monday night dessert

today a cool wind howled up the street and through the courtyard incessantly. it felt like march, except for the 80 degrees, which actually felt very cool and refreshing after the hot 96 temperatures we had.

i wanted to walk cross town to veniero's for dessert (we hadn't been since . . i don't know! over a year ago? we've been for cookies, but not to sit down in over a year . . ), but it was so windy in a scary way that i almost turned around. 

however, i persevered . .

i had a cannoli and a decaf mochaccino, and greg had an affogato and new york cream cheese cake (!). it was all very good and entirely worth the windy walk.

an nyu art installation we passed on the way home.

the library . . 

and a beautiful sunset . . 

this evening's dinner

i made barley soup tonight, which i haven't made in awhile: fresh chicken broth from the chicken we had over the weekend, celery which was from before we went to florida (! i had to clean it up a bit), carrots that were (thankfully) in the refrigerator, and the last cup and a half of barley that has been in the cabinet for . . hmmm . . a year or more? it was very good!

reviewing taxes

i knew if i went out today without my camera i would want it; and that's exactly what happened. on my way home from walking chanda to her modern dance class, as i was leaving the health food store on hudson street, the french fry building (aka the freedom tower) glistened silver in the setting sun. it actually looked pretty (i've hated this building). and then when i turned onto bank street, the colors from the sun bloomed bright orange and red along the street to me from the river. it was beautiful. 

korrina was home when i walked in. she joined us for dinner and then reviewed her taxes online with greg. her stage managing job counted as freelance so she owed a little, which of course she wasn't happy about. no one ever is.

back at home

 korrina came by for dinner and showed us her shell shawl knitted in madelinetosh pashmina's midnight in manhattan from yarnco.

 comparing the stitches . . 

 chanda is working on one in a brownish gold color . . 

 chanda knits a little tighter than korrina . . 

 korrina's follow your arrow . . looks good!

cuddling with hermione . .

celebrating santa lucia

i think the second nutcracker did us in, because santa lucia's day came and went without anyone remembering. we celebrated this morning, reading a story about her life in sicily and the hope and light she spread in rome for christians hiding underneath a hostile city, in the catacombs. we also read from our book christmas roses about the vision of santa lucia bringing a ship of bread and wine to starving farmers on the night of the solstice. we also watched the links eva had included on her blog about christmas in europe. 

 morgana stayed home from her writing class today, and from babysitting, as she had a fever.

korrina came over after work and made dinner . . farfalle with fava beans and pancetta in a cream sauce. i was supposed to make it, but got sidetracked walking through soho . . (after all, christmas is only a week away . . ) of course i thought it was extra delicious because i didn't put it together . .

reading and knitting and monday night dinner

 we've been doing a lot of reading and knitting.

 chanda found some really nice yarn in our stash that she's using to make hats. she's following the pattern in joelle hoverson's last minute knitted gifts. the funny thing about the yarn she found: it was already wound as if i was going to start knitting with it. however, i cannot remember what i was planning. i think it was supposed to be a liesl for her friend deychen, but she says no. hmmmm.

 we're up to chapter twenty-one: the house elf liberation front . . helf!

 isn't it a gorgeous yarn? i think it's manos . . but it's not thick and thin like manos . . it's smooth.

 here's korrina with her "chandra" shawl.

 it's very soft and warm. it's nice for these cold days.

 i made shepherd's pie on the stove top since the oven is still on the blink. we had it "upside down" with the potatoes on the bottom and the meat and vegetables on the top. (morgana wasn't here as she spent the night at her friend's house.)

but what is this? greg is doing his victory dance! yes, he called the store owner who sold him the part for the stove, and the man suggested checking a few particular wires on the back. after checking he discovered he had neglected to connect a small plastic plug on the new part he had bought. when he did, voila! the bottom coil started heating up! we're back in the baking business!