St. Louis and a Leak!

Sorry I haven't posted in a while. I usually post on the weekends, but this weekend Greg & I went to St. Louis to see Cirque du Soleil. The whole weekend was decadent and wonderful!!

We went to the Arch Saturday day. No one ever told us about how you get up there. I mean, we knew there was a tram and all, but no one ever told us about the 4 ft. tall doors and the super small pods that are supposed to fit five people. Here's a picture of Greg standing next to the door. He's 6'2", the steel door is not.

I have some pictures of the view from the top, but they aren't very impressive considering the windows were all smudged up from face grease from everyone pressing their faces all over them. However, the exterior of the arch is super impressive to two engineers.

I came home today and immediately saw this:

My immediate thought was that one of the Idiots got bored and chewed up some drywall. (Trust me, it's happened before.) Then I looked up.

A backed up AC drain line had caused a leak and the ceiling had collapsed. Wonderful. Good thing we were planning on replacing the floors AND Greg has next week off so he can fix the drywall.

I'm about to go to a Newcomer's meeting where everyone brings a salad. I'm bringing Tarragon Chicken Salad.

Tarragon Chicken Salad

2 c diced cooked chicken (I usually boil)
1 c green grapes, halved
1/2 c chopped celery
1/2 c chopped almonds
1 c mayo
1 T dried tarragon

Combine all ingredients

Update on the Idiot: She hasn't passed the blockage, yet. However, the vomiting has stopped, she has more energy, and she is eating. If something doesn't come out of her tomorrow, then my husband will take her back to the vet on Monday.

I got my SWTC DiscontinuedBrandNameYarn.com Bamboo this week! It's so pretty. I don't think I would have chosen this color in the store, but I like it. The color is actually a little more rich than in the picture.

The washcloth that I knit a few months ago for my husband is starting to look a little ragged. I had some variegated pink Sugar'N'Cream lying around, so I knit this:

It is technically a washcloth that I knit for myself that will stay in the shower and he can use if he needs to. This is because heaven forbid that he actually own anything pink.

Also, my boss's birthday on Friday. I made some carrot cake cupcakes that I adapted from a couple of different recipes. I'm posting the before and after picture of the first dozen. (Notice how one cupcake is missing. I had to taste one to make sure that they were edible...yeah, that's it. It was for the good of my coworkers.)

Better For You Carrot Cake Cupcakes

2 cups flour

2 tsp baking powder

2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

2 tsp cinnamon

1 3/4 cups sugar

4 eggs

1 cup no sugar added applesauce

1/3 cup oil

4 cup grated carrots

3/4 cup walnuts

1 cup powdered sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

8 oz. 1/3-less-fat cream cheese

dash of salt

Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. Set aside. Mix together sugar and eggs until thick and pale. Stir in applesauce and oil then gradually add the flour mixture. Fold in carrots and walnuts. Bake at 350 for ~25 minutes. Check with toothpick.

For cream cheese frosting, beat together powdered sugar, vanilla, cream cheese and salt until smooth.

I got three unsolicited compliments on the wave bag today! I also got a lot of questions about the socks I'm knitting while I was at the doctor's office. I love unsolicited compliments. I like to reply "Thanks, I made it."

Anyway, I tried a new recipe for Easter. It turned out pretty well, so I thought I would post it here.


Apple Glazed Turkey Breast
Bone-In Turkey Breast Sized to Fit Crock Pot (I used a 5.5 lb)
kosher salt & pepper
4-6 apples peeled, cored, and quartered
1/4 cup apple cider
3 T brown sugar
1 t ground ginger

Rub turkey with salt and pepper. Place apples on bottom of crock pot. Place turkey on top of apples. Combine rest of ingredients and pour over turkey. Cook on low for ~12 hrs. Baste occasionally.

After it was done, I took some of the drippings and added 3-4 T of flour to make a quick gravy. (More flour will make it thicker.)


My husband recoomends that the next time I make it I stuff the cavity with an onion.

I can't believe it's finally, here...The day I get the hourglass sweater off my needles. Now, it' snot 100% finished; I still need to do the armpits and fold and sew in the ends (and block, of course). But, it's off my needles!!! Here is a very unflattering picture:

(notice the string hanging down the side.)

Tomorrow I will start Wicked. It calls for a long-tail cast-on, which I had never done. So, I decided to knit a washcloth today and go to Knitting Help to learn the cast-on method. Here is a picture of my washcloth so far:

Here is a picture of my long-tail cast-on. I'm pretty proud of it.

I made my favorite crock-pot recipe, Turkey Chili, for dinner tonight. I decided I wanted to share it with everyone. It is award winning (first place out of five entries), you know.

Kristan's Turkey Chili

2 cans kidney beans 2 cloves garlic

2 cans diced tomatoes 2-3 T chili powder

1.5 lbs ground turkey 1 t pepper

1 small onion 1 t cumin

2 T olive oil salt to taste

cook turkey in a large saucepan with olive oil. Dice onion and mince garlic. Add all ingredients to crock pot.

low 8-10 hrs

high 3-4 hrs

I find that is especially good if I prepare it the night before, refrigerate it, and then plug it in the morning.