Sunday, April 19, 2020

Micromanagement

Another week of work from home is over.  This was week 5.  My self-appointed boss constantly checks up on me to make sure I am keeping on task.  The micromanagement is becoming unbearable.  It's like having a toddler.  I can't even go to the bathroom without the boss following me.   I swear she is magical.  If Ed or I open the pantry door, she's right there, materializing out of nowhere.  And she's not above blackmail.  She claims she'll report us to upper management for taking an unscheduled break if we don't give her a treat.  It's horrible.  She's a real catty bitch!


To help with the stress of isolation, I decided to make some comfort food out of leftover Easter ham.  I attempted to reproduce Mom's ham salad.  It was close but not quite right.  Part of the problem I think was the ham.  We ate a spiral sliced ham.  Mom always cooked a whole ham.  My ham salad was a bit sweet, probably from the glaze.  My younger sister also said it probably needed a little onion, which I did not put in.  There will be another attempt.  Maybe not with this ham, but with the next.  I still have plans for split pea soup with the remaining leftover ham.


I am knitting a gauge swatch for a summer sweater and needed to find some empty US 6 needles.  Down in the basement, I came across a couple long hibernating UFOs.  This is Heat Wave that I was knitting out of some alpaca my sister spun for me ages ago. Digging through old posts it looks like I started this in October 2011, right before my dad passed away.  I remember knitting on this while sitting with Mom at the house.  I remember her commenting that it looked like it was going to be pretty.  I'm sorry I never finished it in time for her to see it.  It went into the hibernation bin because the pattern is quite difficult.  Now that I have it out, I'll try to slowly work on it.  Maybe someday I'll get it done.


Last post I promised a picture of the Discovery shawl.  Here is the finished front and the cast on edge of the back.  With the telecommuting I'm doing these days, I knit a little of this during online meetings where I mainly listen.  I can get 3-4 rows done during each of my team's daily scrum.


Probably like other people I am attempting different culinary things.  The other night I found a pie crust that was coming close to its expiration date and some apples.  I attempted some baked apples.  These aren't the prettiest things in the world but they were yummy with some ice cream.


I have been trying a few other culinary adventures.  This morning I made scones and I have a jar of sourdough starting bubbling away on the kitchen counter.  Later this week I'll try sourdough pizza crust.  Ed's not a fan of sourdough bread, but maybe if its pizza crust he won't mind too much.

Saturday, April 11, 2020

Knitting Update

I have been doing a good amount of knitting during these times.  It is the only thing keeping me sane.  The isolation is starting to get to me, as well as things I'm seeing and hearing on the news.  I fear that the national response to this is being driven by an agenda to change our society.  And I don't like the direction it is going.  I'll stop here.  I don't to turn this post into a rant.

One of my nieces is having a baby girl in May.  I knit her a sweater and figured I had enough yarn left to make some booties.  The pattern I selected is called Baby Janes.  I divided the yarn in half and made two wee balls.  After finding my size 6 needles, I cast on.  These should be a quick knit but I was tired when I started and put them down.  Also, Squeaks found the other ball and began to play.  After rescuing it from under the couch and rewinding, I tucked it away for the night.


Squeaks seems to have developed a discerning taste in yarn.  Before the incident last night with the little ball of Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran, she developed a great affinity for the mohair from my Birds of a Feather shawl.  I'll admit it is very lovely.  To a cat it must smell delicious.


I keep this project in this bag.  I've caught Squeaks several times with her head in the bag.  Not sure if she is just breathing the yarn fumes, which I can't blame her, or plotting how to steal the mohair again.  At any rate, I now keep the bag cinched closed so the little kitty can't run off with my mo.


In the past week I also finished the front panel for my Discovery Knitting poncho.  I believe I bought the kit for this from YarnByrds when Birdie was a Wool Gathering, probably in 2018.  I'll post more about this project next time, including a photo of my progress.

Thursday, April 9, 2020

Times Like These Calls For Comfort Food

The fourth week of lock-down is coming to a close.  Ed and I are feeling healthy and strong, but still have tiny, lingering coughs.  We doubt we are contagious any longer, but we didn't want to risk infecting the kids so we told Blake and Kristin that we thought it probably wasn't the best idea to come home for Easter.  Blake want to have a family Zoom session at dinner time.  I think it's a great idea.

The weather has been helping to make the current situation more bearable.  I'm doing a lot of knitting, even some out on the front porch.  The fresh air really helps to brighten my mood.


Another thing to brighten my mood was the April installment from Stunning Strings.  Their choices for colors this month were just what I needed.  So soft and Springy.


Like many others I'm finding more time to try things I hadn't before.  During my grocery run yesterday (with my requisite mask on) I picked up a rotiserrie chicken with the intention of making chicken noodle soup.  Even though I was able to buy noodles I decided to try making my own.  I found a couple recipes and decided to use the ingredients from one and the method from another.   

Most of the mixing was done by my KitchenAid.  The final kneading of the dough was a nice stress relief.


I tried to roll the dough as thinly as I could, but the gluten kept it fairly thick.  I decided to cut them into 1/4" strips.


After a couple hours of drying, they were added to the chicken soup.  It was a success!  Since the kids weren't home to eat it, I'm going to have to make this again.


I won't mind.  It was delicious.  Perfect comfort food.