Jenny's Journey

Sometimes, something in life happens that you can't quite comprehend.  The passing of my niece who lost a 3 year battle with leukemia was just devastating to all who loved her.  She fought a courageous fight and at the end, she was at home where she wanted to be surrounded by loved ones including her "boys" - the 2 little dogs she loved so dearly.  Rest now Jenny, you're free.

Fall Knitting Retreat

Fall is my favorite time of year.  I went the first ever Fall into Fancy Image Yarn Knitting Retreat held at Timberline Lodge at the base of Mt. Hood, Oregon.  The weather was gorgeous and I met so many nice people at the retreat.  The best part was the hand dyed yarn that Myra made up just for this knitting retreat.  I made some fingerless mitts out of them (pattern supplied at the retreat and you can download it free from Ravelry - it is called Susie Roger's Reading Mitts).  The pictures do not do the colorway of this yarn justice.  It is autumn in a skein of yarn!

End to a great day!

Had a great time at the neighbors for BBQ on the 4th.  The weather was perfect in the 80's during the day and crisp cool sleeping weather in the 50's at night.

Happy 4th of July!

Hope everyone is staying cool and enjoying their summer!

Valentine's Day Treats

For Valentine's Day, I'm posting some of my favorite things.

I love making cards, and I made this card for my mom using a combination of Stampin' Up products and some from Joann's.  Ida's Cupcake Cafe makes the best red velvet cupcakes!  I have to say, that after a 48 hour work week, nothing feels better than a pedicure from Terri at Celadon Spa.

Two At A Time

So last month I was at my local yarn store and was looking at some really beautiful soft sock yarn and another knitter was looking at the yarn, too.  We began talking about knitting styles, and she said "Have you ever done two at a time?".  Excuse me.  Two at a time?  Are we talking about knitting?  Then she said she magic loops socks two at a time (which I also magic loop and knit with one circular needle when making socks or other things with small circular diameters), but have only knit one sock at a time.  I told her I have read about two at a time but felt it would be too much trouble trying to keep the strands of yarn from being tangled all the time and keep each sock in order.  Well, she kind of made me feel that I was an inferior knitter because I did not knit socks two at a time.  Well, I thought, I'll show her.  So, I bought a book on the subject and looked at some resources on Ravelry.com and proceeded to knit my socks.  And by golly, I did it.  It took me a bit to get a system down to keep the strands of yarn from getting all tangled up, and at one point I did not think I was going to get through it.  Anyway, here are pics of the progress and end result and my granddaughter has been wearing these socks.

Homemade "Instant" Wonton Soup

When it gets cold outside, I usually want a bowl of steaming hot soup for dinner.  Here's my version of  a quick-to-fix wonton soup that will warm you all over.

It takes less than 30 minutes to make and will make you feel happy that you did!  The recipe:

1 bag Trader Joe's frozen Chicken Cilantro Mini Wontons
Couple of handfuls of roughly chopped Bok Choy (I used 1/2 package of the baby bok choy from Trader Joe's) Rinsed and then chopped.
2 cans (approx. 14.5 oz each) low sodium chicken broth
1 Tablespoon soy sauce

Pour chicken broth into a pan and bring to a boil.  Toss in the chopped bok choy and bring back up to a boil.  Add FROZEN wontons and bring back up to a simmer.  Gently simmer for 5-6 minutes until wontons are heated through.  Add soy sauce and serve & enjoy.  Makes 2 hearty main dish servings.
ETA:  Keep pan covered to prevent broth from evaporating while cooking.