off to Paris!

weeeeeeeeee!

lamb burgers, homemade potato chips and fixins

lamb burgers, homemade potato chips and fixins
Originally uploaded by wayfarer

Lamb burgers and homemade potato chips

(picture coming soon!)
This has got to be one of the most satisfying meals I've made recently. Very quick and easy too. I sort of adapted a recipe from Everyday Food but only followed the picture. I changed all the ingredients.

Here's how i made it... (sorry i didn't measure anything...a sprinkle is probably about half a teaspoon in my book)

Lamb burgers

Take a pound of ground lamb and add to it:

a sprinkle of chili powder
a bigger sprinkle of smoked paprika (or regular if you don't have smoked)
salt
pepper
mint (or fresh if you have it)
fresh parsley chopped
1 small to medium garlic clove chopped

Mix together lightly but well and form into small patties (about an inch a half all around). Set aside.

In a bowl (or yogurt container - what i use) combine about a cup of yogurt, a sprinkle of mint, sprinkle of salt, a couple tablespoons of finely chopped onion, half a cucumber chopped into less than bite size pieces but bigger than fine so there is still some texture there. Add a little splash of water to it just to thin it out a little and mix well.

Grill or fry the lamb burgers. I used a little olive oil in a cast iron skillet to do this. Rainy day. Cut the pitas in half and warm covered for 15 seconds or so each in the microwave so they don't break when making the sandwiches.

Put two lamb burgers in each pita, some lettuce, tomato and plenty of raita sauce. Serve with homemade potato chips.

Homemade Potato Chips

Finely slice potatos widthwise. Make a few thicker slices if you like a chewy center (i do! those are the prized ones for me!). Heat the oil and fry until lightly browned, take a few out a little earlier if you want some chewier. Place on paper towel and sprinkle with salt and paprika (smoked if you have it).

You can make them other ways too. If you've ever had those gourmet type ones that are rosemary and other herbs, the way to do that is just heat the oil and put a spring of rosemary or clove of garlic or whatever you want to use and then fry them up. Nothing like natural homemade potato chips. Awesome awesome stuff and no additives or msg.

Let me know if you try this. It rocked our worlds tonight - even the little dude, picky eaty that he has become liked it.

bye bye hair

I've never been one to fuss with hair but it's been over a year and a half since i've had mine cut (!). It was so long and annoying that i just kept tying it up and tying it up. Well i got sick of it and went and got it cut to my shoulders and love it. The best thing is that all my old hair went to Locks of Love. It was a little strange seeing my hair detached from my head and put into a bag but it felt good to donate it. If you ever chop off more than 10 inches of hair, consider donating it. I never thought much of hair but for kids suffering from illness it can make them feel a little better. I remember my cousin who had leukemia never having hair and always felt bad for her. More for her illness than her hair, but still.

nice giveaway

end of day
Originally uploaded by wayfarer

I love vintage tablecloths. I have one now that i use and just love. It's old, bought torn and stained but it's so pretty. We do art projects on it since it's so beat up. I think it's so pretty though. I've sewn it twice already trying to keep it around.

Sarah from The Misadventures of Mama and Jack is giving a tablecloth away a day! I hope i get one! Her blog is a real joy too. She's got a talent for finding great stuff at flea markets.

Here's the one I have that i love...i so wish it hadn't been so beat up but then i get to use it at least once a week and i just love using it. It's just so pretty. Much better in person but still, you get the idea i think in the picture. This picture was from a winter project.

Paris

Yeah, so remember when i was asking if anyone knew how bad Air India was to fly internationally because they had good rates to Paris? Well we're going next week inshAllah. Looking forward to it. Curious to see how little dude does with the long flight, jet lag, and Paris itself. I'm hoping he takes it all in stride. This is our first real vacation since our honeymoon and probably the last one for a while except little weekend driving trips. Looking forward to some r and r and seeing my favorite city. I would really like to show the husband the loire valley and the south of france - my favorite places but Paris is amazing. Can't wait for some gooey creamy cheese with granny smith apples and other splendors of Parisian cuisine.

That's what i'm up to. Planning the trip.

Sick little dude

My boy is hardly ever sick and when he is it comes and goes fast except when he had rotavirus and roseolla. Those were eternity's it seemed. But throwing up has not been an issue in this house except for the rotavirus experience which all three of us took part in. He's real sick now. Not.fun.At.all.

Paris is very near and i haven't planned a thing. House is a wreck. Inlaws visiting soon after Paris. It's just one thing after another these days. Have not sewn in i don't know how long. Or done anything really.

this swap is like rocket science

Trying to match up 13 crafty people according to their huge varying interests is like rocket science! A third are into yarnish crafts, a third into paper and a third into sewing. There's two times the amount of people that are getting rid of fabric than who want it and two times the amount of people wanting yarn than are getting rid of it. I want to make every one happy and divided the groups up and tried to get it matched up best i could. Partners will be emailed out on Monday unless more join tomorrow and then i'll have another 3 hours of racking my brain. :-)

Hope everyone has fun!

This is so cool!

This would be so cool to see! That station is so busy!



Found this cool video via I Saw Your Nanny's blog which i found via So Crunchy's blog.