My kind of shopping

I am not the world's biggest fan of shopping.  I generally like to go to a store for a specific reason, buy what I need and get out.  But I do love craft shows.  And I went to the biggest in the city last night, the One of a Kind Christmas show.  Every year I have to psych myself to go because before I go I think … it's so big and takes forever, do I really need to go this year … and every year I go.  And I don't regret it.  Sometimes I go with a friend and sometimes I go by myself.  Sometimes I see a million different things I want to buy and sometimes I don't.  But I always find a gift or two and my husband really likes the one of a kind Christmas tree we've built up with the ornaments I pick up every year.

Here are just a few of the things I found last night.  I bought much more but can't include photos or stories since they must be kept secret from the prying eyes of others in the household until December 25th.

So, I know.  The cat is 18 and gets fluids for a kidney problem.  But I think that is when you really need a new bowl.  And it was either this or a monster pottery cup from Julie Richard.  

Not that a monster cup would have been a bad idea.  It's just that, despite adding a boatload of extra cupboard space, our kitchen cannot support many more dishes.

Next are linens from Rain Goose Textiles.  I've bought a few things over the years from this artist.  A yoga bag, oven mitts, tea cozy…  This year I bought a new tea cozy and these placemats and hand towels.  I love her stuff.  Simple designs but just enough to make them stand out as different.

Last of the ready-to-blog items purchased are lip balm and soap from Olive Authentique.  Their lip balm is perfect.  I lost the one I carry around in my purse a few months ago and finished the one I had beside the bed around the same time and have been missing it ever since.  Truth be told, this is probably the number 1 reason I got myself to the show this year.  I knew I could order it online but that just didn't seem sporting.  I haven't tried their soaps before so picked up a couple of those too.  Just before I was going to check out, the fire alarm went off and I kept thinking, please don't make us exit the building before I do my transaction.  Clearly there wasn't any sort of real emergency because the show went on.

So all-in-all, I'm glad I went.  I would say that this was one of the better shows I've been to.  Much more in the Christmas ornament line than in some years and lots of other really great things too.

If you are in the Toronto area, try to get there.  If nothing else, you'll be inspired by all of the hard work these artisans put into their craft.

But next time, for $27, I'll buy a tree

I've been reading about quince (the fruit) in a bunch of different places lately.  And specifically, quince jelly.  I wasn't sure you could buy quince here but I took myself off to Longo's to see if they had any.  They did.  I picked out six and continued on with my grocery shopping.  When the cashier rang me through, she entered 7 quince at $27!  Yikes.  Fortunately, I was only buying 6 so we corrected that and I went on my way, thinking that I probably should have paid attention to the price in the veggie aisle and sincerely hoped that I would enjoy quince jelly.

This weekend, I cooked up the quince and made the jelly using guidance from Clotilde at Chocolate & Zucchini.  I ended up with 1.5 L of liquid after cooking down the quince so added an additional 400g of sugar.  I only had one lemon but is was larger than average and gave me 6 tablespoons of juice (normally I seem to get 4 out of one lemon) so I went with it.

The jelly seems to be jelling although I'm not sure I love the taste of the bits I got on my fingers.  We'll see.  On toast might be a better taste experience.

But I have decided that if I like quince jelly, I'll buy a tree.

More purple hats

I'm still knitting hats for Warm Hands Network.  And using up stash.  The difference in light makes these look like two different yarns but they are both made from purple Debbie Bliss Merino Aran.

The first is a pattern from Hunter Hammersen.  A very nice pattern and slightly different techniques from those I've run into before.  Nothing complicated, just a little different.

The second is the standard hat pattern that I could have made up on my own but I tend to refer to a pattern when knitting.  It takes less time than doing the math.

I think I'm almost finished the balls of Merino Aran and then I'll move on to some more stash to reduce.

I cast on for a baby blanket with some Rowan Cotton yarn I bought a very long time ago.  As I think about it, it might have been more than 10 years ago.  Talk about deep stash as the podcasters like to say.  I needed a simple project to work on between games at a bonspiel I was in this weekend so am working on this.  I made a bit of progress on the blanket and our team won the bonspiel.  Quite a good result.  But after 7 games in 6 days, I'm ready for a nap.

Have I mentioned that I love podcasts?

1.  The Yarn Harlot based a whole talk (and some of her last book) on the benefits to mental wellbeing from knitting and other crafty activities.  I was reminded of this again today while listening to the Ewe University podcast.  The host was talking about the benefits of craft in lifting depression.  So I did a little Google search to read more and found this article.  Very interesting and it makes a lot of sense.

2.  I was listening to an NPR podcast the other day that talked about an oversupply of sheep in the US.  There is an article here.  It talked about this from both a food and clothing perspective.  I, of course, thought that this is a challenge to knitters to get those needles moving faster so we can support the farmers.

3.  I just finished listening to A Tale of Two Cities on Craftlit.  I have just recently discovered this podcast and am liking the podcast in general and really loved this book.  This is a book I've picked up several times over the years to start reading and never make it beyond the first chapter because I found it hard to get through from a pace perspective.  Fortunately Heather, the host of the podcast, promised up front that things would improve after the first few chapters.  And they did.  

Let's see what else I can pick up as I listen to podcasts while cleaning up from the tasmanian devil that just went through my kitchen leaving cookies, meatballs and muffins in her wake.

It's that time of year

I'm in the soup mood lately and have made two really good ones in the last couple of weeks.  The first was a Sweet Potato Mulligatawny soup from the Flavour Principle by Lucy Waverman, my new favourite cookbook distraction.  I amended it slightly to leave out the coconut milk, didn't have any cilantro or lemon juice and it was still absolutely brilliant.  I sprinkled some pumpkin seeds on top and enjoyed.

Yesterday I made my favourite butternut squash soup.  While butternut squash is one of my favourite veggies, I really dislike wrestling with the peel so, when making soup, I generally cut it in half, drizzle some olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper and roast it for 45 minutes to an hour.  The peel comes off easily and the caramelization of bits on the surface of the squash only add to the flavour.   Here is what I do for my squash soup:

1 large butternut squash
olive oil, salt and pepper

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, roughly chopped
1 apple, roughly chopped
4 cups chicken or veggie stock or water
1 tsp (or more) curry powder
pepper

Preheat oven to 400F.  Cut squash in half and place on a parchment lined cookie sheet.  Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with pepper and salt.  Roast squash for 45 minutes to an hour.  It might not be quite cooked through but it will finish in the stock.  Remove squash from oven, let cool until it can be handled without pain; peel and roughly chop.

Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in soup pot, add onion and cook gently until soft.  Add apple and squash to the pan, stir around a bit in the oil and onion to mix.  Add stock.  Bring stock to a boil then reduce to a simmer.  Add curry powder and pepper to taste and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes.  Puree using favourite method (immersion blender is mine) and enjoy.

And drizzle this a few pumpkin seeds too.

Free style cooking

Keeping with the cottage theme, cooking is always a bit unstructured at the cottage.  And while I often bring a cookbook or two with me, I tend to free style things.  So two notable recipes from the weekend.  One made while there and one made with leftovers last night at home.

I'm still eating yummy goodness from the garden and brought a sugar pumpkin and some pears donated from a local farmer that my husband did some work for and made soup.  The onion that had been in the fridge seemed to have left with the in-laws who left before we did so I made do frying a bunch of green onions (including about half of the green parts), a clove of garlic, the pumpkin, the pears and some rosemary.  No chicken stock, so I used water and a bit of orange juice, turmeric, pepper and cinnamon. Very tasty as an appetizer to the barbecued steaks, also simply done with salt and pepper before grilling and a dab or rosemary butter after grilling.  With a side of foil roasted potatoes and Moose Tracks ice cream for dessert, we were happy and the fridge was that much further to being empty for the end of the season.

We had a bunch of leftover ham from Friday's dinner so I decided to make a ham and mushroom risotto.  I fried up a chopped onion until very soft, added garlic and celery, fried for a couple of minutes more, then added the mushrooms.  Once the mushrooms were mostly cooked, the rest of the process was standard risotto, toast the rice in the olive oil in the pan, add liquid in small amounts and keep stirring.  I used 1/4 cup sambuca instead of white wine as the first liquid added and then chicken stock after that.  When the rice was almost done, I added chopped up ham and finished the rice with parmesan cheese before serving.  The flavour of the ham (which had been baked with a maple mustard glaze) and the mushrooms went very well together.  I think I'm actually overcoming my general dislike of ham.  I really enjoy the things I have made with the leftovers.  The ham and cheese sandwiches on the griddle for lunch today were also fantastic.

Tonight, it is more simple pleasures with a roast chicken and roasted vegetables picked from a big dig in the garden this morning.  I'm really looking forward to the leftovers at lunch tomorrow.

Fall Relaxation

We had a very nice few days at a family cottage this weekend.  We threw the cat into the car and off we went.  The cat travelled very well and seemed to be content with the cottage.

The weather this weekend was fabulous and I went kayaking twice.  Saturday morning, the lake was quite glassy for the most part and I was out for at least an hour, exploring a bay I hadn't really plumbed the depths of before.  It was so peaceful and makes me forget why we don't go to the cottage more often (the horrendous traffic).  The leaves are about 1/2 down and the lake was covered with pine needles.  There were other people up there but it was not crowded with signs of habitation at about every 4 or 5 cottages.  That early in the morning, the only motorized boats are those of the fishermen moving from one spot to the next.  The sound of a passing train across the quiet lake sounded like the train was going to run me over it carried so well.  I saw (and heard) a few loons enjoying the morning and had a conversation with some cottagers outside on their deck doing some repairs.  It was fabulous.

This morning was even quieter.  It rained last night and the sky was still cloudy with further threat of rain.  But I went anyway.  As the husband says, I love kayaking and only get to do it very periodically so I went.  While the weather wasn't as nice, the cloud cover makes the colours more saturated and even nicer to look at.  I spent more of my paddle this time floating and looking at the scenery.  Fantastic.

We came home this afternoon to avoid the Monday traffic and get a few things done here and I'm trying to remember that relaxation for at least a few more days.