Shooting down the UFOs

Do you read Knitting Daily? I do, and last week they did a survey of how many UnFinished Objects (UFOs) people had lying around. Wanting to be helpful, I dug around my several bags and baskets. I was rather surprised to find that I had a grand total of 17 partially finished projects. I answered 15, but then afterward found two more, which I subsequently lost and then re-found this afternoon.

As I mentioned in my last post, we have all been sick. I was tired and I was shamed by my 17 projects so I decided to take yesterday evening "off" - as much as one can when one has two young children - and work on a few things. I really got a lot done number-wise; I now have finished 6 of those projects.

The abandoned baby sweater was bound off and is therefore now a baby hat. I might still add tassels on the corners because that would just be so cute.



I also finally stuffed and sewed up these little balls from Knitting for Baby:


And last but not least, I finished a sock.

Chicken Poodle Soup

Several years ago I read of a typographical error that resulted in the restaurant's menu offering "Chicken Poodle Soup". This has stuck with me and I at times find it difficult to even think the word "noodle" in combination with "chicken" and "soup". Though since I now have a couple of small someones to teach about how the world works, I've really been trying to break that habit.

We have all had a yucky cold and both the girls ended up with croup, so I decided to make some chicken noodle soup the other day. Try this and you'll never go back to canned soup. Measurements are rather vague because I don't measure.

Chicken Noodle Soup
1 chicken
water
carrots
celery
pasta (not angel hair or anything tiny that cooks quickly)
salt
parsley (I use dried)

Put the chicken in a large pot and cover (or mostly cover, if your pot isn't big enough) with water. (Those pasta pots with the perforated inserts are perfect for this.) Bring to a boil, lower the heat, put the lid on and simmer for 2-ish hours. Take the chicken out of the pot and let it cool a bit. Tear about half the meat into bite-sized pieces, tossing them back into the broth as you go. Save the rest of the chicken for something else (or another batch of soup, later). Turn the heat back up and while you're waiting for it to come to a boil, chop up some carrots and celery. I use maybe 3-4 cups (several handfuls) of carrots and 4 ribs of celery. Put those into the pot. When it's boiling, add about 8 oz (usually half a package) of pasta. If it's something long like spaghetti break it into 2-3" pieces as you put it in. Add about a tablespoon of salt and 2 or 3 tablespoonfuls of dried parsley. Cook for 10-15 minutes or however long is appropriate for your chosen pasta. Check to make sure the carrots are soft and taste to see if it needs more salt before turning off the burner.

*If you're short on time, boil a couple of boneless skinless chicken breasts for about 20 minutes. Chop those and add to the resulting broth and continue as directed, halving the amounts stated.

This stuff is seriously good.

Watch the birdie!

This dancing bird is great. I found it over on Emily's blog.

While you're at it, check out the bird moonwalking, which was shown to me by my husband.

Costuming a baby

This is a hilarious costume. If S was younger I would totally make this for her.