Simple knits for complicated lives
I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving and don't have too many leftovers. But if you do...
Thanksgiving Leftovers Casserole from favfamilyrecipes.com.
I promise, the recipe is there on that page, but you do have to scroll waaaay, way down to get to it. Besides, you really don't need the recipe. Just layer all your leftovers in a casserole dish and heat it up. Yum!
This week's post is coming to you a couple of days early. I still don't have any knitting to show off but the splint comes off in a few days so there is a light at the end of this horrible three week yarnless tunnel.
Instead of knitting, today I'm Thanksgiving chocolate pie baking. We've changed things up over the last couple of years. Instead of going to my sisters, we celebrate at home now... and Sarah does the cooking. As much as I don't like changes to tradition, I have to say, I am LOVING this change! I still bake the Owen Chocolate Pie(s) but I rarely cry in the kitchen anymore. It's Sarah's turn for that holiday thrill.
So, if you are looking for a super simple and delicious fudgy chocolate pie recipe, check out this post from 2014. Nothing has changed except the "pinch of salt" is actually table salt now instead of the salt from 1,000 tears.
HAPPY THANKSGIVING!
Yes, another cheesesteak recipe. But pretty soon, we'll be eating some form of left over turkey at just about every meal so...
Well, I'm still not knitting and I'm including lots of weirdly placed spaces between letters because the thumb brace accidentally hits the space bar when I try to type. Hopefully I will catch all the extra spaces here in this post and remove them, but there are so many, my brain doesn't always see them anymore.
This whole not being able to knit thing is making me a little cranky. And fat! Unfortunately, I can still eat so I have replaced knitting with eating. And I'm not eating salads. I'm eating M&M's and chocolate covered pretzels and cookies and potato chips. You know, pity party foods. Things that come in large bags, not single servings. It's incredibly difficult to open packages one-handed so I'm going for 'multiple servings in one package' type items. And yes, I know this is incredibly horrible for my health. But after two weeks of not knitting, it's either my health or the health and safety of my family. Ruining my health, weight and blood sugar for a few weeks seems like the better option.
It really is pretty amazing how many simple things I can't do with only one thumb. I can't open bag-type packages (well, actually, I'm getting pretty good at opening them with my teeth but I've also cut my lip on the packaging a few times so...,) I have trouble putting the toothpaste on my toothbrush and worst of all, I can't 'do' my hair. I can't even put it in a ponytail. I keep having to show up at work with wild hair and have to beg my coworkers to put it in a ponytail or bun for me. It's comically pathetic.
The good side of being thumbless is that my thumb nail is starting to grow. I've never in my life been able to get my thumb nails to grow long. And, I read four and a half books last week. All trash of course. I do love a trashy romance novel. 😊
And, since it's the season, I've been singing about Alice and her restaurant.
One very good thing about this whole broken thumb situation - the brace isn't supposed to come off until the day AFTER Thanksgiving. That means I may be able to get out of cooking AND cleaning, although I'm not sure the family is going to go for that. But there's hope. I do have that doctor's note. 😊
I know it's a little early but,
HAPPY THANKSGIVING!
Grilled Chicken Taco Bowls! Yum!
This recipe comes from Betty Crocker and couldn't be easier. Actually, it could. I plan to use grocery store grilled chicken and if I get really lazy, a jar of salsa rather than the can of diced tomatoes and sliced green onions. And maybe even a scoop of store bought gaucamole rather than the chopped avacodo. I am known to be rather lazy in the kitchen.
Enjoy!
Tragedy has struck.
This giant box of yarn arrived...
On the same day this happened.
Yes, I am such a klutz, I managed to fracture my thumb while laying in the bed. I put my hand up over my head and drove my thumb straight-on into the wall and fractured it.
I really need to come up with a more exciting and less embarrassing story. But then, how many people can claim to have broken a bone while sleeping?
The tragedy is that I can't knit with my thumb like it is. I'm happy that it doesn't hurt that much (as long as I don't bump it on something, which does seem to happen 1,000 times a day. Have I mentioned what a klutz I am?) But despite being mostly pain-free, I can't bend it or move it towards my pinky so I can't grip anything.
I know opposable thumbs are important, but I never really realized just how important. I can't even put my hair in a ponytail and it takes me an extra 15 minutes to unbutton/button my pants. And worse, I have to take my shirt all the way off in order to remove my bra.
No knitting and no easy bra removal. It truely is a tragedy!
Sadly but thankfully, I can still scan gallons of milk and cases of beer and my grocery store customers have been very understanding and helpful, so I'm still functioning fairly well at work. I'd rather be able to knit but... At least I'm not sitting at home, bored out of my mind and twiddling one thumb.
Meanwhile, the giant box of yarn I can't currently use was packed with a Rainbow Hue Shift pack of Brava.
And a mini pack of Rainbow Brava.
I'm sure you've all seen the Hue Shift afghan and that's what I intend my Hue Shift pack to turn into. As for the mini's, I'm going to knit Stephen West's Garter Squish blanket. I can't wait to get started. I'm thinking that the next time I re-wrap my thumb, I'll tape a knitting needle in there between my thumb and the brace. That ought to work, right?
I'm supposed to wear the brace for three weeks.
As of typing this, three days of no knitting down, eighteen more to go. Wish me luck! Really, you should wish my family luck. I can't imagine what my mood will be after 21 days of no knitting. There could be some serious trouble ahead.
Okay, my Sunday Supper posts tend to have some sort of Christmas related theme for the month of Decmember and this year is no different.
I'm feeling extremely southern these days. Actually, I've been feeling extra southern since I started working at the grocery store. Never in my life have I been called Honey, Darling, Sugar or Sweetheart so often. The store is the mainstay of a very rural farming community so maybe it's to be expected. I don't know. It bothered me a little at first, specially since I'm... well, I'm old and gray haired, and I would estimate that 90% of the men over 30 say some form of, "How you doing, Darling?" or "Thanks Sweetheart." It was very weird and felt horribly sexist in the begining but I've gotten used to it now and have actually started to enjoy it.
Goodness, next thing you know, I'll be in the kitchen barefooted and wearing my pearls! Ha!
I should probably also mention that the 10% of men who don't call me Sugar or whatever, do say yes mam or thank you mam. Mam is included in there somewhere. It's all very polite and southern and has got me thinking about southern Christmas's so....
This year's Sunday Supper theme will be traditional southern Christmas foods.
To start off the month, we have....
Beef tenderloin. I know, you were expecting fried squirrel or something weren't you? But nope! We save the squirrel for weeknights.
At Christmas, we eat beef tenderloin and this recipe from Southern Living couldn't be easier.
Does rubbing something with butter, salt and pepper then sticking it in the oven even count as a "recipe?"
Okay, so today's recipe may not be the healthiest one but it sure sounds easy and delicious.
Welcome to Philly Cheesesteak Pasta from smalltownwoman.com. Sounds to me like a delicious and easy comfort food meal.
Happy November! We've actually had a real fall this year with cooler, but not freezing temperatures. Virginia's idea of fall is normally alternating days between 90 and 45 degrees. But this year, we've been having low to mid to upper 60's during the day and upper 30's to mid 40's at night. It's been awesome!
I have been spending as much time as possible outside. A lot of knitting has been getting done beside the fire pit. Last night I worked on a plain garter stitch dish cloth knit with free, donated yarn. It's the first thing I've knit for myself since early July. I've been focusing on bazaar knitting instead of selfish knititng. The bazaar is next weekend and I can not wait for it to be over so I can knit All the things just for me. Actually, I have another show in December so I probably won't be doing much selfish knitting until after Christmas. Or Christmas Eve. I do love participating in #ChristmasEveCastOn.
Anyway...
Here are a few of the Christmas gnome ornaments I've made for the bazaar.
Sorry for the bad lighting. The gnomes are hanging on the pegboard in my closet.
I can't imagine why the realtor thinks I need to clean/straighten/purge my closet.
She obviously doesn't knit/craft nor understand a bazaar vendor's lifestyle the week before a big show.
But yeah, even I can admit, my closet is screaming for help. I can't even get to my shoes.
I hope you had a fun Halloween. Hayden had a blast for the first few buckets full of candy but by the third or fourth, she was done! Thankfully the rain held off until well after acceptable trick or treating time.
Well, I'm off to go put more tags on more items for the bazaar. Hopefully I'll have time to post next week but no promises. My 'real' job takes up a surprising amount of my time and I still have an awful lot to do to prepare. Thank goodness for the end of Daylight Savings and gaining an hour. Wish me luck. And focus! 😀
