And so December....
It's December and the end of November was a flurry of activity. It was enjoyable, happy and family filled. So here goes a quick update....
First there was this...
Happy 7th birthday, Erin! Fun was had by all and Erin was very proud of choosing and mixing the colors then frosting her own cake.
And then there was Thanksgiving. The recipe for the turkey and the stuffing were taught to me by my mom and grandma and the recipes are exquisitely simple and wholly delicious. The stuffing starts with the annual day-before-Thanksgiving-ripping-up-the-bread ritual. Bread was eaten. Bread was thrown. (As we usually eat whole grain bread, we get a little giddy from the sugar rush of nibbing on quite that much white bread.
Although it looks like Megan is taking bread out of Erin's ear, she is actually lining up a surreptitious shot at Auntie which she will promptly blame on Erin based on the bread's trajectory. We try to use our powers for good but.....
Thanksgiving is also my time of year to be a culinary rebel. (That would make a great t-shirt..."Culinary Rebel".) Usually, I'm quite fastidious about food safety: I have a glass cutting board to cut meat on because it's easy to wash even though it dulls my knives ridiculously fast. Veggies are always cut on a completely different board. However, Thanksgiving is a holiday that I buck the official food safety line. Every food program I have seen in the last 10 years says that under no circumstances should you defrost a turkey outside the fridge. Ummmmm...
I opt for the water torture method of bringing the bird up to temp. Yes, outside the fridge. There are two very good reasons for this that the TV food people fail to take into account that makes me wonder if they have ever actually tried defrosting a turkey in the fridge. First, the Butterball wrapper said it would take 3 days in the fridge to defrost a 10 pound bird. This 19 pound bird, it would seem, would take about twice as long. That's about a week in the refrigerator -- how long do these people keep raw meat just sitting in their fridge?! I toss cooked meat after about 4 days in the fridge. And secondly, I don't have the real estate in my fridge the week before Thanksgiving to have most of it taken up by a turkey. Food Network people must have really big fridges.
Oh, and just to further do the exact opposite of the recommended procedure...
I cook the stuffing in the turkey. Gasp! Say it ain't so!
(I do use an instant read thermometer to make sure all parts, white meat, dark meat and stuffing are up to temp. So I guess I'm really not that much of a culinary rebel. <sigh> And, by the way, it was delicious. )
Surprisingly, I have also been working on several fiber related projects.
I finished some mitts for Megan. Here are the details:
Project: Maine Morning Mitts for Megan from The Knitter's Book of Yarn by Clara Parkes
Pattern Mods: I made the thumb about twice as long as recommended to get more coverage
Yarn: Noro Kureyon - 1 skein (Only used one skein so the mitts are fraternal twins. If I wanted them to match, I would have had to use 2 skeins.)
Needles: US 7, double points
I also have been spinning a purple wool/mohair mix. It's an easy spin -- the fibers draft nicely and hold a twist well. My only complaint is the amount of vegetable matter in the fiber. I keep having to stop and pick hay out of the fibers.
I have 3 other projects on my needles at the moment but as they are Christmas gifts, no details will be forthcoming just yet. I shall only refer to them as Projects X, Y, and Z so they sound intriguing. Can knitting projects be intriguing??? Sometimes I create my own adventure. Anyway, Projects X, Y and Z are coming along nicely and should be easily completed in time.
First there was this...
Happy 7th birthday, Erin! Fun was had by all and Erin was very proud of choosing and mixing the colors then frosting her own cake.
And then there was Thanksgiving. The recipe for the turkey and the stuffing were taught to me by my mom and grandma and the recipes are exquisitely simple and wholly delicious. The stuffing starts with the annual day-before-Thanksgiving-ripping-up-the-bread ritual. Bread was eaten. Bread was thrown. (As we usually eat whole grain bread, we get a little giddy from the sugar rush of nibbing on quite that much white bread.
Although it looks like Megan is taking bread out of Erin's ear, she is actually lining up a surreptitious shot at Auntie which she will promptly blame on Erin based on the bread's trajectory. We try to use our powers for good but.....
Thanksgiving is also my time of year to be a culinary rebel. (That would make a great t-shirt..."Culinary Rebel".) Usually, I'm quite fastidious about food safety: I have a glass cutting board to cut meat on because it's easy to wash even though it dulls my knives ridiculously fast. Veggies are always cut on a completely different board. However, Thanksgiving is a holiday that I buck the official food safety line. Every food program I have seen in the last 10 years says that under no circumstances should you defrost a turkey outside the fridge. Ummmmm...
I opt for the water torture method of bringing the bird up to temp. Yes, outside the fridge. There are two very good reasons for this that the TV food people fail to take into account that makes me wonder if they have ever actually tried defrosting a turkey in the fridge. First, the Butterball wrapper said it would take 3 days in the fridge to defrost a 10 pound bird. This 19 pound bird, it would seem, would take about twice as long. That's about a week in the refrigerator -- how long do these people keep raw meat just sitting in their fridge?! I toss cooked meat after about 4 days in the fridge. And secondly, I don't have the real estate in my fridge the week before Thanksgiving to have most of it taken up by a turkey. Food Network people must have really big fridges.
Oh, and just to further do the exact opposite of the recommended procedure...
I cook the stuffing in the turkey. Gasp! Say it ain't so!
(I do use an instant read thermometer to make sure all parts, white meat, dark meat and stuffing are up to temp. So I guess I'm really not that much of a culinary rebel. <sigh> And, by the way, it was delicious. )
Surprisingly, I have also been working on several fiber related projects.
I finished some mitts for Megan. Here are the details:
Project: Maine Morning Mitts for Megan from The Knitter's Book of Yarn by Clara Parkes
Pattern Mods: I made the thumb about twice as long as recommended to get more coverage
Yarn: Noro Kureyon - 1 skein (Only used one skein so the mitts are fraternal twins. If I wanted them to match, I would have had to use 2 skeins.)
Needles: US 7, double points
I also have been spinning a purple wool/mohair mix. It's an easy spin -- the fibers draft nicely and hold a twist well. My only complaint is the amount of vegetable matter in the fiber. I keep having to stop and pick hay out of the fibers.
I have 3 other projects on my needles at the moment but as they are Christmas gifts, no details will be forthcoming just yet. I shall only refer to them as Projects X, Y, and Z so they sound intriguing. Can knitting projects be intriguing??? Sometimes I create my own adventure. Anyway, Projects X, Y and Z are coming along nicely and should be easily completed in time.
Now THAT was a Thanksgiving meal! The turkey and taters were THE BEST EVAR!!
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