Wordless Wednesday -- The Tree Is Up!!

Winter Day Smoothie

Oh, the weather outside is frightful, but my smoothie's so delightful ...

Yes, even on cold blustery days there is nothing quite as wonderful as a nice cold smoothie to jumpstart my day. Today I mixed it up a bit and mixed tropical with earthy for a truly yummy combination.

Now it might not look like much ... brown is not the color you'd expect for a "green" smoothie but the blueberries and blackberries mix with the green to make a rich brown color -- but let me assure you, it's delicious.

Give it a try when you're in need of a pick-me-up!




Winter Day Smoothie

1 medium banana
1/2 cup chunks of pineapple
1 cup frozen blueberries, blackberries, and raspberries
2 handfuls baby spinach
splash orange juice
1 cup of crushed ice

Start out putting the banana, pineapple and berries into blender and blend to to a smooth consistency. Add the spinach and continue to blend until all ingredients are creamy. Add a splash of orange juice and the ice and blend to a smoothie/milkshake consistency. Pour into a glass and pop in a straw to enjoy!

There Are No Knit Sweaters In My Future ...

I'm trying to learn to knit. Now a pair of wrist warmers may not seem like much of a challenge to most but it represents (to me anyway) hours and hours of focused frustration. LOL.

Seriously.

I got together with a woman I met through the internet (via Meetup Groups) who gave me a few pointers and helped to get me started with this knitting project. I've only done crochet prior to this and to be honest, these wrist warmers represent my second attempt at knitting. I have made a dish cloth prior to this ... which I refuse to use since it's such a prized trophy of my accomplishment! (It's stuffed in a bag under my bed.)

I made so many mistakes the first time around with this that I ended up ripping it out and starting over. In fact, I probably started over at least 10 times. I realized that with crochet, I'm comfortable with what the end result should be -- I have a pretty good sense of how to tweak my stitches if need be, how to detect mistakes early on, and how to rip out only that which needs to be ripped out if it should come to that. With knitting, I don't realize I've made a mistake until it becomes blaringly obvious. I don't know how to fudge to get back on track virtually unnoticed, and I don't know how to rip out and then get the stitches back on the needle without going back to the very beginning.

I wonder how long I'll stick with knitting.

For the moment, I am at least going to try to finish up these simple wrist warmers. I'd like to give them to my mom (maybe for Christmas.) They really are just rectangles of ribbing. The long sides get stitched together next to the wrist and then again above the thumb to make for "fingerless gloves."

Here's what I've got so far. I really do love the colors although the picture doesn't really show it off well. This one is close to being done (maybe another inch or so left to knit before starting on the second one.) I would like to get this project finished up in the next day or so as I've got crochet projects going that I'd also like to finish (and start!)


Note: I used Red Heart Yarn "Aspen Print" medium weight worsted yarn. Size 7 Needles. The pattern was a simple ribbing stitch ... CO 32 (or 38 for a larger hand/wrist) and then K2, P2 across for each row until the desired length is reached.

Wordless Wednesday -- Reflections of Boston at Night

Homemade Chicken Vegetable Soup

With the weather getting colder, there's nothing like a pot of soup on the stove to make you feel all warm and fuzzy (inside and out.) I've been playing around with this recipe for a while now and think I've finally tweaked it enough that it's just the way I like it. My sweet hubby says it's perfect and so I've decided it's time to post it.

I'm going to be trying it "Vegetarian" style next time around -- white beans instead of chicken and low-sodium vegetable broth instead of chicken broth. I might also add some escarole at the end instead of spinach. And actually, I'm not sure if I'll keep the orzo or not since it might be a bit much with the beans. Maybe I'll try it once with beans and once with orzo and see which we like better ... hmmm. Lots of potential variations here!

Anyway, without further ado ...

Homemade Chicken Vegetable Soup

2 – 3 boneless and skinless Chicken breasts (cut into bite-size pieces)
1 teaspoon Olive Oil
4 stalks Celery, sliced on diagonal
1 medium Onion, roughly chopped
4 Carrots, cut in thin slices
1 package sliced Mushrooms, chopped
1 Tablespoon Parsley Flakes
1 teaspoon dried Thyme
1 teaspoon dried Rosemary
½ teaspoon freshly Ground Black Pepper
1 teaspoon Balsamic Vinegar
1 cup Orzo (wheat preferred)
64 ounces Chicken Broth (low-sodium, fat free)

Heat olive oil (or use spray oil) in sauté pan and add chicken, cooking until no longer pink. Remove from heat and set aside.

Place celery, onions, carrots, and mushrooms into a large pot. Add just enough broth to cover. Cover and cook over medium heat until vegetables are tender, stirring occasionally.

Stir in the remaining broth, spices, and balsamic vinegar. Bring to a boil and add orzo. Cook until pasta is tender and then stir in chicken. Reduce heat to medium and simmer until chicken is heated through.

Serves 6

Notes: I often add a handful of chopped spinach at the end when adding the chicken. Will probably need to add more broth to leftover soup as pasta soaks up the moisture.

My Mom's Stuffing

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving and it's going to be a little different for us this year. Instead of hosting and doing the cooking as I have for the past 30 years, I'll be traveling to New York to spend the day with my daughter and mother-in-law (and to visit with my mom who's in a nursing home.) I won't be doing the cooking this year -- I'm leaving that to Wegmans.

While I'm so happy that despite moving to Massachusetts we are still able to be with family on special days, there is one thing I'm really going to miss -- my mom's turkey stuffing. She made it for as long as I can remember and when I took over the cooking duties many years ago, there was never a question as to what kind of stuffing to make.

I still remember mom telling me that she got the recipe from her good friend, Ruthie Kern, when she was a young bride. The recipe was attributed to Ruthie's Great-Grandma Colgrove and mom told me that while we use regular store bought saltines in it these days, back then they actually made the crackers to put in the stuffing.

I thought that since I won't be making this tomorrow, I should at least share the recipe. (I did buy a turkey today to put in the freezer and was thinking maybe I would make this for Christmas Eve ... so all is not lost!) And my son mentioned to me last week that his wife now makes this stuffing as does her mother and all her aunts ... long live Grandma Colgrove!

Mom's Turkey Stuffing

Single batch (enough for small turkey):

1 loaf fresh Bread
1 stack Saltine Crackers
1 medium Onion
2 cups Milk
2 sticks Margarine
Sage
2 Eggs

Double Batch (enough for large turkey):

1 ¾ loaves fresh Bread
2 stacks Saltine Crackers
1 large Onion
3 cups Milk
2 ½ sticks Margarine
Sage
3 Eggs

Cube bread and crumble crackers. Chop onion. Mix together in large bowl and set aside. Meanwhile, heat milk and margarine over low heat in saucepan until margarine is melted and milk is hot. Pour over bread mixture and let stand for 5 minutes. Add sage to taste.

Beat the eggs until fluffy and fold in. If too soupy, add more crackers. If too dry, add another egg. Salt and pepper to taste.

Stuff turkey. If baking stuffing separately, place in greased casserole and cover. Bake at 325 for about one hour.

Wordless Wednesday -- Remembering The Cape