Hamburger Soup: A "Recipe"

This is my first blog about something that is not crochet, and it feels a little weird! Here we go....!

I love soups!  It doesn't matter what time of year it is, I'm always game for soup.  One of the great things about soup making is that it caters to my cooking style of "I don't really measure anything, I just throw it all in and see how it comes out."  A fellow crocheter (and an amazing designer to boot), Zelna Olivier of Zooty Owl 's Crafty Blog (who also has a crochet-a-long going on right now on her blog that you should give a try.  I'll post of pics of my squares soon!) mentioned making soup a day or two ago, and I can't quit thinking about Hamburger Soup!  She said she had never heard of it before, and that doesn't surprise me.  Until last year, I hadn't heard of it either.  My friend, Carla,  mentioned she was making it for dinner, and my curiosity was peaked!  So I started scouring the internet for recipes.  I tried a couple recipes at first, and then went off on my own and made my own version, tailoring it to my personal preferences.  That's another great thing about making your own soup- you can adjust things to make it better for your tastes easily.  I'm a person who loves onion, carrots, and green beans, so when I make soup, I usually have more of those than vegetables which I like but not as much as those others (like celery, tomatoes and potatoes).  I rarely write things down like this when I make them (but perhaps I ought to), but today I tried to pay attention to what I was putting in so that I could share my "recipe" with those who had asked for it.  Despite being made with hamburger, it's a fairly healthy soup with a lot of veggies.  Also, I don't cook using salt and pepper.  Foods have enough salt that occur naturally for my personal taste, and I'm just not huge on pepper.  However, if you are a person who likes their salt and pepper, you'll want to add those according to taste when you make this.

My preferred method for soup cooking is my Crockpot. There is nothing like your whole house smelling of a yummy, slow cooking soup all day.  I used my 4 quart Crockpot and it is full to about 1 inch below the rim- I'll keep an eye on it as it cooks and may possibly add some more broth to it later.  However, this soup can also be made on your stove top in a soup pot if you need it to be done sooner than 4-6 hours.  Simply combine the ingredients, bring it to a slow boil for about 5-10 minutes, and then let it simmer until the veggies are your desired texture. Also, there are a few vegetables that I used today that were canned.  Fresh will work just as well (if not better), but I didn't have any fresh green beans today, and I rarely have fresh tomatoes.  So I used what I had laying around, as I seem to be fighting a kidney infection, and I didn't feel up to leaving the house.  In contrast if you'd rather use all canned veggies, I'm sure that would work too, you just probably won't need to cook it as long.  This usually makes enough for us to have for dinner, and then we freeze the rest, giving us enough for another 2-3 meals.  It freezes really well, and tastes so good when reheated.  My soup smells yumtastic right now, I wish it was done cooking already!  Let me know if you try it!  Enjoy!

  Hamburger Soup
*Approx 2 lbs Ground beef- browned, drained, and RINSED (I run hot water over mine while it's in a colander)
* 1 1/2 - 2 White onion, chopped
* 1-2 cloves garlic, minced
* 2 cans green beans, drained
* 20 oz. petite diced tomatoes (I used ones that had garlic and onion in them)
* 24 oz garlic and herb flavored spaghetti sauce (most recipes call for just tomato sauce, which is okay too. However, I have found that using the spaghetti sauce gives it SO much more flavor!  Another good substittion is low sodium V8 juice)
* About 6-8 small new, yellow fleshed potatoes- sliced and then halved
* 14 baby carrots (the ones I had today though were MONSTER baby carrots!  I'm not sure I'd even consider them babies myself.  You may want to add more)
* two stalks of celery, chopped
* 1 900ml box of no salt added beef broth
* 2-3 TBSP of Heinz 57 sauce
*2/3 - 1 Cup dry red wine (depending on your preference, I've made it both ways and I like it with about 2/3, but if you aren't using the 57 sauce, I'd go 1 Cup)
*1/2 - 1 TBSP Worcestershire sauce
* parsley (I usually chop up fresh stuff and put in, but I was out, so I just used dried flakes)

Combine all these together in your Crockpot and cook on low for 6-8 hours, or on high for 4-5.  I usually serve this with a crusty butter roll, and it makes a great meal (particularly in the Winter)!  The recipe for the crusty butter roll , you ask?  Here it is: 1. Drive to Safeway. 2. Buy crusty butter rolls from the bakery.  3. Eat and enjoy!

Something About A Summertime Ripple

I love to ripple.  For me, there is just something about rippling away on a Summer evening that is so peaceful and relaxing.  I'm a big fan of patterns that allow my mind to wander just a tad while working on them, but are interesting enough to keep me from getting bored after 5 rows.  The family and I set out for the beach about 12 or so days ago, and I decided that I would take some yarn along with me and start an afghan that could always remind me of our first family trip to the beach.  I had actually picked these colours out a few months ago, but couldn't decide exactly what was going to become of them- just that they WOULD become something together one day.  I had to do a good chunk of frogging already, as I changed my mind on how I wanted to pattern the colours.  Sometimes after you see something stitched up it just isn't what you had envisioned and you have to make some changes.  I have worked on six other projects since starting this blanket (only three of them are finished as of now), but I am trying to make sure that I give this blanket a little time each day.  I'm finally happy with the colour patterning, and have all five colours incorporated into the blanket now.  The photo above show how it is looking as of right now.  What do you think?  This is made with Stylecraft DK in the colours Shrimp, Sherbet, Mocha, Saffron, and Meadow.

As for the other projects I've been working on, one is a bag for my Mother in law for her to carry her Kobo and tablet in. I'll have pictures of that up in a few days.  I've also been working on Christmas gifts for my in laws.  Those pictures will be coming along soon as well.  I got a request the other day to make a hat and beard for my 5 month old niece.  What a fun idea!  So I made a practice beard for my son to try to get a gauge of some sort, since I can't really have her try on the beard and make adjustments since we are in different countries and all.  my little monkey loves his beard and it has been seeing good use!
   

 

A Wonderful Day For Crochet Friends

First, let me apologize for my lack of entries as of late.  Between the teachers being on strike here, the kids being out of school, dance photos and recitals, and the oodles of things life has had in store for us the last month, I just haven't had enough juice at the end of the day to blog as I would like.  Things are settling down now, tough, so things should be back to as normal as they ever are.  

I had an exciting day I'd like to share about though.  The internet allows us the ability to interact with people from all over the world.  It is fabulous! As wonderful as online interactions are, there is simply no substitute for the real thing.  Today, I was lucky enough to have tea with Anne of Crochet Between Two Worlds who is in the Vancouver area on holidays!  I came across her blog (which she shares with her friend, Michelle) while reading comments on Attic24 one day, and it quickly became a favourite of mine!  

I was a little nervous at first.  I was wondering on my way there "What if we can't find anything to talk about?"  That was a not a problem at all!  Anne, my hubby and I sat out on the patio at Thierry Chocolates on a gorgeous Vancouver afternoon and happily chatted away about this, that, and the other.  Since Lucy of Attic24 just released the pattern for her bower bird  (hooray!) a couple of days ago, I thought that I would make one up for her to take back to Germany with her.  She turned out rather cute for being done in such a rush (I honestly just started it last night and finished it today)!  I'll be the first to admit that I am rubbish at embroidery, but I gave it a wingding nonetheless.

All too soon, our time was over, past over actually as our parking had expired.  We had left the children with Grandma and Grandpa, and since Grandpa is having surgery tomorrow, we didn't want him to over do anything today.  It was a wonderful visit, and I look forward to some day visiting Anne while we wander around Europe.  I'm so happy that crochet has brought a wonderful new friend into my life!  Thanks, for a wonderful day, Anne!

A Little Birdy Told Me

I've been a busy hooker, though I don't have a completed project to show off just quite yet.  I've been working on designing a bag for my son's Kindergarten teacher.  I couldn't find a pattern that was just what I am envisioning, and so I am giving it a go on my own.  It's been a lot of hooking and frogging, rehooking and refrogging, but I'm happy with what I have.  It really is a joy to see what I have been envisioning in my head take shape.  However, I do have a little fellow chirping in my ear, wanting to be shared with you!

 Awhile back, Lucy of Attic24 shared with the world a bird she designed herself which she called her bower bird.  You should see the wonderful little birds she has made!  Unlike most things that Lucy designs and selflessly shares, she hasn't gotten a pattern up on her site yet for the little darlings (but her recent posts promise that it is coming soon, so be sure to check her blog often if you don't already!).  I really wanted to put one of these on a wreath I was making, and so I attempted to figure out the pattern from her pictures.  What I ended up with was not an exact replica, but I think he turned out rather cute all on his own anyway.  I'm not very good at embroidery- I was never taught that and so I just winged it (ha!).  The weather here has been very gloomy, cloudy and wet, so it has been hard to get out and get a good picture of this little guy in the natural light.  his actual colors are a light yellow and sea green.  He was too big for the wreath that I made, so he happily moves from place to place in my living room, giving it a nice little splash of birdtastic color. I'm pretty happy with him, but I'm looking forward to trying Lucy's pattern as well to make him a little friend!

A Fond Farewell

With the school year winding down, we took the first batch of teacher gifts to school today!  I totally forgot to take pictures of the items until we got to the school, so I had to take them on the hood of my car (and I was in such a rush that I didn't have time to primp and pose the items, and I see my flowers got a little squished while the wreath was in the gift bag), so please pardon the picture quality.

The first batch went out to the Special Education Assistant in my son's Kindergarten class.  She was also the SEA in my daughter's Kindergarten class last year.  She does a phenomenal job with all the children and we wanted to to something special for her, as she is retiring this year.  She doesn't carry a purse or bag, so I wanted to make something different than what I am making the teachers so it would be something she might actually use.  I know she had said that she planted the flowers we gave her for the end of the year last year, and she also planted the rose bush my son picked out for her for Teacher Appreciation Day this year.  Knowing that she then must like flowers, I decided to make her a wreath.  I am not a good bow tier by any stretch of the imagination.  See that bow there?  Yeah, two hours, and an uncountable amount of butchered ribbon, went into that bow.  Don't laugh!  I was going to sew buttons onto the middle of the smaller flowers, but after I pinned them into place with my fancy pins, I decided I liked the way it looked and to leave them that way.

I also decided to make her an amigurumi doll of herself.  She is a T-Shirt and jeans sort of woman (a woman after my own heart!), so I kept her clothing simple.  I made her glasses out of jewelery wire and put a few strategic stitches with some grey embroidery floss to keep them on her face.  She actually stands up.  I had meant to take a picture of that, but I ran out of time.  I put wires in the arms to make them poseable as well.  Everyone thought it was a great likeness, and she was happy with it (which was the most important to me)!  We put these together with a card and a gift card to a restaurant and wished her a wonderful retirement.  It was a bit of a sad goodbye for us, but I was happy to give someone a little token of appreciation for the things that they do for our children.  All too often the SEAs and other teacher assistants get overlooked.  I wanted to be sure she felt all her years of service were appreciated, and I think we accomplished that!

The Crochet Crowd Market Bag Challenge: Complete!

Hello there!  How've you been?  Me?  Well, I had been experiencing some technical difficulties which were preventing me from updating my blog, but I am happy to announce that they have been resolved!  Now to get back to sharing the hooky goodness with you!

As many of you know, the wonderful folks at The Crochet Crowd are almost always running one type

of challenge or another.  These challenges give everyone an opportunity to try a pattern maybe they wouldn't have chosen to do on their own, learn a new stitch or technique, use a different type of yarn than you are used to, or simply provide just a fun project to complete along with others.  This month is The Market Bag Challenge.  You can read all about the challenge as well as obtain the link to the free pattern from there. Basically, you don't have to sign up, you just make your bag!  Then you fill out the easy to use form from their website along with a picture of your masterpiece, and presto!  They give away a fabulous Red heart bag filled with yarn and Crochet Crowd swag to one lucky contestant at random.  Do you live in a country that isn't this one but still want to participate?  No problem!  As long as that country is on Earth, you are eligible!  Do you want to use different yarn or a different colour from what is shown on their site?  Also no problem!  In fact, my bag is not made with the yarn that was suggested for the pattern, as I chose to use some yarn from my stash.  Lets talk some more about that yarn!

One of the purposes listed for this challenge was to use thinner than usual yarns.  The yarn suggested was Red Heart Luster Sheen.  I considered picking some up to keep with the spirit of the purpose for the challenge.  However, I felt hungry for colour.  I wanted to make something bright and bold with lots of colour, and the ten shades that this yarn is available in just weren't doing it for me.  Heigh ho, heigh ho, off to my stash I go!  What did I find?  A yummy, luscious skein of Red Heart Boutique Unforgettable in the shade Parrot.  I hadn't ever made anything with this yarn, and to be honest, the yarn itself scared me.  It is beautiful in a skein sitting on the shelf, full of possibility and wonder.  I just wasn't sure that I was the one to turn it into a wonderful yarnwork. It is technically a weight 4 yarn, but the girth varies throughout the skein and for the most part it is very thin.  I won't deny it- I'm a worsted weight sort of hooker.  Give me a skein of Red Heart With Love any day of the week, and you'll make me a happy hooker!  But I wanted to challenge myself a little.  How else can we grow?  So I decided that I would use this for the body of my bag.  I was still a little distrustful of the strength of it though for a bag. I thought that maybe for the base and handles it would be a better idea to use good ol' worsted weight yarn for strength and stability.  

For the base I used Loops & Threads Impeccable in Arbor Rose that I had left over from another project.  The handles I made with Red Heart Soft in Deep Sea.  All my worry was for nothing!  As you can see, my bag turned out beautifully!  Not only is it a pleasure to look upon, but it is functional, and has a fabulous stretch factor too!  For my bag's maiden voyage, I took it yarn shopping!  Just look at all the balls it held!  Honestly, I could have gotten at least six more balls in there!  Now that's a ball sack!  You should really pop by The Crochet Crowd's new site and take a look around.  Mikey has really outdone himself with challenges (there is even a video tutorial for the challenge pattern if you so desire to go that route!), yarn calculators and more!  I adore their site, and was pleasantly surprised last week when they featured my bag on their Facebook page!  Last I looked it had over 5100 likes!  I never dreamed that 5100 people would ever see my work, let alone like it, so a big thanks to them for that boost of warm yarn fuzzies!

"Hey everybody, have you seen my balls?!"

Variation On a Theme: Lucy's Jolly Chunky Bag

I have decided to make various different bags for the teachers who have helped my children learn and grow all school year.  I finished the first one today.

The basic pattern comes from The Jolly Chunky Bag by Lucy of Attic24 (if you haven't checked her blog out, you really should, it is simply divine).  However, I made a few changes.

The first big difference is the way that I work my joined rounds compared to most people I know (which is how Lucy does it, too).  I'll try my best to describe it for you.  I don't like the big, glaring seam that chaining up and joining with a slip stitch leaves. So what I do is I chain up, not counting the chain as a stitch, skip the first stitch, crochet the round as per the instructions, and when it is time for the last stitch, I work it OVER the chain and into the skipped stitch, then I slip stitch into the back loop only of the next stitch.  Then the process starts all over again.  There is still somewhat of a seam, and it travels.  You really have to look to notice it though and (I think) it blends in with your work much better.  I have no idea how to make a video to show you how I do this, but I found this video by Cre8ion Crochet that does it almost the same way as I do. The only difference in what she shows you and what I do is that for a double crochet, I chain 2 where she chains up 1.

I like to start my projects using a magic circle instead of chaining 4 and then making a loop and working my stitches into it.  Either method will get you where you want to go, it is just a personal preference.  There are other differences that you will notice. Instead of working in stripes, I used a variegated yarn (Red Heart Super Saver's Grape Fizz), but the concept is the same- joined rounds.  Also, I decided to do just one flower per handle attachment instead of two, and I used the same color buttons on all four flowers.  I chose to make all of the leaves and flowers the same color. I also changed the coloring of the handles. It was a quick and easy pattern!  I'm also going to line the bags when I have them all done.  I'm going to make each one in a different style, or at least that is my current plan.  Time to get started on the next one!  I can't believe school will be over soon!