2005 « Stoneview

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Celtic Braid

I haven’t been able to add pictures to posts for the past two days. I was hoping it would be fixed but I haven’t yet had a reply to my query about it so I’ll just go ahead without photos for now.
Monday I finally got my most of my Christmas cards assembled and mailed. I always include a picture of the four of us and lately I’ve been matting that and adhering it to the card. Edit: Now isn’t that interesting, posting fixed my problem and I can edit in my photos- *whew*.

I’m also working on one last Christmas knitting project but it’s on hold now until the recipient arrives later today to try it on. I’m making Celtic Braid socks by Cabin Fever for Jason’s mom but she’s got a size a bit outside of the directions so I need her to try them on before I finish up the foot and toe.

A visit to Boston

On Saturday Jason and I went in to Boston so I could go to the kpixie trunk show. Being still newish at knitting (next month marks my two year "anniversary") I’d never been to a trunk show before so I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. Missa promptly replied to my e-mail affirming that a camera would be okay (sorry it was too dark for pictures) and there would be things for sale. I picked up some of this gorgeous pristine white mohair for my International Scarf Exchange scarf and a few skeins of Lorna’s Laces sock yarn- sadly there was no Vesper available. While Missa was totalling my order and we were chatting one of the models came by to ask a question with a really gorgeous sweater on. I asked if the pattern was available and voila, Missa pulled one out for me. It’ll be the first sweater I’ve done in a bulky yarn. I’m hoping it’ll be a quick knit.

Microwave Cocoa

Here’s my excellent microwave cocoa- a scant teaspoon sugar (the less sugar you use the more chocolatey it will taste), 1/2 teaspoon Ceylon cinnamon, 1 heaping tablespoon cocoa powder and about half an inch of skim milk in the bottom of your mug. I microwave on high for 30 seconds and then whisk like mad to incorporate the cocoa, stream in milk to fill the cup while continuing to whisk. Microwave on high another 2 minutes. I don’t drink coffee or black tea so this is my usual starter in the morning. If you are using a different cinnamon you probably only want 1/4 teaspoon as it will be much stronger.

I made my little sock wrapper today and popped them into the mail. I hope it’s not too warm in Arkansas for wool socks.

Does she looks smaller?

I didn’t think so. Gabby got a trim yesterday- mostly the belly and a bit up the sides. I’m sure I removed an entire cats worth of fur from her but it’s hard to tell. I left more on the top than I do in the summer, I don’t want her to get too cold and the top doesn’t really matt easily. She’s been bathing herself like mad. Perhaps she thinks that’ll make it grow faster?

Daniel’s been working hard in art metals class. The ring on the left is a sword he was making that didn’t turn out so he bent it and created a ring. The white one is some sort of a shield that was then shaped into a ring but I can’t recall what type of shield he said it was. He’s got some other nice projects but those are Christmas gifts so I won’t show them yet. This week they are learning to anneal glass powder onto metal by firing in a kiln. It looks amazing.

O Christmas Tree

The jaywalker socks are all done and ready for mailing. Something I’m planning to test out on this pair that I saw on Yai Ann’s blog and she in turn got it off Carolyn’s blog is a sock label. I love how they turned out and I may try them again for myself in superwash yarn which seems to snug up just a tad after the first wash.

We also finished decorating our tree. There was much grumbling and grousing from Daniel but I think he just enjoys being dramatic as he seemed to secretly really enjoy it, even putting on the glass stars and icicles of which there are many. Now all that’s needed is a few presents so it doesn’t look quite so forlorn.

Pralines

Earlier this year I tested several praline recipes looking for just the right one that lived up to my favorite sort of praline. It took several tries to find something that fit my memory of what I wanted. Then, a few months ago, Typepad ate over 150 of my files and unfortunately, the post with the recipe was one of them. This month I’ve been testing again and I think I’ve found exactly what I want with a bit of the usual tweaking.

Pralines

2 cups granulated sugar
1 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 pinch salt
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 cups pecan halves
1 teaspoon vanilla

Combine sugar, buttermilk and salt in a heavy bottom saucepan and cook over medium-high heat to 210 F on a candy thermometer with occasional stirring. Add the butter and the nuts and continue to cook to 235 F on a candy thermometer. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla and baking soda (it will foam like crazy at this point). Stir continuously until the mixture begins to lose it’s glossiness and then drop by spoonfuls onto a silpat or waxed paper.

Brrr

It’s pretty darn cold this morning! The weather blog says 2 but it looks like 3 or 4 on my thermometer. With most of the carpet gone Gwen and Winnie have begun getting into bed with us at night. Gabby just isn’t that sort of cat and she’d rather sleep on the computer chair no matter what. Of course, Gabby has just a wee bit more fur than the other two and the luxury of a double coat as well.

I worked on Christmas gifts yesterday and made another batch of divinity as well as these biscotti. I started making these three or four years ago and it’s become a tradition in our house to make them at Christmas. They don’t get super hard and crunchy like store bought, maybe I should cook them a bit longer on the second bake.

Cranberry Pistachio Biscotti

1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup boiling water
3 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup sugar
4 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
1/2 cup pistachios, coarsely chopped
1/4 cup sanding sugar

Preheat oven to 375 F. Place cranberries in a small bowl and add 1/2 cup boiling water, or enough to cover. Let stand until cranberries are plump, about 15 minutes. Drain and set aside. In a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking powder and salt; set aside. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter and granulated sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add 3 eggs, one at a time, beating to incorporate after each addition. Beat in vanilla. Add the dry ingredients, beating on low, until fully combined. Stir in the drained cranberries and pistachios.

Remove dough to a lightly floured surface. Divide in two. Roll each piece into a 2 x 18 inch long log and place on prepared baking sheet, leaving about 3 inches between logs. Flatten logs slightly with palm of hand. In a small bowl, lightly beat remaining egg. Brush logs with beaten egg and sprinkle with sanding sugar.

Bake for 25 minutes. Remove from oven and cool on a rack until warm to the touch, about 20 minutes. Place logs on a cutting board and cut crosswise on the diagonal into 3/4 inch pieces. Return biscotti to baking sheet, cut side down. Bake until biscotti are beginning to brown around the edges, about 12 minutes more. Transfer to wire racks to cool.

For dinner last night I made chicken chili and it simmered while we put the lights on our Christmas tree. As when cooking with wine, use a beer that you would drink as you can definitely taste the beer in the finished chili. Jason wished for sour cream as a topping but we didn’t have any.

Chicken Chili

2 tablespoons canola oil
1/2 pound ground white meat chicken
1 medium onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
2 teaspoon ancho chili powder
2 teaspoon cumin
salt
1/2 cup barley
1 medium red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1 bottle of beer
2 cups veggie stock
1 (28-ounce) can chopped tomatoes
1 can small redi beans, drained
1 1/2 cups shredded pepper jack cheese, 8 ounces
1 avocado, diced and sprinkled with lime juice

Heat the olive oil over high heat in a Dutch oven. Add the chicken followed
closely by the onions and garlic. When the onions are soft add the remaining
ingredients except for the cheese and avocados and simmer, with occasional stirring,
uncovered for about 30 minutes or until the barley is cooked. Serve topped with
cheese and avocado.

Message in a bottle?

Our little message plant is sprouting. I’d only chipped off the very top of the egg because I saw the top of the bean there but Daniel fretted and fretted until I chipped away a little more. The directions say to take away 2/3 of the egg but our little bean was sitting far up in the egg. As you can see he’s beginning to sprout.

The second Jaywalker cuff is nearly done and I’ll be starting the heel flap quite soon now. When I started this second sock I realized I had been doing the double decrease wrong for the entire first sock. I’m going to keep doing it the same way for this sock and it’ll just have a bit more texture than was originally intended by the designer.

Beaded notions bag finished, whew!

It’s all assembled and ready to go. The box is packed and I’m headed to the post office as soon as I pack up the candy that’s ready for mailing. I like it better now that it’s made into a bag, the wonky petals don’t jump out at me quite so much.

The shaft of fire that glows in yonder West

Yesterday afternoon I was over at Carrie’s house spinning. We could see a bit of the spectacular sunset through the windows. Imagine my surprise when I downloaded knitting pictures this morning and there were several more than I was expecting. Our house has an excellent view of sunsets and Jason must have taken these pictures. Sandy, I hope you were sky watching yesterday!

Now that the beading project is done I’m back to knitting. Here’s the first Jaywalker finished. It’s a little loose on my foot so when these are complete I’ll send them down to my sister Leslie to see if they might fit her. The second sock is cast on and I finished the ribbing last night so they should really get going this morning at knitting.

Here is one of the secret knitting projects I was working on. This kept me busy over Thanksgiving while Mom was here. This is knit from the homespun llama (the roving I bought at Rhinebeck) on size 5 needles. The yarn was more or less sportweight (and I really do mean more or less… or perhaps I mean more *and* less). I snagged the stitch pattern out of The New Knitting Stitch Library and added a garter stitch border. Bonnie pointed out that it looks like a trident in one direction. I wanted something a little bit dressy but soft and pleasant to touch. This was a birthday present for Carrie. The rest of the secret knitting will have to remain a secret now until after Christmas.