Busy non-knitting weekend

I'm sorry I didn't post last week. Somehow the weekend came and went and I never wrote anything. I have been knitting a little but nothing that I can show you. So I am going to regale you with photos of my baking this weekend.

Additionally, before I start, let me tell you about the wonders of ice. I have been having a lot of problems with my arms, especially my right due to computer usage. I am now icing everything every night and it cuts the pain amazingly well. Of course, I feel like an idiot sitting around wrapped in ice packs. I'm sure I will be enjoying this once the temperatures hit 90 F but for now, it isn't all that pleasant.

Yesterday, we had a gorgeous spring day so I cleaned up my yard. I pulled out the annuals from last year, got rid of the peony stems and set up the supports for this year and pruned the roses and the butterfly bush. It is almost time to plant pansies. I usually do that the second week in April.

Anyway, here are the delights from my oven for your drooling pleasure. The first is a babka that I made in the shape of a Kranz cake. I couldn't find a description of this as the site I got it from has been deleted. But here is my version. It is filled with chocolate.

Next I made a dozen blueberry muffins. I joined a winter CSA, called Winter Sun Farms, this year. I received blueberries in a number of the shares. Organic blueberries. I wanted to do something special with them - not just put them in my cereal. So I made muffins from scratch. They are very good. Not too sweet but moist with a crunchy top.

Lastly, I made two loaves of a cheese and onion sourdough bread. I guess you could call it a Quattro Formaggio as I threw in leftovers of cheese I had - a little mozzarella, a little cheddar, some Parmegianno Regggiano and some Monterey Jack. I also added some dehydrated onion and a couple of tablespoons of Penzey's Brady Street Cheese Sprinkle which has garlic and spices.

I'm pretty pleased with my scoring. I've been making a lot of ugly loaves lately. These are the first ones in a long time that I feel like showing off.

Next week, I hope to be back to talking about knitting.

Yet another busy weekend

It is an understatement to say that I'm exhausted. I think I could sleep for a month.

I spent the week driving an hour each way as I was the organizer of a conference. The days were long and made longer by the commute. I also took the opportunity to have dinner with some out of town friends, which made that day even longer.

Therefore, there was not much knitting going on. In fact, there was zip, zero, zilch.

I also spent the weekend teaching. So there was a bunch of knitting and I have made some progress on the Wild Apple. I hope to really finish one sleeve this week! I know I've made this promise before but this time I'm really hoping.

Today I am using the remainder of the focaccia dough from last weekend to make rolls. I am making veggie burgers Indian style for dinner. Here is one recipe to give you an idea of what I'm talking about. I am making my own recipe with vegetables from my CSA farm. I thought it would be even better with freshly baked rolls. I was going to make a calzone with the potato vegetable filling instead of the traditional kind but I thought that if I made patties, I could have it another night during the week. I may need to bake the rolls the evening before as I don't think I will have time to bake and then eat for dinner.

Cross your fingers and wish me luck in finishing that sleeve this week!

A busy weekend

I have no photos to post so this is going to be quick. My camera is traveling and I don't have a replacement.

I thought I would have finished one sleeve of the Wild Apple by now but I haven't. I had a busy week with very little knitting time and so am making slow progress. I am about half way down the second sleeve. Nothing exciting to share visually yet.

I have been busy this weekend with lots of non-knitting stuff. I am cooking and baking and if I get some time, need to freeze some hot peppers. My plants produced a lot and I need to do something with it. Ditto with the basil. Let's see if I get anything done. I got a lot of CSA produce so I am focused on cooking and preserving that.

I made a focaccia with cherry, currant and pear heirloom tomatoes, rosemary and basil. It was visually and tastefully appealing. I used the crust recipe from Artisan Bread in 5 mins a day, which worked really well. It is the Olive Oil Dough. I have enough for a couple more in the refrigerator which I can use over the next two weeks.

I am also oven-drying the remainder of the little tomatoes for future use. They look like little jewels - purple, orange, yellow and red. I ate my fill in salads and as snacks. If we get some more, I will take a photo and post.

I also did a lot of data entry, adding all my recent acquisitions (some from Camp) to my databases of yarn, books and magazines. Now all that is put away, instead of littering the floor of my bedroom. Neatly littering, but littering none-the-less.

More next week

No pictures

For the next couple of weeks, there will be no pictures as the camera is traveling with my husband. I could use the one on my cell phone but it doesn't take very nice pictures.

I am almost through the back of the cardigan on the cover of the Summer 2008 Vogue Knitting. It is looking good. I decided to lengthen it a bit as my midriff is not something I care to show off. Otherwise, I am just knitting the middle size. It is a pretty boring knit as the pattern on the bottom is very easy and mindless. But not mindless enough to zone out completely. I have taken to reading while knitting it if there is no TV to watch.

Since it is a pretty lacy, see-through kind of cardigan, and I'm knitting it in a fairly light cotton, I went looking for something to wear underneath it. Serendipitously, I was looking through a Good Housekeeping while waiting (and knitting on the lower back) and found an article on shapers. Both Spanx and Assets have camisoles that will work. In the process of looking these up, I realized that Sarah Blakely designs both these. Just a piece of trivia with no value whatsoever.

I have been busy washing, chopping, cooking and freezing greens from my CSA farm. I did spinach, chard, mixed greens, turnip greens and radish greens yesterday. Today is reserved for kale and bok choy. Both those will be cooked and eaten. Only the spinach and chard made it to the freezer. I love fresh greens but the washing and chopping is tiring. Lots of grit. I soak them in a sink full of cold water and slosh them around. Then I rinse them vigorously before I stack them in piles on the chopping board and chiffonade them . After that, I run the knife through them in a direction perpendicular to the strips to cut the strips into smaller pieces. As the summer wears on, I will move to my quick and dirty chopping method. Wash the greens as before and drain. Put them in a dish and microwave them for a few minutes so they wilt. Dump them (with the collected liquid) into the food processor and pulse to chop. Then add to the dish and finish the cooking. But for now, I am making lovely little pieces.