viernes, 9 de mayo de 2008

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!!

3 comentarios:

Rita dijo...

Marie, your doggie is such a cutie!
I know all about aching hands and fingers from crocheting too much and I'm really interested in what you said about holding the hook like ....a knife?? that sounds interesting, where did you find that information?
PS
you are very lucky being able to eat cakes without getting fat! ;)
Ciao xx

Zia dijo...

Oh the Amaryllis looks so lovely Marie, it's such a beautiful flower!

Well I hope that extra bit of crochet on your sweater turns out ok – don't forget to show us if it does. :)

Unknown dijo...

Hola!!

Oye pues qué mal que te hayan dolido tus manos, de hecho si ocurre a muchas tejedoras. Tengo una conocida que incluso la tuvieron que operar de la mano por tejer tanto, así que más vale prevenir. Oye... ¿no has intentado con los ganchos anti artríticos? Desde que los probé no los suelto y no me han dolido las manos..... Los que uso son los Clover Soft Touch.

Cuidate!!