Soups Day 2

Day 2.... not from the book but an edited faster version of yesterdays.

LENTILS WITH KABANOSSI. Serves 6

375g [12oz] split Red lentils

1 tablespoons Olive oil

Kabanossi sausage, thinly sliced

1 Onion finely chopped

2 Garlic cloves finely chopped

1.2l [2 pints] Vegetable Stock

900ml [1 1/2 pints] water

1 Bay leaf

1 Sprig of Thyme

3 Carrots, quartered and thinly sliced.

Seasoning

1. Heat the oil in a large pan, add Kabanossi and cook on moderate heat for 5 mins until browned. Remove with a slotted spoon, leave to drain on kitchen roll.
2. Add onion and garlic cook on moderate heat for 5 mins until soft. Add lentils, stock, water, bay leaf and thyme, bring to the boil, skimming off the scum. Reduce heat and Add carrots partially cover and simmer stirring occasionally for about 30-40 mins until lentils are well cooked.
3. Remove the bay leaf and blend the soup at this point. Season to taste. Add Kabanossi, heat for a further 5 mins. Serve.

Soups Day 1

A few years back my mum bought me a book called “SOUPS – over 200 of the best recipes”. I have to say I'm not a fan of cookery books, mainly because you have all these fancy recipes that require a pile of ingredients that are not in my cupboard!  But I really like this one.

I decided to share some of these here.......sort of a soup for every day of the week. So for Day 1.

YELLOW PEA SOUP WITH CHORIZO. A Spicey pulse-based soup. Serves 6

375g [12oz] split yellow peas, soaked overnight in cold water.

2 tablespoons Olive oil

Chorizo sausage, thinly sliced

1 Onion finely chopped

2 Garlic cloves finely chopped

1.2l [2 pints] Chicken Stock

900ml [1 1/2 pints] water

1 Bay leaf

1 Sprig of Thyme

3 Carrots, quartered and thinly sliced.

Salt

1. Drain the soaked peas and rinse
2. heat the oil in a large pan, add chorizo and cook on moderate heat for 5 mins until browned. Remove with a slotted spoon, leave to drain on kitchen roll. Retain 1 tablespoon of oil in pan.
3. Add onion and garlic cook on moderate heat for 5 mins until soft. Add peas, stock, water, bay leaf and thyme, bring to the boil, skimming off the scum. Reduce heat and partially cover and simmer stirring occasionally for 1 1/4 hours.
4. Add carrots and cook for a further 30 mins until tender. Season to taste. Remove the bay leaf and add chorizo, heat for a further 10 mins. Serve.

Another productive day..... kind of

Ok so this was late last night early this morning. I had to run up a birthday card for the DH, since I couldn't get rid of him in town on shopping day to buy one.  Still it turned out ok in my half sleepy state and on the inside it just read "....... for tea & cake!!!  Happy birthday!"  Well it was all I could come up with at that time in the morning.

Anyway I got up early and baked a cake for him to go with it. And I'm off in a minute to cook his steak dinner.

He had his spending spree yesterday so I guess he's content for now ;o)

He kept me busy today on the sewing machine, it's not often a man asks you to make curtains now is it?  Now they're not anything spectacular or fancy for that matter. Even the pattern runs from left to right  rather than up and down, but hey the front porch isn't used much and it's concrete.

I used the only fabric that I had big enough to fit, added some other fabric to edge the top and used hoops from a belt for the curtain rings.  The pole we bought yesterday, think it's supposed to be for a shower?!

Once all that was finally done, I decided to make a cover for the steering wheel.  This is because I have too many allergic reactions to stuff, and strongly suspect that the car steering may be causing my skin reaction on my hand.  This I've had for years and it has only now occurred to me to make a cover, at least that way it will always be covered and I won't be forgetting to protect my skin when driving.

Basically  you measure the steering wheel circumference. Take that measurement and cut the fabric on the stretch way, to fit that length when stretched.  Mine was 46 inches and the fabric was 42" unstretched.  Then I cut it 5 inches  wide, sewed the ends together so that I had a hoop. Folded the outer edges 1.5 cm and stitched, leaving a gap for the elastic. {The elastic I also stretched to 46 before cutting}, did this to both edges, threaded through the 1/2cm wide elastic and stitched everything in place.  In the end the cover was 3.5 inches wide and fitted perfectly.

I love it and it's such a tight fit that it doesn't slide, another bonus is that it is easy to wash too!!

I've just noticed that it is 1 year today since I started blogging.......... where does the time go?! 

Knitted Boots

Ok so now that I've actually finished these....no thanks to the DH or DOH (Dopey Other Half) as he broke my smaller curved upholstery needle.... So he's in the Sin Bin for the day!!!

Just a finished wearable pic and one so you can see the actual pattern clearly.  They turned out to be a size 7-8 in the end so  I think I could have bought a size 6 espadrille for the sole and gotten a good fit for my 7 1/2 feet.

Still I'm looking forward to wearing them when it gets cold enough...... hopefully a good few months away yet!

Boot Update 2

I've finished the first complete boot at last, I have to say I can't wait to get the second on done. They will be ready for my winter ice-block feet just in time I think, oh and they are so cosy too, with that nice thick sole I should be as warm as toast.

I'm really pleased with the finished result this time as it is a really snug fit and I'm not losing the soles when I walk.  Like I said previously I took 10sts out from each piece. I did work a row or two to join the two pieces together so that it would be easier to sew to the soles. I also stitched up the sides about 3 inches at the bottom. Then I crocheted up the edges adding 4 loops for the ties on each side.  I was lazy on the ties too, I just doubled the yarn and used a 4mm hook and chained a length for the laces

What will you find in your Driveway?

Apart from the gravel and the mountain of weeds that it seems to attract every year, you might find a lot of things waiting for you in the driveway........some welcome and some not!

Usually all I have is gravel and a hoard of weeds, along with the stalker cats......lol  Well it was tidy up about the house this week..........or try to..... and I thought I'd start of with the big weeds that were starting to think that they lived here! So when that was done it was the little ones turn to get evicted, so you can imagine my suprise when I pulled this out of the gravel!!! 

 Yep that is a mini carrot........ makes you wonder how it got there?  The only thing I can come up with is that the birds put it there...  still it did amuse me for a while!

Boot update number 1

Just when I thought I was finished! They turned out HUGE!!! and it was near impossible to walk in them. Soooooo I have disassembled them ( how I hate doing that) and started over with 10sts less this time.  This might just be too many less but it's a lot easier to add to the edges than to take away!

Well at least I got to leave the fleece on the soles...;o)