What's new?

We discovered we like grilled cheese sandwiches

 made with pepper jack cheese.

Do you like the chef embroidered flour sack towel I just finished?

It's a minus temperature day here today.

But remember...

It's always colder somewhere else.

Like Rolla, ND

where daughter knit and pearl lives.

b

The Golden Gate Bridge

I knit this scarf for a friend in California...

It reminded me of the Golden Gate Bridge

in San Francisco.

A South Dakotan in California doesn't need a scarf.

If it's above 50 degrees we think it's spring.

They call it winter.

b

January

Hang in there...

keep smiling...

January is almost over!

b

Friday favorites...

My new Crock Pot...

I was watching the food network last weekend when I saw this Crock Pot with a timer.

It didn't take me long to get to Target and buy one.

I'm hoping to get a lot more use with this one. 

No more wondering how to sneak home in the middle of the afternoon to shut it off.

I've made baked oatmeal and a chicken and rice casserole so far.

A book splurge...

I really prefer loaning books from our local library, 

It saves me money and I know how under-utilized the library is.

Or I love finding a hardcover book by an author I enjoy at Barnes & Noble for $6.

So while our meal cooks slowly...

I get more time to read or knit.

b

island living

Would you like to live on an island?

With beautiful views of the city in the distance?

In a home with fantastic old architecture?

Do you remember your mom telling you "Looks are deceiving?"

Or saying "Never judge a book by it's cover?"

Well, it's true!

What would you give up for a view, old architecture, your own cook

 and your own bedroom?

Did your mom also say...

"Be careful what you wish for."

b

vintage kitchen

I love my vintage kitchen items...

and enjoy using them.

This flour sack towel embroidered

up quickly all in one color.

Won't it make the perfect Valentine's day gift?

b

sisters and friends

A sister is a forever friend... 

author unknown

brrr

A Monday at home always calls for experimenting with a new recipe...

and this one is a keeper.

Pepper-Jack Cornbread

1 (8 1/2-ounce)  box Jiffy corn muffin mix

3/4 cup creamed corn - I used the entire can

3 ounces pepper Jack, grated (about 3/4 cup)

2 large eggs

2 tablespoons butter, melted

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Set your cast iron frying pay in oven until hot, about 15 minutes.

2. In a medium bowl, combine all ingredients except butter. Stir until batter just comes together; do not over mix.

3. Carefully remove pan from oven and put melted butter in it. Dump batter mix on butter. Bake until golden and toothpick inserted into center comes out clean, 12-15 minutes.

Serve warm with additional butter and honey.

So good with leftover homemade soup for lunch.

I love cooking with cast iron pans, the way the food browns so well.

Are you keeping warm today? We got up to a minus 2 temp and a minus 15 windchill.

Our electricity went out all over town last night for a couple hours.

But you can always count on our electric company employees to get right on it.

One of the many pluses of living in a small rural community.

b

Just grand

I hope you are looking forward to a grand weekend like we are...

We are going to visit the granddaughters...

oh! and their parents.

b

A bag frame of mind

It's amazing what a vacation and a short break from the ol' routine

does for a person's frame of mind...

I came back from vacation completely re-energized and ready to sew again.

I think my sewing room was closed for almost 2 months?

This bag is a special order...

she didn't want any printing on the coffee bag.

Personally I love the printed bags and enjoy searching for them.

It doesn't hurt that I can usually find them in quaint little coffee shops

and I always walk out with a burlap bag in one hand and a coffee in the other.

b

animals

What do zebras

and burlap coffee sacks have in common?

I took the zebra picture from a distance on the grounds of Hearst's Castle

in California. At one time the grounds held a lot of different types of animals.

Do you remember hearing on the news awhile back about the 

neighbor that shot one of these zebra's?

I really like the combination of burlap and animal print I used

on this bag. 

b

weekends...

A really great weekend is making a large pot of homemade vegetable soup, 

a little knitting,

 making two bags and selling another one,

and watching "The Tudors" series on Netflix.

What did you do?

b

Happy Anniversary and a trip

Today I finally have a little more time to tell you about our

great trip to San Francisco...
 

 

Mr. B and I celebrated our 40th anniversary this year
and we just let it slip by without any fan fare.
Well, the more I kept thinking about it...
I decided to surprise my mr. with tickets to California
for our anniversary and Christmas.
 Of course this would be very difficult and that is where
daughter knit and pearl came in and volunteered to do all the planning...
Really this girl should have been a travel agent -
if there was a good deal to be had...she found it for me.
All I had to do was hop on-line and okay things and provide payment.

We flew out on Christmas Eve and headed to San Francisco...
where we rented an apartment in this fantastic home for 9 days.



 

 

 

The apartment was located in Point Richmond...

 

We had this view of the bay from our balcony during the day...

 



and a view of the San Francisco skyline at night...

 

 



We rented a car and saw some pretty spectacular sights.

Sonoma and Napa Valley...
 

 

 

 

I can't wait to share some of the wine and cheese we bought here.
 

We received tickets to Alcatraz Island from our daughter and son-in -law...

 

Our son and family gave us tickets to see our final tour of Hearst's Castle

near San Simeon... 

 

 

We took our first tour of the castle in 1974...

 had our second tour with our two kids in 1988...

and now our final tour in 2012.

 

We drove the coastline between San Simeon and San Francisco

with stops in beautiful Carmel by the Sea and Monterey...

 

Of course we saw lots of San Francisco...

  

 

 

 

 

 

It was a wonderful trip to celebrate 40 wonderful years of being married to this guy...

 

 

b

book review

Have you read this?
I highly recommend it.
b

normal

It feels so good to be back to normal again..

just knowing that nothing has to be done right away.

January in South Dakota can't be anyone's favorite month...
 

But you have to admit it's a pretty laid back month.

After the hustle and bustle of Christmas
and then a 10-day vacation in a big city...
January just feels good for now.

I finished these half-mitts yesterday as a Christmas gift for my boss.
As a newspaper editor and all the outdoor pictures she takes year-round
I think she just might enjoy them with a cup of Ghirardelli hot chocolate.

 

b



differences

Can you spot the difference?

Looking out our front window last Wednesday...
 

 

Looking out our window today...
 

What a difference a week can make.
b


clam chowder

I'll admit it...

I go to the ocean mainly for the seafood. 

 

It's difficult getting good seafood in beef country!

 

 

However, I do love a good chili dawg.

 

 

b

 

 

"We're Back"

We're back from a fun trip west...

and I mean as far west as one can get without leaving this continent.

 

Here's a clue...

 

 

 

If you're singing Rice A Roni

you guessed it.

 

But it's been a long day today

so I will share more with you later.

 

Happy New Year from Knit and Pearl

b

Confession: We've been back since last Thursday and I've been waiting this long for blogger to fix their photo problem.  Well thanks to a blog friend I was finally able to download my photo around their problem... and as blogging is free I really can't complain.