Saturday was a big day for The Sweatshop of Love. We celebrated our three year anniversary! It was sunny and warm for the first time all week and I couldn’t have been more excited about it. I frosted the cupcakes, I got my knitting together, I grabbed some books to swap, and then realized there was still four hours until the party started.

Muffin Club

Although the blackberry muffins I just kind of made up the recipe for fell, they were still very delicious, and they were more delicious walking around the boulevards in the sunshine.

I Love Rachel

Something else that tastes good in the sunshine? Sure, I made cupcakes, but my love Rachel made this Sweatshop cake! How cute is that? I promised her I wouldn’t send it into Cake Wrecks, and of course it wouldn’t even make it on Cake Wrecks because it is so beautiful, but it had to go on a blog somewhere. Have I mentioned how much I love Rachel?

Tara, Gil, and Martin

It was breezy, it was warm most of the time, and we all stuffed our faces.

Rachael, Erin, and Colleen

Everyone got some knitting in and some Vitamin D. I’m really excited to get another knitting afternoon together very soon, so keep your eyes on your inbox for Sweatshop newsletters!

For me the fun Saturday didn’t stop there.

Sun Dried Tomato, Artichoke Heart, and Olive Deep Dish Pizza

A couple friends and I got together and between the five of us we threw together a green bean and beet salad and this delicious deep dish pizza (thanks Shawna!).

Today was full of classes! The last Sunday morning Sweater Club class, then I ran home, watched the beginning of the tigers game, then ran to Entrelac Workshop. Whew! All the knitting must have gotten my brain working because DAMN PT and I knocked dinner out of the park tonight.

The Best Fish Tacos EVER

After many many tries, PT and I have finally gotten our recipe for fish tacos down perfectly. Pan fry the fish brushed with a little oil and seasoned with salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Meanwhile, we slice up the avocado and mango. We heat up the taco shells by toast them on the stove top burner. We put down the avocado slices on the shells. When the fish is cooked we flake it and put it on the avocado slices, then put some spicy chunky salsa on the fish and fresh mango on the salsa. Before we eat them we squeeze on a little lime. Holy. Shit. Amazing. But it didn’t end there.

Fried Plantain Split

We pan fried up a plantain in butter, sliced it, and put ice cream on it. It was salty and sweet and SO good! I can’t figure out why this isn’t a thing at every restaurant. Warm and creamy.

‘Do you remember when we made fried plantain splits?’ PT just asked me, three hours after we ate them.

Yes, PT. Oh yes I do.

This weekend was great! Sunny, warm, full of knitting and friends and amazing food. And I’m going to sleep well tonight.

Related Sweatshop Love:

• July 5, 2009 -- Pieapalooza!
• May 1, 2009 -- Buona Terra
• April 16, 2009 -- Sweater Dress Blue Balls
• April 12, 2009 -- Real Chocolate Milk

You know when you are really young and you don’t know anything but what your parents let you know? Like, when they give you chocolate milk that is actually half white milk and half chocolate milk, and you think it is great because you have never had straight up chocolate milk. Then you go to your friend’s house and her mom gives you real straight from the carton chocolate milk and you freak the fuck out because it is the most amazing thing you have ever tasted.

I thought shrimp pizza was chocolate milk until I had real chocolate milk.

Banana Pepper, Sun Dried Tomato, Caramelized Onion, Spinach, and Three Cheeses Pizza

The feta was out of control. The sun dried tomatoes were perfect. I will never have fresh onion on a pizza ever again, having caramelized them for this pizza. Having had corn meal in a pizza crust at a dinner party last week, we threw in some corn meal and it was out of control. And this pizza sauce was the best pizza sauce I’ve ever made, with fennel seeds and red pepper flakes. I didn’t know this pizza existed in the world when I declared shrimp pizza the best pizza ever. I retract that statement.

I’m glad we made the best pizza ever because PT really needed it.

Rough Day in Baseball Land

We went to the Twins Sox game this afternoon and the Twins got it handed to them. If any boy needed a delicious pizza, it was PT.

My 8 Year Old Boy

The Tigers, on the other hand, came back to win in the bottom of the 8th inning from a 4 run deficit. My 8 year old boy totally called that comeback! I did not need a pizza. I still ate it, though.

Glorious Fish Tacos

I needed the best fish tacos PT ever made. Fresh mango!

PT's Easter Present, and Velma

I did not need half of this Reester Bunny.

B(kinda)LT

I did need this fake bacon, lettuce, tomato, and avocado sandwich.

Pudge Rodriguez

Pudge disagreed.

On the eve of a home stand against the Sox, full of the best pizza I’ve ever eaten (not to mention some cookies and cream ice cream), sitting in bed watching Celebrity Apprentice, life is good. My sweater dress is a sleeve and about 3 inches in length away from being finished! Pudge Rodriguez is digging through the trash and ripping up tissues, and I’d like to shake her until she goes to sleep, but you can’t have everything.

Related Sweatshop Love:

• November 30, 2009 -- Michigan is for EATERS
• March 30, 2009 -- Sweater Dress Success
• January 23, 2012 -- Anti-Kitty Blocking Mats
• March 9, 2011 -- Kimono Wr- YAAAWWWNNNN -ap Cardigan

My rewards program totally worked for my brain. I didn’t know if I could knit 26 inches for that skirt, but I knew I could knit 10 inches, and rewarded myself with a sleeve.

Sweater Dress Sleeve One!

Now I’m back on the skirt. I’m at about 13 inches and want to get to 18 before I knit the other sleeve. It actually looks like something now! The sleeve got me excited…

Pudge Rodriguez

but it blew Pudge Rodriguez away! She just couldn’t handle how awesome it looks.

And that is about the position I took after the Mexican Feast PT and I made on Saturday.

Fish Taco+Burrito=Love

One of PT’s specialties is the fish taco. We got tilapia super cheap at Emilio’s, cooked it up, threw it in the taco with salsa (with added fresh mango!) and avocado. The burrito has become my specialty! This one was with black eyed peas, tomato, guacamole, some of that home made mango salsa, and spinach.

Plantains!

I even fried up some plantains in butter for a side, which I haven’t done in a long time but want to do every day for the rest of my life.

Raspberry and Blackberry Pancakes with Potatoes

Not to mention we started the day with raspberry and blackberry pancakes with potatoes. We ate well Saturday.

Sunday I just couldn’t keep my tuna helper concoction to myself anymore.

Allyson's Tuna Helper Creation

I made it for PT and he loved it! I traded out the cheddar for pepper jack and it was even better. A little crushed black pepper! Love.

Shrimp Fried Rice and Spring Rolls

We rounded Sunday out with shrimp and veggie fried rice and spring rolls. In retrospect, I would have slapped that leftover rice on another shrimp pizza, but it was good with asparagus, broccoli, carrots and green pepper, too.

The soup of the weekend?

Purple Soup

Red potato and back bean with carrots and onions. Served with a hunk of freshly baked bread, of course. It is purple and delicious!

Off to Lula for dinner. Reliving all this food has made me really hungry.

Related Sweatshop Love:

• April 12, 2009 -- Real Chocolate Milk
• March 22, 2009 -- Entrelac In My Heart
• December 15, 2009 -- Burn!
• November 7, 2009 -- Homemade Tuna Helper Recipe