Thursday, March 31, 2011

Day 4: Whatever Happened to those Pink Breast Cancer Dolls? 2KCBWDAY4

All those little dolls that were knit several years ago for breast cancer patients....where did they go?




This is Day 4 in the blog along, and the question to answer is this:
Write about the fate of a past knitting project. Whether it be something that you crocheted or knitted for yourself or to give to another person. An item that lives with you or something which you sent off to charity.
There are a lot of different aspects to look at when looking back at a knitting project and it can make for interesting blogging, as much of the time we blog about items recently completed, new and freshly completed. It is not so often that we look back at what has happened to these items after they have been around for a while.
How has one of your past knits lived up to wear. Maybe an item has become lost. Maybe you spent weeks knitting your giant-footed dad a pair of socks in bright pink and green stripes which the then ‘lost’. If you have knit items to donate to a good cause, you could reflect on the was in which you hope that item is still doing good for it’s owner or the cause it was made to support.
Tips: This topic is similar to one we used for the first Knitting and Crochet blog week. This is purposeful and is intended to help the blogger to reflect on past items and refer back to previous posts and projects once in a while.
For Day 4 of the Blog Along, my choice of "whatever happened to your ___?",  I am showing those cute little Breast Cancer Sit-sters I knitted in 2008 and gave to patients undergoing chemotherapy at our local hospital.

(That original blog about those dolls can be found here.)  Several people asked for the pattern, but since it is in the book by Barbara Albright called The Natural Knitter, I felt obligated to refer them to her book, now one of the knitting classics.  The pattern starts on page 16 of the book and goes through page 21.

Amazon is selling the book for only $5.49, well worth it!

So the answer to the question of whatever happened to those knitted Sit-sters is still a mystery.  I can only pray that each of the women who was given one is now cancer free and living a happy and productive life.

Go on over to Eskimi's blog to join in with the blog-along.

"To read more posts on the topic ‘Whatever Happened to your ____"  from bloggers around the world, all blogging today, enter the code 2KCBWDAY4 into Google or your search engine of choice. Happy reading, and happy blogging."

Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Honey Mustard Pretzel Snack

This is a very good recipe for all snackers.  I found it at Food.Com.  Here goes:
Ingredients:
12 cups miniature pretzel twists
2 tablespoons margarine (NOT low-fat)
2 tablespoons yellow mustard
1/4 cup honey
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
Directions:

1 Preheat oven to 250 degrees.
2 Spray a large roasting pan with non-stick cooking spray and put pretzels in it.
3 Combine margarine, mustard, honey, garlic salt and onion powder.
4 Microwave or heat on stove until hot.
5 Drizzle over pretzels while stirring carefully to coat well.
6 Bake for one hour, stirring every 15 minutes.
7 Pour out onto waxed paper and quickly separate into a single layer.
8 Cool completely and store in sealed bags or container.
The reviewers at the website all said the mustard flavor was not strong enough, so I added 1 tsp. dry mustard to the ingredients and REALLY liked it.

If you have food allergies, just use wheat free pretzels.

This reviewer said:
Oh wow! First off, I love, love, love the honey mustard and onion pretzel pieces from Snyder's of Hanover, but recently found out that they contain milk and dairy ingredients, which are not good for my IBS. I did a search for honey mustard pretzels and found this one and only recipe listed. After reading the reviews, I also decided to try some dry mustard; I think I used half a tsp, I forget because I made this last week and forgot to review it, hehe. The smell of this baking was heavenly. My bf tried one of these, and then snatched the Zip-loc bag out of my hand! He said 'get your own pretzels, these are mine!'
Try them, and I'll bet you will like them.

Artwork by Charles H. McCarroll

Brother Mac worked in commercial art for his entire vocational career.  He got his artistic bent from our mother.

Mac is also a Viet Nam veteran, a Marine, a husband and father.  Here is his brief service synopsis, as he relays in this collage:


And here are a couple of his recent paintings displayed in his and his sweet wife's home in Texas:


 Acrylic: 24" x 47" (CH McCarroll)

Acrylic: 16" x 16" (CH McCarroll)

Thanks, Mac, for letting me show these two pictures. Now go paint some more!