Just Another Lazy Day

While others are sweltering in heat waves, the Bay Area still hasn't made up its mind yet about summer. When the days are sunny rather than overcast and foggy, I throw the windows open so everyone can get a sip of summer before it goes away.

Overcast weather puts me in the mood to cook and craft, so I'm not that put out by the lack of sunshine. Another batch of kimchi was made, this time with some chili powder that packed a punch. I tempered the heat by adding fat and carbs. Voila! Kimchi fried rice with bacon and eggs. Brown rice is the standard here, and I love how Japanese brown rice transforms into little bites of mochi when it's fried.

Inspired by my Portland food truck excursion, I've been experimenting with this Bosnian pita recipe (burek). This is my first excursion into laminated doughs, and I have a lot more learning to do. Lesson number 1 was to not be stingy with the fat. Since I didn't put enough olive oil onto my rolled out dough, my first try wasn't laminated. It was rock solid. Still, I ate it, because hot bread with a tasty beef filling can't go too wrong. Try number 2 was much better once I let the fat flow.

 

Someday, I will remember not to cut into my food before I take a blog picture.

I have some ground lamb earmarked for try number 3. I'm thinking of seasoning the lamb with preserved lemons, cumin, and dried apricots.

Cloudier days put me in a knitting and picture taking mood, so the dogs dutifully modeled some baby hats for me. Again, it's baby season. This season, I have a whopping 7 babies popping out in September. January was a busy month.

Here's a better picture of the hat. It's the Upside-Down Daisy hat (rav link). I'm not happy with the petal edges. I think I'll improvise and crochet the petals next time so they look more finished. Other daisy hats on Ravelry look just fine. What's the trick? Maybe I should have whip stitched around the edges of the petals instead of basting.

And here's a better picture of Mingus. This picture captures his goofiness much better, but his ginormous head is blocking the hat. He's still waiting for a thought. It helps to cross your eyes ever so slightly when waiting for a thought to land.