"This is my own trip, you understand..."

The colder weather is rolling in so I'm back to my hot tea-drinking habits. This palette of teas is pretty, no? Last night I enjoyed gazing into (and sipping) a beautiful scarlet tisane before bedtime. I think the infusion had strawberries and flowers in it.

Yesterday was a lovely Sunday afternoon bike ride around Elkridge. It's good to see that, over a period of 20 years, the routes where my Dad once rode to be 'in the country in the middle of the city' have mostly evaded suburban sprawl. The Patapsco/Rockburn park area has some great bike-riding roads, though the uphills were a bit brutal. Check out other rides listed under 'Elkridge' on Bikely for more ideas.

This weekend was also a good one for cooking, another cool-weather pastime! There's nothing like a warm, browned and fragrant something emerging from the oven. Of course, all the fresh veggies and fruits of summer are great, too - but they work more for lounging and crunching than for comfort.

Here's a recipe for a Spinach Chicken Wreath [tested and confirmed as yummy]:

Preheat Oven to 375 degF; serves 8.
Ingredients:

• 1 can/10 oz chunk white chicken (drained)
• 1/2 C red bell pepper, chopped
• 1 pkg/10 oz frozen choped spinach (thawed and drained)
• 1C shredded cheddar cheese
• 1/3 C mayonnaise
• 1t lemon zest
• 1/2 t salt
• 1/8 t ground nutmeg
• 2 pkg refrigerated crescent rolls (8oz each)

Directions:

• Flake chicken into a medium bowl. Add all ingredients except rolls and mix together.
• Unroll crescent rolls and separate into 16 triangles. Arrange them in a circle on a 13" round baking stone (wide edges should overlap in the center, acute-angled points toward the outside); leave a 5" diameter opening in the center.
• Scoop chicken mix evenly onto the widest end of each triangle, all the way around the circle.
• Bring the outside points up over the filling and tuck under the wide ends at center of ring; there will be filling visible through openings between crescent dough.
  
• Bake 20-25 minutes or until golden brown. If bottom of rolls are soggy, bake a few more minutes on bottom rack of oven [to cook without over-browning].
  

And one more, for Milk Chocolate Florentine Cookies [also confirmed delicious]:

Preheat Oven to 375 degF; makes 3 dozen cookies.
Ingredients:

• 2/3 C butter
• 2C quick oats
• 1C granulated sugar
• 2/3 C all-purpose flour
• 1/4 C light or dark corn syrup
• 1/4 C milk
• 1t vanilla extract
• 1/4 t salt
• 1+ 3/4 C/11.5 oz milk chocolate chips

Directions:

• Melt butter in a medium saucepan, remove from heat. Stir in all ingredients except chocolate chips and mix well.
• Drop level teaspoons of mixture on a greased baking sheet, 3 inches apart. Spread them thinly with a rubber spatula.
• Bake 5-8 minutes OR until golden brown. Cool cookies completely on sheets or wire racks.
• After the first batch comes out, microwave morsels uncovered at 70% power for 1 minute; stir. If needed, nuke at 10-15 second intervals until you get an even consistency.
• Spread chocolate onto half of the cookies, on the flat side. Top with the remaining cookies with the flat side again contacting the chocolate.
• Cool and serve or store! See Néstle's website, the finished cookies looking scrumptious.

I started knitting again. I'm going to try a simple pattern from the Japanese website, ABCs of Knitting: the 'first socks,' which will be rendered in a bulky grass green. I love how precise and thorough their website is, and I think some warm socks will do me well to foster even more cozy, indoor activities. Maybe after that, I'll try knitting in color; how to pick between intarsia, fair-isle, or stranded color knitting? This may require some reading up.

PS. Who knows who said the quote in my title? Clue: a member of Kesey's merry pranksters. Yes, I'm reading the electric kool-aid acid test.
PPS. Awesome, easy-to-follow instructions for kitchener stitch (very important in making a comfy heel!) at Knitty.