Recently I've been trying to buy our produce at the Oceanside Farmers' Market. I have a flexible work schedule and I thought I should really take advantage of this little local gem. The market is open year round and is only about a mile from my home. I've gone every week for a month now and we've tried some food we wouldn't normally buy. I figured it was time to start keeping track of what we made so here I am! 

This week I got some really great mission figs and sweet heirloom cherry tomatoes. I wasn't planning on using them together but we found this recipe for Beef Tri-tip with Roasted Figs and hello, it was amazing. I didn't have any fancy little onions so I used regular sweet onions and roughly followed this recipe to gauge roasting time before adding the figs and tomatoes. 

Adding a olive oil and balsamic vinegar to the figs and tomatoes before roasting yielded a sweet sauce that we used over the beef rather than making a gravy. It was perfect and what I've learned is that I need to roast figs a lot more often!

Who needs an awesome new cowl for fall? I did! Cowlypso is a totally fun treble crochet fan stitch that shows off an amazing yarn like Friea Fibers Ombré Sport. I chose color Flare because I am addicted to pink. 

Check it out on Ravelry!

We adopted a new dog a few weeks ago. His name is Charlie and he is a hooligan. 

The Grove's towering trees are incredible and the day was even better than I could have imagined.

Thanks, Melissa and Andrew for letting me be part of such a fun day!

It's March but that means its almost sunny season here in California. I can't wait to spend my Friday afternoons out here with a cold cocktail, my pups and some knitting!

Hello, pretty yarn! I received a hank of Metalico by Blue Sky Alpacas during our Christmas yarn swap at my knitting group. I hadn't seen the yarn before and I fell in love! Metalico is a blend of baby alpaca and raw silk. The yarn is shiny and luxurious and I wanted to make something I'd wear a lot. So meet the Metalico Cowl! This cowl is knitted using just one skein of this yarn and it's the perfect size. 

Metalico Cowl – #211
Size: 6" high x 21" circumference
Yarn: Blue Sky Alpacas Metalico - 147 yards
Color Cinnabar #1615 – 1 skein
Needles: US 5 16" circular needle
Supplies: stitch marker, darning needle
Gauge: 22 sts to 4" in stockinette stitch

The Metalico Cowl knitting pattern is available for sale in my Ravelry store. Click here to view on Ravelry.

Of course I am! How could I not after that little face? 

But then there's this. Did she have too much bourbon? Passed out cold!

Oh, Lola! 

Meet your new favorite party treat. The Honey Chipotle Spiced Pecans are a crowd pleaser. They're spicy, salty, sweet and totally irresistable. They are easy to whip up and they'll disappear fast!

Honey Chipotle Spice Pecans

I have always been a big fan of space from as young as I can remember. My sister taught me the basic constellations. I learned all the planets and their specs from book after book. I was even lucky enough to take astronomy in high school inside the school's planetarium!

A few nights ago we were sitting outside watching the sunset just as the brightest stars were appearing in the sky. A friend and I were figuring out which they were, Canis, Jupiter, what's that one? A new one appeared, too bright to be a plane but moving to fast to be star. I whipped out my iPhone, launched SkyView and figured out it was the International Space Station! I hadn't seen it before since it's only in the sky a maximum of seven minutes at a time and this was a real treat. How amazing would it be to be one of a handful of humans to circle the planet? In this video, Commander of the International Space Station, Sunita Williams gives a great tour of the orbiting vehicle. It's about 25 minutes long but worth the watch.