What’s For Dinner?

September 14, 2006 By Carole

The weather sure has changed swiftly here. Last Saturday at the alpaca farm it felt like summer. By Sunday it felt like fall. And when the weather turns cooler I start making supper again. See, in the summer it’s all about the grill. Grilled chicken, steak, pork chops, even veggies. Everything gets thrown on the grill. But in the fall, it’s all about comfort food. Pot roast and mashed potatoes. Roast pork and oven browned potatoes. Lasagna and chili and beef stew. And my old stand-by, American Chop Suey.

I didn’t realize until last week that American Chop Suey is a regional food and it is apparently most familiar in the Boston area. But when I mentioned to Anne that I had a hankering for it and she asked me what the heck it was, I discovered that it isn’t widely known outside of New England. Anyway, we had it for dinner last night. It’s what I make when I don’t know what to make because I always have the ingredients on hand. Hamburger, macaroni, chopped onion, tomato soup and stewed tomatoes. Green pepper is nice if it’s around but if you don’t have it, that’s okay, too. Fry up the hamburger and onion, boil the macaroni and the dump it all into a pot with the tomato soup and stewed tomatoes. I think most people actually use tomato sauce but my mom always used tomato soup and so do I.

And you know what? My family loves this meal! It’s quick, it’s simple and it’s even better as leftovers.

What’s your standby recipe for when you don’t know what to make for dinner? I’d love to hear about it.

R is for Recipes

September 13, 2006 By Carole

Guess what I found at my dad’s house the other day? My mother’s old recipe box. What a treasure! See, my mom died eight and a half years ago and it was a very, very difficult time for me. I wasn’t able to help my dad sort through a lot of her things because it was just too painful. Now, of course, I’m sorry that I didn’t make more of an effort to help out because my dad threw away things I would have wanted to keep. So, when I found this recipe box it was like a gift from my mom.

The recipes are old and yellowed. Many of them are stained from being used so frequently. Of course, that’s how I know they’re good! And it’s not so much about the recipes themselves as I have most of them anyway. It’s having the recipes in my mother’s handwriting that really makes it special.

Like her grapenut pudding recipe.

Not a lot to go on there for directions, eh? And didn’t my mom have beautiful handwriting?

And this recipe is signed “Mother S” and that was my grandmother on my dad’s side. So neat to see her handwriting again and remember all the delicious Swedish foods she prepared.

The recipe for “soured” cream coffee cake comes from my mother’s best friend, Miriam. And this is one recipe I didn’t have and let me just tell you, it’s the best coffee cake I’ve ever had. I’m really excited to be able to make this myself now! Miriam’s recipe for Kugel is also in the box and we used to have that every year on Christmas.

I still miss my mom very much. But finding her recipe box brought back some wonderful memories of times spent together cooking, laughing and eating. You can bet that I’m going to treasure this recipe box for the true family heirloom that it is.

Sock Talk

September 12, 2006 By Carole

There is someone out there claiming to have the fastest pair of socks in the East. But she’s wrong because these are the fastest socks in the East:

I finished Heather’s birthday socks in time. And this is most definitely the fastest I have ever knit a pair of socks. I started last Tuesday morning and finished late Sunday night. That’s only 6 days, my friends, and I worked at the library on 4 of those days and attended a spin in on the 5th day and on the 6th day I wasted a lot of time with the Sims. Ahem.

Look at that stripey goodness. Don’t they line up perfectly? The yarn, for those that want to know, is Vesper Sock Yarn in the Strange Little Mama colorway. It was a gift from my grrls Jessica and Missa over at kpixie. Just because they love me so much. And the pattern is called “Peaks ‘n Valleys” and it’s from the book Knit Socks! by Betsy Lee McCarthy. It’s a board book shaped like a sock and it’s not only perfect for a beginning sock knitter, which I was when I bought it 4 years ago, but it’s also excellent for an experienced sock knitter, too.

I’m so glad these socks are done. Of course, I didn’t even see the birthday girl on her birthday so it didn’t really matter, it was more of a self-imposed deadline. But still. Now I can go back to knitting my Toasty Toes socks. Which are turning out to be the slowest socks in the East.

Alpacas, Baby

September 11, 2006 By Carole

On Saturday Blogless Sharon and I headed to the Parker River Alpaca Farm for a spin in. I’m not sure that words can convey what a fabulous time we had! Picture this – a very large fenced in area of alpacas with spinners and their wheels within that enclosed area. Yup, we were amongst the alpacas and it was the grooviest thing ever.

I’ve been around alpacas before and I think they are pretty neat. They’re cute and fuzzy and each one is unique both in looks and personality. But there’s also something quietly spiritual about these animals. Maybe it’s their connection to what we do (spinning and knitting, I mean) but I think there’s more to it than that. Sheep are certainly connected to spinning and knitting but sheep don’t feed my soul, if you will. Sheep are cool and all and they can be pretty freakin’ cute, too, but not like alpacas. Maybe I’m just high on hay and fiber but there is something really special about hanging out and spinning among the alpacas.

The other terrific thing about Saturday was, of course, hanging out and spinning with friends. I got to see many dear friends and make some new ones, too. We gabbed and chatted and spun together. We shared our lunches and our ideas. We talked about Rhinebeck A LOT and it felt really good to be among my people!

Many, many heartfelt thanks go out to Kathy & Tick and Olivia & Dave. Thanks so much for hosting this first spin in at the farm. May there be many, many more!

Eye Candy Friday

September 8, 2006 By Carole

Let ’em eat cake. Chocolate cake, of course. Want the recipe? You can find it here.