Minestrone

Or as the roommate dubs it, Italian Trash Soup. The Funk noted that it could also be known as Jersey Shore soup. I think it's soup of people who are marginally employed, yet rich in the realm of frozen vegetables.

It's not the best minestrone I've ever had; that distinction belongs to my dad's college roommate, whose minestrone is a labor of love, taking hours, with carefully balanced proportions of vegetables.

But mine is ready in 30 minutes. So I win?







Ingredients:
4 cups stock
2 cups water
1 14 oz can tomato sauce
1 14 oz can diced tomatoes
10 oz sliced andouille sausage
1 lb dried black beans, soaked
garlic salt
black pepper
Italian seasoning
thyme
paprika
sage
tarragon
coriander
fennel seeds
1 onion, chopped
1 lb frozen peas
1/2 lb frozen corn
1/2 lb frozen green beans
1/2 lb frozen lima beans
1/2 lb short pasta

Directions:
Mix stock, water, tomato products, sausage, and onion together and bring to a boil. Add your spices to taste. Throw in the pasta and cook until just al dente. Then add in your frozen vegetables, and cook until they're ready.

Eat, enjoy, and avoid our mistake of drinking hobo wine at the same time. Which is a story for a different day. Suffice it to say, The Funk is no longer allowed to drink Mad Dog, Steel Reserve, or anything of that ilk in our house.

How to separate eggs without a separator.

Use the shells! It's not too hard.

Step 1: Crack the egg, holding one end higher than the other so none of the eggy stuff leaks out.

Step 2: Tip the yolk from one side of the shell to the other. The white should fall away into your bowl.

Step 3: Repeat, until only the yolk remains in your shell.

Done!

Kilt Hose

They're finished!  These socks were an odyssey, lasting nearly a year. Oh, how I labored. The wrenches are cabled, and of my own design. I designed these socks using these as a template and general sizing guide. There was much finagling and knitter's math involved. I'm thinking of writing it up and submitting it to one of the knitting journals. I'll need better pictures if I'm going to do that, so someone will have to volunteer to model! The Gentleman in Question dislikes having his picture taken. That is his leg, but that's the most you'll ever see of him.

The hose began their life as a flirtatious joke between myself and the Gentleman in Question. He arrived to the Fourth of July fireworks party wearing a Utilikilt. Now, I had seen such a thing before; I know several kilted men.  The gentleman, learning that I was a professional knitter at the time, commissioned a pair of kilt socks, as he was shortly moving to the cold and frozen north and wished to wear his kilt in the chillier weather. Being an engineer, he wanted wrenches instead of the traditional cabled panel.

So I researched. And discovered that no one had ever wanted to knit cabled wrenches before. Thus began a period of experimentation, whereupon I learned how to design a cable pattern. Much math and swatching latter, the socks were begun. There were snafus aplenty. And much anxiety! As previously mentioned, the Gentleman has skinny legs, whereas mine are more...generous.

There were holdups surrounding major life changes. I moved back to New Orleans, which was a production of its own, let me tell you. Then the holidays, plus housing drama. I worked slowly, but steadily. Finally, in March, they were finished! But tragically, they were not- the foot was too short! And so, feet reknit and lengthened, they were completed, and are in the hands of their rightful owner. Just in time for summer.

These socks mark major changes in my life. A new boyfriend, a major move, a career shift (if working in a yarn store and teaching can be considered a career), and all of the attendant drama. I'm still not settled, but with the completion of the socks, I feel that the next chapter is ready to begin.

So what should I make next?

Chicken Pot Pie

This was shockingly good. It was kind of soupy, but it thickened in the refrigerator. But the flavor was spot on, and I have no complaints. We ate this over the course of a week, and it just kept getting better!

Ingredients:
3 Chicken breasts
1 bag frozen peas
1 onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
3 stalks celery, chopped
1/2 bag baby carrots
4 red potatoes, quartered
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 quart chicken stock
1/3 cup flour
1 large puff pastry
Rosemary
Thyme
Sage
Salt
Pepper

Directions:
Place breasts in a baking dish and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, chop the onion, celery, and carrots. Quarter the potatoes. In a large saucepan, heat the oil and add the onions, garlic, celery, and carrots. Cook, stirring frequently, until the onions are translucent. Add the chicken stock and spice to taste. Bring soup to a boil, and add the potatoes.

When the chicken is done, remove it from the pan and chop it up and set aside. Mix some of the hot chicken stock into the flour, creating a slurry. Mix that slurry back into the soup and stir to mix. Cook on high for 10 minutes total. Pour the soup into a 2 qt pyrex dish, then top with the puff pastry. Be sure to cut some slits in the pastry to vent the steam. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes, or until the pastry is nice and brown.