Corn Chowder Goodness

A quick and easy recipe that beats the cold!

1 lb Italian Sausage links
2-4 TBSP Flour
11oz Can Sweet Corn
14oz Can Swanson Chicken Broth
2-4 TBSP Heavy Cream or Half & Half

Brown Sausage links in a sauce pan. When sausage is browned use kitchen shears to cut into bite size pieces. Add flour to make roux add broth slowly mixing with flour so no lumps form. Add corn and cream then simmer for 30 minutes covered. Remove lid and raise temp to thicken to desired level. Enjoy!

Veil of Isis and what's new...

Pattern - Veil of Isis
Pattern - BadCatDesigns
Yarn - Malabrigo Yarns Lace
Color - Purple Mystery (30)
Needles and size = Addi-Turbo US 1/ Bamboo dpn US 1

Where has the month gone? I keep thinking that I will have time to post what has been going on since Christmas and before I know it, it is time to get ready for bed. So what have I been up to...?

After Christmas I finally finished the Veil of Isis shawl with 6 pattern repeats and onto the edging. I used up 3 skeins of the Malabrigo lace weight yarn and a tube of 8mm amethyst glass beads. If you can get the center start going then this is really a good beginner lace project since it is an easy pattern to read and follow.

I have also been working on my new Majacraft Suzie Pro spinning wheel that my DH got me for Christmas. A true surprise. I had some play fiber that Lewis at Little Barn gave us to play with in October and my spindle hasn't been free of fiber so this seemed the perfect time to get it out and learn what ratios to use and how to set the bobbin tension. So far, so good. Two weeks ago I had a couple of nice spinner friends show me how to Navajo ply the play yarn I had spun up and it turned out well. The black fiber on the bobbin is a single ply of some animal fiber known as "The Beast." The skein of yarn next to it is all of the play fibers that I had accumulated along with some "Beast" and then Navajo plied. It worked out quite well.

Otherwise it has been either really cold here or really warm. And those warm days hit right after Christmas and New Year time so I spent some time outside raking up the last of the leaves in the back and getting them into bags to place around my potted plants. In our zone I can use the bags as a heat source at night to keep the area around the pots closer to 32 when we have 15-20 degree nights.

Today we will be lucky if we get above 32 but the sun is out in full force so it is soup weather.

French Onion Soup

6-8 Cups Spanish Onions, large dice
1 stick (1/2 Cup) unsalted butter
32 ounces beef bouillon (beef broth)
10 ounces water
1/4 Cup wine
French bread
Muenster Cheese


In large sauce pot melt 1 stick of butter then add onions. Cook onions on med-high for 30 minutes covered. Stir every 5-10 minutes to make sure onions don't stick to the bottom of the pan. Brown caramelized color is what you want. After 30 minutes add beef broth, water and wine. Move temp down to simmer and cover to cook for at least 2-3 hours or longer.

At least 30 minutes prior to eating, preheat oven to 350 and cut French bread into either slices or cubes and place on a cookie sheet to bake for 15 minutes. Bread should be crouton like when it comes out. Scoop soup into oven proof dishes, add baked bread and top with the amount of muenster cheese that you like. Place on cookie sheet and bake for 15 minutes. Remove and enjoy!

Note if you make your own beef stock then water and wine can be omitted.

Merry Christmas with a BC Green Dragoon

Well ‘tis the day before Christmas and all through the house, all presents have been wrapped and placed snuggly under the tree at the ‘rents for Christmas Day unveiling. Here at the house many orchids are in bloom ‘cept for the red Catteleya that has been a yearly staple, looks like it is beating to its own drum this year so a January bloomer it looks to be. Pictured above is the Green Dragoon with it’s first blooms ever for me. I picked this plant up as a seedling from Carters and Holmes some 4-5 years ago and it has finally matured to produce a nice set of 5 green flowers for us to enjoy this holiday season.

Lemon Cheesecake

For Christmas Dinner I have made one of mine and DH's favorite Lemon Cheesecakes using one of my Meyer Lemons from my private tree stash. Each lemon produces a ½ to ¾ - Cup of Lemon juice and a nice amount of lemon peel to boot. The recipe has been modified from one of the Original Williams and Sonoma cookbook series Cakes, Cupcakes and Cheesecakes. If you see this one it is well worth the money to place in your cookbook collection.

Preheat oven to 350 F, and prepare 9-inch spring form pan for crust.

For the Crust
1/3 Cup pecans, roasted and chopped well
1 ¾ Cup graham cracker crumbs
¼ Cup Dark Brown Sugar
1 tsp salt
1 tsp lemon peel
¼ Cup fresh lemon juice
½ Cup unsalted butter, melted

Mix the first five ingredients together well. Add the lemon juice and mix until well incorporated. Add butter and mix until crust mix starts sticking together. Pour crust mix into spring form pan and distribute evenly over the bottom. With a spoon or a plastic bag over your hand, press the crumb mix together beginning at the center of the pan and working out to the edges. Press crumbs up the edge approx 1 to 1.5 – inches. Bake for 1 minute then cool.

For the Filling
2 lb good quality cream cheese, room temperature
1 Cup sugar
½ Cup heavy cream (you will need an 8oz carton for recipe)
½ Cup fresh lemon juice
1 envelope Knox gelatin
1 Tablespoon lemon juice
½ Cup heavy cream

Mix cream cheese and sugar with a mixer until light and fluffy add cream and make sure mixed well. Add lemon juice and make sure mixed well. In a small heat proof pan add gelatin and 1 Tablespoon lemon juice. With low-medium heat cook until all is in a liquid state, slowly add cream while stirring. Slowly pour the cream-gelatin mix into cream cheese mixture while beating on low. Pour Cream Cheese filling into the crust and then refrigerate for 2 hours before eating.

Note: make a day ahead for full flavor infusion.

Spin more Yarn and other happenings

Back in October I showed you some Lynne Vogel fiber that I was spinning. Above is the finished yarn that I completed during the last part of November.

From one of the members of our local spinning group there was a suggestion to use the cardboard wine boxes to hold some fiber and your spindles for easy carrying and to prevent them from being broken by mistake. So here is my new carrying case for the two spindles that I am currently using.

Malabrigo Dusty Olive worsted weight yarn. I love the fall festive colors in this dye way. I have a pattern picked out when I finish my currently in progress knitting. Meanwhile, Zack is protecting it from others that would like to pilfer my stash for this colorway. ;)

The Marathon mailing is complete. Can you say yea! Each second Saturday of December, the local track club sponsors a marathon that has around 1500 runners sign up to run and around 1300 finish each year. My job is to take the finish certificates and a photo of each runner’s finish and get them in the appropriate envelope, seal the envelopes, and then drop them off at the post office. This year it only took me two days to get all envelopes done and out of my house to the post office. Only six more weeks until my data entry job starts for the Memorial Day 10K/5K run.

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Dreaming of the perfect Meyer Lemon Recipe...

Growing up Mom used to make us little lemon puddings that were placed in a water bath to cook and had a delicious cake topping that rose to the top when it was baking. Over the years the recipe has been misplaced but the following link from the Washington Post seems to look like a dead ringer for how it was made. I also found this interesting recipe from Oprah's site. And if these weren't enough I have a copy of Lucious Lemon Desserts which is plain and simple a wonderful collection of recipes on how to use the lemons I grow each year. Well it looks like it's about time to start picking and using the lemons from this year's crop. Bon Apetit. :)

The Ann Arbor Shawl

Nina's Ann Arbor Shawl
Pattern - Wrapped in Comfort - Alison Jeppson Hyde
Yarn - Koigu KPPPM
Color - P200 135
Needles and size = Addi-Turbo US9

This sweater was finished back in October and I am just now posting the final project photo. Lots of knitting, travelling, and house work took place in November and not much posting. Anywho, this project was started back at the end of June, and many other projects were finished ahead of it. While this project was not that challenging it was a long and boring process to get to the finish. However the final blocked garment is quite beautiful and feels great in the Koigu yarn. This shawl is a Christmas present for one of my nieces so I hope she likes it.

Koolhaas Hat

Koolhaas Hat
Pattern - Interweave Knits Holiday 2007 publication
Yarn - Dream in Color Classy
Color - Visual Purple
Size = US6 and US 8

This hat was an interesting diversion from my other knitting. I have done lots of cable knits in the past more complex than this but this one kept me frogging for some reason. At least it was a hat and quick, but if it had been a sweater I think I would have frogged it completely and looked for something else to knit with the yarn. Another note the womans version calls for doing the pattern repeat 4 times, however, when finished it was too small for me so it will be a gift for a friends kid who I think will really enjoy it. If I were to want to cause pain for myself again it will be done with 5 pattern repeats, however I don't think this style hat is really me so I don't think it will be a repeat performance.

Santa Hat

Santa Hat
Pattern - Handknit Holidays by Melanie Falick
Yarn - Blue Sky Worsted Hand Dyes in Red
Blue Sky Bulky in Natural
Size Needles = US9 and US 11

This hat is a present for my sister and one I think she will enjoy wearing. :) It was a two evening knit and fun. One that I would consider making again!