The Tangled Arts

I wrote a few weeks back about Sunday brunches being something important and special, here at chezDarts and this morning was no exception. The kids asked for French Toast, which in my opinion is generally a nasty business.

I don’t really have much of a sweet tooth. And, your traditional egg coated and syrup smothered bread lumps don’t do much for me. So, I decided to take a traditional french toast recipe and give it a bit of a twist.

Turns out, a little bit of work and a lot of fresh ingredients really go a long way to making a french toast that is tasty and rich (without being overly sweet) and these bread lumps were a hit with the kids, as well as the grown-ups.

I started with eggs and milk, but then I added real vanilla, some honey, a little salt, and, a little something extra – orange zest.

Then, just to top it off, because syrup is not my thing, I added a scoop of berry compote and some ricotta cheese mixed with honey and more orange zest.

Awesome.

Next weekend? Maybe some crepes. Maybe.

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So, I took a little trip back down memory lane in my last post. I realized that while I knit a very large amount of socks, I was lacking in the more intricate types of projects that challenge and allow a knitter to grow.

As I looked a bit deeper at the completed projects over the last year, I became a bit disappointed and wished that I had taken more time to create bigger and more intricate projects. Where was my Henley Pullover? My Venezia Sweater? My intricate lace projects? Self designed sweaters and other items were sadly non-existant.

However, once I finished the post, I went back upstairs to the main living area of the house. My two children were there. My husband was there. All were smiling. Monkey wanted me to snuggle and Bunny wanted me to play some Wii with her. I was instantly busy and happy.

Then it hit me. The reason that I have no large and intricate projects is that I am enmeshed right now in creating a larger and more intricate project than any one sweater or lace stole. I am creating a family. Cheezy, but true.

So, this year, my focus will be to work those things that inspire me. To create garments that make me and those around me happy. Small children are only small once. Lucky me to be able to share this time of their lives.

So, to that end, I have narrowed my Ravelry queue down to a few items that I believe are achievable in those stolen moments that one gets while raising small children. However, there will be no hard and fast rules about the projects that I will make this year. 2009 will be what it will be. Happy New Year all.

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