Pinto Bean and Hen Soup

I came up with the idea for this very, very, very, very easy soup several years ago. It was a dark and cold winter's night and I was scouring the kitchen for something to flavor some pinto beans in my slow cooker when I came up with this idea.

Pinto Bean and Hen Soup

1 frozen Cornish Game Hen
1/2 bag of dried Pinto Beans, washed and picked
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
2 cloves of garlic, crushed

Mix all the ingredients together in the slow cooker. Cover with water and let cook for 8 hours on low.

After 8 hours, carefully lift the hen out and allow it to cool for a bit. Remove the skin and pick the meat off the bones. The meat is very tender at this point and should shred easily. Add the meat back to the soup and eat with crackers or hot buttered cornbread.

Note: I've tried this with chicken thighs and chicken breasts but the meat is so much more tender when you use a hen.

Knitted Teddy Bear Hat Pattern

I am deviating a little today to post a knitting pattern that I created this week. Last winter was our first in Denver and it was C.O.L.D. And I do mean COLD. It was so cold the that even the Canadian geese were complaining and quacking about moving on to Mexico.

(Note: The hat is Batman approved. Batman even paused in his rescue of dirty laundry to pose in his Teddy Bear Hat.)

I found tons of cute hats on ravelry.com but none that would satisfy the following requirements in one pattern:

1. Must be sufficiently adorable and babyish looking.
2. Must be funny enough to embarrass him in high school.
3. Must have ear flaps.
4. Must be worsted weight because I wanted to finish in a few days time.

I think I achieved all of this with my Teddy Bear Hat.

For extra warmth, I am planning to sew some fleece around the inside.

Teddy Bear Hat (pattern by Toni)

Finished hat is approximately 19" and fits my two year old.

Materials:
100 yards of worsted weight yarn (I used Madeline Tosh DK Superwash Merino in Fig)
One set of US 7 double points
One US 7 circular (you could knit the whole hat on the DPN's. I just didn't want to do so.)
One US 8 circular
One stitch marker
Tapestry needle for finishing

Gauge:
20-22 sts over four inches

Using larger needle to keep CO from being too tight, CO 95 sts.

K1, P1 around. Join into a round by knitting the last st and 1 st together. This makes a nice and smooth join. Place marker.

Switch to smaller needles and knit the remaining 94 sts in K1, P1 rib for 3".

Purl the next round. (This purl row will give better definition to the fold.)

Knit the next round and continue knitting in St St for 4 inches from Purl row.

Begin Decreases:

Round 1: *K10, K2tog* around. Knit any remaining sts on this row and all subsequent odd rows.

Round 2 and all even rounds: Knit

Round 3: *K9, K2tog* around

Round 5: *K8, K2tog* around

Round 7: *K7, K2tog* around

Round 9: *K6, K2tog* around

Round 11: *K5, K2tog* around

Round 13: *K4, K2tog* around

Round 15: *K3, K2tog* around

Round 17: *K2, K2tog* around

Round 19: *K1, K2tog* around

Round 20: K2tog around

Draw yarn through remaining 8 sts and pull tight.

Weave in end.

Ear Flaps:

To determine where to place ear flaps, I laid my hat down flat and placed coil-less safety pins where I thought they should go. In other words, I eyeballed it.

Fold hat up at Purl row.

Pick up and knit 12 st with RS facing you.
K 9 rows in St St.
Row 10: Dec 1 sts on each end.
Row 11: Purl
Repeats rows 10 and 11 until 3 sts remain.

Use these 3 sts to knit a 12" i-cord. BO.

Repeat on other side for second ear flap.

Teddy Bear Ears:

Lie hat flat and decide where you want your ears.

I placed mine 3 sts down from the crown of hat.

Pick up and knit 12 sts - picking up through the entire stitch, otherwise it will make a hole.

Knit 7 rows in St St.

*On next even row, dec 1 st at each end. Purl next row.*

Repeat those two rows (bet * and *) until 6 sts remain on needle.

On next RS row, *Inc 1 st on each end of needle. Purl following row. *

Repeat those two rows (bet * and *) until 12 sts are on needle.

Bind off.

Sew back of ear onto hat and then sew up the sides.

Weave in the ends.

Keema Matar

I am in love with this dish. I am so in love with it that I want to marry it, except that I am already married. Well, that and I like having an attractive husband and as my father would say about this dish, "I've thrown up better looking things than that."

But he eats Twinkies dipped in catsup so what does he know?

This dish is minced beef or lamb with peas and mint. It sounded like a really bad idea when my husband first asked me to make it. I was of the opinion that mint is strictly for chocolate, ice cream, and bourbon, not freaky meat dishes. But I decided to try it anyway.

And that was just the beginning of the rest of my life.

I serve Keema Matar with plain yogurt (Horizon Cream Top is my new favorite) and naan bread that we buy at the Indian grocery, but you could serve it with basmati rice or Hunza rice.

Keema Matar (Collected from trial and error with several different recipes)

1 tablespoon of olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
3 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 two inch knob of fresh ginger, peeled and chopped
1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon salt
2 tomatoes, roughly chopped
1 1/2 pounds ground beef, lamb, or a mix of both
10 baby carrots cut into quarters
1/2 cup of green peas
1 tablespoon chopped mint (I use dried)
a generous handful of chopped cilantro


In a deep pan heat the oil over medium heat.

Add the onions and ginger and fry until onions are slightly golden.

Add the garlic, turmeric, ground coriander and salt. Fry for a minute or so.

Add the sliced tomatoes and fry for 2-3 minutes, stirring constantly so the spices do not burn.

Add the minced meat and carrots. Brown the meat, breaking up any lumps. This takes about 10 minutes and also breaks your tomatoes into tiny pieces.

(At this point try not to faint from delight at the great smell coming out of your pot.)

Add the fresh cilantro and mint. You can also add a diced fresh green chili now if you like spicier foods. We have a toddler so I skip the heat.

Voila! Keema Matar! It's so easy and quick that it has become our go-to busy night dinner.

Nobody's Gruel

Gruel has a really bad reputation. It sounds like something that is a mixture of pig slop and horse puckey that you could use for Spackle. In literature and movies, we feel sorry for kids like the young Jane Eyre and poor little Oliver Twist because they are so starving they're willing to eat gruel but can't even get more of that horrible mess.

But thanks to my friend Susan, Super-Mommy to Thom-O and Sugar Magnolia, I have discovered that I love gruel. Gruel is nothing more than real oatmeal. "Real" meaning not the rolled oats two minutes in the microwave stuff that comes in an envelope with a ton of weird powder at the bottom. No, real oatmeal is that stuff that is teeny little bouncy, pearly, and shiny whole grain. When it is cooked properly it is chewy and nutty tasting and is a great breakfast.

I make mine on Sunday night and then microwave it all week long. It's really good enough to serve as a bread-pudding type of dessert if you add enough brown sugar - not that I would do that...very often.

We have a large gigantic ridiculously over sized slow cooker because some chick at a party once told my then-single husband that slow cookers are great as long as you don't buy a small one. So he went out looking for the largest slow cooker available. I think it is probably big enough to feed China and still have leftovers, so you might need to adjust this recipe to your cooker.

Here's a funny thing I noticed recently about buying steel-cut oats. If I buy the McCann's Steel Cut Irish Oatmeal it costs about $9 per can at Whole Foods. But if I buy the Whole Foods brand of organic steel-cut oats it is $3 per can. Why? I have no idea because I haven't opened my can of Whole Foods brand yet. Just something to ponder.

Obviously you can add any fruit that you want to this as long as it is a dried or hard fruit. Bananas would not do well in the slow cooker for 8 hours but apples do fine. Nuts are best added after cooking.


Slow Cooker Real Oats Oatmeal (Collected from trial and error)

2 cups steel-cut oats
8 cups water
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon of apple pie spice
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup chopped dried apricot
2 apples, peeled and chopped
1 cup raisins

Some slow cookers need to be sprayed with non-stick spray first. I've found that if I use enough water mine does not.

Mix all ingredients into slow cooker. Give a stir. Set on low heat and cook for 8 hours. Keep in mind that I have added one cup of water for every hour that I plan to cook the oatmeal. So if you want to let your slow cooker do its thing for more than 8 hours (i.e. you're sleeping in) add another cup of water for each extra hour.

In the morning, wake up starving because you have smelled this goodness cooking all night. Don't stop to pee or brush your teeth. Just head straight for the slow cooker and dish up some oatmeal. Add milk or cream (to thin), some banana slices and a few chopped walnuts. Eat.

Oh and be sure to drink plenty of water all day long because real oatmeal is packed with fiber. Without tons of water you might find yourself in an uncomfortable situation later.

Before.