A Happy Spinning Group

Today was the day for my spinning group's Christmas Potluck lunch. We had a full house, with three first time visitors, Anita, her daughter Anna-home from school in Montreal, and her granddaughter Amber. Anna bought a drop spindle at the Finger Lakes Fiber Festival this fall and is doing a beautiful job spinning. Anita is also interested in learning to spin and they plan to get wheels in the coming year. It was good for them to get a chance to see a variety of wheels at the group. There was lots of delicious food, great conversation, and fellowship with fellow fiber fanatics.

Anna, Suzanne and Trina

Suzanne and me.

Barb, Barbara, Anita and Carol. Barbara was showing us the weaving sample she made at a beginner's weaving class at Harrisville Designs this fall. She learned a lot in the 5 day class! Anita's sweater was amazing-it was a map of the world.

Kathy, Amber, Vernice and Phyllis. Phyllis is spinning on a Hitchhiker that used to be our hostess Barb's. Barb named the wheel Miss Piggy and painted her pink-she's decorated with rhinestones, flowers, and has red toenails and a toe ring.

Anita, Carol, Andrea and Carolyn.

The dish I brought is an old family favorite called Hash Browns Deluxe. I'm going to be like Cooking Light magazine and show you the original recipe and then tell you what I have done to cut a lot of fat and calories out and still end up with a delicious dish.

Hash Browns Deluxe

2 pounds frozen hash browns

1 cup diced onions, sauteed

1 cup cream of chicken soup

1 pint sour cream

1/2 cup melted butter

8 ounces grated sharp cheddar cheese

Salt and pepper to taste

Thaw potatoes for 30 minutes. Mix everything together except for the potatoes. After the other ingredients are combined, add the potatoes and stir until they are throughly mixed with the liquid ingredients. Bake at 375 degrees for 1-1 1/2 hours until brown.

Now the lower fat recipe-just as delicious, I promise.

2 pounds frozen hash browns

1 cup diced onions, sauteed (You can use 1 1/2 teaspoons of onion flakes instead)

1 cup cream of chicken soup (Any cream of soup works well. I often use cream of broccoli soup and add lightly steamed broccoli)

3/4 cup of low fat sour cream

2 cups grated cheddar cheese.

Salt and pepper to taste

Thaw potatoes for 30 minutes. Mix everything together except for the potatoes. After the other ingredients are combined, add the potatoes and stir until they are throughly mixed with the liquid ingredients. Bake at 375 degrees for 1-1 1/2 hours until brown. If you want to make a one dish dinner, you can also add diced ham or chicken. The possibilities are endless!

It Was a Busy Fibery Day

In case you were wondering, if you sent positive thoughts for no rain on Tuesday, it didn't work. It was another rainy day which kept us from going to the Farmer's Market. I am quite excited that the forecast for Friday is 81 degrees and sunny.

Wednesday's are for spinning and knitting. It is the day when my spinning group meets, and also the day when we have our knitting group at the library. It's a very fibery day. Today I felt the need to spin some fiber that I didn't have to think about. I tend to like to spin fiber that has a lot of different color blocks, and I like to manipulate the colors to make a yarn that looks tweedy by stripping the roving and tearing it into pieces and piling those pieces together. I think it makes interesting yarn. This is yarn with one ply made from a navy blue BFL roving I dyed and the other ply is some of Lynn Vogel's BFL fiber I purchased from her at Harrisville Designs. I am planning to make some fingerless gloves from this yarn.

This yarn I spun from fiber samples from the Phat Fiber Sample box which I have collected since January.

However, today I didn't feel like thinking that much, so I chose to spin some fiber I bought at Rhinebeck last year. It is three colored, but the roving was dyed and then lightly carded together, and I chose to just spin it , which was just what I needed today.

Next week spinning will be at my house, which means I need to do quite a bit of cleaning this week, including cleaning off the kitchen table, something I probably haven't done since last time I had spinning. It is where I do my drum carding. It's fortunate that I don't have to put everything away every time I card, since we don't use the table much for eating. Having an 18 year old who is seldom home for meals makes that possible. I don't understand why he would rather spend time with his friends than his fun mother, but it seems to be the case.

I am very excited about a new yarn base I am getting. It is merino, silk and cashmere, and I am anticipating just how soft it is going to be. It will make some extremely soft socks, but also would be fabulous for shawls and scarves also. I am thinking it should be arriving soon, and since I'm planning a dyeing day for Saturday, I hope it will be here by then.

The pool water is no longer green, which is a good thing, and the water is clear enough to see the bottom of the pool at the deep end. Conor dove in today for the first time after his run, but quickly got out. He said it was the coldest water he has ever been in, including mountain lakes and the Atlantic Ocean early in the summer. He is campaigning for a new solar cover. I have suggested that when he gets a job, he can put some of his money toward the solar cover he would like.

Work tomorrow, so I'd best go to bed.

Another Dyeing Sunday

A quick post to say hello.  It's been a busy few days.  Today was a day for dyeing and the dye fumes seem to have taken away my ability to write a cohesive post.  I hope to have a real post tomorrow, with details of our spinning day yesterday at my house.  Perhaps there will be a Pistachio Cake recipe included.

Look, there is thyme growing in my garden!

And despite the depressing snow that was on the ground this morning, and the fact that it is still really cold, there was blue sky today.

This is a cement rhubarb leaf that has been in my garden for the last few years.  Eloise, Judy and I spent an afternoon making casts of rhubarb leaves from Judy's garden one summer afternoon before Judy deserted us and moved to Wilmington.  Then Eloise deserted me and move to Saranac Lake.  Maybe this is a trend, and a miracle will happen, and I will sell my  house and move to the Adirondacks also. I am sending that thought out into the universe.  Let's see what happens.