Stewed Eggplant with Plantains

Verenjena Guisada con Platanos

I'm an awesome cook. This is a family recipe I feel like sharing. Cooking crafty right?

Ingredients:

1 tblsp Goya Sofrito
1/4 cup of chopped green bell peppers
1/4 cup chopped yellow onions
1-2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
1 tblsp of olive oil
1 medium-large eggplant
4-6 green plantains (green bananas can be used too)
salt and pepper
1 envelope of Goya Sazon (con culantro y achiote)
1/4 cup of tomato sauce

Hardware:

Large skillet with cover (I just use whatever cover I find that fits or foil haha)
4 quart pot -or- pot big enough to place the chopped plantains/whole bananas in

*Please note that A) when it comes to ingredients my English is limited, hence the pictures B) I don't work for Goya, I swear lol. I just think they're the best national brand for hispanic cooking. C) If you don't use Goya, make sure to check the label. Actually check the label anyway. Some typical spanish spices and whatnot use lard (ick) and whatnot.

Instructions:

Peel the eggplant and slice it. Cut the slices in half. Set aside on a plate with a pinch or two of salt.

In the meantime saute the green peppers, onions and garlic for five minutes. Stir in the tablespoon of Sofrito and the packet of Sazon. Add the eggplant and saute for about a minute. Add 1 cup of water or more. You want it to just cover the top of the eggplant. Cover the skillet and set heat on low.

Put about 7 cups of water to boil with a tiny pinch of salt.
Peel the plantains. (Some people omit this step and simply boil the plantains with skins on. I grew up peeling platanos so it's easy peasy. If you find it hard, by all means skip the peeling. Also, if you use green bananas leave the skin on and drop them in the water whole) Cut each plantain into three pieces and drop into the boiling water. Boil for 30-40 mins or until tender.

In the meantime stir the eggplant occasionally. When it starts getting tender, raise the flame to medium and remove the cover. When a lot of the water is gone, add in the tomato sauce and stir. At this point you can taste it. If it's too flavourful, fear not: the platanos will balance the dish. If it's too bland, try another tablespoon of sofrito and some salt and pepper.

When the platanos are tender, remove from water and serve with the eggplant mixture spooned over.

This is REALLY tasty. My eggplant hating family loves this dish. It's the only time I can get eggplants on the dinner table. BTW the leftovers work well in a pita, with rice and beans, whatever. Also, I usually chop up whatever cooked platanos I have left over and toss them in the eggplant mixture. It's a quick and easy lunch the next day.

Joann's = Dangerous

	Aluminum Crochet Hook Size D
	Aluminum Crochet Hook Size G
	Aluminum Crochet Hook Size F
	Aluminum Crochet Hook Size H
	Bernat-Animal Farm
	Soft Boucle Yarn-Soft Rose
	Satin Yarn-Sea Shell
	Sugar'n Cream Cotton Yarn- Hot Orange
	Sugar'n Cream Cotton Yarn- Hot Green
	Sugar'n Cream Cotton Yarn- Hot Pink
	Sugar'n Cream Cotton Yarn- Hot Blue
	Sugar'n Cream Cotton Ombre Yarn-Playtime
	Red Heart Super Saver Yarn 8 oz Black (3)
	Simply Soft Brites Yarn-Blue Mint
	Simply Soft Brites Yarn-Limelight
	Simply Soft Brites Yarn-Papaya
	Simply Soft Brites Yarn-Watermelon
	Satin Yarn-Ebony
	Satin Yarn-Crimson

Spending Money I Don't Have
Evidence Exhibit 1

Guess what was the one thing I forgot to buy?? I'll give you a hint. Look at my "My Empire for a Yarn Needle" post. Yep. Forgot the damn yarn needle. *mutters* I also didn't get one thing on my wishlist. D'OH! Oh and I did make that kercheif I said I wasn't going to make. I am sooo sooo bad.

Really I blame Drew. Yes, blame you Drew. You and those dishcloths! I wanted cotton yarn...darn you Drew!
And when I say "darn you" I really mean thank you for being so inspiring. :) Same goes for all the other blogs I read. You people rock the casbah.

I had a vision

Caron Simply Soft. Legwarmers. Watermelon and Limelight. Stripes. *pulls out credit card*

You know I blame you guys right? You fellow crocheters and Crochetville people? Yeah, it's all your fault. Totally.

Train of Thought

I've GOT to finish that Serefina shawl. I must. I can't stop...no no...must have it done for Mother's Day. I must...I...*surfs internet* Oooh that's a cool kercheif pattern...NO! No I must finish Serefina. *eats cereal* NO! No no eating. Must finish...OWW! Stupid wool! *grabs Band-Aid* Okay, I gotta finish this now. 3 dc, ch 2, 3 dc, must repeat that in my...Ohhh mohair...I forgot I had this in my stash. This would make a great-NO! Bad bad bad. Must finish shawl! Ohhhhh pretty beads! No! NO! Danger Will Robinson! Danger danger!! hdsoifhdosfhosdhfosdhfosdhfohsf!! AHHHH!

*spazzes*


I'm okay.

3 dc, ch2, 3 dc. 3 dc, ch2, 3 dc. 3 dc, ch2, 3 dc. 3 dc, ch2, 3 dc. 3 dc, ch2, 3 dc. 3 dc, ch2, 3 dc....Ohhhh so that's where my sketchpad was...

Wool Hurts

Oh my poor fingers. Oh. Oh. Ow. Oh. Yes, this is the first time I work with wool. I think I need band-aids.

So I found a UFO in some bag in my closet. It's a very early project:. I can tell because the sides are uneven. Because it's stripped I didn't want to frog it. Doing so would give me a few inches of yarn of each colour. Also, I think (THINK) it might have been a scarf but I did it in Caron SS and Red Heart together and holy shiitake, it's HEAVY! So, I decided to turn the mystery project into yet another bag. It came out better than the first, if I do say so myself. I just hope it's not too heavy to carry!

I'll post pics of it tommorrow.

Also, I am currently making little crocheted monsters and aliens. Plus, I picked up the knitting needles again. More on that tomorrow. Right now, I'm heading to bed.

Charities

I'll be making a few things for charities and my first project will be a piggy for Brendan.

After that I'll make a few squares for Heart Made blessings. I'm afraid I'll screw them up somehow or something. But it'll be for a good cause and I'm sure it can't be that hard. no need to make it an impressive square either. A regular granny works fine, right? Right!

I've been very blessed and while my childhood has been...rough I guess, the generousity of other made growing up in the bronx a pretty good experience overall. I'd like to give some of that happiness back now.

Two more things to add to my WIP list. I blame Crochetville. Yes I do <3

My Empire For A Needle

Seriously, you heard it here first folks! I will give my entire empire* to the first person to get me a yarn needle or anything else I can weave in ends with.

My agoraphobia has really been on the fritz lately and all the LYS/craft stores are far from me. And I don't want to place an order somewhere just for a yarn needle. Sigh. I need to find somewhere to get one. Any ideas? I miss the plastic one I used to have. Sadly my aunt took it with her when she moved to Florida so now all my current projects have little ends sticking out or worse, *gulp* KNOTS. Oh heavens no!!

So I say again: My empire and my love to the first person who has an idea.

Note: My empire consists of 3 crazy cats, 2 dogs, 2 fish, 3 birds, 1 turtle, a few scraps of yarn, a copy of Edward Scissorhands, some beads, and all the cool crafts seen on this blog. Republicans need not apply (HAH! Kidding, kidding!).

Meredith Necklace (WIP)

Meredith Necklace

I'll take a better scan (the chain twisted in this one) and give a description when she's done. She looks better when actually on someone. I think she's a beauty.

The Granny Square

My First Granny Square

*Wipes tear from eye* You go out and buy yarn and then it grows up and gets all square on you. I'm so proud. *sniffle* Seriously though, I think it came out quite nice for my first square! It probably would have come out a lot better if I had used instructions but I'm a rebel. I don't conform! Anarchy!! FIGHT THE MAN!

Ooo muffins! *chomps*

Yarn I received today:
From Sandra:

• 10 skeins of sport weight wool in a dusty green colour (3377 yards)
  
• 20 skeins of Cleckheaton 5 ply sport weight wool in a bright green colour (1600 yards)
  

From Ginger:

• Chenile yarn in periwinkle/purple (120 yards)
• Merino yarn in a moss green colour (240 yards)
• Unknown fiber in a buff colour (60 yards)
• Wool yarn in oxford grey (240)
• Rayon crinkle yarn, bright white (240 yards)
  

All in all I spent 27 dollars (that includes shipping). Man, I love buying yarn...and eBay. Couldn't do it without eBay. I like buying small amounts of yarn for my secret project. Yeah, the SECRET project. The project I'm going to spill now to my wonderful readers:

I'm crocheting curtains! Freestyle curtain! Not an exciting to you but it's exciting to me. See, we're moving to Florida in July and I am looking forward to changing my room around. Right now it's very zen-like: all purples and silvers, lots of stones and plants, a meditation table...
All that stuff is great and will likely stay but this time I want COLOUR! My walls will be blue so I want some nice, unique curtains to go along with it. So yes, freeform curtains are the way to go. Maybe I'll even make a granny square bedspread for when it gets cool. *ponders*

Oh and I must apologize for my stupidity. A few days ago I made a long entry and blogger ate it. When I reposted I forgot to say Thank You to Mantler from Crochetville. She sent me a gift certificate to Adagio Teas which just made my day. I still haven't used it but only because I don't know what to buy! If anyone has any favourites or suggestions let me know.

I just found out I have 6 subscribers to my blog. :D *waves* Ya'll come back now, you hear?

Finger Crochet

How to Finger Crochet/Knit

Now I'm sure everyone knows how to do this. The instructions will probably be more confusing and complicated than the actual task. :-p Still, I'm going to try to explain it as best as I can.

Basically you wrap the yarn around your index and middle fingers in a figure 8. Truly this is finger knitting because you pull the older, lower loops overthe higher newer loops...but I like crochet better so there!

Also, this looks best with thicker yarns or two or three strand worked as one. I'm demonstrating with Caron Simply Soft for clarity.

1) Place the loose end of the yarn on the back of your hand. The end connected to the skein will be in your palm. The yarn should be between your middle and ring finger.

***

2) Bring the yarn up and between your middle finger and index finger

***

3) Wrap the yarn around index finger. The yarn will now be between your index and middle finger. You now have one loop around each finger.

***

4) Bring yarn over middle finger so that it's lying in your palm again.

Repeat above steps (2 and 3) so you now have two loops on each finger. The loose end should still be at the back of your hand while the end connected to the skein should be in your palm again

(view of back of hand)

***

5) Now here's the fun part! You'll be working looking at the back of your hand now.

Pull the bottom loops (the ones you made first) up and off your finger.

(see the lower loop?)

(pulling the lower loop over the top one)

(and pulling it completetly off the finger. YAY!)

***

6) Repeat the steps to make another loop on each finger. As always, the loose end should be at the back of your hand and the end connected to the skein should be in your palm between your middle and ring finger.

Repeat the process five times or so. Now take the loose end and bring it down to your palm. Give it a nice pull so the end tightens a bit. Continue finger knitting until you get the length you desire. It should look like this:

Now, that doesn't look like much but when you use a nice thick yarn (or more than one strand of worsted weight) you get a nice looking thick chain. Make a few chains and tie them togerther in random places (or don't tie them at all) to make an ultra cool scarf.

To finish a chain, pull it off your fingers. Knot it at the top and bottom with an over-hand knot (I usually do two to make sure it doesn't come apart in the wash or anything). Trim the ends.

Tigger modeling my Finger Knitted scarf I call "Floozey"

This scarf is made of five chains. Each chain is made up of one strand Lion Brand Terryspun (discontinued :( ) and one strand regular worsted weight yarn (forgot the name but I'm 92% sure it was Red Heart).

Hope you found this tutorial easy and fun. I wrote this up at 2am so I might be unclear. If you have any questions or comments, comment here or email me at JESilfa @ aol.com.