my weekend, in list form

1) i became an offcial makers mark ambassador
after running out of address labels i discovered that maker's mark will send free labels as part of their ambassador program. i filled out the online form and the package arrived on friday. it contained more than i expected.

not only did i receive several sheets of address labels, but a few sheets of stickers with which to seal envelopes closed, a dozen or so holiday greeting cards with envelopes, and an ambassador information packet. this packet informs me that my name will be engraved on a maker's mark barrel and i will be notified when it has fully aged... i can buy a bourbon from that very barrel if i like. i also have an invitation to tour the distillery and a bunch of other nifty stuff.

2) i made whipped sweet potatoes with cheese
i have never, ever liked sweet potatoes. the diet i've been on offers a lunchtime serving of sweet potatoes with cheese, though, and i thought i'd be brave and try it. (as a side note, i do make a point to periodically re-try foods that i think i don't like, just to be certain that i really don't like them.)

and i liked it. which made me realize that i'd only ever had sweet potatoes topped with marshmallows and brown sugar, and that's what i really didn't like. sweet vegetables. uck. but the savory sweet potatoes --creamy, cheesy, slightly garlicky-- were quite good.

so i tried to mimick the diet food i'd been eating by inventing a recipe for susan and jesse friday night. my sweet potatoes with cheese came out pretty well. i just baked several sweet potatoes for an hour or so, scooped the guts into a big bowl and added shredded gruyere and cheddar to taste. i also had some soft, roasted garlic that i dumped in there as well, along with a little chicken broth to make the texture smooth.

3) i tried felting
not only am i knitting up a storm these days, trying new stitches and knitting with double yarns, but this weekend i also tried my hand at felting.

100% wool yarn will turn to felt when subjected to hot water, lots of soap suds and some elbow grease. so i knit a large square with wool yarn, folded it in half and stitched up the sides, then dunked it in hot soapy water and scrubbed the hell out of it. that first experiment turned out pretty well, so i'm going to buy a zipper, sew it in the top opening and make a little change purse. or tampon case. or something like that.

4) i art walked
twice a year durham holds a downtown art walk and i try to attend each and every time. this year's tour seemed exceedingly large, so we didn't get to see everything we hoped to. but i did find a photograph of a rusty old iron doorknob by a fellow named "k brown" that i almost bought. it was gorgeous.

a good portion of the art in my house has come from art walks past, but sadly this year i was too broke to buy anything.

5) i ate butternut squash soup
mary makes the very best butternut squash soup in the universe. i got to watch her blend up a huge batch saturday night (and discovered that one of the secret ingredients is parsnips), and since i was there i got to sample the first bowl, too. total yum.

6) i mended
i hate mending clothes. today i finally pulled out a pile of things that needed attention, and buried within were winter clothes from last year. i had been neglecting those poor clothes for an entire year. lucky for me they were all ray's.

7) we saw laurie anderson
oh my gosh. laurie anderson performed at the carolina theatre sunday night and her show, entitled "the end of the moon", was absolutely captivating.

this show was based upon her two-year stint as the artist-in-residence at NASA. (she was the first artist-in-residence at NASA, and --as she deadpans-- was also the last.) the one-woman show is basically her "report" on her experience there. it is laden, of course, with her thoughts on space and time, but the work also incorporates wonderful anecdotes about her life in manhattan, 9/11, and her little rat terrier dog. the music she performs (as her own accompaniment) is haunting and spacey, and her voice --though she never sings-- is incredibly hypnotic. i could listen to her read a grocery list. she's amazing. hers was a show i'll remember for quite a long time. i'd love to see it again.

Posted by xta at November 13, 2005 10:49 PM | TrackBack