Speed Record

Ha! Not in knitting. On Wednesday, I cooked up an Indian feast in less than three hours. This is an all-time record; usually it takes me all day. Of course, it helped that I found pre-made panir, so I could dispense with making my own cheese. And even though I mixed the dough for the chapatis, I didn't actually make them (the dough is in the freezer and I'll make them at some later time). What was for dinner?

Panir with peas in a minty tomato sauce (matar panir)

Spiced green beans (masala barbatti sabji)

Simple yellow rice (haldi chaval)

Shredded carrot, coconut, and radish salad (mooli nariyal kachamber)

Vanilla ice cream with sliced mango

The salad was a bit dry and benefited from adding a little yogurt. And I discovered that the rice (cooked with all sorts of spices) works well in the rice cooker. All recipes are from what I consider to be the most comprehensive Indian cookbook in the world, Lord Krishna's Cuisine: The Art of Indian Vegetarian Cooking, by Yamuna Devi. It's 800 pages and includes all types of dishes, from rices and dals to breads and snacks, to drinks and desserts (the ras malai is to die for!).

Fern Leaf and the Sock
I'm slowly making progress here. I've almost finished the center motif, with only four rows to go, followed by three repeats of the edge motif and six rows of plain knitting. Fortunately, I haven't had to tink much lately, but it takes knitting in absolute silence. I can forget knitting with the radio on because I get sucked into the music or the commentary and whoops! I insert mistakes. I predict that the shawl should be finished sometime soon after next weekend.

We're off to Annapolis this afternoon so Tom can run in the Annapolis 10-Miler tomorrow. Unfortunately, it looks like it's going to be a bit rainy, which will make running (and spectating) not so much fun. I should be able to get in some sock knitting on this trip.

I predict that the second sock will be complete by the end of next week. I'm going to take three days and go visit my parents. It's been a while since I took a trip down there and in addition to having a good time (and good food), there's always some good knitting time to be had. I'll get to visit with my grandmother and see my nieces and nephews. And, there's one more little niece or nephew who will make an appearance in February or March. I need to figure out soon what to knit, so I don't end up giving the gift a couple of years later.

That's it for now. Have a great weekend!