The Spice Satchel: November 2010

Thursday, November 25, 2010

Happy Thanksgiving Day today! Thanksgiving recipe: Cranberry sauce

Happy Thanksgiving Day today! I love cooking and eating Thanksgiving! (obviously) :p
Cranberry sauce is the easiest Thanksgiving recipe to make, I had never had it made from real cranberries before I made it a few years ago, and now I will never use that jelly can shaped cranberry sauce again.
Cranberry sauce: tart and sweet and delicious!

2 cups-ish (1 bag) cranberries, 1/2 cup apple or orange juice- I used apple cider this year, 1/2 cup honey,

1/2 an orange zested, 1/2 cup extra addition- this year I used 1 orange (pineapple/orange/apple chunks or marshmallows or whatever may strike your fancy).

Mix the cranberries, juice and honey in a medium sauce pan. Cook on med-low heat, stirring frequently, until the cranberries pop.

Continue cooking and popping for a minute (or so, I usually continue cooking for a few more minutes). Remove from heat. Stir in orange zest and chunks of extra goodness. Let cool at room temp, then refrigerate or can.

I also so far have made:
Pumpkin Pie: with rice milk and maple syrup instead of sweetened condensed milk

Rosemary flat bread: made with fresh rosemary, which we will eat, and also use for stuffing- SO good!

Lemon Meringue Pie: made with flour and cornstarch for thickening, no milk.

And I put the turkey in the oven! It smells really good right now!

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

it's beginning to feel a lot like... the holidays!

I know you've heard this before, but Thanksgiving is my most favorite holiday ever! It's all about food and family! Cooking, eating, drinking, and relaxation: it is the best! Every year Paul's sister, Amy, comes to visit from college in NYC and we cook and eat and relax all day, I love it! Right now I am planning how to make way too much yummy, yummy food in the proper order so it will all taste the most delicious when the turkey is ready- the deciding factor in a Thanksgiving dinner. We will make it in 2 days so we don't have to rush too much to finish any one thing (only the appropriate amount of Thanksgiving rushing :) ). Day 1 is pies, cranberry sauce and bread. Day 2 is everything else- turkey, stuffing, potatoes (mashed for Amy, roasted for Paul), vegetable (green beans and/or broccoli and/or asparagus), gravy- except the one year when the gravy totally turned into a jelly mess (it was awful and funny). Next week! I can't wait :)
This is last year's dinner... yum!

This year is super exciting for more reasons too! Amy is coming here for her birthday AND Christmas this year too :) . This is a special birthday year- Amy and Paul's birthdays are a day apart- Amy is turning 21, and Paul is turning 30! And then Christmas is just around the corner. I know I've been saying this a lot, but I'm really excited about the end of this year! :)

Thursday, November 11, 2010

stocking time!

I finally got an etsy sale from a complete stranger. Woohoo! Thank you Sarah :) She ordered a hexy Christmas stocking. I love making these, and they are so cute and retro. Plus the brown variegated yarn in the middle can puff out to make the whole thing 3-D. Love it!

Monday, November 8, 2010

crochet cables- finished!

Here it is! Dana's pink cabled airplane blanket. It is no wimpy blanket, let me tell you. Thick and heavy, cozy and warm. Plus, soft, super soft. I hope she likes it and it keeps her warm on all her winter flights! Thanks Dana, for the opportunity. :)

Saturday, November 6, 2010

photographer/photography

I am a photographer. I have an etsy shop: corilynn's crochet shop. I have prints of my photography mounted and sitting in my closet/office. SO, I made a new section in my etsy shop called photography- where I can sell these prints I have laying around. I'm excited about this section, but also want to add so much more to it, but also think I should leave it limited to prints I actually have in my possession. That way, I can just put them in the mail when they are ordered. Then when I get more, I can add them to the section. Lovely plan!

Thursday, November 4, 2010

crochet cables- halfway done!

I love days I can sit on the couch, watch a show on dvd or a string of movies and crochet without feeling bad or guilty at all. Because the dishes are done, the floors are vacuumed, and the apartment is relatively (to mostly) clean, and there is virtually nothing more for me to do. These great days usually come after rare occasions when we have friends over- giving us a "reason" to clean more than normal- which makes the clean last a little longer.
Anyway, I've had a couple days like that lately, so I have Dana's cabled blanket 1/2 done! This just keeps getting more and more exciting :) and the blanket keeps getting more and more heavy, thick and cozy.

Monday, November 1, 2010

crochet cables

I'm crocheting a pink cabled blanket for Dana, and selling it through etsy! Very exciting, this will be my first actual etsy sale. :) Dana is using it as an airplane blanket as the airline's are not so nice. She loves pink, and good for science, I was still able to purchase yarn that some of the proceeds are given to breast cancer research. It is very soft yarn, and will make a comfy cozy blanket for the cold weather flights to come.

Paul and Cori