Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Vintage Ripple Ta Da!

COLOR!
The pattern is from Churchmouse Yarns and Teas:
Extra rows of white were added to each end to create a lace-like look.

Homes in Norway inspired the colors:
Pinterest

Embellished with crocheted flowers:
Some temporary pinned-on flowers from Lesley Stanfield's book:
"100 Flowers to Knit and Crochet"
#50 Meconopsis
and
#49 Forget-me-not

And here it is with the rose granny square pillow that will be the item for the 
C-A-L starting on the first day of Spring:

Once again have a colorful day!









Sunday, February 26, 2012

Hookin' while Hookin'

This weekend (a little late due to work deadlines) the NVO and I escaped  to our annual
Valentine's Day 
Romantic Ice-Fishing Get-a-Way
So what could this ice-fishing trip have to do with a blog based primarily on crochet, 
besides the fashionable ice-fishing neck warmers that 
I crocheted for us last year from this post, you may wonder?

Well, it's the ultimate crocheting get-away, and the ultimate multi-tasking opportunity.

And this is how it all went down:

Hookin' while Hookin'
This is me hookin' while hookin'...

But first the NVO went out early in the morning and set-up the tent and heater.
Then he drilled a couple of 16" deep holes, all the while "she" lays sleeping and 
dreaming, back at the warm cabin, about the day's upcoming outdoor adventure.
Wasn't I right about this being romantic?
Then he comes back to the cabin to retrieve his ice-fishing lady and she gets 
all set-up in the cozy hut with hook and hook and yarn.
She crochets for a while on what seems to be a yellow rose and then...
she leans forward and gives the line a little jiggle with the crochet hook and
 then back to the yellow rose again. 
This method is repeated until this is achieved:
Eight Magnificent Fish! 
The limit is eight - we were very lucky this time to achieve the limit, this is not normal.
...the rest...catch and release.
The reason we did not release these eight is because we love to eat these yummy treats
and the reason we love to eat these is largely due to a recipe we make every year :

Roasted Pecan and Herb Crusted Salmon
(although these are trout not salmon, the recipe is delightful with trout- 
apparently trout and salmon are cousins or something.)

Click here for this heaven sent recipe.

Have an adventurous week!

Thursday, February 23, 2012

Sons of Norway Cooking Class


Blomkål suppe med kjøttboller 
(Cauliflower soup with meatballs)
 ~
Berlinerkranser
(Berlin Wreaths)

Last weekend, the NVO and I were fortunate enough to teach a cooking class for 
our local Sons of Norway Lodge Meeting.

The NVO taught an amazingly delicious soup:
 Cream of Cauliflower with Meatballs 
 This soup became a Utah award winner in the 70's and 80's at my parent's 
Scandinavian Bakery/Restaurant in Salt Lake City, Utah. 
In the 90's I served the same soup as a very tired owner and operator of a similar type Scandinavian Bakery/Restaurant in Park City, Utah. 
(Now I sleep-in until 6:00 AM and have time to blog. :-) )

I taught a beloved Norwegian Christmas Cookie:
Berlinerkranser
I have blogged about this cookie before as it is one of our favorites.
See this post and this post for additional information about the cookie that I apparently don't want anyone to forget. :-). I have listed the recipe below (again) but this time it's doubled.

You will likely need a heavy duty mixer like a Kitchen-Aid for both these recipes.
Here are the recipes:
Oops you can't read that.
So here are the recipes:

Blomkål suppe med kjøttboller 
(Cauliflower soup with meatballs)

Scandia Kaffe House was founded by Asbjørn and Erna Neergaard in the 1970’s.  This soup received several awards including “Best Soup in Utah” by Utah Holiday magazine.
____________________________________________________________________________________________
Soup
Large cauliflower, rinsed and cut into 1-inch pieces
Beef Broth – 32 ounces
Parsley, freshly Chopped or dried – 1 Tbls
White Pepper – 1 tsp, more as needed
In a large pot over medium heat, combine the cauliflower, broth, parsley, and white pepper.  Cook (covered) until the cauliflower is tender when pierced with a knife (10 to 15 minutes).   Meanwhile, make the meatballs.
Meatballs
Ground beef – 1 lb
Potato or Corn Starch – ½ cup
Onion, minced, finely
Nutmeg, freshly ground – 2 tsp
Salt – 1 tsp, more as needed
Black Pepper – 1 tsp
Heavy Cream – ½ cup
In a bowl of a standard mixer with the paddle attachment, combine the ground beef, potato starch, onion, nutmeg, salt, black pepper and cream.  Mix on low speed, about 5 minutes.  Transfer the meat mixture to a large pastry bag or a resealable plastic freezer bag with one corner cut off.
Raise the heat to high on the cauliflower mixture.  When the liquid begins to boil squeeze the pastry bag and pinch off ¾-inch balls of the meat mixture and drop into the boiling cauliflower mixture.  Spread the balls over the cauliflower (it will begin to get crowded).  Do NOT stir.  Reduce the heat to low and cook the meatballs, covered, about 8 minutes.
Sauce
Butter, unsalted – ½ cup (1 stick)
Flour – ½ cup
Milk – 2 cups
Heavy Cream – 2 cups
In a medium sauce pan, melt the butter over medium heat and add the flour.  Stir occasionally until the mixture is smooth and lightly golden, about 2 to 3 minutes.  Using a whisk, add the milk and cream and stir until the sauce is smooth and homogeneous. Reduce heat to low.
Carefully stir the cauliflower meat mixture to incorporate the cooked meatballs into the soup.  Add about 1 cup of the cauliflower-meat mixture into the sauce and stir until blended, then pour all of the white sauce into the cauliflower-meat mixture.  Stir to combine.  Cook over low heat, covered and stirring occasionally, about 15 minutes.  Season to taste with salt and white pepper.  Makes 8 to 12 servings.

Berlinerkranser
_________________________________________________________
5 hard-boiled egg yolks
5 egg yolks (reserve whites for later dipping)
325 grams of sugar (sorry it's my Norwegian parents recipe; hence, the grams)
Mix above ingredients in stand-alone mixer, then slowly add:
1 teaspoon coarse kosher salt
1000 grams flour
625 grams unsalted butter
Mix on slow for 3 minutes, or until well mixed.
Chill dough for 30-60 minutes
Meanwhile, whip egg whites with fork for about 30 seconds until a little frothy and place in a shallow bowl. Then pour some *sprinkles of choice in a shallow bowl, as well.
Roll pieces of dough in little snake or tube shape (a little wider than a pencil), then shape into a ring and dip in egg white mixture first and then the *sprinkles and place on sheet with parchment paper. (In addition to the ring shape these photos show the heart shape - this is a little trickier but can be achieved via practice.)
*The Norwegians use something called pearl sugar,  it looks like Margarita or pretzel salt, but it's not - it's sugar. Additionally, I use different colored sprinkles for different holidays and seasons. The NVO loves non-pariels and, they come in many colors for any occasion but some pretty pastel colors for Easter could be nice.
Bake 375 for 10 minutes maybe 11 maybe 12...the edges will be slightly golden brown.
These flaky cookies will undoubtedly melt in your mouth. Make sure they cool a bit before removing from cookie sheet as they crumble when hot.
 Non-Pariels
 Pearl Sugar

Here are the soup photos:

That's the NVO in the viking hat.
And this is me asking for volunteers from the audience.
And here we are with a couple of our volunteers.
The helpers did a good job, eh?
BTW - they were gone in sixty seconds. :-)
(The cookies, that is, not the volunteers. hehe)

And I had to end with this photo of the ladies in their Norwegian sweaters watching the demonstration.
Too cute!

Sunday, February 19, 2012

Three Rag Rug Rats

A hedonistic all-day crafting get-together with my homies
resulted in this:

Just the three of us,
We can make it if we try:
Just the three of us
Them and I...

Each season, my homies and I make every effort to get-together and craft for hours. :-)
Life gets busy and these precious hours become cherished memories.

For "Winter" we chose a "Rag Rug" project from Lolly's post  
over at the "This Domestic Life" Blog.
Lolly makes and inspires the coolest stuff!

Old sheets torn and crocheted.
(The circles of navy blue came from one of my homies who gave me the "yarn" she made from an old denim dress to tie in with my color scheme; that makes it extra super special!)
A great recycle...so simple...so fun!
A splendid get-together!

And the Winners Are...

Choosing winners for this giveaway was difficult; everyone was so kind with their comments and I would so love to warm everyone's neck, ears or tummy! 
I wish I could send all of you the the item you mentioned in your comments, but that is just simply not possible. I wonder if I am cut-out for this giveaway business? 
There's a special place in my heart for all of you. :-)

In any case,
thank you all so very much for your interest and your comments!

So back to business, it is.

Here are the entries, within the group of their giveaway preference:

The entries were tossed prize by prize into the NVO's crocheted viking hat:

and the prizes go to.....

Susan D 1408 Crochet Addict: The Ear Warmer

Caroline The Kansas Hooker: The Puff Flower Scarf

Mrs. Micawber: Berlinerkranser Cookies

These lovely ladies have awesome blogs, if you get a chance, take a peek and check them out at the links above.
A GREAT BIG congratulations to the three of you!

Friday, February 17, 2012

Rollin' in Cupcakes

More Cupcakes!!!

Frostings:
Fresh Blackberry
and
Mini-Chocolate Chip Rum 

For the Quarterly
"Old Girlfriends Crafting Get-together"
(Today we are making/starting a rag-rug - post to come.)

And of course not to forget,
a few left at home for NVO and Little Bug:
See this post on cupcake "how to" guidance. 

Have another sweet day!!!