Bootie and Bossy Eat, Drink, Knit

What could murders, vacations and knitting possibly have to do with one another? Kim Davis, one of the hosts of the podcast Slaycation , connects the dots in this episode. The name “Slaycation” says it all: these are true-crime tales of murders that take place on vacation—more reason, as if we needed it, to stay home and, well, eat, drink and knit. It’s just safer. But in addition to her popular p...

Wondering what to do for Valentine’s Day for all those special Valentines in your life? Bootie and Bossy to the rescue with a recipe for FIVE POUNDS of our Aunt Annie’s homemade fudge, also known as “Overseas Fudge” because it will withstand a military transport plane. And that’s our Aunt Annie, rocking the yellow pantsuit in the ‘70s—how could it not be good when it comes from her?! The well-spat...

What is it about Martha Stewart? If you want a good watch while you are playing with your Christmas yarn and pointed sticks, tune in to the Netflix biopic, Martha. Talk about a phoenix. Launching her own I.P.O. in 1999, she became the first self-made woman billionaire in American history. Five years later, she’s wearing her “Coming Home Poncho” that a fellow inmate crocheted for her as she leaves...

Want to start out the New Year with a great read? If you are an Ina Garten fan, as we are, her new memoir Be Ready When the Luck Happens and this episode are for you! And with the audio version, it’s like Ina is keeping you company while you’re knitting—as Ina would say, “How great is that?” We decided that Ina is a bit like a Phoenix rising from the ashes. How can that possibly be, you ask? To be...

Let’s set the scene. It’s December, 1946, and it’s beginning to look a lot like a disappointing Christmas at the Fort Hamilton, NY military base. No Christmas tree, no decorations for eight-year-old Mom waiting to disembark with her two sisters and mother for Heidelberg, Germany where they will join their father, then serving as an Army intelligence officer. The only gift? A pair of mittens for ea...

Shear delight is the only way to describe our conversation with the wonderfully talented Christina Kading, who began her career as a second-generation sheep-shearer at the age of 8 ("I was born on top of a sheep!"). What's so hard about sheep shearing, you ask? First there are the kicking animals who don't necessarily want a woolcut, even though they have it growing out of their ears and eyeballs....

We're back--we hope you missed us! And we brought scissors, and we are not afraid to use them in spatchcocking a turkey for Thanksgiving. "Spatchcocking?" You may well ask. It's not just a word for removing the spine of the turkey to make for a wonderfully evenly roasted bird in half the time--say goodbye to over-cooked, dry breasts and under-cooked thighs (the turkey's, that is). But it's more th...

Whether you have an abundance of tomatoes in your garden like Bossy, or bought them on sale at the market like Bootie, you will love this super simple and amazingly delicious recipe. It's great for those back to school nights when you need something fast. And if you prep everything in the morning (your future you will thank you for that), your kitchen will smell wonderful all day. The recipe for l...

Our recipe for this episode is perfect for busy back to school nights: Pineapple Marinated chicken breasts! It's super easy, tasty and you'll probably have everything you need in your larder except the chicken and the fresh pineapple. The leftovers are fantastic too! Bossy first discovered the recipe in the September 26, 2021 edition of the New York Times. ​ Our Knitting in Pop Culture moment is b...

Our recipe for this episode is a summer classic: Gazpacho! Bossy has been making this recipe for many years, as evidenced by all the splatters in her cookbook. It meets all of our criteria: makes a lot, uses one pot, and you have most of the ingredients in your larder. And it's versatile! It's perfect for a hot summer day. We recount our visit to a wonderful yarn shop during Bossy's recent visit t...

Here comes Janet with her damn four bean salad! This is the first recipe our mom (Hi Mom!) included in the recipe book she gave to us. It's perfect for the summer when you don't feel like cooking or if your kitchen is under renovation like Bootie's. We made it a little more gourmet by using fresh green beans and fresh herbs. So let's celebrate the "thousand extra hands" that we get when we open a...

We have made it to episode 30 and you guessed it, time for another cocktail! This one is from Laylita.com . The melon sangria is a combination of delicious summer melons (your future self will thank you for balling up the melons and making melon ice cubes to have on hand), grappa, honey, and moscato. It's the perfect summer refresher. And there's a nonalcoholic version too. Bootie recounts the joy...

Mom's banana bread has been a staple in Bootie's household for forever. And now it's even better with the addition of a little buttermilk, nuts, chocolate chips, and coconut. If you want to take it over the top (pun intended), you can add a crumble or cream cheese frosting. It's so good! Bootie and Bossy give updates on their current projects.

Our beautiful sister, Melissa generously agreed to come back on because we need more vegetables in our repertoire! Melissa discovered this recipe for roasted tomatoes on NPR and if anyone know who deserves the credit, let us know. The recipe is as simple as it gets--throw a couple of cans of diced tomatoes in a pyrex, along with a bunch of cilantro, olive oil, salt and pepper, then run around pani...

Even though we are not in her demographic, Bossy and Bootie very much enjoy the food porn on Tieghan Gerard's website, Half-Baked Harvest. We tried the chicken tortilla soup and it is a winner, winner, chicken dinner. It's perfect for those nights when you need a little comfort food because you pulled eight ticks off your dog, got poison Ivan (as Bossy's son calls it), and there's a snow storm, al...

The recipe for this episode is Bossy's homemade granola. It's the perfect blend of healthy grains and delicious fruits. Bootie and the rest of the family look forward to receiving the granola every year in her Xmas and birthday packages and now that she knows how easy it is to make, Bootie looks forward to making it herself. Wait a second, this is exactly what happened when Bootie encouraged Bossy...

Whelp, Mom is in the hospital again, so it's time for another cocktail! Update: she's out of the hospital and in a rehab where she is making excellent progress! So cheers to that! Bootie first learned about the Bobby Burns cocktail from Darcy Cameron, the owner of Shibui yarn on her blog, Shibui Life. Bootie and Bossy did not have the required Scotch (or Benedictine, or Absinthe, well, ok, Bo...

Melissa reads the chapter "Imperfect Hearts and Roses for Valentine's Day" from her memoire, Match-Liss Tales of Online Dating by Melissa Klein

For this episode, we interviewed Melissa Klein, who has recently written a memoire about online dating. Melissa is a commercial artist, muralist, illustrator, logo designer, author, and standup comedian who works in a wide range of styles and mediums to reflect her client's vision. And she's our sister!! Our recipe for this episode is a family favorite: French Silk Chocolate Pie, perfect for Valen...

​It's snowing in colonial Massachusetts and threatening to snow (mostly large drifts of paranoia) out in the Pacific Northwest so we offer Ina's Winter Minestrone to warm the cockles of your soul, and your belly. It meets all of our criteria: one pot, it makes a lot, and uses mostly ingredients from your larder. Bootie and Bossy do a deep dive into the brilliant short animation Visible Mending by...

Bossy reads a letter she wrote to Bootie the year she gave Bootie her family creche. Merry Christmas to all who celebrate! "I just learned from Mom that Aunt Betty made our family creche when she was hospitalized and struggling with a deep depression. I know that was a very dark period in her life. I’d like to think making our creche might have had something to do with her recovery. But I am glad...

In this episode, Bossy shares her recipe for a delicious cranberry cocktail, using your leftover cranberry sauce from Thanksgiving (or if you already ate it, Bootie recommends a recipe). Bootie is immortalizing her aunts and mom in gnome form while Bossy is upcycling one of her father in law's sweater. And as always, we share our family stories and for a special bonus you get to hear Bossy speak m...

We had many (ok, one) requests for our corn bread recipe that goes with the Portuguese Bean Soup from Episode 19. So, our recipes for this episode are corn bread! In terms of knitting, the merits of shawls versus ponchos are discussed. No rats were harmed in the making of this podcast. Ok, maybe one rat but that rat didn't seem to phased and we're guessing its progeny are alive and well.

That's right, in the name of scrupulous research and purely out of devotion for developing the content of our podcast, Bootie and Bossy made the sacrifice and went to the famous Rhinebeck Sheep & Wool Festival in New York. So we have seen and experienced Rhinebeck's wonders, and we are Rhinebeck virgins no more! We met the knitting celebrities--Andrea Mowry, Adella and Jimmy Colvin, Aimee Gill...

Bootie and Bossy each thought they had the best ginger snap recipe. It turns out that their recipes are virtually identical! Bootie's came from her wonderful friend, Mary Ellen Haley, who is well known for her delicious baking. Bossy's came from Marion Cunningham's cookbook, The Breakfast Book. Bossy has been luring her coworkers into attending meetings with these cookies, along with the accompani...