… mug? Or teacup? Or your preferred container for hot beverages? This is my favorite. Some of you may remember that I have a habit of over-buying mugs/cups. I don’t know what it is. But I have found my favorite and I think my mug-buying days are over. (Unless this one breaks. But I know where to get another one of them.) I love the size of this, the weight of it, the feel of it, and the colors. (Mine came from here. I love their work and have purchased several things from them.) Since I’m so attached to this mug, it made me wonder if others of you have a favorite? Tell us about it in the comments below for this month’s blog contest. We’ll randomly draw the winners from the comments and will announce them next Friday.
Today’s recipe is one of those comfort food types of things. (Good taste plus pasta = comfort.) It makes a lot and there are all kinds of things in there. Just add some fresh fruit or a big salad to the menu and you have a meal.
Pasta and Cabbage Casserole
1 pound spaghetti noodles, cooked al dente
3 cups shredded frozen hash browns, thawed
1 lb. sausage (or 3 chicken breasts, cooked and cubed)
2 Tbl. olive oil
1 bag of shredded cabbage slaw (or 1/2 head cabbage, shredded)
1 large onion, chopped
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 cup (or can) of chicken broth
4 Tbl. butter
2 cups Parmigiano Reggiano Cheese, shredded
1 cup sharp cheddar, shredded
(Want more color? Add broccoli to the recipe. Yum!)
Brown sausage in skillet and drain. Add olive oil to the pan and stir in onion, garlic and cabbage, cooking until tender (about 10 minutes). Add chicken broth and heat through.
In large bowl, combine cooked noodles, hash browns, butter, 1 cup cheddar, 1 cup Parmigiano Reggiano, and cabbage/sausage mixture and mix well. Turn into a 9 x 13 pan and bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes. Add the last cup of Parmigiano Reggiano cheese to the top and bake for 5 more minutes.
Because I don’t have quite enough knitting projects “in progress”, I picked up a book last night and have decided to make a Noro Chevron Sleeve Cardigan from Knitting Noro. Just for fun. (Although I’m not sure why I just admitted that to you. I ought to have kept quiet about it until I was almost finished. One day I’ll learn.)
People were eating chocolate here today. How do I know? There’s evidence on the floor. And just because there were kisses by my favorite mug in the photo, don’t be fooled. It was totally for eating scale so that you could get an idea of the mug size. (The carpeting looks a little ugly close up, don’t you think? It’s a good thing that there is a lot of beautiful yarn and chocolate around here to distract people from looking down.)
Sheri whoadvisesyoutostartanewprojectsothatI’mnotaloneinthisWIPabundance
It depends on if I’m drinking coffee or tea. For coffee, I have a 20 oz tumbler made of recycled materials. But for tea, I prefer ceramics. My current favorite is a green mug with the black silhouette of a vaguely Siamese looking cat on it. It’s my office tea mug, and gets me through long days of meeting with students. At home, I have another ceramic mug, from a local French food chain, that has several white sheep being led by a black one, with the French for “follow the crowd” on it. The only reason it is not at the office is because I don’t want to break it! Besides, this way I have it at home while I’m knitting 🙂
I have a very favorite mug I bought from some potters at the local summer arts festival years ago. The bottom is a bit bigger than the top and it’s a beautiful cobalt blue glaze with white lily on each side. Perfect size for a big mug of Lyons Gold Blend in the morning!
My favorite mug is a souvenir mug from Toronto, a Maple Leafs (hockey) mug, bought at one of their best game ever – winning in the last one-half second of the game by one point. So this mug has much fond memories attached to it. It’s just the perfect size for coffee or tea. And I always make sure the mug’s location is known and doesn’t wander far – that’s how much I love it.
I feel so sad. All of my mugs are my favorite! They’re all part of the dish set that we have, and so they all match and are all very cozy to hold, with a nice heft, and room for lots and lots of coffee in them!
My favorite mug was a gift from a very generous swap partner (who happens to dye fabulous yarn too) It is handmade stoneware, green with darker green polka dots. It is round instead of regular mug shaped and a little smaller than a normal nug too. It fits my small hands perfectly. And it’s really cool. What’s not to love? 🙂
My absolute favorite mug, my husband bought me while he was in Australia for work. It’s quite tall with swirlies all over- One side has a picture of two cartoony looking sheep hugging and holding a heart. The other side says “Ich habe Dich Lieb” , which loosely translates to I love you. I have pics too 🙂 http://www.flickr.com/photos/61882337@N00/584369194/in/set-72157601658044628/ and http://www.flickr.com/photos/61882337@N00/584369282/in/set-72157601658044628/
Geez, just what I need – another Favorite Etsy Seller (FPS). Those are awesome mugs. Ceramic is my weakness. I’ll take a sturdy, glazed mug over a tea cup any day. Right now, my fave is my white, cabled mug from Starbucks that I bought as a Christmas gift for myself. Me and hundreds of others, right?
It just so happens that I did start another WIP last night. A pair of socks that my sister asked me to make as a b-day present for her to give a good friend of hers. That friend was oggling the pair I had made my sister. So I did a stash dive and pulled out a skein of Cascade Heritage in Indian Sunset – great color!
Have a good weekend, Sheri! I should recieve my new stuffed Loopy in tomorrow’s mail. He’ll be next to my knitting chair as my new Supervisor.
What a fun question!!! I seem to have acquired quite a few mugs over the years, and I have had several favorites. My current favorite is one that my husband gave to me. My husband is a professor at a small graduate school (AFIT). They recently renovated their bookstore, and he went in there one day to check it out. While there, he saw a coffee mug with the AFIT logo on it that was shaped like a mug that I had been using often at home. Of course, he brought it home to me. It was so sweet! Isn’t it the little things that always mean the most to you? Now, I drink my coffee and think of him after he heads off to work.
My favorite mug is a cobalt blue glass mug that I got several years ago from Starbucks. It has a perfect lip on it and feels so good in my hands. I would be very sad if it broke.
I have a bunch of favorites, all from John Glick at Plum Tree Pottery, and each one is a work of art. I take care of all of John’s computers and he takes care of my pottery needs. Some of his latest are here: http://web.me.com/johnglick/WAYSTATION/MUGS_.html
My favorite coffee mug is my blue Loopy Ewe mug! I’m really very clutzy, so it’s amazing it’s still around in one piece! My second favorite mug is one I got from The Prado when I was in Madrid. Before I got the Loopy mug, my husband and I always fought over that one!
I could say that my favorite mug is a Loopy mug. And it is one f my favorites, however, the truth is that my favorite mug or cup happens to be the one I have my coffee in. I also do oatmeal, soup, left over tuna casserole, or any number of things in my “favorite” cup. They stay woarm and I don’t have to chase them around. Sounds really bad, hh? I think the casserole sounds really good and I think I will definately give it a try. And as for WIP’s…don’t even ask. N
I could say that my favorite mug is a Loopy mug. And it is one of my favorites, however, the truth is that my favorite mug or cup happens to be the one I have my coffee in. I also do oatmeal, soup, left over tuna casserole, or any number of things in my “favorite” cup. They stay warm and I don’t have to chase them around. Sounds really bad, huh? I think the casserole sounds really good and I think I will definately give it a try. And as for WIP’s…don’t even ask. N
Out of the 70 mugs I regulary rotate through, there’s several favorites — the Snoopy mug that was my very first mug, the Grover mug that I got in San Diego, the Sandra Boynton mug that was a present, the handmade pottery mugs I’ve picked up in various places, the mugs in colors like Provence textiles. If I had to pick one, it’d probably be the one with the Celtic swan design that I picked up at a booth at the Society for American Archaeology convention many years back.
My favorite mug is made by a New Jersey potter named Don Bradford. He doesn’t have a website or a mailing list, so I stalk him every summer, tracking him down at at least one craft show, either here in PA or over there in NJ. . . it’s a gray-green glaze, with the darker layer dripping over the lighter, almost verdigris, layer. It’s pot-bellied like yours but without the straight section below the “belly.” Perfectly balanced, and holds enough coffee. I like his other designs, too, but this is the winner.
I have 2 favorite mugs, they were both gifts. The first is a large ceramic mug both of my hands fit around it and it’s about that tall. It’s parchment colored with a snow scene painted on it, the cabin and trees are in relief. The rim is supposed to be wood, and it has a pine cone relief on it.
The second is a new addition. It’s tall and skinny, one hand fits around it. It’s white with a block of different colored hearts on it. The walls are thick and I really like that. It was a gift in my Valentine’s Day caffeine addict swap.
My favorite my is hand thrown and glazed. The base color is shaded blues, and there is a dark area that resembles a stylized sheep. I picked it up ay a lavender festival several years ago.
At home, my everyday “mug” is an old, heavy plastic mug from A & W Rootbeer (the logo is mostly gone)–actually I think it’s from the fast food chain they used to have around here in Northern Illinois–that holds a good two cups. Unlike ceramic mugs, it is very touchable with even the hottest water. And, if I knock it over, it doesn’t break. However, I own many, many more mugs of the usual ceramic variety. At work–because several mugs I brought in “disappeared”, even an ugly 25 cent Christmas one with my name written on it in several places (!)–I now use a decrepit, deliberately unscrubbed (it is rinsed out), ugly orange Tupperware mug that holds 10 oz. I only drink tea, no coffee.
My favorite mug has 2 feet at the base. Very appropriate since I am a Podiatrist who loves to knit socks.
My favorite mug is a handmade one from Deb Babcock’s Blue Sky Pottery etsy store. It has the sides kind of squished in to make a place for your hand to hold it, and an adorable leaf shaped saucer to match. It’s also very large so it holds my latte in the morning. Love it!
My favorite mug is a BIG red bowl-type mug from Fiesta. I love the color. I love the size. I love how it fits in my hands and keeps them warm. All-in-all, a perfect mug. 🙂
I have two favorite mugs…at home…it’s my Longaberger mugs…on the go…it’s a stainless steel commuter cup that keeps the beverage very hot for a while.
I’ve already got an abundance of WIPs and am not starting anymore until I finish my clapotis and my daily sweater!!!!! (Well, I might start another gift sweater.) I have Daily Sweater, Clapotis, St Louis Socks, Sudan pencil pouch, a prayer shawl, Oregon sweater and baby sweater all on the needles plus a weaving project and spinning. That being said, it’s back to the knitting…
Have a nice weekend.
I too have quite the mug collection. They are one of the things I love to pick up when traveling. I especially like handmade pottery styles like your favorite. I’m currently after DH to make us a couple of 6-foot-tall mug trees to hold our ever growing mug collection. I have to say that my favorite – the one I use daily at work – is one I painted myself at one of those paint your own pottery places. It’s huge and holds plenty of coffee to get me started in the mornings at work. My current favorite at home is my Alaska mug that I received from AKSherry in the LE III Swap.
My favorite mug was a turquoise stoneware with a big handle, but the edge somehow got chipped. Two weeks ago I found a nice sized replacement at Dollar Tree, of all places. It’s got black paisley pattern on a white mug. Matches my kitchen apron. BTW, I love your recipes.
My favorite mug has van Gogh’s Sunflowers on it. My sister gave it to me when I was a freshman in college—many, many years ago. It’s survived many moves in and out of the dorms while I was in college and then apartments while DH was in grad school, and now here where we’ve settled. Lots of memories…
I can’t cast on a new project now, but I really want to cast on one of the shawls in the new Knitty. I’m busy designing a mystery sock for the Solidsocks ravelry group—and testing out the pattern right now.
My favorite mug at this moment is one from Starbucks that I received at Christmas. It is white & has knitting cables on it…I like the size. Thought I was the only one who loves different mugs. I even have a small White Castle one that my Aunt gave me a few years back. I like that one also.
My favorite is a Far Side mug I got while in grad school. There’s a kid in a classroom with his hand raised and he is saying to the teacher “Mr. Osborne, may I be excused? My brain is full.”
I still have times where that is SO appropriate 🙂
Thanks for the recipe Sheri!
My favorite mug is my “Just Friends” mug from Little Flower Designs showing two birds on a brand (photo on my blog here: http://knitterinthekitchen.com/2007/07/23/just-friends/). It’s handmade/etched/painted and it always brightens up my day to drink tea from such a beautiful mug!
My favorite mug is actually TLE anniversary mug that came in last year’s kit. I love how tall it is so I have more to drink, I love the color, and I love the weight of it. In fact, I just washed it out this evening from last night’s coffee. I think I’ll go and make myself a cup of tea in it right now! 🙂
My favorite is one of my Longaberger mugs. I’ve used them for years, and I always come back to them, even though I have other temporary “faves”. I went through a jadite phase a few years ago, but came back to the Longaberger. They’re the right size, the right weight, and the lip is perfect for sipping!’
And, I also have new WIP everywhere. There is the wedding afghan on the living room sofa, the dishcloth on the sunroom table, the sweater on the loveseat, the newest pair of socks on the table next to the recliner. I thought this morning, I have knitting everywhere, so no matter where I am, there is something to pick up and knit. Don’t know if its a sickness, or just good taking care of me!
That recipe sounds delish, but alas I just started Weight Watchers and I think it might be a few too many points. But when I’m skinny again, look out!
My favorite mug is this giant green one I bought years ago for soup. It has survived 4 different moves and will hopefully last forever. It’s great for a large cup of tea (I’m not a coffee girl) or sizzling rice soup from my favorite Chinese restaurant.
I have 2 favorite mugs, and they both bring back memories for me. One is a big ceramic handmade mug my Mom brought me back from Eastern Europe, and the other was her favorite mug. After she died I asked Dad if I could have it. Whenever I have the need to feel close to her, I make some coffee and drink it from her mug. It brings back a lot of good memories. I miss you Mom – but I’ll always have our memories of drinking coffee together on the weekends and catching up.
At the moment, my favorite coffee mug is my American Livestock Breeds Conservancy (ALBC) mug with the William Beebe quote, “…When the last individual of a race of living things breathes no more, another Heaven and another Earth must pass before such a one can be again.” – along with endangered livestock artwork on it. I used to have an Edmund Fitzgerald mug I really liked, but I think I saw it in the barn once, and since I don’t drink coffee in the barn, my husband must have stolen it! My other favorite mug is the one with the quote “A hundred years from now it will not matter what my bank account was, the sort of house I lived in, or the kind of car I drove…but the world may be different because I was important in the life of a child.” I guess I like mugs with quotes on them! And if I ever get tired of either one of those, we collect coffee mugs when we travel, so I have a choice of hundreds of other mugs!
i work 3rd shift and drink A LOT of coffee. at work, i drink from a spill-proof travel mug (keeps it hot longer–i work in a biohazard zone). at home, my favorite mug is a brown upright coffee bean shaped mug from local vendor the freaky bean. hilarious name. huge mug. lovely.
My favorite mug depends on what I’m drinking. We’ve lived all over and my souvenirs/gifts have been Starbuck’s mugs. So herbal tea – the New Zealand Kiwi mug my daughter gave me from her visit when she lived in Australia. My morning jolt goes in a large England Shakespeare mug, and my afternoon Yorkshire Tea goes in Germany Brandenburg Gate mug. Of course I have about 20+ so they do change once in a while, but these are the ones I grab for these times.
My favorite mug is my Kansas Jayhawk mug from college. It has pictures of the evolution of the Jayhawk mascot. Rock Chalk Jayhawk!
I think I may have actually reached my limit for WIPs. I am in the mood to get some projects finished! I just finished my Clapotis this week, so my next goal is to finish my Mr. Greenjeans sweater.
I do have two favorites at our house! One is from our Hawaiian honeymoon and it’s a simple brown mug with a map of Hawaii on it. The other is my cheetah cub mug from the San Diego zoo.
My favorite mug is not too different from yours but I’ll bet its story is. It’s also handmade and in similar colors, primarily blues. It’s gorgeous. I got it in Mendocino on my honeymoon. Nice perhaps even a little romantic, but nothing special, right? Ha!
This honeymoon (not my first but definitely my last) was after my marriage, at age 47 to the man I fell in love with when I was 23 but had “lost” for 20 years. We had dated for a while back then and feel in love. But we were very young. It was frightening. We saw each other a few times over the next years (it was the 70’s/80’s…love was “free”) but lost touch with each other. Over the next 20 years I had one long term serious relationship and a marriage (that resulted in BalletDaughter). But when I was single, I did remember him with great love and even looked in the phone book and tried to find him. Unfortunately, with a somewhat common last name in the hugely populated SF Bay Area, it was impossible to find him. And I had changed my last name. Then, through serendipity (longer story…some other time) I found him. And he was living about one mile from me!
After tentative communications, we discovered we were both single and made a date to see each other again. The sparks were still there; as deep as ever but maybe now even solidified by the maturity we had both gained over the years. It didn’t take long for us to decide we were NOT going to lose each other again and on December 15, 2000 with my then 4 year old daughter as “flower-ring girl” we were married in front of our own fireplace surrounded by a small group of family. We left for a three day honeymoon in Mendocino and though it was the middle of winter, we braved the rain to shop in that gorgous little town. And that is where I found this cup, the one I use for my coffee almost every day (and cherish almost as much as I cherish him!)
So you see Sheri, my story is proof that dreams do come true.
Oooh, this is a tough one because I have a few favorites but probably my most favorite mug is a cute little mug I picked up at Starbucks a few years ago. It’s a simple white glazed mug. The outside is a little bumpy and feels kind of nice when I hold it. The inside of the mug is all pink (my favorite color) and on the outside of the mug it has a little outline of a daisy with the word “inspire”. I don’t know what it is about this mug but it always makes me smile. I don’t know if it’s because it feels just right in my hands or if it’s because it has pink on it or if it’s because the word “inspire” just makes me want to go and create something, but it’s just my favorite mug.
My favorite mug(s) are any manufactured by Waechtersbach. They aren’t microwave-safe, but they’re big, lightweight, and well balanced. I usually drink from one that is dark Hunter green–it’s my “evergreen” mug–but I also have a great one for the holidays that is red with a Christmas tree.
What’s ugly about that carpet? I really like the colors, and couldn’t help noticing how clean it is!
I have several favorite mugs. All of them are BIG because when I want coffee (which I do every morning) I want a LOT of it NOW. Some of my favs are handmade stoneware purchased at local street fairs. Others are store-bought. One has a bowling theme, one has a “wild woman” theme to commemorate a weekend with girlfriends at the beach, and then there’s the Starbucks mug I bought on sale after Christmas that looks like an aran sweater on the outside. A couple of them are plain glass from IKEA. They’re BIT and have handles that I can put four fingers through for a good “fist grip” and there’s no worries about popping them in the microwave to reheat if I get distracted online or with knitting or spinning and the coffee goes cold.
And of course there’s my Loopy mug from the anniversary kit, too! 🙂
My favorite mug is the pink one my uncle got me when I was in high school. It has my name on it, and having the name Noriko in America means I NEVER find anything that has my name on it! He had it specially made for me, and even though high school was 10 years ago, that mug is still with me. :o)
My favorite mug is white with little bunches of lavender all over it. It came from England and has a separate flat top to put on top to keep my tea warm or I use it to sit my mug on. something about it makes me feel good and I jusst can’t sip on my jasmine tea without it.
I like a fairly large mug with a good heavy base — but nothing is as important as the handle. If it’s too small, then you can’t pick up your drink when it’s truly hot and that completely contradicts the purpose of a mug.
My favorite are also hand made from a family potter friend that now has a listing here:
http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5899233
OMG, I’m so jazzed that you asked that question! I totally have a favorite mug– I love it so much that I’ve actually photographed it independently of this blog discussion! (http://www.flickr.com/photos/wiscjennyann/3099923893/) I bought this mug on Etsy last year. I love the rustic, stoneware look and feel. The details of the simple skyline are subtle and fit perfectly with the styling. I drink my coffee out of this mug *everyday.* It has totally replaced my previous favs, the diner mug set… also prized mug possessions. I am away from home right now for 2 months and I *actually* miss my mug! Is it weird to miss an inanimate object? Maybe not when it is the vessels that transports my precious coffee nectar… 😉
That recipe sounds yummy – I’m going to have to try making a cheese-free version! (I don’t eat cheese.)
My favourite mug is one of those bowl-with-a-handle numbers in my fave bright orange. It matches my one-person set of orange dishes that I’ve had since university. I’ve since gotten more plates and bowls, but there will only ever be one orange mug.
My favorite is the one with my morning coffee in it- I guess I’m fickle.
But, my favorite because of the backstory is my Loopy Ewe mug-a very nice person replaced my broken mug after I had given up hope of replacing it, and it arrived just a day or two before my birthday. It was a great surprise. Thanks again, Sheri.
I also have several favorite mugs. Most have cats on them. I have a Gracie, too. She is a calico and sitting on my lap as I type this.
By the way I called our local Senior Center and they take yarn donations. I noticed they were teaching a beginning knitting class and they were very happy that anyone would even think of donating yarn. Since I am very close to being a Senior (depending on your definition!!) I was so happy to downsize my collection where it was so wanted. FYI.
Have a great weekend. I am going to organize my WPI today. That means I will end up starting something else, no doubt!
I don’t drink coffee, so it’s funny that I do have a favorite mug. It gets use during the cold weather for hot chocolate. My husband bought it for me when we moved in to our brand new house together. I’m not sure what compelled him to buy it, other than it is clearly perfect for me. It looks like a plain black mug, only about twice the size. The inside, however, is a lovely shade of purple. I know it’s not exciting, but I like that it’s kind of a secret. Boring on the outside, but beautiful on the inside.
Your mug reminds me of the Renaissance Festival in Maryland, there is a vendor there who crafts mugs, bowls, and other pottery. Oh, and just for the fun of it, check out their yarn bowls.
I have not one, but five favorite mugs that I cycle through. All of them were purchased at the Yankee Peddler Festival. Four were made by J. Kessler (an Ohio potter who has beautiful glazes) and the other one was purchased one year and I’ve never found the potter again:( All of the mugs are HANDMADE:)