Posts from — October 2008

Our pumpkin carving extravaganza got put off until Monday night.  It has been a couple of years since we last did this so it was especially fun.  Having the right tools (and wine) helps a lot…go to Target the day after Halloween and buy this kit on clearance for next year.  I promise you won’t be sorry.  It works really well and is safe enough for kids.  Plus you can do some seriously detailed carving that just can happen with a regular knife. 

We also roasted the pumpkin seeds.  It was surprisingly easy!  Instead of just plopping the innards on paper, work on getting the seeds out first.  They hang from inside the pumpkin and are readily removed without the attached “goop.”  Just collect them all in a bowl and then rinse the seeds in a rice colander when you’re finished.  Dump them on a clean kitchen towel to remove excess moisture then toss lightly with some olive oil and salt.  Roast in a 325 degree oven in a single layer on cookie sheets.  It takes about 20 minutes but the best way to really tell if they’re done is a taste test. 

That night for dinner I tried a new recipe:  Orecchiette with Greens, Garbanzo Beans and Ricotta Salata.  I highly recommend it but with a few modifications.  It was delicious but VERY rich.  I even put in less olive oil than it called for and it was still too much.  If you can’t find Ricotta Salata (it’s a little different from regular Ricotta) you can substitute feta, which is what I had to do.  However, since part of the cheese was to be melted into the mixture I used a heaping tablespoon of fat free REGULAR ricotta which gave it a nice creaminess.  We had plenty of leftovers and last night I made it into soup which was even better than the first night!  I just made a mirepoix, added vegetable stock, added the leftover pasta/green mixture and added extra greens, herbes de provence, salt and pepper.  Voila!  Maybe the best soup ever and I have made some really awesome soups lately (if I must say so myself ).

The MIL Christmas Ariann is coming along.  I just began the neck shaping so the end is finally in sight!  After the sleeves are joined to the body and the raglan decreases begin, I did noticed that the yarn overs and decreases were no longer balancing each other.  I kept doing the raglan decreases but the number of stitches wasn’t actually going down.  I think I caught it in time and have been doing double decreases to make up for it.  Let’s hope that works out so I don’t have to do any major frogging!

I designed this sweater to submit to Knitty for the winter 2008 edition but it didn’t get accepted.  So instead, I’m offering it as a free pattern here!  It’s a fun and quick knit that can be customized in a variety of ways.  You can download the file from the patterns page.  It has not been test knit so any feedback would be appreciated.

Last night’s soup was a big success so I’m sharing the recipe.  SO.  DELICIOUS. And super healthy too! If you already have Mastercook (I’ve said it before….LOVE IT) you can download the recipe file to import here.

Chickpea and Lentil Vegetable Vegan Soup

Recipe By : Cheryl Kemp
Serving Size : 18 Preparation Time 30:00
Categories : Main Dish, Meatless, Soup, Stew, Vegetable

Amount Measure Ingredient — Preparation Method
——– ———— ——————————–
1 pound chickpeas — soaked overnight
1 pound lentils — soaked overnight
3 whole red pepper — roasted
2 whole chile — poblano, roasted and diced
1 medium zucchini — diced
1 medium yellow squash — diced
1 medium red onion — diced
1 medium white onion — diced
5 cloves garlic — minced
1 cup carrots — diced
1 cup celery — diced
2 tablespoons herbs — herbes de Provence or thyme, oregano, basil and rosemary
96 ounces vegetable broth — or water with bouillon
8 ounces kale — pre washed read to use
15 ounces tomatoes — canned
salt — to taste
pepper — to taste
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil — over top to taste
extra virgin olive oil

Soak chickpeas and lentils overnight. Drain and rinse.

Roast peppers and chilies using preferred method (I do them under the broiler). Remove skin and seeds. Dice.

In a 9-10 quart stockpot (big!) heat 1 T olive oil. Saute onions and garlic for about 2 minutes. Add carrots and celery. Add all remaining ingredients except kale and tomatoes. Bring to a boil then turn down to simmer.

When vegetables and legumes are tender add kale and tomatoes. Cook about 10 more minutes. The only fat up to this point is the 1 T olive oil so you could add some more at this point to make it richer.

Source:
“divaknitting.com”
(Internet Address):
“www.divaknitting.com/blog”
Copyright:
“Cheryl Kemp 2008″
Yield:
“9 quarts”
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 316 Calories; 5g Fat (14.2%
calories from fat); 17g Protein; 53g Carbohydrate; 16g Dietary Fiber; 2mg
Cholesterol; 1025mg Sodium. Exchanges: 3 Grain(Starch); 1 Lean Meat; 1
1/2 Vegetable; 1 Fat.

Serving Ideas : Serve over/with crusty bread and drizzle a good quality olive oil over the top. Dollop of sour cream and some parmesan cheese for non-vegans is delicious.

NOTES : Makes about 18 - 2 cup servings. I like to freeze individual portions for later with what is left over from the first night.

Ever since I saw this wrap pants tutorial on Laupre, I’ve wanted to try them.  I kept the tutorial in mind when I went fabric/pattern shopping at JoAnn’s yesterday and found some nice clearance fabric I thought would be perfect.  The tutorial is super easy to follow and about 1.5 hours after I started I had pants.  Now that I have them though, I’m not really sure I’m a wrap pants kind of girl.  I think I would like them much better if there were slots incorporated through which I could pull the tie ends…no one needs extra bulk around the waist!  Using a snap or hook and eye for the back instead of a tie might also be a good idea.  I may play around with them some more to see if I can make them more wearable.  If not they’ll probably just be relegated to around the house although I did actually wear them out to lunch today.

I’m not sure yet what the next sewing project is but I got fabric and patterns yesterday for a dress, a shirt and a nice pair of tailored corduroy black pants.  Stay tuned!

I have officially sewn my first second garment (I almost forgot about the skirt it’s been so long ago)!  Did I forget to mention that up to this point I’ve only made bags?1  The pattern is Simplicity 4015 made for my sister Erica who has not one but TWO fabulous Halloween parties to attend.

For anyone who knows what they’re doing, this was a easy to follow pattern with great instructions.  Unfortunately, yours truly is not someone who really knows what she’s doing.  Or more the truth, I think I sort of know what I’m doing and maybe don’t read the pattern as closely as I should.  So there were quite a few mistakes, most of which could have been avoided if I’d made sure each step was completely finished before moving on to the next.  The pattern vastly underestimated the amount of eyelet trim which resulted in several additional trips to Hobby Lobby (thank goodness it’s only 2 miles away).  Another thing that was an issue is skirt length.  My sister and I both are about 5′7″ to 5′8″ and the pattern as designed gives 16″ for the skirt.  I originally intended to add about 4″ to the hemline and decide on the skirt length when I could try it on.  Too bad that when I went to cut the skirt I ignored the pins 4″ below where the pattern ended and cut on the pattern line anyway. :doh:  There wasn’t enough fabric to remedy this so I figured I’d just go with it…it couldn’t be that short, right?  Um wrong.  We’re all for short, sexy costumes in this family but not so short that ones “goodies” could be on display.  Right.  So back to Hobby Lobby again for longer eyelet.  Since we’re not the same size the costume might look and fit totally different on Erica…she can always cut off the longer eyelet if the costume is way too long but I would have hated to have her be really uncomfortable.  I also just pinned on the black bow so that can be optional as well.

There are definitely areas in which my sewing skills can improve but overall I’m really happy with the way it turned out.  There were so many things I had seen done but never done myself…bust darts, gathering and eyelet trim.  By the way, I might hate gathering but it really made the sleeves and skirt super cute.  And the apron?  Seriously, it MAKES the costume.  SO. CUTE.

Since I was sewing much of the weekend, knitting was neglected but I did finish my book and moved on to the next.  I’m sure I’ll be back to the knit corset tonight with whatever Monday night television brings.  In other knitting news, I just noticed that I got a mention on The Daily Chum for my Raglan Lace Pattern.  Thanks y’all!

1. It’s not as unbelievable as it seems.  I come from a long line of craftswomen…grandmother was a quilter and my mom could sew anything.  I learned a lot about sewing through osmosis growing up.  Of course, now I wish I would have taken more advantage of their knowledge when I had the chance… but then that is why hindsight is 20/20. [↩]

Arizona was great, as usual!  After Jim and his mom left I thought I would get a lot of knitting done.  Instead, I read like a fiend and biked several times at over 20 miles eac…one was 38 miles…SORE. BUTT.  I spun on my Kromski just a little and knit a little.  In fact, I knit the same little bit over and over. 

Remember how I said I’d start the Annie Modesitt corset top.  Well, I did.  About 12 times.  I don’t know what my problem was.  I started casting on in the car on the way to the airport.  I ripped the first attempt because the lace pattern count was off.  I ripped again on the plane…same problem.  I don’t know if I was distracted by the travel or what, but no matter what I did the count would be off at some point after a few rounds.  In my defense, I am knitting it in the round instead of back and forth (seriously, I’m trying to use that as an excuse???) and was trying to add an extra point in the center front (again…how hard can that be???).  Then we got there.  I knit a bit in the evenings and in the car while taking Jim’s mom to a few sights.  Ripped several more times, the last one because once I finally got past the first 6 rows of the same pattern and the chart changed.  I didn’t notice that the part in between the yarn overs switched to stockinette stitch.  After I got past the lace I tried it on.  The armholes seem a little small but there was NO WAY I was going to frog again.  I’ll just have to hope that blocking works it’s magic.  Please don’t let all of this scare you away from the pattern…sadly, it was completely correct I was just having some kind of brain malfunction.  Thankfully I’m back to smooth sailing now and just began the bust decreases last night.

The MIL Christmas Ariann sweater is coming along nicely.  Before she arrived I was able to join the sleeves to the body.  All I have left now is the raglan decreases.  I may give the corset a rest tonight to switch to that.  It will be nice to have one of my larger Christmas projects safely finished!

The rest of today will be spent with fabric instead of yarn.  I stupidly offered to make my sister Erica a Halloween costume.  Specifically, Alice in Wonderland SO. CUTE.  I know it seems like two weeks is plenty of time to get it finished but I am still a newbie seamstress.  And there is gathering and interfacing and fusible webbing.  What if I have a problem?  Will I have time to recover?  As you know, I am always up for a challenge and hoping to surprise myself with my mad sewing skillz.  Wish me luck!