Socks

I finally finished the jaywalker socks - a week or two ago, actually. I'm just a slacker. This pic was taken before they were washed and blocked so they're kind of lumpy looking.

Yarn: Regia Ringel
Needles: size 1 dpn's
I pretty much followed the pattern exactly, and love them. I like that the stripes don't entirely match - gives them a definite hand-knit, quirky look.


Stockings for Cora's Halloween costume (and hopefully to be worn at Christmastime too)


Yarn: Red Heart Supersaver
Needles: size 7 dpn's
Pattern: none, I just made it up as I went along. I turned the first heel after I'd had a few beers, so it's a little goofy, but oh well. :-)

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Last night's dinner was stuffed peppers. Yum. And the peppers were from the garden, along with tomato sauce and dice tomatoes made from tomatoes I grew. It's so satisfying to be eating fresh, homegrown food. It also takes creativity. Really, what are you supposed to do with dozens of bell peppers? It's a shame they can't just get ripe one or two at a time, instead of all together.

Stuffed Peppers:

6 bell peppers
1 lb ground beef
2 cups prepared rice
1 cup tomato sauce
1 cup diced tomatoes
1/2 cup shredded cheese
spices

Brown the beef, then toss it in a bowl with the other stuff and mix well. Add whatever spices you like or have on hand. Cut the tops out of the peppers carefully, creating little pepper cups. Stuff the mixture inside, bake for 45 minutes at 350, until peppers are soft.

The recipe makes lots more stuffing than you need to stuff 6 peppers. Put the rest in a ziploc bag in the freezer, and it can be thawed to have stuffed peppers on a busy night when you don't feel like cooking. :-)

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I also have an obsession with food preservation. I canned 5 pints of bread and butter pickles the other night with cukes from the garden. Altogether I've probably canned about 30 quarts of food this year, and we haven't done apples yet and I still want to do salsa. The girls love snacking on canned peaches mixed with yogurt, Chloe eats pickled asparagus like it's going out of style, and we eat peanut butter and peach butter sandwiches all the time now. There's just something so satisfying about feeding my family things I've made like that.

The list of canned goods:
Peach salsa
Peach butter
Sliced peaches
Peach halves
Pickled asparagus
Bread and butter pickles

That might be all.... Not to mention all of the green beans, corn, and pesto I've but by in the freezer.

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My honey is off for the week again. I'm letting him sleep in now, at least a little. There's much to be done over the next two days, and then we're heading to Denver for a field trip/family getaway.