Potatoes in the Mist

Here's a cardigan I'm making for my sister in law's baby. A bit of a departure for me, as I don't usually knit in green. 

I'm addicted to this lentil minestrone from one of Deborah Madison's cookbooks. Lentils, soup shells, carrots, celery, onion, bay leaves, thyme sprigs, salt and spinach. So good. 

Bill Clinton took over Hillary's Instagram account today (with her permission). He wrote: What does making a great muffin have in common with making a great president? Timing, preparation, and experience are all key. -WJC I love the analogy and the Oxford comma!

Zoe wearing the sweater I knit for her

I've been playing chess with Zoe. I think a lot of young children like chess...they like to make up stories about the pieces. I remember writing a story when I was 7 or so, about an evil queen from a chess set. I was fascinated by how the queen had all the power. Zoe likes to call the knights "ponies"; when you capture each other, you are "eating" the other piece; and if one pawn captures another, it's a "pawn breakfast."

I just discovered a charming new blog...hudsonandseine.com. It's written by a woman who lives in New York, is married to a Frenchman, and lived in France herself for many years. It also features an easy crepe recipe. What more could you ask for?

I've always liked Everything but the Girl, since Missing came out in 1995. But they have so many better songs than that. Today I strayed beyond their greatest hits fare...I wish I did that before. The lead singer would sound good singing the phone book. 

Here's a sweater I am knitting for Zoe. I finished the hem. Sleeves and collar are next. 

Today is the caucus in Iowa. I really hope Hillary wins. I think she is our best bet against Trump. Trump is already calling Bernie a communist. 

A friend on Facebook put this up...it's true that the presidency ages people so much. I think Hillary would just emerge spitting out nails...she's pretty tough at this point.

I just saw bacon chocolate chip cookies on Pinterest. What is the world coming to?

I just finished The Good Thief's Guide to Berlin , a mystery about a thief in Berlin, and part of a series. Always nice to find a new series.

Zoe really makes me laugh. Today she told me, "Benjamin spit at Erin." I said, "Why did he do that?" She said matter-of-factly, "He just seems like a crazy person."

Here's what I've learned on my diet: giving up dessert, alcohol and French fries wasn't too hard. Giving up carbs is much harder. So every once in a while, I have some ziti. And I love it. 

I had to share another one...this is a squirrel on the border of a 16th-century Flemish text. And today is Squirrel Appreciation Day! A squirrel decorates the border of this 16th c. Flemish text. #SquirrelAppreciationDay https://t.co/lM2cDAUFmf pic.twitter.com/wMWZXHmNlL — J. Paul Getty Museum (@GettyMuseum) January 21, 2016

This is turning into a food blog...but I made such a good broccoli and cheddar soup the other day. It was from a Deborah Madison soup cookbook. She owns the restaurant Greens, in San Francisco (it's right by the water). Anyway, to make this, you need 4 broccoli trees - you chop the florets, then the stems (after getting rid of the tough exterior). You boil the florets for 3 minutes in a quart of water with some salt, and reserve the cooking water. Then you saute the broccoli stalks, some diced Yukon gold potato, celery and onion with garlic, marjoram, thyme and a bay leaf, in olive oil, for about 5 minutes. Add 3 cups of the reserved cooking water and cook for 10-12 minutes more, until the potatoes are tender. Then you add the florets and just heat them through. At this point, the soup will be pretty thick, so you can add some half and half. Then you take out the bay leaf, puree the soup, put it back in the pot, and add some Dijon mustard, salt and pepper. Very good. (I have no...

More marginalia. I love these little pictures. This one is a duel...a dog with a comb confronting a rabbit with a mirror.

Taking my crockpot on its maiden voyage. Inside: veggie loaded baked potato soup.

Happy new year! Just made this scarf for a friend.

I have this blah feeling now that Christmas is over...all that anticipation and now it's gone. I did plug in my little Christmas tree, though. The day we were supposed to go back to New York, I discovered that I had actually gotten tickets for January 27 instead of December 27. So we got tickets for the only seats still available that day...first class, a few hours later. First class is awesome. More leg room, less crowded, they bring you menus (not that we got anything because we had already got stuff in the South Station food court, out of habit). They also help you more (getting your stuff on and off the train; helping your kids over the gap.) We also took the kids to the Boston Children's Museum.