Pretty Pasta

photo from website

We love pasta at our house! On a recent trip to Williams Sonoma, we spotted this pasta and pasta salad with shrimp called my name. You can read about this Italian pasta made by the Marella family here. It called Monnezzaglia which means leftovers and tradition would have it that leftover pasta would be combined at the end of the week - a collection of all shapes and sizes and colors. 

I had recently made an antipasto so I included some of the leftovers such as banana peppers, jalapenas, and chilies. I added kalamata olives and marinated mushrooms and shrimp. A little olive oil and vinegar completed the mix. Now there are no jars in the refrigerator with a little bit of this and a little bit of that!

The weather here has been wonderful. There is still a little bit of this pasta left so a dinner on the lanai is in the very near future. I shall pick up some shrimp and marinated vegetables at the market and dinner will be easy!

Have a wonderful weekend!

Girasole

 Girasole means sunflower in Italian but to knitters the Girasole means a beautiful knitted circular lace shawl designed by Jared Flood of Brooklyn Tweed. You can read his blog here.
This piece is a real challenge and I have been counting and concentrating and ripping out for about a week now and finally making some progress. It can be made in two weights and I chose a worsted weight so that it could serve as a blanket. This one shall go north with us.

This is the pattern. And this is what I had to do so that I could follow it.

I am using markers and a lifeline.

The color is not coming out as I would like today....It is more like the color above but here is more detail.

I shall make another one for here. I have already chosen the color (with the help of the ladies at A Good Yarn).

I like to curl up on the sofa with a good book and a cup of tea - and I will be able to when I finish this knitting!

Have a good week!

Mom made Junket for dessert!

I think you have to be of a certain age to remember Junket. It was a favorite at our house and then just disappeared. Puddings were a dessert staple for our family - tapioca being my favorite. But Junket was always a hit. Now we only have dessert when there is company and my favorite to serve is Creme Brulee.

A few weeks back, we went antiquing in Arcadia which is about an hour from here. A set of custard cups caught my eye. They are Fry glass and the price was almost free. You can read about the glass here. 
The glass companies have complex histories so I would suggest Google as a place to start if you would like to know more about the glass.

So then the search for Junket. The website is here.

My camera is not wanting to capture the beautiful color of this raspberry custard (or it could be an operator error!).

In this world where so often things are not as we remember them, it was very satisfying that Junket had not changed.

I am joining Beverly at How Sweet the Sound for another Pink Saturday. I hope you will stop in and see what else is Pink this week.

In small doses....

 I have almost finished with my blogging break - almost being the key word. I needed some recovery time from our winter traveling. Without going into great detail, being the wife of the father of the groom is quite awkward and, in my case, was most hurtful for both of us. I am thankful for my husband, my family and my friends. Thank you all for your support.

So what have I been doing? Well, I have rediscovered knitting. I have taken a break from quilting and doing a lot of knitting. I became a great-aunt in March and the baby blanket is done! Not typical colors at all but very colorful.

I shall send that to the west coast next week.

And I signed up for a mystery knit at my yarn store A Good Yarn. On Fridays I go and knit with a wonderful group of ladies and gentlemen. The mystery will soon not be a mystery and shall return to Maine with me.

I have almost finished this and I shall post a picture with the finished borders. I shall not be cold on damp, rainy days in the cabin.

I bought some yarn. I cannot believe the colors and the textures that Susan gathers for us knitters.

I am almost finished with two more projects! So, I shall finish this post and get back to the needles.

See you at the end of the week!

Happy Easter

Wishing all my blogging friends a Happy Easter.

I hope to be back soon.