I was on such a roll… and then I fell off. But SAFF is over and I’m back again. I didn’t buy much at SAFF actually, but had a fabulous time, and enjoyed a great heels class with Charlene Schurch. More on that tomorrow or Sunday, for now just a quick post to say Happy Halloween, and to share my Gramma’s brownie recipe – both her original, that I typed up from her handwritten recipe card, and my modified, healthier version. By healthier, I mean I removed the eggs, the butter and the sugar. They’re still really good, IMO.

I’ve made a bunch of these the past couple of months – to apply some chocolate to a breaking heart, to take to Wendy’s as a “thank you for having us” gift (what! I was taught never to be an empty handed houseguest!), and to take to work for a Halloween party today. Funny that no matter how careful I am, when I pack them up for delivery, I always seem to be a few shy (I’m looking at you, darling man in my life!!)

Anyway, here you have them…
Gramma Sally’s Fudgy Brownies (the original)
Word doc | PDF

Gramma Sally’s Fudgy Brownies (the healthier)
Word doc | PDF

** Updated 11/3/08 – Thanks to Rachel for catching my oversight. I’ve uploaded a corrected verion of the healthier recipe (Word and PDF) to include when to add in the pumpkin, The 1st version skipped this ingredient. Sorry!

Let me know if you make a batch (or 2) I always love to hear how people like the recipes I share – both mine and the ones that are special to me.

I’ll be back on Sunday with a bit more of a SAFF report, and if I can get my butt in gear, possibly a fingerless mitt pattern I’ve concocted.

Happy Halloween!

Once upon a time, in what feels like another lifetime, I occasionally used a crock pot for making dinner. I had a small one, and definitely did not even begin to use it to it’s potential. As someone who really loves to cook, I usually opted for the hands on approach and eventually the crock pot got relegated to the back of the closet where it collected dust and was eventually forgotten.

When we moved from NY to NC two years ago (Wow. 2 years. This month. And one year next week since we closed on the house. Time is FLYING) I found the lonely little crock pot again and vowed to give it more attention once we settled in to our new home state.

Since I started this job 6 months ago and he accepted his promotion a few months ago, we’ve both been working a lot of hours. This has left us precious little time for cooking. The fast food route became the norm. And then we remembered the crock pot! It took me 2 years, but I’m finally keeping my promise. I’ve even added a larger (slightly more sophisticated) slow cooker to the family.

For example, Saturday night we had a very delicious creamy chicken and mushrooms meal, despite the fact that I was out all day and he worked until almost 8pm. All I had to actually do was boil water to cook the pasta. So easy, very tasty, and healthy!

Creamy Chicken and Mushrooms
1 Tbsp trans fat free margarine
1/4 cup white wine
2 tbsp quick cooking tapioca
2 lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts (fat trimmed and cut in half)
1 lb mixed mushrooms (any kind you want! I used baby bellas, and cremini)
1/2 lemon (juice only)
pinch of sea salt
fresh ground pepper to taste
4 oz fat free cream cheese

1/2 bag of Egg Free Wide Noodles, prepared just before you are ready to serve.

1 – Cook 5 qt or larger slow cooker with margarine, leaving remaining margarine in the pot. Add wine and tapioca, and stir.
2 – Add chicken and mushrooms. Sprinkle salt and pepper, squeeze lemon juice over top.
3 – Cover and cook on LOW for 7 hours. Stir well to combine, cook 1 additional hour on LOW.
4 – During last 30 minutes of cooking, boil water for pasta, and cook the noodles.
5 – When chicken is done, stir in cream cheese to combine, and serve over pasta

See the plastic? Those are the Reynolds slow cooker liners – and they are WONDERFUL! Makes clean up way faster.

One full day out with friends later, this is what we had for dinner, with leftovers

4 servings, 359 calories each, 2 gm fiber, 6 grams fat (2 sat)

We had tried this before, but it needed some changes. The recipe I followed the 1st time used water instead of white wine, too few mushrooms, and no lemon. It was ok, but kind of bland. The wine and the lemon made a wonderful difference. It’s been a load of fun scouring the net for slow cooker recipes and perusing cook books in the book stores and I think we have plenty to keep us going thru the fall and winter at least!

While the slow cooker was busy making our dinner on Saturday, I went out to play. I started the day early baking Gramma’s brownies to take with me to Janet’s house, a Target run with Corey, and then an afternoon of EZ DVD Fun with the Purls.

Those are some very fudgey brownies I love making my grandmother’s favorites and sharing them with people, it always makes me smile.

While at Target, I got a few staples, but I also bought 2 books and this

It’s described as “blend of Golden Delicious Oregon pumpkins, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and cloves brewed in small batches to deliver the rich flavor of Fall.” Have I mentioned I love the Fall? All the pumpkin-y apple-y goodness! There is however one small thing about the fall down here that doesn’t sit right. In NY, Fall is apple picking season. Imagine my surprise last week when I discovered that here in NC, apple picking season is now OVER! It feels very weird to have Fall without the chance to go apple picking and drink warm apple cider.

I wanted to talk about the EZ DVD we watched on Saturday, but I will save that for tomorrow.

Till then…

Wow, I cannot believe how long it has been since I last posted. (I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised, as I’d been struggling with posting regularly for a bit before than anyway) I figured it was about time I tried again to see if I really lost all blogging mojo, or if it was just a long overdue good long break.

I will have some knitting content tomorrow (a Malabrigo birthday cowl is OTN as well as the 3 Great American Afghan squares I completed), but since I promised a few plurk pals I would share this, today I’m just going to post the baked oatmeal recipe I’ve been fine tuning and tweaking over the last week or so. It’s a little crispy on the outside, but smooth and moist on the inside, and with the change in weather, this is a favorite breakfast around here.

What I like may be different from what you like, so please don’t look at this as a “be all end all must follow exactly” kinda recipe, it’s not. I did what I always do, started with something for a base, then experimented and made changes until it was what I wanted – for example, the original recipe I got had a TON of sugar in it, so I cut it to what you see here. I also experimented with healthier versions – those changes are in (parenthesis). Mix and match your spicing – mine is drastically different from what the original called for. I added the apples in addition to the craisins called for because I like them – take them out or add a different fruit – make it your own!

All that said, here you go!

Baked Oatmeal
(or, in the interest of laying claim to my version of the recipe, you can call it “Yea, I Made Baked Oatmeal” )

• 3 cups rolled oats – NOT instant or quick oats!
• ¼ cup brown sugar (OR ¼ cup splenda for baking)
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• Freshly ground nutmeg to taste (Im a huge fan of nutmeg so I use quite a bit)
• 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup milk (I use 2 %)
• 2 eggs (OR 1 mashed banana OR ½ cup pumpkin puree)
• 1/2 cup melted butter (OR ½ cup applesauce)
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 cup dried cranberries (craisins)
• 1 or 2 pink lady or granny smith apples, peeled and chopped
• Handful of chopped pecan (or walnuts – optional!)

Preheat oven to 350

Mix dry ingredients, and then mix in the wet ones. Stir until blended, and then stir in the craisins, apples, and nuts (if desired)

Put mixture into a 9 x 13 baking pan, and bake for 40 minutes. (I made 2 smaller batches today, and did mine in two 8 x 8 pans, same time. Came out fine!) Refrigerate to store when cool (if it lasts that long)

You can just eat it warm, or with a bit of milk drizzled on it. A certain man in my house likes to eat it cold from the refrigerator – cuts a square, and heads out the door for work. (I confess to having tried it that way too – not bad, but I prefer it warm.)

Please pardon the iPhone picture – and the alliteration
It’s rainy and dreary here today and this doesn’t look nearly as good as it does in person

Anyway, there you have it. If you try it, I hope you’ll let me know how it turned out, and if you have any new add-ins or other changes!

Yes, after several false starts I FINALLY managed to get that pattern idea out of my head and onto my needles. I tried a bunch of different things, then Wednesday (on a conference call no less!) I had an idea, so I started fiddling with the stitches in my head and drawing what I thought would happen and then, since I was at work, and couldn’t exactly whip out my needles and try it, I had to wait for later, when I went to BAM to knit.

I got there a bit early (no worries, Amanda did too!) and plopped down and gave it a shot. I made a slight alteration from my notes, but I finally got that stupid thing out into the open.

Now I am not naive enough to believe I am the 1st person to ever knit this combination of stitches, but I am certain I am the 1st person who took this long to figure it out! In the end, when I look at the square and the stitches, I have no idea why it took so long for the light to go off, it really isn’t THAT complicated a pattern! (Yes I know, the picture makes it hard to see the stitches. It’s orange, it’s night time, and its shiny “washable perfect for a test/blanket square” Red Heart yarn. And I haven’t washed it yet either! ’nuff said?)

If anyone wants to know what I did, I can transcribe my garbled notes (if it wasn’t downstairs, and I wasn’t so tired, I would scan it so you could see how serious I am about the scribbles of a madwoman!) Basically though, its 4 rows – 1st and 3rd row is a p5, k3 repeat, 2nd row is a slip 5 purlwise (with yarn in front) k3 repeat, and the 4th row is where the fun stuff happens – basically a k7, stich the right needle in thru the front of the carried strand and knit it together with the next stitch, k7 repeat. Easy right? Why it took me so long to grasp, I have no idea!

I have the Charlotte Purls holiday lunch tomorrow afternoon, and then a Christmas party at my friend Tim’s house (I worked with Tim at my last job, and thankfully a bunch of us have stayed close. Right Jared? ) Anyway, I made those guys cookies when we worked together – with the response I got from them all, it is always a pleasure to make them more, so I figured a bunch of cookies was a nice thing to bring to the party. Tonight I baked up chocolate chip and oatmeal chocolate chip…

(I hope they survive the night! Every time he comes back upstairs, he has a cookie in his hand!)

I will be baking some more in the morning though, because the dough for my snickerdoodles needs to chill, preferably overnight.

It’s been a busy day, and tomorrow is full speed too, so Im making it an early night of the new Real Simple mag and my bed!

There. I said it. I admit publicly that I failed to maintain a monogamous relationship with the baby cardi. Would you believe me though if I said it meant nothing, and it was just a quick little diversion, and that I met my obligations to the cardi even with my moment of weakness?

Despite what the picture below shows, it’s true. The baby cardi really is OFF the needles, has had a nice soak in cool water, and is currently sprawled out, drying into it’s intended shape and size. The picture below was where I was yesterday and was going to be my update, however in a sweet twist of fate (that I clearly didn’t deserve given my transgressions yesterday and today) I had some time to finish it up. Um, yea, I cheated yesterday AND today. What can I say? I’m weak. But look! I have pictures!

Now, imagine a fraternal second sleeve knit up, a whole sweater bound off and happily drying, none the wiser to my transgressions. Proof FO pictures posted tomorrow. (and I will confess, that out of sheer guilt, I am thinking of knitting up a quick little hat to match. Maybe.)

I’m sure you’re asking what sexy little knit lured me from my commitment. What possibly could have detoured me from my mission? It wasn’t the Woodland shawl. It wasn’t any sock pattern currently in queue. It wasn’t even the swatch for the SOTS. It’s the September Dishcloth for the monthly KAL. Yes, I fell for the quickie, 9 rows yesterday, another 9 today. And tomorrow. And again, until, come Wednesday or Thursday, I have a complete dishcloth.

I haven’t done one of the monthly dishcloths in so long, and it really is a great way to get a few rows of knitting in. I probably wouldn’t have even mentioned my little tryst had my honey not spent the day busting my chops over it. He saw the natural cotton in my hands and said, “Oh, you finished the cardigan? Let me see”. Like a kid with his hand in the cookie jar, I froze. Before I could defend myself, he seized the moment and has been calling me a cheater all day. (That made for a fun afternoon at Discovery Place with our friends, as we walked the the Body World Exhibit btw… good thing our friends know his sense of humor!!)

Today was really nice out, and instead of staying in (and knitting) we were up early making plans for the day. We started with a great breakfast

That’s become our Sunday morning staple – and as bad for you as that looks, it really isn’t! We replaced all the fattening stuff with fat free versions, and chose whole wheat waffles. It’s a perfect Sunday morning breakfast – quick, easy, healthy, and YUM! (recipe at end of post)

From there, we leisurely showered, and got dressed and met up with our friends for a late lunch, the off the the Body World exhibit. I was really not that into going, but after having gone, I’m glad I did. I learned a few things, and really had a great time people watching too. (not to mention playfully defending myself against the cheater comments, and ignoring the looks from strangers who had no clue he was teasing me). Once we came home, I sat down with the sweater, an odd movie (Constantine, thanks Netflix for sending something way out of order) and finished it all up. That finished, I plan to swatch (and start!) the Woodland Shawl tomorrow since I am (thankfully) off from work. I need another day!

I’m off to watch a bit more Tivo and pass out. Off or not, I will still end up waking up early (all the more time to knit with!)

Happy Labor Day!
————————

Honey Ricotta Waffles with Strawberries
(Serves 2)

4 whole wheat waffles (we use Eggos)
1 1/3 cup fat free ricotta cheese
1 tbsp vanilla (add more or less to your taste)
handful of slivered almonds
3 tbsp honey (add more or less to your taste)
1 1/2 cups fresh strawberries
Fat Free Redi Whip

While waffles are toasting, mix ricotta, vanilla, honey and almonds and set aside (You can make this the night before if you want and chill overnight).

When waffles are finished toasting, split mixture between all 4 waffles, cover with strawberries, and a spray of redi-whip.

My mission this weekend was to do some relaxing in the form of reading, and knitting, and baking, and just hanging with my honey. Mission mostly accomplished. I did avoid the laundry all weekend, which means I will have to do it tomorrow after work). I did some reading (although I again forgot to pick up the latest IK – maybe if I remember I will stop on the way home tomorrow). I also hung out with my honey watching a few movies and going grill shopping (our old one got trashed when we first got down here in a wind storm, it blew over and crushed one of the burners. We’re lucky the propane didn’t explode). The baking happened today, in the form of the promised Snickerdoodles (recipe at the end of the post in case anyone is interested – it is very similar to Emeril’s from food tv’s website, except mine my grandmother’s has a bit of nutmeg and vanilla in it.

My challenge for the day was keeping him away from the cookies since they were made for one of the guys at work. Actually, I won’t admit this to him, but I made way more than I planned to bring in, knowing full well he would be picking through the day I will leave some here tomorrow when i head into work, so when he gets home he will have a nice surprise.

The disappointment came on Friday night. Next week, my friend Shannon (bloggless non-knitting muggle that she is) was SUPPOSED to come down for the weekend. I haven’t seen here since she helped us move down here 7 months ago (7 months? Already?) Now granted I have to work on Memorial day, but she was still going to come down Friday night and leave Monday. Key word, supposed to. Sadly, since it is not only Memorial Day but also “Great big giant big deal in the south Race Weekend”, airfare is just wayyyyyyy too expensive and it’s just not gong to happen. We are planning another weekend, but I was SO looking forward to seeing her. I guess I will just have to wait a bit longer…

There hasn’t been any knitting so far this weekend, but as soon as I hit publish, I’m picking up the needles and knitting until it’s time to pass out. (That should give me enough time to add enough to my current WIP to make a picture tomorrow worthwhile)

Here’s the Snickerdoodle recipe. If you make them, let me know what you think! I love hearing other people’s opinions on recipes and the like, you can always learn something!

Snickerdoodles
2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon fine salt
1/2 cup shortening
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 cups sugar, plus 3 tablespoons
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Sift flour, baking soda, and salt into a large bowl and set aside

Beat together the shortening and butter until well combined. Add the 1 1/2 cups sugar and continue beating until light and really fluffy. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, making sure each is well beaten in before adding the next. Slowly add the flour mixture, mix until smooth. Add vanilla, mix until well blended. Chill dough a minimum of 1 hour (overnight is even better!)

Mix up the 3 tablespoons sugar with the cinnamon and nutmeg in a small bowl. Roll the dough, by hand, into 1 1/2-inch balls. Roll the balls in the cinnamon sugar. Place on cookie sheets (grams recipe says UNLINED/UNGREASED, I used Silpat). Bake until light brown, but still moist in the center, about 11 minutes depending on your oven. DO NOT OVERBAKE!!!!

This whole holiday thing just kinda of crept up on me, and while I know I have been busy, I’m usually at least AWARE of holiday stuff going on around me. But when we sat down to watch the Isles – Devils game this afternoon (and yes, my boys JUST made it into the playoffs, in spite of themselves – don’t get me started, unless you wish to be bored by a serious hockey tirade) and I saw a Cadbury Egg commercial – THAT’S what has been missing! I haven’t seen (or enjoyed!!) any Cadbury Cream Eggs, or even any of the Russell Stover Coconut Nests either! Ah well, maybe I will find some on sale now?

I spent the day doing stuff here and there, including watching the hockey game, making yummy southern buttermilk biscuits, my honey’s favorite ginger cookies, and once we I am done with the last of the laundry folding, we will be sitting down to watch either Casino Royale or Blood Diamond. Either way, I will be knitting – I put my other stuff on hold since one of the guys at work (who always stops by my desk just to say hi and is in general a really nice guy) just had a baby girl, and tomorrow is his 1st day back at work. Somehow, this escaped my mind all weekend (I don’t know whether to blame stress, working too much, getting older, or just the fact that I am running in 400 directions at once, so I have decided to be positive and say I was so involved in so many other good things, I simply forgot) Were it not for the fact I know I can do a baby hat, even made from sock yarn, in a night, I would be working on the test knit and the sweater for my friend’s daughter i need to finish before she goes off to college (she’s 4, but still)

I also spent some time noodling over on one of my other domains – I’m not quite ready to show it yet, but I have been toying with the idea of an updated look/feel, and somehow today seemed like a nice time to start playing with code. I’ve been here over 2 years now, with the same outfit on… I think a change may not be such a bad thing. We’ll see, I still have plenty of work yet to do before I would make any changes, and nothing is definite. I think I got the coding bug because someone I met recently (who I think may end up being a very special person) is interested in having some web space, for all sorts of fiber-y goodness. It must be that because I work with this stuff a little in my FT job, and a lot in my side job so anytime I get the urge to play with code on my own site is a kind of rarity (shoemaker’s wife website goes shoeless, ya know? :winky: )

So there’s my Easter Sunday so far – and now, it’s movie/knitting time!