Slippers for Mom

Over Christmas Mom requested a pair of felted slippers. I recently finished a huge knitting project (photos to be posted as soon as possible), so I was ready for a a quick hit knitting project.

I had stash yarn leftover from other projects. I found the Duffers pattern on Raverly and got to work.

Knitting items to be felted is fun, because you get to use big needles and act like you are knitting for a giant.

Once felted the slippers are toasty warm and much cuter.

UNI Game

Last weekend we headed to Drake to watch UNI kick some butt at basketball. I neglected to take photos of my UNI friends at dinner before the game or at Justin and Amy's after the game, but I did remember to take a photo at the game. It shows what a good job Justin does at getting tickets for the whole group.

Iowa Nice

If you haven't seen this yet you should watch it. They language may be offensive. I think it's funny even with the language.

Republican Recap

Tonight is a big night in Iowa. After months of campaign commercials thousands of Iowans are headed out to Caucus for candidates they support. I am not caucusing, as my candidate in November already has a spot on the ballot.

Even though I am not participating tonight, I have enjoyed learning about the candidates running for office. Along with my trusty co-workers Brian and Angie I have gone to see five Republican candidates for office over the past two months. It has been quite an experience.

My trusty co-workers

One of the perks of working at a large insurance company is that Republicans line up to speak to your office. For you convenience I have arranged my comments in order from least crazy to totally crazy.

Not crazy: Mitt Romney

Do I agree with this guy? No. Do I respect him? Yes. Unlike most other candidates I heard speak, he was not an enormous ass.

Newt Gingrich: Angry Grandpa

Newt started off great. I liked the guy. Then his medication wore off and he started talking crazy. Having seen him answer questions off the cuff I can now easily imagine him shaking a rake at kids and yelling at them to get him off his lawn.

Michele Bachmann: Not the craziest

What does it say about the options that this lady is not the craziest? That's right. This tiny woman who thinks you can pray gay away and speaks of Obama like he is a disease not the president is not the craziest person I heard speak this fall.

Rick Santorum: He Probably Hates You

He spoke for 30 minutes. He didn't mention the economy until a question was asked about it. He hates gay people and women's rights. We don't exactly see eye to eye on the social issues.

Rick Perry: Frightening Nut Job

Imagine you are watching a sketch from Saturday Night Live about a politician giving a speech drunk. That's pretty much what listening to Rick Perry is like. He wants to privatize the TSA. He's for states rights but for a constitutional amendment against gay marriage. He sited a story from the Bible and said God had picked him to run for president. He didn't even speak about his platform. He had Bobby Jindal do that for him.

If Bobby Jindal runs for president I'm pretty sure I would put him between Mitt and Newt.

I am thankful for the opportunity to hear so many candidates speak. I hope that the next time I hear candidates speak they do not focus on how faith can heal our country. I think God has bigger things to do than think about tax law in the United States. I hope that candidates start focusing on how everyone can work together to keep our country great. If we spent half of the time we spend complaining about the other party working together we could accomplish a lot.

Happy New Year!

2011 was a busy year. I'm excited for a slower paced 2012.

John & I rang in the New Year with the Ourtoberfest crew at Sbrocco. We like to celebrate NYE with a fancypants dinner.

It's hard to believe I've been friends with this group for 10 years. We all started in the Service Center at Allied. They are such wonderful friends.

In addition to the regular Ourtoberfest crew Sarah and Ivy joined us this year. We are happy to welcome them to the Ourtoberfest community. We are hopeful they will join us at all of our upcoming Ourtoberfest events.

I wish you all a wonderful 2012. May this year be your best year yet.

Ice Skating

This year is flying. I can't believe it's already the week of Thanksgiving. Late November means a few things to me: family, pie, loathing the end of Daylight Saving Time, and Ice Skating.

This year I convinced my coworker Brian to meet me at 6 am for some skating and bagels before work on opening day. We had a blast. He's currently looking for skates so we can spend the winter enjoying the ice. I hope with snowshoeing and ice skating I'm able to be outside and stay active this winter. It's hard to get moving when the couch is so comfortable and the house is so warm (confession - I'm putting off going for a run by blogging).

Winter Squash Taste Test

There aren't many choices when it comes to local produce in Iowa in the winter. The exception to that is winter squash. John and I are both fans of butternut squash. I am less of a fan of acorn squash, but with enough butter and brown sugar I find it unoffensive. Spaghetti squash is OK, but not something I would choose to make.

I knew there were more varieties of winter squash than you find in the grocery store aisles, but I knew nothing about them. I decided to take advantage of the second to last farmers' market and check out some squash. For just three dollars we were able to do an heirloom winter squash taste test.

First up - the delicata.

It has a lot of seeds, which I scraped out.

Next up -Perhaps a Red Kuri squash? I'm not sure of the name on this one. I don't remember what the nice people from Coyote Run said it was, but I don't think it was Red Kuri. I just googled winter squash and after about six pages Red Krui was the one that looked the most like this.

Regardless of the name, it was really easy to clean. I like that.

Last up - Turban Squash

This one looked the coolest, but was the most difficult to clean.

Once cleaned I put them all in a baking dish and put a bit of butter and brown sugar in each half. I decided to dress them the way my Mom does. You really can't go wrong with cooking like my Mom.

The house smelled amazing while these baked. I cooked them at 350 for about an hour. I started to check them for tenderness after 30 minutes.

In the end, I cleaned my plate and expanded my taste horizons. John didn't like any of them, so I would say if you hate acorn squash and don't love butternut squash you might want to pass on them.

The delicata was delicious. It tasted like a cross between a sweet potato and a butternut squash.....but better. I bought five at the last market and hope to find them at the winter market in a few weeks. I have one for dinner once a week.

The Red Kuri squash was also good. It tasted like a butternut squash. I would buy it again if delicata wasn't available. I like that it is a personal sized squash. I can have a squash, John can have a tuna melt, and we're both happy.

The Turban squash tasted like an acorn squash. I ate my half, but John gave up. I wouldn't buy this kind again as it would take far too much butter and brown sugar for it to be tasty enough for me to eat.

What is your favorite winter squash? How do you prepare it?