I was sad to hear that I missed the first big snowfall in Fort Collins, because I’ve been working from St. Louis this week. Here’s a picture of our back deck that WH sent to me the morning after the big snow. (Here’s what the deck looks like without snow. Big difference!) I love snow and cold, and I hope there is plenty of it in store for us this winter. The nice thing about Fort Collins is that apparently it snows one day and then the next day it can be in the 50′s or 60′s. So you get the pretty white stuff, but it doesn’t stay around long enough to get tired and dirty looking. Today is supposed to be in the 50′s, so I’m sure it will be gone by the time I get back home tonight.

On the other hand, St. Louis is a baseball town, and it has been fun to be here during the World Series games. You just can’t beat last night’s game (if you managed to stay up for all 11 innings and watch it). The two teams seem well matched in this series and they both have provided some great baseball moments over the past week. I won’t even be too sad if Texas wins tonight. Great team, great players, and they lost last year in the World Series. Two years in a row doesn’t seem right. I’m still going to root for the Cards tonight, but either way, I’m sure it will be another good game.

Today I’m sharing a recipe from my friend Audrey’s mother-in-law. We’ve been making these bars for about 20 years, and they are always a hit. (And always a good way to use up ripe bananas.) I hope you and your family enjoy them as much as we do.

Mrs. Wilson’s Banana Cake Bars

1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup butter
3 eggs
1 cup mashed ripe bananas (3-4)
1 cup nuts (optional)
1/4 cup sour milk*
2 tsp. vinegar
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
4 tsp. water
1 tsp. vanilla
Frosting Glaze (see below)

*You can use regular milk and make it sour. Measure slightly less than 1/4 cup of milk, and add a bit of vinegar to bring it up to the 1/4 c. mark. Let it sit for 5 minutes to sour before adding it to the batter. You can also use buttermilk if you have that.

Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs, bananas, nuts and milk. Then add all dry ingredients, plus water and vanilla. Pour into a greased 9 x 13 pan.

Bake at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes.

Let cool and then frost.

Frosting: 6 Tbl. butter, 4 3/4 cups powdered sugar, 1/4 cup milk, 1 1/2 tsp. vanilla. Blend well.

For this month’s contest - leave a comment and tell me your favorite sports team. It doesn’t have to be a baseball team and it doesn’t have to be a professional team – it might even be your little one’s little league team. We’ll do a drawing next week for Wollmeise. I saved a few skeins for this month’s contest!

Sheri notadmittingtohowmuchyarnI’mtakingbacktoCOwithmetonight

It might just be the perfect fall day, today. The sun is shining, the wind is blowing a bit, and there is a nip in the air. Not too much. Just enough for you to know that it’s fall and not spring. I think I’ll call it “National I Love Fall Day” today. That means you should get out and do something to celebrate fall. Jump in some leaves. Enjoy a Pumpkin Spice Latte. Take a walk before dinner. (It’s ok if you don’t have fall weather where you live. Celebrate anyway.)

Or we could call it “National I Love Yarn Day”, as The Crafty Council has suggested. That means you get to buy some new yarn, start a new project, and leave work early to celebrate and knit. I suspect we might need to extend that throughout the entire weekend. How can you celebrate all of that in just one day?

As long as we’re making holidays, let’s also call today “National I Love Chocolate Day” so that I have an excuse to share a decadent dessert with you. (Not that I need an excuse to do that, I know.) I found this on Pinterest, and it comes from Kevin & Amanda’s blog. I do like the way she stacks two bars for each serving. Not sure I could eat that much since it’s so rich, but it looks impressive!

Oreo Brownie Chocolate Chip Dessert

1 brownie mix (for 9 x 13 size pan)
1 batch of chocolate chip cookie dough (or 1 tube of slice and bake)
1 package of chocolate sandwich cookies (like Oreo’s)

Press the chocolate chip cookie dough into the bottom of a 9 x 13 pan. (Or, if using slice and bake – slice the cookies, layer them so that they cover the bottom of the pan, and then press them together to seal any openings.)

Put a single layer of chocolate sandwich cookies on top of the cookie dough batter.

Mix the brownie mix as directed and pour that over the top of the chocolate sandwich cookies.

Bake at 350 for 45-55 minutes.

Let cool slightly and then slice and enjoy with ice cream.

There you go. A triple dessert celebration for a triple national celebration day. Fall, yarn and chocolate. Yum.

What else should we be celebrating today? Since I made up two days (chocolate and fall), you get to make some up, too.  National I Love …. what?

Sheri  hopingyouhaveagreatweekend!

It’s another beautiful day here in Northern Colorado. I’m sprinkling a few more fall photos into the blog posts this week. I know that there are pretty fall scenes all over the country. WH and I spent a fall weekend in Portland, Maine one year and I don’t think I have ever seen prettier fall trees. You all really know how to do up the colors in the northeast! But just in case you are in a place where you don’t have fall color, I hope you enjoy some of these photos.

In addition to fall colors, we also have a lot of yarn colors to tempt you with in today’s update! Just up on the website, you’ll find:

Hand Maiden Casbah - this merino/cashmere/nylon blend was one of the very first MCN bases to come out, and it remains one of the softest and prettiest, in my opinion. New colors and re-stocks. Here it is shown in Nymph.

Socktopus – part of our Socktopus order has arrived and we’ve added this in to the website. I know that many of you have been waiting for this!

Three Irish Girls - more Glenhaven Cashmerino Worsted Weight, which is what I used to make my Winter’s Rhythm capelet this past spring. I’m so glad that I’ll be able to wear that, soon. I loved knitting with this MCN yarn in the worsted weight.

Shibui - more colors in Sock, Staccato and Worsted have arrived. Have you tried the Staccato base yet? It’s made of a combination of  Superwash Merino (65%), Silk (30%) and Nylon (5%).  If you click on one of the close-up photos on our website, you can see just the slightest sheen. Try this for socks, shawls, or lacey scarves. Maybe the Maia Shoulderette, or Boing, or The Chevron Shawlette.

Tempted – Stacey’s Good Grrl yarn, in gorgeous colors (shown here in Frigid). Good Grrl is the 100% super wash merino base, and is wonderful for socks and shawls. Wouldn’t it be pretty knit up in Pimpelliese or  Simple Things or the 3S Shawl?

Malabrigo – Worsted, Rios, and Silky. Hard to pick a favorite from those three bases! I’m tempted to make Ptarmigan out of the Silky. And I’m loving the Guernsey Wrap (which will take some concentration) or the Nimbus Shawl (which doesn’t look like it will take any concentration, but what a cool shape!) with the Worsted or the Rios. (Note – the Nimbus calls for fingering weight, but I’d probably make it in DK or Worsted, to get it a little bigger.)

Lorna’s Laces Solemate – this is the thermostat yarn! (You know, the base that makes your hot self feel cooler and your cool self feel warmer?) For that reason, I’d use it for socks, scarves, cowls or mitts. But it’s equally pretty for shawls. Check out this Technical sock pattern. That Jeannie is a master of sock patterns! Or Nine-to-Five Socks – I love the cable going down the side of the heel.

We’ve also restocked the HiyaHiya needles, the Soak, Puppy Snips, Dumpling Cases with Stitchmarkers, and all SOAK scents, so stock up on your needles and accessories, too!

I’ve been on a knitting streak. I finished a cowl, my latest shawl, and a few more puffs. I’ve also started in on my Fourth Quarter Challenge (which is not a two-color shawl, like I thought it would be.) I have to take advantage of knitting streak time, because there are also times when I don’t feel like knitting for a couple of weeks at a time, and that’s never good. There are just too many patterns out there that are in my queue and too many different yarns that I want to work with. I hope this streak lasts awhile. Anyone else on a knitting streak?

Sheri nowthatI’vesaidthat,thestreakwillprobablycomecrashingtoahalt

1. One of the fun things about moving to a new town is that you get to discover new shops - new grocery stores, new gifty stores, new eye-candy stores. And in those new stores, you might discover a new love. Like Noosa Yoghurt. My latest obsession. (I like it even though they say “yoghurt” instead of yogurt.) Wish it wasn’t so pricey. Do you have Noosa near you?

2. There is an elementary school about 4 blocks away, and we can hear the school bells. I should follow them and break for lunch and recess every day, don’t you think?

3. Our mail doesn’t come until 5 pm on weekdays. I’m not a fan of that. And I think the mail lady hates me because I get packages from Loopy and she has get out of her mail truck to walk them to the door.

4.  The Aspens are absolutely beautiful right now. Can you pop in the car and come see them in person this weekend? Because you ought to. WH took this up near Breckenridge this week. If you click on it, it almost makes you dizzy. I was going to use it as my screensaver, but I think I’d feel like I was being sucked in. (As if I didn’t already feel like that with computers from time to time.) I’ll share a couple more of his fall photos next week.

5.  I made this soup and it was a big hit. Perfect for a chilly fall evening. And it does not taste at all low fat, which I like. I should have photo-ed it in a colored bowl so it would show up better. Although I don’t have colored bowls. I might need to go shopping.

Creamy, Low Fat Potato Soup (from Monica at The Yummy Life)

4 baking potatoes (2.5 lbs.) OR 4 cups leftover mashed potatoes
2/3 cup flour
6 cups 2% milk
1 cup low-fat extra sharp cheddar cheese (divided)
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1 cup low-fat sour cream
3/4 cup chopped green onions (divided)
6 bacon slices, cooked and crumbled

If you are using baking potatoes, bake them (400 degrees for 1 hour in the oven, or microwave them). Don’t forget to poke them with a fork before baking. Peel and mash. OR use leftover mashed potatoes.

Add flour to a large pot or Dutch oven. Whisk in the milk and stir until blended. Cook over medium heat until it starts to thicken (about 8-10 minutes).

Add in the mashed potatoes, 3/4 cup of cheese, salt and pepper. Stir until the cheese is completely melted. Stir in sour cream and 1/2 cup green onions.

At this point, I used an immersion blender to thicken it up a bit. (Love that blender. Also good for smoothies.)

Serve in individual bowls and garnish with green onions, shredded cheese, and bacon.

You might want to serve this with Monica’s Cheesy Jalapeño Cornbread – also yummy.

6. I will be working on a Cladonia Shawl and the little Hexapuffs this weekend. Speaking of the little puffs, thanks to ALL of you who entered to win a free Mini Skein kit in last week’s blog contest! The random number generator picked Iris in NY for a free Lorna’s Laces Mini Kit. We’ll let you know as soon as the kits are in stock and ready for everyone.

So back to the mail-which-comes-too-late  - what time does your mail come? And does your mail person hate you, too? I think I need to bake her some cookies and do some brown-nosing. Or stop ordering yarn. (Yeah. Like that’s going to happen.)

Sheri hopingyouallhaveawonderfulweekend.
Andthatyourmailcomesearly.

I want to report in that I have indeed been working on my Project Three blanket. We headed up into the mountains to spend a couple of days with my folks last weekend, and I took that opportunity to steal the blanket from Gracie and work on it away from her. I’ve used up the 800 yards I originally wound up, and have emailed the Elves to send me more this week. I am hoping to crank on it next weekend, to get it done in time!

While in the mountains, we had these amazing Crepes from a little cart on main street in Breckenridge. These are filled with bananas, milk chocolate, and peanut butter. Holy cow, they were delicious.

Also along that street – dogs. Dogs walking with their owners, dogs sitting under tables while their owners ate, and dogs laying in the doors of stores. I told WH that if someone had had a basket of puppies for sale, I would have had to buy one. (Me? Susceptible to cute dogs and thinking I need one? Yes.) Fortunately, no one offered to sell me one and WH breathed a sigh of relief.

Speaking of WH (my hubby), a few of you have asked what he is doing out here in Colorado, since we moved. He sold his business in St. Louis (a graphic design/interior graphics business) and is ramping up his second business (which he also did in St. Louis) – photography. He’ll continue to work with an art gallery there in St. Louis, but will also expand that out here. He’s having a good time taking pictures in beautiful Colorado. Here’s an interesting sequence. While we were sitting there eating those awesome crepes, we noticed something fluttering around the flowers nearby. It moved like a hummingbird (flitting from flower to flower, suspended in mid-air with wings beating), but it didn’t look like a hummingbird. WH got some great pictures of it and then we looked it up online when we got home. It’s called a White-lined Sphinx Hummingbird Moth. See how his feeder tube is all curled up in the first picture and then beginning to extend to the flower in the second picture? That’s him in all his glory in the third picture. (And then he was tired of the photos, because he flew up at WH to protest after the last one!)

I’ll leave you with a couple of flower photos, in case you need to get that moth out of your head. I know some of you don’t like bugs. The flowers out here are just gorgeous and we’re so enjoying the color.

Sheri impatientlywaitingformymailmantobringmeaLoopyEwepackage
Knowthefeeling?

It’s time to pull out the fall decorations and get into the spirit of things! (Well, first I need to find all of the fall decorations. They are still in unpacked boxes in the basement. I guess that’s good motivation for me to get down there.) I think Fall is my favorite season of all. I’m usually so tired of the heat and humidity of summer, and it feels good to get the house changed over to a cooler season. I try to stay out of cute shops until I’ve decorated the house with the things I already have. Otherwise, I tend to practice selective amnesia and think I actually need to buy MORE fall decorations. (Because, really, there are such wonderful fall decorations out there, and each year seems to get better than the next.) Do you decorate for Fall? And have you started doing that yet?

Here’s a wonderful recipe to throw into the crockpot on a cool day. This originally came from kalynskitchen (great recipes on her blog), and I stumbled across it on Pinterest.

Balsamic Pot Roast with Onions

3-4 lb. boneless chuck roast
1-2 Tbl. steak rub (I used McCormick Grill Mates Montreal Steak)
black pepper to taste (I will leave this out next time. The steak seasoning was enough.)
1-2 Tbl. olive oil
1/4 cup water
2-3 large onions, cut into thick rings.
1 cup beef stock that you then cook down to 1/2 cup
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
1/2 cup tomato sauce

Rub meat on both sides with steak seasoning (and black pepper, if desired). Add olive oil to a heavy skillet and brown both sides of the roast. Searing the meat will help to develop the flavor. The sugars and proteins on the surface undergo a change (called Maillard’s Reaction) that creates a richer, more nutty flavor. I browned each side for about 8-10 minutes.

Add the onion slices to your crockpot. The onions will help to hold the meat up out of the liquid for most of the cooking time, which is why you want to cut them so thick.

When the meat is done, add it to the slow cooker on top of the onions. In the pan where you browned the meat, deglaze the pan with 1/4 cup of water, scrapping off all of the browned bits. Add the reduced beef stock, balsamic vinegar, and tomato sauce to the beef stock. Pour on top of the pot roast and cook on low for 6-8 hours, until meat is tender.

I made that a couple of weeks ago, and typing up the recipe makes me want to make it again. Yum. Off to the store for ingredients.

Have a great long weekend! Remember, Monday is a No-Mail-Monday here, so we’ll be busy getting all of your weekend orders out to you on Tuesday. I’m not sure if we’re doing a Monday Update or a Tuesday Update next week. I’ll blog on Monday if we put new things up, so keep an eye out.

Sheri whomightstealProjectThreefromGracieandworkonitthisweekend