Taking a break.

Just like my little Dolce here I decided to take a little from knitting and crocheting. It was not because of boredoom with my current projects but actually it was because I felt that my hands needed a real break. Although I did not entirely quit I would only work for bits, and the sacrifice has paid off. My hands are healed and now I am retaking my favourite hobbies!

One of the first ones was one of the two crochet projects that I am working on. After feeling pain in my right hand whenever I would crochet for sometime (scary!) I did a little research and found out that there was another way I could hold the hook: like a knife. Eureka! my right hand does not hurt anymore and now I am enjoying crochet again! I am happy as I always liked it so much but would always hurt......not anymore now! :)
Here is a little update on the crochet skirt I am doing:

On other projects, because I am so excited about crochet I decided to fix an old knitting project that has been sitting in my closet for to long. It was the second knitting project I ever did and I always liked it. The reason I stopped wearing it is that when pants became low rise I was showing to much of my belly! Mmm, I don't mind showing but not that much so I decided to add a crochet rib to it, let's see how it goes!

During my break I had a special surprise. A plant that has travelled from far away lands to reach aztec territory decided to give me its best gift: a flower, but not just one but 4 this time! I have only seen it bloom three times in all its life: one in Switzerland and two in Mexico. First in Mexico it took 2 years to bloom; this time it took a year and a half to bloom again.......after seeing the following pictures can you believe that once, while travelling, it was just a sad potato packed in a ziplock?

2 flowers opened first.....

....two days ago the other two, to make 4 in total. They are so big you can see their size in the picture.

So after having such a surprise I had two not very pleasant ones in the kitchen department. One with a carrot cake that I did not like, the other one last night with a banana bread that kept on growing in the oven 'till it made a burning mess inside!....the good thing is that the flavor is quite good and being cake lovers at home it is almost finished by now :)

I decided this time to post a soup recipe for a change. It is one of my favourites and what I like is that it is both easy and inexpensive. It is from Martha Stewart.

Cream of Celery Soup.

Serves 6 to 8

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter

10 pale-green inner ribs celery, coarsley chopped (about 3 1/2 cups)

1/3 cup coarsley chopped shallots (or simple onion if you wish)

1 small russet potato, peeled and cut into cubes

Coarse salt

6 cups homemade or low-sodium chicken stock

1/4 teaspoon plus a pinch of freshly grated nutmeg

very thin slices of toasted baguette

pale-green celery leaves for garnish

1) Melt butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add celery, shallots, potato and a pinch of salt. Partially cover; cook, stirring often, until vegetables are soft but not browned. About 15 minutes.

2) Add stock; bring to a simmer. Reduce heat to low; cover, and cook 30 minutes. Stir in nutmeg. Let cool.

3) Purée soup in a blender or food processor in batches until completely smooth. Pour through a fine sieve into a large bowl, pressing with the back of a spoon to extract as much liquid as possible. Return soup to a pan; stir and season with salt. Just before serving, heat soup over medium heat (do not boil). Serve topped with baguette slices; garnish with celery leaves. Soup can be refrigerated, covered, up to 2 days.

Enjoy!

A presto!!