Reading and Cooking...

I need to get my act together. I need to get serious about getting healthy, particularly in light of the re-do of the PVI (pulmonary vein isolation, a/k/a cardiac ablation) and my hip injury, which has seriously impacted my physical activity. 

I spent about 3 hours yesterday listening to the replay of a workshop that I missed (what with my sister and all...) on hip labral tears. It was really interesting, and I'm eager to know more. 

And it's not that I want to go vegan. I love cheese too much, honestly. But I think if I can "partially" vegan it all, that might help. I do feel lighter when I eat less meat. 

I asked Kid #2 for the recipe for the bean salad we had when we were in Kentucky. Wrapped in sprouted or whole wheat tortillas, they were a great on-the-go lunch with an apple as we traveled. 

So here's my take on it. Vegans, feel free to add all the red/green/yellow peppers and red or yellow onions you want. 

THE BEAN SALAD:

1 (15 oz can) EACH: Garbanzo beans, kidney beans, black beans (your choice, but have at least 2-3 kinds)

1 (4 oz) can Yellow corn

3 stalks celery, chopped fine

1/2 cucumber, peeled and sliced into chunks

1 small can EACH: sliced bamboo shoots and water chestnuts

1 bunch spring onions, chopped white parts and green parts

Penzey's Sunny Paris & Mural of Flavor spice blends, to taste

Salt & pepper

Field + Farmer Lemon Garlic Basil dressing (or your favorite vinaigrette)

Drain the canned veggies and rinse. Dump into a large bowl (I used a Rubbermaid bowl with a lid so I could shake it all together). Chop the celery fine, slice the spring onions, with the white part, and about 4-5 green ends chopped for spice and color. Add them to the bowl with the cucumber. 

Drizzle vinaigrette on the salad, add the salt, pepper and herb blends to taste. If you're using a lidded bowl, put the lid on and shake, shake, shake. 

NOTES: Refrigerate for best taste blending, but you can also eat this right away. Think about light and dark red kidney beans, canelli beans, Great Northerns, black-eyed peas, pinto beans...the combinations are pretty endless. 

Mushrooms: I had sauteed mushrooms, so I added them to my wraps.

Dressing: Don't drown this!!! Go light on the dressing and remember you can always add a teaspoon more. You can't take it away...at least not easily!

Original Version: The Kid uses red onions, yellow peppers, chopped parsley, sometimes chopped mint. Homemade vinaigrette, too. You could toss some previously cooked tofu in there if you have it handy. 

Tomatoes: I wouldn't, unless you have several people eating this. I'm the only one, so the tomatoes actually have too much water in them; by the time I get thru this salad, they'll be mush. 

Cheese or avocado: As you dish this up, chunk up an avocado and add it to the wrap, or if you're inclined, sprinkle on some shredded Asiago cheese. 

Other veggies: Go nuts... add leftover chunks of boiled potatoes. Add cooked rice, farro, barley, quinoa - whatever you have. Get spicy and try different peppers: yellow banana peppers, a jalapeno if you're feeling brave... Cut up olives and add them. Shred carrots (they'll be better and easier in a wrap if they're shredded), canned or fresh peas. Add fresh parsley or basil, in season. Sliced radishes would be amaaaaaaaaaaaazing in this dish!

You can even cook up spaghetti squash or regular pasta (your choice) and then top it with this salad as a wonderful single-course meal. Technically, except for the cucumber, you could warm this bean salad up. Serve with some crusty bread and then maybe some berries as a dessert, and you're good to go. 

Anyway, I know that here it's still cold, the snow remains on the ground, but the object was that I'd have something easy and relatively light to eat after teaching my evening yoga classes. I don't like to teach after I've eaten, because I don't just stand there and call out poses. I was getting tired of eggs (one can only eat so many), I've been trying to avoid deli meat (inflammation, sugar and all the preservatives), and was kind of over yogurt and the original PBJ...

I remembered how much we enjoyed these wraps, and while my wrapping skill is minimal, I'm ok with practicing. 

Orchids blooming...

One of the cattleya plants is blooming. The other one has a flower stalk with buds, but it'll be a while. And we have three of the phalenopsis in bloom. 

The cattleya does have a scent, but I can't smell it. It seems that the return of my scent was only temporary. I have about 50% of it back, but it was only 100% after that huge dose of steroids and antihistamines, and it lasted about a month. 

I can't remember what color the next one is...We have the pink one here, a yellow one, and ... my mind is blank! Anyway, that should be about 3 more weeks till that one blooms. 

The Chicago Orchid Show is on now, through the end of March. Hubby and I decided the temptation was too great. We try to avoid going to the local orchid house, because we don't have a lot of room for the plants. 

The Knitting...

Not much to report. I've started the toe on the blue striped sock. Not much to look at right now. Just round and round. I can tell you that the crazy-tight tension is kind of a pain when you're decreasing,but I can't manage to loosen it much. 

Knitting always tells you how you're feeling, regardless of what you tell yourself. 

I should have that sock finished this week, and will be able to start frogging the finished one shortly thereafter. That one should go quickly. I need to remember that I did Eye of Partridge heel, so that the heels match! Though I've done socks before with mis-matched heels. Maybe I can start a trend? 

Even though the "about-to-be-frogged" first sock has an absolutely perfect star toe, I chose a regular round toe for Sock #2. The toe instructions I pulled had the needles in a different order (the #1 needle was one over from what I had) and I didn't realize it...so I re-wrote the instructions. It wasn't too hard, except I had to remind myself:

SSK = left-leaning decrease

K2TOG = right-leaning decrease

It's important, because you don't want to put the toe decreases on the top of the foot and the bottom (hey, it happens!), and you don't want your lefts to go right, etc. It won't look right and likely won't feel right on your toes. 

The Reading...

I'm currently reading "Pastrix," by Nadia Bolz-Weber. She's fantastic. I've watched many of her videos, and honestly, I can hear her in the words on my Kindle screen. In my recent experience, it's pretty rare to read someone's autobiography and hear them as they actually speak, if I've had the experience of seeing them in person or on the computer. They tend to get more formal when they're writing, which to me stifles their personality. 

She doesn't. It's right there as if you're watching her on Facebook. I love that. 

My vicar gave me Martha W. Hickman's "Healing After Loss," which is organized in a calendar year; you can literally pick the date you want to start reading this. I got it a few days after my sister died, I started my journey with this book on her death date. I'll work through the year. 

And of course, I couldn't ignore Thich Nhat Hanh's books, "No Death, No Fear," and "How to Live When a Loved One Dies." I haven't cracked those, having actually just had them delivered today. 

In the week we were waiting for her wake, I downloaded true fluff... Literal romance novels. I occasionally indulge in this stuff as a "brain cleaner." I tried some new authors. Some of the romance scenes were totally overwrought, but what do I know? All I knew at the time was that I wanted to read, and it had to be pretty much nothing I had to think about. I couldn't even concentrate on my beloved mysteries. That was too much. 

Random Picture...

This is Frozen Niagara in Mammoth Caves. It was one of the hikes we took. I'm a bit claustrophobic, but it wasn't too bad, considering!  The lighting was a bit weird; they didn't want us to use flash, because of the tiny critters who live in the caverns. 

There was lighting there, which was compatible with the tiny critters, and my phone camera did a pretty good job. I did carry the bigger EOS with me, but didn't always have time to haul it out of the bag while we were in the caves. The rangers kept us moving along pretty quickly. I mean, you got to experience the caves, but they weren't dallying. I was able to get the big camera out for the Rotunda pictures, because they let us spread out in that vast space. I got all tingly hearing them talk about how they held concerts (pre-covid) in the space at the holidays...Wow...

I tended to use the EOS for the outside shots. The only time I didn't was when we took that mis-matched hike to Eagle Falls...the one labeled "moderate" that was really "advanced." Kid #2 is still going to pay for that one! 

This trip was one of my favorites...it was a quick one, but we did have fun. 

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Private sessions (in-person or Zoom), small group classes (in-person or Zoom) and all our classes are open for drop-ins. 

The Nation Exhales

 Over 50% of the United States has just exhaled... 

Joe Biden is our President-Elect and Kamala Harris is our VP-Elect. 

Maybe we'll get some sleep. 

And I'm going to say this right here and right now: I don't CARE that conservatives or Trumpers are upset. Don't. Care. Not. One. Whit. 

As they said to us, "Get over it."

It was a long, hard road. There were questions and there was stress. There was a lot of breath-holding. 

Sanity has been restored to the White House and yes - we have a CRAP-TON of work to do. We need to celebrate this weekend. Absolutely. 

But then realize what needs to be done. And get to doing it. Here's my wish list (off the top of my head, in no particular order).

• Make Roe settled law - no more "we're going to overturn it" crap
• Rebuild the Voting Rights Act
• Pass the ERA
• Balance the Supreme Court
• Overturn Citizens United
• Restore Environmental Controls
• Green Energy
• Clean House...
• Undo the Billionaire Tax Breaks
• Secure Social Security & Medicare
• Fix the USPS

The Knitting...

So I set aside the Kid Afghan for a brief minute. I started some quickie wash cloths for Xmas gifts. I have to order the soap to go with them, but they're really easy to whip out. I have 4 more to do and they'll go quickly. 

I also have to get skippy on the baby afghan and then get even MORE skippy on the Kid Afghan. 

I really want to make a pair of "pedicure socks." Those are basically socks with no heels or toes. Today, it's a gorgeous 70-degree day and we're about to go on a walk and take some pictures of what's left of the fall colors. I got another - what may be final for 2020 - pedicure. I don't do them in the winter because my feet freeze in flip flops. 

But with a pair of pedicure socks, I could do it without frozen toes! That may be next in January. 

The Cooking...

So I'm almost done with my Whole30. And I found a few great recipes to add to my toolkit. Though tonight, I'd rather go face-first into some chocolate (see first section of blog!).

I love Avgo Limono Soup - Greek Lemon Chicken Soup. But on Whole30, it's a no-go because of the orzo pasta (or rice - I've had it both ways). But I found a Paleo version, and this is what I did:

Lemon Chicken Soup

2 scallions, diced

2 carrots, sliced thin

2 stalks celery, sliced thin

3 cloves garlic, diced

4 qts chicken or veggie stock

2 lbs. bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs

1 sprig fresh Rosemary

1 tsp EACH: Oregano, basil

Salt & Pepper to taste

1 lemon

1 pkg. frozen spinach (chopped variety)

2 T. your favorite oil (ghee, avocado oil, olive oil)

In a large soup pot, add your oil and heat it up. Add your carrots and celery, stirring (heat is about med-hi). Let them brown a bit. Then add your scallions, let them get translucent. This is about 7-8 minutes total. Then add garlic and get it a little soft. 

Add your stock to the pot. Nestle the chicken in there, add the Rosemary, oregano & basil and put a lid on it. Turn down to simmer, and let it simmer about 25 minutes. 

When the chicken is done, pull it out of the pot and set aside to cool slightly. 

Roll the lemon on the counter to make it juicier. Slice in half and juice. Then use a micro-plane and zest it. Set aside. 

Take the meat off the chicken bones, and chop it. Discard bones & skin, returning meat to pot. Add the block of frozen spinach and put the lid back on. Simmer about 5-8 minutes, till spinach loosens up and heats up. 

Add the lemon juice and zest. Add salt & pepper to taste. This serves 8. And you can either freeze the extra or just cut the recipe in half. 

There's an awesome-looking chicken & artichoke soup I want to try. Though it was nice today, it's not going to last and soups are very comforting, whether you're on Whole30 or not!

The Random Picture...

Since I haven't had a guitar lesson since March, and I haven't been able to arrange another one because the morons in our county can't behave and our rolling positivity rate is over 14% -- and our two hospitals are screaming that beds are getting scarce...

I decided to polish my nails. This is Ella Mila color "Yacht Club" which I bought years ago when the first female Dr. Who was announced - this is the color of her TARDIS. 

It's only coincidental that it's also blue for the new Democratic president. Honest, I didn't do this for Election Day. I was a judge, and I'm impartial that day.

It's a pretty color. And I'm a klutz at doing nails. I'm out of practice. 

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Happy Easter!

For most of the Christian planet, Easter is NEXT Sunday... For our house, Easter was yesterday. For about 8 or 9 years, my mom has had Easter and Thanksgiving the week before each event (usually the Sunday before) so that with the various in-laws, grandparents, etc., folks aren't shoving an egg in their faces at her house and dashing off to the next event. 

It makes sense. Hubby and I have done the bulk of the cooking for lo these many years, and frankly - for us, we like it because on the ACTUAL holiday day, we can vegetate. 

What was the menu? Glad you asked... 
Ham
Cheesy Scalloped Potatoes
Avocado Deviled Eggs
Sausage (mom did these)
Nadif (a strata-like dish that I'm inheriting next year)
Homemade Bread (from Kid #2)
Veggie tray (my sister)
Hren (pronounced like you're clearing your throat: beet + horseradish relish)
Green onions
Vegan Lasagna
Potica & cupcakes

Here's what some of it looked like, before the "vultures" got to it! LOL 

Vegan Lasagna: That was a first for me. I looked up a recipe and then added to it (because I just can). This used 4 small-to-medium zucchini, hand sliced because we couldn't find our mandoline. I also used a medley of mushrooms and leeks; mushrooms included cremini, shitake, and baby portabellos. The sauce was a vegan, sugar-free one I found at Fresh Thyme (yeah, from a jar. I'm stunned myself). The "cheese" was made from blanched almonds, nutritional yeast, basil pesto I made (minus the cheese), and salt/pepper. Then, I bought vegan Parmesan cheese (which are 3 words I would never have thought I'd string together). It was good, really. Everyone including my brother tried it. Except my mother, sister, and BIL - who are notorious "no mushrooms" folks, so they do get a pass. Everyone seemed to like it or at least not gag. 

I tried some vegan cheese, a slice of "American cheese." It tasted like...nothing. It was cheese texturally, and I suppose that if I closed my eyes, and shut off my taste buds, I could "imagine" it was real cheese. 

I'm just  not interested in pursuing that at this moment, though. I'll suffer through "no cheese," though I will say that the "ricotta" I made with the almonds was surprisingly tasty. 

Next up were the Cheesy Scalloped Potatoes. Seriously, take your favorite from-scratch recipe and add a whack of cheese (your choice of cheese - ours was a mixture of Italian Sharp and Parm because that's what we had in the freezer). The cheese goes into the bechamel sauce you're making (flour & onions & butter + milk). Add more cheese on top just because you can. 

Hubby - for a brief moment - contemplated adding bacon to this, but felt that with the ham, Nadif, and sausage, we were rather "porked out." But the nephews all voted YES on the bacon for the next holiday. 

Maybe by that time I can eat cheese again? Who knows?

So the next up is the Nadif. I'm probably not spelling it right, because it's a dish I grew up with, with one of those "recipes" where whoever wrote it actually knows what they're doing and has probably left out a few significant steps. So when my mom re-wrote it, it went from an index card to 3 pages... Shhhhhhhhhh - secret here. She got distracted and forgot to add the cornmeal. 

Everyone ate it anyway, and nobody commented that it was missing. 

This is served chilled. It takes a good bit of a day to make it, but it's worth it. Only at Easter. It's pork butt (we use a small ham), green onions, day-old Vienna bread, eggs (LOTS of eggs), cornmeal, salt & pepper. Oh, and the cornmeal. It's labor intensive because it's all got to be chopped by hand. She takes forever, I'm not gonna lie. Hubby did it for her last year and it took him about 1 - 2 hours. 

Next year, it's all us. Which is fine by me. I believe the old recipes need to be handed off while the prior cook is still alive. (Dad, I'm looking at you - dying before you gave me the Mushroom Soup recipe? Not cool!! And Granny, what did you forget to tell me about your dumplings, since mine are like bricks??)

Then we had the Avocado Deviled Eggs. This one, I tweaked big-time. Because I made my own mayo and added a few things to it. 

I found the recipe on the internet, and thought it would be cool. How was I to know that my sister's violently allergic to avocado?? I owe her deviled eggs, the regular style...

Take your eggs and boil them however you want. I used the Instant Pot and it has changed my life. It takes just about as long in that as it does in the pan, and I can peel these much easier! 

Slice 'em in half, yolks in a bowl, whites on a platter. Dice up an avocado (peel and seed it first, please) and add it to the bowl. Salt, pepper, cumin, Tabasco sauce (I used the green, milder one). About 2 tablespoons mayo. Mash or whip it up (I whipped because I was doing the "fancy piping" thing this time). Stuff the whites and then sprinkle with paprika. 

I used yellow mustard in mine, too, for additional bite. The little kids were soooooooo excited to see "green eggs" with our ham, and even more excited that they were, in the words of my nephew K: "GUACAMOLE EGGS!!" Even the somewhat snooty niece L was sort of impressed. 

I'll stick the mayo recipe in the next blog entry. 

Finally, potica. And nope. You're not getting the recipe for this. Unless you're family. And you can ask anyone who makes it and you should get the same answer. 

My potica story: since I've been on this metabolism thing, where I'm essentially resetting my entire gut? I've undergone a sea change of sorts. I'm no longer craving sugar. 

At all. I mean, my MIND is, but my body? It's "meh" right now. And potica is my favorite, favorite, FAVORITE thing. And I had a little nub of it - like one of those crusts there. And I was ok with that. 

This is huge. 

Immense. 

Bigly...

I've never been on a "detox" that has actually worked. And it looks like this one will be The One. Finally. At my age, I don't want to fool with my health. I need to get on - and STAY on - a healthy path. And I've found it. 


So, what did we wear for Easter?

Parkas. 

This was the view as we drove off to church. It snowed several inches, with a slushy mix thrown in just for fun. 

Yes, I know. I just planted my garden... Red and green romaine, leeks, carrots, radishes, borage, basil, parsley, oregano. 

All under covers now, because it's going to be crummy for one more night (sun is shining now and it's about 49 degrees out. 

Tuesday and Wednesday, it'll be in the 70s and then Thursday, all day t-storms and crap. 

Welcome to spring in Illinois. That wasn't "thunder snow" you heard in the Chicago area. It was my mom, cursing up a storm at the weather... 

The Knitting...

It occurred to me that I haven't updated you in a while. The Close To You for the auction is done and sent off. 

I haven't heard about its eventual new owner yet. Will keep you posted on that. I think it turned out nicely, though I'm now over the MadTosh Copper Pink yarn. And I have a lot of it left. Since it's 100% merino, with no nylon, no socks will be made, even though it's fingering weight. Maybe a quick hat? We'll see. I already have a shawl in this, so I don't need another one. The glitter doesn't show up here, but in person, it's really pretty. 

And I started another travel sock. This is in my bag. It's one of the Opal yarns in my stash, and honestly, I don't know which one. Illusion, I think. I think it's colorway 9686. I'll double check that for you. It's very cheery and it'll make nice socks. 

I'm using DPNs again. It's just my default. I do have 9" circulars and I need to get back with those. After these. 

I'm still holding the Green Traveling Socks. Remember, if you will, that I need to snip the one and reknit the toe. And I'm almost at the heel for the mate, so I'm just keeping those at home right now. 

I'm planning and researching my next knitting project. I have several shawls in the mix, some UFOs and I may  have baby knitting; we'll know in a month or so. 

All of this is from current stash. I'm really trying to plow through some of that, though I've gotten diverted a couple of times by yummy yarns and fantastic patterns. But I really do have to focus. It's my own thing; if you're a knitter who does otherwise? That's cool. That's knitting. I just feel like I need to hunker down and get that stash pared a bit. 

Artwork...

So I'd finally gotten the statue that Kid #1 made for me into the studio. For months, she resided on my living room floor. Now, she's where she's supposed to be. 

This is his interpretation of my studio's logo. She weighs a ton, and Hubby put felt feet under that bottom saucer so that she wouldn't scratch the floor. 

I love what he did with the texture and the patinas. When you see her, you really don't notice all of that till you look for a moment. 

Our logo is kind of "floaty" and I think he captured that right off. He's an ingenious fabricator and I like that she does look like she's hovering over the floor. 

It's a great piece of art, and long after I'm gone from the studio (on that far-away date), I'll have this and another piece he made for me to remind me. 

Tippi...

I'm putting it out there that I'm frightened for my girl... As you may notice, she's got a growth under her right cheek. A big one. And it's not going down, with antibiotics and turmeric doses. 

The vet may want to do surgery. 

Which has its own set of terrors, as she's now 11 years old. 

Her left cheek is fine; but the other one is very troublesome. I've reached out to our rescue group for prayers. She's my treasured dog; not only because she's a therapy dog, but because she had a crappy beginning and I think she deserves a great "golden years" period. 

Vet today at 5:20... I'm kind of biting my nails.

Asking for prayers, good vibes, healing energy  - whatever you've got. If you've ever had a "heart dog," you'll know what I mean. I've been lucky to have had more than one, and this girl is my last hurrah. Once these 3 dogs go to the Rainbow Bridge, our lives as dog owners will be no more. Looking at our ages, and the demands of dogs (if you take care of them extremely well, which we do - ask our vet!)? We know that this pack is our last hurrah. 


Random Picture...

Being a small business owner, I can't usually take advantage of perks and goodies to give away. But I splurged a bit, and I'm hoping it'll garner some students. I'm probably guilty of being too eager, but at a recent college health fair, I gave away cut-rate coupons for classes, had a drawing for specific 3-card class passes, and gave away this "grand prize" of an embroidered yoga bag + mat. I'm pretty sure that the embroidery cost me more than the bag & mat combo. Hubby picked it up for me and he didn't say anything. Just filed the receipt in our envelope. A local embroidery place did it for me on the quick, so no logo. Just the name, in a lovely blue thread to match the logo. And the gal at the desk said she'd come to class! Win-win if it happens. 

Reading & Risotto...

I totally forgot to give you the recipe for my Shrimp & Pea Risotto the other day. We got to talking... 

I made this the other day. 

Shrimp & Pea Risotto
4 c. water
2 Knorr Veggie cubes
1/4 t. salt
Black pepper to taste
Penzey's Tuscan Sunset Blend (about 1 tsp.)
1 c. frozen peas
1 c. chopped leeks or shallots
2 c. shrimp, cooked, cut into pieces
1 1/2 c. shredded cheese, divided*
2 c. Arborio rice
3 T. butter
1 T. bottled garlic
1/4 c. cream or half-and-half

Heat the 4 c. of water to boiling and add the Knorr cubes. Give it a stir and set aside.

In a heavy 3-qt. saucepan, melt the butter over medium-high heat. Turn the heat to medium, and add the leeks (or shallots), stirring and allowing them to cook till translucent. Don't brown them! 

Add the Arborio rice, and stir to coat with the butter. Add 1 c. (about) of the broth and stir, keeping the rice at a simmer, and stirring consistently (not necessary to keep stirring, but you do have to stir quite frequently). 

When the rice has absorbed about 90% of that water, add another cup or so. Keep stirring. Watch your heat; you don't want it to boil - just staying at simmer. 

Before you add the 3rd cup of water, add the salt, pepper, and Penzey's spices. Stir, and then add the garlic. 

Add the 3rd cup of water, keep stirring. This is a good time to meditate or talk on the phone with someone, but don't forget to keep stirring!

By now, you'll start to get a feel for how it's thickening up. Taste the rice; is it al dente - I mean, does it have a bit of chew, but tastes done? Probably not, but that's ok - you need to know what it tastes like at a couple of stages. 

Add the 4th cup of water when 90% of the prior cup is absorbed. See where we're going here? It's about letting the rice fatten up and absorb the water. 

You MAY need a 5th cup - it will depend upon your rice. If you do, heat up water (don't add cold!), and add it, about 1/2 cup at a time, at this point. 

Add the peas and stir around for a few minutes. Add the shrimp, stirring around. Add the cream, stirring around. Taste, and adjust seasonings now, but wait on salt (if you think it needs it). 

Add 1 c. of the shredded cheese and (yes, again) stir around, to get it all melty and lovely. 

One more stir, then top with the rest of the cheese. Let it sit for 3 minutes and serve. 

I like to add a bit of pepper to my dish, and the other night, we had fresh French bread.

This is really great the next day, heated up. For us, it serves about 6 people. 

Now, the asterisks... The cheese we use is a blend of a couple of them. I had Parmesan, Asiago, and Romano. You can use whatever you want, but please use REAL cheese, not the stuff in the green cardboard thingie. 

You can shake it up: use asparagus instead of peas. Use mushrooms instead of shrimp. 

Enjoy experimenting with it. 

Reading...

Still working on that Marilla of Green Gables book. It's really addictive, so I'm thinking I'll finish it this weekend, while waiting for cookies to be done. Kid #2 is coming over to make the Pineapple Crescents - I'm late, because I've already given out two trays... 

I'm also trying to find the birthday card I had for Kid #2. It was a good one, and I haven't been able to find it. I'd bought it months ago, when I saw it. Of course. 

And I think this weekend, I'll start the Christmas cards. 

Knitting...

The Terribly Simple is plodding along. It's going to be nice; and I'm happy that I'm plowing through to the finish, but I do wish it was done already. 

First off, I do want to wear it. 

Second off, I want to go back to socks. 

Not sure what I'll do next; finish a pair, probably. I need to get that moving because I want to start wearing some of the ones I have that are singles. 

Random Picture...

The tray for my guitar teacher. The plate for the eye doctor was already handed out. 

Let's see... 4 cookies of each type. Starting at top left, ginger snaps, brown butter salted caramel, white chocolate cranberry. 

Next row is date balls, chocolate shortbread (under the red bow) and oatmeal. 

Next row is potica, Snow on the Mountain and Lemon Cherry.

Next row is an errant date ball, filled cookies and fruity oatmeal. 

Last row is Jewish Honey Cookies, M & M cookies and chocolate chunk cookies. 

My guitar teacher was very happy. I got a thumbs-up on the brown butter salted caramel. And a thumbs-up on the chewy version of the Lemon Cherry cookies. 

Once I make the Pineapple Crescents, I'm done. Baking for Christmas 2018 will be officially over. Hubby forgot about the Apple Bread... I don't think my teacher noticed. 

What's on your baking list? My teacher said that he feels like my cookies are my own ministry. His granny did "the ministry of the potica." Bakers know what this means. 

Saucy Kind of Day...

What happens when you pull stuff out of the freezer to make sauce? Let me explain...

We had a bounty of tomatoes at one point (not this year) and we cut them up and froze them. We even had cherry tomatoes coming out our ears in October and up to the first frost. Obviously more than we could eat, and people were starting to look at us funny when we'd bring yet another bag of tomatoes to church or to work. 

So we spent a weekend cutting them up and freezing them. We knew we wanted to make sauce, but we didn't have the time. We also got peppers and cut them up. It seemed like we had "only a few" bags of each, but we had...several. 


We made one batch. Today, Hubby thought we could squeeze in a second batch before I went off to teach. I set it up and started everything cooking. 

Except I grabbed two bags of peppers and one of tomato. I meant to grab 2 tomatoes, 1 pepper. Hey, it all was yellow and red, and I couldn't really tell what was what. I mean, really - look at this stuff in my sink. I can tell some things, but not everything. 

I cooked it all up like I was making spaghetti sauce, and all was well till I tasted it. WOWZA - lots of pepper in there. Mind you, sweet pepper, but pepper nonetheless. We're marking this as "Pizza Sauce" and the kids will get this and so will my mom. I don't like peppers. I like a bit of pepper. Not a lot. 


There was a lot of fiddling to get the sauce to where I thought it was "edible." Hubby loves it. I do not. 

The good new? I now have freezer space! 

As you can see, it's a nice robust-looking sauce. I used Penzey's Tuscan Spice blend. It took quite a lot. Leeks. Ten cloves of garlic. Parsley from the garden (stole it from the caterpillar!), and a large stalk of Rosemary from the garden. Salt, pepper. 4 tablespoons of vegan broth powder to give it some oomph, and some lemon juice (recommended by the canning instructions). Then I tasted it. 

And added about 3 tablespoons of coconut sugar to tame that acidic bite of the peppers. My dad used to use sugar in his sauce when needed. I hope the lemon juice still keeps it nice and bright. 

It went into a water bath for 25 minutes, so I'm pretty sure it's nice and tight. But still too peppery... Come to think of it, I probably should have added a couple stalks of celery. That might have mitigated the pepper. 

The First Soup of the Season happened yesterday...It was a chilly day and we thought soup would be good. Chicken with veggies, and I added a brown rice + quinoa mixture to it. 

The simple soup makes enough for 2 dinners. We've been trying to really cut down on what we're cooking. It's just the two of us and it's crazy to keep stuff in the freezer till we forget it's there. 

You know the drill. We're used to cooking for a family, and then as we "empty the nest," we have a hard time changing those cooking habits to be more reasonable with our food. 

So anyway, I also made biscuits. They're sour cream + rosemary from the garden. They were pretty good. The sour cream kind of was a bit dense, but it worked out ok. I did a "drop biscuit" but I rolled them into balls and then slightly flattened them. They may have been less dense if I didn't handle them as much, but there you go. 

So that was my first "meal of regular food." I'd been off rice, grains, dairy...trying to eat as cleanly as I could. Of course, I still didn't lose a pound, but I was trying to re-set my stomach. For the most part, it worked. 

You'll be happy to know that my tummy is now where it belongs. No more 50-yard dash to the bathroom...

Knitting...

The Emergency One Day Hat has, so far, taken 3 days of solid knitting on that thing. I can see where it's a one-day hat if (a) you knit faster than I do; and (b) you have nothing else to do but knit that day. 

Unfortunately, I have a life. So the hat's taken a bit longer, but I'm ok with that. I'm not on a deadline, except for the mitts. 

It's actually a bit farther along than this. This shot was this afternoon, before I taught my class. Now, I've got both rows of ridges, and I'm on the part just before I shape the crown. 

I'll pick up the mitts this week and finish the last one off, then I'm done with that project. 

I'm really liking the Encore yarn. I'm seriously jazzed with this, and it's my go-to baby yarn for afghans. This is the first hat I've made with it, and I think I may make another, just for stash. Or I'll knit up a couple of them, for Xmas for the kids. But then I have to knit 2 more for the young boys. Oy. This could be a project or a nightmare. 

Or I could knit myself another hat - I'm pretty sure I can "biggen" this one up a bit. It's so far, super simple. I'm thinking of adding an I-cord "pom-pom" on top of this one. Don't know yet. We'll see when I get there. 

I've got two projects pulled to do next: a scarf frogged (formerly in stash) which will be a prayer shawl, and I'm going to finish that hand-dyed scarf from the one worsted weight thing I have, the "Precious Metals" one. I'm nearly through the ball on that one, so I'd like to get it done as long as we're staring scarf-weather in the face. 

Halloween gone to the dogs...

We haven't dressed the dogs yet, but that's coming this week. Late, but it is what it is. Anyway, Hubby asked me to go to Home Depot (I was running around anyway), and "get the wolves" he'd found. He RARELY asks for decorations; in fact, he puts up with my propensity to want to decorate the outside of the house, which means he does all the work. 

I didn't find wolves. They were greyhounds. He's bummed because he wanted the wolves because, apparently, they howl. Like we don't have enough noise around here with three dogs in the first place? 

I get it. And wolves - skeletal, red-light-eyed wolves - would've been majorly cool. But the greyhounds ain't bad. Except one of them is like our Quinn. Every. Bump. Made. It. Bark. Every single stop. Every single start... It was a noisy ride home. Here they are in the front bed. When you walk past them, their jaws snap, they "bark" and their eyes glow. 

In addition, you may notice the purple glass globes with witch hats on them. They actually are solar lights, and glow orange at night. We're not done yet. The ghosts are up, around the front and back yard, and we still have The Great Pumpkin, our skeletal owls and the skeletal flamingos. 

Yes, I like Halloween. If I could, I'd dress up and hand out treats. But I'm working that day; though I did get the boss to let us dress up "as long as it's not too crazy." 

Yay!!!

Oh, and I got a raven! I'd be totally jazzed if it quoted Edgar Allen Poe. It does not. 

But it does caw and move its head and it's got beady red eyes. And it says, "Are you sure you want to go in there??" I'll move the stake a little closer to the front door, so that the trick-or-treat gang can get the full effect. 

No, I'm not 12 years old. I just want a bit of levity. After this past week, when strong women I know have been either screaming in fury at their televisions, or curled up in a ball reliving the horrors that they themselves experienced while listening to another man-baby have a meltdown because he didn't get his way? 

Oh, I'm sorry: a liar-man-baby who was groomed to take this seat on the Supreme Court and systematically reverse everything that Agent Orange and the Republican goons haven't yet overturned... That man-baby. 

Sorry - I can barely watch his testimony. My father was a drunk. He finally saw the light and got into recovery, but that's another chapter in the novel. My point is, this dude is a functioning alcoholic. The rages. The inability to accept his part in anything negative. The fury and conspiracy theories...textbook, kids. Textbook. 

So if I want to decorate my yard and kind of block it all out? Who's going to blame me. 

Random Picture...

As we started the sauce, of course we needed a canine supervisor. Because, you know, a random bit of food might hit the floor. 

Regardless of the fact that she doesn't eat veggies of any kind, Raisa needed to make sure we did it up right. 

Yes, in the walkway. Where every good Husky goes when they're watching for the safety of their humans. 

Yes, when the stick blender was activated, she was singing. Singing the song of her people... 

Crazy dog. 

How about you? How was your weekend? Do anything fun?

I'd love to chat with you about what you're reading; what you're crafting; what's going on with you. Join me! 

Start-itis Strikes Again...

So this thing leaped onto my needles... You remember that I had that panic with the Expressions Fiber Arts yarn and had to search high and low for more Stone Tulips just for a bind off? 

Well, I've got oodles left. So after trolling Ravelry for a long time, I found a relatively simple wrist warmer pattern. I did struggle with the choices for a while. 

Pulse warmer?

Lace glove?

Wrist/arm length?

Fingers? 

Thumb hole or not?

So I looked at the yarn, and since it's relatively busy, I nixed the idea of lace. 

The person who's getting these barely wears coats, and I'm taking a gamble on even making the wristlets. So, no fingers; length just past the wrist - like a pulse warmer. And not too busy with the pattern so that you don't see it "move" when you look at it. 

Much like the avocado + lime green shag carpet in my bedroom as a kid...but I digress...

Simple K2, P2 rib, but of course I can't leave well enough alone. I really dislike starting a K2, P2 rib right off the bat. So I added 3 rows of knit to the beginning. A teeny-tiny curl adds a little interest. 

I may add that same curl to the end; I'll have to see how I feel. It might be uncomfortable, so I don't want to do that. This should use most of the yarn, which is cool. 

The rest goes into the "Oddments" bag for eventual Franken-socks. 

I should be able to whip these out for the birthday; I also didn't want to get into something so complex that I was "knitting under pressure." 

Knitting is fun, meditative and creative. So that's how I want to keep it if I can. 

A Little More Celery...

So I made some tuna salad for lunch the other day. For me, I like celery, hot mustard and dill relish. Used my homemade mayo and Penzey's spices. 

I pulled a couple ribs of celery, thinking they looked pretty slim. Till I started chopping. Wow - lots of celery. 

How bad could that be? Love the crunch it gives to salads and one of my favorite snacks is "ants on a log" - celery, peanut butter and raisins. 

Here's a little nutrition lesson for those who may have a throw-back idea that celery is "rabbit food" that women eat when they want to lose weight...

Celery has fiber, even though it's mostly water. Rich in Vitamin K, it also has folate, Vitamin A and Vitamin C, as well as potassium. It supports digestion, has possible anti-inflammatory properties, and it has a low glycemic index, meaning it has a nice, slow, steady effect on your blood sugar. 

All in all, not bad for rabbit food, right? I have to say, I love it raw. Not keen on it cooked, but if I dice it up enough, it's a nice peppery flavor to add to soups and stews. 

Flowers...but what kind...

These grow by my studio every year. They're lovely. And I don't know what they are. My landlord mentioned it once. Do you think I could remember?

Ha. 

I've reached out to "flower friends" to see if they could help me identify them. Heck, it took me 3 seasons to remember that "those tall pink flowers" in my garden are phlox...

I know that this thing makes seed pods and I'm told that I can take however many I want. I'm not sure how to plant them, but I'll let my students know so they can give them a shot. 

A few folks from my women's groups are also interested. They don't have a clue what it is, but they want the seeds. 

My landlord keeps our property beautifully, manicured to within an inch of its life, and he's always interested in new plants to make the place pretty. 

Contrast that with the landlord of my chiropractor... lots of -- nothing -- and a boring storefront. I know they kind of can't help it because of the configuration of the storefronts, but jeeze - tuck some flowers into the parking berms. It wouldn't kill them. 

Consume wisely...

"Consuming" is not only eating and drinking. It's what you look at on the internet, watch on TV, read, listen to... And clearly, you can see by this screen shot (ok, I took a picture of my computer screen - I'm very old-school), headlines of the different news -- or "news" in one case -- channels, telling the same story, are vastly different. 

Fox "News" (because, seriously - it's not...) claims "Failed Obama attacks successful Trump in bitter swan song" while the Washington Post says "An unexpected opportunity for Barack Obama." 

They're talking about the exact same speech. 

The. Exact. Same. Speech. 

And you wonder why we can't have a sensible conversation? Look at the headlines. Look at the words. Look at the snark. 

We need to be careful consumers. We need to discern what we're looking at and use our brains. We need to set aside our emotion and look at this stuff objectively, in spite of the partisanship of our news outlets. 

Take the time to actually think while you're consuming. I guarantee you'll be a lot happier in the long run. 

Random Picture...

Yesterday was, of course, the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. I resisted posting for a long time. 

I'm not maudlin. I know it happened. It changed everything in this country, but sometimes looking back too much keeps you from looking forward. 

But then I remembered this... 

I think I did this piece in the year after the attacks.  It was exhibited in the National Counted Cross Stitch Show that year under the "Patriotic Designs" category. It didn't win, even though this was my original design. Some design (not original, thanks, but a popular chart) that showed an eagle with the flag won. I was kind of bummed because I thought about this design a lot. 

As I recall, I was reading about so many of the people involved and the story about Fr. Mychal Judge caught my eye. 

This was the prayer he prayed every day. He was a firehouse chaplain. He ran toward the blasts. He died helping people. 

He wanted to make sure that God got him where he needed to be. He was. He did. 

I was looking for artwork to hang at the church, and I thought this would be perfect. Hopefully, it provides inspiration where needed. I think that, even though Fr. Mychal was a Catholic and this is in an Episcopal church, he'd be ok with that.