Thursday, January 18, 2018

Hank Winding

My knitting friends near and far will know what this blog title means.  It is not one of my favorite things to do when preparing to knit but like always I seem to take the less easy way to do things.  Especially when it involves spending money on something that I can do with out.  I have no idea how much a hank winder costs and no desire to check.  Most of the yarn I knit socks with comes in what is called a hank.  That means before using I have to roll it into balls, two actually because I like to knit both socks at the same time.  Many have learned to knit socks on a long circular needle...............not Cheryl.  I love to learn new ways or a new hobby but there is always the few that I have no desire to learn and knitting both socks on a circular needle is one of them.   My type A personality, show me it's easier and I will swear my way is better......even if it's not.  I have two sets of double pointed needles the same size.  Ummm, maybe two sets of several sizes.  I cast on to both sets, knit the cuff on each set, move onto the heel for both and then on to the foot.  For some reason the pair of socks get done much quicker and both are exact length in each step of the way.  No writing down by knitting this way.  One important thing with knitting or crocheting, COUNT, always count how many stitches as you knit or crochet.  That way you will know if you dropped a stitch and it will only be back one row.  It took me a while to do this but by 68 years old..........counting is the key.  Not as in counting my age, that is not necessary, age is only a number!
The hank as it is untied and ready to wind.
Above is the 100grams of washable hand dyed wool from Peru.  As I was getting ready to start winding I thought to myself, please let the guy or gal that hand wound this hank take pride in their work and not have a "rats nest" somewhere in it.  Rats nest?........that just popped into my mind because that is what my mom use to say when she combed my long hair.  I would jump and ouch and complain and she would say, Cheryle Anne, I don't know how you get some many "rats nests" in your hair when you sleep.  Darn they hurt!   Get to hank winding........

RATS NEST
Well there is a rats nest!  Almost finished winding the yarn and BAM it started.  I can say it is almost as painful for me as the rats nest  werein my hair.  It took one hour to work through it and save every inch of yarn without giving up and cutting it.  I know why they are called rats nests.....a mouse nest would be small and no big problem.  This afternoon I will be winding another hank.

Ends are already to finish off with the Kitchener Stitch.
January and February bring knitting and quilting to my hands.  I love hand stitching a quilt this time of year, all warm and cozy setting with the quilt on my lap.  Just before Christmas I finished the #10 quilt for the #10 grandchild.  Sloan's quilt is all lavenders, white and silver.  Yes, silver!  I have no idea how I decided to use silver binding but it is a favorite of mine.  I even found a lavender, purple and silver throw pillow to match. 
Sloan's quilt, doily and pillow.

 Next I will be cutting all of my leftover material from quilts that I have made in the last 5 years.  I don't care if they  match and would rather they don't.  There is a plan floating around in this strange mind of mine and it is not going to be the traditional patterned quilt.  My mind will be flying free and maybe beads and embroidery will be used too!  No matter the project from one to the next I get just as excited to start a new one.  Free and out of the norm is the next quilt. 

By the time March comes the indoor hobbies will be put to rest and we will be back at the cabin with a list of projects to do and some to finish up.  The cabin looks so cute all nestled in the snow with the greenery and red poinsettia flowers tucked in the flower boxes.  It looks cute but it also looks lonesome or maybe I am lonesome for cabin time.  Soon.............

Friday, January 5, 2018

Not Always the Equipment

A couple months ago I bought a small kitchen appliance.  It was love at first use.  Oil and greasy foods have never been a friend of my "ecosystem".  This air fryer offers the crispness like grease fried foods without the grease.  My main concern was to convince the guy that lives here to be as accepting.  He was!  Of course the first thing I tried was fresh cut french fries.  Seriously so simple,  cut them the thickness we like, soaked them in ice cold water for about an hour but it really doesn't matter if it is been 24 hours.  Then I drained and patted dry as much as possible, I am not one to dwell on completely because then it seems tedious.  Next I put them in the inner bowl of the air fryer, sprinkled two TBSP of oil and shake them around. They can be piled high.  I used olive oil the first time and after that canola oil and grape seed oil.  They all turned out crispy and tasty.  I put them in for 10 minutes at 400 degrees, shook them around and 10 more minutes.  It depends on how you like your fries.  Once they were done to our liking I sprinkled with salt.  A tip, once they are done remove from the air fryer.  Leaving them in will take the crispiness from them.  They need to be put to the open air rather than closed up in the fryer.  Another great feature.........clean up is a snap!  No grease spatters and so far nothing has stuck to the fryer.....I really like this thing.
Not one of the expensive ones but it works great!

Tonight we are having chicken tenders.  For tenders I buy fresh chicken tenders from the meat department.  You can buy whole chicken breasts but they tend to be less tender and dryer than a true chicken tender.  Yes, there really is a part of the breast called the tenderloin.  Even though when I asked once at Tops if they had fresh chicken tenders the gal said........no such thing, they are just cut up chicken breasts.  Who am I to argue with the meat department at the grocery store?  Oh wait, I am the chicken lady after all from the egg layers, to the meat hens (which I will NEVER raise again) to just loving to watch the chickens peck around.  Back to the fried chicken tenders.  I cleaned the little white tendon that runs down the middle out and soaked them in a bowl of buttermilk (because buttermilk makes everything crispier) with one large egg whisked in, salt and pepper.  This will soak for about an hour.  To a cup of flour I add what ever seasonings I feel like.  Tonight it is pepper, salt, garlic powder, smokey paprika and a mixture of seasoning that I buy for grilled steaks and meat.  I spray the bottom of the pan from the air fryer (it looks like a colander).  Shake off as much of the buttermilk and egg from the tenders and then roll in the flour mixture.  Place them in the fryer pan so they are not touching and spray the top lightly with Pam (I use the cheaper Aldis brand).  I set the fryer for 375 and the timer for 15 minutes, checking then to see if they are ready to be turned.  If so I turn them and fry for another 10 minutes.  Sometimes it is time enough but it might take 5 more minutes.  Take them out, place on a rack to let air circulate to keep them crispy and finish frying the rest of the tenders. I had two batches, when the second one was done I put the first batch on top and turned the timer on for 1 minute to heat them.  Worked great and 1 minute was all it took!
Almost ready to air fry!

The finished chicken tenders.  More comments below.



So here is what the title of this blog refers to.  It is not the equipment that matters but the person using it.  We built the cabin across the road with minimal tools and not the most expensive.  We tend to go middle of the road and always since the internet and reviews have come to be rely on helping to make our choice on what to buy.  So, the air fryer was middle of the road in price.  If I didn't like it and couldn't return it I wouldn't feel so bad about the money spent.  Well, maybe I would because I hate wasting $$.  I ordered it from Amazon with being quite confident they would take it back.  So far there has been NO complaints with their customer service.  Happy to say the air fryer is at Cook'n by the Creek to stay. 

When young, married and with children I would sew outfits for my kids.  I used my grandmothers/mothers treadle sewing machine (I still have it) until I could come up with $40. for an electric one.  One thing for sure, the treadle could sew just as nice as the electric one.  Convenience with the electric was the only thing better.  We lived two houses up from Marie Brown Stout.  She was a master seamstress and yes with an old sewing machine.  She made so many beautiful outfits and coats just as my mom had with her old treadle machine.  Another thought,  Bill Stavisky had a beautiful garden every year.  I would marvel at the "OLD" rototiller he used.  I think it could possibly have been the first one built!  It was a heavy old thing that you had to wrestle with to keep going straight and not dig its way to China.  It worked and in all the 20+ years I watched him every summer he never bought a new one.  So now do you understand what I mean when I say it is not the equipment but the person running it?  Sometimes out with the old and in with the new isn't really worth the money or effort if you are getting good results with what you have.  Something to think about.

Back to the tenders......Now let me be honest.  When I say the tenders are good, they are.  Do they taste like deep fried in oil tenders, no.  But it is a great alternative to healthier eating that really does satisfy the crunch.  Remember, nothing can take the place of the "real deal" and what we all grew up eating.  My digestive system is happy with air fry and that is all that matters to me.  I don't have to say no to fried now.  Had we never tasted grease fried food we probably wouldn't like it introduced in our later years.  Next week I will be trying Walleye fish that our Canadian friends gave us.  Researching recipes and maybe more to be told in the future on the blog.  

* The second batch I mixed a couple TBSP of maple sugar granules I had made last week.  That was my favorite!