If you’re not sure, check out the Smart Energy House.  It’s a virtual house on the Office of the Ohio Consumers’ Counsel web site. You enter a few easy details about your own house, and it gives you an interactive, clickable way to see how much energy is used by various parts of your home.  There are lots of tips and tricks for saving energy here, too. For example, I clicked on the stove, and it gave me this interesting bit: “Use kitchen ventilation fans wisely. In just one hour, these fans can pull out a house full of warm air.”  That could really keep the furnace running in the wintertime!  Cool site!

We had these for dinner tonight, and they’re the bomb!  Enjoy!

Ingreeds:

3 boneless skinless chicken breasts (frozen)
16-oz jar of your favorite salsa (I used medium heat)
15-oz can black beans, drained
cayenne pepper (to taste)
nonstick cooking spray
8-10 large flour tortillas
can of enchilada sauce (red or green – your favorite)
shredded cheese with taco seasoning
low fat sour cream, sliced scallions, other toppings as desired

Instrux:

In the morning before work, put the frozen chicken breasts and jar of salsa into the Crock Pot. Cook all day on low heat. When you come home, break up the chicken with a fork so it shreds. Stir in the drained black beans and season to taste with cayenne pepper.

Preheat oven to 400. Spray a 13×9 dish. Lay a flour tortilla in the dish and, using a slotted spoon, put two spoonfuls of the chicken and bean filling in a line down the center. Roll the tortilla as you push it to the end of the dish. Repeat with 7 more tortillas or until your dish is full. (You may have extra filling – it freezes great and is good on rice another night!) Pour the enchilada sauce over and sprinkle with taco cheese. Bake for about 15 minutes or until the cheese is melted and the dish is bubbly. Makes great leftovers!

Have you visited the Delaware farmers’ market lately? It meets on Sandusky Street on Wednesday afternoons and Saturday mornings.  I stopped by this afternoon and found fresh peaches, cucumbers, and sunflowers.  There was lots of corn to be had today, too, though I didn’t partake because corn’s best when it’s cooked the same day, and we were eating dinner out tonight. 

If you go, make sure you stop into the new B. Cause Boutique on the west side of Sandusky next to the wine shop.  What a great store!  They have a good mix of sparkly jewelry, home accessories both vintage and new, and even some clothes.  Their style is kind of a blend of cottage and Paris Apartment.  It’s a nice addition to downtown!

Speaking of downtown… hello! We’re getting a YMCA!  Delaware is the place to be.

It’s about time that I blogged.  I knew when I created this blog that I would be horrible at this because, except for brushing my teeth and washing my face at bedtime, there are very few things that I do *every single day.*  For all my good qualities, I am not a consistent person.

This summer has been flying past. We’ve been so busy. My camera’s been quiet most of the summer, although I have taken a few pictures out in the garden. (Some are on Etsy right now. Others coming soon.)

We haven’t been camping much, either, though we did try a great campground in Big Prairie, Ohio, over Memorial Day weekend.  There was lots to do and lots of great sightseeing nearby.  If you go, drive slowly – this is right in the heart of Ohio Amish country. If we saw one buggy, we saw 30.  (Tom called it the Amish Superhighway.)

We tried a new pizza joint this week, too.  Have you tried Amato’s Woodfired Pizza here in Delaware?  It’s on South Sandusky Street.  The pizza’s cheap but delicious. (Try #19 without the jalapenos.)

I love free knitting patterns, and the Internet is full of them.  I’ve knitted many web freebies and have a binder full of future projects just waiting to be twisted into finished knits.  (Winter’s coming!)  Anyway, with all the freebies I’ve received online, it seems only fair to give something back.  Here’s my standard hat recipe.  With this formula you can make either rolled brim or ribbed brim hats in either bulky or worsted weight.  The brown hat below is made from worsted yarn from the Queensland Collection by Delhi Yarns, purchased on the clearance rack at Knitters Mercantile in Columbus. 

By the way, if you’re a new-ish knitter and you’d like to learn to make hats, I teach the ribbed hat in bulky yarn at the Michaels store on route 23 in Lewis Center.  (If you’ve never knitted before, please take my basic scarf class first!)

Enough babbling… on with the pattern!

Download the file in Word format: Hat pattern

This hat recipe contains adaptations for worsted and bulky yarn as well as for ribbed and rolled brims.  Use size 10 circular and straight needles for any style you make. The size is for a regular women’s hat.

Step 1:  Cast on.

If using bulky yarn, cast on 68 stitches.  For worsted weight yarn, cast on 72.

Step 2:  Choose your brim – rolled or ribbed.

Rolled brim:  Join yarn for circular knitting, being careful not to twist the stitches and placing a stitch marker at the beginning of the row.  Knit every round.

Ribbed brim:  Join yarn for circular knitting, being careful not to twist the stitches and placing a stitch marker at the beginning of the row.  K2 P2 for 2-1/2 inches.

Step 3:  Knit the body of the hat.

Rolled brim:  Continue to knit every round.  The first few inches will naturally curl to reveal the garter stitch inside the hat as the rolled brim. After the rolled brim forms, knit until there is 7 inches of flat stockinette stitch.

Ribbed brim: After 2-1/2 inches of ribbing, switch to knitting every round. Knit until there is 7 inches of flat stockinette stitch above the ribbing.

Step 4: Set-up row for finishing the hat.

Worsted weight: You should still be knitting the 72 stitches you cast on.  Starting at the stitch marker, K7 K2tog for one round (64 remain).

Bulky weight:  You should still be knitting the 68 stitches you cast on. Starting at the stitch marker, K15, K2tog for one round (64 remain).

Step 5: Finishing the hat.

• K6, K2tog (56 remain)
• K5, K2tog (48 remain)

• K4, K2tog (40 remain)

• K3, K2tog (32 remain)

• K2, K2tog (24 remain)

• K1, K2tog (16 remain)

• K2tog (8 remain)

Cut tail of yarn 6 inches long and weave it through the remaining stitches on the needles.  Weave in ends. 

The Brea Bag’s strap is in the works.  I met with Al Scheiderer of Al’s Leather Craft in Marysville today and he’s making me a beautiful honey-colored custom strap with my initials stamped into it. I’ll post photos (of course!) when it’s done in a week or so.  If you’re looking for custom leather trims for your knitting projects, try Al!

Until mid July the garden was looking pretty puny.  But somehow, in the middle of a heatwave and with ungodly amounts of watering, it all took off and now we have plants aplenty. 

Impatiens and coleus did fine at the edge of the driveway where the house gave them a little shelter, but in the front beds it was really, really hot for them.

On the other side of the drive, the alyssum and dianthus got full sun all day long (and less water than everything else since the hose doesn’t like to stretch that far!), and they really stood up to the heat and full sun. 

The petunias in the front and the black eyed susan vine devouring the shepherd’s hook were both started from seed in my kitchen this spring.

The front curve of the garden never really did fill out.  Next year I’ll plant something bushier through here.

Japanese beetles really hit the roses hard, but the zinnias behind them bloomed like crazy.

This little corner on the side of the house gets just a little afternoon shade, but it was enough to keep the coleus and impatiens happy.

Now that I know what grows well in our garden, I’ll do things a little differently next year.  Here are some things I don’t want to forget when it’s time to start shopping for plants this spring…

• Salvia attracts lots of moths, butterflies – and bees. These were like giant bushes and there were always a lot of critters buzzing around them.
• Endless Summer hydrangeas bloom on new wood AND old wood… this winter I’ll leave the sticks so there will be plenty of blooms next year.
• Vinca really takes the heat and sun and never droops.
• Impatients and coleus don’t take the sun… they need to be in the little beds beside the driveway and on the north side of the house.
• Our soil stinks!  Before the mulch, we’ll lay down a thick layer of manure to give the garden a kick in the spring. (It’ll still stink but at least the flowers will get going before July.)

The new Home Haven store has opened on West William Street in the pretty old house that used to be the Apple Tree Cottage.  She’s been renovating extensively all summer and the house itself looks grand.  Wait until you see inside!  The back room has all of her wonderful soy candles, and then the little pass-through into the main house has a cabin/lodge kind of theme with lots of bears, fishing signs, vintage-looking game boards and more.  The front of the house has a room full of primitives, a shabby chic room and even a little black and white vintage-style kitchen.  The store opened August 7th and I’m ashamed to admit I’ve been in there three times already.  (I was in the middle of decorating the powder room which now looks adorable thanks to some repainted goodies from the basement and cute new accessories from Home Haven.)

Tom and I went out to breakfast at Buehler’s recently, and they’re getting ready for fall with potted mums on the patio. It won’t be long until there are pumpkins, gourds, and all the other signs of fall.  That means sweaters, turtlenecks, boots and cuddly fall clothes…

I needed a new purse.

This one is my own design. It’s made with Lamb’s Pride by Brown Sheep. The pattern is for sale in my Etsy shop if you’d like to give it a try. (If you’re a friend or fellow Skein Gang member, just email me and I’ll send it to you.) 

Can’t wait for fall!