Autumn is my second favorite season, and this one is shaping up to be pretty darn glorious! I spent a few days in Salt Lake City last month and went for a couple drives up the canyons and into the mountains. Oh, it was so pretty! We have only the most anemic autumn colors here in Southern California, even in my little mountain town, which is mostly full of pine trees and live oaks (neither of which change color), so it was lovely to see some real color.

I made a little video of one of our drives:

I have stuff to share: knitting projects off the needles, books read, recipes made, links found, and a Very Exciting Trip coming up. I will try to get to all of that very soon, but I thought I better put some of my pretty fall pictures up before we are in the dead of winter. I'm working on a list of autumn favorites. Obviously, I need to get that up here before it's too late! 

I'm trying a new app called Storie:

It makes nice little slideshows. I like it!

I made this on Saturday, and it was easy, delicious, and filling. I just wanted you to know. If you find yourself with some nice chunks of lamb, I recommend giving it a try. And don't leave out the yogurt. But that is not what this post is about, it's about pasta.  

Firstly, let me apologize for my terrible photo. I still haven't figured out this whole lighting situation. I'll keep trying.

Secondly, you might be thinking, "pasta?! I thought you weren't eating grains?" And you would be right, I'm not. One of the things I was most worried about eliminating from my diet was pasta. We had some sort of pasta at least once a week. It's so versatile and economical, and you can make a big pot and enjoy the leftovers for days. Still, I was committed, and I mostly don't miss pasta. Sometimes, though, I have a craving for a nice, meaty, tomato-y, Bolognese sauce. So this is what I do when the craving strikes. 

I found that obnoxious orange julienne peeler at World Market, and it's such a great little tool. Using it on a nice big zucchini yields perfect, spaghetti-sized strands. Just run it down the length of your squash, turn and continue all the way to the seeds in the middle. At that point I usually stop. You can chop that bit up and use it in soups or salads, or give it to the chickens. Mine always come running when I open the back door and toss some scraps out. It's the best garbage disposal ever!

To cook the spaghetti, I warm up a little olive oil in a sauce pan or small skillet. Add the zucchini and season lightly with salt. Then just toss gently in the oil to coat it lightly. Continue tossing until it's softened and heated through. It only takes a few minutes. Serve with your favorite sauce, that's all there is to it! 

Here's my (probably very un-authentic) Bolognese sauce:

Chop an onion and mince a clove or two of garlic. Heat some olive oil in a large skillet or soup pot, over medium heat. Add the onions and garlic, and saute until the onions are tender. Add about a pound of good ground beef (grass-fed, if you can get it). Cook, stirring regularly, until the meat is browned and almost cooked through. Add tomato sauce or your favorite marinara sauce. I get marinara sauce at Trader Joe's, the kind in the green can. It's inexpensive and the ingredients are simple (tomatoes, olive oil, garlic, salt, I think). Add herbs to taste. I use fresh and dried, depending what I have on hand. For this batch I chopped up some fresh basil and crumbled in some dried oregano. And then, add the secret ingredient: a generous drizzle of a decent balsamic vinegar. Now just let your sauce simmer for as long as you can stand to wait, and stir occasionally. I can usually let it simmer for a half hour or so, with the occasional taste, just to make sure it's coming along nicely. 

Get your zucchini ready, and top it with a big spoonful of sauce. It may sound crazy, but I really do prefer this to pasta now. It has more flavor. 

Yes, I know I could use spaghetti squash, and I have. I do like it, but it has a sweeter flavor, so with this type of sauce I really prefer the zucchini. Plus, this is much quicker and easier to prepare.

Are my non-recipe recipes helpful or annoying? If they are annoying, I suppose I could try making up some measurements :) 

It appears that knitting season has begun. After a summer hiatus, I find myself once again trolling Ravelry, plotting and planning, rearranging my queue, and re-visiting started projects that have lost steam. It's not that I don't knit at all during the summer, in fact, I actually managed to finish a couple things. There was the pink lace shawl, and then this past weekend, a little red sweater came off the needles, had a bath, and got some pretty, vintage pearl buttons. I haven't taken the time to take more than an Instagram photo, however. There's no time for photography, I just want to knit right now!

It's actually just a little snug, but should fit nicely when another few pounds are gone. I'm pretty proud of myself for actually finishing a couple projects this summer. I don't feel like I spent hours and hours sitting and knitting, it was really just a matter of doing a row here and there when I had a few spare minutes. Big things can be accomplished one row at a time! 

So, does anyone have any big knitting plans? Once my red sweater was done, I immediately cast on this sweater, using some mystery wool from the first sweater I ever made. It wasn't a successful project, but it was a learning experience, so I don't feel bad about unraveling all my hard work. I think the yarn suits this sweater much better.

It doesn't look like much more than a pile of yarn so far, but I think it's going to be a beautiful sweater. 

I also succumbed to temptation and pre-ordered Coastal Knits. I am a huge fan of cardigans, and I love every one in this collection, but I also really like the Cambrian Cowl and the Rustling Leaves hat. 

And then there are all the socks I want to knit, and I could use a nice slouchy, comfy pullover, and I don't have any lace currently on the needles, so that situation needs to be fixed. I think I better plan on a few knitting weekends for the next couple months! Okay, turning off the computer now, so I can get knitting!

Coming soon to an etsy shop near you. Pincushions! With ribbons! There will be some needle books too, I think.

I'll post again, when they are in the shop. 

I finished knitting something.

It's a little shawlette that sits perfectly on my shoulders and looks pretty and keeps me warm. I like it a lot. The pattern is Maia, from 7 Small Shawls, and the yarn is Madelintosh Tosh Merino Light in the Geranium colorway. 

I'm going to finish something else soon, so I started a pair of socks. On size 0 needles. I hope I don't break one. 

I've got fashion on my mind this week, what with Project Runway, New York Fashion Week, and my recent viewing of The September Issue (Grace Coddington is a genius! The spreads she styles are beautiful.) all happening recently. As I slowly become less blobby and more nicely shaped, I also find that I want to wear pretty things again. Couture is never going to fit into my lifestyle, but I am starting to sew for myself a little bit here and there after a long absence from my sewing machine. I've also been saving images to a fashion inspiration board on my Pinterest. I thought I'd do a post now and then where I imagine how I could take these images and let them inspire me to make them a reality. I may or may not follow through on these, but just searching out fabrics and patterns and imagining how I could wear something is fueling my creative fire. 

Here's what I love this week:

If there was enough of this fabric available, I could make it using this pattern, with minor modifications. 

I am definitely going to keep my eyes open for vintage kimono fabrics. I love how pretty and fresh and a little dramatic this is!