Knitting in the Round

Knitting in the round looks a lot more complicated than it is. I was telling my husband, while we were driving my son back to UofO (which is when I knit-on car rides, plane rides, etc.) that I was going to knit six more rounds.

He looked at me like I was crazy. "What's a round?"

"When you knit completely around the circle," I told him.

"So why don't you say 'I'm going to knit around the circle?'"

"I don't know, because you just don't."

Now, life is too short to argue about knitting - especially when you're supposed to be knitting to relax. But, even though knitting is easy, you still have to concentrate...a little. Just look to see.

I took a knitting class and told the teacher that I kept losing my place whenever I was talking or watching t.v.

She told me (and I paid for this) don't talk or watch t.v. when you're knitting.

Anyone else get any great advice from a teacher?

Answer to Word for Wednesday

The word ramekin means a small dish in which food can be baked and served. If you want to read more about it, check it out here.

Word for Wednesday - Game for Writers

Guess what the word means then come back around 3:00 to see if you were right or wrong.

WORD FOR WEDNESDAY: Ramekin

Yarn Winding

Knitting takes time and winding yarn is some of it. I like the knitting part but not the work part. And, I wanted to make some fingerless gloves so I went to get some new yarn. While I was at The Yarn Garden, I watched the sale's lady wind the yarn on this handy-dandy little machine.

Mouthwatering Monday

Lemon Meringue Yummiliciousness

I’ve never been a meringue maniac – not like my husband - but this weekend was the end of spring break and my son, who was home from UofO, loves lemon too, so I decided to make a homemade pie. That's something I usually do in the summer but this pie was pretty perfect for the seasonal transformation from winter to spring!

If you want to try it out here’s the recipe:

Sweet Flaky Pastry Dough:

2 ½ cups all purpose flour
1 cup sugar
2 sticks cold butter
¼ cup oil (not olive oil-it has too strong of a flavor)
1/3 cup water

Mix ingredients quickly to prevent butter from warming. Mix dry ingredients and then cut butter into mixture, add water until it is dough-like but not pasty. A pasty dough will turn out dense and thick instead of buttery and yummilicious!

Roll out thinly. Then place into a glass pie pan. Weigh the dough down with another pie pan or beans or rice while you bake it at 400 degrees for about 30 minutes – first cover with foil (in a tent-like formation) so the crust does not get too brown – as it will need to be baked again with the custard filling inside for another 25 minutes.

Lemon Meringue Pie Filling:

5 eggs
1 cup granulated sugar
3 tablespoons cornstarch
½ cup water
½ cup milk
¾ cup lemon juice
3 tablespoons lemon zest
2 tablespoons butter

Separate eggs (using 5 egg whites first) beat until fluffy then add in the five
yolks, add sugar, cornstarch and whisk together then heat milk and water over low heat. Slowly add the liquid to the egg mixture, whisking continuously. Add lemon juice and zest, return mixture to saucepan and warm, stirring continuously. Heat until starts to thicken, add butter and fill pie pan.


Meringue:

5 egg whites
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon cream of tartar

Beat egg whites then add in sugar and cream of tartar. Blend until it peaks (beating fast and continuously for about 10 minutes)

Drop dollops over the custard and bake for 25 minutes – you can add butter to the crust to brown it to your personal taste.

You can throw it under the broiler if you want to brown the tips of the meringue a little more but I loved the look of the tan top too. Hope you try it out and, if you do, let me know what you think.

COMMIT AN ACT OF GREEN TODAY

Earth Day is coming up...April 22nd.

So how can you celebrate?

1) Buy locally grown produce or start growing your own.

Live Like It's Earth Day Everyday

2) Cook from scratch. It's cheaper, tastes better and is healthier

3) Choose food in season.

4) Shop at a farmers market.

5) Eat less meat (maybe once a week).

6) Read: Righteous Pork Chop, Omnivore's Dilemma, Meat Matters, Food Rules, Diet for a Hot Planet

And

7) Go to Grand Central Bakery to buy your bread and pastries - if you don't bake your own.

End of an Era

Elizabeth Taylor represented more than movies and Hollywood. She stood for glamour and glitz. She was a true star. A legend. An icon. It's sad to see an era come to an end.

She is number 7 (just below Marilyn Monroe) on the American Film Institute's 50 greatest female screen legends of all time.

She began as a child actress playing in films like Black Beauty and growing into roles like Cleopatra and Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolfe? With 8 marriages, she
was never out of the limelight for long. But that shows what an optimist she was. She never gave up on love or marriage. What an amazing woman she was. We will miss ET.