The Point of No Return

Our Planet Purl newsletter went out last week with a blurb about this blog (say that 3 times fast!) and a mention of the book in progress. The Point of No Return, I think. The link to this blog page continues to be the most clicked link in the newsletter, so I guess it's official, I am writing this book.

Today is another big day -- we're mailing out postcards to hundreds of Deep South yarn stores inviting them to be considered to be featured in the book. Then starts the job of choosing patterns and projects from the shops to be featured. At least I won't have to knit those myself. I have so many patterns in progress for the book as it is that I have nowhere else to stack project boxes. I've discovered that the space between my couch and garden doors will hold about six big banker's boxes without being visible when I open my front door. I have room for one more box, but the yarn for the Smoky Mountain Throw should arrive today and that will take care of that!

The Williamsburg "Rag" Rug is coming along nicely and I have to say it makes the perfect "in front of the TV" project. It's not at all portable though and I think once it gets to be 4" across, storing the work in progress behind the couch will not be an option. Mr. Purqueen has been eyeing the rug and is, I think, thinking he might want it in his home office. We'll see when it's done, since I haven't decided how big to make it. It's kind of addictive working the pattern, seeing the pattern and color take shape so I'm afraid it could end up 12 feet wide by the time I make myself stop!

Yesterday I got a wild hair and decided to take a break to work on perfecting my caramel-pecan divinity recipe for the book. I turned the thermostat waaaaay down to pull the humidity out (a necessity for making divinity if you live in Florida), fired up the stand mixer and the stove and went to it. Mr. PQ loved the last batch, but it was so messy to make, I thought there had to be a better way. I gave it some thought over the last week or so and hit on a solution that I wanted to test. And boy did it pass the test. When Mr. PQ got home last night, the first thing he said was "where's the divinty?" He popped an entire piece in his mouth and pronounced it perfect. Woo hoo! But now I have almost two pounds of divinity sitting on the kitchen counter, with strict orders not to throw it out. So today will be a test of another kind -- my willpower. I think I'll go put on a pair of pants that are a wee bit tight instead of the sweatpants I'm wearing now. Otherwise, I might have to come up with a story about how 2 pounds of divinity disappeared in one day.....

The Road Calls

Yesterday I took a break from database updates on Planet Purl to spend some time researching restaurants and inns and fun stuff to do for the first trip -- Savannah, Charleston, Asheville and Gatlinburg. I can't decide whether to break it into two trips or just go straight through. Doing all 4 cities will take about 2 weeks and that's a long time to be away from home, Mr. PurlQueen and the dogs. When I'm gone the dogs spend the night walking on top of my husband looking for me. Plus, I have a CRAZY neighbor that calls the police every time one of my dogs barks, so while I'm gone, the dogs stay in the house all day and the dog sitter comes to take them out three times a day. They're used to having their human home all day since I work from the house, and it's stressful for them, too. Hmmmmm, think I just answered the question on whether I was going to break up the trip into 2 separate weeks.

OK, so the first trip is Savannah and Charleston. I'll be visiting historic inns and restaurants that feature Southern cuisine. I'll be checking out the beaches, historic districts, and museums. And I'll be taste testing, of course! And hitting the area yarn shops for my travel blogs on Planet Purl.

I've been working hard on designing my PurlQueen Patterns that will also be included in the book. I'm working on a great Tybee Island Lighthouse Beach Mat, Smoky Mountains Afghan, Charleston College Gate Pillow, Biltmore Gilded Place Mats, French Quarter Boa Scarf, Natchez Spring Azalea Felted Bag, and the Williamsburg Rag Rug. As fun as the baking is, the knitting is definitely easier on my diet..."scrumptious" is calorie free when it applies to alpaca yarn!

Do you have any favorite spots/places in Savannah or Charleston? I'd love to hear about them. You can email me at deepsouthknitting@planetpurl.com.

Red Velvet and Divinity

I am on a roll, baby! Saturday I got a nice long nap and managed to bake my Red Velvet Cake. This was the first time Mr. PurlQueen tasted my Red Velvet Cake, which I haven't bake in longer than I can remember. He really doesn't like cake (he's a pie guy), so I wasn't expecting him to like it. Surprise! He loved the cake, just not the frosting. It was my traditional boiled milk frosting, a Southern tradition, made with Crisco as the shortening. As a Northerner, I don't think he ever even heard of Crisco. So after the first test pieces, I refrigerated the cake and went to bed for the evening.

But I was up at the crack of dawn on Sunday, scraping pounds of frosting, walnuts & coconut off the cake and experimenting with the frosting. I was surprised when I was able to make a boiled milk frosting with butter. Mr. PQ had a giant slice yesterday afternoon and proclaimed the cake perfect. Yes!

So this morning I threw out 2/3 of a perfect Red Velvet Cake as my husband has long days all this week and won't be home for dinner and I know myself too well to leave a big cake around the house. So I felt quite virtuous tossing out the cake.

And while feeling virtuous. I decided to make divinity. It turned out perfectly, and is now drying on my kitchen counter awaiting it's melted caramel and chopped pecan layers. I have got to get some of my friends to come eat this stuff or I won't be able to fit in my jeans soon. Any volunteers?

Just Call Me "Peaches"

I ran to the grocery store at the crack of dawn to lay in supplies for more experimental cooking in my "test kitchen." When we built this home 6 years ago, I spent a lot of time designing the layout of my kitchen, despite the fact that with no kids at home and a husband who works 80 hours a week, my kitchen only really gets to strut it's stuff for holiday dinners, maybe twice a year. With 4 dogs at home, we usually meet friends at restaurants for dinner. So other than the microwave and the coffee machine, the kitchen appliances get pretty lonely.

It's probably my imagination, but my kitchen is looking, well, cheerful? The oven, the stovetop and the stand mixer are looking pretty proud of themselves. And I have to give it up for them -- they have been making me proud, too. Yesterday, we were tinkering around with Peach Cobbler and my final version was yum, yum, yummy. I had to move it out of the baking pan into a saver bowl so my husband wouldn't notice just how much of it ate for "brunch." And for breakfast this morning. Hey, it has lots of fruit in it, so it can be breakfast. Don't judge me until you try the recipe!

Oh, I almost forgot....the origin of the title of this post. When my parents took me to Columbus, Mississippi for my first year of college, they teased me about heading into a very Southern place without a Southern accent or a stereotypically Southern nickname. My father told me that I should just call myself "Peaches." As they drove away from my dorm, my father rolled down the window and called out "Bye, Peaches!" I can't look at a peach without thinking about that.

Today, I'm thinking Red Velvet Cake. Or maybe a long nap. Maybe both. I'm also working away on pattern designs for the book, knitting up test swatches and writing first draft instructions for me to follow, and edit, as I knit the patterns. I'm working on a beach mat, afghan, boa scarf, decorative pillow, and felted bag so far. And I'm still spending time working on some sweaters for my non-book related vacation this Fall to Alaska with Mr. PurlQueen. My knitting is all over the house but my husband isn't complaining one bit. Maybe it's all the desserts coming out of the kitchen? If I'd known he was this easy, I'd have started baking for him 20 years ago.....

Wow, My Kitchen Smells Good!

Deep South Knitting is more than just knitting patterns, it's also travel and food. So while I'm busy designing patterns inspired by the cities we're featuring, and researching places to stay and things to do, I'm also experimenting in the kitchen to improve some of my favorite Southern dishes. So far, I've perfected my recipes for Sweet Cornbread (the best cornbread ever), Bananas Foster Bread Pudding with Pecan Foster Sauce and vanilla Cream Sauce, Southern Comfort & Brown Sugar Pralines, and as I write this, my second version of Sweet Potato Pie is finishing up in the oven. Hence the title of this post.

The first version of the pie I baked wasn't my favorite experiment, so I fine-tuned a bit and made the one that's tempting my nose now. This one looks and smells fantastic! My assistant is here working on Planet Purl LYS database updates and the smell has gotten to her. She weighs about 80 pounds soaking wet, so better she eat a bigger piece than me as it will blow most of Weight Watchers points for the day!

My husband has been enjoying the baking experiments, since I rarely bake anymore. He's hardly ever home for dinner and he professes not to have a sweet tooth, but even he couldn't resist mmmmmmmm-ing after biting into a sweet, creamy praline.

This is so much fun. It reminds me of all the great foods I discovered when I went to college in Mississippi my freshman year. My introduction to Southern cooking was good for almost 30 pounds in one school year. I had never heard of fried okra, chicken-fried steak, or one of my now favorites -- Red Velvet Cake. Speaking of Red Velvet Cake, it's up next in my test kitchen, followed by Peach Cobbler. Hmm, maybe later this week.

We're also excited that famed Southern chef Regina Charbonneau will be sharing some of her recipes in the book. She owns Twin Oaks B&B and restaurant in Natchez, Mississippi, one of our featured places. If you've never been to Natchez, you're missing a true gem of the antebellum South. I'm looking forward to my visit this summer.

Timer just went off and my Sweet Potato Pie calls. Wish me luck!