Mother of Purl by Eig, Edith (best desktop ebook reader .TXT) 📗

the time everyone packs up to go home, many are leaving with one bag more than they originally arrived with: their knitting, of course, and a doggie bag of treats.

ANNETTE O’TOOLE

One of my clients, Annette O’Toole, brought her husband with her one afternoon to show him the shop. I instantly recognized him. Michael McKean was Lenny in Laverne & Shirley. I noticed Annette was clutching a magazine—and, in what I considered to be the ultimate compliment, she asked me to autograph the cover of the magazine, which I happened to be on.

My open door policy at La Knitterie Parisienne is to make everyone feel welcome, and I do my best to make each and all feel comfortable and at home. While many of the Sip & Knit knitters have penciled Wednesday nights into their calendars, the evening continues to be La Knitterie Parisienne’s late night, where anyone is welcome to shop, learn to knit, and even sip. One of my regulars and a favorite baking contributor to Sip & Knit is Nancy Schnoll, a young actress, whose desserts rival those of even the most accomplished bakers. Here are two delicious desserts that Nancy has shared with us at the shop.

“SIP & KNIT” RECIPES

CRUST

¼ pound unsalted butter

3 cups all–purpose flour

1 egg

1 cup sugar

¼ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon baking powder

¼ cup whole milk

Pecan Triangles

CREAM SUGAR AND BUTTER. Add egg and milk and the dry ingredients. Grease two cookie sheets (with edges) with butter or a nonstick spray. Roll out dough on floured surface and press and stretch dough into place with fingers. Be sure to stretch dough up on the inside of the cookie sheet edges and distribute evenly. Poke several times with a fork. Bake 15–19 minutes at 350 degrees. The edges of the dough should be golden brown and the rest a light golden brown.

NOTE: This recipe should be doubled, but only use 1 ½ of it divided evenly between two cookie sheets. It freezes well for future use.

MIXTURE

1 pound unsalted butter

1 pound dark brown sugar

3 ounces honey

1 ounce maple syrup

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 pounds raw unsalted pecan halves

ARRANGE PECANS IN THE BAKED CRUSTS FACE UP, “stacking” them staggered in a single layer. Very little crust should be visible. Over medium heat, melt butter in a large pot on top of stove. Add sugar, honey, syrup, and vanilla and bring to a boil. Keep stirring while it comes to a boil and after. It will bubble a lot and come up to almost the top of the pot. Boil for about 10 minutes. Be sure the sugar has dissolved, but do not let the mixture burn. Take pot off heat and immediately pour the mixture over pecans and crust in a zigzag pattern going between the two sheets. It is best to cover all the pecans. Bake again for 15 minutes at 350 degrees. When done, the mixture should bubble lightly around the edges, but the cooking time should not exceed 15 minutes. Watch closely and make sure the pecans and caramel do not burn. Let cool and remove from the cookie sheets. Cut off all 4 edges and cut into strips (with piece horizontally) and then into squares. Finally cut each square in half diagonally to create triangles.

3 eggs

1 cup oil

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup sugar

3 cups plus

2 tablespoons flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

¼ teaspoon salt

½ bag (6 ounces) miniature semi–sweet chocolate chips

½ cup chopped walnuts

cinnamon and sugar (to sprinkle)

Mandel Bread

IN A LARGE BOWL, CREAN ALL INGREDIENTS TOGETHER BY HAND. Mix the liquids first (eggs, oil, and vanilla), then add the dry ingredients. Mix until smooth. Put chips in entire mixture or use a mixture of both nuts and chips. Shape the 3 rolls on a jelly–roll pan with edges. Mixture will be oily and easy to work with. Each roll should be the width of the pan horizontally. Sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar and bake at 350 degrees for 30–40 minutes. The bread should be dark brown on the bottom—not golden. Let cool for a moment and then with a wide spatula make ½–inch slices. The pieces will be crumbly, but this is normal. Turn them on one side. Sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar, then put the pan back in the oven for about 10 minutes so the pieces can brown again. You can turn the pieces an additional time to brown the other side, but this is not necessary.

Enjoy!

Wednesday Night at Sip and Knit at La Knitterie Parisienne’s Round Table

Chapter Eight

KNITTING FOR OTHERS

It happens around the beginning of November, usually the first Saturday of the month. Merrill and I will look up and see a tide of new faces, all the same: worried eyes, puckered brows, hands desperately juggling through piles of yarn.

It’s the holiday rush. People who blithely promised back in March to ‘knit you your Christmas present’ are suddenly realizing that they have seven weeks to deliver a pile of carefully thought out, lovingly knitted gifts. Here is my single rule about knitting for the holiday season: if you’re reading this any later than August, it may be too late. But if you do have time, here are some gift ideas to consider.

FELTED BAGS

Felting has become widely popular. Felting involves knitting a piece of work, like a purse or slippers, and intentionally shrinking it by putting it through several hot, agitated machine wash cycles. Because you will be shrinking it, you’ll need to make your original item at least 30 percent larger than normal. It will seem almost outlandishly large—slippers that might fit a giant, handbags that could tote a Great Dane instead of a Chihuahua. Two of my clients, twin sisters Cindy and Lindy, impressed me with their felting creativity. Rather than use the normal felting materials—worsted wool—they picked a handful of eyelash and other novelty yarns in a palette of pink and red. I