Tacos for Cinco de Mayo! And a New Scarf Pattern

Happy Cinco de Mayo! But first- there is a new scarf pattern- SS Fern.

Knit in stainless steel yarn, the scarf uses a simple reversible lace pattern so it looks great on both sides. Stainless steel yarn is fascinating- it is super lightweight and holds shape it is stretched in to (it's all pretty inexpensive even in silk and stainless blend- you can knit this scarf for $10-$15 of yarn).

Pattern

On Midnightsky Fibers: SS Fern Knitting Pattern (pattern preview also available on this page). On Ravelry: SS Fern

Yarn

310 yards lace weight stainless steel yarn. Sample knit in Silk Stainless Steel by Habu (69% silk, 31% stainless steel [core]; ½ ounce/14 grams; 311 yards/280 meters) in Navy. 

 Knitting with stainless steel yarn: see the pattern preview on the Midnightsky Fibers shop page for SS Fern for tips on knitting with metal yarns.

And finally...new yarn and tacos for Cinco de Mayo!

Finally found the perfect yellow yarn- no green tones, from light to medium yellow, but not "gold", more modern than vintage toned.

The perfect lemonade for drinking in quantity- strawberries and lemon juice, no sugar, and left to sit overnight in the fridge.

A secret mother's day gift...

And salsa- no chunks, please.

I make my basic salsa with a medium tomato, and equal amount of white onion, several cloves of garlic, a couple handfuls cilantro, lime juice or vinegar (though current batch has lemon and orange juice, and that is good too), and a jalapeno or two, all blended until it is fairly smooth- I don't really like chunky salsa (or tomatoes!). I've been known to leave out the tomato. I like it really quite spicy since I only use a small amount of salsa for tacos or a bit for flavoring rice.

Actually it is kind of a taco factory in my house- so easy to eat them daily (sometimes multiple times a day), and I can do so many variations. I have been eating tacos every day at least once for at least a month now, maybe longer! I almost always do soft corn tortillas (or half corn half wheat if I can find them0 Ken's Market in Greenwood has them, but neither WholeFoods or PCC seem to). A bit of blackbeans (homemade in my ricecooker), some onion, and other toppings depending on what I have in the fridge.

Right now in rotation for tacos:
Black beans- from rice cooker, cooked with chilies and onion. I prefer black to pinto, but do mix it up sometimes. I usually make some of the batch in to refried beans.
Onions- pickled, fresh (works best with sweet or white), or carmelized
Guacamole
Rice-  cooked with salasa (blended so there are no chunks!)
Cabbage- fresh or Salvadorian style (I use either pickled onions or curdito, not both- I like pickles, but don't want too much liquid or pickle in my tacos!). I prefer cabbage to lettuce in my tacos- holds up better and doesn't wilt (blech)
Salsas- a homemade spicy salsa and a salsa verde are both almost always in rotation
Lime, or in a pinch, lemons

I have had a couple fails- I found I really didn't like vegan cheeses or sour cream (tastes too much like tofu i most cases), 100% flour tortillas are pretty meh-in part because they are larger so the tortilla to filling ratio is off since the flour tortillas are bigger- though I probably wouldn't mind as much for burritos. Vegetarian taco meat tastes much better if heated on the stove than in the microwave- though if it is frozen it doesn't seem to matter as much. I also don't like to make my pickled onions super thinly sliced- makes them too soft, I want my onions to have some crispness.