Winter Vegetables

It's hard to believe that somewhere under the massive piles of snow in my garden lies the potential for those succulent summer herbs and vegetables that we all love, but for now we can still enjoy great produce. You know, all the second cousins to our warm weather favorites. The homely vegetables that sit around on the grocers' shelves while most people settle for the horror of canned green beans or corn.

Plain and simple root vegetables, for instance. Last week I brought home a bag of parsnips. Now I grew up eating parsnips, turnips, rutabaga, and beets. My Mom grew up on a farm and knew how to take advantage of the variety of the garden. (Sure, she probably cooked them a little longer than necessary, but that's another matter.) My husband, on the other hand, was raised with a limited exposure to---well let's be honest, all food types in general. If Stoffer's couldn't plop it on a sectioned foil tray, it probably wasn't going to get served at their table.

But now he's lived with me for the last twenty-six years, so he's used to having things like parsnips on the menu. He may not always be so enthusiastic, but I'm going to brag that more times than not, I have a happy customer in the end. This time I tried Roasted Parsnips from a recipe on the Simply Recipes site. I cheated a little and threw in a few julienned carrots as well, and they were delicious. The horseradish is definitely the secret.

Cauliflower is also plentiful this time of year. I'm the one who tends to resist throwing this stuff in the cart. Come on, it's albino broccoli! Why not get the green, too? White vegetables aren't all that appealing to me.

I had seen a recipe for Roasted Cauliflower Soup that inspired me to try once again, and I'm so glad that I did. This recipe is easy and delicious. If this doesn't scream winter comfort, nothing does. Usually I ignore a recipe that calls for heavy cream. Trust me, you don't need it. I added a little half and half, but milk would work, too.

I snapped a few pictures of the roasting process of the recipe and meant to get one of the final product, but we ate it too fast. It was gone before I could dig out the camera. I thought about frying up a little bacon as a garnish. I still think that would be great. Instead, we drizzled a little balsamic glaze across the top, and mmmm, mmmm, mmm. This and fresh bread out of the oven and you've got yourself a meal.

And last but not least is the lowly cabbage. Boiled, fried, raw. We've done it all. It had been many years, however, since I had made sauerkraut. Truth be told, I never made it; I helped when my grandparents put up jars and jars of it when I was younger.

This winter I decided to give it a try for myself after having eaten fresh sauerkraut in Germany over the summer. That sauerkraut was the sauerkraut of my youth and had little in common with the stuff we've been eating since. Don't get me wrong, I love just about any sauerkraut, but this was incredible.

I had no intentions of making gallons of the stuff, so I looked for a small batch recipe online and came across directions for Sauerkraut in a Mason Jar. I started mine several weeks ago, and I think we're finally ready for a taste. A good Reuben should be the perfect test. Corned beef and Swiss are on the grocery list.

We're Going to the Super Bowl!

Cabled Swing Cardi

Finally got around to putting the finishing touches on the Cabled Swing Cardigan that I started last fall. All progress hit a big slog over the Christmas vacation. With company over, visiting family, and being just way too tired most evenings to even pick up the needles, it sat.

It took some gumption to pick it up again. Those are the times that I am glad I was born a monogamous knitter. And thank goodness I had decided to knit both sleeves at the same time. It took me a while to even figure out where I was in the pattern, but once I got going, I hit the groove.

Overall, I'm really happy with the way that the sweater turned out. I had serious doubts about the fit even though I had measured and the gauge was on. It wasn't that I thought that the sweater was too long; it was that I thought I was going to be too short. No need to worry. It's just right.

For the most part, the pattern is well written. I don't think that I would recommend the project for a beginner, but any moderately experienced knitter should be fine. There are a few modifications that I made to the pattern. (I detailed these in my Ravelry notes.) Most of the changes were around the neckline with decreases and the number of stitches to pick up for the collar. (Took the advice of other knitters on that little tip.)

Now if I can ever find the time to wind up the yarn I bought before Christmas, I could swatch up my next EZ project...

So Long 2010, Here Comes 2011

With only a few hours left of 2010, I thought I'd look back at the year that was.
1. I turned 50. A big deal and not a big deal all at the same time.
2. Lots of Travel. San Antonio, New Orleans, Chicago, Germany, Austria, Italy, Switzerland, and New York for the US Open.
3. Outdoor Baseball. Target Field is a little piece of heaven on earth.
4. Knitting. A year for sweaters. I made five and am working on a sixth. There were a few hats, blankets, a shawl, and some other little items, too. (Gotta keep busy.)
5. A New Garden Fence. After several years of procrastinating, I finally got it together and rebuilt the fence around my garden. Rabbits be damned.

With 2011 around the corner, I think I'm going to try to:
1. Get outside more often this winter. I'm a better person after I've inhaled some fresh air---even if it's frigid fresh air.
2. Pray more. I say that every year. Hope I'm getting better.
3. Plant early spring vegetables. I'm always behind.
4. Knit a big project. Japanese pattern? Blanket?
5. Bake pastry. (Maybe. I want to learn, but do I really need to eat more fresh pastry?)

Happy New Year!

Slow Cooker Bacon Jam

When I browsed through my latest copy of Everyday Food, I immediately noticed the recipe for Slow Cooker Bacon Jam. Bacon tends to get my attention and the very idea of making a jam with its tasty goodness as the main ingredient sounded intriguing, so I tore out the page with the recipe and stuck it in my stash.

This "to-be-tried" recipe stash is my source of inspiration when I'm heading off to the grocery store and every time I came across this clipping for Bacon Jam, it called out to me. But Bacon Jam, really? I couldn't decide if it sounded wonderful or positively dreadful. Eventually, I succumbed and let me tell you, it's amazing stuff.

Initially, we tried it plain on toasted bread with a glass of red wine. Mmmm. Then we spread a little on a hamburger. Oh boy! And just the other night we had it on a ham, Swiss cheese, and pear panini. Whoa!

This has been a great time of the year to make it, too. Share the wealth. I brought a jar to a party last weekend, and it was fun to see people's reaction when they tried it and then heard what it was.

Just as an FYI...as much as I love bacon, I hate the way the house can smell of bacon long after the bacon is gone, so I was concerned about having this stuff stewing away in an uncovered crock pot for several hours--one of the reasons I was on the fence about making it in the first place. I browned the bacon with the exhaust fan from the stove running, as usual, and found the aroma from cooking the jam afterward to be pleasant. No worries.

Yeah, We Got A Lot of Snow

Let's Grill! The old Weber is under there somewhere, and it's all the way up to 5 degrees.

Aw, maybe not.

The snow started falling here late Friday and didn't let up until Saturday night. All that snowing and blowing made it a great weekend to hunker down at home and get going on some Christmas decorating.

This morning, however, it was time to get out and dig. Even though the temperatures had taken a nosedive, the sun on the new snow made it fun to be out. (At least that was my thinking. I'm not so sure about my grumbling spouse who was murmuring something else under his breath while he was digging out the front sidewalk.)

The snow blower took care of the driveway, but we did have to shovel out the porch. Usually, we can sweep away what little snow blows through the screens, but this time the broom wasn't going to cut it. One big, hard-packed drift covered half the room.

By this time, even though my fingers were too cold to adjust the filter on my camera, I just had to get a picture of the snow hats on the bird feeders in the backyard.

According to one of our local weathermen, we've already received two-thirds of our normal snowfall totals for an entire winter---and it's not even officially winter yet. Don't you just love global warming?

This does make for great knitting weather. I mean, this is it. We are entering prime knitting season! So when I was out shopping last week, I stole away enough time to grab some yarn for a new project. I still have a ways to go on my current project, but I'm not about to run out of yarn if another storm hits---or worse, if my mother-in-law is here for a holiday visit. That would be horrible.

I've decided to quit being a big baby and give two-color knitting another shot. What if I try it with a knitting-in-the-round pattern? Would it be so horrible? EZ's Fair Isle Yoke Sweater might be the ticket.

I should have it done about the time those drifts out in the backyard melt.

I'm Getting A Bad Feeling...

In mid-October I cast on the Cabled Swing Cardigan from Norah Gaughan's The Knitter's Book of Yarn. I was proud of myself because this was a step out of my usual knitting zone. The pattern is a style I don't usually wear, and I'm knitting it in a yarn in a color I most definitely never wear. I felt I was being brave and bold. Exploring new territory.

Now that I've knit the body of the sweater and am on to the sleeves, I'm not feeling quite as confident. This sweater looks long. And I'm not. Should I have modified the length, I wonder? But then it wouldn't be different. It would be a regular old I've-got-a-closet-full-of-them-cardigan. Am I going to get this thing all put together and end up passing it on to a taller friend, I fear? Maybe. Even so, I intend to knit on and remain a brave knitter.

I don't think there's really any way of knowing for sure how this thing will fit until the collar is knit and the pieces are blocked, so I think the only way to proceed is to see it through to the end. Keep knitting and start thinking of tall people, I guess.

One note: I did find a stitch count error in the pattern on pg.137 in the second paragraph for the directions for the Left Front. Those stitch counts in the first sentence do not take into account the four facing stitches on the center edge of the piece. I have sent a note to the author. (I had a bad feeling about doing that, as well. There have been a couple of times in the past that I have emailed designers about errors in their patterns and found out that some don't take that well. What's with that? I'd want to know. Are knitting designers thin skinned?)