News from the Nest, August 1
Well, hello there!
I am coming to you from Durham, NC, this morning. We came up yesterday afternoon (a quick two-and-a-half-hour trip) to see Boz Scaggs in concert. This will certainly be a test of age if you aren’t familiar with Boz Scaggs, but he had some hits back in the ’70s and ’80s (Lowdown, Lido Shuffle, Georgia, JoJo) and has then gone back to his blues roots.
I am here to tell you that he must be doing something right. He is 78 years old, played the guitar, and sang for two solid hours. And his voice was just as I remember it from back in the day. It was a great concert, and the audience soaked it up.
This was the first concert we have attended since pre-pandemic, and we have promised ourselves to do more. I hate to be grim, but so many of our favorite artists, whose music we grew up with and love, are ‘moving on’. We are going to make efforts to see more of them when possible. And I’m going to sound like my grandma here, but they just don’t make music like they used to! 😁
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new on the blog
I’ve been promising it, and I finally did it! I published two brand new patterns this week!
I received several emails suggesting that I publish some potholder patterns. Honestly, I hadn’t considered knit or crochet potholder patterns before! Not sure why. But once several of you suggested it, I said to myself, “Well, of course!”
- The first one is a Knit Potholder Pattern. I played around with stitches and yarns and settled upon a thick, chunky weight yarn using the linen stitch.
Table of Contents
- Then I decided to exercise my crochet muscles with a Crochet Potholder. I used the thermal stitch for a thick and really lovely pattern. For my knitting pals, you can do this if you can single crochet! I show step-by-step instructions.
And what great gifts these potholders will make!
The crochet one takes a little longer to make, but it is thicker. If you start now with either pattern (or both!), you could have a passel of potholders made in time for gifts this holiday!
did you know…
- Tomorrow (August 2) is National Ice Cream Sandwich Day! To which I say, ‘Wait I thought every day was National Ice Cream Sandwich Day! Oops, my bad!😁 All the cool kids will be making these Chocolate Chip Cookie Ice Cream Sandwiches!
- Wednesday, August 3, is National ‘Grab Some Nuts’ Day! (who comes up with these, anyway?) But regardless of the genesis of this auspicious day, I’ve got you covered for all your ‘Grab Some Nuts’ celebrations. These Rosemary Walnuts are some of our favorite nibbles.
- And coincidentally, Thursday, August 4 is National Chocolate Chip Cookie Day! Your ice cream sandwiches can do double duty this week!
- Friday, August 5 is National Oyster Day! While I don’t have oyster recipes per se, I do have plenty of projects for you once you’ve eaten your oysters or scavenged the shells from your local fish store! One of my ALL TIME FAVORITE projects, ever, is this Oyster Shell Mirror. You can buy one for several hundreds of dollars or make it yourself for almost nothing! These Oyster Shell Clusters are a fun project, too.
- Saturday, August 7 is National Disc Golf Day, and I’ve got nothing for you! 🤨
trying to get more fiber in your diet?
- These fiber-rich’ cookies’ are a tasty way to do it. Make a large batch at one time and freeze them.
- This Brothy Beans recipe is made frequently in our home. It is wonderful as is but also a perfect jumping-off point to add whatever you want into it.
- You can’t beat this 15-Bean Soup for fiber and nutrition. As written, it gets its smokey flavor from smoked turkey legs, so is lower in fat than the soups made with smoked ham hocks.
- Make a batch of fiber-rich hummus for snacking, using vegetables as the scoops. Or fill a wrap with the hummus, some spinach and shredded carrots for a healthy, fiber-filled lunch.
- This delicious tomato soup gets its creaminess from pureed beans, making it gluten-free, very low in fat, and high in fiber.
reduce waste in your kitchen
- I’ve previously mentioned Tamar Adler’s book An Everlasting Meal: Cooking with Economy and Grace. I read this book two years ago, but keep her guidance in the back of my mind as I endeavor to waste less in my kitchen. I wrote this post on Reducing Food Waste a year ago and go back through it from time to time to re-energize my efforts.
- If you find yourself having to cut the corn from some cobs, toss them in some water with some onion and celery for a delightful corn cob broth instead of trashing the cobs. I use the broth as a vegetable stock or liquid in my next batch of polenta or grits. Once our cobs are done cooking for the stock, I toss them into our compost bin…ZERO WASTE! I’ve got to be truthful; I love the challenge of keeping my kitchen waste reduced.
- Save your eggshells to help your garden as well.
- Check out Misfits Market. I started using them for produce delivery this summer and have been very pleased. I really do try to purchase organic produce when possible and when it is within my budget. But rising grocery prices have made that difficult, plus often I can’t find the organic version of the produce I’m looking for locally. I am finding that I can purchase many items for less with Misfits Market. Typically, their prices are up to 40% off grocery store prices as they are selling items that, for whatever reason, can’t be sold in grocery stores. In the orders I’ve received, everything has been fresh and good quality, so I’m not sure why it couldn’t be sold. I did order sweet potatoes that were smaller than those I would see at my grocery store but were in fine condition otherwise. With my link, you should get $10 off your first order. If you have a problem with the link, use the code COOKWME-FU7SYRUUUPJ for your $10 off coupon.
Well, my lovelies, have a fantastic week! I’ll be heading out of town again, on Thursday to spend some much-needed time with my daughter. It’s been forever since we’ve had time to enjoy each other, just the two of us. I’m very excited.
Until next week!
Hugs,
The photo of your knit potholder took me right back to my Grandmother’s kitchen! Her potholders looked just like these…..I remember they were very thick and kind of rough feeling – don’t know what they were made of and I never actually saw her make them, but I could almost smell her chocolate cake when I pictured her using them to remove it from the oven! Many thanks for your great tips and hits not to mention the patterns and recipes! Many fond memories of Boz Scaggs and that era as well….You’re right, they don’t make music like that anymore. My 24 yr old dd listens to rap a lot and I can’t understand a word they say OR when I can understand it, it’s not very nice…..definitely not for my taste! Thankfully, she also likes Rascal Flatts, Heartland, Taylor Swift, Adele…..more “sensible” music as my Mom would call it!