Berlin's Whimsy

Flickety Click.

Some of my favorite knitting bloggers tagged me for the 'You Make My Day Award.' How very sweet and thank you so much.

I only recently discovered Mary Jane's blog: Mary Jane, Midge & Mink. In addition to my late discovery of Mary Jane's blog, I experienced another "duh moment" when I realized one day, while fondly gazing at one of my favorite sweater patterns from Interweave Knits, that the pattern designer was Mary Jane! Hopefully, this slip in recognition isn't any indication of my mind growing slower as I age... Part of the reason I had not recognized Mary Jane as a knitwear designer is because of my adoration of her beautiful photos, thus my ignorance of her knitting expertise.

My other nomination came from Lara at Yarnit. She is back in college right now and in much of the same situation as I am at the moment. I appreciate her sharing her own journey to self-discovery and self-fulfillment during a huge transition in her life. I know how difficult it can be to weigh out all the obligations.

And lastly, Christabel of Rhubarb Supreme nominated me, too. I must admit her blog is new to me, but I enjoyed my visit today!

For nominations, the rules are as follows:
"Give the award to 10 people whose blogs bring you happiness and inspiration and make you feel happy about blogland. Let them know by posting a comment on their blog so they can pass it on. Beware you may get the award several times."

Like Mary Jane mentioned, it is difficult to choose only 10 other bloggers (and as you'll see, I didn't---yes, I cheated). Truly each blog I read makes my day. I read many, many blogs but not all of them everyday. So here is my attempt to whittle them down to the ones I read every day (or at least when they update).

1. Knitting Iris----I don't ever miss Siri's blog.
2. Beauty that Moves  Lots to love here.
3. Bella Dia--Check out her re-purposing series.
4. Blue Yonder A must!
5. Dustpan Alley Always good for serious thought or laughs.
6. House on Hill Road Wonderful project ideas.
7. A Friend to Knit With Lovely knitting and parenting.
8. I Have to Say... The kind of peaceful parenting & living I admire.
9. Kirstencan A fellow nerd... ;-) And crafty mom.
10. Uncommon Grace Beautiful and mindful parenting.

***I didn't nominate Megan at The Scent of Water (because Mary Jane did---but I love Megan's blog, and I didn't nominate Mary Jane's blog for obvious reasons, though it would be on my list)!

****Also, might I add a few blogs that are new to me? Please do check them out:

1. Ysolda (She is a young knitwear designer. Not only do I LOVE her designs, but her instructions are very helpful and she continues to update them through user feedback. I found her You-tube instructional video on the Long-tail Provisional Cast-on very helpful).
2. Still Life in Yarn A new friend.
3. The Scent of Green Bananas (yum).
4. Linaloo Another new friend.
5. Lunch in a Box (Need I mention again how helpful Biggie's site is?)

Oh, and then there are my favorite Flickr friends that don't have blogs...

1. Ex. Libris' ---A fellow Mr. Bento lover, I follow her food, gardening, and life adventures through Flickr. I'm also VERY jealous because she's a librarian ;-)!
2. Cauchy---Wonderful knitting and a wry sense of humor.
3. Camilla1967-----Catch-your-breath photos (check out those horse images) and a fellow fiber addict.
4. Clouded Maple---Another Laptop Lunchbox junkie and photographer.
5. Pocket Farmer----Knitting, Maine, farming, recipes, and a sense of humor.

Phew, my right clicking finger is tired now...

Age.

When I was younger, the people I was drawn to were often older than I was. I worked in an eclectic mix of jobs and always, my closest confidants were a decade or so older. At the time, I attributed it to my family dynamics and the confluence of people in my life---my Mom is only 18 years older than I am and her friends were always around. I often sat in on their discussions and found their topics much more interesting than those of my young counterparts.

One winter, while in college, I worked the phone banks at the American Cancer Society recruiting volunteers. My closest friend there was a woman in her 40s---I was 20 at the time. Between calls, I listened to my friend discuss her children and their interests and needs.

During our temporary employment, she was diagnosed with breast cancer. I felt such sadness for her when I heard the news from our supervisor. As our fundraising campaign waged on, she was increasingly absent from work. When she was there, she joked about her life and her diagnosis----but there was a sad and hopeless undertone to her words. My last week at the phones ticked by without her presence and I wondered how she was... I never heard from her again but sometimes I still think about her. Sad, I don't remember her name.

I remember another fellow caller at this job. A man that was approximately 50 with an MBA. He resembled an absent-minded professor with thick black-rimmed glasses and unmanaged peppery gray hair. My friend told me he was an alcoholic that had lost everything after what she called a nervous breakdown. He had lost his corporate job, his wife, and his family. As time went on, he also was increasingly absent from work, sometimes without calling in. It was only after he was permanently gone----dismissed---- that I came to really miss his witty sense of humor and ability to make us all think during the long hours of our cold calling. I thought about his stories of his successful career and I wondered when his drinking slowly crept up to obscure his whole life.

At 20, I knew the terms and phrases of breast cancer and alcoholism but I didn't completely understand them. These terms had not found a home of relevance in my own life. I had not walked in the shoes of a mother diagnosed with cancer, nor had I felt the pressures to provide for my children when I mentally could not. Nor had I developed the apathy one often does to emotionally deal with the sadness life can sometimes offer up. In short, I hadn't lived 40 years.

Now, in my last year as a 30-something, I find that I am still attracted to individuals my own age but surprisingly also to the 20-somethings of my youth. Though it's difficult to comprehend my role as an elder in the workplace, I now understand the layers of emotion and personality that I probably was attracted to in my older friends when I was young. And, as I near the ages of my old friends, I reflect on their lives with the increasingly wizened eyes of someone who has lived 20 more years than I had back then.

A refreshing Japanese Salad.

As I mentioned before, I'm enjoying this Japanese homestyle cookbook. Most of the recipes found within are actually doable. I own other Japanese cookbooks that would require me to make a special trip to Japan to find the obscure ingredients (though I would LOVE that, by the way. Hmmm). However, what I find so helpful in this cookbook is not only the author's ingredient substitutions, but the descriptions of the original ingredient's taste or function so that presumably the cook can make her own judgement about substituting another ingredient more easily found here.

Based on one of the yummy recipes within the book, I made a few changes and now share this Soba Noodle Salad with Tuna & Cucumber.

This basic recipe could be switched up for a more Nordic style pasta salad by using canned or smoked salmon instead of tuna, cream cheese mixed with cream for the mayonnaise, and fresh dill instead of the sesame seeds & soy sauce . That sounds yummy, too.

Soba Noodle Salad with Tuna & Cucumber:

• 1 package Soba Noodles (you can also use spaghettini or Chinese Noodles)
• Canned Tuna (I was lucky to have some home-canned tuna to use in the salad. I'm also going to try the recipe using canned salmon----possibly using cream cheese and dill rather than mayo and sesame seeds in that version).
• 1 English Cucumber (or any other small, thin skinned cucumber)
• 1/2 small mild onion
• 1 Bunch of Scallions
• 3 T. toasted sesame seeds
• 1/4 C. mayonnaise
• 1 tsp. soy sauce
• Salt to taste

Bring a large pot of water to boil. Boil noodles per the package's instructions. Meanwhile, peel strips of the cucumber (or all of it, if your cucumber has a thick and bitter skin) and slice the cucumber thinly. Slice the onion in half and then slice it very thinly into half-moons. Place the onion in a bowl of cold water to reduce the bitter onion taste. Slice the white portion of the scallions thinly, as well.

When the noodles are al dente, drain and rinse with cold water to cool them a bit. Place the noodles in a large bowl. Rinse the sliced onion under cold running water, let dry a bit, and then add them to the noodles. Add the cucumbers and scallions to the noodles and toss (using your clean hands is the best method for this). Drain the tuna and flake it over the noodles. Briefly toss the tuna and soy sauce into the noodles (don't over do it, you want to preserve the flakes of tuna). Taste for seasoning----add salt (usually up to 3 tsp.) to taste. Sprinkle toasted sesame seeds over and Enjoy!!

***We ate this pasta salad with Soy Glazed Tofu Steaks and Miso Soup. 

Happy Meal.

I added this fun little Bento strap (Belt?) to my Etsy shop.

It's made to hold the Laptop Lunchbox securely closed... But more importantly, it's a bit of fun!

***I have not been able to find elastic that is anything but white, nude, or black. If you know a source for good quality elastic of varying colors, please let me know!

Starting my day out right.

I like eating a bowl of Miso soup for breakfast. I'm often not hungry in the morning and if I skip breakfast I'm often starving by mid-morning and grabbing any snack available. Not a good routine. So, I began eating a little bowl of Miso soup in the morning. I now seem to crave it each day and I know it's a healthy way to start my day.

Miso soup is made with Dashi. I don't always have Dashi handy, however. I know there is instant Dashi but it often contains MSG. Instead, if I don't have Dashi in the refrigerator, I forgo this step for my own simpler version of morning Miso with just hot water. I have a handy-dandy hot water dispenser that makes it that much easier.

***I love that little image on this miso package! ;-)

I use a mild version of Miso , adding just a tablespoon or two to a small bowl of hot water. I add a little wakame to it. I keep cubed tofu in the refrigerator for my Miso, as well as for when I crave a snack (usually cheese) later in the day. I bake this tofu and Heather has helpful instructions here for this technique. I add a few cubes of the tofu to the Miso, or as described in this wonderful Japanese Cookbook I've been reading, I crumble soft tofu into the Miso Soup. Sometimes I add a few green onions. I find that it's a great way to start the day and fills me up enough to make it to lunch (where sometimes I have Miso, again)!

More Books worth reading:

The Okinawa Program : How the World's Longest-Lived People Achieve Everlasting Health--

Harumi's Japanese Cooking: More than 75 Authentic and Contemporary Recipes from Japan's Most PopularCooking Expert

Japanese Women Don't Get Old or Fat: Secrets of My Mother's Tokyo Kitchen

***From time to time, concerns are publicized about soy in one's diet. After researching this a bit (while also recognizing that many diets of the world have been based on soy for generations without the asserted negative effects), I found this FAQ about soy to be very helpful.

The Lunch Lady, again.

Is it possible for someone to make a living packing wholesome lunches? Well, if so, sign me up! (Yes, I did spend one l-o-n-g  school year slathering up PB & J's at the local elementary school, but that doesn't count----mostly in the "wholesome" department).

(This fancy Kiwi idea is from Lunch in a Box).

I suppose I like these Bento lunches because it's my fussy nature----the little compartments, fancy garnishing touches, the nurturing nature of packing someone elses lunch (or mine)!  Often, what others find mundane, I find joy in. Go figure. I also admire the Japanese philosophy of food's not only tasting good but looking good, too-----ritual, presentation, and small tidbits of nutrition.

My locale is lacking in Asian grocers, as well as Bento supplies----even with all the gourmet, upscale grocers, the Asian foods sections cannot compare to the likes of Uwajimaya. It's not that there isn't a need for one here, with all the gourmet trendiness I see.

On another cooking topic, I'm in love with this Cookbook right now. Carnivores, do not fret---there are plenty of wonderful recipes in this cookbook. They just happen to be vegan. One of the authors was on this episode of The Splendid Table. Even the host of the show, Lynn Rosetto Kasper, espoused this cookbook's gourmet virtues.

They figured it out.

They figured it all out. The PERFECT way to spend their 20 minute ride to and from school each day. What is it? Listening to a favorite book on tape (currently, I'm suffering through listening to Judy Blume's, Otherwise Known as Shiela the Great) while they knit. Ah well, I figure a little less time listening to my NPR programs in exchange for their improved knitting skills is alright by me. I'll expect a cashmere scarf out of the deal, though ;-)!

Putting it out there.

Thank you, thank you, for all of your wonderful comments and accolades about the shop update. I heard from some readers that I don't think I have heard from before (?) and I appreciate your taking the time to leave a comment or write an email! It means a lot to me. As I posted my shop items to Etsy yesterday, I felt an unexpected wave of modesty-----that feeling of putting your creativity "out there" for others to view.

I don't know that I will make one big "shop update" again. I think I prefer the update as I go method. I'm still pondering this.

There were a few items that didn't make the update deadline. I'll slowly add them to the shop in the next couple weeks. They are kid's pouches, bookmarks, and some embroidered Bento straps (they fit the Laptop Lunchboxes but you could use them for any Bento box). I love these and I hope you will, too! 

As I mentioned in my shop, I will consider custom orders. It depends on the request and my time constraints whether I can take on the order.

Thank you, again!

The shop is open.

I've been thinking about my driving force to create.

I find peace and fulfillment when I'm creating something----it makes my heart sing and my mind wander to positive and wonderful possibilities.

Moreover, I love the thought of making something that someone else might find pleasure in.

I picture children painting and cooking in these little smocks...

...or just wearing them around the house for their everyday pleasure.

And I imagine the purses accompanying someone out----I'm a Mom and I know what "out" means: a few spare moments at a bookstore, the coffee shop, a local knitting group (with your teabag in the pocket), or even out to dinner! Gasp!

And the totes are just the right size for a trip to the library to pick up that book you've been waiting for, or to take your journaling with you to sit on a peaceful bench somewhere outside and capture your feelings and observations in your own words.

I truly hope the recipients of these little handmade items enjoy them as much as I did making them...

Tomorrow's shop update.

My daughter took this picture of me hard at work finishing the last items for the shop update tomorrow. A lot of linen has been cut & sewn these last couple weeks! I will take pictures of the items today and begin updating the shop tomorrow morning...