Happy Trails

Inspired

 

It has been a while! Let me catch you up on what's been going on around here...mostly focusing on the weekends, as that is when we have the most fun.

The past few weekends have been really wonderful in a lot of ways. There has been some sleeping in, and coming downstairs to the fire going, with the smell of freshly brewed coffee in the air. (Salmaan always rises before I do).

Two weeks ago on a Saturday morning Salmaan was lounging on the couch with a pile of new cookbooks looking pleased as punch. He treated us to 7 new tomes full of inspiration, and after a nice fluffy omelette full of ham, cheese, and assorted veggies, we cuddled up on the couch and read for hours, taking notes and sharing things that excited us along the way. And you know where we're going from here, yeah?

 

First up, a wonderful new way to use up leftover roast chicken (which we always seem to have a lot of, week after week). These quesadillas quite frankly rocked. We dressed them up with a dollop of sour cream, some ribboned romaine dressed with lime juice, and a bit of salsa. Mmm.

That following Sunday morning I woke up at 4:30, and couldn't get back to sleep, thinking about how much stuff I wanted to make. By 5:30 I gave up, and Salmaan and I made a batch of Curtis Stone's homemade Granola (which was fantastic--just go a little less on the initial baking time).

Homemade chicken soup was finished up and packaged away in the freezer for a day either of us has a cold and needs some comfort, and then we made a delicious brunch, consisting of poached egg inside of a crisped proscuitto cup on top of sauteed spinach and a toasted whole wheat bagel (also from Curtis Stone's cookbook).

It was our first time poaching eggs, and it turned out nicely. If we ever open a B&B, this is going on the breakfast menu for sure. For dinner we made Jamie Oliver's Mushroom Risotto.

Yes, yes, I gave risotto another try! We made this on Halloween night, and the risotto itself was quite delicious. The specialty grilled mushrooms on the top? Surprisingly not delicious. Not sure if it was the total lack of fat (oh butter, how I missed you), or too much citrus (he advises to dress the grilled shrooms with lemon juice and herbs), but it wasn't workin' for me. The base recipe, however, I would definitely make again, and butter up some bellas or shiitakes for the big garnish.

This past weekend both of us were feeling under the weather. In fact, we've both been fighting off a cold for about a week now. Instead of taking the chicken soup out of the freezer, we tried a new recipe--Tyler Florence's chicken tortellini soup. SO GOOD, and just what we needed. 

I pulled this out of the freezer last night, and it hit the spot for a quick and soothing dinner.

We've had a couple of friends over on the weeknights lately, and that has lead us to some new recipes that we will try again. Ina's new book just came out, and I made her turkey meatballs.

Very good. Her new book is a bit repetitive--not a ton of new ideas, really. But I like Ina and her sensibility, so it's fun just to read through it.

The next to last weekend in October, my parents came to visit us. They stayed the weekend, and we had a fantastic time. Saturday we went to the Powhatan Festival of the Grape, and sampled some tasty Virginia Wine.

Despite my ageeb looking face in this photograph, I really was enjoying myself...especially when we visited our favorite virginia winery--Horton.

Love this shot of my parents.

They really helped us with a lot of stuff around the house that weekend, including a raised bed that I'm very excited about:

Dad and Salmaan busted this out in only a few hours. The garden really went to hell this past summer (partly the terribly hot weather/water restrictions, partly my waning interest, partly the fact that the squirrels and chipmunks stole most of my yield), so it was time to scale back. I'm going to be using this solely has an herb garden, and we're going to seed the rest of the garden area with grass seed. We also took out the blackberry bushes, as I think I was only able to get about 15 berries all season, and they honestly weren't very good. Come Christmas-time (and my "extra" paycheck), we're going to sign up for a local CSA. I mean, have you seen the Rooster's blog? I've been inspired, and want to give this a go. 

Dad and Salmaan fixed some of our gates, too.

We may have put them to work, but we fed them well. Salmaan grilled up a beautiful beef tenderloin.

The dogs had a fantastic time, too. They couldn't have enjoyed the extra attention more.

As you can see, JJ is getting bigger every day. It's so cool to see the changes. His fur has gotten longer and CURLY, which is adorable, and his personality is really starting to be apparent--he dotes on River constantly.

And that's pretty much what's been going on at Chez K. A fair amount of knitting has been accomplished as well, but that is for another post. I'm off from work today, hence the time to write--and hopefully posted about some FO's! 

 

FO: Fall Festival

A shawl for fall (dare you to say that one three times fast). Started this project a while ago, and was pleased that I finished it within about a month.

This is the Simple Yet Effective Shawl (fingering weight) pattern by CosmicPluto. A really simple pattern, with quick, satisfying results. The only thing I did differently was purl the center three stitches on every WS row--I thought it made the center YO's cleaner looking--more uniform. Knit this on #5 Addi Turbo circulars (my GOD, I LOVE those needles!!!!!)

The Yarn is Autumn Cherry superwash merino sock yarn by Pigeonroofstudios over on etsy. When I saw this photo, I couldn't resist it.

There ended up being more brown and yellow in this skein than I anticipated, but I really like how it turned out. The colors remind me of one of my best friends, and it is packed and ready to be shipped as I write this. It's a neat thing when you see someone else in an item you create. I think it helps remind me that the people I love are and always will be a part of me. A comforting thought.

It was awfully chilly when I was outside snapping these photos--surprisingly so. I wore a coat to work for the first time today, and have noticed myself looking more and more at sweater patterns. Not to mention that my taste for white wine as decidedly declined, and all I want are big, bold reds. Ahhh...winter. Here you come. Welcome back. 

Ghoulishly Good

This was our first Halloween in the new neighborhood, and both of us were feeling pretty festive. I decided there were a few pumpkin recipes that I needed to try out, and I'm glad I did. First up? Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies. After checking this out over at Cosmicpluto, we had to give them a go.

I have not enjoyed something this tasty (dessert-wise) in a long, long time. They are light, fluffy, cakey, and delicious. Initially we were going to hand them out to parents as an adult treat, but after taste testing one of the smaller ones, Salmaan begged to keep them just for us. I didn't tell him at the time, but I felt the same way. You HAVE to make these. About five seconds after we tasted them, we each locked eyes and said, our mouths full, "We've GOT to make these for Thanksgiving."

Next up we baked these Pumpkin Muffins. They made the house smell amazing, and we gave away half a dozen to our neighbors who very kindly helped us dispatch the fallen tree. 

I'm waiting to try these tomorrow morning with a steaming cup of coffee. 

While I was inside baking, Salmaan decorated the outside with some lights we had leftover from our pumpkin carving party a few years ago.

We were the only house illuminated to the hilt, and I think it was fun for the kids to approach for candy. 

Dinner this evening was a fast affair, I basically wolfed it down in one gulp, only to discover afterwards that I'm not sure I even liked it that much. We made Black Bean Pumpkin Soup--a recipe that I got off of the Smitten Kitchen. 

A few notes on this soup--it wasn't at ALL orange (the photos on Deb's site are electric), and I didn't taste the pumpkin. Not even a little bit. Not even at all. Additionally, I found the overall flavor to be a bit sour, and I think that was due in large part to the sherry wine the recipe called for--I think it could have done without that entirely, and instead of finishing it off with sherry vinegar, I believe a bit of red wine vinegar would have done the trick. It did, however, introduce us to one of the most wonderful ingredients--pre-cooked ham. It came in this huge chunk, and was smokey and delicious. I plan to use it in a quiche tomorrow, and probably make a club salad later this week complete with beets and other numerous accoutrement. There might even be a ham salad sandwich in our future. (This is a big deal. I very rarely do any sort of meat salad. They tend to make me barf. But, this ham has non-barfing saladish potential. Very cool.)

All in all, the evening was a bit anticlimactic. We met a few neighbors that we hadn't seen before, so that was nice, but all in all, only SIX children darkened out door to trick or treat. One of them had so many food allergies that his parents went by to every house beforehand to drop off a gift to give him instead of candy. I threw in a glow stick for him as well. Not like the kid who is allergic to everything under the sun needs to glow in the dark, but hey, they're cool!

When Gluten Kid and his family were walking away, the kids asked the parents, "Hey, can we go trick or treat at that house over there?" [referencing our neighbors that live across the street] The mother promptly responded, "No, their porch light is out, see? That's the universal sign to stay away. That family never comes out. Not even for Christmas. That's why we call them the Vampire Family." I. Laughed. My. Ass. Off. And then I thought it was kind of inappropriate that they said that within earshot of us, which of course, theoretically meant they were in earshot of the Vampire Family. Suburbia? You are FASCINATING.

In any event, Happy Halloween, everyone! And if you find yourself with a sweet tooth this evening, come on by. We have about $30 left of unclaimed candy. 

October: When Festivals Abound

Last weekend, we enjoyed what I believe will be a new yearly tradition: the Fall Festival at Carter Mountain Orchard, outside of Charlottesville, VA. 

Even though I lived in C'ville for four years, we never made it out to the orchard. Having driven past it many times on our trips wine tasting, we knew we wanted to check it out this season. Saturday morning we got up early, took River for a long walk so she'd be set for the day at home, and we headed out. It was very, very crowded, but the view was stunning.

These are shots from both sides of the mountain. This last one is from the slope where we picked our apples--we chose to focus primarily on Golden Delicious and Jonagolds. The GD were incredible--they tasted as though they were basted in honey, and were firm and juicy. We picked about ten pounds of those. The Jonagolds ended up going into an apple crisp (I thought they would be good baking apples--but they ended up turning into something much more akin to apple SAUCE). 

Even so, they look pretty beautiful on the branch, don't they?

We stayed for a while, enjoying the views and the plinkety plink of a bluegrass band. There is also a vast vineyard on the top of the mountain, and while I wish I could have walked through the vines, the electric fencing served as a successful deterrent.

In addition to the apple picking, there was also a nice selection of mums from local greenhouses, and other types of organic produce from local farms. We picked up some acorn squash that I'm hoping to stuff with something delicious very soon, and a pint of homemade apple cider. The pièce de résistance if you will, was the apple cider doughnut--OH. MY. GOD. We were eating them on our way back to the car, and the ecstasy must have shown on our faces--a complete stranger came up, jabbed me in the arm and said, "Like a little piece of heaven, ain't it?". Oh yes. Divine. 

This weekend we met up with my parents at a local eatery in Waynesboro, VA, and checked out the Fall Festival there. I'd like to say we enjoyed browsing leisurely among booths filled with unique and beautiful art, but alas, we were kicked out! One block in, we were approached by a local police officer, who looked at us like were were dumbasses, saying, "Um, I'm not sure if you've seen the signs, but we aren't allowing dogs at this event." Well, maybe he was on point, because I was pretty damned dumbfounded. It's an outdoor event, a FESTIVAL for God's sake, in VIRGINIA!!!!! And you're not allowing DOGS!?!?!?! And of course we didn't see the sign, we were busy looking at the booths--it isn't a SIGN festival bub, it's a CRAFTS festival. *deep breath*. I was peeved. And River felt bad, I know she did. We left. But not before a very nice lady came up and said, "I think it's RIDICULOUS they're not allowing dogs this year, especially one as gorgeous and well behaved as she is!" Lady? I don't know who you are, but I like you. Power to the dog people!

In keeping with the autumnal festivities, here is a WIP that I've enjoyed knitting to and from these fun events--I'm calling it Fall Festival.

Hopefully it will be done by the end of this month, so I can wear it while the leaves are still on the trees. I better hurry.

A Season For Earth Tones

It's happening, just like it happens every year. And yet...somehow...it feels as though it's happening for the very first time. The air is starting to change--it's lighter, cleaner; the breeze has a crispness to it not unlike a beautifully starched shirt, just back from the cleaner. The ripples on the river look just that much different--enough to alert a thoughtful observer. The shadows made by the blades of grass in the yard are a little bit sharper, darker, than they were the day before. The sunlight is bright, but the warmth it brings no longer drains so much as it fills. I feel like I could drink it and be completely satiated. The Monarchs are migrating.

Fall is coming. It isn't here yet, but it's coming. While the days are still hot and the humidity isn't totally gone, I can feel the change. I love this time of year. It's a time to switch gears. Fall is a season for earth tones, and if I want to enjoy wearing them while I admire the Blue Ridge morph from green to red to purple, I'd better get going. Here's what's in store for the next few months:

The February Lady Sweater. My very first sweater, knit out of my precious and coveted Malabrigo. I love this pattern, and am just hoping I am able to execute it successfully! My canvas:

The Clapotis. I wasn't a huge fan of this Ravelry favorite until I actually saw a completed version at the Knitting Basket. The drape was beautiful, and I was also inspired by Mick's reaction to the one that she just finished. My canvas:

The aMANda Hat. For Salmaan since he wanted Green Eyes so badly. I wanted to knit him a cap that complimented his soul windows, too. I've already gotten started on this one.

Balsam. After two unsuccessful cast-ons, it is finally started. I took it with me up to Sherando this past weekend, and was able to hammer out a good beginning. I am going to make the short-neck version, I have no need to fit it over my head.

And last but not least, a pair of socks--pattern taken from Getting Started Knitting Socks. I've been amassing a collection of sock yarn without being brave enough to give it a go, and it's time to jump in. Cooler weather means cold feetsies, and I'm not a huge fan of icy toes. My canvas:

Salmaan is studying hard this month for his licensure exam, which he will take at the very beginning of September. This is the very last "school work" summer that either of us will have, and he's really pushing himself to cross that finish line with a passing score. His motivation? A raise and finally, some free weekends to go hiking. We both love heading into the mountains in the fall, and I think River is ready for some longer treks, herself. Did I mention? She just turned 1 at the end of July.

Last summer, the day after I took the Bar, we went to visit Shalgo Farm. She had just been born a few hours before, and Jackie let me hold her in my hand, showing me how her eyes and ears weren't even open yet. She was just this big:

She was the smallest pup in the litter, and from that day forward she's been our precious little Ridge.

So, happy birthday, River! And bring on the fall...I've got some knitting to do...