Wednesday

OMG - Peeps for Halloween.....look here.  I am a sucker for Peeps products and with Zoe right at 19 months now, Halloween this year will be even more fun!  And with the recipes, I could have even more fun.

It may be hard to tell from this picture, but there are green eggs in this carton.  The top two on the left are white, so that could/should help.  I bought them from a lovely woman that meets with us on Wednesday's at the Upstairs Studio.  She raises several different species of hens and each lays uniquely colored eggs.  They are all range birds and get natural feed, so their yolks are beautiful.  I made a three egg omelet with them and it was divine!  So much so that I picked up some wonderful bacon, cheese and spinach to fix another one this weekend.  I hope she has more of them today when we get together...

One more thing before I go today.  Friday is October 1st.  October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month.  Please do whatever you can to support the local and national organizations as they raise monies to fight this deadly disease.  It affects both men and women and the research is vital.  My mother is cancer free for the fifth straight year after her diagnosis and treatments.  Let's see what we can do together to beat this and eradicate it from our lives.

Tuesday Temptations

I thought I would lead this post off with a few pictures.  The first two are of Eraser and Sassy.  For some reason they both slept this way with one paw shielding their faces.  Odd but they are cats, so they do things that we humans do not understand.  The third one is a glimpse of the Red Hot front and back pieces blocking and drying so that I can assemble them at some point today.  The second sleeve is almost done so I can block them for assembly as well.  The fourth one is of some roses that SF gave me on Valentine's Day 2010.  I selected three of the buds from this arrangement and hung them upside down to dry out.  When I am sad, down or frustrated I just need to see them on the side of the bed (retreat room) and they make me remember that it will all be okay.  The fifth and final one is of a Mourning Dove that was sitting on the fence outside the kitchen window last week (Friday the 24th) during a very heavy downpour.

As for the temptation portion...well, I have been culling my recipes and putting them in order so that I can find them faster.  I want to start using the crock pot again and that is what prompted the actions.  Fall equals crock pot cooking to me, so I needed to get ready.  I love coming home to the smell of dinner that is ready.  Crock pot cooking is hearty and most of the food sticks to your ribs.

There will be more later today, I just wanted to get this portion up and off my mind....

Monday

I posted these two recipes on Ravelry in response to question number two of the Scavenger Hunt Swap.  I decided that I should share them here as well, because they are just too good not to share with more people.  For my non-knitters and those not participating in this swap, what are your favorite Fall recipes.  Please, share with me, as I am a sucker for cooking in the Fall.

Potato Leek Soup
3 large leeks, cut lengthwise, separate, clean (Use only the white parts and pale green parts) and chop
2 Tbsp butter
2 cups water
2 cups chicken broth (or vegetable broth for vegan option)
2 lbs potatoes, peeled and diced into 1/2” pieces
Dash of Marjoram
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme OR 1/2 teaspoon of dried thyme
Tabasco sauce or other red chili sauce

Cook leaks in butter with salt and pepper in a medium sized sauce pan. Cover pan and cook on low heat for ten minutes. Check often. Do not brown or burn! Add water, broth and potatoes. Bring to a low simmer and cook for twenty minutes. Scoop about half the soup mixture into a blender, puree and return to pan. Add marjoram, parsley and thyme. Add a few dashes of Tabasco sauce or chili sauce (to taste) and some freshly ground pepper.


Banana Pumpkin Bread
2 ripe bananas mashed
2 eggs
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 1/3 cups canned pumpkin puree
1/2 cup of honey
1/2 cup white sugar
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3/4 cup raisins (Optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and grease a 9x5 inch loaf pan. In a large bowl, stir together the mashed bananas, eggs, oil, pumpkin puree, honey and sugar. Combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, pie spice and cinnamon. Stir into the wet mixture until just combined. If adding the raisins, do so now. Pour into pan. Bake for 45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the middle of the loaf comes out clean. Cool the loaf in the pan for 10 minutes before moving to a wire rack to cool completely.

Finally Friday

Just pictures, not too many words.  First picture is the Fred Hartman Bridge as seen on the way home from Upstairs Studio.  The second picture is a sneak peek at the SWTC Xie Bamboo thread that is the test knit shawl for the Upstairs Studio.  Let me tell you, this stuff is YUMMY!  The next picture is the back of the Red Hot.  The front is almost to the neck divide and I am hoping that it will be finished before the end of the month so I can enter it into the KAL.  More on the later.  The last three are of the Sockhead Hat done up with one skein of Wool In The Woods Twin Twist.

Enjoy this first weekend of Fall!  I promise an over load of posts next week with FO's and Fall goodies....

Almost forgot to share this

I almost forgot that I wanted to share this with ya'll....Lizzie and Clarice had me laughing so hard last week I almost spewed water from my nose and mouth at the same time....ENJOY!