working on a present

It has been an evening of curry, tea, tequila, friend, cookie baking, and crocheting.  I am working on the Christmas present for my best friend, that is until I get more parts for my spinning wheel.  She is a Kundalini yoga instructor and I have ideas on a yoga rug for her.  But I need parts for tools!  Life is good.

I am really enjoying working on this scarf.  The yarn is a merino yak that I spun.  I can tell where I had more issues then other places.  There are thick bits and thin bits.  But using a shell stitch is make the fabric of the scarf lovely.  I am making it very long so she can wrap it around her neck twice or wrap it around her body.  She is on enough film sets that who knows how it will be really worn!  The blanket I have made her may end up in a film eventually but that is if the crew lets it out of their site.  I am told it is well loved and well used by many people.

More cookies and more crochet tomorrow but less people.  That is okay.

salmon creole

It has been an interesting day.  The day started with me looking at the kitchen counter and realizing that the sourdough pancake batter had exploded during the night.  Then the boyos scooped up the batter on the counter to create more pancake batter.  Yes, my life.  My whole day has been:  it looks, go for it, can we change it?  I am tired.  I did not get anything done after work I should have but a few rows of crochet.  It is okay because that where my energy is.

I was at work searching my blog for my recipe of salmon creole.  I was making my list.  And come to find out that I had not written it here!  My Beloved teased me that my blog is going to have to be around indefinitely because it is the family cook book.  He is about right.

I am now documenting the recipe for salmon creole so I cannot lose it.  You can make it quick like I did this evening.  Or you can set it up in a crockpot and let it simmer all day.  Like most things Creole, letting it sitting and simmer and meld makes it taste richer and more flavorful with out changing the ingredients.  The recipe I have also calls for celery and since I rarely have celery in the house, there is none in this version.

salmon creole

2 to 4 tablespoons olive

1/2 to 1 onion, peeled and chopped fine

1 cup sweet bell pepper, chopped fine

4 large cloves of garlic, minced

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

1 bay leaf

1/2 teaspoon thyme

1 teaspoon basil

1 cup broth or water

1 28 ounce can tomatoes, blended

1 teaspoon sugar

about 8 ounces of salmon per person, skinned, boned as much as possible, and cut into chunks

Put the olive oil in a large skillet and put it over medium heat.  Put in the onion and sweet pepper.  Let start to get golden.  Add the garlic and sauté until golden.  Stir often.  Add the salt, pepper, bay, thyme, and basil.  Stir and let cook a couple minutes.  Add the water.  Bring back to a boil.  Add the tomato.  Bring to a boil.  Add the sugar.  Let cook down a bit.

If you were to do this in a crockpot, put the tomato and water in the crockpot.  Add the cooked vegetables and spices.  Mix in the sugar.  Turn on low and let cook for hours.  Watch the amount of water in it, never letting it go to dry.

To both, add the salmon about 10 minutes before you wish to eat.  Cover the pan.  The salmon is done when it is lighter and more opaque in color.

I serve this over rice.

Like most foods I make like this, salmon creole is excellent the first day but the leftovers are even better.  Letting it sit in the refrigerator and meld just makes it that much better.  It always makes me think I should go visit New Orleans soon.  The Christmas season in New Orleans is quite beautiful and Christmas Eve mass at Christ Church Cathedral is lovely.

cheese crackers

My holiday baking got started tonight.  My newly cleaned off worktable is the place for cooling cookies currently.  I stopped the baking around dinner and started again after. 

Tonight we needed a hot dinner but a lot of nights we have what gets called antipasti.  I know it is not right but that what it gets called!  A little salad, cheeses, crackers, cured meats, nuts, dried fruit.  Little bits of each is what our meal is made of.  One of the few issues with it is the little bits of cheese that get left in the refrigerator.  Either the end and no one notices or it is not liked as well or . . .

I was reading the Martha Stewart magazine at my parents' house over Thanksgiving and there were cracker recipes.  One was for cheese and I thought I would give it a try.  Now, I am going to be brutally honest here.  I do not think much of most recipes from Martha Stewart publications.  They are too fussy.  They do not seem to be tested well enough  The typeface is hard to read.  Basically, I used their recipe as a guideline and went from there.  The crackers turned out well.  My only complaint was that I wished I had gotten them crisper.  Next time more heat!

cheese crackers

1 cup flour

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon ground pepper

2 tablespoons room temperature butter

1 cup grated cheese: brie, jarlsberg, swiss, cheddar, parmesan - any mixture to make 1 cup

1/2 cup whole milk

In a small bowl, mix the flour, salt, and pepper together.  Rub in the butter so it is a cornmeal texture.  Mix in the cheese.  Mix in the milk.  You should have a soft dough.  Add a bit more milk if you need to.  Roll the dough into a log shape.  Cover with cling wrap.  Refrigerate for one hour or until firm.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.  Unwrap the dough.  Slice into 1/8 inch rounds.  Place on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper or a Silpat.  Bake for 15 to 18 minutes.  You want brown edges.  

Even not being perfect, these were pretty addictive.  With a slice of proscuitto on them.  Add a bit of dried cranberry.  So lovely!

there are HOW many weekends until Christmas?

It has been a bit of a rough week coming back from the mountain.  I had people waiting for me at my locked office door every morning this week.  I had the ten minutes before I left "can you do this for me?"  There was a newly minted three year old in the house who loves to help but also loves when Grandma Eli plays with him, especially quiet play that time of day.

I looked at the calendar on Friday, wondering how many weekends were left until Christmas so I could plan Christmas baking and the mailing of packages.  I realized that I needed to have everything done by next weekend.  The biggest issue for me was the bits and pieces that I put in the boxes that have nothing to do with baking but a bit to do with shopping and making.  What made me cringe was the shopping!

I got the most of the shopping today.  Got the baking supplies and tree.  Laughed so hard at the glee in the eyes of the gentleman working on the trees when I asked what he was going to do with the branches he was cutting off the trees.  He would have filled my truck bed full of branches so he did not have to deal with their disposal!  I had to go to two fabric stores.  I controlled myself well but not well enough.  And I realized that I should not be allowed to go to a hardware store unsupervised.  Especially when you get home with the haul and the comment is made, "you never bought tools like this for me!"  I get told frequently enough that I am not like most girls to believe it.

Now I have simple tree up which I figure Small Mister and I will make not quite so simple with cookies.  Fabric is bought and washed.  There are enough supplies for baking.  I have yarn and a crochet hook. 

I just need a few more hours in each day . . .

by the fire

We have been having some odd weather here this week.  It is very damp still but more fog then humidity.  It is also neither warm or cold.  Which means that my body is hurting and anything that is aggravated by the damp is not happy with me.  My right ear was hurting today at work today so I wore my new hat in the office.  The proof of the pudding was that I needed to make it a little tighter to keep my ear warm.  Warmth makes my ear feel better.

The boyos had built a fire in our pitiful fire pit this morning.  They kept it burning all day.  When I got home from work, I pulled out my crochet hook, took my hat with me, and sat at the fire to rip it out and rework it.  I actually simplified the shell stitch to which made for a nicer band.  It was just a very nice bit of quiet after a week of having people needing me all the time.  I have people waiting for me at my office door when I get to work.  This quiet was very nice.

My hat fits better too!  I was thinking that I need to make some rug yarn but I am not sure I have the right tools.  A rug made by a fire.  That would be nice.  Now how to make the yarn . . . ponder.