Eva Restaurant

Tonight Boyfriend and I skipped our usual Sunday take-out night, and walked two blocks to a new addition in our neighborhood: Eva Restaurant. We have wanted to try it for awhile, and I recently found out that they do a Sunday night family-style, Prix Fixe, five-course (wine included) meal. The menu changes each Sunday, but you can check their website in advance to see if it's what you want.

Tonight, we had:
Salad of little gem lettuce, green goddess dressing
Fried chicken
Warm potato salad, capers, vinegar, parsley, shallots
Red wine braised brisket
Creamed spinach
Bread pudding



* Red wine braised brisket and creamed spinach (iphone photo in dim lighting - sorry!)

This was such a nice way to finish off the weekend. The cozy, intimate setting at Eva was matched with such a wholesome, home-cookin' kind of feel. I would love to try their regular menu, but also might not be able to pass up trying another Sunday night there.


* Bread Pudding *

Christmas is right around the corner, and I couldn't help but try out one of these little elves. This pattern covers a wine cork. An early Christmas decoration in about 15 minutes!

Happy Halloween!

Rag Bath Mat

The preview from my last post turned into this:



This is the Rag Bath Mat by Cocoknits. I used two Ikea fitted twin sheets, and used the Cocoknit tutorial to connect the cut up strips without using knots. Ripping and connecting the strips is a little messy and time consuming, but since the project is on such large needles, it didn't take much time at all.



This mat has the right amount of squishiness. Love it.



And...happy one year anniversary to my blog! Thanks for reading.

YUM

My taste buds are doing a happy dance after dinner tonight, and I had to share! Tonight I got out my new grill pan and whipped up Apple Maple Turkey Burgers with Maple Dijon Sauce. They were so easy and delicious! I think this was a good way to bring in Autumn flavors, without digging into heavy comfort foods (of course I love those too!). Check out the link for the recipe!



There's been lots of knitting going on and soon I'll have something to show off. Here's a preview:

Too Ambitious For a Wednesday

In college there was a great place open late that made delicious Pelmeni – Russian dumplings. They were served up with a soda and a side of sour cream for five bucks, which was a great bargain for us poor college students. The place is now closed, but always remembered fondly. Boyfriend and I often crave Pel’meni, and recently one of my friends attempted making them at home by researching recipes on the internet. He shared how he made them, and last night I decided to attempt them as well.

All in all they turned out ok, although this was way too ambitious for a Wednesday night – probably a much better weekend project, with the help of extra hands. I immediately knew I was going to struggle with the dough I made, and set back out to the store to pick up some potsticker wrappers. Of course this took away a bit of the authenticity of texture and taste, but it made my life a lot easier. I made both potato and meat filled dumplings. Once I had all my potsticker wrappers complete, I went back to trying to work with my dough. I was able to complete a decent sized batch with the real dough, which helped give the right flavor the dish needed.

*yum!*

Topped with white vinegar, cilantro, hot sauce, curry powder, and a side of sour cream, this dish did end up hitting the spot and filled the craving for now. With one experience attempting this under my belt, I think it might be easier the next time – but I think I’ll wait a long while before trying this again!

My Own Autumn

I don’t think it’s a secret that I LOVE fall, and that the weather in Los Angeles this time of year just does not provide anything close to the crisp, cool fall air that I love.



This weekend, my mom sent me my own little piece of fall.



This bright red leaves were a pleasant surprise to bring an autumnal feel amongst the palm trees and hot temps. It even SMELLED like Fall. As the temperature dropped a bit yesterday and today, I think there must have been some cooler weather packed into the envelope as well…thanks Mom!

Woodsy

I couldn't resist this tiny project, especially after I saw Natalie's worked up.



I happened to have some woodsy/acorny colored cotton taken from my Grandma's stash that I wasn't sure what to do with, considering "Butterscotch" isn't one I regularly work into my wardrobe.

This is the Woodsy Acorn Pot pattern from the Sept./Oct. Crochet Today.

What's with all this crochet? I think it's time to get back to two needles...