Knitting Today: Last Square Midwinter Blanket

 The Midwinter Blanket squares have long been done.  At least I am done with them.  The idea was to make 35 of them and sew them together into a blanket. I never planned to do more than one of each type. I finished weeks ago and just now have time to report on that final square.

This one I call "Blowing In The Wind Tree".  You can see that yet again I have a very high tolerance for error.  I could not be bothered to take it out and re-do as I was working on several other projects at the same time that were under the gun to finish...so I left this. I am still leaving it.  

You note that this tree is on a bed of snow with a glorious blue sky overhead.  I ran out of the white yarn.  In actuality I was attempting to organize the workroom which has paper crafting, sewing, knitting, watercolor, bookbinding, and other project types all in disarray.  In one of the bags that I love so much I found a full cake of white Bartlettyarns yarn.  Still, I am going to let that icky square stay as is.  And really get to work on organizing...!

Munchie Monday: Lemon Curd Tarts

 Just a quick note about finding recipes, and presumably anything else, on the Internet:  don't bet your life on those things!

Last week we had Book Group.  We had read Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier.  I thought a nice little plate of lemon curd tarts would be just the thing for a treat to share.  This is the recipe I found on the Net:

Lemon Curd

3/4 cup fresh lemon juice

3/4 cup white sugar (If I was to write the recipe I think I would have said "granulated sugar".  That was the first clue...)

1/2 cup unsalted butter

3 large eggs

1 Tablespoon lemon zest

The directions said: Combine lemon juice, sugar, eggs, butter, and lemon zest in a 2-quart saucepan.  Cook over medium-low heat, whisking constantly, until mixture thickens and bubbles.

That is it.

This is what I did...I put the ingredients (except the lemon zest since our lemons were just slightly past their prime zest-making spot) in the top of a double-boiler since I know myself to be easily distracted during the stirring part of cooking projects.  I did whisk forever.  Well, I put a time running to be sure. After 5 minutes the the curd was not even remotely thickened so I cooked longer.

After about fifteen minutes I dumped out the boiling water, dried the bottom saucepan then dumped the lemon mixture into the saucepan.  I cooked longer until it was bubbling a tiny bit and semi-thick seeming. I put the curd through a stainless steel strainer in case there were any bits of egg white hiding in the sweetness. It turned out that even though I could not see any egg white, when I strained there was a small amount.

After dipping a spoon into the "sauce" and finding the spoon well-coated with lemon lusciousness, I licked it clean.  It was SO TASTY!  But not very thick. Well, not at all thick as I had expected it to be.

I had made some darling little pie crust cases for the lemon curd tarts.  All right, I did NOT make the pie crust, I got some refrigerated crust from the store but I DID cut it up with a cookie cutter into little rounds that I shoved down into the bottoms of mini muffin tin reservoirs. I baked them at 400 degrees F. for ten minutes then pulled them out of the oven.  They would have been prettier if I had left them in longer to get them nice and brown, but I did not dare.  Burning, or as I like to call it, chocolatizing, baked goods is a real danger at our house.

So what was I going to take to Book Group for treats since these babies were not going to make it?  (I did fill five little shells with the very thin lemon curd.  They were tasty but not right so I could not bring them.  I do have some standards!)

What I did was toast some whole wheat bread, cut off all the crusts, spread some rather dry egg salad which did not have much personality (we had made the egg salad when we had company coming for lunch where I was concerned they might not like the rich robust egg salad I like with lots of onions and spices...), sliced some green queen olives and put on top.  This was rather boring, but edible and something to bring and share with the other ladies.

A funny note:  when I got back from Book Group meeting, I discovered that Dear One had eaten all the little empty tart cases!  You could have knocked me over with a feather.  I asked him if he liked them.  He said, "Sure."  How funny is that?!

A final note on the lemon curd:  I had put the thin lemon curd in a ceramic bowl and put it in the refrigerator...after licking another spoon of the deliciousness.  The next morning the lemon curd was lovely and thick and perfect!!!  That internet recipe never mentioned you needed to chill the heck out of it...

Live and learn.  And maybe don't wait until the afternoon of an event before making treats.  Perhaps make a test batch the day before just to try them out.

Arepas

 Our daughter came home from her mission many years ago with a recipe for arepas. They are basically cornmeal buns.  The ingredients are simple: pre-cooked cornmeal (I used Pan), salt, and water. They are mixed together, formed into a bun shape then cooked in a little oil then baked to finish the cooking process. Slice them open after they have cooled. Fill with anything. 

We had sister missionaries over to eat lunch with us. One needed gluten free food.  Since I had planned sandwiches I made arepas.  We had barbecued pork as one filling and egg salad as another filling.  The sisters were kind and ate them and said nice things.

The arepas ready to be cooked.

Arepas Recipe

2 cups Pan cornmeal

2 1/2 cups hot water

1 teaspoon salt

The arepas are being cooked to give
them a nice crust.

Mix all ingredients together.  Cover with plastic wrap and let sit at least 5 minutes.  Divide into 8 pieces and form balls.  Flatten balls to about 1/4 inch thick and set on parchment paper or plastic wrap while your cast iron skillet heats up.  Put about 1 Tablespoon of vegetable oil in the skillet.  When oil is  shimmering add the arepas in batches.  

The arepas on the left cooked 2 minutes on each side , the pretty ones  on the right cooked 3 minutes...

Cook 2-3 minutes on each side then place in oven at 350 degrees F. on a parchment lined pan for 15-18 minutes.  Remove from oven and let cool.  Split with a bread knife when cool.  

The arepas seemed to be a hit.

Next time I think I will cook all the arepas in the pan for 3 minutes per side,  or even more.  In the oven I will let them cook the 18 minutes instead of 15 minutes. I will also let them cool completely before splitting. In this case the sisters needed to eat an run so the arepas had not cooled very much.

Knitting Today: Homemade Barber Cords

 Working on the Harbin Sweater has been a good thing. I have learned a variety of things that are very useful to a knitter.  For some years I have heard of barber cords.  People put them on their knitting needles tips then pull them through their knitting stitches so they can try one garments.  These are way more convenient than putting your stitches on waste yarn, which is what I have done for years.

WELL!!  I am thrilled to say that, at least with my Chiaogoo fixed circular needles, up to at least US #7 needles (I have not tried larger on this project), the homemade barber cords/barber cords work-around is very successful.

Here is the sweater with my ursatz barber cords.  The needles I am using to knit the bottom ribbing are 24" needles and there are a VERY large number of stitches.  This new "barber cord" I am using goes on the tips every time I set the knitting down OR the stitches pop off to beat the band.  I am so thrilled.

What am I using? This is jewelry making stuff...  It is a 3 mm core rubber tubing for jewelry.  No idea about its jewelry use.  I got this 27-plus yards of tubing for way less than one set of barber cords.  It works great!  I also got some 2 mm rubber tubing and that works great, too.

Something Different, Plus Knitting Today!

 This morning in my studies I read this quote:

"[Satan] damages and often destroys families within the walls of their own homes. His strategy is to stir up anger between family members. Satan is the “father of contention, and he stirreth up the hearts of men to contend with anger, one with another.” The verb stir sounds like a recipe for disaster: Put tempers on medium heat, stir in a few choice words, and bring to a boil; continue stirring until thick; cool off; let feelings chill for several days; serve cold; lots of leftovers.

A cunning part of his strategy is to dissociate anger from agency, making us believe that we are victims of an emotion that we cannot control. We hear, “I lost my temper.”...

“He made me mad.” This is another phrase we hear, also implying lack of control or agency. This is a myth that must be debunked. No one makes us mad. Others don’t make us angry. There is no force involved. Becoming angry is a conscious choice, a decision; therefore, we can make the choice not to become angry. We choose!"

Elder Lynn G. Robbins

Years ago I read this quote for the first time, or if not this particular quote, the message in it: we choose how we feel.  It was eye-opening to me. I had thought that feelings just came to us.  Not so. I had an experience with anger that helped me learn it was not necessary in my  life and the life of my family.  (In short--one day I was terrifically angry, so angry that I was nauseous and almost faint.  It was such an awful feeling that I resolved never to feel that way again. And I have not.)

For anyone who has felt trapped by negative emotions/feelings, you don't have to be.  In fact, it is an unpleasant truth that we choose how we feel.  I personally choose to feel happy.

One thing that makes me happy is knitting.  I can make pretty things and give them away. This really really makes me happy.

Two of my most recent knitting projects: the blue potpourri bag--

and the purple and pink potpourri bag--

These bags have been a months'-long learning project as I have been "studying" mosaic knitting.  I am not at the top of the game yet, but am making progress.  The blue bag shows the rounded bottom of the bag.  The purple and pink bag shows that the rounded bottom really is a flat bottom so the bag can sit up.

The bags contain a small handful of botanical potpourri and a cotton ball with five drops of lavender oil dropped on it to give it a nice lavender-y fragrance.  These make me smile.  One day when I get the pattern just the way I want it, I will publish it here in case anyone else wants to knit some of them. It takes me less than two hours to knit. I am hoping to get it together so it is less than that!

Bird Watching!

 Early one morning I happened into the laundry room and slipped open the shutters.  There, at the top of the live oak tree, was a beautiful red friendly cardinal. I raced into the other room to get my phone to take a picture, sure that he would be gone when I got back....BUT HE WAS STILL THERE!  So beautiful.

There he was...just waiting for me to snap a couple of pictures.  Birds waiting to be photographed make me so happy!

Munchie Monday: Another (Semi-) Food Disaster

 When I went to Dorr Farms I picked up two sweet potatoes.  Because I was sort of in a rush, I put them in the air fryer to cook.  As it happens, they were not quite cooked when the timer went off.  Since Dear One is not totally fond of sweet potatoes, I just left them in the oven to "finish up" cooking then ate one of them which was, admittedly, slightly under-done.  The other one that definitely was underdone I put in the refrigerator.

The next day I removed the sweet potato from the refrigerator, sliced it into 1/2 inch slices and laid them out on a piece of parchment paper on a sheet pan.  With my very handy Yeti mug, I smashed them down to about 1/4 inch thick.  I had a small bowl with some leftover seasonings in it to which I added a little bit of olive oil.  Using the red silicon brush, I brushed the seasoned oil on top of all the smashed potatoes, covered them with grated parmesan cheese,  then put them in the air fryer.  I set it at 400 degrees F and 25 minutes.

Either the temperature was too high or the time was too long. Or maybe both.

Here they are!  You can see the parmesan cheese which  more or less melted down.

Actually, these are not as bad as they look.  The black bits are the potato skin. I always scrub potatoes within an inch of their lives then eat the skins, too.  In fact, one of  the delicacies of life is russet potatoes baked then cut in half, the innards scooped out and butter and salt put on the potato skins.  So good.  So bad for you. At least that butter is bad for me.  You can tell that by looking at me...oh, what am I saying?!  I never let people take pictures of me.  At least I prefer not to.  Which is, of course, not great for family history work...

I can hear you asking why I left these sweet potatoes to burn.  Well, I was busy on another project and I DID smell the potatoes but they only smelled like they were cooking, not like they were burning.  Lesson learned.  Multi-tasking is now beyond me.  And I say lesson learned, but I bet anything that it is not rock solid in my brain yet...more burn notices will probably come my way.

Yes.  I did eat them.  Not all the incinerated skins, though.  Not so tasty...