Do you ever feel like you have a million things on the go, but somehow nothing new completed? Well thats how I feel these days. The weather is changing finally here, the leaves are turning wonderful reds and oranges, and the wind has a certain nip... Fall is definetly here.
This year has been declared the Autumn of soups and casseroles... comfort food yum! And of course, since I have never really been a soup or casserole maker, this is all new. It's like mad kitchen science - soup creation labs.
Here is the latest creation:
Italian Wedding Soup... Which may look complicated, but it ridiculously easy!
- Remove the casings from 5-6 Mild Italian Sausages, and form into small meatballs, approximately 1 - 2 cm round. Cook in a frying pan, make sure these are completely done, as they wont really have time to cook fully in the soup. Drain fully. I even let mine drain on paper towels similar to what I would do with Bacon, just to get the excess greasiness off. Set aside for later.
-Prepare 1 medium onion, 2 Carrots, 2 Sticks of Celery - all chopped into about the same sized pieces
- In a heavy bottom Pot, saute the veggies on medium heat with a splash of olive oil, and a sprinkle of salt. Cook about 10 minutes, or until the veggies start to get glossy and softened.
- Add spices to taste - I added freshly cracked black pepper, and about 1 tsp of Dried Rosemary and Thyme, and 1 tbsp Dried Parsley. You could add more or less... up to you. Saute for about 5 more minutes (ok, so the kitchen smells really excellent at this point!)
- Next, add about 8-10 cups of chicken stock (I like the Campbells' low sodium Chicken Broth you can get at the supermarket... for when you don't have a spare chicken carcass laying around) and simmer on med-low, try not to let it boil, just simmer away for about 30 minutes.
- Add the Meatballs prepared earlier,and continue to simmer. Once the meatballs are heated through you could serve it there, or let it simmer longer on the stove if you want.
- For an extra treat, I added Tiny round pasta (about 1/2 cup) about 15 minutes before serving (you could use whatever you have in the kitchen, or little alphabet noodles if there are children at your table) Some recipes mention adding Spinach leaves also at this point, where they would wilt and also give their flavour to your soup. I didn't bother this time with the spinach.
- This soup is great as leftovers the next day, or for work lunches, but remember, the longer the noodles sit in the broth, the soggier they get. If you were planning on making this ahead, I would perhaps not add the noodles until just before you wanted to serve it.
Aromatic Vegetables on Parade...
Finished soup! Hungry?
On the Crafting front...
ever notice how your projects sometimes go seasonal without you even realizing it?
I have been working on blending some Black Superfine Merino with just a touch of the Pewter/Silver colored Carbonized Bamboo I had leftover from another project. This stuff seems to be turning out really soft and smooth. My goal was to create some Worsted or heavier weight, but the singles feel so nice, they may end up being consumed as they are :) Definetly love those hand cards... very simple to use, and there is something so back-to-basics about the combing of wool and then spinning those fluffy rolags.
Also on a Halloweeny note... I decided I should use up some of the sock yarn I've accumulated over the years.... and started a scarf. A few years back, I found a whole bunch of Bernat Sox sold color sock yarn on sale at Zellers, and couldn't help myself. I think I bought 2 balls of every colour there! (Yeah I know, bad knitter! bad!)
I have always admired knitted lace shawls and stoles, so I decided to try out the"Woodland Shawl" pattern on Ravelry. I'm finished of one ball... about 3.4 of the next to go. here is a sneak peak! It's kindof a burnt orangy colour.
And just to finish off -some orange "Chinese Lanterns" from my Gramma's Garden...
Trick or Treat!!