I usually don't remember much about my dreams. If I do, the details are definitely lacking. The last couple of mornings I have woken around 5am, looked at the clock and gone back to sleep. During that last hour and I half before my alarm goes off I have had similar dreams. Yesterday morning I dreamt that I was going to my class in which I was supposed to give a presentation on my current research project. The problem was I forgot to bring my iPod which I had saved my presentation to. I went back to the lab to grab it, got distracted by something and rushed back to class. Once I got there I realized I had forgotten my iPod again. I tried two more times to bring my iPod with me before I woke up. This morning's dream was similar, but instead of presenting I was going to my eye exam. In this case I forgot to get off the bus at the right stop or something like that. The details are fuzzy.

A few nights ago I had been working on a red cabled hat before I went to bed. I mis-crossed the cables in the last row, but was too tired to fix it at the time so I went to bed. It must have bothered me more than I thought because I had trouble falling asleep and kept waking myself up because I was dreaming of cables in red yarn.

Well, I did make it to my eye exam this morning and I was a half hour early because I couldn't remember what time I had scheduled it for. It looks like it's time to get some glasses. I am near sighted and if I drive for long periods of time, especially at night, I get headaches. Luckily I can get by without them for the most part, but I think I will appreciate them for driving. Since I have extra money in my health care spending account, I think some prescription sunglasses may be in order as well. Maybe I can squeeze in a massage this year too!

I may not seem like it, but I think I am a romantic at heart. At least when it comes to fiction. It's kind of silly because I will occasionally have to force myself to read the book if it's not going the way I think it should. If the two characters, who I know love each other for some reason aren't going to get together I get a little distressed. Why? I have no idea. I usually overcome this and continue the book after awhile, but for a little while I can't stand the thought. I am a dork. I guess it's probably a good thing I never got into romance novels.

I am totally in the mood for soup. On Sunday I made beer cheese soup. a little oniony but had good flavor otherwise. Last night I made white cheddar and potato soup. It was so good and a great way to make a dent in my potato stash. I am going to write my recipe here so I don't forget it.

White Cheddar Potato Soup

Servings: 3-5 depending on who is eating it.

Ingredients:
1lb potatoes cut into 3/4" cubes or as close to cubes as you can get them
1/2 onion, diced
2 carrots, diced
2 celery stalks, diced
2 garlic cloves, diced or pressed through a garlic press
3 tbl of butter or olive oil ( I did a combo because I didn't add enough butter initially)
3 tbl flour
3 c low-sodium chicken broth
1/4 c white wine (optional)
2 bay leaves
1 tsp dried tarragon
1 tsp dried parsley
3/4 c half and half, whole milk or some cream (I would use less cream)
I think condensed milk would work fairly well if going for a lower fat version
1 cup shredded white cheddar ( I used 50% fat free because it's what I had on hand)
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
1. In 4-5 qt pan on medium heat add oil. When oil is shimmering add onion, carrots, garlic and celery. Cook until soft, 7-10 minutes

2. Sprinkle flour over the veggies and stir a lot. Cook for another minute.

3. Pour in chicken broth, wine (if using), bay leaves, parsley and tarragon. Bring to a simmer and add potatoes. Cook with lid on for about 10 minutes or until potatoes are fork tender.

4. Stir in half and half and return to a simmer.

5. Turn heat to low and slowly add the cheese while stirring constantly.

6. Remove bay leaves and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Best served with crusty bread and a big glass of milk, in my opinion.

Huh?!

I am completely baffled. The university has canceled classes due to the weather. The last time this happened was when we had a tornado the night before. I attended or worked at the university since 2001 and and this has never happened. Funny thing is, I am supposed to have a class this afternoon. I am supposed to give a presentation in it. Classes are even canceled on the medical campus, which, since it is associated with the hospital, is even stranger. I just talked to the head of my lab and he says they have only canceled classes one other time in the 20 years he has been here, which I guess would be the tornado.

In knitting news, I have finished two hats and a mitten and have plans to knit a couple scarflets to complete the sets. Since these are all gifts, I am going for small things that require small amounts of yarn and small amounts of time. I have a lot of car time over the next few days so I should be able to complete some stuff. I am on a stitch pattern hunt for the scarflets, so if you have any good ideas let me know. I want something that doesn't curl and looks interesting with minimal work. i want to stay away from cables and lace, but other than that I am open to anything.

If I could knit as fast as this woman I would be golden.

As long as I don't also fall off a cliff.

In other news probably very few who read this blog will care about, my fave UFC ref has retired.

Christmas has never been about traditions for me or my family. Christmas was usually at my grandparents in Ames and then we would go to my aunt and uncle's place in WI between Christmas and New Years. We never baked cookies together or had special ornaments. There wasn't a fancy meal or advent calendar. We had a fake tree, so we never went as a family to pick out the perfect Christmas tree. Since my parent's divorce it has been even less about traditions (unless you consider my dad's gift of a check or cash in a card for every occasion as a tradition) and more about juggling schedules.

When I moved away from home, I didn't have any special ornaments. I bought all my ornaments last year at Target to supplement the few Josh has from his family. I got some glass balls and snowflakes that I thought were kinda pretty and the cheapest on the racks. I think I am going to make one this year so I can have my own. I was just reading Brooklyn Tweed between some washes on my latest experiment and saw his little sweater ornament. I really want to make one or two or three or... Not that I need to give myself anymore knitting projects right now, but they look so cute. They remind me of the sweaters my mom used to knit for my Barbie dolls. Mini socks would be fun too! I even have a pattern for one.

ETA:

While wasting more time between washes I stumbled upon these little guys! I must make them and these Pac Man and his ghosties.

Apparently the blue blob is out to get us! I hope Josh is home when my boots are delivered so I don't have to wait an extra day. I ordered the Columbia boots because I will be in Chicago just after Christmas and will probably be doing some walking. They look like good walking boots and they are kinda cute.

I actually kinda enjoy my French cigarette comments. My comments come to my email and I usually read them there before looking at my blog. For some reason the cigarette comments and a few others didn't get sent to my email so I had no idea why everyone was commenting on my French cigarettes. I was so confused!

I am in search of winter boots. I have had a pair since high school, but they are too small for me and pinch my toes which makes them cold and numb, therefor totally defeating the purpose of the boots in the first place. I like the idea of boots without laces so I can just pull them on or off easily to change to my regular shoes or slippers when I get home. Trying to untie boots with partially numb fingers is no easy task.

I really like this pair of Keens, but they are more than I want to pay. This pair from Land's End is definitely cheaper, but I am afraid they won't be really warm. This pair from Columbia is cheaper than the Keens, but still more than I want to pay. It's also kind of a cross between the first two boots. I want something I can wear with jeans to work and not have to take off if I don't want to. They need to be able to keep my feet warm while standing and waiting for the bus, which is notoriously late during the winter months. My current pair (similar to these)is so inflexible that it can be hard to walk after awhile. I figured after almost 8 years it's time for some new boots.

Any suggestions?

I think I must have purchased all the jeans I am wearing regularly during the summer or at least when I was wearing flip-flops. My jeans are too short, for the most part. I have one pair that is way too long, no matter what shoes I wear and one that is just about perfect, but I didn't wear them all summer because they were too long then. The other three pairs I have are too short to wear with any shoes other than flip-flops or other really flat shoes. Not only are they too short, but they are too big. I think I bought most of these jeans during a couple shopping trips to the outlet mall over the summer after all my jeans seemed to die at about the same time. I must have had a bad shopping month.

I just found this link to some great tips for making food prep easier. I think my fave is using the CD spindle for a bagel holder.

And another link. I used to work in the lab of Richard Smith. His daughters and sons would work in the lab during the summers and sometimes during the school year. One of his daughters has a kidney disease and is on dialysis. Her mother nominated her as a Kidney Idol and she can win a dialysis-friendly trip if she gets enough votes. Click here to vote. Her mother's entry is the one entitled The Lightness of Hope. You can vote every day until the 10th.

This will be a long post

Yesterday was very interesting, to say the least. Not only did we spend almost 9 hours driving through a snow and ice storm, but I competed in a cooking competition at Le Courdon Bleu Culinary School in the Twin Cities. I am not sure why I didn't mention it before. I found out I was a finalist two weeks ago today, which was right before the Thanksgiving craziness and I guess it kinda slipped my mind as blog material.

Anyway, 10 people were picked based on a 250 word essay. I, along with 9 others, was picked to participate in the Panier de Marche Scholarship Competition. We had an hour and a half to cook a meal consisting of a protein, a starch and a vegetable. We were limited to a list of ingredients they provided. I made lemon and herb cous cous, salmon with a lemon butter sauce, and green beans with roasted onions. Just for participating we received an apron, hat, embroidered chef's jacket, really nice chef's knife and $125 towards culinary books. The prizes were $1,500, $1,000, and $500 scholarships for the top three.

I placed third and received the $500 scholarship. I really didn't think I was going to win anything. I was just happy to get a new chef's knife! The guy that won looked about 14 years old and the 2nd place winner is a sous chef somewhere, I think. I am still surprised I won anything because everyone's dishes looked really good. We were judged on taste, presentation, and sanitation. I really wish I could have seen the scorecards. I washed my hands a lot to kill time because my meal was really simple and quick to make. I could probably finish it in about 45 minutes, but since I had 90 minutes to kill, I tried to waste my time in a constructive way.

The drive home was almost as interesting as the competition. The snow started during the competition. By the time we left it looked like there was almost 5" of snow on the ground. We decided to stop at a coffee shop so we could check the road conditions on our new laptop, which luckily arrived Thursday. We decided to head home after grabbing a celebratory lunch at Red Robin.

The roads weren't great, and we saw a bunch of cars and trucks in the ditch. It made me very thankful my tires are relatively new. It took us around 9 hours to get back to Coralville, but I think we made the right decision because the Twin Cities weather wasn't supposed to be any better today, so we may have gotten stuck for another day if we had stayed.

I finished a Zeebee. While it is too small for the intended recipient, it fits me nicely. I am working on another one, that will hopefully be a better fit. My gauge swatch wasn't terribly helpful, so I am guessing as I go. I may need more yarn for the second one! Well, technically the third, since I intend to make two for Christmas gifts. The first one doesn't count because it's for me. I am really enjoying the garter stitch on Zeebee so I am not complaining.

I have finally gotten a decent picture of Foliage. Not an action shot, but better than nothing.

Pattern: Foliage
Yarn: Cascade 220 #7811
Needles: 4.5mm