Jam plan

Freezer Jam- It's so simple, quick and look at those darling little canning jars.  This is raspberry-strawberry freezer jam. It's delicious on scones, pancakes, and vanilla ice cream. I'm thinking about making clementine curd and Concord grape jelly too. Of course, those will be a little more involved than the freezer jam, but I'm beginning to love canning at the end of the summer. 

Cook book Dilemma

I am a cook book junkie.  I've collected more than my fair share of cookbooks over the years, but one thing I've noticed is that many of them sit, untouched on my hutch. They still look new. I peruse them every now and then and put them back. For instance, I've owned a couple of Martha Stewart cook books that I received as an intro gift when I joined a cook book club many many years ago. Yes, I belonged to a cook book club.  To my knowledge, I've never made anything out of them except the pie dough recipe. As both my cooking skills and tastes have evolved over the years, I've sold some and given away more. I check most cook books out from the library now.  Stacks and stacks of them! There are definitely more cook books published these days mostly in thanks to the popularity of the Food Network. I refer to allrecipes.com often. I check to see how Alton Brown would make something Now that I have a Kindle, I've downloaded a couple of cook books there too. I'm not sure the Kindle is the right place for cook books.  Something gets lost from the hardcover edition to the digital edition, but that's a topic for another day.

 So, with that said, I have a question for anyone out there reading this. If you like cooking, do you collect cook books? Are there only a handful worth having? If so, what are your indispensible cook books? Do you prefer searching the web for culinary inspiration? Have any cook books been huge disappointments?

I'm definitely in the trimming-the-cook-book-collection mode. I've sold four cook books recently on the Amazon used marketplace and I continue to trim the fat, so to speak.  So, please tell me about your cook book collections or even if you don't have lots of cook books. I don't want to have these books just to have them. I want to use them.  Certainly there are definitely the go-to cook books and some come out only seasonally.  That's okay.  I'm more about having a truly smaller yet more loved collection. Tell me how technology has changed your way of thinking in the kitchen as well. Thanks.

Yarn Along: The Too Small Sweater

I should have known better. Really.  I should have known better. I started this sweater in July on our driving trip to California.  I knit the body of the sweater quickly and like I always do, I set it aside and cast on a new project. I didn't feel like picking up the stitches for the sleeves and so it sat in my knitting bag.  Then, I knit one sleeve and well, that wasn't so bad, but again, I put it away until last night. I stayed up late and knit the second sleeve. I knew it would not fit. I made a bad choice. Liam was so small and I thought the 12 month size would be enormous when I started this project, but the babies both have had growth spurts recently. Since I let this sweater sit incomplete, Liam kept growing and well, the sweater didn't. I could barely get it over his head, but I was determined to get some photos since this will be the only time he wears it. I need to knit sweaters for both the twins and I just realized that's four sleeves! I better make sure I cast on the 18 month size given how much time it takes me to get to the sleeves!  Okay, I'm kidding, but I definitely see the effects of my lack of discipline. I also learned that I need to bind off more loosely.  It's really tight around the sleeves and bottom.  I should just go up a needle size and try to bind off loosely.  So, it isn't a total loss. I do learn a lot from my kntting failures and it's not a real  failure. I, at least, got a picture of Liam's first handknit sweater from mama.

I did manage to finish the hat I started last week, but it's too small for my intended recipient. Ugh! Tess quickly decided that it's her hat now.

As for reading, I'm still reading most of last week's reading, but I'm definitely in a funk. I'm just not finding enough time in my day right now. The twins are teething and are keeping me up more and more each night right now. I'm exhausted and I can really feel the fatigue today, but yet I keep on knitting no matter how tired I am.

Head on over to Ginny's today for the Yarn Along!

The Molly Hat

I should have saved this for this week's Yarn Along, but I couldn't help but post this.  I finished this hat late last night. Actually, I made this for my friend's little girl, but I could tell last night that it was going to be too small. It isn't even going to fit Tess for very long. I'm still delighted with it anyway.  I love the color changes in Jojoland Melody Superwash yarn in the colorway Summer in Full Bloom (MS26).  This is the hat from last week's Yarn Along.  I guess I will start another hat for Ella this week and maybe I'll have it done in time for her birthday on Friday!

The twins are 10 months today!

Liam gets the block for a minute, but ultimately, James wins.

Me at....

39!

Highlights from our Summer vacation

                                 


3082 miles
Colorado, Utah, Arizona, Nevada
Las Vegas,  Discovery Bay, Gilroy Gardens, Santa Cruz, Monterey and then back to Las Vegas, Hoover Dam, and Arches National Park
All pictures taken with my phone.
Should we try a drive like this again? Ask me next summer.