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Sweet Strawberries: A Dietitian’s Perspective

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my mom, Linda Crowley

As I mentioned before, my mother, Linda Crowley, is a dietitian.  I’m proud of her for the work constantly trying to educate people – about the difference between a nutrionist and a dietitian (a heck of a lot of education), about misconceptions about food and exercise, and about a heck of a lot of other things.
she does – educating people about food.  It’s a crazy amount of work to be a dietitian.  You have to know all the things about the chemical and nutritional aspects of food, while also juggling knowledge of biology and even pharmaceutical information about drug and food interactions.  My mother is

As part of my Crochet Cornucopia project, I’ve asked her to tell a little bit about strawberries, and their amazing properties.  Read to the end – she’s provided one of my favorite recipes – her famous Strawberry Filled Angel Cake.

Mom, tell us a little bit about the strawberry?

Strawberries are the only fruit that have the seeds on the outside and technically are not a fruit at all.  Each strawberry has as many as 200 seeds.  In the US, strawberries are grown in every state, and are normally harvested in the spring time.Strawberries are a member of the rose family and have been used as a symbol for Venus, the Goddess of Love, because of their heart shape.  Believe or not, there is a museum in Brussels devoted entirely to the strawberry!

How do you know if a strawberry is good to eat?

Once a strawberry is plucked off the plant it will not continue to ripen so pick carefully to make sure it is firm but a deep red color. Bigger does not always mean more flavorful.

What are the benefits to eating strawberries?

Nutritionally speaking, strawberries have a relative low caloric value, weighing in at about 52 calories per cup.  They are naturally low in fat and have more Vitamin C than any other berry.  Strawberries are also high in fiber, folic acid and potassium.  Per capita, Americans consume about 3.4 pounds of fresh strawberries each year and another 1.8 pounds of frozen berries.

What do you know of the strawberries history?

Our American ancestors originated the popular dessert, strawberry shortcake, after the Native Americans mixed cornbread with strawberries in a tasty dish.  As early as the 1300’s, strawberries were known to be cultivated in Europe.  In Medieval times, strawberries were a symbol of peace and prosperity.  In France, the small red berries have long been referred to as an aphrodisiac, or the fruit of love.  One legend states that if you break a double strawberry in half and share with it with someone of the opposite sex, you will fall in love.

*grins* I suppose that’s appropriate, considering that it’s a spring fruit.  Do you have any good recipes that use strawberries?

My favorite recipe is one that we often eat during the holidays – a variation of Angel Food Cake.  When Jennifer was young, I had to watch carefully, or she would eat all the filling and I would have to make another batch for the cake.  The recipe follows below:

Strawberry Angel Cake Surprise

  • 1 pkg angel cake mix
  • 1 small pkg strawberry sugar free jello
  • 1 (10 oz) frozen box of unsweetened strawberries or 1 1/2 cup frozen sliced unsweetened
  • strawberries
  • 1 cup boiling water
  • Cool-whip free topping (optional)

Bake the angel cake according to package directions in a tube pan. Cool. Cut the cake horizontally ½ inch from the top of the cake. Hollow out a ring on the bottom half of the cake removing small pieces of the cake and set aside. Be careful not to pierce bottom…leave at least 1-inch base in tunnel. Dissolve jello in boiling water. Add package of frozen fruit. Chill until slightly thickened. Fold in reserved angel cake pieces and spoon this mixture into hollowed out ring. Replace the top slice. Chill at least 3 hours. Store in the refrigerator. Frost cake with cool whip free topping if desired.

Cut into 12 servings… approx. 180 calories per slice

Try these other healthier options for celebrations….

Angel Berry Trifle

Cut a premade angel food cake into bite-size pieces; layer with fresh strawberries and low-fat or fat-free, sugar free vanilla pudding in a large trifle bowl or individual parfait glasses.

Celebration Sorbet

Put a scoop of lemon sorbet in a wineglass or martini glass and spri
nkle with fresh strawberries.

Linda Crowley, MS, RD, CDN is the Dietitian-Nutritionist at the Guilderland YMCA. With a BS in Foods and Nutrition from the University of Maine and an MS in Clinical Nutrition from Boston University, Linda completed her dietetic internship at Indiana University. She is an active member in the American Dietetic Association, a New York State certified dietitian-nutritionist (CDN), and holds a certificate of training in Childhood and Adolescent Weight Management.

Linda has over 25 years experience as a dietitian both in community and hospital dietetics. She is employed at the Guilderland YMCA and at Ellis Hospital in Schenectady, NY as a clinical dietitian. She enjoys working with families and groups, translating the science of nutrition into enjoyable, healthy meals. Clients seek her help for medical nutrition therapy, sports nutrition, and healthy eating tips. Cooking demonstrations and grocery shopping tours are her specialty. In the community, she serves on the Hooked on Health Committee for the Guilderland Central School District. She is most proud of her grant-funded ME FIT obesity intervention program at the Y. She and her husband are the proud parents of four children who have all attended the Becket-Chimney Corners Camps and Outdoor Center.

Inspirations and Influences: Sweet Strawberries

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Sweet Strawberries is the first in a series of patterns, called collectively Crochet Cornucopia, that will be coming out this year involving food.  I want to talk about why this series of patterns is important – and why I’m passionately committed to releasing them seasonally – as each of the fruits and vegetables comes into season.

My mother is a registered dietitian.  In addition to working as a clinical dietitian (working in a I gave them to her for Christmas, and she was overjoyed (like many mothers would be when their children make them stuff).  But it got me thinking about other people, who might want children-safe playfood or just beautiful crochet pieces to put on display.
hospitality making sure that patients get the right food in order to become well), she is also passionate about children’s nutrition. Just before Christmas, she jokingly said to me that she wanted me to make her some fruits and vegetables – not realizing that I’d already started making some for her.

Meanwhile, Michael and I belong to a farm share.  You might remember some of our adventures in using the food from our farm share from last year.  Eating locally and seasonally is something that Michael and I are passionate about.  Not only is the quality of the food so much better, but belonging to a farm share (or finding another way to eat local) cuts down on transportation pollution  in addition to supporting local farmers and communities.  Even in the winter when our farm share isn’t running, we try our best to eat as many seasonally appropriate fruits and vegetables as possible.  We also do a fair amount of canning, freezing and preserving to hold us through the winter.

Food is important.  Where it comes from, what we eat – it’s not only about nutrition.  It’s about culture, history, values, economics, ethics and choice.  At least once a day – if not two or three or five times – you take time to feed yourself, and every single time you make choices about what you eat and why you eat it.  This, for me, is fascinating stuff – and important!

Sneak preview of the next pattern!

Michael and I weren’t always as fortunate to be able to eat at a farm share.  The first year I was out of college (Michael was still in college), we were on a tight budget, and we had to sometimes choose between the ethical and healthy option or the economic and convenient option.  It is a shocking state of affairs when it is cheaper to buy a doughnut than it is to buy a piece of fruit.  It is cheaper to buy processed and canned food than to buy fresh and local.  In other places that isn’t the case – the cheap option is the local option – you pay more for ease of use.

Crochet Cornucopia isn’t just about making cute fruits and vegetables – though that is part of it.  I’m releasing them seasonally to correspond to the growing season for each piece of produce, aiming for the beginning of the seasons so you have time to make them.  I’m using a yarn that is made in the United States – my effort to use “local” yarn.  And as part of my release schedule, I’ll be doing blog posts connected to the fruits and vegetables.  It’s my form of meditation on where our food comes from.

I’m looking forward to taking you along for the ride.

Sweet Strawberries

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By Jennifer Crowley

Published in: Tinking Turtle Designs
Craft: Crochet
Category: Softies → Plant
Published: April 2013
Yarns suggested: Stonehedge Fiber Mill Shepherd’s Wool Worsted
Yarn weight: Worsted / 10 ply (9 wpi)
Gauge: 13 stitches and 12 rows = 2 inches in Single Crochet Through Back Loop
Hook size: 3.5 mm (E)
Yardage: 50 – 100 yards (46 – 91 m)
Sizes available: finished strawberry is 2.5″ tall and 2″ wide

Debating if this pattern is right for you?  Questions?  This is the place to ask them.

Decopage Your Duct Tape Dress Form

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I got a note today from one of my students that was in my Duct Tape Dress Form class at Fibrespace.  Stacy had told me when the class was over that she wanted to decopage her dress form when she got home – which I thought was a great idea!  I told her to let me know how it went if she did decide to go through with the endeavor.

Earlier this week I got an email from Stacy, with impressive results.  Take a look at right.

Didn’t it come out lovely?

This is what Stacy said about her experience: “I think I used about 1 1/2 yards – it was leftover, and my hints would be to use strips of fabric which I didn’t in the beginning, but they worked much better. I used about a 50/50 mix of dollar store white glue and water mixed in a pie tin and oh yeah, do it somewhere where you don’t mind glue water dripping. I also used some small straight pins to hold things up when they didn’t want to stick.”

Stacey wasn’t quite happy with the shape of how her bust turned out – she had worn a sports bra when we made the form.  This was her solution: “I took an old bra, stuffed it with paper and put it on, taped it up and then did the fabric… just in case any one else cares that their form is less endowed than they believe they are!”

Have you ever done decopage?  What were the results?  Any of you make a dress form and then adapt it after the fact?  What did you do?

Swirl Socks are Out!

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If you didn’t see by the last post, my Swirl Socks are out.  This is pretty exciting, as it marks the beginning of this year’s effort to self-publish between 1 & 2 designs a month.  It marks several months of back-end prep-work, as I’ve established relationships with Technical Editors, Sample Makers, and a Layout Designer.

All on top of planning my wedding, which is in 2 1/2 weeks.  Ack!

Swirl Socks are a great pattern for someone who needs just a little something to keep them busy.  After the first few rows, the pattern hits a rhythm, and next thing you know you are turning the heel.  It’s also a great pattern for saying… “just one more row…!”

I love how the cable passes right by the short row heel, and the differences in texture as it moves around the foot.  I love how it’s a surprisingly good pattern for very variegated yarns, because I’m prone to buying hand dyed yarns and then going, what now?

Go check out the socks here, or check out the Ravelry page here.  Let me know what you think!

Swirl Socks

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Swirl Socks
by Jennifer Crowley

Published in: Tinking Turtle Designs
Craft: Knitting
Category: Feet / Legs → Socks → Mid-calf
Published: March 2013
Yarns suggested: Three Irish Girls Kells Sport
Yarn weight: Sport / 5 ply (12 wpi)
Gauge: 8 stitches and 13 rows = 1 inch in stokinette
Needle size: US 0 – 2.0 mm
Yardage: 250 – 380 yards (229 – 347 m)
Sizes available: 7, 8, 9″ circumference, 7, 8, 9″ foot length, length can be adjusted

This pattern is available for $6.00 USD

These socks are toe-up with a short-row heel. You will need to know how to work wraps and turns. You can, of course, substitute your own heel or toe quite easily.

Ravelry Link

Post Mortem: Newport

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Newport started as a submission titled Whisper.

I knew I wanted to design for Classic Elite Yarns, and had gotten in touch with someone on Ravelry who had designed for them before, asking how I would go about approaching them.  The Ravelry user told me that Classic Elite has a mailing list for designers who want to know about design calls.  The Ravelry user gave me the person to contact, and I went about emailing CEY.  There’d been a design call that had ended a day or two ago, but CEY said if I could pull a proposal off by the end of the week, they would consider it.

The design call featured lots of color blocks, open and airy pieces (makes sense – it is the spring call).  Some of the pictures had a beach in the background, or sailor themed jackets.  You can see some of the slides that were included below:

In about a day I pulled together my design proposal, as you can see below:
Link

Or view above.
Things I Did Well:
  • I followed the design demands.
  • I’ve got a clear schematic, that is actually really well drawn, considering.
  • My sketch approximates colors that Classic Elite actually carries in Classic Silk
  • I’ve got a bio, my contact information, needles needed, how it’s worked up, and a lot of other information that helps them come to an informed decision.
  • Right Place, Right time.  I was late, but I just happened to submit a crochet pattern in the yarn they needed to fill in the CEY Crochet Booklet.  I was late, but somehow, I managed to be the thing they needed right then.  Being in the right place at the right time cannot be discounted.  And the only way to do that is to put yourself forward.  If I’d decided to put myself forward a week later, it would have been too late, I’m sure.

What I could have done better:

  • The Sketch seems rough, which it is.  I was rushed.  Also, I think she looks rather like a boy.  Not a bad thing, but not what I was going for.
  • I wish it was on one page.  One page is about all people have the attention for, luckily my second page is just a visual, and not much reading.  Acceptable.
  • The bio needs to be smaller.  Gosh, that took up so much space that I could have used for other things.
  • The swatch is not blocked very well, and is rather small and long.  I would have liked to have done something wider so it gave a better idea of fabric – but again, time.
Some nitpicky personal things:
  • you’ll notice the sleeves are shaped differently than is said in the sketch.  I figured out the way I imagined was a lot of fabric and didn’t look good.
  • Also, there’s only one sleeve length in the final pattern.  Grading one sleeve length was enough.  Don’t need long sleeves on a spring pattern either.
  • Shaping is done differently than described: I use short rows instead of shaping like the Cap-Sleeve Top by Mary Jane Hall that inspired the pattern.  This, I think, is a good thing.
  • The name changed.  This happens in about 50% of patterns, especially in magazines and cohesive collections like CEY puts out.  They have a theme, and the name will be changed to reflect the theme.  I think Newport is a better name than Whisper anyway.
So what are your thoughts?  What could have been done better?  What do you think worked well?  Are you surprised by anything?  How does the proposal compare to the original?

One last thing: I’m not the only one who is doing Post Mortems.  Check out this post inspired by my last Post Mortem.

Newport and it’s Namesake

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I wanted to share this story the day that it happened, but couldn’t, because it would have given things away for Classic Elite, and they like their surprises.  But now that the design is out, I can tell you about it.

I wrote the Newport design nearly ten months ago.  By October, I had put the design out of my mind, and was working on other things.  I got an email from Classic Elite; they needed me to resend my pattern and, by the way, here’s some of the pictures from the photoshoot for the sample.

The pictures, which you can see on Ravelry, or in the previous pictures in my blog, were stunning.  I could hardly contain myself.  I went to call my mother, after forwarding her the email (probably against the rules, as I’m not supposed to make public the details of my design until they publish it, but I thought my mother could be… mum. heh.)  I’d forgotten that my mother and my two grandmothers had taken a trip that weekend TO Newport.

You can’t see it so clearly in any of the pictures used for Newport, but in Bondi, pictured at right, you can see some of the resort/hotels/condos that are typical of the Newport Beaches.  While I didn’t know for certain, I mentioned to my mother and grandmothers that I *thought* they had done the photoshoot in Newport.

I should have known that was dangerous.  Before I could say more, my grandmothers had declared that they were going to look and see if they could find the stretch of beach where the pictures were taken.

My poor mother knows not to protest when my grandmothers go off on a tear.

Me?  I could hardly contain my laughter.  Mostly because had I been with them, I would have been searching the beaches too.

Inspirations and Influences: Newport

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Newport is one of the few designs that didn’t start with a stitch pattern, which is how I mostly design.  I get an idea for a pattern, and then I pull the shape of the thing around it.  Instead, Newport was directly inspired by Mary Jane Hall’s Cap Sleeve Top.  My room mate at the time had just created one in Ty-Dy Cotton, and I responded by creating my own in Ty Dy Wool.  I liked it, but I began wondering what would happen if I…?

About the same time, I had been admiring the patterns in New England Knits, specifically the pattern on the cover, the Middlefield Pullover.  I loved the asymmetrical line going down the side, I loved the open neck that showed the collarbones.  But… I wanted something in crochet.  And I wasn’t sure I wanted something quite as warm, or quite as fitted.

You can see where this is going, right?

The clincher was I had just finished a knit-along in Classic Silk, and after I had managed to pick the right size (I had forgotten I had lost so much weight, and used old measurements… silly me), I had a ball knitting the top up.  It just simply flew off the needles.  I had some classic silk left over, so I worked up a swatch in that, and sent it in.

The rest?  Well that’s another story that you’ll have to wait for.

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