Easy Vegetable Pot Roast StewI’ve never done this before, but tonight I’m taking a page from sheriatheloopyewe and posting a recipe. Spring is here, but it’s still nippy, and I’ve been craving soup. Plus my mom gave me a fabulous new crock pot for Christmas and I’ve been wanting to use it more often.
So yesterday morning I got up and put on a pot of soup. It was knit group day anyway so I wanted to have dinner well underway before I left. So, without further ado, this is what I came up with:
Easy Vegetable Pot Roast Soup
2 lbs. cubed beef stew meat
3 cans condensed beef broth
3-4 stalks celery, chopped
1 medium onion, not too finely chopped
1/2 large bag baby carrots
1 3/4 lbs. diced tomatoes, canned
1 3/4 lbs. tomato puree, canned
1 can corn
1 can green beans
about 2 tsps dried chopped rosemary
salt and pepper to taste
Brown the cubed beef in a skillet until it starts to caramelize, but do not over-brown. Place in large crock pot. Pour one can of beef broth into skillet and use liquid to scrape beef drippings from pan. Pour broth with drippings into crock pot. Add the other two cans of broth. Add chopped celery, onions and baby carrots. Add canned ingredients; do not drain before adding. Add rosemary, salt and pepper. Cook on high for an hour or two, then switch to low for the remainder of the afternoon. Serve when you’re ready to eat dinner. I let mine cook for about a total of 7 hours, but you could probably do more or less and be fine. The trick is to cook until the meat falls apart easily with a fork or the edge of a soup spoon.
Serve with yummy bread; we ate ours with Challah from the bakery. Home-cooked heaven! Enjoy.
Sorry for the long time no bloggy thing, but this has been a long week for me. For starters, my good wheelchair is in for repairs (electrical short, AGAIN!) and I’ve been sitting in my old and clunky one for just over a week, and it makes me feel, well, old and clunky. I’ve been in the old chair for about a week now and my hip is really starting to complain. So excuse me if I don’t sound like a happy girl; the truth is I could cry tonight.
To top it off I’ve been having computer troubles too. The two USB ports on the front of my computer died some time ago (wheelchair meets USB cable dangling down from computer… so much for the USB ports. They were literally ripped out of my machine.). No I can’t replace the part. My computer’s too old. So I’ve been making do with a USB hub, except I have to use a powered one so that my iPod will charge, and electrical sources are already hard to come by around here… and I broke my USB hub. (wheelchair again. Are you sensing a pattern? Shut up with the laughing. I’m not in the mood.) Then, I’ve been having increasing problems with my monitor wanting to stay on. I was hoping against hope that it wasn’t my graphics card. Thank goodness it wasn’t! This morning when my monitor absolutely refused to turn on, I got up close to it and sort of looked at it sideways and discovered that the stuff was on screen, but the monitor was dark. Ok. So a dead backlight bulb I can live with. Monitors are way cheaper now than they used to be so I can take it.
Except you know what? A lot of the monitors are in widescreen now. I am not sure I like this. Not everything has to be like I’m watching a movie all the time, does it? The new layout of the computer screen is going to take some getting used to. Ick. Like I needed change just now, what with me being so crabby and all, on account of the wheelchair thing…
But I suppose it beats the alternative of the seriously black screen I was dealing with this morning. Maybe I should have taken the opportunity to download Jaws and experience the computer through alternate means, because, well, I am a web site manager and maybe I need to know these things a little more first hand. But, as I said, I’m crabby. So I don’t think I would have done well with something THAT new.
swatch for February Lady Sweater with cast on beginnings of sweaterBut there was one bright spot in my day: today we had an extra session of knit group! It was really fun and there were a few new folks. I brought along my gauge swatch for my February Lady Sweater, and one of my new knit pals checked my gauge for me, and I started the sweater. Yay! My first sweater, ever, except for the baby version I did last year. I don’t think this really counts because well, it’s just a baby sweater and so I wasn’t too concerned about whether it fit, because well, as Elizabeth Zimmermann herself said, “babies come in various sizes.” So I’m considering this project to be my first “official” sweater. Wish me luck! It’ll probably take me most of this year.
So far I have half of the first row done. Maybe I’ll be able to start the increases by tomorrow! I’m already planning my next one in bigger yarn, because this one is going to be slow going. Here’s to hoping that my impatience doesn’t get in the way!
I’ll blog about group tomorrow. It was fun, and I don’t want my current mood to rub off on my description of it! I had so much fun meeting all of the new folks today! See you tomorrow.
I spent nearly all week working on the first of three balls of navy blue silk yarn, and I finally felt like I hit a breakthrough late last night, so stayed up way too late winding yarn. Then, by this afternoon, with help from the kids (who find my ball winder to be most fascinating) the first ball was done. Then this afternoon my good friend Steve came over and asked me why my ball winder and swift were out, and I showed him the remaining two hanks. Next thing I know, he had the twisted mass of yarn all straightened out and ready to go on my swift, and so the second ball went much quicker!
Trish winding yarn
Once Steve got it all figured out about which end was which, after a few times of untwisting the yarn from around the hank it was actually pretty smooth going. I sometimes wonder if it’s my eyesight and perhaps I can’t see where the yarn is going, so I set it up wrong in the first place? I don’t know… but Steve was able to get it all sorted out, so the rest of the yarn got balled up today! Yay!
Yarn on jumbo ball winder
I actually love my ball winder. It’s the Jumbo Ball Winder by Strauch. I got it last year at the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival, and I have loved it! It was so worth the money to have something so sturdy. I got it because even though it comes with a clamp to clamp it to a table, it’s not 100% necessary to use the clamp, as long as you don’t wind it at breakneck speed. All of my tables have aprons under the table top so none of the ball winder clamps work on my tables anyway. So this one is good and sturdy and as you can see, it winds HUGE balls!
After I did the second ball, my mom and Tony showed up and prepared dinner, so Steve settled on the floor to tackle the third ball:
Steve winds the yarn
Next thing I know, BoyZilla wanted to take a turn on the ball winder:
BoyZilla and Steve wind the yarn
So, the yarn has been conquered and tamed into balls, and soon it will be on its way to becoming the February Lady Sweater.
navy blue silk yarn in a big heap of a mess I’ve been balling this yarn for three days now, and I have two small balls of yarn to show for my efforts. Sheesh! At this point my February Lady Sweater might never see the light of day. I love this yarn and I so want to begin! But alas, this hank that’s giving me all the trouble? It’s only one THIRD of the total amount of this yarn I have. Hopefully the other hanks won’t be such a disaster. But I have such terrible luck! I must be doing something completely and totally wrong when setting up yarn on my swift.
But that’s not the worst of my problems tonight. I have a hot wire on my chair so it’s out of commission until I can get it fixed. I have a backup chair, but that chair feels so clunky and uncomfortable. Something tells me it’s going to be a long week. Being in the wrong chair makes me grouchy, so if you’re someone who encounters me in the real world, you might want to stay away this week! I have an appointment next Thursday to have my chair worked on.
pinky orange laceweight yarnPerhaps this will make me feel a little better! I purchased this beauty from New York Yarns on Etsy. I love the pinky-orangey colorway that sort of reminds me of sherbet! It is superfine merino laceweight with silk. Now, if you know me, you know I’m not a lace knitter. But this ball of wonder totally called to me. There’s 1300 yards in here so I think maybe it has to be some sort of wrap for me. Someday.
Maybe tomorrow will be better. After all, it’s only yarn. It shall be a sweater. Someday.
navy blue silk yarn being balled up from a swiftYou’d think I’d learn, but apparently not. Never ever try to ball up a hank of yarn you’ve had in storage for three years unless you have a lot of time on your hands. Or when you’re really too tired to do it. Either of those two factors are a sure bet that the hank will be a twisty, loose mess. In fact, the more rushed and the more tired you are? The worse it will be. Trust me. I know.
The mere mention of the February Lady Sweater last night got my heart all a-flutter. I could not stop thinking about the prospect of starting that project all day. But I know enough about myself to know that I just dread winding yarn. Every time I try, it never cooperates. I even thought maybe I should wait until a weekend when I can have a friend over to help me.
Patience, however, virtue that it is, is something that I lack. Not just lack. Patience? I no haz it. So there was no waiting for the weekend, no pleading with some poor sucker one of my good yarny buddies to help me with the winding. So, start out on my own, I did, and this tiny ball, representing maybe one tenth of the yarn yet to be wound (from this hank; I have two more) is all I have to show for an entire evening’s work. I am not surprised by this, but I am nonetheless disappointed. I wanna knit! And I have miles to wind (literally) before I stitch.
My fingers are blue with navy yarn dye. It is the mark of a battle not yet won. I do so love this yarn, and the color, and the way it feels in my hands. I can’t wait for it to become something more than a pile of stringed frustration. Someday this beautiful yarn will be transformed, and perhaps I will forgive it for the trouble that it gives me now.
But it’s a long way before I’m there. For tonight, UGH!
stitch markers, double-ended crochet hooks, and colorful wooden buttonsI know I’ve said it before, that little things make me happy? Well, this week’s parcel post was no exception! Knit Picks has recently introduced their own line of knitting do-dads, and I happen to have the philosophy that one can never have too many knitting tools!
Most exciting for me is this little collection of double-ended crochet hooks. These little babies will be perfect for picking up all those dropped stitches. (Who, me? Drop a stitch? Pshaw, those things will never see the light of day! Uh-huh.) As sentimental as I am about my trusty red crochet hook, these will be handy to have with all the sizes I would need in half as many hooks. Not a bad deal!
The stitch markers are my favorite style, the rubberized kind. I find that these leap away from me a little less often than some of the other types, and I use them for almost all of my knitting projects. They also have locking stitch markers, split ring markers, and jump rings. Each of these is good for its own purpose and I am sure that eventually they all will find their way into my knitting bag.
The buttons are made from the same wood as the Harmony Needles. Oh my, they are pretty pretty! My heart goes all a-flutter at the very sight of these. I bought 8 each of the two styles shown here. I’m pretty sure I’m going to put the toggle-style buttons on a future February Lady Sweater. In fact, I love these buttons so much that I want to cast on for it like, NOW. But alas, I shall wait for the weekend. I have lots of yarn to ball up for it first.
Knit Picks has introduced lots of other tools at great prices, including a ball winder, blocking tiles, blocking wires, and lots of other stuff. And all at great prices, per the Knit Picks tradition. Oh, and have you seen their gorgeous new yarn? I’m surprised none of it has followed me home yet.
