Monday, November 30, 2015

...decorating 2015...the Chrismon Tree...

...we drove back home Saturday morning...and went over to the Church where a group had gathered to decorate the Chrismon Tree...
...they had already sorted the Chrismons and had them grouped on the table...
...and the floor...
...I love the big gold crown...it will sit on the topmost branches of the tree...
...it took the men quite a while to get the huge tree into position...in it's base...and wired to the wall...
...the first thing they did...was put the large crown on top...because it's placement is crucial and some of the branches had to be trimmed so you could see the crown properly...
...then they started at the bottom with the white lights...
...and worked their way up...
...finally lighting the star at the top...
...the lights are all done...
...now it's time for the Chrismons...
...about 3 hours later we were all done...it's so beautiful...
...the Angel Tree was placed in the Narthex last Sunday...and Saturday while we were decorating the rest of the Sanctuary there were only a few cards left...and after Church yesterday there were none at all...so happy that some children's Christmas will be brighter...

...do you have a Chrismon Tree at your Church?...how about an Angel Tree?...

~Wishing you a lovely start to your week!

Saturday, November 28, 2015

...Nephew's Baby Shower...

...well...I can finally show you a glimpse of the sweet little pink baby blanket I was working on over the last month...
...but first I thought I'd show you a glimpse of where I get my 'frugal' streak from...

...we had stopped on the way home from Grandma's for my sweet sissie to get a card...and I picked up a packet of tissue paper for my gift...but Mom said she already had some at home...so I put it back...
...and Mom did indeed have some tissue paper...all already used...so she ironed it all out nice and crisp...
...and I tucked it into the top of my gift bag...

...have you ever reused tissue paper?...
...a glimpse of some of the shower fun...
...and some of the gifts...
...and finally...the pink baby blanket...I'll share the pattern soon...

~Have a lovely day!

Friday, November 27, 2015

...Family Thanksgiving...

...we spent the day visiting family...
...my sweet Grandma...I woke her up to take this photo...it was so nice outside...sunny and warm...that we bundled her up and took her out to the gazebo for some more visiting...and she kinda fell asleep with the warm sunshine on her back...

...and then we went back to her room and worked a puzzle...we had such a nice visit...
...then lots more visiting with family...here we all are in birth order...it's been about 20 years since we did one of these photos...

...I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

~Have a lovely day!

Thursday, November 26, 2015

...Thanksgiving Bean Spread...

...first of all...HAPPY THANKSGIVING...

...one other thing that I made to take to Mom's for the family Thanksgiving celebration...

...I had this package of Lima Beans that I had moved here from West Virginia...and I wanted to use them up...I'm not sure how long dried Lima Beans will last...probably a long time...
...I used this recipe from Camilla Lima Beans...

Ingredients:

•3 cups cooked Camellia Brand Large Lima Beans
•1/2 cup lemon juice
•1 tablespoon minced garlic
•2 tablespoons minced red onion
•1 teaspoon dried cilantro
•2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley
•1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
•1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
•1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Directions:
1.Purée cooked lima beans in a food processor.
2.Add puréed beans to a large bowl, and mix in remaining ingredients until well blended.
3.Cover and chill for at least 4 hours.
4.Serve by spreading on toasted bread slices or crackers.

...I'll let you know how well we like this garlicky spread tomorrow...

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

~Have a lovely day!

Wednesday, November 25, 2015

...W.I.P. Wednesday...the Pie Edition...

...no knitting update today...not that I haven't been knitting...I just can't show it to you just yet...soon...though soon...
...so this Wednesday...in preparation for Thanksgiving...I made a couple of pies......so easy to roll out pie dough between two sheets of parchment...
...and super easy to lift it up and just peel back the parchment to put it into the pie plate...
...and my favorite way to finish the edge...is just to crimp it with a fork the same way my mama did...
...then I got some of my pumpkin/squash out of the freezer...which you have to thaw...of course...and then drain because it's more watery than canned pumpkin...
...and just blend it up with some spices and cashew cream and pour it into the crust...
...smooth it out and bake it...
...then I used this really interesting recipe for a pecan pie...soda crackers...really...???
...and I doubled the number of pecans...because...well...because more pecans is better...

...I'll let you know how they turned out tomorrow...

~Have a lovely day!

Tuesday, November 24, 2015

...Tuesdays with Julia...

...Hopefully I'll do better working through Julia's recipes this winter...

...we had a delicious creamy vegan chicken dish...

VEGAN FONDUE DE POULET À LA CRÈME

...and of course all of the particulars are over at The Vegan Version...

~Have a lovely day!

Monday, November 23, 2015

...Purple Hulled Peas...

...some of our sweet gardening friends gave us a big bag of Purple Hull Peas...she said that they grow them on the outer borders of their garden to keep the deer out...apparently by giving them something they like to eat...they'll leave your veggies alone...

...and then in the fall they have a small harvest of Peas...

...I had never heard of Purple Hull Peas...but, Emerson, Arkansas even has a Purple Hull Pea Festival...
...their skin is very purple...and the beans (peas) look like a cross between a green pea and a black eyed pea...and not so surprisingly that's exactly what they taste like too...sweet and earthy...
...so we got out the Mr. Pea Sheller...
...we've not had 'him' out in quite a while...
...but his 'constructions' were still intact...when Scout was little he called all instructions...constructions...we thought it was so cute that we never corrected him...and then he was playing croquet with one of his little friends one day and he said something about reading the constructions...and she laughed at him and hurt his feelings...and so the moral of the story is...
...so...anywhooo...perfectly shelled peas come out of the shoot...
...leaving behind the tough skins...
...Scout got in on the fun...and believe me it is fun...turning the crank and watching the peas pop out...
...and I used this recipe from the site Heart Healthy Purple Hull Peas...
...served with fried cabbage, cornbread, okra and sweet tea...
...a warm and comforting southern meal for sure...

...have you ever had Purple Hulled Peas?

~Have a lovely day!

Saturday, November 21, 2015

...B. A. B. Y. Blanket Pattern...

...so I finally got 'round to writing up the pattern for the B.A.B.Y. Blanket...

...I knit mine in strips and joined as I went...by picking up stitches along the side of the strip just done and knitting them together with the last and first stitches of the rows of the next strip...

...same method as here...except instead of turning the block on it's side and matching horizontal to vertical stitches...it's a one to one match and vertical to vertical...
...just a quick sketch of the pattern...
...so I knit the first strip of 4 squares in stockinette stitch...alternating colours one white block of 35 stitches by 48 rows...followed by a blue block 35 by 48 rows...then another white one and another blue one...

...and I picked up the stitches along one side...

...my gauge was 24↑ X 16→ ...which works out to a 3 to 2 rise over run...you may have to adjust the number of stitches to get a perfectly square block...
...then I started the second strip...casting on 35 stitches in blue and knitting to the end of the row...picking up one stitch from the needle in the white square...you don't really have to pick up all the side stitches ahead of time...you could just pick them up as you go...whichever way is easiest for you...
...complete the strip with alternate blocks of white and blue...
...pick up the side stitches on the second strip...and cast on with white again for the third strip...and knit another strip just like the first one...white...blue...white...blue...picking up the stitches along the side of the second strip...
...then cast on with blue and knit the final strip alternating blue...white...blue...white...and picking up and knitting the stitches along the side of the third strip...
...now all four strips are complete...
...at this point embroider the letters diagonally across the front of the blanket one letter embroidered in blue in each of the white squares...
...using the charts below...
...embroider the letter B in the top left hand block...
...then a letter A in the next white block down diagonally...

...then embroider another B in the next white block down diagonally from the A...
...and finally embroider a Y in the bottom right hand white block...
...now because of the tendency of stockinette stitch to curl...the blanket needs some sort of a border to help it lie flat...I did a single crochet border for 7 rows of single crochet around the perimeter of the blanket...

...but you could pick up stitches around and knit in garter stitch for several rows...or if you're making the blanket for a baby girl a crocheted shell stitch border might be pretty...any border you like...
Final Notes:

...I used size 10 US needles and a J crochet hook for the border...gauge is not terribly important for the finished size of the blanket...but you want to adjust the number of stitches you cast on so that your finished squares will be square...

~Have a lovely day!