Investigating a Crime Scene!

Investigating a Crime Scene!
Originally uploaded by fuzzy_izmit

Happy Halloween everyone! I know I dont have black hair... but my costume this year was Abby from NSIC. She is sorta my hero. She gives me hope that I can some day be respected and employed in a lab while having the ascetic I long for. One of the best complements I had today was several people thought, before I told them about my Halloween costume, that I was just dressing up a bit to do something special! I normally wear a lab coat at work, so the only thing I did different was put my hair up in pig tails (my hair isnt long enough for braids... barely long enough for the pig tails!), changed my necklace and put on some make up! I didnt have to actually go and buy anything for my costume. How cool is that!

Parenting... Ur Doing it Wrong

I dont normally delve into deep or serious stuff on my blog, but this needs to be said. I recently saw this article in the etsy forums. What a disgrace. If you thought you had a bad mom, just take a look here. If you had a mom like this, I hope you learned from her mistakes and have become a better person from that... either that or you are reading this from rehab. Or you are dead... so you wouldnt be reading this I suppose. I just feel so much pitty for that poor girl. Her eyes say it all. I just wish people would realize you need to be a parent to you child, not their friend. I love my mom, she is not perfect, but she was a good parent to me. I learned a lot from her. Thanks mom for not being my friend until I was old enough to realize all the things you did "to" me were actually "for" me. BTW, the lovely poster above was made by WinchesterLambourne. Please visit her shop!

I promise my next post will be on a lighter note!

The "Crime Scene"

The "Crime Scene"
Originally uploaded by fuzzy_izmit

I am so happy that one of the labs that I work in has some people that really really love Halloween. I am a total Halloween freak. It is my favorite holiday, even more than Christmas. The director of the lab was out one day... and the microscopist did play. We went crazy decorating the lab! I got roped into creating a "chalk" (tape) outline of the director, complete with glasses. All week people have been either impressed or scared when they walk into the lab. Today (not pictured) bloody footprints got added that track into another office with another murder weapon.

Happy Halloween Everyone!

New Kitty Video!

I cant help it... I am sorta double posting. That is because I FINALLY captured Mesha (my kitty) playing with her tail! I posted it on youtube and await the reaction. It is super cute!

I got the music from Sound Jay, and it is totally free! Check them out. Let me know what you think!

First Test of Plastic Bag Yarn!

First Test of Plastic Bag Yarn!
Originally uploaded by fuzzy_izmit

I thought it would be cool to try and make some grocery bag yarn. I try to recycle when I can, and this seems a great way to do it! Make grocery bags etc out of old plastic grocery bags is the perfect way to do that! This is my first test swatch. I think I need a slightly larger hook, but I think it turned out rather well! It seem very durable. I think I am going to make it into a wine bottle cozie/carrier thing. It would be a great thing to give with a bottle of wine for a home warming gift or something like that! So, not only is this an experiment, it is also a WIP!

The Monkey of the Month Club

OrnaMonkeys are monkey ornaments made from felt to resemble real species of monkeys. One monkey is released each month. Each species is chosen for its charismatic face, interesting social habits or other oddities which make the species unique among primates. Each monkey is collectible and comes with a dated bio-blurb about the species and its conservation status. The felt is eco-spun felt that is 100% post-consumer recycled plastic bottles.



The Monkey of the Month Club gives people a different OrnaMonkey each month for a year. Membership spaces become available in November and are offered at a discount. Each member who signs up before December 31 will receive twelve 2009 OrnaMonkeys for only $99 plus S&H ($168 if purchased individually), a savings of more than 40%. Species to be included are: lemurs, macaques, marmosets, langurs, tamarins, titi monkeys and more. The shipping and handling fee covers the cost of shipping all 12 monkeys ($2 per monkey).

The OrnaMonkeys are a fun way to learn more about the beautiful diversity of primates from a real primatologist!

Enjoy!

Everything is better...

wrapped in bacon! I just have to share this site... because I would love to just about all of these bacon-filled delights! I am so trying the bacon wrapped cinnamon bun and when I do I will definitely blog about it too! Go bacon!

Everything is Better...

Sausage Filled Weekend

and no, its not what you think... keep your mind out of the gutter! We tried out first batch of sausage on Saturday, and tonight we made our second batch! I decided to document our second attempt. The first thing we did was to use the meat grinder attachment for my Kitchenaid mixer. I have used this before, but never in this amount!



We coarsely ground roughly 7-8 pounds of pork. Then we loaded it up with spices like crushed garlic, basil, salt, pepper and a few secret spices! Then I hand mixed everything! Man was that cold!

By far, my favorite part was rinsing the natural casing! We had to soak them first, but then you rinse them out on the inside too... which means you can blow up the intestines with water! OMG was that fun! I swear, that is the best part of making sausage other than eating them!

After all the meat is mixed up and the casing are ready to go, we have to switch the attachment on the meat grinding attachment to the sausage stuffing attachment. Sounds like a bad joke, right? Well, it gets better... the sausage stuffing attachment has to be "lubed" up with shorting before you thread all the casings onto the chute!

It takes a bit of practice to get the right amount of meat in the casing so that they are tightly stuffed, and we are still working out our technique. Not a bad job for my husbands first shot at stuffing. Our first night he mixed up the meat, while I controlled the chute end of the stuffing process. Now we just have to broil them and they are ready to be eaten, frozen or given to family members!

Bacon Chocolate Cupcake with Homemade Chocolate Icing

Bacon Chocolate Cupcake with Homemade Chocolate Icing
Originally uploaded by fuzzy_izmit

Well, I did it! I made the chocolate and bacon cupcakes I mentioned in my previous blog! I had to make a half batch because I didnt have enough bacon for a full batch... so only 12 cupcakes for us! I also had to use normal cocoa powder instead of dark chocolate powder. I am eating it right now and you shall share my experience! The icing is really really sweet and plays nicely against the moist cake. I wonder how different it would be with the dark chocolate, but it is really great! The bacon pieces give a nice sharp salty contrast to the sugary cupcake. I actually find I like eating this with out eating the frosting first, because the extra sugar mixed with the salty bacon really go nicely together. I tried to make the bacon as crispy as I could, and that really helped since once they go into the batter and start baking they are inundated by moisture. The texture of the chewy bacon (because there is only so much the crispy can hold back) is the only thing about this cupcake I find a little odd. Maybe if I made them even crispier it would be better.

Overall Impression: MMMMMM! Everyone should try this! Make sure to cook the bacon as crisply as you can without burning it. Yummy!

Ghirardelli Chocolate Covered Bacon!

Ghirardelli Chocolate Covered Bacon!
Originally uploaded by fuzzy_izmit

My husband and I went to a local butcher, Merindorf Meats, to see if we could find some natural sausage casing for making kielbasa and we got some wonderful thick cut bacon as well! I have missed bacon, I love it so and we hardly ever have it. We try to eat healthy and bacon is expensive, so we rarely get it. After a wonderful breakfast this morning of eggs, bacon and toast... my husband secretly set up a double boiler, melted down some Ghirardelli bittersweet chocolate chips and covered 4-1/2 strips of bacon with it! We had to put them in the fridge, because once the chips are melted, they tend to melt if you touch them (I know this from all the cookies I make with them).

I have to tell you, it was wonderful. My husband kept thinking I was having an evilgasm when I was eating my strips... the mix of salty and sweet was just divine! I might try it in the future with a different kind of chocolate, like a milk or a dark, because I bet I could get it to taste even better!

Oh, and I have decided...I am going to make this recipe for Dark Chocolate and Bacon Cupcakes later this week... but I will have to use normal cocoa. I will let you all know how it turns out!

**Update** Cooks Illustrated just released their best brands of bacon! Take a look!

WIP... I have just started today

WIP... I have just started today
Originally uploaded by fuzzy_izmit

I recently completed a nice project for a friend that got me going on a huge knitting/crocheting kick (see some of my previous posts). That got me thinking, I have never really made anything big for just me! Well, today that changes. I started working on a vertical striped blanket that is going to be nice and warm to curl up with on cold nights. I plan on making the stripes separately then join them later. The scarf like sections will make it easier to manage and move around with. You can see the two colors I chose were an off white and a dark red. I have yet to choose a complementing color to join everything with, but I figure I have plenty of time to figure that out as this is going to take me forever to complete.

My mom would probably die since I picked out "white" as a color, but I think of it this way... the off white looks more like bone. Bone and blood look good together, right? So there! I do like to contrast some times! I am sure when she sees this for the first time she will faint from pure amazement. Then she will start buying me white clothes, which I will never wear... oh well, you cant win them all, right?
You can see more photos, like a picture showing all of the yarn I had to buy (6 pounds total!) and close ups of my stitches on my flickr account!

Arm Warmer Frenzy!

I have been in a fiber frenzy lately. I have made something like 3 pairs of arm warmers (4 if you count a pair I messed up on). I am still working on a blanket and another set of red arm warmers, plus I have another blanket and an extremely long pair of arm warmers floating around in the back of my head. My first two pairs (red and black pair and the sparkly cranberry and black pair) are crocheted and the gray ones are knitted. I retaught myself how to knit because my still WIP red pair (not pictured) will be created using a yarn were the stitches just disappear when they leave your crochet hook! I really want to use this yarn because of its color, red and slightly darker red, and it is really light and soft. As a bonus, while I was balling it up, the original skein looked like a flopping blood clot dancing around my floor. That was great! I found a "new" techinique for balling up my yarn where it will pull from the middle of the ball... yeah I know I am behind on my fiber arts learning curve.. I have only been crocheting for something like 10 years now. HERE is where you can find it. The only issue I have with it is if you get a knot... you are missing one of your thumbs to help unwravel it. More views of my arm warmers can be found on my Flickr site. If you like what you see, just let me know! I am always willing to do custom work (through my etsy shop, of course!)!.