Pot Pies and Polkas

Vegetable Pot Pie

This week's Barefoot Bloggers recipe was Vegetable Pot Pie, chosen by Deb at Kahakai Kitchen. I made a few changes: I halved the recipe, I used vegetable stock, I used white wine instead of Pernod (and doubled the amount), I omitted the frozen onions and used frozen peas, and instead of making the dough I used a Pillsbury pre-made. I also didn't make the pot pies in bowls as the directions state, but made double-crust pies in small pie tins so they were more like the pot pies I used to eat in college.

I really liked these pot pies. The sauce is thick, creamy (despite having only a little cream), and tastes great. It would be very easy to switch up the vegetables to use whatever you have on hand. And since I only made two pot pies, I have a lot of leftover filling. I think I'll put some more pot pies together with the remaining filling and freeze them for more easy meals.

I also made some Portabello Steaks from Diet Dessert & Dogs. I marinated the mushrooms most of the day, so they were very flavorful. I think I'd prefer to cook these on the grill rather than with my cast iron grill pan. Still, they were very good and the juices mixed nicely with the pot pie sauce.

Mmmm... comfort food

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So, yesterday's performance was a lot fun. I sat in with the San Mateo Elks Club Band to play for the residents at the Masons House in Union City. The house is basically a retirement community for former members of (or widows of) the Masons. It turns out my tenor-playing friend is a Mason and a Shriner - now I better understand his incredible generosity.

I got a tour of the facilities - its like a really nice hotel and they provide everything for the 200 or so residents; quite impressive. We ate in the cafeteria with the residents and then headed down to the hall to play. The band was about 25 people strong (and there was one other woman this time!), and they decked me out in red suspenders and a green German cap to match everyone else. We played polkas and waltzes for about an hour, for an audience of about 50 people. They were not able to dance, but they cheered for the song announcements that they recognized and seemed to have fun. I had a great time playing the music, and kept remembering dancing the polka with my grandfather - I think my feet hardly ever touched the ground when I danced with him.

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That's a big pumpkin!

Today I ran a few errands in the morning. Then I carved my pumpkin (but I'll hold off on posting the picture of the carved pumpkin until Halloween).

Cable-Down Raglan

I finished the body of my Cable-Down Raglan. I think I could have started the waist cables a little lower and made it longer, but it might block out so we'll see. Now I just have to do the sleeves (3/4-length, or full?). I've really learned a lot about cable construction and have enjoyed it. The sleeves should go a lot faster, which will be nice.

I hope you're as relaxed as Mac.