Simple Pleasures: Tomato Sauce

There are truly just a few things you really need in this world or in the kitchen.  I am learning to keep things simple -- it's so much easier when chaos is reigning supreme!

I'm always taken back to the scene in The Jerk when Steve Martin hits rock bottom and he's leaves saying "And that's it and that's the only thing I need, is this. I don't need this or this. Just this ashtray. And this paddle game, the ashtray and the paddle game and that's all I need. And this remote control......."  when I think about the things you really need in the kitchen. Here's my top ten:

 1.  good wine opener

 2.  radio

 3.  pepper grinder

 4.  kosher salt

 5.  long tongs

 6.  wooden spoon with a slanted top (think Gumby’s head)

 7. all-metal sauté pan

 8- inch chef’s knife

 9.  back up wine opener

10.  The Perfect Simple Tomato Sauce

Next time I run away from home, this is what I'm taking this is all I need and that's it.  And my laptop and some lipstick….

The Perfect Simple Tomato Sauce

1/4 cup olive oil

1 small onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 lbs. Tomatoes (best quality you can get), peeled, seeded and diced

Salt to taste

In a large fry pan warm oil over low heat stir in onion and sauté until translucent (no color!), add garlic and cook another couple of minutes, add tomatoes, turn up heat to medium and cook stirring and gently squashing tomatoes against the sides and bottom of the pan.  Salt to taste.

That’s it, stop cooking.  You now have about two cups of a great sauce.

Afghan Offensive

Knitting Olympics 2010 – Going to give it another shot this time.  I’ve started to work on a ‘personal best’ to finish the afghan that my son will take to college with him next fall.  I’ve been starting and stopping this afghan for more than two years.  The last time I stopped, I secretly hoped that if I didn’t finish it he wouldn’t leave and go away….but alas it’s too late he's already been accepted to a couple of schools, and truly I want him to go off to college, afghan or not. 

It’s made up of 12-inch squares of different designs and really provides a true ‘sampler’ experience.  I have gotten very comfortable with cabling and learned many new stitches.  It’s an old book that my mom has been using since 1998 to make wedding gifts for family members. 

The opening ceremonies were nice, and not too over the top.  This turned out to be appropriate after the death of the Georgian athlete.  I puddled up after the Proctor & Gamble commercial “To Their Moms, They Will Always Be Kids” – for my own young man that will always be my little boy and especially for Nodar Kumaritashvili’s parents.

I love k.d. lang, she’s been a fave for many years – I got so into her singing that I missed the row of cable stitches and when I finally realized what I’d done I had to rip out three rows.  Yesterday, she was on NPR talking about her singing, her voice and how her working mom used to pile her and her three siblings into the car every Thursday after work and drive 120 miles roundtrip and sit for each one to have a 30-minute singing lesson, she did this for 20 years.

So for the next 15 days, I’ll be on my own afghan offensive coming to terms with finishing a large project…..not just the afghan but my son too.

Blogging without Obligation

I came across a great tag for blogs with a philosophy I really like:  Blogging without Obligation”.  
It releases me from the guilt of knowing I can't post everyday (nor should I, I'm not all THAT interesting) -- but give me the permission to post when I have something to say!

Welcome Back!

In the ultimate display of procrastination, I took a few years off of the beeswax blog to get things done in real time. With more time for myself I am really looking forward to telling tales, swapping stories and getting on with life.

national procrastination week

woo-hoo! Finally, my own national holiday! If procrastination were an art, I'd be a National Living Treasure! Here's a list from UCLA, and I'll get around to trying them soon....

1. Keep an appointment book. (got one around here somewhere)
2. Write a “to do” list everyday. (oh yeah, I've led that horse to water, but she's not drinking)
3. Break down tasks into 15 or 30 minute segments. (tried that: went around with one waxed leg for a week)
4. Get an early start on major projects. (too many 'major' projects too far behind)
5. Monitor or schedule your TV and computer time. (that would be between interruptions, see #6)
6. Control interruptions. Unplug the phone and close the door. (and duct tape kids to chairs)
7. Learn to say no to others. (what's that word?)
8. Delegate whenever possible. (as if -- can't get people to do it my way)
9. Set goals and establish priorities. (if I did, I won't be sitting here blogging)
10. Post signs and notes to remind yourself of your goals. (got that, but now need note to remind me to read the notes)

national self injury day

Today is National Self Injury Awareness Day - Wear an orange ribbon or orange bracelet to let someone know you care and are aware! It has been astounding to me that both Teenboy (14, in middle school in a 'good' neighborhood) and Kitten (11, and in elementary school) know about this. Teenboy says he knows kids that do this ... even a cousin. Weekend America did a great segment on it in February, so please share this information. Share your strength, if you have one, share your story -- we can raise awareness, and hopefully help our girls!

Self-injury is a deliberate, repetitive, non-lethal harming of one’s body. It is a way to cope with, relieve, or express painful feelings. People may also self-injure to punish themselves, feel alive, or get attention from others. Relief is short-lived and prevents the self-injurer from feeling or dealing with deeper emotional pains. Of the estimated 3 million Americans who exhibit self harm behavior, up to 360,000 of which are teenagers will exhibit self-injuring behaviors – 70% of whom are female.

Types of self-injury include: cutting, scratching, picking scabs or interfering with wound healing, burning, punching self or objects, infecting oneself, inserting objects in body openings, bruising or breaking bones, serious forms of hair pulling, other various forms of bodily harm.

Other self-injury facts: There are about two to three million self-injurers of all ages in the United States. Most self-injurers begin to hurt themselves during puberty. Many self-injurers also struggle with eating disorders and alcohol or substance abuse. Some warning signs of self-injury include: unexplained injuries, scars on the arms or legs, a pattern of curious scabs or abrasions, sharp objects (razor blades, pieces of glass, bent paper clips, etc.) stored in unusual places, wearing winter clothing during warm months, low self-esteem, being withdrawn or very secretive, being distracted or preoccupied, refusing to explain injuries or scars, inability to function at work or school, serious depression, serious anxiety.

Sources of Help: S.A.F.E. AlternativesTM 1-800-DON’T-CUT www.selfinjury.com National Youth Crisis Hotline 1-800-448-4663 National Mental Health Association 1-800-969-6942 www.nmha.org
Resources for more information: article from a self-injurer’s point of view: http://www.girlzone.com/insideout/WeepingWillow_io.html
Website defining and providing assistance with SI:
http://www.palace.net/~llama/psych/injury.html

i didn't podium

The Knitting Olympics have come to an end .... and I didn't quite finish. Part of my goal was to not procrastinate, and on that level I did pretty well. I did get one legwarmer done and most of the poncho though had to change patterns. I'll post pics tomorrow, no proscrastinating, just can't find the camera.....

Here's some of the excuses: messed up on the pattern, didn't have a snowstorm to keep me in, the yarn was harder to work with, blah blah blah. Here's the reason: I bit off more than I could chew in the short amount of time I had to knit. I was feeling a bit disappointed, but when I stopped by yarnharlot.com -- Stephanie Pearl-McPhee made me feel a-ok about it. It is so true what poeple say about Canadians being so darn nice! Here's what she has to say about those of us who kind of 'Bode-d' : "Finally, for my chosen knitters, those who did not finish...
My deepest thanks and greatest satisfaction in the knitting olympics comes from you. Without trying there is no improvement or learning, without difficulty there is no striving. It was the sheer volume of knitters that gave this the incredible momentum, velocity and significance it has had for all knitters (and quite a few non-knitters who really were stunned.) More than anything else this ended up being about an international community of knitters...and there are no losers at the Olympics. Even if you dropped the pattern in a puddle the first day...even if you grossly overestimated your available time, or if you got to rock a baby instead of knit...you still made the Olympics memorable. It takes a village to freak out non-knitters...and there is strength in numbers."

It's very true -- and thanks again to Stephanie for bringing together this international community.

mink in the sink

If all has gone right, this should be a picture of Mink de Ville, kitty extraordinaire! Named for 80s Puerto Rican Punk, Mink has mink-like fur sleek black with brown fuzzy fur underneath. Mink likes hugging, talking to imaginary friends, gnawing pencils, bamboo knitting needles and basket handles.
This is my first successful picture post - I feel trimuphant.

knitting olympics - day one

Today I got everything ready for the next 16-day flurry of knitting. I will begin with a pair of legwarmers for Kitten, who's 11 going on 17. I will be using Joelle Hoverson's pattern from "Last Minute Knitted Gifts". It's a great book with fun goodies, it's broken down by what she gauges to be the length of time it takes to make the item. The "Super East Leg Warmers" are in the two-to-four-hour gifts chapter...oh I am so sure. You would have to knit like a fiend UNinterrupted to get two legwarmers done in 2 to 4 hours.

Uninterrupted knitting only happens after 1:00am at my house! Otherwise it's start/stop - find someone's head they forgot to screw on, start/stop - get in the car (and then there's DUK, driving while knitting -- oh, likeyouneverdidit!). Like just now: I'm minding my beeswax, cell phone rings it's Teenboy..."Mom are you on your way to the jam, can you pick up the guy's stuff at their houses?" Translation: "Mom, you aren't doing anything important, drop whatever it is, and do this for my friends. I know we said we don't like you and the other moms in our beeswax, but hanging out and consuming our body weight in candy is far more important than whatever you are doing, so could you go into their houses pack up the guitars, unplug the amps, load them into your car and drive them to us?" Do I need to be the master schlepper? It seems 'the guys' are being raised-by-wolves, wolves who don't drive.
I say no, one minute later, cell phone again: "Mom, uh hang on....." 73 seconds of dead air "Mom?" me: "Yeah" Teenboy: "Mom when are you coming?".......................... Why was I so thrilled when he learned to speak?

Back to the legwarmers: I'm using a yummy soft navy acrylic/nylon and mixing with either a combo mohair that's red or another dark blue. It's a simple knit/purl on 12-inch circular needles. I think I should have them done by the end of this weekend (maybe by then I will have figured the linking thing out). Kitten has a sports tournament all weekend .... and well, there's only so many games you can watch in one sitting. "If she sits, she must knit"

i'm the happiest gurl in the whole u.s.a.!

I MADE THE U.S. KNITTING OLYMPIC TEAM. See why I like knitters, no judgement, just love. All that fretting about procrastinating ... shouldn't really get me off the hook about it, but I'll deal with that later.

Oh my -- I've got to get swatching, only about 24 hours to go. Here's to all the knithletes! "Citius, Alitius Fortius"

meet the neighbors

I thought since I'm new to the blog neighborhood, I'd get out and meet some of the neighbors. When I'm not minding mine, I am minding someone else's beeswax!

And let me say, to my new neighbors: I'm sorry if you land on my blog expecting apiarian advice, candle-making or even the latest statistics on the average lipstick-wearing woman's yearly wax consumption (ok, well maybe that one).

So I clicked on "Next Blog" to say hey. I have some very interesting neighbors: a music site: last.fm (interesting, though I will have to have teenboy explain it to me), a guy who collects trees that look like penises (no explanation necessary), several single moms and newish moms (where do they find the time! wtg gals!), and a few of those people you usually see talking to mailboxes (just keep walking).

I guess in the blogosphere there's no way to close the curtains: if I don't like it, I don't have to look.

What fascinates me is the number of people who have been fired from their job because of their postings on personal blogs. Of course, there is 'Dooce" Heather Armstrong, the most famous, to me she's the 'blogging Cinderella'. I liked the stories of 'Sky Queen' (fired flight attendant), Jessica (from Washington, can't help thinking she might not have been fired if she was a guy....puhleez it's Washington!), and Micheal who got fired from Microsoft after posting pics he'd taken of Macs in their offices. There's a ton of them out there! Miz Beeswax wishes them all well, and hopefully when I get a 'real job' I will have learned not to blog about what I'm not supposed to be doing. Oh, like I'm sure -- doing what I wasn't supposed to on the job is how I got Mr. Beeswax, but that's another story.

mister start, mister end - tales of procrastination

I missed the sign up for the Knitting Olympics, per usual. They have way more than 3,000 knithletes from all over the world, it's the brainchild of Stephanie Pearl-McPhee 'the yarnharlot' (I'll learn how to link soon, but you can find her at: http://www.yarnharlot.ca/blog/olympics2006.html).

I will still be knitting along, even though I'm not officially official. My goal -- which has a lot to do with my proscrastination issue -- is to complete a few of my WIPs (works in progress) and to knit a pair of legwarmers and a poncho over the 16 days of the Olympics. I really liked one of the guideline: "3. While this is intended to be somewhat difficult (like the Olympics) it is not intended to ruin your life. Don't set yourself up for failure. (Olympic athletes may cry, but they do not whine pitifully, sob and threaten members of their family with pointed sticks because they haven't slept in five days. ) This is intended to (like the Olympics) require some measure of sacrifice, and be difficult, but it should be possible to attain."

I'm training on a hat from what's left of a scarf (never give a delicate-thing-of-beauty to a 10 yr. old) that was a returned gift from last winter. It looked like it had been in a fierce tug of war! It sat in my yarn box for a whole year, back to procrastinating, grumpily not getting mended. So I finally ripped it out and am turning it into a hat.

what's a nice girl like me doing in a place like this

I'm a blogging newbie, be gentle and go easy on me. I have been inspired and amused by the blogs I've been reading and thought, what the hell, if they can -- I can too! I can't get 'dooced', I don't have a real job. I knit, I have cats, I have kids, I'm political, I've never been shy with an opinion or conspiracy theory.....I'm perfect for the blogosphere! Howdy do, I'm your new neighbor, Miz Beeswax and I'll be minding it here for a while!