Project: Canaletto Cowl
Yarn: Malabrigo Rios
Color: Aguas
This is a free pattern on Ravelry. I highly recommend this for a good quick knit.
I love the detailed seed stitch & simple lace pattern with this project. I added an extra repeat of 22 stitches because I felt the small was too small and the large was too large.
But this size is just right.
This is going to be a Christmas gift. I'm getting an early start after missing the knitting season last year due to my broken wrist. The real trick however will be remember where I put it come December.
Yeah, I'm making that bold statement for all the world to see.
This recipe has become one of my go to recipes lately. Despite the fact that we eat a lot of bananas, we always seem to have some going bad.
So I turned to Martha and she didn't disappoint. She says it's easy-to-bake and she's right. And it's so moist and tasty! The secret: sour cream.
The hubby loves bananas, but doesn't like banana bread. A fact he's told many pretty much every time over our seven years together when I've whipped up some. But not this one. He can't get enough of it.
Although I must confess, I haven't told him that the secret is the sour cream - something he detest even when used in baking (I know, I know what you're thinking, you can't taste the sour cream. I know. The man's crazy but I love him.)
Give it a try the next time you've got a few over ripe bananas. I promise you won't be disappointed.
Martha Stewart's Banana Bread (I omitted the nuts):
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, at room temperature, plus more for pan
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 1/2 cups unbleached flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup mashed very ripe bananas
1/2 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans
Directions
1.Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9-by-5-by-3-inch loaf pan; set aside. In an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, and beat to incorporate.
2.In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt. Add to the butter mixture, and mix until just combined. Add bananas, sour cream, and vanilla; mix to combine. Stir in nuts, and pour into prepared pan.
3.Bake until a cake tester inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean, about 1 hour 10 minutes. Let rest in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a rack to cool.
Hello....?
Is anyone still out there?
It's me, Meg.
You know, the one who hasn't blogged in over two months. The one who actually had to dust off her lap top to turn it on. The one who used to read your blog and comment regularly. Remember me? Well, I'm beginning to emerge from her anti-blogging/blog reading haze and hope there are people out there who still want to read about what I have to say. And if not, well hey, I'm still gunna say it.
It's been a long, cold, gray, rainy winter. But it's May now and signs of spring are beginning to emerge here the Pacific Northwest. I'd like to report that I've been too busy knitting to blog, but yeah, so not the case. But during the radio silence, there has been a great road trip to Vancouver, B.C., a weekend get away with 12 other knitters to Ft. Warden for a weekend of knitting, laughing, eating and just getting away from life.
There's been baking, visits with friends and escaping for the occasional walk in between rainy/cold/windy days. I did manage to finish knitting a Christmas present. For Christmas 2011. Yeah, you read that right, I've already got one Christmas present finished. Now the real trick will be to remember where I put for the next 8 months.
So I'm starting fresh, just like spring, to get back into the blogging habit. Because I missed it. And I missed you. Hopefully you're still there. And I hope you're ready for spring too.
