food & yarn

So there's the itsy-bitsy-tiny cardigan I made for Casey & Josh's new arrival. The baby is so wee that it will doubtless be months before he grows into it, which is fine. May he wear it in good health and happiness.

I got a sleeve done on the HCOH, and started the other front panel. (I knit things way out of the suggested order as written in the pattern. Having to do two sleeves in a row sounds vaguely depressing, so I split them up.) I've been doing so much smaller gauge knitting lately that the 5mm needles felt huge and awkward in my hands at first, and though I did more or less adjust to them after a while, it felt really good to cast on and start another sock. My new sock is being made in Cherry Tree Hill Supersock's Moody Blues colourway. I LOVE this yarn forever and ever, and second sock syndrome will definitely not strike me, because I love knitting with the yarn so much and can hardly wait to wear the socks. Phil's already worn his; we had a cold spell last week (why yes, this is northern England, and cold spells in July are nothing unusual) and he was very grateful indeed for the snuggly new wooly socks.

Speaking of Phil, yesterday was his birthday, and while I haven't got his pressie yet (though I think all the stuff I've made for him of late should count for something, and we're planning on hitting the camera shop sometime next week so he can pick out what he wants), I did bake him an awesome cheesecake. I make maybe two cheesecakes a year, and one is always for his birthday. I go totally over the top with the birthday cheesecake, because he loves it so, and I very strongly believe everybody should get the birthday cake of their wildest dreams. Me, I like a plain cheesecake, pure and innocent and unsullied. Phil? Bring on the freaking chocolate ganache, man. So I did. One layer of dark chocolate ganache, made with Valrhona, topped with a layer of Lindt white chocolate ganache, and then I melted some more Valrhona and drizzled it over top of the white chocolate layer. This was the cheesecake of wretched excess, and even with my loathing of white chocolate, I have to admit it was fantastic. I think the double cream in the white chocolate ganache tempered its inherent sickly sweetness, and the fierceness of the dark Valhrona balanced it beautifully. I'd never choose to put white chocolate on a cake that was made mainly for my benefit, but it worked and Phil loves it, so it's all to the good, really.

In other news of gustatory delight, I picked the first ripe cherry tomatoes on Thursday, and we had them in a salad yesterday. There is very little in life that beats a good, hard-grown heirloom tomato, at least when it comes to food. I marinated a couple of chicken breasts in lemon, garlic, ginger, soy, spring onion and coriander for a good long time, then cooked them with quartered chestnut mushrooms in a little peanut and toasted sesame oil in a heavy pan. When the chicken was cooked through, I pulled it from the pan and left it to settle while I deglazed the pan with soy sauce, lemon juice, and a bit more toasted sesame oil. I sliced the chicken breasts thinly and placed them on a bed of mixed baby greens, sliced sweet peppers, spring onions, the cherry tomatoes and a handful of cashews and raisins, and then I poured the mushrooms and slightly-cooled pan sauce over it all for a dressing, and goddamn, it was good. It was one of the best salads I've ever made, and with some nice fresh bread and a glass of wine, it made a wonderful dinner. Next time, I might add some water chestnuts for a bit of crunch, but I think it'll be pretty hard to improve upon this salad otherwise. Freestyle cooking is so satisfying when it works well.

P's on holiday all this next week, and while we have absolutely nothing exciting planned, we will definitely be enjoying the garden and the fine weather, and may make the odd day trip. It's just nice to have him at home when we can just relax, sleep in, play with the cats, potter around in the garden and spend some time together. The longer we're together and the older we get, the more I think those are the best holidays of all, which doesn't mean for a minute that he's getting out of taking me somewhere for our 9th anniversary in September, of course. Ideally, somewhere with a good yarn shop.