Saturday, September 22, 2007

Back Home!


After an uneventful ride home (i.e. no car breakdowns) I am back home after a wonderful visit to Minnesota.
This is the view I had most of the trip home. Yes, that is the rest of the M&M bag riding in the dash of the car. Desperate times call for desperate measures. When you don't have a microwave handy to melt your M&M's you have to be creative. Sitting in the sun on the dash works slowly but surely. Yum!






I came home to a couple of fun packages in the mail of some of the online retail therapy I've been doing. (You know, to relieve stress!) The first package I opened was these wonderful stitchmarkers that I ordered from Laura on her Etsy shop. Instead of metal rings, they have a stretchy material that glides on your needles. The ABC ones will work well with Cat Bordhi's new sock book that I just got. I can't wait to try them! (Thanks, Michelle, for telling me about these!)



The next package I opened contained my new Knitpick Harmony circular needles that I first learned about on Bonnie's blog. (Blog reading can be very hard on one's budget!!) I LOVE my other Knitpick circular needles but have been concerned they might not be allowed on the plane when we travel to England on Wednesday. These are wood and I think should go through security without a problem. I'm bringing a self-addressed stamped padded envelope tho, just to be sure.

Has anyone flown recently and know what can and can't be taken on the plane?? Inquiring minds want to know!




Sumo was so happy to see me and I was so happy to see him. I had felt bad leaving him for so long but he did just fine with Steve and Ryan. You see him here right after we took a nice long walk. The biggest change I have noticed in him is that he wants to be with us 100% of the time. If I go upstairs, he is there. If I'm cooking, he's by the kitchen. He doesn't want to be alone. Unfortunately, it means that on these beautiful Fall days when he usually LOVES to be outside, he is sitting in the house with me.






Well, lots to do in just a few short days. Here is the Rice Pudding recipe as promised. (Cheryl, I think this is your mom's recipe from our church cookbook from, like, a thousand years ago!!)


OLD FASHIONED RICE PUDDING

1 cup rice
2 cups water
2 cups milk*
6 eggs, well beaten
1 cup sugar
½ cup melted butter
1 tsp salt
2 tsp vanilla
2 cups milk
2 cups milk
ground or stick cinnamon



Cook rice in water in double boiler until water is Absorbed. Then add 2 cups milk to rice in double boiler and cook until almost done. Beat 6 eggs. Add sugar, melted butter, salt, and vanilla, and 2 cups milk. Combine rice and egg mixture in large casserole. Add 2 more c. milk
(6c of milk all together). Bake 325 degrees for 1 hour. (Test to see if pudding is done by cutting a knife through it. Pudding is done when a knife comes out clean) Cinnamon may be added before baking if desired. Raisins or dried cranberries may be added before baking

*2% or whole milk works best. Skim & 1% can get a little runny
**This recipe can easily be cut in half as well!
***Additional Tip: If you like a little more custard, you can bake the pudding in a pan of water. This slows the cooking a bit creating more custard.

Enjoy!!

Until Next Time...

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi

I just returned from a trip to England. I don't know about the circular needles but I took size #1 bamboo DPNs through and had no problems with security in the US or at Heathrow. I put lifelines through my WIPs before hand just in case.

Sarah

SwissKnits! said...

Oooo good stuff from your shopping therapy!
Glad you are home safe and sound.
I *will* be making that rice pudding... we LOVE it here. Mmmmm good!

Regarding the traveling... check with the Ravelry group Traveling Stitches, and your carrier. To be honest, the last time I flew, one year ago, I wasn't gasp... knitting like I am now.

Anonymous said...

Yumm-o! I am going to give it a try this week. Thanks for sharing the recipe.
The stitch markers are really cute.

Frieda said...

If you have one of those clear zipper bags that put all your knitting into it and because it is clear and they can easily see everything, they usually do not bother you. I do not take metal needles on board because some airports they are ok and others not. I even take a small pair of scissors that have about an inch tip that is rounded. Good luck and have a great vacation.

monica said...

Glad you had an uneventful trip home, those are the best kind.
Can't wait to hear what you think of the new circular needles, they are so pretty, very tempting.
I will have to go to the grocery for more eggs to make the rice pudding, it looks yummy!!

Allison said...

You totally crack me up that you are warming your M&M's in the car window! I'm glad to have you as company in the "Bonnie made me do it" fan club. My harmony needles also arrived this week. I bought 10.5 and 9's to go with the cords I have and also 10.5 16 inch circulars and then bought the same thing for our Mom. Don't know what I was thinking but Mom heard that "they" as in the knitting world is going to stop making 10.5 needles so I am stocking up. I have no idea if that is true or not but it's a good excuse!

rohanknitter said...

Glad you had a good trip home from your visit.
I have been drooling over those new needles. They are definitely going on the birthday want list... that's a ssuming I can hold out that long!

Anonymous said...

how do you like your needles? i've been using the harmony doublepoints and i like them a lot...

i've never had any trouble taking knitting needles on the plane, but it seems like other people have. According to the TSA website, they're on the allowed list. (http://www.tsa.gov/travelers/airtravel/prohibited/permitted-prohibited-items.shtm)

Deborah said...

I bought an extra dozen eggs to try out your recipe. Now, if I can fix it so I can eat just one serving...

hakucho said...

Good luck taking your knitting on your trip...I can't even imagine being on a long airplane flight without it. Knitting really keeps me stay calm :)