Mystery cookies

I baked a half batch of these tonight to break in my new oven. The "mystery" to these cookies is that they contain tomato soup! Once you tell people, they keep eating them and trying to taste the soup.

Mystery Cookies

1/2 c. melted butter
3 1/2 c. sugar
2 eggs
1 can tomato soup (just plain tomato, not bisque or any other fancy variety)
2 tsp. cinnamon
2 tsp. nutmeg
2 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. salt
2 c. raisins
2 c. chopped walnuts
4 1/2 c. flour

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Mix butter and sugar. Let cool before adding eggs. Add the can of soup. Mix in spices, soda, and salt. Add walnuts and raisins, mix. Add flour slowly, mixing between each cup. Scoop dough onto greased cookie sheets and bake for 10-12 minutes until brown on top. Let sit on pans 1-2 minutes (no longer or they'll stick!), then place on a cooling rack.

goal-setting

I really don't like to make resolutions. I never seem to keep them, so why bother making them? Kind of the same thing during Lent. Some years, rather than giving up something I'll make a commitment to *do* something instead. I've had a couple of weeks now to mull over what kind of goals I'm setting for myself for the new year and I need to post them so I'm accountable.

- Knit the Peacock Feathers shawl. I've had the pattern and yarn for at least 3 years now....it's time to do something about it.

- Rip out my aran sweater. Seven years after starting it is just too long of a gap.

- Whittle down the stash. This doesn't mean that I won't buy yarn! But I'm going to do my best to work from what I've got and even send out RAoKs to people this year.

- Write letters to friends. A good friend from high school keeps writing to me and I have yet to return a letter.

- Reorganize my craft room. Paint, shelving, the works.

- Rent a dumpster, clean out the basement, give away clothes I don't wear anymore, just a general cleaning.

- Organize the garage.

I guess that's enough to be getting on with for now.

Here's to a great year!

I've decided to start the new year with a great big cleaning binge. Don't ask me why, but I want nothing more than to clean out my closet, dust, vacuum, do home improvement projects and just generally do what most people would consider "spring cleaning" in January. To illustrate how crazy I was....I was actually considering calling my trash company to rent a dumpster just so I could throw stuff into it from my second story windows. I'm sure the neighbors would have loved that one. Decided to sit on that idea until we're not having sleet/rain/snow on a daily basis. But it will happen this spring!

Speaking of out with the old....

These are my old Fibertrends Felted Clogs that my mom made me 4 years ago. Notice the gaping holes in the toes of each one. The soles were just as bad.

....and in with the new!

My new felted clogs (same pattern) knit by me! Knit out of Cascade 220 in Purple Jewel Heather and Dark Charcoal Heather in the women's large size. It took 2 balls of each color and I still had quite a bit left over.

More FOs!!!

My Bluebird Lenores from the RSC 2007 Lenore pattern and knit in STR lightweight in Sapphire. As much as I love the original socks in the Raven colorway, these held so much more magic because I could see the stitch pattern of the feathers at the top. I might do these again in a red sometime.


My Christmas present for V. It's the sushi wallet kit done with the single"sushi" that really looks like some kind of diseased nipple. It's worse in person...trust me. But V loves it so I'm leaving it. This just needs the zipper sewn in and the "sushi" attached to the front.


Tonks socks!

These are just plain vanilla stockinette socks on 64 sts and a US 2 needle. Done out of Opal's Harry Potter line in the Tonks colorway. I told the little ocd part of my brain to shut up when it tried to insist that I make the stripes match and I love that they don't!

...and hope for the future!

Cascade 220 in Shire to make Snow White by Ysolda Teague. I've swatched and I'm ready to start!