Knitter in the Kitchen

I baked Pumpkin Bread the night before Thanksgiving using Elise’s recipe found here. It was delicious, and I’m looking forward to using my leftover canned pumpkin to bake another loaf.

Last weekend we made Beef Stroganoff using the recipe from Cook’s Illustrated/America’s Test Kitchen, and honestly I wasn’t impressed at all. The beef turned out quite bland, and overall there wasn’t much flavor. But on the upside, I was happy that it was at least edible and not disgusting!

I was inspired to knit the Monkey Cowl after seeing Maritza’s gorgeous versions here and here. Sadly, I didn’t particularly enjoy the process of knitting this one — it seemed to take forever and it wasn’t exactly mindless knitting for me. On the upside, though, I love the end product! Hand Maiden Casbah is super soft, so the cowl feels wonderful against my neck. I also like the texture of the pattern. I only wish I could have captured the color accurately, but I just couldn’t get it. The color is deeper in person.

Yarn: Hand Maiden Casbah Sock yarn, Topaz, less than 1 skein
Pattern: Based on the Monkey sock pattern with modifications by Maritza
Needles: US #4/16 inch

I had been wanting to try these Rocky Road Brownies ever since I saw them in the June 2008 issue of Everyday Food, and I certainly wasn’t disappointed! They are very rich, but also very yummy!

These past few months, I’ve been working on Christmas presents for my mother and sister. Since both of them read this blog on occasion, I haven’t wanted to write about them. But I figured I would try out the “more” feature…so, please feel free to click the “more” link as long as you are not my mother or my sister!
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