Randomness

I could entitle half of my posts as "ramdomness," but I feel particularly random in my focus today. I had a lot of fun knitting my little Valentine hearts during the weeks leading up to Valentine's Day, but I did do some other knitting too. I worked on Paige's sweater quite a bit. Yes, it's the same Karabella Aurora 8 yarn that I bought back in October or November. I really think I have the right pattern this time. It's a pattern I downloaded off of Webs for $1.95 called the taconic V-neck pullover. It's a simple pattern with a pretty cable down the center.The back is just stockinettee stitch, so it was easy to complete. I should finish the entire sweater just about the time the weather starts hitting the eighties.

Some days my kids come home from swim practice starving. I'll be lying on the couch, and Kai will frantically ask, "What's for dinner??" I'll turn to Russ, who will then proceeded to make us a "tan" meal, which entails battered fish, the kind from the yellow box, mashed potatoes, the kind from another box, corn, and possibly sourdough bread. No one is particularly excited about consuming all of this starch, but it's fast and easy, and beggers can't be choosers. Tonight, my kids came through the door, and I had streaming bowls of Ina Gartner's italian Wedding Soup waiting for them. I saw her make it last week on "The Barefoot Contessa." It was easy and decidedly not starchy. Yay for me! Oh and to top it off, Paige came hom with a friend who loved the soup too and now thinks that my kids must have such a wonderful culinary existence with a working mother who doesn't let occupational exhaustion interfer with the preparation of tasty meals....Taco Bell tomorrow? Possibly.


These pictures have nothiing to do with knitting either, other than this is what our yard looked like a week ago. It was wonderful and very cozy to sit inside by the fire and knit for the two hours that it snowed. We had the day off from school, so it was the perfect addition to a great day. Kai went up to the hills behind our hourse with some friends to sled. He tried to leave in his shorts, but I stopped him. What a Californian!




Italian Wedding Soup

Ingredients
for meatball:
3/4 lb. ground chicken
1/2 chicken sausage, casings removed
2/3 fresh white bread crumbs
2 tsp. minced garlic
3 Tbsp. minced parsley
1/2 cup grated Parmesan
2 Tbsp. milk
1 large egg
salt/pepper

For the soup:
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 cup minced yellow onion
1 cup diced carrots
1/2 chopped celery
10 cups chicken stock (Of, course, Ina used homemade)
1/ 2 cup dry white wine
1 cup small pasta
1/4 cup minced fresh dill (I didn't have this, so I used a Tbsp. dried)
12 oz. chopped fresh spinach

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Combine ground chicken, sausage, bread crumbs, garlic, parsley, Parmesan, milk, eggs, salt, and pepper. Form into meatballs and bake on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper for 30 minutes.

In the meantime, heat olive oil in a large soup pot, and add onion, carrots, and celery. Saute until softened for about five minutes. Add chicken stock and wine, and bring to a boil. Add the pasta and cook for 6 to 8 minutes. Add dill and spinach and cook another minute or two. Add meatballs and serve with a little gratd Parmesan.