Is it October already? Just glanced at my calendar.....

...and some of my regular visitors have not given up! Thanks for your loyalty.

I've been busy since my last post: trying to re-arrange, re-organize, etc. - all that little stuff you feel you have to do when fall comes.
I've started projects for Christmas gifts; never underestimate the value of a good hand-knit dishcloth when wracking your brain for gift ideas. Here's the tried and true pattern:

Knitted dishcloth
Uses any kind of worsted-weight cotton yarn
Size 7/8 needles

Ist row: cast on 3 sts.
2nd row: k2, yo, k1
3rd row and subsequent inc rows: k2, yo, knit to end of row
Follow this pattern until dishcloth is the width you want. I usually knit until there are 38 sts on my needle, then I start the dec rows:
Ist dec row: k1, k2tog, yo, k2tog, knit to end of row.
Continue until you have 4 sts. left, then bind off. Sew in loose ends, then knit about five more for a great gift.

Thanks again for sticking with me over here at 52 Pairs!

There cheerful dsihcloths are made with a yellow and white variegated yarn. Peaches 'n Cream, I think.

Handling the Garden Bully

It was obviously a good year for cucumbers. The temperatures have been mild, there's been a lot of rainy days and sunny days in the right combination. Anyway, the cukes have run amok. I have already made my first batch of pickles, and I have a sneaking suspicion there will be more in my future. This recipe is great. It says it takes a long time, but if you've ever struggled with the schedule demands of multi-day pickles, this is a goldmine of reclaimed time and energy. It's by Donna over at Allrecipes, but it's pretty basic so I hope I don't step on toes by posting:

Donna's Million Dollar Pickles

10 cukes, sliced
4 cups sliced onions
1/3 cup pickling spice
4 cups water
2 tsp turmeric
1 tsp celery seeds
6 cups sugar
2 qts. distilled white vinegar

Combine the first 4 ingredients in a large bowl (I mean large) and let sit for 6-8 hours or overnight. I covered mine loosely with waxed paper and left it in the fridge over night.
When the mix has sat long enough, drain off the water and in a big pot, combine the cucumber and onion mixture with 6 cups of sugar, turmeric and celery seed. Mix well, then add vinegar. Make sure there's enough vinegar to cover everything.
Pack in hot sterilized jars. Makes about 6 pints.
Let me know if you try this recipe! Thanks for reading and enjoy your week!

The cukes have attempted garden-wide domination.



Brought under control by a really good pickle recipe.
 

I Love Boston! And another craft to talk about.....

I actually do, but this is more of a ploy to call up one of my most faithful visitors, someone from Boston. So, if you're there, Boston - many thanks. You're the ongoing inspiration for my blog!
Today I'd like to introduce you to my new crafting addiction, making paper beads. So far I've only made the beads - I have yet to create something from them. Luckily for me, my mother is here to direct the process. She may have lost a lot of her fine motor skills with age, but her uncanny eye hasn't changed a bit.
A bonus in making your own paper beads is that well, "regular" beads from craft sources are expensive! I made all of these beads with left-over paper I had from my scrapbooking stash. It was paper I really didn't care for much, but as beads, the patterns are gorgeous! I also had the glue and paper glaze on hand as well, and if needed at a later date, all the colors of acrylic paint I could ask for. I'll bet that you do, too!
Here are some links I've found useful in getting started:
https://www.google.ca/?gws_rd=ssl#q=paper+bead+making+tutorial (general Google search)
http://www.paperbeadcrafts.com/howto/
http://paperbeads.org/
https://www.youtube.com/user/jennibellie (I love her tutorials!)

Happy beadmaking - it's addictive, so my advice is to clear your schedule!

Some beads I've made:

I never thought much about this patterned paper until I saw the beads that it made!

Muffin Shaming

If I can shame my dog, I can certainly shame a muffin. Especially these muffins:

 

I made them for a lady lunch I was giving for my mom and my SIL, Lisa. I'm usually a scratch cook, but in the interest of saving time, I brought out the box from the pantry and decided to give them a try.

Gee - I can't decide!

Luckily, I had all the ingredients I needed to make a replacement batch from scratch. Look at the muffins. Which one for you?

 If I were Martha White, I'd be embarrassed. But in lieu of shaming her and all of her ilk, I am going to include my can't-miss recipe for corn muffins. This makes 1 dozen medium sized muffins.

 

Preheat oven to 424.

Mix dry ingredients together:

1/3 c corn meal

2/3 c flour

1 tbs sugar

1 tsp salt

2 tsp baking powder

 

Mix wet ingredients:

1 egg

3/4 c milk

2 tbs oil or bacon fat

 

Gently fold dry ingredients into wet. Mix only enough to bind ingredients - batter should be slightly lumpy. Don't beat it to death.

Preheat geased muffin pan for 3 mins in the oven. Fill pans 3/4 full, bake for 10 - 12 minutes or until golden brown on top.

Thanks for reading! Have a great weekend.

Back from my Hiatus - no photos but will a Bloody Mary recipe work for you?

This is my signature eye-opener. I call it the "Rosie Mary". Get it?

For each drink:
3 oz vodka
1 5 oz can tomato juice
4 tsp lime juice
4 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 good shake Tabasco
a dot of Kitchen Bouquet
salt & pepper
There you go. Hope you enjoy. Of course, all ingredients can be adjusted to your own taste.

Thanks for hanging in there with me, Boston! I can see you've been a faithful visitor and I appreciate it. Sorry I didn't have anything to offer you!

Getting Organized

After I had forgotten more than one date with friends and family I decided it was time to be a grown-up and get an organizer. We used to put calendars up on the fridge with magnets, but our house is too fancy now (har-dee-har-har). Actually, the new appliances are stainless steel and magnets won't stick. Roger has always hated the  calendars so I'm sure there were ulterior motives somewhere.
Enter Pinterest.
I discovered the ARC system from Staples. (Sponsor me anytime.) It comes with this great hole-puncher for a measly $38 dollars. I tried not to get it, but ultimately knew I would never be happy until I got the damn hole-puncher. My advice? Get the hole-puncher.

The system comes in two sizes  - regular letter sized and a smaller version. I want to say six by nine? The puncher works for both sizes.
Because I hated the pages that came with my ARC notebook, I did a little research and found Pink Polka Dot Posie. Jennifer, the owner of the shop, does these great printables for customizing you own personal planner pages. She also designs other printables, including invitations. Check her out!
With a personal planner - you win a victory over stress. No more forgotten lunch dates, at least!
Thanks for reading.

My Husband Said That These Were the Best Cookies He's Ever Had

I got the basic recipe from the Betty Crocker Cookbook - the New Edition. It's the Oatmeal Raisin Cookie recipe that's on page 177.

2/3 c brown sugar packed
2/3 c white sugar
1/2 c butter
1/2 cup shortening (okay - I'll admit here that I used lard.)
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp orange extract
2 tbs orange zest
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 large eggs
3 c quick-cooking or old-fashioned oats (I used large flake - DON'T USE INSTANT!!)
1 c all-purpose flour
1 c dried cranberries
1 c chopped pecans & coconut

I found that the dough hook on my Kitchen-Aid mixer (hey - sponsor me anytime!) works great for mixing this stiff dough. I used the regular paddle first to cream the cold butter I had.
Combine all dry ingredients except sugars, & set aside. Mix up remainder of ingredients then add the dry ingredients  at the end. Mix until blended then drop by rounded tablespoons 2 in apart on an ungreased cookies sheet. Bake for 11 minutes at 375.
The cookies turn out crispy-chewy and so satisfying!
Good luck with this recipe - let me know if you try it.
Thanks for reading!

Recipe sharing: My favorite lemon meringue pie (or tarts...)

I've made this so many times I don't need the recipe anymore. It is a really simple, luscious pie!

Rosie's Lemon Meringue Pie

one baked pie shell
1 1/4 c sugar
1/3 cup + 1 tbs cornstarch
1 1/2 c water
1/2 c lemon juice
1 tbs lemon zest
3 egg yolks, set aside in separate bowl
1 tbs butter (optional)

Meringue
3 egg whites
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
4 - 6 tbs sugar
1 tsp vanilla

Blend cornstarch and sugar together in a 2 qt saucepan. Slowly blend in water. Cook on med high heat, stirring constantly, until mixture thickens and begins to boil. Boil 1 minute while stirring.
Working quickly, pour 1/2 the mixture into the egg yolks, beating constantly. (You'll work those arm muscles!). Mix this back into the saucepan with the rest of the stuff and boil another minute while beating. The mixture should be really thick at this point.
Remove from stove and stir in lemon juice and lemon zest, and butter if desired. Pour into pie shell and set aside while you make the meringue:

Combine egg whites and cream of tartar and beat well on low speed until blended. On high speed, whip egg whites and gradually add sugar as you beat. When meringue holds a firm peak, mix in vanilla and spread on pie, sealing the meringue around the crust.
Bake at 350 until the meringue is a light golden brown.
Sit back and enjoy the praise.
 Thanks for reading. Have a great week!

Seriously. Why you need to swatch!

These are the last swatches for lesson three from The Knitting Guild of America's "Basics, Basics, Basics" Course.
Each swatch was made with the same kind of yarn, the same size needles, and the same number of stitches and rows. The difference is amazing and if I wasn't a staunch swatcher before, I certainly am one now!

Written from My Underground Snow Bunker

With all of this snow, I've had a chance to do more than my share of knitting.
I have managed to avoid harikari so far -  but I've done a lot of frogging on this vest pattern from Pierrot Yarns. I can't tell you how many times I've started over again, each time armed with a little bit more knowledge into this wonderful world of Japanese knitting patterns.
First of all, I've found that most of the charted symbols are the same as US symbols. Some are sort of the same, with an odd variation. The Pierrot site has videos of all the stitches, so be sure to take a minute and double-check to see if you're on the right track.
A glaring example of this is the left-leaning decrease SSK (slip, slip, k2tog tbl) with the familiar symbol:

In Japanese patterns, this is a left-leaning decrease:

 

After wrestling with this for a while, believing all to be well, my pattern was still  pretty wonky so I went to the Pierrot site and checked their video library. The left-leaning decrease turned out to be a slip, knit pass slipstich over (SKPSSO). Mastering this part of the pattern has actually made me feel quite hopeful about this vest.  I'm planning to play it safe and put in LOTS more life lines  as soon as I publish this entry. This is what I've done successfully so far:

 

 It's the R front panel of the Pierrot vest 211 210 30  in Soft Linen by Classic Elite Yarns color #2248 on size three US 24 in circulars, just because I like to knit flat on circulars!

We were planning on visiting friends for an overnight - but the weather's a little dicey.

 

Stay safe and warm this weekend. Happy knitting and thanks for reading. A special shout out to my most loyal reader from Boston, whoever you are! Bless your heart for sticking with me!



As promised - Japanese knitting links

In my search for a new project to knit - a nice vest - I came across a pattern from
Pierrot Yarns in Japan. They have a pattern club - they're fabulous and they're free (the other two of my three favorite "F" words).
I've recently discovered something about my  knitting self: I like charts better than text when it comes to knitting instructions. If you're at least an intermediate-level knitter, you'll do just fine with these patterns. They're very clear and very exact. Don't shy away from it because it looks intimidating at first. I promise you - just spend five minutes with it and you'll be able to decipher the instructions perfectly. A world of unique stitch patterns awaits you!
This wonderful blogger has presented the basics in a very well-organized way and takes you by the hand for a tour of a Japanese knitting patterns.
Some other links I've discovered:
InterpretingJapaneseKnittingPatterns.pdf
reading Japanese charts
Try it - it's easier than you think. Thanks for reading.






(Photo from the Pierrot Yarns website)

My Word for 2014 and Revisiting Stefano's Mom's Minestrone

My word for 2014 (- no, it's not inertia or enervate -) is 'action'!
No - I'm completely serious. Maybe I'll have a little more action than I did dignity (my word for 2013).
It's the 2nd of January and I'm staying home today because the dishwasher guy is coming and my truck looks like this:

I'm cooking up a batch of Stefano Faita's mom's minestrone  If you've tried this recipe before, you know how easy it is to make it your own with the  additional ingredients you prefer. For me, this soup now begins with the following:


A honey-baked hambone simmering with onions sautéed in olive oil and bacon fat



I pretty much follow Stefano's recipe with the following changes: I usually omit the leeks - not a crowd favorite.
In winter I use canned greens I got from the country grocery down south instead of fresh  in the original recipe. When I'm using fresh greens, I'll go for chard instead of kale simply because we prefer it.
If you don't have all the herbs don't sweat it - the soup is very flavourful without them- but I do insist upon a bay leaf or two!
This soup freezes beautifully! That's fortunate because the recipe makes enough to feed a small battalion.
I have a new hair-brained scheme: Japanese knitting. I'll share some of it with you in my next entry - that is, if I haven't committed hari kari over it in the meantime.
Have a wonderful New Year!