Knitting & Reading

I haven't joined in with Ginny's Knit Along in quite sometime. I have been knitting but haven't documented a lot of it. Lately I have been working on a couple hats for a photographer friend to use in her newborn photographs. These are the latest two. The top one I just knit freehand with some leftover yarn I had around (lots of camo yarn around this house full of boys). The bottom hat I used a pattern I found on Ravelry. It is the "Rib Knit Baby Hat" by Jennifer Sauselein of Sorella & Company. It was an easy knit and I love the addition of the little wooden tree buttons. I have had them forever and loved finding a use for them.

 

 

As for reading, well there hasn't been a lot of that...every time I lay down in bed to read at night, I get about 3 pages read and am out like a light. Lots that I want to read but just can't keep my eyes open to read it. Still trying though...



 

Comfort Food

With all that is going on right now I decided some comfort food was needed. One of my childhood favorites is "Chicken Huntington". My mom usually made it after Thanksgiving when leftover turkey was in abundance. It was a HUGE favorite in our house. It is also one of my 20 year old nephew's favorite and my Mom regularly makes it when he visits. Tonight my Little was my sous chef andI loved making memories with him using a favorite from my childhood.

Chicken Huntington
(I regularly double it)

1 7-oz. box macaroni
1 1/2 c. cooked chicken, cut-up
1 T. flour
1 c. cream (I use milk)
1 c. chicken broth
1/2 lb. American cheese, grated
1/2 t. salt

Cook macaroni. Make a cream sauce with, flour, butter (about 2 T.), cream and chicken broth. In it, melt cheese. Stir in the cooked macaroni and salt. Bake at 325 degrees for 1 hour.


I am a purist when it comes to a few of the ingredients. The first being the chicken stock...I never buy chicken stock. I always make my own. So, this weekend I prepared a chicken and then used the bones to make stock. So easy and so delicious. Another thing that has to be exact is the cheese. Living here in the "Land Of 10,000 Lakes" we have always used Land O' Lakes American Cheese. It melts beautifully and tastes like home. It isn't cheap but I have not found a substitute.

First Garage Sale Of The Season

Last week I went to my first garage sale of the season. It was at a church and I didn't find much. i found a great teacup with a rooster on it that will soon become a pincushion. I also found a couple books - one for me and a nature science book for the boys. I am really getting excited for the coming season! Really want the snow to go away!

Remembering

Yesterday someone very important to me left this Earth. He was 92 and ready for the next stage...ready to say goodbye to this life for the next. He is my Grandfather. He left behind my Grandmother, 4 children, 8 grandchildren and 9 great-grandchildren. All of us are testaments to the lives he and my Grandmother have lived and the lessons, traditions and beliefs they have passed on to us. There is a love for working with our hands. We are lovers of learning and books. We have a deep appreciation for the soil and what it blesses us with. We immerse ourselves in nature and reenergizing our souls with the peace we find there. These lessons, learned and remembered are shared in our collective and individual memories. He is gone but he will never be forgotten. He lives on in each of us as we take all he has taught us and go forward in our lives...each turn of the page, each turn of the spade.

Vacation Images By My 12 Year Old

I love the images my eldest took while on vacation! Here are a few...

A light fixture at the BBQ joint we ate at in Joplin, Kansas - Big R's BBQ.



The table at the same restaurant. Love the vintage orange label they put under the glass.

The ceiling of the same restaurant...it was a cool restaurant :)!
 

And the food...YUM...that baked potato was the size of a small watermelon.

And a towel sculpture in one of our first hotel rooms...he was so impressed with it he had to take a picture.

 

Road Tripping Down Route 66

Heading for Mesa, AZ to visit my parents and doing a little sightseeing along the way. Highlights of the day were stops along historic Route 66 in Kansas and Oklahoma. The Kansas section may be small (only about 13 miles) but it was wonderful! They are doing so much to restore as much as they can. Here are a few pictures from our day...

 

The tow truck that inspired the "Mater" character in the movie Cars and a cute little Cars fan to boot :)!
 

Many great old gas stations - some beautifully and lovingly restored like these two.

A great bit of rusty vintage goodness! One of these just may be framed...

Two handsome boys at the Blue Whale - part of an old theme park along the route.

A VERY old gas station - never had electricity and was heated by fireplace. LOVE the daffodils outside the door.

 

Tomorrow...on to New Mexico!