My First Pattern

I am writing my very first pattern to sell on my web site. I only have 4 more skeins to knit. This is my I can knit in my sleep shawl that everyone seems to like and want the pattern to. I guess that I will have a lot of time to work on it since Eric was sent home sick from school. I can't believe that school has been in secession less than 2 weeks and that he is already sick.

I hope to use his sick days more productively this year, but round the clock child care seems a bit tyring at times. The bright side of the whole Eric being sick is that I have lots of patterns to write, lots of items to knit in my queue, and yarn everywhere...did I mention that yarn was one of my addictions?

Well on to child care and knitting.

Have a great day and enjoy your families.

Yet Another Red Pot Recipe

This is my families favorite chicken soup. This is a basic recipe that you can change up with the addition of matzo balls, dumplings or noodles or a combination of noodles and dumplings or matzo balls.

1 whole chicken ,washed in cold water.
1 teaspoon salt
water to cover chicken
1/2 teaspoon white pepper
2 pounds of carrots peeled and sliced
1 large celery sliced, this will be about 7-8 cups
1 onion diced

In a large pot add cleaned chicken and salt. Cover with water. Bring to a boil. Skim the pot of any junk that comes to the top, this should take about 30 minutes. While you are waiting for the chicken to boil now is an excellent time to scrub down your sink with your favorite bleach cleanser. It is important to clean the sink and the surrounding area before you chop the vegetables.

Once the chicken is not making any more junk and the broth has been skimmed clear, Add all the vegetables at once and add the pepper. Turn the stove to medium low and and simmer at least 2 hours.

After about 2 hours I carefully pull the chicken from the pot and de-bone the chicken, this is the process where the skin is pulled off and the bones are taken out of the chicken. Smaller pieces of chicken are tossed right back in the pot, I tend to dice the larger pieces before they are put back in the pot.

If you are going to add dumplings this is the point where you add them. For a quick dumpling just use a regular biscuit recipe and spoon into the boiling broth and turn down the temperature and simmer for about 20 minutes. For and even faster dumpling just get your favorite ready to use biscuits and layer them on the top of the broth and simmer for about 20 minutes.

I usually make the noodles separately and keep them separate from the soup. Since everyone has their own noodle preference I let everyone scoop their own noodles and then add the soup. The only exception to this would be alphabet noodles which just taste better when they have more time in the broth.

The soup is ready to serve. I usually serve this with bread and margarine.

Enjoy this soup recipe and add your families favorite vegetables to the soup to make it your own.

Unfortunately I have no vegan or vegetarian options for this soup.

Have a wonderful day and enjoy your families.

Eric's Milk Shake

Eric has a new favorite dinner. I know he likes it because he makes happy sounds, makes nice mommy and takes my hand to rub his tummy to show me how good it feels.

Eric's Shake

1 Banana
1 cup vanilla soy ice cream
1/4 cup of nut butter ( The current favorites are Macadamia and cashew, and will do peanut butter in a pinch)
Soy milk to top off the container.

In a large Magic bullet cup add the ingredients in the following order: Banana, soy ice cream, nut butter and fill to 1/4 inch from the top with soy milk. Blend till smooth.

This is the vegan recipe. You can use regular ice cream and milk if you don't have any allergies to cows milk.

A Wonderful Day

I always find it interesting how I always have a wonderful day after Eric gets better. Friday was no exception. I did not even mind that my day would be cut short, the air conditioning was out on the bus, so I let Eric ride to school because it was still fairly cool. When he got out of school it was about 100 degrees outside which would equal an oven in the bus, no we do not want to do heat stroke again, once was one more time than was absolutely necessary.

It was a small but great group at knitting Friday. I finished one of my unfinished objects. Well not all the way finished but the knitting is done and I did not want to weave in the ends Friday. This morning I wove in the ends and listed it on Art Fire. Because of the 50% off sale this week the current cost $65.00 is only the cost of the yarn, no labor included. The price will go up Tuesday. John liked the blanket, but said that even selling it for the price of the yarn the blanket was still too pricey. I am hoping that if people want to support the handmade movement and the made in the USA movement the they would be willing to pay a little bit more for a nice handmade blanket. check it out at http://www.tinyurl.com/handmadebysheri ,I guess that only time will tell.

I was thankful that Wii did not forget me, and that I had a great workout. One of the few that have lasted 30 minutes since December. The real test will be tomorrow, to see if I can do 30 minutes again.

Have a wonderful day an enjoy the time with your families.

A Quick Poll

I am running a quick poll today.

Would you like to see more recipes on my blog Yes or No?

Please use the comment space below.

Thanks for your help and any other comments would be helpful too.

Have a wonderful day and enjoy your families.

Another Red Pot Recipe

Eric is home sick today, he pick up heaven only knows what at that giant perti dish called school. So in honor of Eric being sick I will give you a very easy red pot recipe. By the way this is what my husband is getting for dinner tonight.

Brisket

1 Brisket
1 package of Lipton's onion soup mix
4 cups of water
non stick cooking spray.

Spray the red pot with non-stick cooking spray. Add the brisket and 4 cups of water. Sprinkle the onion soup over the brisket. Place in the oven and cook at 350 degrees for 3 to 4 hours.

Serve on soft rolls with a salad or vegetable sticks for a complete meal.

The only problem I have every encountered with this recipe is that the meat gets so tender that it is almost impossible to slice sometimes, and we just have to scoop the meat out of the pan.

Please let me know how you like the brisket.

I am sorry to say that there is no vegan or vegetarian alternatives to this recipe.

Please have a wonderful day and enjoy your families.

L1 Sale

Hi All,

I am having an L1 sale in honor of Teri's 1st week of Law School. Everything will be 50% off for the next week.

Check out www.tinyurl.com/handmadebysheri