Pasta, Chocolate, a new shawl and an adorable little man...

Winter has finally arrived, but not really settled in yet. There are still patches of green & brown poking up through the snow, even though there is ice on the steps. Rather ambivalent for Ohio.

I whipped up a few more good dishes this week, the best of which was Mediterranean Pasta with Artichokes, Tomatoes & Olives. Healthy, tasty and pretty! (excuse me while I install PSE on my new computer)...

I've also become interested (obsessed?) with Mexican chocolate of late. I've heard a lot of buzz about how good it is, and then I saw a recipe in my Zoku book for pops made with it. So I went online to MexGrocer to order some. I've never ordered food ingredients on line, so wasn't prepared for the fun I would have just browsing through all the merchandise. I ended up with 2 brands of Mexican chocolate (Abuelita & Ibarra), a disc of chile chocolate, and one of salted almond. Also a vanilla blend & some Agave syrup. I tried the first cup of chocolate and it was definitely good. Well, if I'm going to make something special (especially if it's a traditional ethnic dish), I need the right tools. I read about canella, cinnamon sticks made from the bark of a West Indian tree. Also I was assured in my research that I couldn't make really authentic Mexican hot chocolate without a special whisk, a Molinillo. A search for both of these brought me to the Gourmet Sleuth. Well, the rest is history...

I haven't tried it with the new tool yet, but I'll report when I do!

You may recall that I want to be more creative (just make stuff!). I dug out a crochet pattern for a shawl designed by one of my Facebook/Ravelry friends, Deneen StAmour. It's called Hippie Chick and I've loved it since the first time I saw it! The best part is that it was a stash buster! I didn't have to buy one thing for it! I had the perfect yarn & of course the hooks...which is all it took. It's perfect because it's long & warm & makes me feel like I'm back in the late 60's!

And of course there have been the best days, playing with Lucas. Needed a better storage solution for his tiny room (which he has to share with Grandma's clothes, dresser & yarn stash), so got one of these. Karen & Josh found it at Target for their place, so I got one, also. It is so nice to be able to just lift out a bin with all the pieces together in one place.

I'll end with a few shots of the little guy at work...a joyful sight, even when he's on his head!

See ya later!