Cooking More and other things

I have been feeling well enough to do more things like cooking. In the past 2 weeks I have cooked 5 times which resulted in 9 homemade dinners for my husband and myself.  The home cooking is great and some creative recipes have come into our dining rotation.  A new favorite is Scottish Loch Trout, which is similar in appearance to salmon but with an entirely different flavor and texture.  I am happy to report that the Scottish Loch Trout tasted even better the second night.  

You have guessed that there is a down side to all this cooking.  Yes, there is a downside. I plan my shopping trips early in the morning.  Then after the food is put away I take a 2 to 3 hour nap.  Wake up in time to start dinner and nap again while dinner is cooking.  

I am also working on a small shawl.  It has a 7 row repeat.  I find that since I am on the second skein of linen yarn I can only do 1 repeat of 7 rows a day.  That’s ok with me.  The shawl is slowly getting finished.  Any progress is good progress. 

As for house work it is all done in 5 to 10 minutes at a time followed by resting or a nap.  Sometimes I wonder if the old energizer bunny will ever return.  Other times I am grateful that I can get so much accomplished between my many rest and nap breaks throughout the day.  

A Fairly Good Day

 I managed to sprain my ankle yesterday.  Please don’t ask me how I did it.  I honestly don’t remember.  The good thing about the whole thing is that I managed to get my foot wrapped up all by myself.  This is the first time in years that I have been able to do that.  

I also managed to shop for and make dinner tonight. This is the second time this week.  We will eat the leftovers tomorrow night.  

Then the major accomplishment for the day was doing a Russian join on fingering weight linen yarn.  Even if I have to say so myself. The join came out fairly smooth and flat.  Once knit in I personally don’t think anyone will notice it especially from 5 feet away.  

The Trouble With Cooking Beef Stew

 I made a beef stew for dinner from scratch today.  Hours later the house still has the wonderful smell of beef stew.  It is making it hard to fall asleep.  The recipe I used is below.  

Beef Stew

1 pound of flank steak cubed

1 large onion peeled and diced

1 pound of carrots peeled and sliced. 

1 whole celery cleaned and sliced

2 tablespoons olive oil 

Salt and pepper to taste

1 pound frozen mixed vegetables 

Water as needed

1 Le Creuset soup pot*

Heat the olive oil in the Le Creuset soup pot over a medium heat.  Add the flank steak, salt and pepper.  Brown the meat.  Add the diced onion.  Cook until the onion is translucent.  Add the carrots and celery. Cover with water and bring to a boil.  Turn the temperature down to medium low.  Simmer for 3 hours or longer if you have time.   Add the mixed frozen vegetables. Cook for an additional 30 minutes.  

Refrigerate the leftovers and you have a delicious meal for the next night.  

Makes 5 to 6 servings.  

*I used my Le Creuset soup pot for this recipe.  My husband bought it for me when we no longer need the 7 1/2 quart pot. I am not receiving any compensation from the Le Creuset company for my recommendation.  I just think it makes a better pot choice and I am less likely to burn the stew with a heavier pot. I also love the even heating.  

Feeling Better

 The new medication is amazing.  I am slowly, but faster than last time, feeling better.  I am slowly getting my energy back.  I am playing catch up right and left.  I can even drive myself to the store, do the shopping and still have enough energy to drive home.  Naps are less frequent, which is a good thing.  I am sleeping more at night.  

That being said I am still hopping from project to project.  I still have a very short attention span. Occasionally finishing one every few days.  Maybe this will actually help lower my UFO pile. I can at least hope that will be the case.  

TTFN, I have a sweater to pull out of the hand wash sink before bed.  

Another Project is Finished

 Another project bites the dust and goes into the storage bag until October or November when it will get delivered to the Flowing Wells School District Clothing Bank.  This is the second completed scarf and the 7th completed item for the year.  I have less energy right now, so things are going very slowly.  

This came off the loom a few days ago, then it was wash and thwacked. Rinsed and hung to dry. Today I did the trimming  and took its picture.  It will probably go to a high school student. As you can probably tell it is another stash buster scarf.  

Spin Together 2025 Has Ended

 My total spinning for Spin Together 2025. 

8 ounces of plyed yarn.  I did not check my mileage before washing.  

1 ounce on a Navajo made bottom whorl spindle.  My first spin on a bottom whorl spindle.  

1/2 ounce on another bottom whorl spindle.  

I do think that I like bottom whorl spindles.  

Also after the yarn bath, my hand wash sink turned purple.  The only thing that got the excess dye off was Comet Cleanser with bleach.  Now I can wash an ecru linen shirt tomorrow.  

That is one full bobbin.  

The Next Bobbin

 Today I started the next bobbin for Spin Together 2025.