Big Ole Thanks

Oh, you people always knock our socks right off. My feet, they are cold and sock-less because you are so generous. She's already (!) broken her target amount, but don't let that stop you from donating to a very worthy cause or entering the raffle if you still want to. And if you haven't read it already, go read Lala's post about her ride. She spent a lot of time and thought composing it, and I think she was a bit chagrined to find that my friends (that's YOU) just read my post and went and donated. I think she thought she'd have to talk you into it, so she makes a compelling argument. But the Code of the Knitter says Donate First, Knit Later. The faster we do something nice for someone else, the faster we get to the knitting.

Thank you. Thank you SO much.

We had a fundraising party for her this weekend -- it went well. My sister's fabulous band Deadpan Alley played, and they were great (you can hear songs here -- I'm really fond of East Coast Boy). They were followed by The Whoreshoes, who looked and sounded oh-so-fine:

    Music in our own backyard

    Camilla, Joni and Diana rockin' out

    Diana, Emily, and Lala

I'm sad I didn't get any shots of Lala playing the bass, her new favorite instrument. Since I think we might have to give away three or four of the animals to make room in our house for an upright, I'm trying not to encourage her new passion for it. But she was good at it. She really was.

Also: MUST SHARE NEW FAVORITE PARTY TREATS

Ideas gleaned from the interwebs, posted here so I can find them again.

#1 - Caprese sticks. Thread a small piece of fresh mozzarella (TJ's had tiny mozza balls in a tub), a cherry tomato (heirloom cherry toms from TJ's!), a little bit of basil, and another small piece of mozzarella on a toothpick. Do this many, many times. Place them on a platter. Drizzle with olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper. DEELISHUS. This is my favorite salad, now on a stick.

#2 - Bacon-wrapped figs. People freaked out. No, they did. People who don't like figs freaked out. Take one package of bacon (mine had 16 pieces), and cut all pieces in half. I got a tub of black figs from TJ's. I pulled the stem off each, wrapped a half-piece of bacon around it, stuck a toothpick through it and cooked them at 350 for about an hour. Baconey goodness with a sticky-sweet middle. It was AMAZING. I want them for dinner every night. They disappeared. I will make twice the amount next time.

Now I am tired. I saw many crazy-interesting things at the Maker Faire, took no pictures, but saw nice readers (Steampunk Amy is adorable!), and left happy. Tomorrow I am on-call, so I might have to suddenly get up at 4:30am, so I should head to bed on that off-chance. So, goodnight. And thank you.

    Sister Christy and me. Half of Deadpad Alley! (Took one of myself and sister Bethany, too. She claim I never post those ones, but it's only because I looked somewhat rabid in it. She was adorable, as usual. You'll have to take my word for it.)

Comments

[kryyystyyy]

Hey, thanks for the shout out. And that picture turned out better than I thought it would - you pushed the button right as I was crossing my eyes. Bless you.

[Kathy in San Jose]

Hooray for Knitting Donors! And it was great to run into you at the Maker Faire, even if I didn't remember that I had a camera in my cell phone...

[Robynn]

Ackshully, you should tell Lala that I *did* read her post, and that's when I donated, but I couldn't leave a comment on her blog to tell her so. Still and all, I only know her blog through you, so it probably still counts as "your friends". Pssh, who's checking.

[Cynthia]

Congrats! and woo-hoo on the great party snacks! Will definitely be trying both.

"But the Code of the Knitter says Donate First, Knit Later. The faster we do something nice for someone else, the faster we get to the knitting." Shouldn't it be "Donate first, Knit sooner!" LOL -- hugs!

[Lucy]

I know exactly what you mean about bacon and figs! So delicious! I went to a get-together and they were there, along with bacon wrapped around cream cheese and walnuts - also delicious, less sweet, more savory. But then again, bacon wrapped around just about anything would probably be good.

[Imbrium]

The caprese sticks sound delicious...the bacon and figs kind of scare me. :)

[Emy]

Bacon makes ANYTHING better. After a traumatic Thanksgiving incident with a pig almost 20 years ago, I don't really eat pork...but I sometimes make an exception for bacon. :O

[lyssa]

Bacon.Wrapped.Figs. Oh my god. I will have to make that next time the MIL gives me a basket full of figs from her yard.

[becky]

Hey Rach,

Thanks for the link to our page! Cool! It was great fun playin' at your and Lala's party! Yay!!!!

[Kathleen C.]

Though I knew I would donate when reading your post I doubled the (admittedly) paltry sum I was going to give when I read Lala's post.
Wish I could have given even more, but a slightly less paltry sum... because of Lala's eloquent persuasion.

[PlazaJen]

Aigh, the lack of Trader Joe's here is like a Caprese stick in my heart! Sigh, it all sounds fabu, and what a great fundraiser!

[Meg]

No, no, no. Pets and basses go together really well. We have three uprights in our tiny basement "music room", and though we're down to one cat and one dog at the moment, there's always been plenty of room for 4 legged loves. And 9 electric basses. And one bass player.

Salad caprese on a stick will be the first thing I fix when I get home tomorrow. Sounds wonderful!

[Emily]

Perhaps a pulley system for hanging the bass in the corner of the room?
Also:
Bacon wrapped around anything is good I think. Especially that applewood bacon. (its hard to believe three years ago i was a vegetarian...)

[martian77]

I also read Lala's post but couldn't comment, which is a shame because I wanted to sympathise about the clipless pedals. I'm afraid my donation was kind of small.

Sounds like a great reason to party...

[Jodi]

Hah! You can tell Lala that I too read her post and clicked through to donate from there (in fact, my blog reading has been a little sporadic what with all the graduating and packing and moving going on around here, and I didn't even see your post).

[jeni]

Dang, now I'm reallys sorry that I couldn't make it and missed all of the bacon-wrapped outdoor-music goodness!

Looks like it was quite the shindig. Congrats to Lala for making her goal. Miss you gals!

[Leslie]

If you were brave enough to try the figs-n-bacon, I've got another one for you:

Take a pitted prune, stuff with a spoonful of peanut butter, wrap with bacon, and broil until bacon is crispy

Sounds revolting, but REALLY good!

[easilyentangled]

Also try almond stuffed in fig or date (either one is good) wrapped in bacon. We're told it's a spanish style tapa. I'm a vegetarian but my family raved! I tried a few with just dates and almonds and they just burned to a crisp. Not so good. I'm trying to come up with a veggie friendly version to use as a wrapper. Cabbage? Avocado? Pizza dough? Hmm...I will try your salad though. Sounds perfect for a bbq.