovel to the large garden plot at the new house yet. However, the gorgeous sunny days make me want to start planting things. I’d have everything in the ground by now back in Cali, after all. So I figured I’d start some seeds inside that might need a bit more time to develop.

Yes, those are plastic yogurt containers. They come with their own clear lids and make perfect little greenhouses. They’re sitting on top of the freezer currently because there’s a nice warm draft generated by the machine from behind.

Big ol’ pumpkins that will hopefully keep us in puree for a year. Taking a bit of a risk, since it’s questionable whether they’ll bear fruit over the course of our short (but endlessly sunny) summers. The seeds were cheap, though, so we’ll give it a try. Pumpkins aren’t big sellers up here so it’s hard to find enough to satisfy my baking needs. Planted 8 of these.

Butternuts are awesome. Much like pumpkins, I’ll use them for tons of baking and cooking needs. Plus, we have plenty of room in our new cellar for storage! Planted 8 of these too.

Sunny little ball-shaped squashes! They look adorable and will probably be a very nice one-serving size for dinner parties. Only planted 6 of these because that was all that came in the packet! Cheap seed company :-P

As I’ve done for the past few years, I will be keeping a gardening database on Folia to track the progress of my plantings. With an area this big, it’ll be immensely useful to have notes on where everything is and how they’re developing. How is everybody else doing with their gardening this year?

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Facelift, the second.

2012-04-15T13:37:56Z

Mirrored from Velvet Kerfuffle Fashion and Costumery.

Two blogs down, two more to go :-) The best part of fixing this stuff up is finding new pictures to put in the rotating headers, I think. I nearly doubled the area for graphics by cleaning up the extraneous texty stuff up there. Given, it isn’t really friendly to anybody with screens under 1280, but it’s been a LONG time since I’ve met anybody running something like that. Also, I just heard that WordPress 4.0 is coming out soonish? That freakin’ terrifies me. Might just have to clone a blog just to test out the new update, in case it’s one of those cases where everything breaks for a month the minute you press the button. *shudder*

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Renovation is in the air…

2012-04-14T06:42:19Z

Mirrored from Velvet Kerfuffle Kitchen and Garden.

All the wallpapering and painting happening in our new house has put me in the mood to spruce up other areas of my life as well. Including my blog network, which I’d been getting more dissatisfied with by the week, but never got around to doing anything about. That is, until a few page-crashing bugs made it necessary for me to muck with the databases and code anyway. So I gave this baby a facelift while I was at it! Haven’t really altered the format much since I uploaded it 3 years ago, so it feels all new and shiny! Now, if only I could muster up the energy to do the rest of the blogs…

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Mmmm is for mämmi.

2012-04-13T06:10:48Z

Mirrored from Velvet Kerfuffle Kitchen and Garden.

This is mämmi. It’s traditionally served in Finland and Sweden during the Easter holiday, hence why I’m posting about it now. We had some this past weekend along with dessert – a big dollop served with cream and sugar. It isn’t the most attractive-looking holiday dish on its own, no. Taste-wise, it’s balanced between bittersweet and nutty — pretty much what you’d expect of a paste made from rye flour and malt.

Mämmi also happens to be one of those regional dishes that locals like to make you try in the hopes that you’ll make a funny face. Which doesn’t usually work with me because, well, my particular family history has already exposed me to most of the weirder/extreme things that fall under human gastronomy. In fact, I was just remarking to the husband that it reminded me a lot of the smooth sweet bean paste (azuki variety, especially) that’s used in a lot of Asian pastries. It’s partially the texture and partially the sweetened starchy flavor. And really, if you heaped both of them into matching bowls, it’d be really hard to tell the difference by sight or smell alone. I used to eat that stuff straight out of the can with a spoon if my mother let me.

Mmmm, paste.

I was told that the homemade stuff is a lot yummier than the mass-produced stuff you see in boxes at the supermarket. This might be something I’ll have to try making next year, just to see. Part of me is also seeing the potential of mixing it into some buttercream frosting to give my Easter cupcakes extra personality next year. Sadly, it will probably seem more palatable to Finnish tastes than my peanut butter frosting from this year. Which is an entirely different tale of food-related cultural disconnect that will come in another post…

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DIY: Pumpkin Puree -or- Squashing a Squash.

2012-04-10T17:46:51Z

Mirrored from Velvet Kerfuffle Kitchen and Garden.

I’ve been thinking a lot about instructions and tutorials lately at work, and that must have made its way into my subconscious because I’m starting to feel guilty about not updating this blog very much. It’s not for lack of material, since I’ve got a whole folder of photos and notes saved from various projects over the past year — it just seems like there’s always something else more pressing. Given, that’s probably because there was — planning an international wedding, making a pile of holiday presents, then starting a new job will get to ya like that — but still. So with this spring comes my promise to tend this blog more regularly, especially since I’ve got some big plans for both the kitchen and garden. We’re moving into a new house next month, after all.

Let’s talk pumpkins. Back home, you could get pumpkins starting the first day of autumn. Heck, year-round if you count the canned stuff. Convenient, since many of my favorite desserts and dishes use pumpkin puree. Here in Finland, pumpkins are available from mid-October to the first week of November. And that’s about it. This is partly due to the fact that not many pumpkins make it to maturity during our very short summers but also because not many people cook with them here. I got some odd looks when I explained that I was buying the things for consumption rather than decoration. Add that to the fact that I was going around to every supermarket and farmer’s stall in town buying out their stock and you might as well has put a big, neon “Crazy American” sign on my forehead.

Whatever, pumpkins are awesome. They smell great when they’re baking and instantly make any dish feel warm, orange, and autumnal. After my pumpkin-lean Thanksgiving of 2010, I decided to stockpile the things every season and make my own supply of puree for the year. It worked out well last year (I only got 2, but they were really substantial ones) and I plan to actually grow my own patch of them in the new garden this year. We will never lack pie again.

Want to make your own pumpkin puree? Check it out…

Read the rest of this entry »

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Naughty WordPress

2012-03-25T07:10:21Z

Mirrored from Velvet Kerfuffle Fashion and Costumery.

Hmm. Apologies for the service interruption – it appears my sites might have been down with the cache.php bug as early as this last Wednesday. Have it somewhat patched up using Perishable Press’ three-file fix, but still am seeing a few odd things happening here and there. I’m gonna back these things up and take a closer look soon. Hopefully, there will still be something left after I’m done

And, in news of the fashion-related, I am considering perming my hair. Yep, the traumatic memories from mother-inflicted high school hairstyles must be starting to fade, hmm? Nothing crazy, just something for body since my roots have a tendency to flatten rapidly… much like our land-whale of a cat Misu. Plus, I hear that they have a much wider and gentler selection these days. Will still have research the offerings here, since it seems the hairdressers of Rauma are not entirely familiar with my type of hair, but hopefully this will happen for the summer. Kinda want to do some color, too, but not sure whether that will be a good thing, health-wise, since my hair will need to be bleached and that might be bad for the perm part. Decisions, decisions…

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Yarn stash!

2012-03-18T09:23:10Z

Mirrored from Velvet Kerfuffle Fashion and Costumery.

Hey look, it’s Sunday again! That means I should be updating this blog With spring right around the corner and a big move coming, I figured it was as good a time as any to inventory and catalog stuff before packing. I’d been doing a haphazard job of keeping track of my yarn stash on Ravelry already, so today that was cleaned and updated to more accurately reflect what’s going on in that big box of fluffy cat-bait. Luckily, my yarn collection has not had time to grow very much here in Finland. I’d only brought over a small bag of must-haves when we moved and have been trying to only purchase enough for specific projects over the past couple of years. However, I’ve lately been picking up larger batches of yarn from various trips. That, combined with the leftovers from various projects, has resulted in a nice colorful jumble at the bottom of my yarn box. I have a HUGE pile of yarn amassed back in California which I will pack and ship over when I next visit (probably in summer of 2013), so it’ll be nice to have some sort of order before that messy yarnbomb of a parcel arrives on our doorstep. I’ve always been fond of seeing what other people have stashed, so I thought I’d pop up a little gallery of what’s here at the moment. And hey, if anybody is interested in swaps or shopping-and-trading, definitely drop me a note! We’re drowning in nice wools up here but finding any other fiber tends to get a bit difficult, so I’m always looking for options.

: I am currently working on a lace tam using this. It’s a soft alpaca fingering weight that’s really nice for hats and scarves and anything else that’s going to be right up next to the skin.

: Used this color to make T a scarf and still have 2 balls left. A matching hat to go with that scarf is on the agenda, and possibly one for me too.

: Made my favorite smocked tam with this color. Not enough leftover for a scarf so I’ll probably save it for colorwork.

: Strangely enough, the hat I made with this felt completely different from the previous white version. Also have leftovers saved for colorwork.

: This is Novita alpaca fingering, which doesn’t feel quite as soft as the teetee. I think that’s due to the previous having a tiny bit of manmade fiber plied in, though.

: Novita is the predominant maker of yarn and knit/crochet stuff here in Finland. This is their wool sock yarn, which is also good for sweaters.

: Leftover ball from my striped pullover.

: Leftover ball from my striped pullover.

: Novita also makes a slightly lighter weight sock yarn called Nalle, which is nice for finer gauge sweaters (and socks, obviously). I’m especially fond of the aloe-infused variant of this, which feels nice on the hands while you’re using it.

: Normal un-aloed Nalle, which I used to patch up one of my favorite cardigans earlier this winter.

: I planned to make T some socks with this ball, but was thwarted by lack of DPNs at the time. So it got shoved back in the queue.

: I have four large balls of this generic acrylic baby yarn because it was on sale at the store. I think I was planning to make a lace blanket out of it, but we’ll see.

: This pretty silk blend by Rowan was on sale when we were in London this past January, so 8 balls of it ended up coming home with me. It will most likely be a top or cardigan one day.

: Found this pretty purple cashmere merino blend by Sublime at our local store this winter, too. It is scheduled to become a turtleneck some day.

: This silk blend was an impulse buy from iKnit last spring. I only got three balls, so am still trying to decide what to do with them. Probably a short-sleeved top.

: Two balls of vintage mohair blend that I brought from my Cali yarn stash. Still have no idea what they will be, but they’re just so nice to pet :-)

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Return of the berries of the sea.

2012-03-15T17:10:09Z

Mirrored from Velvet Kerfuffle Kitchen and Garden.

This post is dedicated to Keva, who hates eggs. She made a fuss about my previous post regarding fake (seaweed-based) caviar a while back, so I thought it was only fair that I share with her the real stuff It showed up in my local grocer’s fish refrigerator last month and I had to get a jar. This isn’t my first run-in with salmon roe this side of the Atlantic, but they were probably the largest ones I’ve seen so far. Still not as generously sized as the ones I got back in Cali but I’ve come to accept that most things in Europe are on a different scale. Mussels, oysters, salmon, lobsters — maybe it’s the colder water or maybe there’s just more for sea creatures to eat in the Pacific, I don’t know. It’s totally noticeable, though.

So anyways, here you go, Keva:

I’m so used to freshly-made ikura in the Japanese grocer’s deli that it took a while to get used to stuff that’d been sitting in a jar for a few weeks. Still, not bad and an improvement over the pinhead-sized eggs that were being sold in the deli of our market. I tried making sushi with those my first couple of months here and spent a couple days just trying to plump them up through repeated brining/debrining sessions. It helped a little, but I think those were probably eggs gathered immaturely from farmed fish heading for the dinner table, rather than ones specifically harvested for the purpose from breeder fish.

So yes, I fully plan to have a shellfish and roe buffet night when I’m back in Cali next summer, to get as much of things that I can’t get here as possible before flying home. It’s a small thing to miss, but that’s usually how it goes.

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Gallery of a costume change wedding.

2012-03-11T17:41:37Z

Mirrored from Velvet Kerfuffle Fashion and Costumery.

So a little less than a year ago, I posted some early pictures of dress choices for our wedding. Of course, I knew at the time that there would be more than one (or even two) dresses, since Asian weddings just don’t work that way. Combine that with my wardrobe mistress background and the help of several lovely attendants, and you have a costume change wedding. Selected photos from the event and some dress pictures, mostly because people have asked. I’m still in the process of putting up the official gallery website with all the guest photos, so hopefully this will buy me some time until that’s set up

: Dressed for the civil ceremony the day before. There’s a poofy petticoat under that dress that made it VERY difficult to get into the front seat of the car.

: On the way to the reception. T was totally rockin’ that morning suit.

: Front of the church gown.

: Side of the church gown.

: Back of the church gown. There was a tie-up ribbon to turn the train into a bustle, but it proved so hard to find in the rush of the day that we never used it.

: The veil. Which managed to go flying out of my hair at one point, but was thankfully saved.

: A comfy little satin shrug, because there was no way I was going strappy in October.

: Side of the shrug. This was also great because it went well with all three white dresses.

: Back of the shrug.

: The whole retinue outside the church after the ceremony.

: An awesome shot of my gorgeous bridesmaids.

: This was the same short asymmetrical dress I used for the civil ceremony, sans the petticoat. It was dubbed the “dinner dress” because it was the only one that I could comfortably move around in without tripping, which was important while making our way back and forth from the food tables.

: Front of the dinner dress, without the shrug.

: Side of the dinner dress.

: Back of the dinner dress.

: Then we had the Chinese tea ceremony part of the evening.

: Front of the tea ceremony gown. Red is the color for weddings in China and Taiwan.

: Side of tea ceremony gown. Yes, that slit does go really high up on the thigh. I totally had garter belt showing.

: Back of the tea ceremony gown. That’s a phoenix pattern on the jacquard, if you’re wondering.

: Then we had the dancing portion of the evening.

: Back of the dancing gown. This was by Sue Wong, and the only designer garment I actually bought.

: Side of the dancing gown. It was really fun because those chiffon strips moved when I twirled.

: Front of the dancing gown. I also love this one because it’s totally re-wearable for many other occasions.

: Me, T, and my family at the end of the evening. On later reflection, I should probably have had T change into white tie for the latter part of the reception, but that would have probably been too fussy for him.

: A shot of my bouquet.

: A shot of the Irregular Choice platforms that nearly stole the show.

: They matched the colors of my dresses so well that I nearly fell out of my chair when I first saw them.

: The rings.

: I loved what Nicki did with my hair. And how well it lasted all day!

: The wool Lolita coat to go over all of the dresses as the night wore on.

: It had to have a full enough skirt, in case I was wearing one of the petticoats at any time.

: Love the corset detailing on the back of the coat, though we didn’t have time to proper corset lacing on it.

: It also had a cute detachable capelet!

: I full plan to wear this out again at some point.

: Capelet!

: It also came with detachable faux fur trim.

: Which probably is a bit over the top, even for me.

: Then again, this IS Finland, so fur doesn’t raise eyebrows nearly as much as anywhere else.

: The cute printed lining of the coat.

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Indoor Plants of 2011

2012-03-09T16:20:37Z

Mirrored from Velvet Kerfuffle Kitchen and Garden.

Just more chronicling of my gardening ventures, both indoors and out. The kitchen window has plants in it all year round, though they start looking a little peaky in deep winter. The sun’s back now, though, and I can’t wait to pop some fragrant narcissi and primroses into those hanging pots. Maybe as soon as this weekend!

: Playing around with the color filter settings on my new camera.

: Three different orchids decorated the window this Thanksgiving.

: From left to right, a Miltonia hybrid, a mini Phalaenopsis, and a very prolific Oncidium.

: You can see their pretty colors best in the morning light here.

: The mini narcissi I had in the window last spring!

: I took lots of pictures because i only got to enjoy them for a few days before leaving on a film shoot.

: They smelled so nice. Can’t wait to have these again.

: My lucky bamboo, numbering three for happiness. Sadly, one died over the winter.

: My calamondin plant is going strong. This was from last summer and it’s almost time to find a bigger pot again.

: Some chives in a pot for easy cooking access. I’ll have a nice big patch of these at the new house.

: I started growing my own lavender in a pot — it’s actually survived all this winter.

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Things on Cats.

2012-03-08T19:31:27Z

Mirrored from The Velvet Kerfuffle.

The Internet seems to really like cats. The Internet also seems to really like putting things on things. Putting things on cats = double the awesome, as far as the Internet is concerned. Of course, most cats don’t agree and promptly run off the minute you approach them with a camera and a random object for placement.

Except, as most of you well know, Misu is not “most cats.” And with that statement, I hereby inaugurate a new semi-regular feature for this blog: “Stuff On My Cat.” Because really, she spends 3/4 of her time flat anyway, might as well start spicing up all those belly photos.

Here, some shots from this past December, getting into a festive holiday mood:

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Pierydys vs. The Big Bird.

2012-03-07T18:41:31Z

Mirrored from Velvet Kerfuffle Kitchen and Garden.

I promised I would post about my turkey months ago, but time has flown by with the holidays and work and stuff. So here we go — my turkey talk in a pictorial format!

The thing about planning a traditional Thanksgiving dinner when you’re not in the States is that you have to give your local supermarket lots of forewarning. Like, LOTS. I can’t stress this enough, because the first year we ended up with disappointing paper-wrapped chunks of turkey breast as a result of meat department misunderstandings. And then, even after you place your order, you have to continue checking in and occasionally poking at them to see how things are coming along. Much like how I cook a turkey, come to think of it. This is because typically, Finnish supermarkets don’t even consider putting out their frozen birds until the week after Thanksgiving, for the Christmas shoppers. Which didn’t do me a whole lot of good that first year and ended up seeming sort of like a slap to the face after all the effort we’d put into trying to get one delivered just a tad earlier.

This year, though, we showed up a month early at the meat counter and specifically requested a full bird for the last weekend of November. Frozen or fresh, it didn’t matter, just a whole bird. The lady behind the counter dutifully nodded and took down our information, saying she’d call the farm and arrange to have one reserved for us. Then, we got a phone call a week and a half before the big day saying that the farmer was literally sharpening his knife and getting ready to pounce on our bird. We frantically called back telling them to stop the guy, since it was far too early for a fresh turkey. Trying to stuff the damn thing into our tiny freezer, then having to defrost it days later sort of seemed entirely besides the point of ordering it that way. Trying to specify exactly WHEN to kill it gets far too complicated, so we once again ask if there are any other options. Finally, they get a call from their supplier and find that they will receive the frozen ones in time, so promise to put out a few in the bins earlier for us. So we rushed to the store when they called a few days later and victoriously brought home our 6 kilo (13.227 pound) bird.

I used Alton Brown’s Perfect Roast Turkey instructions. Well, a conglomeration of them since he’s put out a few different updates to his method over the years. There were also quite a few videos of the various Thanksgiving specials he’s done, and I kinda pick and chose from all of them while I was forming my gameplan.

: 6 kilos of Finnish-bred turkey. Disappointingly, they did NOT include the giblets. I felt somewhat cheated.

: I took the bird out of the freezer 4 days before and started brining it in a fridge drawer from the get-go, since we didn’t have room to do it slowly.

: Making an aluminum snake and using a steam rack to keep the turkey elevated from the juices.

: Yes, I did use a heavy-duty trashbag. They don’t make cooking bags big enough for turkeys over here.

: Carefully removing the bird from the bag and decanting the brine.

: Positioning the bird on its pan.

: Molding the “breastplate” to give the white meat extra protection.

: Slathering butter all over Mr. Turkey.

: And the roast begins! I’d stuffed it with the seasonings, fruit and veggies before, of course.

: Looking all shiny from the melted butter.

: Starting to get browned. Near the end of the high-temp portion.

: Showing the pre-browning. This helps seal in the moisture for the rest of the roasting.

: Now, the aluminum breastplate goes on and the temperature goes down a bit.

: …and the cats get their turkey dinner so they don’t attack the bird while we’re not looking!

: A little under two hours later, out comes the bird!

: Not as evenly golden as I’d hoped, but it carved up nice!

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Quarterly Crafty Update.

2012-03-04T10:59:52Z

Mirrored from Velvet Kerfuffle Fashion and Costumery.

Wow, has it really been 3 months since my last “what I’ve made recently” update? Guess the holidays and new job really made the time fly o.O

A hazy blue poet pullover. My fourth sweater and first one to venture into the sort of shaping I’d like to do more of. Bishop sleeves and a bit of a stand to the collar also make me happy. I might do a summer-weight version of this one of these days as well — it’s a versatile and wearable pattern base for all sorts of sleeve variations.

A slouchy white alpaca winter hat with smocked headband. The pattern shows up so prettily in the light color. I definitely want to work some smocking into my next sweater as well.

A slouchy black alpaca winter hat in mini-cables. This pattern on this one didn’t turn out as visible as I had hoped. Partly because of the dark color and partly as a result of my tendency to knit loosely, I’m guessing.

A reversible, personalized cotton superhero cloak for my friend’s little boy! This was done as a Christmas present, actually. I did it in black and red because I figured sometimes you want to play the hero, sometimes you want to play the villain. Afterwards, I noticed that most other people were making them in red and blue. So maybe I was the only one who wanted to also play a villain as a kid? I dunno. Either way, black is flattering and useful for many things, so I can’t see any wrong in it.

And finally, a poofy princess skirt for the same friend’s lovely little girl. I know I always wanted one of these as a kid. Heck, I’dve probably worn the skirt *with* the cloak, so she’ll get one of those this year as well.

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Hands down.

2011-12-02T21:23:09Z

Mirrored from Velvet Kerfuffle Fashion and Costumery.

When it comes to accessories, few things are as gratifying to wear as a well-made pair of gloves. There’s just so much detail and construction that goes into making them, y’know? Fingers are always the first to go numb and the last to heat up when the temperatures plummet, and that can be a real nuisance when the majority of your time is spent doing things that require high levels of dexterity. There are many wardrobe pieces that one can skimp on and still find perfectly suitable knock-offs. A good pair of leather gloves is not one of these.

Back in November of 2004, I bought a pair of buttery Italian kid leather gloves with the softest cashmere lining out of some catalogue that I no longer even remember the name of. I was still in California at the time, so there was no real justification for spending that much on accessories other than because I’d always wanted a pair. Seven years of heavy use later, I still consider them one of the best investments I’ve ever made in cold-weather wear. They’re quite beat-up now, but age has only made them softer and more comfortable. Unfortunately, they are also a bit on the baggy-and-wrinkly side, so don’t necessarily look as nice on dress-up nights as they used to.

I found the above pair of cashmere-lined lambskin gloves this afternoon while out shopping with a friend and snapped them up in an instant. No brand tag, or I’d share. Am loving the little Victorian-esque details and the feel of smooth, new leather. They are also a little longer than my other pair, so there will be nice wrist coverage. I have no doubt that they will also be with me 7 years from now. Now, if only I could find a pair in something other than black.

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Yarnish update.

2011-12-01T16:48:12Z

Mirrored from Velvet Kerfuffle Fashion and Costumery.

It’s been a while since my last crafting update and I’ve made a handful of things since then. Been mostly concentrating on knitting since I started last spring, trying to pick projects each time that are both functional and instructional. These are the results! Pictures link to corresponding Ravelry pages.

A classic wool pullover with just a few modifications to sleeve and hem lengths. I didn’t mean to make it in Finnish colors, but it was what I had on hand so I went with it. I <3 stripes! A garment with many firsts — my first time knitting with more than one color, first time pick up collar stitches, and first time setting in sweater sleeves. Also, this is my first sweater to actually fit the way I’d imagined it would, so I’m sort of excited about that.

One of two ribbed alpaca scarves made for the husband to add some variety to his neckwear. This one is a seeded rib that looks really nice with suits and darker coats. Tweaked to be skinnier and longer, to work better with his preferred way of wearing scarves. Making dude scarves is always something of a challenge, since it’s all about finding that fine line between restraint and style.

A grey wool ribbed short-sleeve sweater and my first project done completely in the round. This turned out a bit bulkier than I’d expected due to gauge issues with my loose knitting. Still, it’s quite wearable for layering and gave me a reason to use up some of the extra purple ribbon I had left over from the wedding reception

A simple, squishy ribbed scarf made of fluffy-soft alpaca. My first shot at ribbing, this also proved to be a very forgiving combination for missed stitches. Good thing, too, because I didn’t learn how to unravel and pick up stitches until two projects later, so had to basically start from scratch if I wanted to delete a mistake before that!

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Places a Land Whale Does Not Fit.

2011-11-22T10:28:33Z

Mirrored from The Velvet Kerfuffle.

Since she was young, Misu has had a talent for underestimating her own size. This has led to many occasions where she will wedge in or perch on places that really are not meant to support a creature of her… *cough* stately magnitude. Today, I share with you a collection of such moments caught on camera.

: Infamous kittenhood sandal incident.

: In burrito form.

: Threatening to push the large lamp over to make more room on the speaker top.

: Suggesting that she could use a wash.

: Crushing the box that water bottles come in.

: Trying to look dignified on a cat tree ledge meant for smaller felines.

: Taking up two chairs and still out of room.

: Making sure my socks are all sufficiently covered in cat hair.

: Monorail cat-ing on an armchair back.

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Weekend in Stuttgart.

2011-11-21T15:49:08Z

Mirrored from The Velvet Kerfuffle.

We saw some of Germany this past weekend. It was pretty!

: Our host parked in a reeeeeally tight spot.

: Cathedral.

: Apple orchard.

: Hillside vineyard.

: View of the valley from one of the hills.

: Autumn foliage is still up this far south.

: Honesty box with fresh produce! I’ve heard about these, but never saw them until now.

: Setting up for the Christmas market.

: More cute Christmas market stalls.

: Farmer’s market.

: Entrance to the Christmas market.

: Palace.

: City plaza.

: View of the hills from the valley.

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Wall o’ Scarf.

2011-11-09T15:10:00Z

Mirrored from Velvet Kerfuffle Fashion and Costumery.

I have a lot of scarves. Even before we moved to Finland, where you actually use them for more than half the year, I had a lot of scarves. My mom was paranoid that way. Back in Cali, however, they tended to just sit in a giant pile that was occasionally rummaged through on a windy day. As we enter my second Finnish winter here, though, I decided we needed a better system for making winter accessories easily accessible. Thus, the wall o’ scarf. It’s a IKEA belt/scarf/tie hanger nailed to the wall. Right next to the coat rack and across from the drawers where we keep the gloves and hats. So you can’t put on a coat without coming face to face with the whole collection and have enough time to ponder what will go with your particular outfit before you finish getting dressed. Convenient, no? Now, if only I could find room for a bag/purse rack…

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Coco’s Morning Report.

2011-11-09T09:36:29Z

Mirrored from The Velvet Kerfuffle.

Our younger cat, Coco, is Siamese on her father’s side. This is especially evident in her very vocal interactions with us. Every morning, Coco gives me a detailed report of the happenings of the night before and the status of the food bowl. Since it seems that she doesn’t get nearly as much camera time on this blog as she should, I thought I’d share some of yesterday’s conversation with you

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