Finding Your Tribe

At our knitting retreat a couple of weeks ago, the most memorable moment came when one of the younger knitters (we call them our "baby knitters") stood up for show & tell. As she showed us her beautiful knitting, she also told us how knitting, more specifically knitters, had been the answer to her prayer. While going through a difficult life event she had asked God to send her a tribe. She said she had expected that this tribe she asked for would appear in the area where she lived.

But in God's way, He answered differently. She found her tribe in a group of knitters, many of whom were at the retreat. These knitters don't all live in the same town. Not even all in the same state. But they have truly become her "tribe." There were a lot of damp eyes as she told her story.

I love that word—tribe. She has a younger vocabulary than those of us old enough to be her mother, or even grandmother. But I get it. A definition of "tribe" from Urban Dictionary explains it...

Tribe:  A group of friends that becomes your family.

The people that will be there for you no matter what and who you're guaranteed to have a good time with. Although people may not understand how close they are and their relationships with each other, it doesn't matter because they all understand it and love each other. 

Close friends, group of people who are loyal to you, care for you like family.

My tribe includes the friends I would call if I needed help. They have shown up at my door with food even when I didn't call. They just knew. My tribe also includes those far-flung friends who I feel close to even though we don't see each other often. In today's digital world it's easy to stay in touch. Those friends are like cheerleaders whose encouraging or supportive words arrive with a *ping* when life hits a bumpy patch. They also know.

There have been times in my life when there was no tribe. I can thankfully say that today I have one. At my age, I know that circumstances change. And they can change in the blink of an eye. But today I am blessed with a group of friends that take care of each other. That care about each other. That are there for each other. Can't ask for much more than that.

A Southern Snack—Boiled Peanuts

There has been much to write about in the last week. But not so much time to write it. We had our annual summer knitting retreat last weekend. And we had houseguests at the lake. The knitter wife, Bev, went to the retreat with me. The husbands entertained themselves. We had such a good time, both knitting and visiting.

The knitting retreat was fun as always. I'm zooming through the retreat project. Since it's a cotton knit, I'd love to wear it while the weather is still hot. I had an entire day yesterday home alone. Daddy-O is busy this weekend with the Youth  Livestock Show, so I've had the house to myself. I'll be close to the end of the shawl by the time the livestock show is over.

When he got home late last night he headed straight to the kitchen to find a snack. He was happy to find a bag of boiled peanuts in the refrigerator. It's a Southern thing. We love boiled peanuts. If you live in other places, you might not even know what I'm talking about. Here, where we live, boiled peanuts are often sold from stands on the roadside. Everyone has their favorite peanut stand and sometimes will drive for miles and miles to get the "best" ones.

Now, let's talk peanuts. We think the best boiled peanuts are made using green peanuts. Green peanuts are ones freshly pulled out of the ground. They are only available at harvest time, because the fresh ones won't keep long. It's a short season to enjoy those. Raw peanuts in the shell—more readily available—have been dried so that they have a long shelf life.

Our local meat market also has wonderful produce and I was happy to find green peanuts there a few days ago, already bagged in 2 lb packs. It's not unusual for them to be loose with a scoop in the bin. A quick Google search turned up directions for cooking the in the Instant Pot. If you only have access to RAW peanuts in the shell, you google for cooking times for them. It's a much, much longer cooking time. 

INSTANT POT BOILED PEANUTS

2 lbs green peanuts
1/2 cup salt (more or less, to taste)
water to cover the peanuts

Wash peanuts. Put peanuts, salt and water in IP. Do not add water past the maximum fill line. Because the peanuts float, put the trivet on top of peanuts and weight it down with a pyrex dish. I used the lid of a pyrex dish.

Use MANUAL and set time to 45 minutes. Then do a "natural pressure release" (NPR), which means let the IP sit after the time is up and the cooker turns off until the pressure pin drops. Pour up peanuts. Store in refrigerator—if you don't eat them all right now.

If you have never eaten boiled peanuts, let me tell you how. Pop the shell open and eat the peanuts. If you slurp them out of the shell, you'll get a little of the salty juice, too. You do not eat the shell. (People have asked.) The nuts are soft— more like cooked dried beans—rather than crunchy like a roasted nut.

We have also cooked boiled peanuts on the stovetop (or huge pot on a gas cooker outside) and in the slow cooker. And Jo, another knitter friend, told me yesterday that her husband has done them in the microwave. You can google all the ways to do it.

All of this peanut talk remind me of an experience Jessica and I had years ago. We went to a well known seafood restaurant in Charleston. A place where they bring you a basket of boiled peanuts as soon as you are seated. Like you get chips and salsa at a Mexican restaurant. We dove into the peanuts immediately. And we were nearly done when we realized that we were the only ones eating them. The other dining patrons were either ignoring them or examining them as they wonder what to do with them. We decided we may have been the only Southerners in the place!

Knitting—Disappointment To Perfection

Pattern:  Summer Flies

Yarn:  Cascade Yarn Heritage

Needles:  size 7

Back in 2012, I was just getting serious about my knitting. And I knitted my first lace shawl. There were so many new techniques to learn. I wrote in my pattern notes, "Either I’m getting better or this is a really easy pattern!" I think it was both. Making this shawl marked a huge step in my knitting "career." There was still one problem that I didn't count on. My lovely large shawl was determined to be a tiny shawl. As one does with knitted lace, I soaked it, stretched it out while it was wet and pinned it out to dry. (That's called blocking.) Knitting will stretch out to a much larger size that shows off the open work of the lace. And it was perfect and beautiful. 

But some yarns won't stay stretched out. This was one of those shawls. I didn't know that could happen. I blocked it again, stretching it out even further. But this red shawl just didn't want to be a big shawl. When I unpinned it, it gradually—over several weeks—crept back to its original shape. It was determined to be a size better suited to a small child. So that's what I did with it. One weekend when the family was here, I gave it to Baby Girl to wear on a chilly morning. And I let her take it home.

Waiting for the doctor

Her mommy told me this past weekend that the red shawl has become a favorite possession. Last week it was her superhero cape. She wore it to the doctor's office for a round of allergy testing. She was much braver waiting on the doctor with her red cape wrapped around her shoulders. This knitting has magical powers.

This is Baby Girl's first year of full day school. She puts on the red shawl first thing when she wakes up and wears it while she eats breakfast. Besides keeping her warm, she might be recharging her "brave battery" before she dresses and heads to school. Maybe to her, it feels like a hug from Mimi every day. I would like to think that.

Summer Flies, 2012 photo

I was so disappointed all those years ago when the shawl didn't do what I wanted it do. But it ended up—years later—being an absolutely perfect knit. Just not the one I expected. It isn't just a shawl now. It's a superhero cape. It's a big hug from Mimi. It's a security blanket/shawl. It's love made from yarn. Knitting doesn't get much better than this.

Knitter's Note:  This was nothing wrong with this yarn. It is a good yarn—just maybe not the best choice for this pattern. I'm still learning more about fiber content and yarns and needle sizes and how all these factors affect the blocking size. Learning to knit is more than just knowing how to work the stitches.

Oh Happy Day—This Worked!

Remember when I made "TV dinners" a couple of weeks ago? I promised to let you know how well they thawed out. Yesterday I pulled two of the Salisbury steak dinners out of the freezer right after I got up in the morning. Then I didn't think about making dinner for the rest of the day.

It was one of those "clean up/put things away" days. All the knitting needles left out after projects were finished are now back where they belong. The birthday presents for this weekend are sitting out with the gift wrap, ready for me to wrap today. The mermaid's flower headband is sewn back on. (That was a Mimi job request from Baby Girl.)  There is no dust under the furniture. The laundry is all done...even folded and put away.

Then 12 hours after I moved the frozen dinners from the freezer to the refrigerator, it was time to see if they passed the test. Would they be as good as I hoped? (I had tasted the frozen dinners from Meals On Wheels years ago when they were delivered to my mother-in-law. I wanted mine to be better than those.) They were so close to being thawed, but there were still ice crystals in the food.   I heated them, one at a time. About 3 minutes on DEFROST to finish the thawing process. Then I heated mine for 1 minute at the regular setting.

 Oh happy day! This was as good as the first time. The rice was perfect. (I always sprinkle a few drops of water over rice before I reheat it.) The vegetables were fine. The meat had a cool spot right in the center, so I broke the patty up and put some of the hot rice on top of it. That's all it needed. Another time I would add a few seconds to the heating.

But this really worked. I freeze foods all the time, but not combinations of food in such small portions. That's the part I wasn't sure about. I think it would be better if I had taken the dinners out of the freezer the night before. Safety reminder:  Always thaw in the refrigerator—not on the countertop. But that last bit of thawing in the microwave worked. Good to know.

For our household of two, making these dinners is a way to deal with leftovers. Now the challenge is to use these dinners up and not let them sit forgotten in the freezer for months. These bright blue containers are so eye-catching that I hope none get pushed to the back. And I really hope that the other food combinations thaw out as well as this one did.

Since I knew I'd have no supper clean up, I baked a treat for us in the afternoon. This was also part of my cleaning out...using up pantry items with an expiration date that was getting close. This recipe was the very first one I posted on this blog way back in 2011. We still enjoy making them.

PUMPKIN SPICE MUFFINS

1 box spice cake mix
1 (15-oz) can pumpkin puree
1/2 cup water

    TOPPING:
    1/2 all-purpose flour
    1/2 brown sugar, packed (I used dark brown sugar) 
    1/2 stick butter

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Put cupcake papers in a 12-cup muffin tin. Mix cake mix, pumpkin and water until well blended. Using an electric hand mixer is the easiest way to do it. Spoon batter into muffin tins. 

Mix flour and sugar. Cut butter in until crumbly. Sprinkle topping generously over muffin batter, pressing in lightly.  Bake for 25-30 minutes, until done. (My oven took 30 minutes.) Test with a toothpick. It should come out clean when done.

We have made these muffins with yellow cake mix and chocolate cake mix, too. They are all good. But we all like the spice cake mix best. Try them all and decide which is your favorite.


If you live where it's easy to go out for dinner, or where there are plenty of options to pick up to-do meals, or have delivery options, this may not be a big deal for you. But for us, living on a farm in a rural area, these easy dinners are so helpful. I  will keep trying different combinations for individual dinners.

Need Some Comfort Food?

Chicken & Gravy

My favorite recipes to share are ones that are old family favorites. But I'm always on the lookout for recipes that might become a new family favorite. This might be one of those recipes. Easy to assemble. It's a slow cooker meal which means it cooks unattended all afternoon. And it was delicious in that comfort food way.

I found a printed out recipe tucked on a pantry shelf last week. It had been there for ages. And the reason I had put it there was to remind me why I had bought the ingredients. It's not uncommon for me to have a can of cream of chicken soup on hand, but I don't usually have TWO packs of gravy mix. And more than once I have seen items in my pantry that I'm sure I bought for a specific recipe—but I had no clue what the recipe was. Absolutely could not remember. So now I try to put the recipe with the ingredients.

This recipe comes from the website South Your Mouth. When I can, I like to give you the original source for recipes I try. I love to look at her recipes. She has lots of good notes on this recipe and there are helpful comments, too. Her Shepherd's Pie is one I plan to try soon.

I started my supper prep at about 2:00 in the afternoon yesterday and we ate just before 7:00. I had planned to make it a day earlier, and then remembered I had a 2:30 doctor appointment. I realized I wouldn't be at home when it was time to put this in the slow cooker. So I pushed this meal one day forward. Keep the cooking time in mind when you add this to your meal plan.

After our supper, I filled 3 pint size containers for the freezer. And there was enough left for today's lunch, too. This is a generous recipe. And we are a household of two.

SLOW COOKER CHICKEN & GRAVY

3-4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (my pack had 4 pieces, about 3 lbs)
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder (let's be honest—I just sprinkled)
2 (10.5 oz) cans of Healthy Request cream of chicken soup
1 (14.5 oz) can low-sodium chicken broth
2 packs brown gravy mix
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

Place chicken in slow cooker. (I used a 6-qt cooker.) Season with black pepper and garlic.

In a bowl, mix remaining ingredients well. Pour over chicken. Cook on HIGH for 3 to 4 hours. Use two forks to pull chicken in to bite-size pieces. (I did this down in the gravy.) Turn the pot off and let sit for about 20 minutes with the lid off, while you prep the rest of the meal. Serve over mashed potatoes or rice.


I try not to overdo the cream soups any more. But when I do want to use some in a recipe I look for the Healthy Request versions. It has less sodium and zero trans fat. I figure that helps.

Our adorable little granddaughters start school today. Yep. August 1 is their first day of school. Kindergarten and 3rd grade. We will see them next week. Hope by then all the jitters will have settled down (and the school traffic will have settled down) and we will get to hear all about the new teachers and new classmates. It's exciting. For the first time, they will be at the same school and on the same schedule. And next week, Big Sister heads off to college. Lots of firsts.

This has me thinking about all the "first day of school" memories I have stored away for our daughters. Always exciting. Always nerve-wracking. And we always survived. I'm saying a prayer this morning for all the students, all the parents, all the teachers and all the bus drivers as a new school begins. May they have a safe year. May it be a year filled with kindness and understanding and patience. God bless them all.