Channeling Goldie

Years ago when the children were small and I was a major volunteer in Arlington, Texas we had a wonderful babysitter named Goldie. Goldie was in her late 60's and her husband had recently retired from Skaggs Albertson's as a baker. His and (her salvation) was his garden. In that garden he grew tomatoes, onions, jalapenos, garlic, squash, cucumbers, potatoes and more. Goldie would can as much as she could and for us she would make hot salsa. And our family liked it hot. The initial jars would start out saying hot and then become hotter. I don't know what it is but just because you add more jalapenos does not make it hotter.
I have become Goldie. With each succession of hot salsa I have made I have added more. Initially sriracha sauce, then jalapenos and this latest batch is a combination. In about a week I will know if I have finally gotten it right. Of course tomato season is about over. But it has made me think about Goldie and what a wonderful and caring person she was.

Napa Sunday

Yesterday we set out to Napa to pick up some wine and do a little wine tasting. Our first stop was at Mumm. The weather was wonderful and we sat outside and enjoyed tasting a little bit of champagne. This is a picture of the grapes growing at Mumm. Everyone is Napa is playing a waiting game as to when to pick the grapes. The weather was very wet in the spring and has been unusually mild and the grapes are staying on the vine longer then norm.Onward we went to Joseph Phelps to pick up some wine we had order and to do a little tasting. Everyone at the winery is talking about the 2008 Insignia and how great the ratings might be.
After that we headed up to Deer Park Road and the Bremer Family Winery. They were offering a vertical tasting of their Claret from 2002 to 2005. Our favorite was the 2004. They were also serving brick oven pizzas. I had a very tasty caramelized onion with garlic and Gorgonzola cheese pizza. Jim got a sausage and tomato basil pizza that he did not offer to share with me.
Our last stop was at Ladera which was new to us. As a club member of Chappellet we are also able to do tastings at several other wineries. We decided to make an appointment and check out Ladera as it was just up the road from Bremer.
It is a beautiful property and the wines were great. I think we are now a member of their wine club.

My New Hobby

Casa York Salsa and Spicy Pickled Carrots

Squash Anyone

The CSA box from Soil Born Farms has had an abundance of squash. While I was gone Jim picked up our box but didn't cook much of it and tomorrow is another box. Tonight we dined on grilled squash which was tossed with a little olive oil, garlic powder and Tony Chachere's Original Creole Seasoning. Tony Chachere is a staple in our home. We moved with two large, l pound, containers and are now down to one. It is our seasoning of choice for all meats and vegetables. I also grilled sausage and we had fresh strawberries and blackberries Jim picked up on Saturday at the local farmers market. I think he is hooked on the idea of fresh. Granted he also bought his favorite thing - pistachios from Dewey farms.

Still trying to figure out what to do with all the carrots. Any suggestions would be appreciated. FYI, all soups must have meat according to the husband criteria.

Tomato Sauce

So what does one do with ripe tomatoes from the Soil Born Farm CSA along with the tomatoes being grown at the York casa - make tomato sauce. Along with garlic from the CSA box is fresh bay leaf, rosemary and basil from the backyard. This is all going in the freezer as I am off tomorrow to Seattle to celebrate my youngest sister's 50th which was back in December but we wanted a little warmer weather. See you all in a week with more fun.

Hats

While Hagen was visiting me this summer he knit a few hats for community service hours. The Oakridge School in Arlington, Texas requires that a student complete at least 70 hours of community service to graduate. Since I am a knitter and my son knows how to knit, he knit hats. We originally were going to donate them to the Salvation Army of Sacramento homeless shelter but a call was put out for hats from a customer of Filati Fine Yarns in Rocklin, California to make hats for the people of New Guinea. This is a compilation of hats Hagen did and that I had in my stash.

Cloud Chaser

Back in June I found the pattern Cloud Chaser by Amy Swenson and just had to make it. I had some Rowan Wool Cotton in my stash and decided to use it. There were a few hiccups in the pattern but I managed to finish the vest just before Kelsey and Hagen came for a visit and since I use the extra beds as my blocking boards I didn't have time to block it. That was of course before Kelsey saw it and decided she needed to add it to her wardrobe so one morning I soaked it and put it out on her bed to block with a fan going.

I am very happy how it turned out but I made a pledge to myself to not use patterns that have not been test knitted or at least made by more than one person. And do you know how long that pledge lasted-about a week. Kelsey saw my Brandywine shawl designed by Romi Hill and wanted to knit something similar. We found the Forest Beauty by Tetiana Otruta that was easy enough for Kelsey to knit because it had written instructions as well as being charted. The pattern had not been knit by anyone else and Row 1 had a mistake and we found another one on row 23. We wrote to the designer and she very quickly got back to us and sent out a new pattern. It was smooth sailing after that.

Kelsey used Madelinetosh Tosh Sock in Oceana. What I found rather amusing is she is in California buying yarn made in Texas.
I think Kelsey has caught the knitting bug. She finished another shawl on the plane on the way home. It is unfortunate that Waco does not have a knitting store.