Flat Sidewalks in San Francisco?

A really fun project by photographer Dan Ng, The Streets of San Francisco ... But Flat? has photos framed level with the sidewalks instead of with the buildings. It's a neat take on some classic San Francisco scenes.

A Recipe a Week: Rice Noodles with Shrimp and Cilantro

I love to cook and bake and blog about it so that led me to the idea of trying a new recipe a week. Hooray! Follow along, give the recipes a try and let me know what you thought of them. I love to talk about food and I want to talk to you about food. Let's take this as the leap into a fun food conversation!

Week 1: Rice Noodles with Shrimp and Cilantro
From: Fine Cooking April/May 2010

Rice Noodles with Shrimp and Cilantro
Serves 3 to 4

Ingredients:
6 oz 1/4" wide rice noodles (pad thai)
2 limes, 1 juiced and 1 cut into wedges
1 1/2 Tbsp packed light brown sugar
2 tsp soy sauce
1 tsp fish sauce
3/4 lb peeled and deveined large shrimp
3 Tbsp peanut oil
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1/2 medium red bell pepper, cored, seeded, and finely diced
1 jalapeno, seeded and finely diced
1 large shallot, finely diced
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper

Instructions: Bring a medium pot of well-salted water to a boil. Add the noodles, lower the heat to a gentle simmer, and cook, stirring occasionally, until the noodles are just tender, 5 to 7 minutes. Transfer to a colander and run under cold water to cool slightly. Drain well.

In a small bowl, combine the lime juice, sugar, soy sauce, and fish sauce; set aside.

In a medium bowl, toss the shrimp with 1 Tbsp of the oil, the coriander 1/2 tsp black pepper, and 1/4 tsp salt.

Heat the remaining 2 Tbsp oil in a large non-stick skillet over medium-high heat until shimmering hot. Add the red pepper, jalapeno, and shallot, sprinkle with 1/4 tsp salt, and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Add the shrimp and cook, stirring until it turns pink and is almost cooked through, about 2 minutes. Add the lime juice mixture and cook, stirring, until the shrimp is cooked through, about 1 minute more. Add the noodles and half of the cilantro; toss until the noodles heat through and pick up the sauce, 1 to 2 minutes.

Serve sprinkled with the remaining cilantro, with the lime wedges on the side for squeezing.

Yum!

From my garden: Limes

Friday Night Knitting

Here it is Friday night again. I love winding down my work week with a skein of yarn and a glass of wine. It's delightful. I'm not sure what I'm going to work on tonight – it's not as though I don't have anything on the needles, there's always something on the needles – but this little gem spoke to me from across the room. This yarn was sent to me as a gift. As I've mentioned before, my sister Nancy owns nobleknits.com and there's no complaining from this knitter when a giant box of new yarn is unexpectedly delivered to my home. This yarn that I'm loving tonight was actually creamy white before Nancy and her daughter dyed it with Kool-Aid. You can read about that process here on her blog. See mine hanging there on the left? Pretty cool.

Plymouth Yarn developed this really fun family of yarns called Dye For Me that is meant to be dyed by you in whatever colorway you choose. Want green yarn? You can do it. Purple and orange? It's yours. What color would I want? Nancy and Hadley got it just right. I think I'll take my wine and my yarn out to the deck and unwind.

The Abstract Expressionists

Paintings from Mark Rothko, Joan Mitchell, and Jackson Pollock are set on an awesome collection of stamps. I think they're too pretty to mail, and $4.40 makes for a really cheap way to get some master paintings. I think I'll get a set and hang it on the wall.

Free Knitting Pattern: Quirky Quick Knit Scarf

Hello there, adorable scarf. I love you. This is the newest yarn into NobleKnits and I couldn't wait to get my hands on a skein. Knit Collage is straight up awesome. The yarn is designed by Amy Small, and she mixes Australian wool, South African mohair, and adorable embellishments from Hong Kong into one fun skein. I knit up this quick scarf as soon as the yarn fell off the boat!

Quirky Quick Knit Scarf

Finished size: 4" x 33"
Yarn: Knit Collage, colorway purple haze, 1 skein
Needles: US 19
Gauge: BIG

Pattern:
Cast on 7 sts. Knit every row. Bind off.

Weave in all yarn ends and enjoy. I think the gold tinsel is my favorite part. I can't wait to wear this little gem!