February 6, 2012: A-CORDing to Me!

Neck-wear, neck-wear... all about it. My very first creation of this year, and first post on Period Ten is a crochet cord scarf. Well, now I have several of them because I love them so much and always get fantastic compliments. They can be wrapped around to form a bunchy, warm wrap for your neck or they can be worn loosely, acting more like a necklace. I wanted to make some that had a different stitch. So I looked up other ways to make a crochet cord. I found one that was exactly what I was looking for. It would create a lighter (thinner) cord and looked decorative - and looked harder than it actually is - always a plus!

This is the first one I made. It took me about an hour - one episode of House on Fox :)

 Since that only took an hour... I figured, why not bang out another while watching American Idol - wait no... it was Hoarders!

And then I got a little crazy with some RHS Rams themed ones... who will be the lucky recipients?

 How did I learn how to make this cord you ask... well...



Yes this is in some other language... (pause for serious Internet search...) It's Russian!! Haha. Figured it out. Ok, so I am adding YouTube tutorials to my list of things to "make." Stay tuned!

February 5, 2012: Super Bowl OF CHILI!

Ahhh Happy Super Bowl! I thought it would be appropriate if I made a Giants scarf for my Super Bowl fiesta that I was attending. I ended up leaving it with my dear friend, the hostess, after the exhilarating victory (which is fine because I am actually a Jets fan... but happy to see Giants win tonight) Check it out:

My true creation of the day however was a monster pot of chili! You may not know that I love to cook. Cooking is, after all, an art (one of my students said that the other day and she is super smart, funny and creative so I know this is true!). Today my creation was my own chili recipe! I cooked up a huge pot for a Super Bowl party. Disclaimer: This is Paula Dean-on-steroids chili... not for the clean eater. If you are aiming to please with taste, this is the way to go. Yum. Second disclaimer: I do not usually follow recipes... actually I really never follow recipes... hmmm. Furthermore, I am not sure exactly how much I used of each ingredient... but it worked! Have fun and experiment... that's what its all about.

Sorry, I forgot to take a pic before the partaaay...
You get leftovers! :)

Ingredients:

• applewood smoked bacon chopped
• italian sausage
• ground beef
• chick peas
• yellow onion chopped
• green pepper chopped
• red pepper chopped
• yellow pepper chopped
• minced garlic
• tomato paste
• fresh salsa
• mild salsa (Tostitos)
• Tobasco sauce 
• chili powder
• salt 
• pepper

Instructions:

1. First, chop up the bacon and put it in a large frying pan on medium heat.
2. When the bacon is pretty crispy and there are lots of tasty fats in the bottom of the pan, put in your chopped onion, peppers and minced garlic. 
3. Cook on medium heat until the onions and peppers are caramelized.
4. Mix the fresh salsa into the onion, pepper, bacon mixture and let sit on low heat.
5. In a large pot, add the Italian sausage and ground beef. Cook on medium heat until the meat is cooked through. Mix periodically while cooking.
6. When the meat is cooked, add the onion, pepper, bacon mixture from the pan to the meat and mix thoroughly.
7. Add the tomato paste, medium salsa, tobacco sauce and salt and pepper and mix.
8. Add the chick peas and mix.
9. Let simmer on medium-low heat until ready to serve.
10. Optional: You can add some chili flavoring if you want a stronger flavor. 

I know it seems a little scary, my approach to cooking, but it always works out in the end and tastes amazing! Now I just have to actually make notations about what (and how much) is going into the dish. OK fine!

January 12, 2012: It's a bird, It's a plane... It's an i-cord!

Disclaimer! PLEASE excuse these pictures! The attempt at zero expression, as ridiculous as it is, will hopefully allow you to focus on the piece and not my silly face. (Those of you who know me know I cannot take serious pictures...)
Now, I love this thing! It is a simple crocheted i-cord (similar to the very first creation on January 1st but shorter and with a lighter yarn size. (Here is a link that explains yarn measurements and descriptions, as it can get very confusing!... I have much to learn.) The coolest thing about this creation is that I do not really know what it is. It's a necklace... or a headband... or a choker-scarf-thing. Anyway, it fits nicely into my style and I think it could be worn across seasons so I just love it, alright!? :)

January 1, 2012: I-Cord Necklace... or is it a scarf??

This is my first creation of 2012. I saw it on Etsy and wanted to learn how to make one. So, naturally (as most people would do) I Googled it! Specifically I searched "crochet cord." This led me to a YouTube tutorial on how to crochet an i-cord. I grabbed a giant crochet hook, turned on the miserable Jets game :( and crocheted away. By the time the Giants were running away with Dallas, I was done! Check it out!