Annie Knits

Thankses Come in Threes Too, Don't They?

Happy Thanksgiving, all!  

I'm curled up in my usual spot on the orange sofa, snuggled up in one of Hubster's flannel bathrobes, drinking coffee laced with Coffeemate's Peppermint Mocha creamer (so glad they realized that this shouldn't be a seasonal product but a year round one -- all I have to do is buy it up each week before they're out).  

There are two pumpkin pies in the oven.  And therein lies Thing 1 for which I am thankful.  

On the internet, it says that you absolutely cannot substitute sweetened condensed milk for evaporated milk in your recipe.  They are not the same thing at all.  I know that.  One is chock full of sugar and thick, one is not.

But their packaging is similar and when you're glancing through your pantry and you see small red and white striped cans of that approximate shape way in the back, well, it's not that inconceivable that you might mistake one for the other.   Especially if you're in a hurry because you've booked your one free day this week pretty tightly without leaving room for the absolute inevitability that you'll forget an essential ingredient for Thanksgiving dinner (or two:  Kitchen Bouquet and Rhodes White Rolls) and you'll have to dash into the grocery store on the busiest stupid day of the year in there which you were so smug about avoiding by shopping on Monday.

Well, get this.  You absolutely cannot substitute sweetened condensed milk for evaporated milk ... unless you are making pumpkin pie.  Which needs condensed milk and sugar.  Ding, ding, ding.  We have a winner.  And a one to one substitution.  Thank you, there is a God!  I don't have to go from Seven-Eleven to Quik Trip to wherever to find a can or two of evaporated milk on Thanksgiving morning at 6:30 a.m.

And this blunder of sorts leads me to Thing 2 for which I am thankful.  

So, I fought the crowds at the grocery store through the baking aisle and the gravy aisle and the frozen food aisle and the dairy aisle (out of Coffeemate Peppermint Mocha creamer at home I remembered -- got the last three).  I got in the twenty-item-or-less aisle which was full of folks grumbling about the three things they'd forgotten on Monday.  I was among my people.

The cute 40-something checker guy was commiserating with each of us in turn.  He gigged me about seeing me in there on Monday (isn't it fun to have shopped at a place for 20 years so that they all know you?)  We laughed and he wondered what Kitchen Bouquet even was and I opined that he can't have worked in a grocery store for 15 years and not know what Kitchen Bouquet is and he said, "No seriously, what is it?" and I explained that I used it for darkening poultry gravy which can be a grayed out taupe color if you don't have time to brown the drippings. That got an appropriately blank stare in response.  

He finished up and I wished him a happy Thanksgiving.  Then he said, "Well, you too, babe," and handed me my receipt.  

I haven't been called "babe" since sometime in the '80's.  I chuckled all the way home.  Babe.  I told Hubster about it when I got home and now I've been called babe several more times.  Tee hee.  

So, to sum up, I'm thankful for what?  Sweetened condensed milk and cheeky check-out guys?  

No, silly, I'm thankful for good fortune, which I have in abundance, and for my place in this world. Sometime today I'll get a third thankful for to write about, I bet.  Because thankses come in threes, too, don't you think?  

Have a blessed day, my friends! 

That of Which I Am Proud.

So.  This Penn State ugliness.  

Hubster and I have been going round and round, and we vary only slightly in our opinions concerning the levels of responsibility of these men for the actions of others in their spheres of influence.  And as more details come to light, such as the dates of Grand Jury investigations and original allegations, our opinions align more closely.

And in light of the near riots, the candle light vigils, and the media hoopla and analysis, I've come to a conclusion.

The United States of America makes me proud to be a citizen thereof.  More precisely, the way we gnash things out in the United States of America makes me proud.  There are 10 letters to the editor in the New York Times this morning, all expressing varying degrees of chagrin at the firing of Joe Paterno, at the handling of the allegations of child molestation, at the general nastiness of the situation.  Half of them were written by men, half by either women or people whose name doesn't give away their gender (Chris for instance).  More than half agree that Joe Pa should have done more than just what was required of him because he's such an influential man.  

The letters reflect the divergent opinions being argued in households across the country.  Something heinous was done by a man to someone over which he had power.  Ugly, ugly, ugly.  And we're discussing it in a very public manner.

As opposed to this, (a link to DigitalJournal.com with some very disturbing footage -- don't push play unless you're really ready to watch evil stuff).  In Afghanistan, last week, an widow and her daughter were dragged from their home and stoned in their door yard by Taliban officials and then shot dead because the widow supposedly committed "adultery".  No forthcoming definition or explanation -- certainly no trial.  Just murder in the door yard.

Men with power over weaker human beings committed this and other heinous acts.  No one in Afghanistan can discuss this however, because the acts are shrouded on Sharia law, and officials claim that Western influence (discussion, supposedly) will pollute their culture.  

For some reason, these two stories of atrocities are linked in my head.  Both happened inside of bastions of male influence (Hubster doesn't like this reference, but I stand by my assertion that both Penn State's football program and the Taliban have that one thing in common -- they're bastions of male influence.)  Both things have gone essentially un-punished or have taken a looonnnggg time to get any light shed on them.  Both have finger pointing:  Penn State employees, including Joe Paterno kicked the allegation upstairs; the Afghan government accuses neighbors of complicity in the murders because they didn't report the incident while it was happening.

The difference?  In our fair country, we can howl about the injustice.  We can squabble about who should be fired.  We can protest and hold candle light vigils without the fear that we'll be dragged into our door yards and flogged or stoned or worse.  

The United States of America is a miracle of humanity.  God bless us, ... every one of us.

Two on Tuesday: Two Ways to Deal With the Cold

Actually, I've willfully misinterpreted Carole's topic for today which is ten ways to deal with a cold.  I refuse to mention colds as there is such nastiness swirling around here and I've taken such measures to avoid it that I've got disinfectant hand cream coming out of my pores.  

Tonight I'll blog about how I deal with the cold, as in there is a huge cold front coming and it's going to get cold.  That cold.  I bet you can guess the nature of the contents of my post...

I may have blogged about the Christmas present Hubster got me last year -- 250 grams of Quiviut fiber.  I also may have blogged about spinning it into a light fingering weight 2-ply yarn.  I can't remember.

As the cold approached this fall, I thought I should finish the gloves I started out of this hand spun goodness last spring.  It didn't take long.  These suckers are soft and warm and decadent.  And they only weight 80 grams.  As such, my pair is in the works.  

I used Ann Budd's Handy Book of Patterns.  These gloves were knit on size 2 needles and I knit the man's large size.  Hubster likes them.

Also in the WIP finishing category is my Inspira cowl  (that's a Ravelry link).  

General Patton modeling knit wear again.  I know that the photo seems yellow, but the colors of the cowl read pretty true in this photo.  The yarn is a hand spun Spunky Eclectic colorway -- can't remember which one, but I spun it to maintain the long color repeats.  

I modified the pattern in that I decreased to give it some shoulder shaping.  I knit it on size 9 needles. 

It's rustic and thick and bright.  I kind of love it.

So, yeah, knitting is one way to deal with cold weather.  The other way?

You knew that was coming.   

I'll tell you one thing.  The way my CSA deals with the cold weather is to throw winter squash at us!  I have 2 Acorn, one Butternut, one Delicata, and a baking pumpkin.

Tonight I stuffed two kinds of winter squash with cornbread stuffing, because, to be perfectly honest, my family does not love winter squash.  It's ok as a vehicle for something else like stuffing, though. 

Cornbread Stuffed Winter Squash

• 2 winter squash, halved and seeded
• 1 small onion, diced
• 2 ribs celery, diced
• 2 large cloves garlic
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 T butter
• 10 leaves fresh sage, chopped
• 2 T Sherry
• 6 stale corn muffins, about 2 cups (you can use bread cubes that you dry a little in the oven instead)
• 1 1/2 c chicken stock

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2.  Sautee onion, celery, and garlic in butter until soft.  Season with salt and pepper and add sherry.  Reduce slightly.  Add sage.
3. Stir muffin crumbs and chicken stock into vegetable mixture.  Let it absorb the liquid some.
4. Spoon the stuffing into the squash cavities, mounding it up carefully.
5. Bake until squash is cooked through, about an hour.  

I served this with buffalo meatloaf that I seasoned with some of the fresh sage and yukon gold potatoes.  Stick to your ribs food, I tell you.  

There is some stuffed squash left.  I'd call that lunch.

Chicken Once, Chicken Twice, ...

It's not chicken soup with rice, although I love that too.  No, my family's favorite soup is Chicken Soup with Dumplings.

I started with my mother's recipe long ago and over the years have changed it up a little bit as I've acquired kitchen savy.  

We had chicken more and more often the older I got.  My mom told me once that when she was young, they didn't often have the chicken breast but the "lesser" parts -- thigh, drumstick, etc. I think -- but as chicken became more of a staple in America, and the white meat more available, we had chicken breast a lot at my house.  My mom would put lemon pepper and butter on them and bake them in their skins.  They were good.

Fast forward to now and I have to say, I'm not a fan of the chicken breast.  Dry and mealy unless treated very carefully.  I'm not usually one to baste my chicken in butter as mom did (too calorie conscious) so baked chicken breasts are just out for me.  I usually poach those boneless skinless ones and use 'em in something else.  Now, thighs?  I can get behind some boneless thighs -- grilled, stewed.  It's come full circle.

Enter my CSA and their free range whole birds.  I can taste the difference between these birds and grocery store chicken breasts and I love free range bird.  I buy extra when they have them and they are absolutely worth the money.  Here's one of the things I do with a whole chicken.  Perfect for colder temps.

Mom's (Almost) Chicken Soup with Dumplings

• 1 medium roasting chicken
• 1T seasoned salt (I use Lawry's)
• celery tops
• 1t Penzey's Shallot Salt
• 1 bay leaf
• 1t garlic powder
• 1/2 t white pepper
• 1 1/2 c diced celery
• 1 1/2 c carrot coins (I rough chop peeled baby carrots but any carrots are fine.  If you peel them, wash 'em first and put the peels in the stock.)
• 3 c Bisquick baking mix
• 1 c milk
• salt and pepper

Baking time: 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 hours depending on the chicken.  Stovetop time: 35 to 45 minutes.

A Note about the pan:  I have a pan like this pan, technically a Dutch oven I think, and I use it for the whole dish.  You need something shallow enough to roast in, wide enough to accommodate lots of dumplings and deep enough to accommodate soup.  Or you need multiple pans...

A Note about the dumplings, which are not the usual kind but drop biscuits.  Faster and easier than rolled dumplings, which my family finds gummy.  Just warning you.

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Pat the seasoned salt all over the outside of the bird and in it's cavity.  If possible use the pan you'll make the soup in to bake the bird until just done -- 165 in the thigh or until the drumstick wiggles pretty good.  Pull it out and let it cool enough to handle it and take most of the meat off the carcass and put it and all the skin and leavings back in your pan on the stove top.  Refrigerate the meat to use later in the dish.
2. If you have time, put the carcass back in the oven for 15 or twenty minutes at 400 and get it nice and brown.  This step is worth your extra time.  Browned carcass and skin makes superior stock.  Just sayin'.  If you don't have time to add this step, just go ahead -- it'll still be really good.
3. Pour 6 or so cups of water into the roasting pan over the carcass and scrape up the bits from the bottom of the pan.  
4. Chop the top 3 inches (the leafy part) off of your celery bunch and toss it in the broth.  Add the shallot salt, bay leaf, garlic powder and white pepper to the stock and boil for 15 or 20 minutes while you dice the celery and chop the carrots.  Longer if you want, just watch the water level.  You can't do this part too long -- yummy stock just gets better.  Sometimes, if I'm feeling gourmet, I'll add a glug of sherry at this point.  Sherry and poultry are a match made in heaven.  And please use drinking sherry, not cooking sherry.  Please?!
5. Strain the stock through a fine sieve or through several layers of cheese cloth and return it to the pot.  Throw away the carcass and bones and skin now.   
6. Add to the stock the carrots and celery and diced chicken you pulled from the carcass.  Check the stock for saltiness and adjust to taste.  You may want to add water at this point so you'll have enough for soup -- eyeball it. Bring soup to a bare boil -- more than a simmer but not rolling.
7. Mix Bisquick and milk.  I use a small scoop to drop the dumplings one by one into the boiling soup.  Salt and pepper the tops of the dumplings and let them cook in the soup for 10 minutes covered and 5 minutes uncovered.  

The only complaint I get about this soup is that it's too hot to eat when I serve it.  Which I do right when the dumplings are cooked through.  They thicken the stock a little and a burned roof of the mouth is worth it I think.  

I used to make only a single recipe of dumplings but now I do a recipe and a half since everyone goes back for extra dumplings.  They're pretty good the second day too, if they last that long.  

This recipe is actually a pretty quick dinner, with a little planning.  I usually bake the chicken after carpool, around 4 p.m.,  and I can even run an errand or two while it's in the oven.  My biggest problem is remembering to thaw the bird!  The 45 minutes at the stove at the end are no more than I spend making any other dinner.  

Can you use canned stock and cooked chicken?  Sure.  Still good.  Will the soup be better if you make your own stock from a bird you roast yourself?  Um.  Yes.  Yes.  Yes.

Happy weekend!

Camera, Camera, What's In My Camera?

I have been knitting and taking pictures.  I just haven't been making that final push to get things up here.  Harumph.

This morning, then, I'll upload what's in the camera and comment on the pictures.  How's that for lazy blogging?

I hosted my annual Halloween Trick or Treat fest last weekend.  You know, the one where my city neighborhood opens up to Trick or Treat-ing the Saturday before Halloween?  I bought candy for 450 and had only a little left.  Whew.  

My photography mojo was MIA and this is the  only reasonable picture I took the whole night -- Dear Godson is a Knight in Shining Armor (you have to say the whole thing) -- I'm blaming the nine tenths of a bottle of Pinot Grigio that I consumed I think mostly by myself.  

The good jokes this year?

•  What's the difference between polar bears and the World Series?  Polar bears can have Cubs.
• Why was 6 afraid of 7?  Because 7's been working out.  (Ok, that one was in the delivery.  Picture a large teenage boy, dressed as Slash, deep gravely croaked out rocker voice, bending at the knees, crooking an elbow, pumping a fist, and digging for the "workin' oooouuuuttt" part.  Very funny.)

On the menu?  Smitten Kitchen's excellent Pumpkin Black Bean soup (roasted a scary hubbard squash as the pumpkin), 4 cheese Mac and Cheese, cold cuts, salad, corn bread muffins.  Yum.  Oh, and Pinot Grigio.  Yeesh.

I put sparkly birds in all the windows.  The Birds is, to my mind, one of the creepiest movies ever, but I think only Amanda noticed.  And birds don't scare little kids like they do big ones.

I did some Halloween knitting (that wasn't finished in time to wear this weekend, gosh darn it).  It's the September Circle out of a Zauberball I had kicking around.

It's big -- like long enough to wear as a scarf or double up as a cuddly cowl.  It took all but 2 1/2 yards of the yarn as well.   Me likey.

I knit it while being consumed by another HBO series, Deadwood.  Sheesh.  They use a word in this series, use it as a pronoun, and if you immerse yourself in the show (by immerse, I mean 14 episodes in 4 days) you begin to think this word is ok to utter out loud yourself.  It is not.  Beware.  Knit nighters, you know what I mean.  I do have to admit to an unreasonable fascination with this beautifully produced if spectacularly coarse series.  I love it.

Also in my project bag is this second Hitchhiker scarf out of some yarn Rachel gave Deborah who gave it to me.  We have no idea who dyed it ( I don't think).  It is bright.  So bright that it might have given my camera a seizure when I took this picture.  It'll be excellent with a denim jacket.

Rosamund's Cardigan is the first of three sweaters I have in various stages of completion.  All Rosamund needs are some hooks along the cable in the front.  You'll remember that I used Rowan Lima for this sweater.  It's a yarn I'll use again.  The colors are beautiful.

The yarn reads kind of a dusky purple, but the fiber is actually a royal blue, lime green, and gold carded together.  It's chained and soft.  The pattern is easy enough and simple.  I'm pretty happy with the result.

I'm teaching a class at the shop, using the Mr. Greenjeans sweater from Knitty (with permission, thankyouverymuch).  I'm knitting my instructional model using Berocco Remix, a favorite yarn of mine, and it's coming along nicely.  Last night I taught the third of 4 sessions, where we learn to pick up sleeves and size for your arms etc.  Now I need to knit like the wind to finish the sleeves and get the placket picked up for the next and final session.

I've enjoyed sharing my sweater knitting knowledge with these 8 women.  Each of them is nearly finished with her first (or second) sweater.  So fun to watch folks accomplish something they thought they couldn't.

In January, I'll teach a class using the cover pattern from Interweave Weekend.  It's an interesting knit, with interesting construction and a different set of skills -- short rows, knitted tabs, side to side construction, Kitchener stitch.  It should be fun.  I'm knitting my sample in Nashua's Daylily, but the sweater's pattern is written to take advantage of the long striping yarns like Kureyon and Silk Garden.  I think CE's Liberty or Plymouth's Boku would be good too.  Also, any hand dyed yarn like Manos or Malabrigo would play nicely with the vertical construction like my yarn is doing.  Flattering.

There.  I've blogged again.  Whew.  See you again soon.