Good Food | As Kat Knits

A New Day, A New List

by Kat | Mar 24, 2016 | General

Today I am putting the final touches on my Easter Feast Menu, which created a list of what I need to pick up from the grocery store.

Thankfully it is a short list.

What I really am loving is my Midori Passport Notebook which I am using for my wallet. I love it because I have my lists with me!

Lists of knitting patterns with yarn requirements
Lists of sewing patterns with yardage
Lists of measurements of places in the house, in case I find that possibly perfect something

And, lists of things for meal planning – like this Easter list!

I hope your week is going well and if you have to-do lists that they are almost done for the week, mine still has a few things on it, but I don’t feel nearly as out of control as I did yesterday.

Thankfully!

My Bread-ucation

by Kat | Mar 21, 2016 | General, In This Moment

Without bread all is misery. – William Cobbett, British journalist

I am a student of bread. I have taken Craftsy classes about bread. I have read tomes on bread. I have eaten tons of bread – some very good and some not very good.

And the challenge of my life is making very good bread given the limitations of a home kitchen.

I think I make a pretty good crusty loaf of bread – there is always room for improvement, but I feel confident that flour, water, yeast, and salt will result in a beautiful and tasty loaf of bread.

However, not everyone likes a crusty loaf of bread, crazy, I know…but they don’t.

Enter the quest for a good sandwich style loaf of bread.

I found this recipe via King Arthur Flour and have tried this bread several times. My first try did not get much rise…I questioned the viability of my yeast so I ordered new yeast and tried again.

Try number two with new yeast did not result in a markedly different result…

Now, don’t get me wrong – this bread tasted amazing. It was excellent slathered in butter, or toasted and topped with jam or peanut butter, topped with tuna salad, or grilled with cheese.

However, it was not a tall lofty loaf, but rather one that was short in stature.

I took to the internet and searched the King Arthur site to see if I could find an answer and lo and behold, I did! Who knew that my bread pans were the fault?!

The new pans did indeed improve the rise and the end result of two lovely loaves just made my weekend!

There is always room for improvement, but, I am on the right track!

Watching: I finished House of Cards this week, and that is all I will say about it. No spoilers here! And, Netflix added in more episodes of Happy Valley. Plus, The American’s is back on Wednesday nights!

Prepping: For Easter – this involves menu planning, and shopping. Also, I am looking for dessert ideas and I’d love it if you’d share!

Spinning: I have been working through a bit of Sheepspot Clun Forest/Babydoll Southdown roving – it is spinning up so effortlessly. I really am happy with it. I also have been carding a Shetland fleece that I washed up late last year. My plan for these lovely rolags – yarn for Rock the Lobster. They will pair up with the salvaged Briar Rose Fibers yarn from earlier this week. I have a bit more carding to do though before I am sure I will have enough.

Planning: What we will be planting this year and where it will go – crop rotation, you know! I am happy that I have herbs sprouting, and the rhubarb and raspberry plants made it through the winter! And, it appears a salvaged Lilac will have a good year as well.

Celebrating: Since Pi Day and the Ides of March both passed quietly, we did have a bit of a St. Paddy’s day feast – Lamb Stew, Guinness, and Irish Music counts as a celebration in my book!

Discovered: Duolingo and I am working on Danish right now. So. Much. Fun.

Counting: The minutes until the day is over and the welcome to the weekend can begin. There will be Manhattan’s and good eats coupled with the best companionship and conversation.

I hope your weekend starts off just as nicely! See you back here on Monday!

Comfort and Joy

by Kat | Mar 15, 2016 | General, Words

If you have extraordinary bread and extraordinary butter, it’s hard to beat bread and butter. Jacques Pepin

Carole has given us perhaps the greatest topic of all time for this week’s 10 on Tuesday:

10 Favorite Comfort Foods

Now, the hard part is to limit this to only ten! (more…)

The Madness of Monday

by Kat | Mar 14, 2016 | General, In This Moment

The weekend was over far too quickly, which seems to be a theme in the blog world. Of course, losing an hour did not help. But, it was packed full of good things here at Casa del Katknits…

Things like Friday Happy Hour, which was extra good since Steve made wings.

And, martini’s, of course.

And, there was spinning, or more specifically – plying this gorgeous Dorset Down roving from Sheepspot.

There was knitting and the short rows are getting longer and I am closer to binding off! Which is good because Easter…

There was also lots and lots of basketball, which facilitated the knitting and spinning. Which brings me to Monday Madness and getting my brackets set, and trying to get my internal clock reset.