New Friends to Whom I Can Give Speeches

This weekend I celebrated my birthday, and these cute little guys are one of my gifties!  These are Monster Chunks, pattern by Rebecca Danger (she's such a Rock Star!), and you can see that my friend Kate made me an army of them!  We have a running joke (that is perhaps based in reality) that I am prone to breaking out in to a speech at any given moment, and that my biggest frustration is lack of audience during these impromptu speeches.  XD  She's such a problem solver.  These Monster Chunks came with a story book of what their adventures were in England before they came to live with me, and I'm almost fearful about the amount of trouble they can get in to!  I mean, don't they just look like trouble?

It's an Oldie, but Still One of My Favorites

I took this picture when Sundae was about 10 weeks old, and we had only had her for a couple weeks at that point.  She seemed to like us ok, though the things we did were sometimes confusing and weird.  She would almost always cozy up to me, but on this day, she decided to cuddle up to DH, and she found the perfect, kitten-sized spot for it.

What a happy kitten...

New Socks x2!

I recently got 2 new pairs of socks off my needles and on to my feet!  I LOVE them!

Cookie A's Marilinda, in Sweet Georgia Yarn MCN in "Autumn Flame"

Ann Budd's Diagonal Rib Socks, in Squoosh Fiberarts Sublime in "Black Walnut"

Coconut Tilapia with a Mustard Fig Sauce

I was suddenly feeling very Iron Chef, and I wanted to make something a little more complex than usual.  I enjoy cooking, but often times things like "complimentary sauces" or "food that requires me to dirty more than 2 dishes" just doesn't happen.  But, sometimes that's exactly what NEEDS to happen, and as a lovely result, delicious food is what happens!

I started with this recipe found at allrecipes.com, but due to not having certain ingredients, or just wanting to be creative, I ended up altering it pretty substantially.

First I prepped my beautiful tilapia filets (seen here) by cutting them in half longways, so they would cook more evenly, fit in the pan better, and just have a prettier look to them.  When I was done I sprinkled them with cornstarch and dusted off the excess.  I set the filets aside and started to assemble my coconut mixture.

1 cup of unsweetened coconut flakes
1 tbsp flour
1/4 panko bread crumbs
Assorted spices (I don't have anything labeled Creole seasoning, so I threw in a dash of salt, black pepper, dried basil, BBQ spice rub, oregano - add your own twist to this!  And don't hold back, my only regret was that I wished I had put more spice in to the coconut mixture!)

I tossed those things around and put the whole thing on a dinner plate for easy coating of my fish.  On a separate plate (or bowl, so you're not creating extra dishes), whisk 1 egg  that you'll dredge your fish in.  I used 2, and had about a bajillion egg left over.  Now would be a good time to get some olive oil heated up in a big pan that won't crowd your fish (remember, we want it all shimmery), and fix yourself a drink while you wait for that to heat, since you've done all your prep.

Instead of a drink, I had a camera in my spare hand instead.  You're welcome!  ;)  When your oil is ready to cook, dunk your fish pieces in the egg, coating all of it, then flop it around in your beautiful coconut mixture, then arrange them in the pan so that they'll cook evenly.  I used fairly small pieces of fish, and cooked them for about 5-6 minutes on each side (don't forget to flip these!).

While that's cooking, make your dipping sauce!  I didn't have the apricot jam that was called for in the recipe, but I did have fig spread (I know, who has fig but not apricot??  I'm weird).  I also substituted stone-ground mustard, and just a dash of horseradish.  The fruit sauce really brings out the coconut, but you don't want it to be too sweet.  I kept adding mustard until I was happy that the sauce was just what the dish needed.



Serve your dish, and wait for the compliments to pour in, enjoying your plate in the meantime.  Shrimp would also be easy to substitute in (well, easy if you're not counting the shelling and cleaning you have to do before hand, or easy if you make someone else in your house do that part)!

Nothing About This I Don't Love...

Interviewed!

I can't believe I almost forgot to mention, but I was recently interviewed over at my friend Amber's blog, Last Yesterday.  Her questions were a lot of fun to ponder over and answer, and even I was surprised by some of my answers!  If you want to learn a little bit more about me, or you're just looking for a new blog to keep you entertained, Amber won't disappoint you!

My Newest Project, that ALSO Happens to Look Like Cake

My third attempt at Stephen West's Transatlantic is finally coming together the way I would like it to!  After a couple of failed color combinations (I seem to have a think for BOLD and STRIKING, which isn't necessary in a pattern that's already so bold and striking), I finally started playing with more neutral (and more dessert based) colors, and this is what I ended up with!

It's called: Tiramisu.

Transformed

I once had this:

This

 

 

I sent it away to the lovely Ceylan at Plied Together, and then I had this:

THIS

I'm going to admire it for a while, until it tells me what it wants to be.