A Listicle... Maybe

It looks like it's gonna be monthly this year, kids... At least that's the trend. Randomly, unless I get inspired. 

1. I continue to finish things; several badges instead of the MTI hats, for those protests that will happen when it's too hot to wear a hat. Started a pair of socks. I'm about on the toe, I think I've found a spiral toe (as opposed to a star toe?) that I can do. Nerdy Notes: US 1.5 DPNs (Zings, color-coded, really nice!) and a random Opal (my ball band is MIA). This is a Vanilla pattern, with an Eye of Partridge heel (flap & gusset) and honestly, one of the shortest gussets I've done!

2.  Things to be done: A's Chicken - that repair has to be from scratch. Not enough original yarn to fix it, and I have to find something similar. Trip to Betsey's to see what I can find... Mom's Sophie Hood in white - I have to figure out where I'm at in the pattern. ONE single sock - any ONE single sock; I just need to make a pair out of the singletons I have. And several other things - I have a list of WIPs. 

3. I have a wedding afghan to start. I know the groom's favorite color - green. Just need to know the bride's - so I can make that work. Then I have to figure out what I want to do - knitted takes less yarn, but more time. Crochet is just the opposite: I can crochet faster than I knit but it takes almost twice the yarn. 

4. I need to pick up that counted-cross stitch Pecadillo - I'm on the 2nd quadrant and I'd like to get it done for Xmas. And I have 2 more "trifles" that I want to do for ME. The Pecadillo is coming along nicely with the beads and the metallic floss. I'm still not certain how I'll finish the piece. It's part of a 3-some, but it doesn't have to be. So do I finish it as a singleton for the recipient, or do I do a 3-year-long Xmas project for them? I'm not inclined to do a bell-pull thing - the pieces are lovely squares, but too big for a bell-pull. I'm pretty sure that as the weather warms up, the counted cross-stitch will be my preferred project. Knitting, depending on the project, is too heavy for the summer. 

5. Rosaries: The Demented Doofus and the Drunk are ... taking on the Pope. Yeah, the guy who was raised on the southside of Chicago (cue Jim Croce here, if you're old enough, or Google him). Schooled in Philly. Ministered in Peru (the country, not the town in IL) for decades. And now lives in the Vatican. He (Pope Leo) has called for a national day of prayer and even us former RCs, the Jews, Muslims, Lutherans, etc. - we're all rallying around. I have (top to bottom) my paternal grandma's rosary (dad brought it back from Mexico when he was stationed in San Diego) - which is silver, and the beads are roses; an Anglican rosary (of course, muted...) which is a lovely warm wood one; and my maternal grandma's rosary from Our Lady of the Snows, where all good Catholic grannies made a pilgrimage at one point or another, which is crystal beads. Frankly, I can do a Catholic rosary in my sleep, so I'll probably do that. Prayer is prayer. 

6. I found The. Best. way to caramelize onions... Start them in the oven! You can use whatever Dutch Oven you have; I'm still holding out to find an old but still decent LeCruset at the thrift store, but I do have an old cast iron one. About 1 hour in the oven at 350 or so, with a stick of butter and a couple tablespoons of olive oil. I ended up finishing them in a big skillet, because the onions discharged so much water. But it was sooooooooooo much easier than standing there stirring onions in a saute pan till my arms fell off. Now I have to do a dish with those onions. I originally used them in a rustic loaf, topped with Asiago cheese, but I think I might want to do a savory bread pudding or something else. 

7.  Dinner - homemade pizza, hubby's crust, my sauce. And this is leftovers for lunch the next day. Is it me, or is my family the only one who does cold pizza for ANY meal? Hubby always thinks I'm nuts, but a quick poll at our last family gathering revealed that most of my nephews agree with me and so does my sibling... We usually make a very thin crust, and use plain Italian sausage (not the spicy one), with 1/4 c. of my sauce -- we've been making smaller sized ones, since it's just the 2 of us. Though I don't get "bored" of food, and I can eat the same thing for days... Anyway, we add shallots or leeks sometimes, and mushrooms when I can sneak them in. And then about 3 or 4 kinds of cheese. I would like to expand that basic recipe to add a few other things, like roasted garlic or fresh chopped herbs when we have them. Though I do use herbs we've frozen. 

8. Cat Loaf - at the barn a few weeks ago, we were "invaded" by Canada geese. With all the rain, we ended up with a small pond near the community garden and the birds just flew in. They got all snippy about our coming and going in and out of the barn. Barn cat Brownie was on "observation" and (smartly) decided to stay in the barn. Even the horses stopped eating because they heard the ruckus. One of the pair of geese was a little cheeky as I brought out two big buckets of crap... I threatened said goose with a dousing if he didn't back off. Hey - you use what you got, right? 

Random Picture: So over Easter, there was a tragedy. In our family, a few of us like a particular "relish" - my dad used to make it from scratch, and you could occasionally find it in the "ethnic" markets when I was a kid (particularly the Kosher markets). I had to google the correct spelling - my dad always called it "hren" with a strong rolled "r" -- so for years, that's what I thought it was. Actually, it's cvikla s chrenom -- seems that "chren" (imagine it with a rolled "r") is horseradish in Slovak. 

Anyway, I found it in big jars in our local Berkot's...until I didn't! According to the gal at the check-out, "All the Polish stuff has just been flying off the shelves." It's all in the same neighborhood, so I didn't bother to correct her. I ended up buying a jar of shredded beets, and since I always have horseradish at home, I made my own. Stick blender, about a cup of the beets, drained (they come with a vinegar base), and about a teaspoon of horseradish. You can adjust the heat! So let's see how long this lasts. 

And yes, I love beets. Roasted, in a salad, AS a salad, with goat cheese, in a relish or sauce... Bring 'em on! 

I guess I'll go back to finishing that sock. Hopefully, by the next time, I'll have made progress on Sock #2, and we can show off a few more WIPs. This is The Year of the Finished Projects, so I want to keep that streak going!