Soup, salsa and socks .... must be October!

Hellooo! What happened to summer??? All my windows are battened down, the quilt is back on the bed and I'm thinkin' about turning on my space heater here in the office!

So all my activities have been turned toward the warmer side of life. Yep .... we are talkin' soup, salsa and socks.

Ok -- Saturday, October 10th, I will be at the Freight House Farmers Market (where else?) doing a demo for Buy Fresh-Buy Local on making soup. I will have recipes for 3-4 different soups using items that have been frozen or home-canned or stored throughout the season. I will be teaching how to make homemade tomato soup ....... I love this!! This is not Mrs. Campbell's soup!!!

I will also be teaching to basics of making beef soup stock from beef shanks. When I am talking to people, many are uncertain how to make a beef stock and cook a soup bone properly..... so hopefully, I can help get the basics down.

There will also be a throw-down soup contest with lots of prizes. I'm working on a new recipe called Mumford Medley in honor of my Alma Mater and all the goodies that are grown in the Midwest. If it turns out well (meaning..... if I win, place or show!) I will post the recipe. Otherwise .... its secrets are locked within me!

In other domestic news ... I think the last of the tomatoes become salsa. I am so over tomatoes! I didn't can nearly as many as I have in previous years but I just couldn't get into it. There is still one jar of salsa and 2 quarts of tomatoes for every week of the year -- plus tomato sauce, tomato juice, pizza sauce, spaghetti sauce and catsup. But pantry number 3 is not full this year.

And finally............ it's Socktoberfest!!!!! I'm not going to participate in any of the mystery sock patterns. Actually, my goal is to finish 4 pairs of socks. And one pair is complete!!!


This was really neat yarn .... I bought it at la bella vita fibre gallery in Mineral Point. There is absolutely no repeat. Colors just blend together so the socks are sort-of/sort-of-not matching. Very cool!

And one pair is 3/4 of the way done --- I'm knitting the heel flap on sock #2 now.

So are you beginning to really catch the meaning of my goal .......... finish 4 pairs of socks!!! Yea .... there is a lot of stash and a lot of One-sock-wonders hanging around Miss Effie's. The picture above is the easily-gotten-to-stash. You know, the stuff you are going to knit ASAP! Barely taken out of a bag. Not hid under the bed or in the hallway closet or in the pressure canner. (I'm counting on your understanding! I'm certain you have been there!)

But my stash was getting lonely. So Saturday, at the market, I was drawn to this beautiful oatmeal colored shetland...... spun from a guy named Rocky! Can't you hear the music now? This is the yarn to conquer Socktoberfest!!!

Unless it decides to be a sweater ......