Salty Sesame and Chocolate Chip Cookies

Tim says these are the best cookies he's ever had.  

Coming from Tim, who usually says "They're fine," that says a lot.

I bookmarked this recipe the second I saw it on Joy the Baker... salty + sweet?  Yes, please.  The recipe is quirky, but it all comes together amazingly... a basic chocolate chip cookie dough, with the addition of some soy sauce in the place of some of the salt and a sprinkling of black sesame seeds.  Sounds crazy, but you should try it.  So good.

Homemade Honey Graham Crackers (and obligatory s'mores)

Happy 4th of July!!  America... f*ck yeah!  ;-)

This holiday is somewhat of a non-event here in Jakarta, as you can imagine.  But Tim and I tried to celebrate in little ways.  Important ways.  Namely, hot dogs, s'mores and Budweiser.

Turns out both hot dogs and ingredients for s'mores are not the easiest thing to locate.  Sausages, yes.  But regular old American hotdogs?  Not so much.  Eventually we found something close enough, but it still was no Ballpark frank.  Oh well.

S'mores, on the other hand, were even more of a challenge.  Nary a graham cracker in sight and I ended up with some strangely shriveled, but passable Filipino marshmallows.  

Since I couldn't find graham crackers, I decided to make my own, largely inspired by the cover of this month's Martha Stewart Living magazine.  I didn't follow her recipe because I couldn't find whole wheat flour, but instead I largely followed this recipe I found on Smitten Kitchen, substituting 1/2 cup of the AP flour with toasted wheat germ.

A little bit of a pain in the ass to make (have I ever explained how much I hate making rolled cookies?), but ultimately a really good honey and molasses flavor and nice texture.  My rolling and cutting (I just used a square, fluted edge cookie cutter) efforts were not the best, but I only baked about 1/3 of the dough, so I still have a chance to redeem myself. Also, I skipped the cinnamon sugar topping because that's how I like it. The crackers held up to s'more-ification better than store-bought since they weren't perforated- no cracking in half mid-bite:

Old Man Sweater for Baby Alex

Another sweater made while jaunting around Vietnam... this one an adorable old man, shawl collar cardigan for Amy's adorable new baby, Alex.  Although I hear it's ridiculously hot in NYC these days, hopefully this fuzzy little cardigan will keep him warm in the fall and winter.

I made the sweater using the "Baby Sophisticate" pattern from Stockinette- very easy and well-written.  The only change I made was to  knit the sleeves flat because I am terrified of double-pointed needles.  So pointy.

I used Nature's Choice Organic yarn, repurposed from this scarf I made last year.  I unraveled it after realizing I would never wear the scarf in Jakarta's heat, plus I liked the look of the yarn better in knit than in crochet.  

Eyelet Yoke Cardigan for Zoe

On the long journey to Da Nang, Vietnam (how is is that it is so close to Jakarta, and yet I had to first fly to Singapore and subsequently stop off in Siem Reap before arriving in Danang?), I was able to turn out this cute little sweater for Zoe (don't tell her, it's for her 1st birthday!!!).

 It's knit in 5 parts (2 sleeves, 2 front sections and 1 back), which are then connected together by the eyelet yoke... Not very difficult, but something tells me it could be even easier. Somehow there has to be a way to knit the front sections and the back in one piece to eliminate some of the seaming (which I suck at). I haven't quite figured out how yet, but perhaps it will come to me in time.

My work in action!

Here are some action shots of some of the pieces I've made recently... Looking good, if I do say so myself! 

Meghan told me she loves her handmade batik t-shirt (made using Grainline's Scout pattern) and received 2 compliments on it from coworkers. I'm glad that the money I wired them made it all the way to DC:

Meghan looking quite cute in her batik!

I also enjoyed wearing (and inevitably sweating through) my Scout tees whilst jaunting around Vietnam:

Rocking my wearable muslin Scout while making the steep climb up the Marble Mountains.

Digging into some pho in Ho Chi Minh City while wearing my red flowered Scout.

Standing in a beautiful ancient gateway in the imperial city of Hue, wearing my plaid Anda top.

Roasted and Mayo-Free Potato Salad

This potato salad is a winner for those folks who don't like mayo.  Full of flavor from stone-ground mustard, garlic and coriander seeds, made creamy by Greek-style yogurt, and garnished with parsley and thinly sliced green onions, it's really the anecdote to boring old potato salad.  

Satu Lagi Batik Scout

I swear, for the first 4 months we lived in Jakarta, Tim only knew 2 words, "satu" and "lagi," which are conveniently useful for obtaining another beer when used together, as they mean "one more" or "another."

Well, it's satu lagi version of Grainline's Scout Tee for me... like some of the others I've made recently, this one is also made from batik from Jogjakarta.  I made it for Erin as a going-away gift (she and Mr. Ben just left for Bangkok this morning... sniff sniff...).