Friday, November 10, 2006

Winter??? Already???

Yesterday, I had the windows open. It was a balmy 60 degrees out. Today, the high is 39, and we're getting snow tonight. Not melts-as-it-hits-the-ground snow, but up to 4 inches (or 1-2, according to Weather Channel). Wow.

A bit of housekeeping: My comments moderation failed me a couple days ago. Last week, I got two comments in my e-mail that blogger wouldn't let me publish. Then the other day, I had a comment that never even made it into my e-mail or my comment queue. I only have comments moderation on because I had started to get comment spam some time ago. My policy with comments is to automatically hit 'publish' as long as it's not spam. So, apparently blogger is doing something odd with comments. If you ever notice that your comment hasn't shown up in a day or so, definitely try re-submitting, because I don't censor comments, and blogger probably just ate it. Well, it's hard to complain too much about a free service, but there are definitely quirks.

Knitting: Thank you for all the nice comments on the Picot Dress! I'm not sure I have enough navy Wool Cotton to make a Miss Dashwood, especially given the gauge difference from the Cashmerino Aran, so I'm holding off on that for now. But I did knock off another Lacy Bonnet from Knitting for Two:

If it looks familiar, check this out. I used the same yarn as before, Rowan Wool Cotton in pale pink. It's a pretty easy, but cute pattern. The only hitch is that I'm not crazy about the ribbon-rosette method of tying it under the chin. Mostly because I don't think I can pull off a ribbon rosette. But I'm having trouble deciding whether to make i-cord ties, or use ribbon like I did last time. I also cast on for the ribbon-edged cardigan from Debbie Bliss Special Knits in the rose color of Cashmerino Baby that I decided not to use for the Argyle Cardigan. I know you're all thinking, "Geez, how many cardigans does this kid need?" But they're just so cute. I need to start some matching bottoms, soon, but I have to find patterns I like.

Reading: Getting near the end of Jane and the Unpleasantness...

Writing: Chapter 8 is well underway. Word count - 38,257.

Cooking: Still a lot of leftover baked goods. I have some stale Pomegranate Pound Cake that I think I will turn into really decadent French toast this weekend, topped with leftover roasted apples and pomegranate caramel. In honor of the cold weather, I did make a nice, very easy cabbage soup. It's based on a recipe I found ages ago on the internet and hand-copied. It was called Swiss Cabbage Soup. I couldn't find it again by searching, but I've made changes to it, anyway, so here's the recipe:

Cabbage-Leek Soup

2 TBL butter
About 1 pound cabbage, chopped
1 large or 2 small leeks, chopped
1/2 cup uncooked rice
6 cups vegetable stock
salt and pepper to taste
Grated cheese, for serving

Melt butter in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Saute cabbage and leeks until wilted. Add rice and stock; bring to a boil. Lower heat and simmer until rice is tender, 20-30 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve topped with a handful of grated cheese. Serves 6.

Notes: Fontina pairs really well with cabbage. The original recipe called for Gruyere, which certainly makes it more Swiss. I think that would be very nice, too. I also served this with asiago, which was nice. When salting, don't make the soup too salty if you're using a salty cheese.

5 comments:

Marie said...

Wow! A thirty degree drop in one day! Be sure to bundle up! :)
I vote for I-cords for the bonnet. I put silk ribbons on the one I made for my fiance's niece and they already look very, very crushed, stained, and crinkled since she loves to stuff them into her mouth and gnaw on them (no teeth yet :) ). Very cute but doesn't do much for overall appearance of the bonnet. I-cords would probably hold up much better to baby drool!

Anonymous said...

I left you a meme in my blog. I expect to see it TOMORROW. :)

YarnThrower said...

Those bonnets are sooo cute! Too weird, too, because I was just thinking to myself this morning, "I wonder how that little flowery thing at the crown is worked when people make some hats," and then there was a hat just like it on your blog!

This weather is nuts, totally. My son had no school yesterday, so we went to Milwaukee and ended up staying over there last night to avoid driving home in the mess last
night. One minute, it was in the 40's and raining. The next, low 30's and sleet/snow and roads closed because of all of the spin-outs...

snowdrop said...

Blogger has been strange lately... With me, it publishes comments, but it doesn't show up on the actual blog/post page until quite a bit later...
The soup sounds delicious!

KnitPastis said...

Oh no, I bet it's coming this way! Sometimes though, I look forward to this kind of weather because I tend to get more knitting done:)

I-cords for the bonnet. They will stay tied better than ribbons.
Soup sounds like something pretty healthy and we love cabbage.