Here it is. I’d sent it to Ang. the night I took it, and she sent it back to me tonight. Behold Skimmer:

After weeks of whining about no progress, I think it’s time to let the picture speak for itself:

Or it would be if my kids had not deleted MY picture off MY camera card. Darn it! The sweater (front and back) is together, it fits perfectly, just like I had envisioned it, and I really, really, really wanted to show it to you. But I can’t. And it is late, and I am tired, and maybe somewhat grumpy, so there will be no picture.

So what did you do? And do you have pictorial proof?

Here’s how to play:

Take a picture of your current project, whatever that happens to be. Or maybe one you recently finished. Or the materials for the one you are about to start. Let’s say materials for a project in whatever state it happens to be in at the time you snap it. On Friday, post the picture and tell us about your project. What you did, or what you are going to do. How much you are enjoying it, or hating it. You know–show and tell.

Just copy & paste the code below the graphic and get crafty with me!

<a href="http://www.cassknits.com/category/online-craft-club/"><img src="http://i236.photobucket.com/albums/ff136/cassknits/online-craft-club-sidebar-sized.jpg" alt="" /></a>

Be sure to come back and leave a comment so we know where to find you!

[tags]Online Craft Club[/tags]

:kitchen: I think we all know that nothing beats the taste of home cooked food. It’s just better if your hands have been in it. You know I am right! You may be giggling, but you are also nodding in agreement; I can practically see you! However, sometimes, it just doesn’t work that way. You are rushed, you are tired, or something you want to do comes up, and there you are, needing a quick dinner fix. So today, I thought I would critique some frozen foods for you, and let you know which are picks and which are pans.

Picks:

Stouffer’s Macaroni and Cheese. Seriously cheesy, seriously good. Serve with salad and you are done. Unless your husband is like mine and demands MEAT. In that case, serve it with leftover something or other.

Stouffer’s Vegetable Lasagna. This one is so satisfying that you can skip the meat.

Stouffer’s Chicken Parmigiana. Not as good as mine, but a fairly decent second. Add a veggie.

Stouffer’s Three Cheese Ravioli with Meat Sauce. Yumm! Rich and cheesy and just about perfect.

Gourmet Dining‘s Seafood Medley. I don’t usually care for frozen seafood, but I can tolerate this one and ask for seconds. The fam loves it.

Gourmet Dining’s Shrimp Linguini. This one is good, too, but I prefer the Medley.

Bird’s Eye Viola Shrimp Scampi is good, but it is not as rich and decadent as mine. Of course, it costs about a quarter of what I pay for ingredients for mine, too.

Bird’s Eye Viola Garlic chicken is good, too, and it has plenty of garlic for most folks, but a little extra is good, too.

Pans

Stouffer’s Chicken Enchiladas with Cheese Sauce & Rice. Something just went wrong here. We’ve tried it a couple of times, but the texture of the tortillas is just …. not right, ya’ll.

It’s amazing the things I forget, even after all the knitting I’ve done. And everytime I forget something, I have to do a bit of ripping. Today, I forgot which way k2tog leans. Well, the answer is: not the way I need these decreases to go. Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiip! The good news is that I had not gone very far, so I didn’t have to rip back very much. And now, I am over halfway done with the other back of Skimmer, thanks to a school day that lasted forever.

I was surprised really, that I didn’t get any knitting or reading done while we were camping this past weekend. I thought I would have long stretches of free time. I made a fatal error there. I forgot that I am still the Mama around here, LOL! Even camping, ther e are no long stretches of free time for Mama. The closest I came was the eveining I was getting increasingly frustrated because the kids were firing off requests so rapidly that I couldn’t get one answered before another started talking. I just excused myself and walked into my room with my timer and a magazine. 15 minutes later, I emerged, ready to answer them, though I still made them take turns, LOL.

The kids broke out the sidewalk chalk and made a masterpiece on the foundation. Since it’s due to rain, I thought I would go ahead and take and post some pictures.

Here’s what our set up looks like.
Girls in the blue tent, boys in the back room of the other one, parents in the front. We’ve got a couple of guests, even!

So, I was looking at my family the other day, as they were eating, (Haha, nine people live here, so someone is ALWAYS eating.) and I really started thinking about what I feed them. I am back to using the food pyramid for myself, because I just feel so much better when I eat that way. It’s plenty of food and I don’t end up feeling bloated, and I have energy– stamina– the ability to keep on going like the energizer bunny. And yet, I let my family eat however, whatever. Yeah, cause I am smart, and I thought it would seem like deprivation to them if I “made” them eat a little healthier.

So, anyway, I talked to dh, and we decided it would really benefit the whole family to have a healthier diet. It will be better for our hearts and lungs, our immune systems, and hopefully our tempers and ability to concentrate. But that health thing is a biggie. Do you know that sudden cardiac arrest kills 900 people per day? That’s just crazy, because it’s mostly preventable through diet! St. Jude’s has put together a website that explains abnormal heart rhythm and there are a couple of videos as well. Sudden Cardiac Arrest and The Human Heart (hey, that second one would be great for science for the younger kids– we may watch that on Tuesday).

Oh, I don’t think the kids will be suffering too much. We’re camping this weekend (yeah, and I am in here on the computer, because…………I am silly, that is why), and we’ll be having hotdogs for lunch. Ha, nothing new there, we eat hotdogs every Saturday. This week, though, they are coming with a little surprise–instead of 2 hotdogs, we’ll have one hotdog and some carrot sticks. Because, do you know how much protein we need a day? Six ounces. Do you know how much we were eating? Twice that. Easily. I love these guys, I want them to live long, healthy lives, and enjoy eating every day of those long healthy lives. That means I need to teach them about good food choices NOW.

Well, I have something different to say this week: I actually knit! In fact, one back of Skimmer is completed and the other is in progress. I’m thinking that a picture might be in order next week, aren’t you? I need to try it on and make sure it’s fitting before I begin the sleeves. The moment of truth, LOL. It’s always a little scary to take an idea and try it on. I;ve had enough experiences where the gauge was on but the garment still didn’t fit to make me just a little wary.

~~~~~~~~~~~~
Here’s how to play:

Take a picture of your current project, whatever that happens to be. Or maybe one you recently finished. Or the materials for the one you are about to start. Let’s say materials for a project in whatever state it happens to be in at the time you snap it. On Friday, post the picture and tell us about your project. What you did, or what you are going to do. How much you are enjoying it, or hating it. You know–show and tell.

Just copy & paste the code below the graphic and get crafty with me!

<a href="http://www.cassknits.com/category/online-craft-club/"><img src="http://i236.photobucket.com/albums/ff136/cassknits/online-craft-club-sidebar-sized.jpg" alt="" /></a>

Be sure to come back and leave a comment so we know where to find you!

[tags]Online Craft Club[/tags]

:kitchen: Quite some time ago, like several years, I followed a delightful recipe for cider braised pork loin. I only made it the one time, but it was so good! I served it for a holiday meal, and it was so tasty, and so pretty! Yes, I said pretty–that recipe included yams, prunes and apples in addition to the cider. It was impressive. And also very spendy. I kept meaning to make it again, but never did convince myself to buy all that fruit again just to make a roast. And yet, I could not get it out of my mind! With that in mind, I created this recipe not too long ago, and it is indeed very tasty, but also pretty simple.

Slow Cooked Apple Pork Roast

1 Fresh Picnic Shoulder (this is ham before it becomes ham, ya’ll)
4-6 Apples
Basil
Oregano
Rosemary
Salt

First, cut your apples into quarters and put them in the bottom of your crockpot. You need just enough to make a nice layer in the bottom. Go ahead and take the cores out if you’d like, but the apples will be discarded at the end of the cooking.

Now a fresh picnic has a fat side and a side without a layer of fat. Go ahead and sprinkle the unfat side with spices, and then flip the meat over so the fat side is up. Slice as close to the meat as possible and make a flap of that fat layer, but don’t cut it all the way off. Your knife will need to be quite sharp for this, otherwise, you’ll be hacking at it for quite a awhile. Fold that fat back, and season this side of the roast. Then fold the fat back in place over the roast, put the lid on the crockpot and turn it on. The fat will keep the meat basted for you. I hope you are going somewhere, because in a couple of hours that roast is going to be smelling pretty good, and you will want to be lifting the lid to look at it. Don’t do that Just let it cook for several hours, you know the drill.

Now, it’s not going to look so pleasant when you get ready to take it out of the pan, so I though I better prepare you. The fat renders and the apples juice and here’s what it looks like when it’s ready. That meat is so tender and flavorful, though. Just trust me. You will be having to take it out in chunks, because the roast just falls apart! Discard that top fat and the apples, and serve it up. Here’s what it looks like on the platter.

Enjoy!