Knitting Sandwich

a little leprechaun love

 

 

happy st.pat's day!

-melissa & leprechaun lily

the big oh-seven

well i did finish lily's birthday sweater in time for her to wear it to school on her actual birthday.  but i finished it only the night before and therefore was unable to block it.  

she wore it to school, no problem, but y'all are going to have to wait for an official photoshoot until it's been blocked.  but you can have a little sneak peek... lil's big present for her 7th birthday was getting her ears pierced.  i've had a few requests for photos, so here you go:

isn't she grown up?  (and see how the neckline doesn't really lay flat?  it's much better if you wait to see more until it's been blocked.)

she also had her birthday party last weekend.  as per her request it was a wolf themed party, which mostly meant i made wolf hats out of newspaper, there was a lot of howling, and they ran around outside like a pack of wild wolves.

fun times.  especially for miss lilllian.  which is how it should be on ones birthday!

-melissa

holiday giveaway winner!

drum roll please......

and the winner is:

Congratulations Mary!!

happy holidays everyone!

-melissa

holiday giveaway!

in the spirit of the holidays i'm going to host a giveaway!

163yds of worsted weight handspun yarn.  it was spun by me and i want to give it to YOU!

if you'd like a chance to win, just leave a comment and tell me..... your favorite holiday movie or song, or both!  i'll leave comments open for a week and then draw a winner.

happy holidays!!

-melissa

ps - my favorite holiday movie is home alone and my favorite song might actually be sleigh ride or it could be carol of the bells, i'm not sure.

preparing for the return

i will fully admit to loving how it gets dark so early this time of year.  but even inside a diehard winter fan like myself there resides a small spark of desire for the return of the light and warmth of the sun.

the cloth is texas sun by rainy kimbrough (rav link) and will be part of a solstice gift for some dear friends.

-melissa

the tradition continues

it's been a couple years since my last post, but the tradition of lily and brian putting the star on top of the tree has continued.

2010:

2011:

happy december everyone!!

-melissa

new horizons

Happy Happy New Year!

Wishing you the brightest of new years, filled with joy, warmth and endless possibilities.

Cheers for all the wonderful things which await you on your path this year!

 

 

The warmest of holiday greetings,

 

-cmv & the sandwich

peace * love * joy

what ever you believe and how ever you celebrate,

i wish you peace, love, and joy!

-melissa

perspective tilt

i was walking down the hall and out of the corner of my eye i saw this, and it made me stop and do a double take.

how often do we look at things from a different angle?

especially during this season of rush and rush and buy and buy and do and do and go and go and did i mention RUSH!!!

use this as a moment to take a breath, tilt your perspective and come up for air.  i know i did.

-melissa

top five holiday treats

Happy Holidays all! 

It's time for our top five list again and we thought it only fitting to dedicate it to all those scrumptious treats which soon await us as the holidays make their arrival.  Yum! Isn't this a fabulous time of year for eating?!

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Here are Melissa's picks:

1. cocoa streusel cheesecake bars (from the penzey’s christmas 2003 catalog) i can’t tell you how yummy these are!! and so easy to make! i make some every year for the holidays and for other various times when i need an easy yet impressive dessert.

1 3/4 C flour
1 1/2 C powdered sugar
1/2 C cocoa powder
2 sticks butter (cold)
1 8oz pkg cream cheese (softened)
1 14oz can sweetened condensed milk
1 egg
2 tsp vanilla extract

preheat oven to 350 deg
combine flour, sugar, an cocoa. cut in butter until mixture is crumbly. reserve 2 cups for topping, press remaining mixture into ungreased glass 9x13 pan.
bake crust for 15 min
while it’s baking - beat cream cheese until fluffy. gradually beat in condensed milk until smooth. add egg and vanilla - mix well.
pour over crust, sprinkle reserved cocoa mixture over top.
bake for 25 min, until bubbly.
chill, cut, and store in refrigerator.

2. scalloped corn (from claire’s wonderful family friend renee) i had this one year when i went home with clarie for thanksgiving and loved it so much i insisted that renee give me the recipe right then and there. i recommend doubling the recipe so that you can have warmed up leftovers the next day. yum!!!!

1 can whole kernel corn
1 can creamed corn
2 eggs
2/3 C evaporated milk
1/4 C butter
2 tsp minced onion
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
2 C crushed soda crackers

drain and save liquid from whole kernel corn.
beat eggs in large bowl. stir in corn, 1/4C liquid, cream-style corn, milk, melted butter, salt, and pepper - mix to blend.
fold in crackers.
bake at 325 deg for one hour, or until set. serves 6.  

3. christmas braid bread (from the angry chicken’s blog) this bread is fun to make and smells divine while cooking. i usually make two loaves and give one to our lovely neighbors.  you can find the recipe online here  

4. turkey noodle casserole (from food network/rachel ray) this is a delicious way to use up any turkey leftovers you may have lying around after the big meal. i think it was from when rachel ray had her 30 minute meals show, but it always takes me longer than that, but really it’s so yummy it’s totally worth it!  you can find the recipe online here

5. seasoned pretzels (from my knitting friend april) my friend april brought these pretzels to a rav-meetup last year and they were so fabulous we could not stop eating them. i think they’d be the perfect snack to tide the family over during an extended gift-opening session or whilst waiting for the big dinner to come out of the oven!

2lbs pretzels
2 tsp dill weed
1/2 tsp garlic salt
1/2 tsp onion salt
1/2 pkg ranch dressing powdered mix
1 jar/bottle orville reddinbacher butter oil

mix oil an seasonings together. pour on pretzels and keep mixing until oil is absorbed.

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Here are Lindsey's picks:

1. Cornbread dressing.  Nothing says thanksgiving to me more than cornbread dressing.  I could forget the rest: we have phased out the green bean casserole, I can take or leave the potatoes, even the turkey is negotiable.  Just don’t mess with my cornbread dressing!  And yet every year my mom taunts me with suggestions of making changes to the recipe.  Add sausage?  Jalapenos?!!  Has she no shame?  This is one recipe I do not deviate from:

• The day before make (or buy) some cornbread, break it up into chunks and dry it in the oven. 
• Also dry out 4-6 pieces of bread
• Butter a 9x12 glass baking dish
• sautee 3 cups of diced onion and 3 cups of diced celery with 1 tbs olive oil and 1/2 lb butter (mmmmmm butter)
• Pour sauteed veg over the dried bread in a big bowl and mix it with your hands breaking up the bread into smaller pieces
• slowly add 1 tbs poultry seasoning and 3-4 cups warm chicken broth
• taste often
• put mixture in the 9x12 and bake covered in foil for 40 to 60 minutes. 

 

2. Chipotle Cranberry sauce.  Like regular cranberry sauce (boil cranberries, water and sugar) just add chipotle raspberry sauce.

3.  Torrone -Italian nouget that only comes out at Christmas

4. Panettone -a light bready christmas cake.  My favorite is the chocolate hazelnut flavor

5.  Dark chocolate cranberry something or other.  This is a new tradition.  Last year I made cookies, this year I made bread.  I was inspired by Melissa's zucchini bread recipe and a whole bowl of leftover cranberry sauce (apparently everyone loved the chipotle variety and had no room for the plain stuff).
[Here is the link to MLM's zucchini bread post http://knittingsandwich.typepad.com/sandwich/2010/01/chocolate-chip-zucchini-bread.html

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And here is my list (you can tell from my lack of included recipes that I'm not as much of a holiday baker as I am a holiday eater):

 

1. Mom's German christmas cookies.  Though she is Portuguese, my mom has been making the most fabulous Christmas cookies since marrying a German.  They are chocolatety and nutty and spicy and wonderful!  Christmas wouldn't be Christmas at our house without them.

2. I totally second Melissa's scalloped corn nomination!  My favorite part of the Thanksgiving spread (and I get to have Thanksgiving with the Renée original!)

3. mulled wine.  mmm, need i say more?

4. peppermint cheesecake.  this one i actually do make but i can't seem to find the recipe anywhere (sorry!)  i promise to post it as soon as i find it.

5. angel food.  it's pure sugar but man is it good!

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Do you have certain foods that you love to spend the holidays with? Any special well-worn recipes you'd like to share?

We'd love to hear your top five!

Wishing you all a warm and wonderful holiday season!

-cmv & the sandwich