Feeling domestic
Boar Hunt was a blast. Else let me head up team garnish in the kitchen. Decorating food is fun. Much eggnog was consumed.
Yesterday was supposed to be spent finishing the decorations on the tree, but we slept in, ran a few errands, and had lunch at Cafe Rouge (including a miraculous salad of mache, paper-thin slices of watermelon radish, sliced sunchokes, shallots and walnut oil. I'm still trying to figure out the vinegar, since it wasn't very acidic. Maybe a white basalmic?) Anyway, we got home took naps, started a fire, and realized at 7 PM it was just too late in the evening to start. So we'll decorate the tree for date night tonight, and we'll have crab for dinner again. (It's been on sale at Andronico's for $3.99/lb. This will be my fifth crab dinner in less than two weeks. Happy piggy, that's me!)
Between the crab and eating up the leftovers from the party, neither of us has been getting as many vegetables as we should. Plus, there's most of two weeks worth of CSA boxes to use up before Wednesday (when the next one comes.) Much cooking will be done today. I already baked two of the winter squashes, the baby cauliflower is roasting right now (tossed with olive oil, salt, pepper, and a generous dusting of fresh nutmeg,) and the celeriac is simmering in milk for a puree. I think the leeks and baby potatoes should be soup. Not very original, I know, but easy. Then I have a head of napa cabbage to use up, and some broccoli that will be lunch.
I got 15 yards of wool gabardine in a color called "dune" for about $5/yard a while ago. It's been intended all along for dye experiments, and yesterday I got started. "Dune" is one of those tans that's difficult to describe. It's about the same saturation level as a classic camel, but less yellow. Come to think of it, it's actually pretty close to the color you get when you use coffee to dye white cotton, just a tad less grey.
- A five yard piece with 2 oz. of golden yellow yielded a pretty honey gold. That one counts as a success.
- 2 oz. of burgundy was insufficient to get the really saturated color I wanted. The fabric is a faded burgundy color right now, which is pretty enough, but probably not something I would use. I put it back into the dyebath today with 6 more oz., hoping that would work. It's a wee bit darker, but wasn't worth the effort and materials. But at least I know for future reference that while the burgundy works gorgeously on silk, it isn't so effective on wool. (Jacquard's definition of "burgundy" is what I would call "wine." I think of burgundy as being much more red, and wine as having a significant purple undertone.)
- 2 oz of kelly green over the dune yielded a brighter chartreuse than expected - less of the tan color came through than I thought would. A little tea-dye, though, and it should be perfect for the project I'm planning.
- I also picked up 7.5 yards of a very pale blue flannel. Dyed with about 7 oz of aztec gold, it yielded a cognac color.
Yesterday was supposed to be spent finishing the decorations on the tree, but we slept in, ran a few errands, and had lunch at Cafe Rouge (including a miraculous salad of mache, paper-thin slices of watermelon radish, sliced sunchokes, shallots and walnut oil. I'm still trying to figure out the vinegar, since it wasn't very acidic. Maybe a white basalmic?) Anyway, we got home took naps, started a fire, and realized at 7 PM it was just too late in the evening to start. So we'll decorate the tree for date night tonight, and we'll have crab for dinner again. (It's been on sale at Andronico's for $3.99/lb. This will be my fifth crab dinner in less than two weeks. Happy piggy, that's me!)
Between the crab and eating up the leftovers from the party, neither of us has been getting as many vegetables as we should. Plus, there's most of two weeks worth of CSA boxes to use up before Wednesday (when the next one comes.) Much cooking will be done today. I already baked two of the winter squashes, the baby cauliflower is roasting right now (tossed with olive oil, salt, pepper, and a generous dusting of fresh nutmeg,) and the celeriac is simmering in milk for a puree. I think the leeks and baby potatoes should be soup. Not very original, I know, but easy. Then I have a head of napa cabbage to use up, and some broccoli that will be lunch.
I got 15 yards of wool gabardine in a color called "dune" for about $5/yard a while ago. It's been intended all along for dye experiments, and yesterday I got started. "Dune" is one of those tans that's difficult to describe. It's about the same saturation level as a classic camel, but less yellow. Come to think of it, it's actually pretty close to the color you get when you use coffee to dye white cotton, just a tad less grey.
- A five yard piece with 2 oz. of golden yellow yielded a pretty honey gold. That one counts as a success.
- 2 oz. of burgundy was insufficient to get the really saturated color I wanted. The fabric is a faded burgundy color right now, which is pretty enough, but probably not something I would use. I put it back into the dyebath today with 6 more oz., hoping that would work. It's a wee bit darker, but wasn't worth the effort and materials. But at least I know for future reference that while the burgundy works gorgeously on silk, it isn't so effective on wool. (Jacquard's definition of "burgundy" is what I would call "wine." I think of burgundy as being much more red, and wine as having a significant purple undertone.)
- 2 oz of kelly green over the dune yielded a brighter chartreuse than expected - less of the tan color came through than I thought would. A little tea-dye, though, and it should be perfect for the project I'm planning.
- I also picked up 7.5 yards of a very pale blue flannel. Dyed with about 7 oz of aztec gold, it yielded a cognac color.