Why I Knit

 

It started with just plain gray yarn, waiting to be wound into a ball.

This is not a hobby with quick results. I like that it requires patience.

I studied the pattern and read the notes made by so many other knitters.

There were several new things for me to learn here.

Homework up front would save some frustration. At least that was the plan.

 When you're learning new techniques, mistakes happen.

Mistakes that meant I unknitted one section over and over—until I read the pattern right.

Then, I unknitted row after row at one point when I got confused.

Thankfully, my mistakes were made when these rows were small.

 

After a couple of weeks, I finished the knitting and took it off the needles.

Doesn't look like much, does it? I'll be honest. I was a little worried.

I had admired the photos of this Hemlock Ring blanket for a long time.

I knew this was part of the process, but I wasn't sure mine would make the transition.

I didn't understand how this pile of ripples could possibly end up flat.

After a good long soak in cool water to relax the fibers,

the soggy lump got moved to Little Sister's alphabet blocks 

I pinned and pinned and pinned, stretching and smoothing carefully, 

working it into the shape I wanted. Who knew wet wool was so moldable?

And when I stood up, knees creaking, I looked at the blanket.

 The magic had happened—the knitting magic.

My soggy, lumpy mess of yarn had turned into a circle of lace.

When you start a new project, there is no guarantee 

that it will turn out like you imagine, like you hope.

 

But this time, it worked. The knitting magic.

 

Now, the comes the hardest part. 

 Leaving it alone until it is completely dry.

Tomorrow I'll take all the pins out.

Yarn has a way of softening when it is soaked. 

I can't wait to see how it feels. And how it drapes.

This is why I knit. It's creative. It's an adventure.

(Look for finished photos soon.)

Make Mine Meatless

 Black Bean Butternut Squash Chili

You have seen what kind of cooking has been going on in my kitchen for the past couple of weeks—steaks, potato pancakes, apple cake, and brownies. I was so ready for healthy food. And it was COLD yesterday! We needed a stew or chili.

So what do you fix that's healthy and hearty and warming? Instead of browsing the internet for recipes, I looked back through my own recipe index. This meatless chili was just what I wanted to make. It's easy to put together and it makes enough to feed us a couple of times. And maybe a little will go into the freezer for later.

Trust me. This recipe is good. Daddy-O, "mister meat-and-potatoes", had seconds. He likes this chili. It is an odd combination of ingredients that really work. The cocoa and cinnamon give it a smoky aroma and a rich taste. 

BLACK BEAN BUTTERNUT SQUASH CHILI

1 medium red onion, chopped
2 (14-oz.) cans diced tomatoes (one can had green peppers & onion)
2 (15.5-oz.) cans black beans (do not drain)
2 cups cubed butternut squash (1 small squash)
4 garlic cloves, minced (or 2 tsp of jarred minced garlic)
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 tablespoon ground cumin
2 teaspoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup water

Combine all ingredients in large pot. Bring to a boil. Lower heat, cover and simmer for 60-90 minutes, stirring occasionally. (You can also use your slow cooker  and cook on HIGH for 3-4 hours.)

      Optional toppings: crushed tortilla chips, shredded cheese, sour cream


If I had the option to buy fresh cubed butternut squash like some of you do, this would be the easiest recipe ever. But even though I had to peel and cube the squash and dice the onion, it was cooking in just a few minutes.

It just dawned on me—this recipe would be so easy to cut in half. We have a lot left. Not a bad thing, but sometimes you don't want leftovers. Or, maybe you are a household of one. Everything in this recipe can be divided by 2. Recipes don't always work out that way. (So, you might have a half an onion left—not a big deal.)

We had expected to wake up to a few inches of snow this morning. The governor even declared a state of emergency early yesterday in anticipation of the coming storm. Schools announced closings. Much extra news coverage last night. But the "big event" just didn't happen. I'm glad I'm not the weatherman this morning.

Weather Watching

They say "red sky in morning, sailor take warning." This morning's weather warning is for snow tonight. Where we live, we are always on the very edge of "it might." We sit on the line—literally, a line on the weather map—that divides the snow from the cold rain for tomorrow.

Yesterday we had just a dusting of snow. But this was enough for schools on one side of us to be delayed and schools on the other side of us to close for the day. I just enjoyed watching it fall for an hour or so.

But while I am inside where it's warm, Daddy-O must always be out in the elements. The cows must eat. Feeding them is even more important when the weather is bad. He loads hay on the front and the back of the orange tractor and heads toward the pasture where the cows are for the winter. Every day he goes down that road.

And the cows are always glad to see that tractor arriving. Tomorrow morning they might be even MORE excited to see him. If the weatherman is right, it is supposed to be our biggest weather event of the winter. About 3-7 inches of snow. Yes, 3-7 inches is considered major. We have watched the enormous snow amounts in the northeast with fascination and with gratitude. Gratitude that we call a few inches of snow a major event. Gratitude that we don't live where snow is measured in feet.

 

Today we will enjoy the sun while we run a few errands to get ready for the snow. Tomorrow if we do wake up to a snow-covered pasture, we will be ready. And by Friday, it should be mostly melted. I love where we live.

 

Home Sweet Home

It was so good to have Jessica home with us for a few days over the weekend. It's always good to have time together. We had a chance to do some shopping in town on a beautiful cold Saturday, but some of the best times were just hanging out at home, watching old movies, and eating popcorn. We're glad she still likes to be home at the farm, where life moves a little slower than in the city. We don't have our children home nearly enough!

We went out to breakfast in our small town Saturday morning. Well, not exactly "in" town, but nearby. The big city doesn't have restaurants like ours. What our eateries lack in decor, they more than make up for in good food.

And after dinner at home on Saturday night, she made us brownies. I'll admit I usually use a box of mix when I need brownies, but she can whip up a batch from scratch almost as quickly. She has used this recipe for a long time. I like mine with a scoop of ice cream. Just like her mom, she has tweaked the recipe to suit her taste. Here is the recipe the way she does it...

NIGELLA LAWSON BROWNIES  (JESSICA'S VERSION)

1 cup unsalted butter, softened
13 oz. best milk chocolate chips (I use Ghirardelli chips, buy 2 bags and dump the leftover chips in at the end, to add a chocolate bite inside)
6 large eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1-2/3 cups sugar
1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1-1/3 cups chopped walnuts (I use pecans, but leave them out if I’m taking them somewhere and not sure of everyone’s allergies!)

9x13 inch baking dish

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line your brownie pan—I think it’s worth lining the sides as well as the base—with foil or parchment paper. Spray with PAM.

Melt butter and chocolate together in a large heavy-based pan (don’t let it scorch!). In a bowl or large wide-mouthed measuring cup, beat the eggs with the vanilla and sugar. Measure the flour into another bowl and add the salt.

When the chocolate mixture has melted, let it cool a bit before beating in the eggs and sugar, and then the nuts and flour. Beat to combine smoothly and then scrape out of the saucepan into the lined pan.

Bake for about 25 minutes. When it’s ready, the top should be dried to a paler brown speckle, but the middle still dark and dense and gooey. And even with such a big batch you do need to keep alert, keep checking: the difference between gungy brownies and dry brownies is only a few minutes; remember that they will continue to cook as they cool.

We have a few brownies left from the weekend. Still good! Good enough for a snowy afternoon snack. We had a little snow this morning. The cows will be more than ready to see Daddy-O coming this morning. He's heading out to the tractor now.

Staying Indoors

 One Bowl Apple Cake

When the high temps were in the 20s last weekend, I opted to stay indoors. (Thankfully, this week will be warmer.) There certainly was plenty to do in the house when I was hiding from Jack Frost. Cleaning. Organizing. Decluttering. All things that are easy to skip when I'm on the go.

And it was a great time for a little extra knitting. I'm working on a circular blanket with a lace pattern. There are so many new-to-me skills in this pattern. But I'm beyond the hard part now, so it's just fun. Easy enough to catch up on some PBS shows while I worked. (My new show to watch is Grantchester. For once, I got started with the very first episode.)

 

I had to ask Daddy-O for a little help with my knitting project. This yarn comes in a HUGE skein. Too big for my yarn winder. So I went old school and, with his help, wound it by hand. There is something soothing about this process. After being outside feeding the cows, he was happy to sit by the fire and help me.

And Jessica came home for the weekend! I had made soup. But a visit from family needs a special treat. In all my cleaning, I sorted through the gazillion recipes I had printed out during the last year. I found this one that I think someone shared on Facebook. It was the "one bowl" part that caught my eye. Well, it took me two bowls! One for the wet ingredients and one to mix the dry. But it was still quick and easy. This would be great with a cup of coffee.

I made some minor adjustments to the recipe that I think helped it. It's a different kind of cake---almost more apples than batter. When I put it in the pans, I really thought there was no way it would work, but the batter baked up and over the apples.

I made the cake in two round pans this time. I put one cake back into the pan and it went into the freezer so that Daddy-O can have a treat when I'm gone to visit the grandchildren in a few weeks.

ONE BOWL APPLE CAKE

2 eggs
1-3/4 cups sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 cup cooking oil
6 medium Gala or Fuji apples
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease two 9-inch round cake pans. (Or, you can use a 9x13-inch baking pan.) Set aside.

In a large bowl, mix the eggs, sugar cinnamon, and oil. Peel and slice apples directly into this mixture, stirring to coat as you go to keep apples from turning brown.  Mix together flour and baking powder. Add to the apple mixture. Mix well until all of the flour is absorbed by the wet ingredients.

Spoon mixture into prepared pans and level with spatula. Bake for approximately 45 minutes, or until golden brown. (Add 5-10 minutes more for the 9x13 pan.)

Celebration Worthy

 

Easy "Béarnaise" Sauce

Remember Valentine's Day? Was that only a week ago? Back last week when it was warm? This morning is it 10 degrees here! Glad Daddy-O was cooking on the grill last week and not tonight.

We decided to make our own special meal for Valentine's Day last week. (No long wait. We know the food is good. The service is excellent. ) I went to the store with list in hand. But right at the front of the store was the lady doing the recipe demonstration. I tasted her sample and instantly changed my plan.

Daddy-O raises beef cattle after all. I should plan a steak dinner every now and then. This one was a wonderful combination of flavors that boosted it beyond just grilled steak (which he would be perfectly happy with.) The tasting sample included steak, portabella mushrooms, asparagus and a quick "bearnaise" sauce.

So that is exactly what we cooked for our Valentine meal. I say "we" because Daddy-O grilled the steaks outside, while I cooked the asparagus and sliced portabella mushrooms on the grill pan inside. That just made it easier for us. You could do the entire meal on the outdoor grill or on the stove top grill pan.

The recipe card gave instructions for the entire meal, but it is just a grilled steak and grilled vegetables. I brushed the vegetables with olive oil and sprinkled them with a little kosher salt and freshly ground pepper. About 10 minutes on a hot grill pan was all they needed to cook. Daddy-O grilled NY strip steaks, seasoned only with salt and pepper.

What made this a " special occasion" meal was the sauce. This is not the classic bearnaise sauce—the one that calls for a double boiler and needs close watching. This sauce is just stirred together! But it is so delicious. It was good on the steak and good on the asparagus and good on the mushrooms. Really. You need to try it.

EASY "BÉARNAISE" SAUCE

1  tablespoon fresh tarragon, finely chopped

1 carton lemon Greek yogurt (5 or 6 oz.)

2 tablespoons lemon herb finishing butter

Remove the tarragon leaves from the stems and chop. Whisk together yogurt, herb butter and tarragon. 

Spoon over vegetables or meat. (We liked ours on the side.)

I had never heard of "finishing butter." When they do these recipe demonstrations, all of the ingredients are in a refrigerated case next to the cook station, so I didn't have to search for it. But the food demonstrator told me it is found in the seafood section.

In case you can't find finishing butter, here is a link for recipes to make your own.

Making The Most Of Leftovers

Potato Pancakes

 When we were growing up, my mother made this special treat for us occasionally. Now that I'm the one in the kitchen I know that she was really using up the leftovers! But to this day, I love the potato pancakes made when you have mashed potatoes left from the day before. 

You saw my supper on Monday night—pork tenderloin, mashed potatoes and asparagus. Tuesday night's supper was a leftover supper. (Forgive my lack of green on the plate. There was no asparagus left.) I froze one of the tenderloins for later. I made barbecue biscuits from the rest of the pork. And I made potato pancakes.

It had been quite a while since I made these, so my fingers were crossed. I smiled when I turned the pancake over in the pan and saw the lacy golden brown pattern. I knew I had done it right! Funny what things stick in your brain forever. I remember this was exactly how my mother's potato pancakes looked. 

Never in my life have I measured these ingredients. But this time I did pay attention to how I did it. The recipe amounts are pretty accurate for this night's cooking. But I wouldn't worry too much about following exactly what I did. It's not kind of recipe where "exact" matters much.

POTATO PANCAKES

2 cups leftover mashed potatoes

1 egg

3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

3 tablespoons minced onion

cooking oil

Combine all ingredients until well blended. Heat a small amount of oil in a skillet. Spoon potato mixture into pan. Spread out into patties. Cook these pancakes on medium heat. Brown on one side and carefully turn. Flatten with spatula and cook until brown on both side and pancakes hold together. Serve hot.

This made 8 pancakes.

My blog posts are a little out of order because we got distracted by the winter weather here. This morning we were looking for 8 degrees. But I woke up and it had only gotten down to 15. When you're expecting 8 degrees, 15 sounded warm. Now we are looking for the 8 degrees tonight.