Pensive Frog

I just came across the Interweave Knits summer preview - it’s posted here. I like the Josephine Top, but the other patterns are not winning me over. It’s a little hard to get a good impression from small pictures, so I’ll give everything another chance when this issue arrives in my mailbox. [...]

It’s been about a month since I’ve introduced the math-based comment authorization, and I think it works like a charm! Whew. It took me a while to figure out the best way to regulate comments for this site, and I thought I’d share some of the techniques I considered before settling on the [...]

Has anyone else noticed the rampant inflation on television game shows? Remember when contestants were vying for the simple pleasures of a dinette set or perhaps a ceramic dalmatian? As much as I hate getting sucked into mainstream phenomena, every once in a while I find myself glued to an episode of Deal [...]

A few months back I was over at Amy’s for snacks and drinks, and she had made a batch of Giada’s White Bean Dip with Pita Chips. It was really yummy, and I had picked up a few cans of white kidney beans in anticipation of making a batch myself. Well, last night [...]

Speaking of reduce, re-use, recycle (hah!) I’m trying to figure out the best way to spend the $60 that’s stinking up my PayPal account. Since it’s almost my birthday, I think I’m ready for a treat. Have any of you bought anything particularly fabulous recently? Y’all know what I’m into - [...]

Hey, Earth, it’s your birthday! Age is just a number, but you look mighty fine for 4.6 billion plus years old (or 6 thousand, depending on who you ask). A whole bunch of people are celebrating by bringing a reusable mug to Starbucks today, or maybe taking the bus. As for me, [...]

I finished the first Manly Trekking sock, here it is on my girly foot with some even girlier daffodils.

I don’t think I’m going to jump on the Trekking bandwagon, but these socks are pretty nice looking. I think I just like a sock yarn to have a little more weight to it.
Golly, I used [...]

For future reference, some links to latte art tutorials:
Latte art at I Need Coffee
The Espresso Guide has a great illustrated guide to making leaf and hiney shapes. Oh wait, those are apples.
Many, many examples at Rate My Rosetta
Detailed frothing and art tutorials at Coffee Geek
A Big ol’ Flickr set of latte art
Latte Art 101 [...]

Oy, have you seen David Lebovitz’s recipe for Salted Butter Caramel Ice Cream? He claims it’s better than Berthillon, which I won’t be able to confirm since the legendary ice cream cafe was closed last time I was in Paris. (OK, the only time I was in Paris) My only problem is [...]

Spring in Seattle is just lovely. Here are some pictures from a recent visit to the Washington Park Arboretum, which I had never visited before in the 8+ years I’ve lived here. Sad.

I’m really making up for the previous dearth of pictures on Pensive Frog! Here are some snaps from a visit to the Japanese Garden in the Washington Park Arboretum.

Raise your hand if you love Cook’s Illustrated! I just received the May/June 2007 issue, and I was immediately intrigued by their Vegetable Curry recipe. You can read some comments on this recipe here. I’ve loved cooking Indian food ever since I discovered the bulk spices section at the supermarket. My Indian [...]

It’s been a while since I’ve done a Pensive Frog Google search, but I just gave it a whirl. As predicted, lots of hits for knitting bloggers who have made Peekaboo Mittens - I never get tired of seeing them! And, I was tickled to see that my blog is listed on “Best [...]

So when we last checked in, the sourdough starter was a no-go. I left the tupperware of starter on top of the fridge, feeding it every day with a little flour and warm water. It turns out this starter was just a late bloomer, because a few days ago I opened the tuppy [...]