Aromatic Lamb-Shank Stew with Couscous

I love it when a man cooks.

DH prefers cooking outdoors with a grill and a smoker, but he does have an indoor cooking repertoire.  He's been known to make killer chocolate souffles, deliciously fluffy buttermilk pancakes (thanks to a sockdoc recipe), amazing latkes and Cincinnati chili--the last two his mother's recipes.

He also does stews very well.  On one of the recent--and too many of late--cold, wet and rainy evenings, he made Nigella Lawson's aromatic lamb-shank stew with lentils served atop couscous.  It was the perfect comfort meal.

The only downside is having to clean up after him in the kitchen.  :)

Where have you been all my life?

After months (maybe years, there is that Sleeping Beauty thing) of trying to resist the lure of the wheel, I broke down.  Now I'm wondering why I didn't try  spinning sooner.

The feeling of the fiber slipping between my fingers.  It's meditative, peaceful, tactile, satisfying, addictive...I could go on...and on...

I'm a newbie with lots more to learn.  I can't wait!

What's for dinner?

I usually have a bag of frozen Trader Joe's turkey meatballs in the freezer for when I don't feel like cooking a meal from scratch. The TJ meatballs are pretty tasty and best of all, DH really likes them.  But nothing compares to homemade.

I made Smitten Kitchen's baked chicken meatballs (substituting ground turkey thigh meat for the ground chicken).  DH and I now have a new favorite.  And those TJ ones we liked so much...well...they will never be the same.

The meatballs go well with this tomato sauce too.

Big Giant Head

The Koolhaas hat for DH is finally done.  The stitch pattern is amazing (and the decreases in pattern are genius!), but can I tell you...never again.  Yep, once is enough.  Especially since I had to make the large size because of DH's BGH (Big Giant Head).

The pattern calls for enough cable crossovers to last a knitting lifetime.  I was fortunate that Irishgirlieknits had knit-up several of these and she taught me some tricks to cable without a cable needle.  Lifesaver.  Thank you, IGK.

Check out Disco's Koolhaas.  Gorgeous!  Despite how great the hat looks, she says she's not in a hurry to knit another one up soon.  Those darn cables...

Pattern:  Koolhaas by Brooklyn Tweed/Jared Flood

Yarn:  The Plucky Knitter, Cashmere Aran weight, colorway "Flipside"

On the cooking front, I made a tomato sauce I read about on Smitten Kitchen.  Delicious and so super easy.  Seriously, only three ingredients.  Try it.

A New Year

I went on a wintry vacation and remembered to bring the camera along.  Only problem is I didn't take any photos.   This is the best and only shot I got...with the camera phone. :)

Here's to taking more photos in 2010!  Happy New Year!