So, I actually did finish that hat from the other day. It’s a bit small, though, so I may just wear it on really cold days when I want my head smashed together. I started knitting Bela a sweater today, too. We bought one for her at Petsmart when we were on vacation. It’s hot pink fleece, and is called a ‘Warmie,’ a sort of Snuggie for dogs, I presume. It’s okay, but a little loose. So I’m trying to knit her one using the Warmie as a guide. I’m knitting it on size 17 needles, so if it turns out not fitting at all, at least I didn’t spend two years making it.
I’ve also been weaving.

I have way too many bits and chunks of handspun yarn hanging around, especially since me and Travis both spin (although not so much recently – mainly because we’ve accumulated so much yarn). So, I decided to try and make a blanket by weaving strips on the loom and then sewing them together when they’re done. Any skein of handspun under 4 oz. is fair game. Got the first strip done today.

I have a bunch of ends hanging out from where I joined the yarn, but I figure I’ll just deal with those later. I’ve actually never tried sewing any handwoven fabric together, so I’m not sure how well it’s going to work. I figure the worst that can happen is that I make a bunch of scarves instead. Actually, the worst that can happen is that Ellie could get a hold of the unsewn fabric and cause massive chaos, causing me to throw everything in the washing machine and make one epic felted blob. That sounds… kind of cool, actually.
I made a really tasty soup today.

Roasted Lemon Chickpea Soup
Heat your oven (if you’re cold and want to warm up your house) or your toaster oven (if you want to save electricity) up to 400 degrees. Open up a can of chickpeas, drain, rinse, and plop them in a small casserole dish or loaf pan. Chop up a medium onion, and throw half of that in with the chickpeas, reserving the other half for later. Drizzle chickpeas and onions with olive oil, sprinkle some salt (and Penzey’s Italian Dressing Base, if you have it) over them, and toss. Wash a lemon in hot water (use a tiny bit of soap and scrub if it has the waxy stuff on it; rinse well), cut in half, and smack one lemon half cut side down in the middle of the chickpeas and onions. The lemon half should be planted firmly on the bottom of the casserole dish.
Get a piece of tin foil and throw 6-8 unpeeled cloves of garlic (cut one end of the garlic off first!) on it. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt. Fold up the tin foil into a small packet and place both that and the chickpeas in the oven and roast for 25 minutes. After 25 minutes, turn the heat off to the oven, but keep everything still inside. I waited about a half hour before I started working on the soup (the only reason I did this was that I heard letting the roast lemon sit makes it not so bitter. Also, I wasn’t in any sort of rush).
Put a bit of butter (a little less than a Tablespoon) and a small drizzle of olive oil (because there’s no such thing as too much olive oil) in a pot, and toss in the rest of the onions. Cook on low or medium low for about 10-12 minutes. After that, turn up the heat to medium and pour in about 3-4 cups of chicken broth (I like the boxed kind you can get at Costco!). At this point I also threw in a cube of frozen cilantro – I’m guessing fresh cilantro or parsley would be even better. I seasoned the soup with a few dashes each of cayenne pepper, curry powder, and Penzey’s Sunny Spain seasoning. I also added just a pinch of some hickory smoked sea salt – that stuff is pretty strong, so you don’t need to add a lot of it at all.
Stir, and add in about 3/4 of the roasted chickpeas and onions. Also squirt in the roasted garlic (just press together on the garlic peel and the roasted garlic should shoot right out). Take the roasted lemon and, being careful not to get any seeds into the soup, squeeze the juice into the pot.
Once all of that is in there, blend together the soup using a stick blender if you have one (and if you don’t, I highly recommend getting one – they’re awesome!) or by pouring the soup into a regular blender. When most of the chickpeas have been squooshed up and the soup is thicker, add in the remaining chickpeas and onions. Let simmer for 5 or 10 more minutes, letting all of your flavors get happy together, and then eat.
This really turned out awesome, especially the roasted lemon part. It added such a great note to the soup, I think I’m going to start roasting lemons in everything. I ate some of the roasted chickpeas while making the soup (because I love roasted chickpeas), and the lemon flavor infused those, too. It’s like eating sunshine. Or sun eggs (\Party Down reference\).