Knitting 101...

Years ago I dabbled in knitting. If I remember correctly, I really enjoyed it! I don't know why I stopped. I never made anything too monumental. A few basic dish cloths and Christmas stockings.
A few years ago my daughter started knitting. I wish I could say I taught her or encouraged her. Nope...she found her own way to a knitting shop in Southern California and started a beautiful, soft, multi-colored wool scarf. I was impressed and envious! I remembered NOTHING about my old knitting days and didn't have a clue where to begin again after all those years.
A few months back, some friends invited me to the kick-off session of a newly formed knitting club. I was so excited. The friend hosting gave us all a handmade knitting bag. They had been lovingly made for all of us by her step-mother. Each one was made with different fabric and buttons and each one was unique and fun. Our first project was that basic dish cloth from my past. Ha...but, I was thrilled to be knitting again and it started to come back to me. I made several of those dish cloths and enjoyed every stitch. Interestingly, some of us embraced knitting with a vengeance and others had absolutely no interest after our first meeting. I couldn't get enough of it!
After my dish cloth phase I moved onto my scarf phase and then to my beanie phase. With the help of classes and YouTube videos I learned more and more stitches and took on more and more projects. I learned how to add stitches and decrease stitches. I learned yarn overs and front and back stitches. I learned funky ways to cast on and cast off. I learned how to make some amazing slippers and felt them and I made the most amazing market bag! I LOVE that bag. I had high hopes of making one for everyone I know! It didn't happen. That bag was challenging and one day I need to re-visit it!
I'm far from an expert knitter. There is still so much to learn and I still get completely intimidated when I make a mistake and have to try and fix it! Sometimes I can't! You do a lot of problem solving in knitting! It isn't that rare that I completely undo a project and start over out of frustration. It's almost always a lesson in patience...
Two weeks before Christmas my daughter and I signed up for a cable knit hat class. I had never done any cable knitting. I was feeling intimidated before the class and hoped I would be able to keep up. I went to the knitting shop early to pick out my yarn and get the right needle size. Before class started I completely fell in love with the required yarn. It is thick and chunky and soft at the same time. The colors are amazing and vivid and hand dyed. It was hard to choose! I entered the classroom with my deep blue ball of yarn, my knitting tools and my newly opened package of cable hooks.
I LOVED this class and I loved the soft feel of the yarn as I knit and I found that doing cables was incredibly fun and rewarding. I was able to keep up and see progress and felt confident I could actually get my knitting homework done before the next week when we would complete the hat in class.

Seriously, I'm in love with this yarn. The brand is "Malabrigo". It is kettle dyed pure merino wool and it is delicious...

I was able to complete my hat project and finish it up in the 2nd class. I enjoyed it so much I started another one in class that night! (I needed some assistance to remember the new "twisted German" cast on method we just learned).

Cables rock! I was excited to give this hat to my gorgeous daughter-in-law...

Luckily I was able to complete a second one for my son.  Okay, I stayed up until 1a.m. on Christmas Eve to get it finished...but, it was totally worth it!

I don't think I'm overstating this to say they were the most popular gifts I gave! I got 2 random emails Christmas night with requests for the same hat!

Lookin' good in the new hats! Super warm as well...

And, so...I headed back to the yarn shop the day after Christmas to get another skein of this lovely yarn.

Half way there! Each one is beautiful! When I get this one finished I am going to make one for ME!

I LOVE knitting! I already have several projects lined up for the new year...

This amazing cable knit hat pattern is available on: Ravelry.com

http://www.ravelry.com/projects/annewinter2000/an-unoriginal-hat

note: I used these recommended modifications on this hat pattern. It allows you to finish using just one skein of the scrumptious "Malabrigo" yarn.

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner!

Ha! I actually took the time to look up where the phrase "winner winner chicken dinner" originated. Supposedly, it had its start in Las Vegas years ago. Back in the day when you could get a complete chicken dinner for under two bucks in that glittery gambling mecca. I guess if you were a lucky $2.00 winner you could go treat yourself to a tasty chicken dinner with all the fixin's!
For some reason those words are just stuck in my head right now...whenever I'm putting together some goodies for our hens it starts playing in my brain. :/
The days are still short here in the Northern Hemisphere and the temps are downright chilly. There is about 8 inches of icy frozen snow on the ground. We have a flock of 11 laying ladies. We are only getting 1 or 2 eggs a day. Mother Nature has slowed everything down and the chickens are conserving energy to stay warm and they keep taking turns molting! Some days there is hazy sunshine and they squawk to get out of the coop and roam freely like usual. When we let them out they are sorely disappointed that their tender juicy grass shoots are covered with an icy layer. They can't find their wriggly worms and hidden bugs.
One sunny day after a large snowstorm they were begging for their freedom. I gave in and let them out for a bit. Sadly...they would walk into the snow, be taken by surprise and completely stop! It was like a game of "statue"! They didn't know what to do, so they just came to a complete standstill! I ended up lifting them from their snowy prison cells and carted them all back to the coop!
We don't feed our chickens laying pellets or crumbles. We supply them a never ending supply of organic hen scratch. For three seasons they supplement with all the bugs, worms, snails and growing greens they can stuff their bellies with. This time of year I feel we need to help them out!

In the almost four years we've had our feathered friends it never gets old being able to give them all our produce scraps. I absolutely LOVE not filling up the garbage can or disposal with fruit and veggie trimmings. We keep a nice sized stainless steel bowl close by the chopping and dicing board and make sure none of these yummy scraps go to waste.
They really love cabbage and they were getting bored being all "cooped" up in the snowy weather conditions. Hubs decided to rig up something to entertain them as well as supplement their usual grub.

How 'bout a hanging head of cabbage?!

Then we remembered that birds like "suet". Back in the day I remember making suet bird feeders with my own Sprouts. We started saving our bacon grease and layering it in a freezer safe container with random goodies. Nuts, dried fruits and grains.

A little here, a little there...and soon you have saved a container full...I layered a bit of uncooked quinoa and some dried cranberries this time.

The frozen and solid grease and goodies! Oh...may I point out my amazing vintage pastel yellow Pyrex dishes? May I mention I am in love with them and that I found six of them at a yard sale for $1.00 each?! I was giddy when I found them and they haven't disappointed. They are the perfect teeny size for all kinds of fun!

If suet cakes could be considered adorable I think this one would be.

Another hanging surprise! I have a few more of the awesome little Pyrex containers getting all layered up in my freezer. The girls all seem pretty happy with the extra treats this winter.

I'm still trying to come up with ideas to supplement their diet through the cold and dark weeks ahead. I'm happy to report they all seem healthy and happy this winter despite the freezing temperatures and the occasional boredom from being confined to the coop on the super cold and snowy days...

Our friends and family are anxiously awaiting the increase in egg production that will come in the next month or so...once you've had farm fresh eggs you just can't go back!

How To Make Cheese Crackers!...

Holiday merriment is in full swing. Or, possibly holiday stress and dread is in full swing! Either way, it's inevitable that December 25th will a make an appearance...
I wish I could say I get all giddy during the Holidays...I don't...Years of working in retail management squeezed the Holiday right out of me.
The upside...I don't get stressed over the impending festivities. What little shopping I do is from the comfort and warmth of my own computer. Wrapped in a warm blanket, wearing nubby socks and drinking green jasmine tea is my way of taking on the task. I enjoy the UPS or FedEx workers dropping packages at my front door. I don't miss the frenzied shoppers and short-tempers permeating the mall halls and shops. I don't miss frazzled sales associates doing their best and trying to keep their mouths shut when being berated by someone who can't understand why the doll or outfit or perfect color is already sold out for the season. Somewhere along the way the "reason for the season" got lost in the fray. At least for me...
This year, the cookie baking party was one of the highlights of the season. I DO love party planning anytime of the year! Nothing more warm and fuzzy than a kitchen full of little sweethearts rolling dough and sticking teeny fingers in a bowl full of frosting.
I am attending a few festive gatherings with close friends and family. Such fun to get together and catch up with good people.
Saturday night I went to one such get-together with a group of 8 women that I golf with. We met years ago golfing on a local ladies league and have stayed in touch ever since. These women are fabulous friends and this party is highly anticipated each December. It includes good food, good fun, good beverages and good conversation. It always lives up to expectation...this year was no different. I did have a hard time deciding what to bring. One of the gals mentioned she was making soup...aha! I decided I would make homemade crackers to compliment her delicious cauliflower, bean and bacon soup. She promised she would share her recipe with me!
I'm still searching and learning how to make better quality food and have found that making things from scratch is a must. When I can source my ingredients, choose organic and GMO free as often as possible and use meat and dairy with no added hormones or antibiotics I feel good about the finished product. I make it...I know what's in it!

I was so happy with how these crunchy little crackers turned out! I used the small tree cookie cutter I had hiding in my cupboard. They are really crispy and flakey and cheesy. I plan to search out some fun cookie cutters for future baking. A goldfish cutter would be adorable!

Please don't be intimidated to make your own food! It's really very easy and takes less time than I would have thought.

Cheesy Crackers :)

3 TBSP cold butter

1 1/2 cups organic all-purpose flour

1 tsp. dry mustard powder

1 tsp. of ground pepper

1 tsp. salt

6 oz. of good grated Cheddar cheese

2 tsp. organic distilled white vinegar

ice cube

Combine the dry ingredients in the bowl of a stand mixer and whisk together. Cut the butter into 1" squares and add to the mixture. Mix on low speed until crumbly and the butter is incorporated. Add the shredded cheese and mix on low for a few more seconds.

In a liquid measure combine 3/4 cup of water, the vinegar and the ice cube and let sit for a couple of minutes. Start by adding 6 TBSP. of the liquid to the dough and mix on medium speed for about 30 seconds. Continue to add liquid 1 TBSP at a time until it forms a ball around the beater. Form a dough ball and wrap in plastic wrap for at least 2 hours or overnight.

Remove dough from fridge 15 minutes before rolling. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Place parchment paper on 2 large baking sheets. Roll dough on a floured surface to 1/8" - 1/4" in thickness. Cut with cookie cutters of your choice. Place on parchment lined baking sheets and place in oven. (optional...lightly sprinkle with salt)  Set timer for 15 minutes and rotate pans. Set time for addition 10 -15 minutes, watching closely until the edges are lightly brown. Turn off oven leaving crackers inside as the oven cools down and for at least an hour.

note: I tried one buttered cookie sheet and one with parchment paper! I liked the parchment results the best!

It's incredibly satisfying to make your own crackers! Ha...seriously...we loved them. I can't wait to make up another batch with the Sprouts!

Hoping you can find ways to enjoy a peaceful and meaningful holiday season. Stress free of course...

How To Host A Cookie Baking Party...

I LOVE parties. I actually like hosting parties even more than going to parties. Parties are the bomb.
What could be more fun than hosting a cookie baking party for a bunch of adorable little tidbits!? Not much in my opinion...
I am one lucky woman...I was graced with two beautiful little granddaughters within 7 days of each other. The gift that keeps on giving! A Grammy that loves all things "party" and 2 baby girl sprouts to share the fun. Need I say more???

I invited 8 little girlies. They ranged in age from 2 1/2 to 11. Our Sprouts are the 2 1/2 year olds. I thought they might be a bit young but they need to be versed in the way of parties in my opinion! I also invited the Mommies. I figured we would need some cookie building experts...

I had to put on my thinking cap and come up with a party menu that I could feel good about. Something kid friendly but also clean and relatively healthy. The cookies of course would have to be made completely from scratch and with the best possible ingredients. I had a bit of a dilemma with this. It's holiday time and I wanted to bake some tried and true traditional cookies. I didn't want to experiment with subbed ingredients for this. I needed everything to turn out. So, I opted for pure cane sugar and real organic butter. Sugar is a fact of life I'm still trying to navigate around. I decided to invite it to this particular party. 

In hopes of counteracting outrageous sugar highs I opted for a fresh and kid friendly mini buffet.

A bowl of mixed nuts, thinly sliced carrots and celery (organic of course!) and some grape tomatoes. A larger bowl of clementines and homemade chicken nuggets with organic ketchup. (You know that most ketchup has high fructose corn syrup...right?) My beverage choice for the shorties was carrageenan free chocolate almond milk. All in all I was pretty happy with it.

Hubs helped me cut up the organic chicken into nugget sized pieces. I thought they looked pretty authentic!

Here they are just before I popped them in the oven. No pink slime here folks! I was so happy with them that I'm going to share the recipe I used. Hubs and I ate the leftovers for dinner! They are yummy!

Chicken Nuggets

1 1/2 pounds of organic boneless chicken breasts

1/2 cup of mayonnaise ( I use Whole Foods 365 brand)

1 teaspoon of lemon juice from 1/2 a fresh lemon

3 cups of breadcrumbs ( I use Panko crumbs for a nice crunch)

1 tsp. salt

pepper to taste

olive oil for the baking sheet

Wash and dry the chicken and cut into 2 X 2 pieces. In a shallow bowl combine the mayo and lemon juice and stir until smooth. In another bowl combine the breadcrumbs with the seasonings. Drop several pieces of chicken into the mayo mixture and coat. Then coat with the Panko crumbs and set on the oiled baking pan. Refrigerate the tray for 20 minutes. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Bake the chicken for 25 minutes, turning once halfway through baking time.

I wanted the party to go smoothly and not have any lag time or down time waiting around for cookies to bake! I decided to go with three different recipes. A basic sugar cookie, a gingerbread cookie and a peanut butter blossom cookie. Hmmm...

I decided to make the gingerbread dough the night before. It needed to sit in the fridge for at least 4 hours or overnight.

It only took a few minutes to mix up. I divided the dough into two round discs and covered with plastic wrap. Boom...now all the "peanuts" would need to do is roll it out and make little men!

I also decided to make and BAKE one batch of sugar cookies. I wanted to keep things moving and have cookies ready to frost and sprinkle. Actually, I just baked half the batch and left the other disc of sugar dough in the fridge. Ready to go quickly if necessary. 

My party supply station! Aren't the little rolling pins adorable? And, how bout those awesome red striped paper straws? I filled a soda fountain glass with plastic knifes for spreading frosting. Not pictured here but I purchased a roll of red plastic table covering. Slick for topping the tables for cookie making workstations...

Perfect weather for a holiday baking party? I think YES! (Hubs wasn't as excited about that part. He was out snow blowing the driveway for about 4 hours before the guests arrived)...

My favorite part of a party! Decorating the room and laying out the tablescape. I found red striped napkins to match the red striped straws that matched the red striped aprons! Booyah...

I have these amazing little glass vintage looking milk bottles. I get giddy every time I bring them out of storage! A couple of years ago I invested in these little white ceramic tapa plates. I use them a lot for entertaining. ( I found them at CB2)...I like serving on real dishes...even for the little ones. I find they are surprisingly careful...

My plan was to start off the baking with peanut butter blossoms. A quick and easy recipe that doesn't need the dough chilled. And, a fun hands on right off the bat! The Sprouts got to roll the dough into little one inch balls after helping me measure and pour the ingredients into the mixer. This is the recipe I used and I was really happy with it...except...I ended up having to use Hershey's kisses. I don't love Hershey's kisses. I couldn't find any GOOD chocolate brands in the shape of a kiss? Maybe they don't exist?

http://tideandthyme.com/peanut-butter-blossoms/

Aprons first of course!

Here is some serious cookie biz going on! These little cuties loved making the cookie balls and dipping them in the bowls of sugar. Bonus...these cookies were surprisingly "forgiving"! ;) Once baked they all turned into pretty uniform little circles! Ha!

I will definitely do this recipe at my next cookie bash...sans the Hershey's kisses if possible!

Once these guys were in the oven I pulled out the gingerbread dough. Oh my...I lost count but I think we made about a thousand ginger men! The little rolling pins were a big hit. Mommies did help occasionally with a "real" rolling pin...but, for the most part...these little guys rolled out dough like there was no tomorrow! Impressive!

I was blown away by their commitment to cookie making! The focus was crazy! The teeniest girls rocked it! 

After the large army of gingerbread fellas were in the oven I pulled out the already baked sugar cookies! I had the Sprouts help me make butter cream frosting. They got to choose what colors to dye the frosting. I only did 2 colors...(lots going on!) How cute is this...they chose red and green! They were pretty intrigued at how the food coloring works! At this point, while the men were cooling off, the Sprouts went to town frosting and sugar sprinkling the sugar cookies. Have I mentioned how on task these little babes were??? Yes, I know I have, but it was truly amazing...this was a big deal!

For variety, I had a little sugar sprinkling tin and I let them sprinkle powdered sugar on the gingerbread men. Then, I had this funky colored chocolate in tubes. You put them in a bowl of hot water until the tubes are soft and pliable. When they were finished with the sugar cookies we re-visited the little powder sprinkled men and they got to put colored chocolate on them. I was thinking

like little faces and buttons and such...

Honestly...I'm pretty sure these are the cutest little kids on the planet! I love these girls! They amazed me...

Yeah...possibly the coolest cookie ever! Made by a very determined 2 year old. I can't lie...I'm proud!

Good times people! I LOVED this cookie baking party...I LOVED these adorable girls. 

Each of them got to take home as many cookies as they wanted. We put some in little clear cello bags and tied them up fancy and special! They thought that was pretty cool, too!

I got over my white flour/sugar dilemma for this party. I took satisfaction in the fact that nothing came out of a tub or a box. There was no HFCS and no weird oils and additives. I was reminded again how quick and easy it is to make your own cookies and frosting. Over the years I lost sight of that...

Biggest thrill?! Realizing that my precious Granddaughters are going to LOVE parties like I do...I can't wait for the next adventure!

Do You Need To Heat Your Chicken Coop?

I haven't posted anything about our chickens in quite awhile. You know, life just goes on and the chickens are just doing their thing! Of course egg production is down this time of year. There are a couple reasons for that. The shorter days and decrease in daylight slows them down. It's also common for them to "molt" this time of year.
When we were new chicken owners it was shocking to see a molting chicken for the first time! The poor girl looked completely battered and abused! We assumed she had been roughed up or was terribly ill! It took a bit of research on a favorite website to find out what was going on and that she would be just fine! It's perfectly normal in the life of a chicken to molt!

This girl is about mid-way through a molting cycle. These are actually new little pin feathers sprouting out and soon she will be beautiful with her new feathered cloak. It takes so much energy to go through this process that she doesn't have any left over for laying eggs! The whole process takes about a month. We have two others molting right now as well!

Yesterday a snowstorm blew through town and temperatures dropped dramatically. It's just down right cold!

I don't care much for these temperatures. I feel chilly inside my warm house! I'm wearing layers and fuzzy socks and have a blanket around my shoulders. I've already had hot green tea and hot chocolate!

I started thinking maybe the chickens need a little bit more TLC and a few more hearty food scraps...
A friend of mine called to get my opinion about the best way to keep her chickens warm. I guess us "chicken" people are all thinking along the same lines...

I don't presume to be an expert about this...I'm just telling you my opinion from our experiences and from doing a bit of chicken research. We don't heat the chicken coop! We don't put a low wattage bulb in the coop. We don't lock them up tight inside the coop. It's just biz as usual around here. Except for the temporary egg shortage! I guess we just think of the chickens as we would other birds. They seem to do just fine around here all winter.
We have some pretty hearty chicken varieties. They seem to do well in most weather conditions. We have New Hampshire Reds, Rhode Island Reds and some odds and ends Sexlinks. If you have foofy chickens it might be a different story. You know, like Silkies and such.
We also don't put a light in the coop to trick their chicken bodies into thinking there is more sunlight than there actually is. I figure good ole Mother Nature had a plan and I'm deferring to Her wisdom! If the chickens need to slow down a bit in the winter it's okay by me. I pretty much feel the same way!

Our chickens have an unlimited supply of chicken scratch in their coop. Sadly, all the sparrows and starlings in the neighborhood are aware of this. We are feeding the masses. We also have a large bowl of oyster shell inside the coop. It seems to be a nice snack from time to time and does make the egg shells nice and sturdy and strong. Now that the snow sprinkled itself all over the yard the chickens don't like to free-range like they normally would. So...every time it snows Hubs shovels a nice long path down the driveway so they can access their beloved grass.

They like the pathway and it seems they are still able to find a few random and mostly frozen bugs from time to time. Being out in the sun is good for them and wandering around as usual warms them up and keeps their circulation moving.

It was soooo cold when I went out this morning I decided it was time to make them a delicious and nutritious bowl of goodies. I was needing to clean the fridge out anyway from Thanksgiving.

Carrots, Brussels sprouts and cooked yams seemed like a good start.

I accidentally burned my toast this morning (it was much darker than this picture depicts! I was bummed) but figured the hens would be happy to have it. I found these raspberries on the bottom shelf hiding behind the leftover turkey gravy. These will be a real treat!

They were excited to see me! They LOVED their smorgasbord. They seemed happy and healthy and normal despite the cold. One thing that baffles me...we started out with 3 chickens...now we have 12!!! Sheesh...

Tomorrow they are getting a large bowl of stuffing, sweet potatoes and veggie soup. We will continue to keep an eye on them in this extreme cold. So far so good!

Oh...it's important they have a non-frozen water source! This is a heated bowl. There are many options for heated water dishes. The feed and farm stores have all shapes and sizes and systems. This one serves a dual purpose...The dogs drink out of it during the day as well!

So, as we speak, they are all roosting on their branches and puffing up their feathers to stay warm and cozy inside their snazzy coop. And, I'm still wrapped up in my blanket and thanking my lucky stars I'm inside my radiant heated house!