Bread, Butter, and Crochet

Howdy! HomesteadHooker here is filling in for SubwayHooker today. A wild hair up my butt encouraged a bit of DIY in the food department, encouraged of course by the relative ease of the tasks at hand versus the wildly superior results.

So above you see the oh-so-cute and oh-so-tasty results of my first foray into the dairy world of buttermaking, using the handy ramekins left over from some lovely St. Marcellin cheese. Three of the above are now in the freezer, one in the butter compartment of the fridge. For those of you anal enough to be keeping score, I do know the photo reveals some buttermilk which I neglected to extricate from the results. Whatever.

As I write this, I am about 1 1/2 hours into the resting phase of the whole-wheat bread, which is slumbering on my kitchen counter. Here's hoping it ends up being good enough for hubsy's and my sammiches for the week. I used demi-god Mark Bittman's recipe for Speedy Whole-Wheat Bread.
Unfortunately, I didn't understand the difference between instant and active dry yeast, so I ended up with the below:

It barely rose at all. Though it tasted good, all whole wheaty and corn mealy and rye-y, it is not the loaf of my dreams, and the sammich cannot be made from this that would satisfy the average human. Unless you were a model and were gonna purge it later anyway. In which case, I go for something far more extravagant.

I did mention crochet in the title, and I am sticking to the promise. Here is the cape now, in all its glory:
Okay, I have to interject something here. Many of you know of my hate relationship with Continental Airlines. Many's the time I've bitched about them for one thing or another. But suddenly, owing to all the travel my job's been sending me on, I am Silver Elite. This means that when I travel, I have the option of a free upgrade to First Class, space and the luck of the draw permitting. Well wouldn't you know that the very first time I clicked this option, I'd be upgraded to First Class. Yes I was! Oh, sweet mother of crap, what a way to travel! Comfortable seats, an edible meal, and all the wine you can swill! SO much nicer than cattle class!

And while I was in this oh-so-enviable position, my very nice seatmate engaged me in conversation about the above cape, which was a very nice way to spend a very comfortable flight, indeed. Said seatmate even had the presence of mind to tap my shoulder to share the extraordinary sunset visible out our window with me! Sunsets are among the Hooker's favorite things, not that this woman would have known that, so I was touched that she had the inclination to share it with me.

Change of topic before I park my ass and crochet the rest of tonight away: As you know, this is our anniversary weekend, so hubsy and I kicked up our heels with a visit yesterday to Brit artist Banky's Pet Shop and Charcoal Grill at 89 7th Avenue South. Thanks to rockpoolcandy for the heads-up on this amazing exhibit! Below, a couple of shots of the shop.
The chimp above is animatronic, and is watching a tv showing two monkeys having sex -- repeatedly. He occasionally touches himself, his eyes blink, follow the action on the screen, and his lips move. His foot is on a crushed beer can, and there is a well-thumbed copy of National Geographic nearby.
Here is Tweety Bird showing the effects of caged living:

And finally, here are two Chicken McNuggets dipping themselves in sauce: