toys are good food

Chicken Pot Pie

Even though I hear Eric Cartman's (South Park) voice ringing in my ears when I make it, I love me some Chicken Pot Pie!

BTW - Happy Halloween!

Recently, we found ourselves with a fair amount of leftover chicken meat, especially dark meat. Matty (not a fan of dark meat) requested some sort of casserole that would use up the leftovers and hide the less-desired meat in tasty sauce and (most likely) cheese. I am not a fan of casseroles, however, so went in search of something better. I found... the pot pie!

We've made it twice already and it's super tasty. Funny - I can even imagine making this with fake chicken (Chik'n) for a vegetarian version. But I used it with the leftovers from Beer Can Chicken (yum!). The first time I made it, it was also an excuse to clean out the freezer; last bits of frozen veggies (corn, peas, and edamame) and less than a serving of tator tots made for a great pie. This last time I had no more freezer fodder, so I relied on canned veggies (not as good, IMHO).

Easy Peasy Chicken Pot Piesy

• 2 pie crusts (don't even bother making this from scratch, refrigerated or frozen crusts taste great and are great time savers)
• 2 - 3 cups of cooked chicken (I used leftovers plus a can of chicken meat)
• 2 cans of Cream of... your choice soups (I used chicken and garlic mushroom or similar - don't go for bland, this is a great way to add flavor)
• 2 cans of Veg-All, drained, or an assortment of canned/frozen/blanched veggies
• 1/2 cup of chicken broth (that frozen block on the left in the picture is homemade chicken stock or you can use canned broth)
• 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese (optional)
• 1/2 cup sour cream (optional - not pictured)
• spices: garlic, celery seed, Grub Rub, thyme, onion powder... whatever your belly heart desires
• 1 egg to brush on the crust (optional)

Pre-heat the oven to 400. Lay one pie crust at the bottom of a deep dish pie pan. (If not using a deep dish pan, you may want to lessen the ingredients or make a second pie.) Mix the chicken, soups, veggies, broth, cheese, sour cream, and spices together in a mixing bowl. Pour into the pie dish, and cover with the second pie crust. Crimp crust edges together, cut slits into the crust, and brush with a whisked egg, if desired.

Cook for 40-45 minutes (25-30, if not making deep dish), or until bubbly. Cover the crust edges with aluminum foil to avoid burning. Let it stand 10 minutes to cool and thicken before cutting into it. Enjoy!

I stalked the Stalker

sorry for the delay posting this...

What a great event! I met gaggles of fun Texan knitters, ate and drank merrily, and enriched my yarn stash! Hoo-boy-howdy, that Stalker Angie can throw some good shindig, y'all.

C. and I started out early Saturday morning, and drove down to Austin (via the Czech Stop). First stop: Hill Country Weavers where we met up with Pla.

While trying to figure out how to buy the whole shop and keep all these other knitters away from my new stash, we hear the sounds of a knitblogger. See, it's not that difficult to identify the knitblogger if you know what to listen for: a strong voice encouraging and/or explaining to another knitter about some online pattern (check); a happy, slightly crazed laugh (check); specific internet or knitblogging phrases, such as "A-longs" and "Sock Wars" (and check). These are the calls of our knitbloggers, like the song of a bird. And who was this bird we spied? Jo, touting the magic and awe of Lizard Ridge and Noro to this little, cute blue-hair that just about needed one of those hearing horns to hold up to her ears. Um, I don't know if she followed the whole "computers + Internets (a series of tubes, less one truck) = open network of patterns, encouragement, and access to other knitters." (poor dear)

After we paid for our purchases, we headed over to Opal Divine's patio for much food and fun. There we met the following swell folks:

• Stacy
• Amy
• Kristin
• Caro
• Meg
• Julia
• Ellie
• blogless Nancy
• blogless Snowden
• Jo
• Chris and Pla, of course

All these great knitters plus tasty food, nice weather, and tall pints o' beer made the day super fun. There were even kittens up for adoption (check the other blogs for cutie pictures) and music (although that wasn't as great). I believe that everyone had a good time (I know I did), and there's talk of getting a trimester schedule going for meet-ups in Austin, Dallas, and Houston. I'm all for this!

After this event, C., S.Angie, and I headed over to the Lone Star State Knitters Knit Out 2006 event. There we met some more nice knitters, like Jean and Kili. Hunger struck, and so we headed over to some close restaurant (in the parking lot, is that close enough for ya'?). I forget the name of the place, but I won't forget one thing...

Sweet Corn and Cheese Tamales, Mable!

Hopefully I'll see more of these and other knitbloggers at the Kid 'N Ewe event next month.

Keys

I'd like to apologize in advance for the backseat this blog will take, and its temporary metamorphosis into a DIY/home decorating/home repair blog. We try to use the blog to reflect our current interests and activities, and will continue to do so.

This may hold our interests for a while.

Schtufph

There is a lot of schtufph (I can never just say "stuff", sorry but I find it more amusing this way) going on here. My weekends and nights are starting to fill up with plans and projects quicker than I can shake a niddy-noddy at. (Just 'cause I like saying that, too.)

I'm sure that we will share more information as it becomes not so terrifying and gob-smacking and in the 'read more' section I talk about all the knit-related schtufph going on, but real quick-like I wanted to let y'all know that we, the Bonez and myself (plus cats), have bought a house. (Not that the cats were involved in the house-hunting, decision making, or funding, but - you know.) Crazy, no?!

Anyhoo, continue on for knit schtufph.

There are tons of A-Longs and good causes to be knitting for right now. Heck, many of them cross lines and will become blended 'A-Longs for a Good Cause' events, at least for me. But for all good plans and wanna-knits that I am inundated with, packing and paperwork are taking a front seat in my life. I will try not to cry too hard about my lessened knitting time and my soon-to-be list of injuries like tape-gun elbow and cardboard cuts.

In the forefront of this list are three events that not-even-a-looming-move-deadline can keep me from: Stalker Angie's Knitters Meet Up, Kid N' Ewe, and SOCKtoBEERfest. I'll save the discussions about the A-Longs and the charity knitting for another post. (Because this was starting to get l o n g!) Still interested?

• Stalker Angie's Stalk the Knitters Stalkathon... or something like that. You can read more about it on Stalker Angie's blog, but basically she's gathering the knitting forces together in Austin for a knitbloggers KIP (knitting in public). It's this Saturday, Oct. 14, and C. and I are heading out of Dallas at 6 a.m., stopping for kolaches at the Czech Stop, and then meeting up with Pla at Hill Country Weavers. At 11 a.m., we'll meet up with Stalker Angie and the other stalkers. There is also the Austin Knit Out and Austin Knitters Meet Up going on. (Wowza!) I hope to see some of y'all there!
• Kid 'N Ewe and Llamas, too fiber event. This is November 10-12 in Boerne, TX. (Yeah, I don't know where it is either, but I'll find out.) There are knit bloggers attending, and some industrious (and geeky, but we like that) knitter put together a wiki for it, ta' boot.
• This next item is time-critical - a SSSS with some of my knitgrrls. It's a Second Sock Syndrome Swap, and I'm knitting my secret pal a single sock. (This is one of those times that I am thankful for not having a lisp.) I have recently run into a problem on my sock (toe-up, and I just passed the heel) and have started it over again (cuff-down this time). And I must finish it before Oct. 28. Why? 'Cause that's our SOCKtoBEERfest swap party! A hefty combination of SSSSsockswap + C.'s beirgarten + pumpkin carving + beer tasting + Halloween fun = ghoulishly good times!

Other dates to keep aware of are our closing date (Oct. 17... yep, Tuesday. Eep!), moving day (looking at the first weekend in Nov), turkey day (going up to visit family up in cold, snowy places), and all the time from here till then working on home projects. (OMG - our "home" projects, not just some apartment or rental place. Le sigh)

Hope to see y'all around and knittin'!

Socktoberfest: history of me

I love this time of year. The weather doesn't really cool down much here so I don't get that "crisp fall air" thing, but I do enjoy the back-to-school vibe and I do luv me some Halloweeniness. Add some beers and an Oompa band (i.e., Oktoberfest) to the mix, and I'm yours.

But this? This here is Socktoberfest 'round these parts (i.e., my home and circle of friends). Thanks to Lolly, you can be treated to read about my sock knittin' history.

Exciting, no?

When did you start making socks? Did you teach yourself or were you taught by a friend or relative? or in a class? I had to look this up in the blog archives (thank goodness it's there). March 2005. I taught myself from a book (Knit Socks!), but had help, hints, and answers for any of my inane questions from my knitgrrls.

What was your first pair? How have they "held up" over time? My first pair was knit on US#4s with Regia 6 ply. Yeah, um.. the tension was a bit "loose." I can't really wear these with shoes (too much fabric), but I will occasionally slip these on when I want a cozy pair of slipper-socks. So they're lasting just fine with low-to-minimal wear.

What would you have done differently? Ha! What wouldn't I do differently? But honestly, I learned A LOT from those socks and all of my mistakes. Would I enjoy them more if they were better made? Sure. But those mistakes and errors? They make the sock special because I learned from them and improved. So I think that I'm happy with them 'As Is'.

What yarns have you particularly enjoyed? Mmmm... , just thinking about the great sock yarns out there nearly makes me drool. I've fallen in love time and time again with Socks That Rock, Cherry Tree Hill, and Koigu. I have-but-have-not-knit-with (yet) Artyarns, Lorna's Laces, Claudia Hand Painted, and more. And yet, my favorite socks to slip on are my first Kool-aid dyed, Knitpicks basic socks. They're just so squishy and cozy on my feet.

Do you like to crochet your socks? or knit them on DPNs, 2 circulars, or using the Magic Loop method? Ha ha ha - ah... you crack me up with the "crochet" comment. Nope, no crochet for me. I'm a floundering failure with the hook. I knit 'em. Either 5 dpns or a single circ (magic loop). I enjoy and use both methods. It's determined typically by what needles are available and handy.

Which kind of heel do you prefer (flap or short-row)? Good question. I've knit both, but I don't know if I've ever noticed a difference on my foot. Technique-wise, while I do enjoy the clean short-row heel I love the magic of the heel turn (flap).

How many pairs have you made? Again, my memory was failing me and my blog archives saved my arse. I've knit 13 1/2 pairs of socks in the last year and a half. (Note: This doesn't count WIPs or baby booties, but does include toddler socks and the single sock for a swap.) I've included a visual history, ta' boot.

Psst... the close-ups of the first 5 sock pics are not working correctly. Skip these for now, and simply admire the rest of my sock history. Sorry for the inconvenience.