Knitting Scarves

It took me a couple of months but I finally finished David's "Sharks Scarf". This was knitted using a "shadow knitting" technique. When you look at it head-on it looks like it's striped, like this:




When you look at it from one of the ends then the sharks come out to play. Like this:


Here's David modeling his new scarf:






This is a scarf I knitted just before the Sharks scarf. It was made with a lovely mohair blend yarn that our friend Patrice gave to me:

It is very soft!!

Christmasing Our House

We started decorating our house the weekend after Thanksgiving. That weekend we got all of the lights on the eaves and the windows. In the following weeks we added the lights on the rails, the inflated puppy, and the lights on the paths.

Here is the whole thing.

This is a close-up view of the front of the house .

Say hello to the cute puppy!!

We added these lights along the paths earlier today.

Merry Christmas everyone!!!

In the Garden, 12/21/2010

Since I have a (temporarily) gimp foot and since it's been pouring rain here for a few days, it's been a while since I was in the garden. Today there's been a break in the weather and I thought it was time for me to go out and pick peas. 3 1/2 hours later I finally came back inside.

Here's how things like a little "pea-picking" task can go here:

1. I head out to the garden to see how the peas are doing. Upon entering, I see that the giant pecan tree has been prolifically dropping leaves all over the place. I walk along the raised beds pulling leaves out. I make a mental note that I also need to clear the blanket of leaves that are on the ground in the garden.

2. I move on to the peas (at this point I'm still on target). I start clearing out pecan tree leaves from around and in the pea tee-pee and discover that the pea vines have been growing very vigorously. The "outer layers" didn't find anything to grip onto before they got too long and were lying flat. One by one I lifted them up and wound them into the trellis. For one side I had to add a supportive piece of wire fencing since there was nothing left of the tee-pee to support the vines. I then commenced picking the mature (and some overly mature) peas.

3. Setting the baskets aside, I decide to move the two cabbage plants that were in the shade to sunny spots in the other beds.

4. I feed everything in the garden a healthy dose of fish emulsion for nitrogen.

5. Then I decide that there's no time like the present to do something about the leaves so I haul out the leaf vacuum and suck up all the leaves, collecting two 30-gallon cans full of shredded leaves. These will become the bulk of my compost for next year along with the grass clippings (when the lawn starts growing again in the spring) and some alfalfa hay that I've got hanging around here.

6. Finally, 3 1/2 hours later I pick up my baskets of peas and head inside for lunch.


Here's how the garden looks now that the leaves have been cleaned up. There will be more. That pecan tree isn't finished de-leafing.



This is my 3rd year attempting Brussels sprouts. Go, Brussels sprouts, go!



That middle bed contains the overly crowded pea tee-pee, a couple of cabbage plants (that are doing very well), some cilantro, and another set of peas. All together there are three varieties of peas growing.



This Navel orange tree is loaded with soon-to-be ripe oranges. The oranges from this tree will keep us in freshly squeezed orange juice for a while and when they run out...



The oranges on this Valencia orange tree will become ripe. These two trees ensure that we very rarely have to buy orange juice. We did have to invest in a sturdy citrus juicer though.

December 6, 2010 Garden Pics

I was out in the garden for a short time today, looking things over. Here are a few photos that I took:

This is the "overview" shot. The hoops are for frost protection. I have a bunch of old sheets that I drape over the wire supports when I think it's going to drop too cold at night.



This bed is fairly busy. I'm getting peas off the pea trellises. The cabbages look great, as well as the cilantro. I also have some carrots growing in this bed near and amongst the pea tee-pee.



This is my garlic bed. There are 6 varieties in this bed. The lettuce is a welcome companion. That's a cilantro plant tucked in the corner.



This is why I can't spend much time in the garden these days. I had foot surgery last Tuesday. Nothing major... it's the same surgery I had on my right foot last year. It'll heal and be good as new (better!) in no time.

Photos from Thanksgiving 2010

The previous post details our Thanksgiving menu but I forgot that my husband, David, snapped a few photos of the process along the way. Here's what he captured...

This is the pecan pie that I made the night before. I actually took this photo... it's the only one I thought to snap. I also made a pumpkin pie but we didn't get a photo of it. I thought the pecan pie tasted better anyway!



The turkey spent the first 45 minuted of its cooking time on its side with the back towards the fire and the feet towards the back of the oven. It was later turned breast-side up. There's compound butter under the skin on the breasts as you can clearly see.



The big bird is on the oven.



I think this is the same shot with no flash. Enjoy the one you like the best. :-)



Here I am taking the temperature of the thigh. The bird was checked every 30 minutes and the less-done side was positioned towards the fire every time.



Here's the turkey mid-roast.



These drippings were used to make some very rich, dark gravy.



The centerpiece is done!



David did a nice job of setting the table.



Here we are filling up our plates. That's Jerry (David's dad) on the left. Neil is on the right with the gravy boat. Mary's hand is holding the roasted Brussels sprouts.



I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving, and that you enjoyed these photos!

The Pizza Oven Thanksgiving

We've had our pizza oven for nearly 3 years now and were told that you can even cook a turkey in it. So, we decided to try it this year. A couple of weeks before Thanksgiving I got a small (10-pound) Butterball turkey for a test run and invited a few guinea pigs...er... friends over for the test run. I thought that it would also be a good time to try out some of the side dish recipes that were created for the pizza oven by Andrea Mugnaini, the importer of our pizza oven. The test run worked out fabulously... the turkey was amazingly moist and delicious. The side dishes were fabulous. I also got a sense of the time line and felt confident that I could add in the mashed potatoes (I cheated and used a make-ahead recipe) and dressing (though that was never in doubt) and also a pecan pie to the menu.

For the "real" Thanksgiving dinner I ordered a small heritage turkey from Whole Foods. I've been curious about the heritage turkeys for a while and wanted to try one to see if the price tag could be justified. Since we only had 6 folks in attendance for the real Thanksgiving dinner, I only needed a small turkey and when trying a pricey heritage turkey, small is good. Well... the verdict is thus: As it turns out, heritage turkeys are leaner and therefore don't cook up as moist. While it tasted good, it was dryer than the Butterball. So, lesson learned: I'll stick to regular turkeys from now on. It may not necessarily be a Butterball... it may be a "natural, fresh" turkey but it won't be the expensive heritage.

This was our menu:

Thanksgiving Dinner Menu

Oven Roasted Turkey

Rich Dark Gravy

Roasted Cranberries

Cornbread & Sage Dressing

Roasted Yams

Brussels Sprouts with Garlic and Pancetta

Mashed Potatoes

Pumpkin Pie & Brandy Whipped Cream

Pecan Pie & Whiskey Maple Cream Sauce

Every item on the menu spent some time in one way or another in the pizza oven, except for the mashed potatoes and the desserts. The gravy stock was made from turkey necks and backs that roasted in the oven, then simmered in a stock pot with the usual assortment of herbs and vegetables. Plus, the gravy was finished off with drippings from the roasted turkey. The yams and Brussels sprouts were easy to do in the oven, as well as the cranberry sauce and the dressing. My mother-in-law (Mary) brought over some nice cranberry dinner rolls that she baked up for the meal. Everyone should have brought another person because we were overrun with food (so what's new?) and we had enough for a dozen people.

Overall it was a lovely Thanksgiving with some very wonderful people. It was an honor and a pleasure to host it this year.