Sombody's already pining for spring... Guess what I bought at spinning guild.
This is what happens when you pull your silk top apart just right after the heat has been turned on in the fall. You can't quite see it in the picture, but the little silk tendrils are in a hollow spheroid shape - lots of static electricity going on. Couldn't get a good picture of it, but right after they all lost contact with each other, the ends that are currently reaching toward each other were suddenly snapped back in cocoons around my hands.

And then we have an unwashed, unblocked, un-ends tucked in as of yet contribution to the red scarf project. Sort of a maroon-y burgundy red scarf. Twoxtwo rib all the way.

A meme I can get behind

Because it's all about a scientific experiment. Bloggers mention the experiment in their blogs (that would be here), beg others with blogs to participate (that would be you, in your blog), and ping technorati to register that fact.

He's tracing the path of the meme through the internet. He'll probably wind up like that child in England who requested the most postcards ever because he was terminally ill, wound up recovering and was still getting postcards 20 years later. The chain letter that would not die.

Wearing Icarus
The offspring, wearing the Icarus shawl. She's 5'3" and we took a generous tuck at the neckline when she put it on. Not a glamour shot, but if I wait for sunny days to take a pic, it may be a few at this time of year.

Icarus is Done Not just done, but done done. Washed, blocked, dry, ready for unpinning.
Pictures with the flash on a brown bedspread notwithstanding, this is burgundy colored, not brown.

I need blocking wires. Maybe on my Christmas list...

Icarus

The knitting is done. The casting off is done. The sewing in of end and washing and blocking? Not so much so. Tomorrow after we get home. Then pictures, I promise.

Well! The feed definitely isn't working. Blogger's help is somewhat less than helpful - "yes we know we have a problem and we haven't been able to figure it out so here's a work around". Unfortunately their instructions on how to put the work around in are not exactly complete, so it's going to take me a few days to resolve the problem.

Struggling down the homestretch of Icarus, I've got one row and the bindoff to do. Will I finish today? Possibly - I was banished from the kitchen as there was serious grandmother/granddaughter bonding going on over the turkey gravy and sweet potatoes, and I got a bunch done while watching the parade on tv, followed by the Dog Show. The Pyr should have won. Dinner, a brisk walk, a nap and a cold drink of ice water later and I'm ready to tackle Icarus again. But not blogger just yet. One knotty problem at a time.

Well. I've switched over to blogger in beta and I can't tell if the feed is working. It doesn't seem to me that it is. Any opinions, yes or no?

There's something about leaving my immediate family for a week and going off to help my extended family clean out a garage and tidy up part of a yard that doesn't lend itself to cooking intentionally. In fact, with the exception of setting out coldcuts for one meal, I did nothing that remotely resembled feeding anyone. We did have fun, for the most part. And the garage and yard look a lot better.

Home again, I've been picking up the reins in my own household. I was informed by S when I got home that I needed to hurry up and a. do some laundry and b. do some grocery shopping. I told him he looked neither hungry nor naked, but I have done both of those things.

Today's meal was soup and bread; a fitting meal in my opinion for a day which was overcast and gloomy, with fits of hard rain, up until sunset when the sky cleared off and let the setting sun shine through.

Healthy Sisters' Soup and Bean Works is a local group that teaches women with no business experience of any kind how to run a business of their own. They make darn good bean soup mixes. This one was Simone's Sumptuous Bean Soup . I soaked the beans overnight. I then put them in the crockpot with
1 7oz can of tomato sauce,
1 15 oz can of tomato chunks,
1/2 pound browned pork sausage,
1 pound browned ground beef,
the spices from the soup mix,
2 cups water and
3 cups vegetable bouillion.
This cooked on low all day and left a wonderful aroma. It made a wonderfully hearty almost stew.

This afternoon I put the ingredients for the bread in the bread maker (on dough setting).
Honey Whole Wheat Bread :
4 T butter
4 T honey (buckwheat for a dark rich flavor)
2 T wheat germ
1 C water
1 egg
1 1/2 c white whole wheat flour
1 3/4 c bread flour
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 T steelcut oats
1 T wheat gluten
2 T powdered buttermilk
1 T yeast

After the dough cycle ended, I let the dough rise again for 25 minutes in the bread pan and then baked at 350 F for 50 minutes.

Cooking with intention

Answer to previous question: Lemon Garlicious is sold at Wegman's groceries and its full name is Salamida's State Fair Lemon Garlicious. Salamida's sells at least two other marinades, but I don't care for those.

This time, it was for a potluck, so it's not a complete meal. However, the meat lover's lasagna must have been a hit since I didn't get to bring any leftovers home.

Meat Lover's Lasagna

1.3 pounds meatloaf mix (my grocery makes it 80%beef, 15% pork, 5% veal)
1 pound pork sausage (you can use turkey sausage)
1 package lasagna noodles
1 pound mozzarella cheese, grated
.25 pound provalone cheese, grated
.25 pound asiago cheese, grated
2 15 oz cans tomato sauce
1 15 oz can tomatoes
1 cup cottage cheese
2 tsp Penzey's Italian seasoning
1 can black olives, sliced (if you use presliced olives, use two of the little cans)

Heat the oven to 350 F. Put the tomatoes and the cottage cheese in the blender with the Italian seasoning and give it a whirl. Brown the meats, rinse and reserve. I like to layer the lasagna in the 13x9 pan in the following order: Lasagna, beef mix, blended tomato/cottage cheese, lasagna, half the mozzarella, olives, 1 can tomato sauce, lasagna, sausage, half the mozzarella, lasagna, 1 can tomato sauce, mixed remaining cheeses. Cover with foil and bake for 55 minutes, then uncover and bake for 5 or 10 minutes more til the cheese is lightly browned and bubbly.

Note: I don't pre-cook the lasagna noodles and I don't bother with the "no boil" noodles. It comes out fine.