Duck, Duck, Goose!

As I was sitting outside in the sun eating my wonderful Honeycrisp apple, one by one the ducks, the coots, and the geese started making their way off the canal up to the area by the motorhome. I had nothing at that point to feed them, so they just sort of sat down with me and enjoyed the sun.

I thought about what a gift this moment was for me. All these guys just hanging out with me, a Black-Crowned Heron across the canal, a Great Blue Heron to the right of me fishing, and a Snowy Egret on the shore in front of me. What a blessing.

I did eventually grab some duck food (chicken scratch) and feed these bottomless pits. They know I'm a soft touch, and wait by my door off and on during the day. Next time I feed them I think I'll wait until the Canada Geese are not around. They are pretty rough with the ducks and coots, biting them so they'll move. I know it's their nature, but it's just not allowed in my camp. :)

Earlier in the day I was outside working on something, and heard a "thwarp" whiz by my head. It was so fast that I almost didn't catch a glimpse of it. It sped past me two or three more times making that noise, but I could never really see what it was. I'm thinking maybe a hummer, although I've never heard one make that kind of noise.

How many gifts are all around us everyday, if only we are quiet enough to notice them!

Christmas Breakfast

This was seriously delicious! I originally heard of the recipe from Pam's blog. I'm not sure why I can't post the picture of it, and don't have a picture of what we ate because we were so hungry and it was so good that we just scarfed it down! You can find the recipe and the picture here. 

We didn't use all of that oil, and added avocado on top of the arugula before plopping the egg on top.

Oh, one other thing. I tried crisping up the pita in a pan, and the result was a very tough pita bread. So, next time I will just warm up the pita so it will cut nicely.

Let me know if you try this. So easy. So good!

Crispy Breakfast Pita

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Ingredients

• 6 6-inch pita breads
• Extra-virgin olive oil
• 6 large eggs
• 3/4 cup (6 ounces) mascarpone cheese
• Grated zest of 1/2 large lemon
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 3 packed cups (3 ounces) arugula or baby spinach
• 8 ounces thinly sliced prosciutto

Directions

Heat a grill pan over medium-high heat or preheat a gas or charcoal grill. Brush each side of the pita breads with 1/2 teaspoon olive oil and grill 2 to 3 minutes on each side, until crisp. Remove from the grill and cool slightly.

In a large skillet, heat 1 tablespoon olive oil over medium-high heat. Crack the eggs directly into the pan and cook until the egg whites are set, 2 to 3 minutes.

Combine the mascarpone cheese, lemon zest, 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper in a small bowl.

In a medium bowl, whisk together 3 tablespoons olive oil, the lemon juice, 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper until smooth. Add the arugula and toss until coated.

Spread each pita with 2 tablespoons of the mascarpone mixture. Divide the prosciutto on top. Divide the arugula and mound on top of the prosciutto. Carefully place a fried egg on top of each pita. Season the eggs with a pinch of salt and pepper, and serve.

SERVES: 6; Calories: 485; Total Fat: 27 grams; Saturated Fat: 11 grams; Protein: 25 gram; Total carbohydrates: 36 grams; Sugar: 1 gram; Fiber: 2 grams; Cholesterol: 251 milligrams; Sodium: 1,520 milligrams

 

On the Needles

Four days until Christmas. 4 days. I am not a fast knitter. Especially with lace weight yarn that is very hairy and slippery. But it's wonderful yarn. Like knitting with wisps of clouds. It's Elann Silken Kydd in pewter. This is a lovely blend of Mohair and Silk.
I'm hoping to turn this

into this

by Christmas. I'm about 6 rows away from starting the lace part. No, I don't think I'll make it by then either. LOL.  I'll just keep my head down and charge forward. Knit on, knit on...

Polar Bear Stocking

I was beginning to worry that I wouldn't get even one Christmas stocking finished before the big day. But I did.

I didn't get one done for Lexi though, but I'm thinking I'll start that soon so she'll have it next year.
This pattern came from Annie's Woolens on Ravelry.com. She has several different patterns, so Lexi may get a different one.

I learned so many things about colorwork knitting this. I had read somewhere that when you "carry" colors that you can pick them up around every 3 or 4 stitches. The first third of the stocking I did that way, and the inside was a mess. The rest of the stocking, I carried the 2nd color every other stitch and it looked great inside. I'm thinking that had I done that all the way, I wouldn't have had to line it.

Also, the name and the heart on the polar bear is done in duplicate stitch, handstitching over the original stitch. The pattern has you make the heart in green, then stitch over it in red. Totally unnecessary, in my humble opinion. I'll just make it red next time. OH! Did I say next time???