‘Tis the season for leftovers.  And I don’t know about you, but I get darned tired of the same thing every night, but there’s all that food in the refrigerator just looking at me, so I feel obligated to eat it.  I mean it’s a sin to waste food isn’t it?  One of my favorite recipes for leftovers is Shepherd’s Pie.  While Shepherd’s Pie was traditionally made with mutton and Cottage Pie was what you called it when you used beef, I can honestly say that I’ve never used mutton in my Shepherd’s Pie.  I do enjoy lamb once in awhile, but never seem to have it as leftovers.  The other night I decided that it was time to finish up the prime rib we had left over from the holidays, and rather than reheat it yet again, I decided to modify a basic Shepherd’s Pie recipe to use the cubed prime rib.  So, here’s my version, but if you decide to make it, remember to use up whatever you have hanging out in the fridge and the freezer.  I really do think that makes for the best dish.

Stephanie’s Shepherd’s Pie

• 1 1/2 pounds ground beef or cubed leftover roast (if you’re feeling adventurous, try some lamb) (eyeballing it works too - more or less meat isn’t going to make or break this recipe - use what you have)
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
  
• 1-2 cups vegetables of your choice - I use a 16 oz. bag of frozen corn, carrots, peas, and green beans
• 1 1/2 - 2 pounds potatoes (or leftover boiled or mashed potatoes)
• 8 tbsp butter (1 stick)
• 1/2 cup beef broth (or as much as you need to make a nice sauce depending on your amounts of meat, veggies, and wine)
• 1/2 cup red wine (more, less, or none - depending on your taste)
• 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
• Salt
• Pepper
• Herbes de Provence
• 1/2 cup shredded cheese of your choice
  

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Peel and quarter potatoes (I sometimes don’t peel the potatoes, it makes for a bit more of a rustic dish, but I actually really like mashed potatoes with the skins on), boil in salted water until tender.
3. While the potatoes are cooking, melt 4 tbsp butter in a large frying pan.  Cook onions over medium heat until tender, about 10 minutes.  Add garlic during last couple of minutes of cooking time.
   
4. If using ground beef, add and cook until no longer pink.  If using leftover meat, add and warm.
   
5. Add vegetables and cook to warm - the whole thing is going to simmer for 10-15 minutes and then bake, so you don’t have to be too concerned if the veggies are still cold.
   
6. Add beef broth, wine, worcestershire, salt, pepper, and herbes de provence to taste (this really does depend on what meat you’re using and what seasonings you already have working for you).  Simmer for 10 minutes and add more broth or wine if needed to keep mixture moist.  If the liquid is too soupy for your taste, or if you got a little carried away with keeping the mixture moist, you can mix a little cornstarch with some water in a jar and add that to thicken the broth right up.
   
7. While meat is simmering, mash potatoes with remaining 4 tbsp butter.  Don’t forget to season the potatoes with salt and pepper.  Add cheese and stir to combine.
8. Place beef and veggie mixture in baking dish - I use a round casserole.  Top with mashed potatoes - make them as smooth or as rough as you like, it’s personal preference.
9. Cook until bubbling and brown - about 30 minutes.  Turn oven to broiler for the last 5 minutes so the potatoes get browned on the high spots.

Serves 6 (or 4 lumberjacks).

If you make this, let me know what you think - even if you hate it!  I tend to dump stuff in when I’m cooking, so my amounts are kinda iffy.  My general rule is, trust your instincts and you’ll be fine.

It has been far too long since I’ve paid any attention to my blog, and honestly, I’ve missed it alot.  I’ve missed the creative outlet, the great ideas, and the wonderful feedback I get from all of you.  And let’s not forget the value of motivation!  Having a blog makes me feel like I’m accountable to someone for my crafting.  Without the blog, nothing gets done.

I decided that if I was going to come out of hiding and back to blogging, I might as well do it in style.  So, I talked to my pal Diana and she set out to come up with a new blog design for me.  What do you think?  I hope everything that was in the old format made it over - if you can’t find something, let me know and I’ll try to track it down.  My hope is that the new format is a little easier on the eye and is easy to navigate as well.  I’m still working on converting all my old posts to the new categories and tags, but I should get that all done over the next couple of weeks.

Life at Unwind Knitting has been interesting, but life usually is if you can step back far enough to reflect on it.  My new job isn’t really that new any more.  It’s hard to believe I’ve been here 11 months, but it’s true.  I’m not the new girl anymore!  I can tell you that it’s wonderful to find a job where you like the people you work with and they like you in return.  Working at the university is fun and challenging and I swear I work with the best people.

Knitting is still happening, but it’s been sporatic at times.  I find I’m a much nicer person when I make time to knit, so I’ve been trying to do that on a regular basis.  In fact, I even did a tiny bit of Christmas knitting this year.  I was at my dad’s for Thanksgiving and my grandmother was there.  She saw my felted clogs and asked that I make her a pair.  She said she would buy the yarn if I would knit them for her, but seriously, when your grandmother asks you to make her something, doesn’t it just scream Christmas gift?  It did to me.  She wanted cream and tan, so I went to the yarn store and picked up a nice wooly Brown’s Sheep cream wool (Lanaloft) and then dug some heathered brown Cascade 220 out of the stash.  I started the clogs and then 2 people told me that I shouldn’t use cream since it didn’t felt.  I’ll admit, I had never heard that and had a bit of a freak out.  But I’d already started so what was I to do except trudge on and hope for the best.  They felted just fine and are tiny (she has a size 4 1/2 foot!).  I’m waiting on pictures from her, which I’ll share as soon as I have them.

I started some mindless knitting for the holidays because I had company and nothing says disaster like complex multiple cable charts and company.  I have one legwarmer from Last Minute Knitted Gifts finished (ravelry link),

and took a break before I start the second one to work on a headband in some of the yummy new Plymouth Earth Mainland (ravelry).

I’m still plugging away on my cabled sweater from Sensual Knits and eventually I’ll finish everything in the knitting basket … or I’ll just get bored and start something new.

When I don’t blog, I don’t take pictures of what I’m doing, so there’s going to be some retraining going on around these parts.  I also need to catch up with all of you and see what you’ve been up to.  I hope you’re all good and that you had a very happy holiday.  Happy 2009 to you all.

I went to Seattle last week for business and for the first time in forever I actually knit while traveling! I think partly because I’m enamored with the sock and partly because I had a lot of time on my hands.

This pattern is bloody brilliant and I adore the arch shaping! I’m anxious to get the first sock done so I can try it on and see how the shaping hugs my foot.

The best part of my Seattle trip, by far, was hanging out with Sundara (and as an aside, don’t you just love her new website)! We did a little yarn shopping and went out for drinks - it was great fun. And she was so nice to provide me with a little yarn fix!

Gorgeous Sock Yarn!

And scrumptious silky merino.

Nobody does color like Sundara.

Today is the first installment of our work lunch/knitting group. It’s actually open to anyone who wants to do anything crafty, and since it was my idea, I hope we have a good turn out. I’ll let you know.

Summer has finally shown up in Wyoming. Yesterday it was in the 70’s and word is that it will get up to the 80’s today, which I don’t really believe. But anything is better than the cold and snow we had last week.

Have a great day!
Stephanie

There’s something exciting about starting a new sock. It’s like a bright sunshiney day. There’s all that excitement about finding the pattern and then picking the perfect yarn out of the stash. Then you get to pick out the needles - dpns, magic loop, size 0, size 1 … all those choices. And once you have it all together, then you get to cast on. New project nirvana.

I picked the Francie pattern because I saw Stephanie’s (scroll down a bit) and thought they were the cutest things I’d seen in awhile. Have you seen that shaping? The ribbing on the foot? I think they’re fabulously cool.

Then I needed to find some yarn. I have a good stash of sock yarn (really, who doesn’t?), so while I was tempted to buy something new, I resisted and went looking in the stash. I debated between a few choices and finally decided that the Brooks Farm sock yarn I bought at Estes Park two years ago (!) was the ticket. It’s a gorgeous wool, silk, viscose blend that has a fabulous sheen and I love the color - I still don’t have a pair of red socks and I think that’s a crime.

Then it came time to pick the needles. I’m back to knitting on dpns after a few socks using magic loop, but I’ve been wanting to try the Knit Picks Harmony dpns for awhile and this seemed like the perfect excuse. I mean really, why ruin a perfectly great knitting experience with needles you’re not crazy about. Right? So, I ordered a 2.0 and 2.25mm set (which are 6!) and they came Monday. That meant I was ready to go. Weeee.

So, now that I had all the materials assembled and was riding high on my new project giddiness, it was time to cast on. So, I get out the pattern and read (always a good first step), and what I see is “Loosely cast on 64 stitches using the Long Tail or German Twisted method.” The German Twisted method? What’s that? So me being me, I have to check it out. Google is a wonderful thing, and this is what I found

And this lovely pdf: How To Do The German Twisted Cast On

So, since it’s something new and it’s supposed to be “a very stretchy and neat looking beginning for socks,hats, gloves and mittens” I decided to give it a try. And after a few tries, I figured it out and it works pretty great.

So far, I love the whole project - pattern, yarn, and needles are working in harmony. Will the giddiness continue? Stay tuned.

Stephanie

I promise this isn’t going to be all baking all the time, but since my fiber adventures are plugging along at a snail’s pace, I’m left with baking and television watching to entertain you with. So, baking first, then talk of television…

Scones are one of my favorite breakfast foods. Well really I will eat a scone just about any time - day or night. There are lots of yummy things you can add to scones - fruit, nuts, you can make whole wheat ones and savory ones, but my favorite in the cream scone - just a little sweet and light and delicious.

Cream Scones
recipe from: How to Bake by Nick Malgieri

Makes 12 scones

3 cups all-purpose flour (King Arthur is the best, in my opinion)
1/4 cup light brown sugar
1 tbsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
5 tbsp. unsalted butter
2 eggs
3/4 cup heavy cream, plus more for wash
cinnamon sugar

Set rack in middle of oven and preheat to 450 degrees. Combine the dry ingredients in a medium bowl. Cut butter into small pieces and rub evenly into the dry ingredients until it resembles fine cornmeal (just like if you were making biscuits).

Whisk eggs and cream together and stir into the butter and flour mixture.

At this point the dough looks a little dry and you might be tempted to add more liquid, but don’t just yet. Knead the dough and it will combine nicely. I just dump the whole mess out onto the counter and knead it for a few minutes to work all the left over dry ingredients in and you end up with a nice firm dough.

Divide the dough into 3 equal pieces and form each into a 5-inch disk - just pat the dough until it’s relatively flat and about 5 inches in diameter.

Cut each disk into quarters so you have 4 triangle-shaped wedges - I find my metal scraper works great for this - better than a knife.

Place scones onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment or a silpat - I use 2 cookie sheets and put 6 scones per sheet. Brush tops with remaining cream and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar.

Bake for 10 to 15 minutes - 10 or 12 is enough for mine. You want the scones firm but not dry, and you don’t want golden brown, but rather just slightly tan… Kinda like this.

Let me know what you think of them if you try them. They’re good with butter and jam, but honestly, I like them plain with nothing to interfere with the slight sweetness. Yum.

So, now on to the entertainment portion of today. Do you watch Army Wives? If you don’t, you should. Last night was the season 2 premier and it was great - I was totally shocked - didn’t see that coming at all. I love the characters, so flawed yet still so likable and human. And I love that it’s a show that airs new episodes in the summer when everything but my beloved General Hospital is in reruns. Lifetime has all of the season 1 episodes, as well as last night’s premier on their website so if you’ve never watched, you can get caught up before next Sunday.

This week there will be some knitting on the never ending sleeves and I’m starting some new socks because I’m flying to Seattle on Thursday and I need a small portable knitting project for the plane - that big hulking sweater is not making the trip! I’m almost done with a fun little summer dress - just have the collar and sleeves and hem to finish, so hopefully I can get that done in the next couple of days and share that with you. Have a great Monday.

Stephanie