Getting ready for the holidays Part deux/Feb.

I know it seems early to be getting ready for Christmas,but,all you crafters know I'm doing the right thing. One gift,just one little gift can make a difference. It's that" you can do it" theory Everyone has a busy schedule so, we need to help each other out here.

I should have put something next to this sock so you could see how small it is. Sharlene our newly crowned sock queen has all these little bits of yarn leftover from her projects. In an effort to use up her stash she has made these "little socks" that will be just the right size to hang in the Christmas tree with a little something in them.

Now about the 2010 ornament This was the latest attempt but, I'm not happy with it. It looks ok however the connection of white to white(not shown)is just not like I want it to be. Hope I figure this out before Christmas gets here........said the hobbit

A great Valentine

Did everyone have a fabulous valentine day? Mine was just about perfect. First my boyfriend gave me these beautiful roses.
Then he took me to a favorite restaurant
where we had lots of Mexican food and of course a Margarita.MMMM not too shabby


This made him oh so happy.


He decided to blow me some kisses. Now wouldn't you like to have a sweetie like Aaron take you out for Valentine's? We had a great time.
Some of you have mentioned that finding gifts to make for your sons or grandson's is a challenge. You should hop over to this site I think she might be able to give you a few ideas. I'm rather fond of the tent she made for her boys. Let me know what you think?

Cooking with Jiggsy

Maybe it's because it's still too cold to golf but, for some reason Jiggsy wants to spend time learning how to cook. So far it's worked well for me. I got that new mixer if you recall.I'm sort of letting him go on his own to see where he might need help.Here he is getting out the flour with a wooden spoon and left handed. I know I can give a little advice here that will make me look good. He decided to make chocolate chip cookies. Somehow I think this will be a recurring theme.

I won't show you what happened between measuring and scooping out the dough. Let's just say there was a lot of clean-up between photos .

He enjoyed using the mixer so much I think the cookies were a little overly blended. I must say it's fun having him interested in the cooking and we are both having a good time of it.

This was to be his crowning glory in the kitchen. I think that will have to wait another week.These marinated wings are from Martha Stewart January 2009

They were super easy extremely moist and tender and I'll/we will probably be doing them again.This week the cookies were his limit.........................said the hobbit

You can do it!

Our Tuesday night stitch meetings are a blessing to" following through". Knowing how to knit is not always the main problem to actually getting the project done. Sharlene has become quite the sock knitter since joining our group.Discovering yarn that creates a pattern as you knit is also more fun. I have to chuckle when a new to knitting person comes in ,takes a look at Sharlene's socks and says"I want to learn to do that".The answer is of course,"You can do it".

Our new stitch researcher is Michelle. She's always finding something new for us to try.

She is currently making a hot water bottle cover and is using this knobby stitch.

I've been working on my Christmas ornaments for 2010 .This is the first step.They're little hats .Everyone has been so kind with suggestions as to how I should decorate them. Got any ideas please pass them on. I'll be posting the progress.Hope to get them done by April.

Of course I can't finish this post without saying Happy Valentine to all. This is the youngest member of Stitch and Bitch and her name is Valentine,of course.Don't forget to tell someone you love them.......................said the hobbit

It's still soup time

Like many of you out there,winter means warm comfort food for me. The mercury is still struggling to get out of the single digits ,and some rodent named Phil claims that I will be in this state for another 6 weeks.

Well that's ok. I'll be in my kitchen doing one of my favorite things. Every winter we get our hours trimmed down at the Barn .This year was no different. However, my hours were cut in 1/2 and that gave me even more time to spend in the kitchen.
I like trying new recipes but,in between ,I go back to my favorites and sometimes add a new twist.Of course ,I don't think I'm the only one doing this, there has to be at least a few dozen people doing the same recipe at the same time. What do you think? Are duplicate events happening to different people at the same time?Ok ,way too deep for me. Back to the simple life.

Today was BROCCOLI soup day.First thing I do is gather all my ingredients in front of me. That way if I have to substitute anything I should know ahead of time. My recipe was found at Canadian Living.I often visit this site because I think New Englanders have a lot in common with Canada especially Quebec.

Next I chop or measure or weigh out whatever needs doing.The ingredients are

1 large stalk of broccoli (chopped extra kale left in fridge

2 cloves of minced garlic (more like 4) we love garlic

1 chopped onion

2 tbsp Canadian Cheddar (who are you kidding 2 tbls?) 2 cups shredded

1/4 cup long grain rice

3 cups chicken stock (had 4 on hand)

3 cups milk (used a cont light cream)

2 tbls
freshly squeezed lemon juice ( used the whole lemon)

s&p

pinch of hot pepper flakes

Broccoli flowers were set aside.Stalks were peeled and chopped. In the chicken stock went the stalk,kale onion, garlic ,rice and hot pepper flakes. Bring to a boil and simmer gently till rice is done. It was about 20 min. Add the broccoli floret's and cook another 5-10 min.

As you can see this lemon served a zesting purpose on the previous day and was looking a little naked.Trust me the juice was fine.


Now your ready to puree the soup Don't forget to do this a little at a time.I've been know to add too much in the container and I practically scorch myself.Return everything to the pot along with the lemon juice and light cream or milk.When it's hot I remove from heat and stir in about 1 1/2 cups of grated cheddar,the sharper the better.

This is where they used the cheddar.Just a teensy bit on top before serving. I agree a little sprinkled on top adds to the presentation,however 1 1/2 cups in with the soup will leave you licking the bowl..............................said the hobbit

Our little stitch and bitch

Here we are again still stitching and not letting the economy tell us we can't. We are talking about Christmas and what we could make this year but,using up our stashes of supplies has been this months theme.

Cynthia
had this leftover yarn. Not quite enough to make a set of fingerless gloves,so she is calling them her port and starboard gloves. Now how creative is that. She has just started her first blog.Click on her name and welcome her to the community with a comment.

This is Rosy. She's a first time knitter. I couldn't get her to look up,she was afraid to drop a stitch. We put together a starter kit of pattern needles and cotton yarn and she is off and running on her dishcloth. I think she'll be a regular.

This is Bitty, she's just waiting for someone to drop the ball. Don't count on her bringing it back...................said the hobbit

It's the little things

Well ,I'm still taking small step toward self reliance.Last year I decided the paper towels were getting to take over the food budget so I, like so many others ,started making dish clothes. After looking at the different patterns I settled on this one but, I thought it was too small.

I think the original was 8x8.I had to go and tweak it to a whopping 12x12. I quickly realized that 12x12 filled with water becomes very heavy and hard to handle. Lesson learned. However ,not wanting to be wasteful I decided to use the cloth till it fell apart.I have been using this one for a full year and still it's not worn out. After I finish the dishes,I wash the sink with baking soda so,it has no stinky odors. I don't have a dishwasher so you can bet this cloth has worked a full 365 days.

This year I'm cutting down on foil . I can never do anything cold turkey so I'm starting with making sure I use every piece more than once. We have recycling in our town so when the foil finally dies it goes in the bin. I know these are small steps but you do what you can.

Of course such good behavior deserves to be rewarded. This is a prezzie from my husband. It's a Viking professional grade mixer with 3 different attachments. What did I do to deserve this?Would you believe I gave him cooking lessons?Yup ,that's all I had to do.After being married for all these years he finally wants to learn how to work in the kitchen. It was his job to cream the butter and sugar. I explained to him that the mixer sometimes overheat and he might have to do the creaming in two steps.We were making chocolate chip cookies. When the job was done he said" wow honey,I don't know how you can get anything done with this piece of s##t " The next day we went shopping for the mixer. I can't wait for the next lesson...................said the hobbit