Vacation Blues

You'd think I'd be a little more productive with all this time on my hands.  That, it seems, is the problem.  6 shortcake biscuits, 1 bowl of custard, and 2 peach (peach/pecan/bourbon?  how Deep South can we get?) pound cakes later, and I am...wet-blocking double-secret-probation project.  Been wet-blocking it since night before last, I think.  One of these days, I'll get the moisture ratio right.

Also on the needles: Claudette wrist-warmer #1!  Though it turns out my only sufficient skeins of Moda-Dea novelty yarn are of a colorway more Renoir than Monet.  Come to think of it, it's more Klimt than Renoir.  Methinks I might have to rename the result, though honestly I'll wear them just the same.  Unless somebody decides to auction them off again.  Which is entirely possible.

Well, since discussing double-secret-probie project (DSP?  I'm lazy.) is right out and I am decidedly lacking in pictures of everything else I'm procrastinating on, I decided to start a new blog.  This one is pretty much all pictures.  Woohoo!  Spent way more time than I can really justify on the panels for Episode 1.  But really, when I was torching my wet-block monstrosity, I kept thinking in bad puns, and the result was "Dr. Strangeknits: Or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Embrace the Laceweight."  You may find it here.

On that note, perhaps it's time to figure out how to make productive use of my remaining vacation.

Waiting for Godot

One day the absurdities of call will stop hitting me over the head with their innate existentialism.  I mean, here I am waiting for the office to roll the phone lines over to me so that I can answer questions about everything from fevers to constipation, all of which I know are guaranteed to happen when I try to 1) sleep, 2) drive, 3) cook/eat, 4) brush my teeth, 5) hit the loo.  I wonder how many traffic tickets happen as a result of doctors answering their phones.

In the meantime, of course, it occurs to me I haven't blogged in a while.  This is partly deliberate since I have a project flying stealth on the needles for the foreseeable future.  My new life goal, by the way, is to produce a knitty.com-worthy pattern.  So far this one looks promising, which means (surprise, surprise!) all my other projects are currently on hold.  Including Cecilia sweater, Claudette scarf/wristwarmers, and the ever-procrastinated-on Dalek cross-stitch.  Well, what else is new?

Baking front hasn't been idle, though.  I really need to do this bourbon peach pie again sometime, especially paired with salted caramel ice cream.  Oh, joy!

(Easy As) Bourbon Peach Pie

Crust:
1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 stick unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1-2 tbsp water

Filling:
2 medium yellow peaches, sliced
2 tbsp brown sugar (or to taste)
splash of bourbon (to taste)
1 tbsp flour for thickening

1.  Combine flour and butter in mixing bowl, work by hand or mixer until mixture resembles wet crumbs/balls.
2.  Add water 1 tbsp at a time until dough just forms.  Refrigerate until ready to roll out.
3.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees (F).
4.  Combine filling ingredients and mix well.
5.  Divide dough roughly 2:1.  Roll larger ball into circle that covers bottom of pie tin and press into tin.
6.  Pour peach mixture into crust.
7.  Roll smaller dough ball into thin circle, cover top of pie and press together at edges.  Pierce top a few times to allow venting.
8.  Bake 45-60 min, checking after 30 min and every 10 min thereafter.  Crust should turn lightly golden and filling should partly caramelize.
9.  Serve warm and topped with ice cream.  Reheats well in microwave.
10.  Enjoy!

And that's all she wrote.  1 more hour until the dreaded call begins.  When does vacation start again?