Sunday supper

Since leaving Kansas, I've reacquainted myself with one of it's culinary treasures, the Runza. How this Russian-German pocket full of goodness ended up becoming a staple of home cooking in The Sunflower State is interesting. Generations ago, the small farmers who came to the land must have brought the recipes. Runza makes sense because the pocket sandwiches could be taken to the fields by the men for lunch and the women wouldn't have to stop their own work to make lunch. As eating lunch in the field became a thing of the past, the runza moved on to the dinner table where it has remained. I fondly remember eating them in our school cafeteria where they were made from scratch and every student in my class loved them. Probably the only way the school could ever get cabbage in our tummies.

Though there are many recipes for runza, I make mine by memory of taste. Prepared in a large kettle, the filling consists of ground beef and onions seasoned with salt, pepper, and dijon mustard, cabbage, carrot and cheese. I stuff and form my sandwiches "Kansas style" into what looks like a hamburger bun using store-bought yeast dough because I'm no good with the bread making. While easy to make, they are considered laborious by today's standards (god forbid we wait for dough to proof and hand-form individual servings) so I make big batches and freeze them. They are super handy to take to my "field" for lunch or to grab for a snack or quick dinner.

I think I would like to purchase a digital camera or some basic photo editing software. The photos taken with my iPhone are fine but the colors don't show true on the computer. With all the built-in wonders that apple has designed for my laptop, iPhoto kind of sucks.

Back to the stash

Letting go of beautiful things is always difficult and when I rip out this scarf it is going to sting. The stitch definition is amazing and it is a really fun pattern to work up. I've wanted this scarf for over a year but I'm glad I waited until now to work on it because I've grown up a little when it comes to how I approach knitting projects. I can appreciate the beauty of a garment and also realize that it isn't practical and I'd never get any use out of the finished object. I could give it away but I can't imagine any of my friends falling head-over-heels for it the way I have; not to mention appreciate the quality and cost of the wool and the time.

So here is the deal...
This wool is not super friendly against the skin which I believe to be the exact reason it renders stunning stitch definition. The front of the scarf is lovely but scarves shouldn't have "fronts" and if they do, the back should be handsome enough to hold it's own. This back has huge pits and unsightly, gnarled twists and because the garment is stiff and remains flat, the back is going to show no matter how it is worn. And did I say stiff? This scarf will never, ever drape nicely.

Now, what to do with the lovely yarn?

Flaunting their wares

One thing I have found with having a yarn stash is that if a much loved and well fondled yarn gets buried in the stash cupboard for long enough, when it resurfaces, the love feels brand new again!

Yesterday, my rusty Rowan Scottish Tweed with purple flecks turned up and I decided to get my ass moving on the cable scarf that I began a year ago with much difficulty and trepidation. This time around I read the pattern and it didn't seem as difficult as it once did so I ripped out the two inches I had completed and began anew. Rowan patterns are known to many as being slightly troublesome to decipher but I decided I would muddle through in order to learn their language because I love so many of their patterns. Although I've done cables and this pattern is easy to understand I concluded that a re-write of the repeats was necessary. I am happy with the outcome because now I can look at my own version of the pattern and not have to spend time referencing the abbreviated code explanations in the book (alas, I'm just not quick enough).

Cr4R, C6B and Cr4L are probably obvious abbreviations to most knitters who have done cables but my brain doesn't work that way. I can only assume that the first one means "cross 4 stitches to the right" which would totally blow my idea out of the water when it comes to C6B. Anyway I re-wrote it as "S1BK3+1" which means (to me) Slip 1 stitch to cable needle and hold in Back, Knit 3 stitches plus 1 stitch from the cable needle. You get the idea. Now I have a nice, neat little card that I can carry around with my knitting until I memorize the sixteen row repeat. If the last cable pattern I did is any measure, I should have it down after I do it five times.

BTW, I am quite familiar with "Cable 6 to the Back".

I've attached a picture of the scarf that I got from my book but to be fair I also attached a pic of my own progress and will post another when I am about half way through. Since I'm posting other people's work, credit is due. From the book Knitting for Him, designed by Martin Storey for Rowan Yarns, photography by John Heseltine and I shamelessly ripped the photo from the kangaroo.uk.com website.

Done...in more ways than one.

I've spent countless hours searching for the correct colors of yarn for this newest scarf. After placing three orders online, waiting for a particular color to be restocked, and an accidental find at the local yarn shop I'd collected all the right colors in the right weights (plus one or two extra balls of the wrong colors). A year in the making, the scarf took only 3 hours of stitching and now that it is finished I couldn't care less. Maybe because of dreaming about it for so long it has made it seem as though I've owned it for a while and am already tired of it. Also the color combination showed brilliant in the original inspiration photo and although mine are identical the finished object isn't as dazzling to my eyes. On the bright side, there is less yarn in my stash!

Lately the weather has been dreadful. I've taken to looking forward to the morning forcast so I can listen to the newsman make up new ways to say it is cloudy and will remain so for the entirety of the foreseeable future. Today it was "extremely overcast skies"

For knitting group today, I was asked to bring the snacks by the woman who had originally signed up as she was going out of town this weekend. I made honey-mustard, smoked ham & swiss pinwheels in puff pastry as well as bite sized quiche with bacon and bouquet garni. The cooking was fun and finger food is my all-time fav but my taste hasn't quite returned after my cold so I couldn't enjoy the nibbles.

A Room With A View

And the snow has started. The winter storm has finally broken free of the mid-western states and is moving east. The weather man has been threatening us for days but we haven't gotten anything but dark clouds every day, all day. I appreciated the view from the balcony for the better part of the morning but believe I missed the best viewing while I was gone to a friend's house. This evening there are a couple inches of white covering everything and tomorrow we may see the sun peek through. I missed my chance to go for a walk in the woods on the trail before dark; it would have been lovely with the snow.

A few hours were spent working with the Rowan yarn late this afternoon. I tend to be a tight knitter but went down two needle sizes from the recommended in order to get the gauge I was happy with. Although I'm thoroughly pleased with the yarn, I really wish they had had enough to make my vest because I want to get started so that I can wear it in the spring.

Bowl of Plenty

It has been a fantasy of mine to bring home an entire bag full of Rowan yarn that I could call my own and today I did just that. The quirky, crazy Mass Avenue Knit Shop had their annual blow-out sale today and I was invited to join some knitting group ladies for a drive up to Indianapolis to buy yarn. This store was so packed with ladies that one could hardly move and besides the two devoted (bored) husbands in the shop, I was the only guy there. They didn't carry the exact yarn for the sweater I'm going to knit and when I found a second choice in virtually the same colors, they didn't have enough stock. Ah well, I just bought enough for scarves instead and will get the sweater yarn online. Upon returning home to fill my bowl with all my felty, tweedy balls of lovely Rowan I felt satisfied with a good, full day.

While in Indy, we ate at a wonderful Greek restaurant called Santorini's. The place felt like home, the service treated us like family and if I didn't know any better, I'd say someone's grandmother was in the kitchen cooking from scratch. I highly recommend this restaurant to anyone coming through Indianapolis.

Butter, Sugar,and..........Wool?

The house smells like butter, sugar, toasted nuts and cherries. So much so that I haven't even eaten one of the cookies I baked because the heavy fragrance made me feel as though I'd eaten a dozen already.

The first batch (four sheet pans) was my absolute favorite as a kid, Cherry Winks. I always thought it was a secret recipe from my grandmother but later found out it was quite famous in it's time as it won a Pillsbury Bake-Off contest in the 40's or 50's. Although my mother baked them most years, I don't actually remember being around when she made them however the smell of them in the oven is an unmistakable memory. It just isn't Christmas without them.

Round two was a double sized sheet pan of pecan crescent sandies. I haven't made these before but remember them as a kid. Nutty, buttery and lightly sweet, they melt in your mouth. The ingredients were so few that I was afraid the recipe may have been misprinted. The photo was just going to be the picture of cookies but I couldn't help including the entire spread on the dining table. Yes, the wool and needles were already there, it wasn't staged. Good thing though because now I've included a nod to knitting even though I haven't made stitches for days now.