Remember that song, “Just another Manic Monday”? We’ve decided that we need to change the lyrics to “Just another Frantic Friday”. Somehow, between in-person shoppers and getting orders packed up and out and taking care of new cases of yarn that come in and need to be unpacked, Fridays have turned into crazy days. Lately, we come in in the morning and race through until 3:00 (when the mailman comes) and then sit back and look at each other and just ….. blink. Frantic. Friday. But lest you feel too sorry for us (and we’re surrounded by yarn all day, so I know that you really don’t), we had Loopy Groupie Lori stop by with Chocolate Chip Gooey Butter Bars, and Elf Wendy brought some dense chocolate desserts with her to work today. Since they both have such good taste, they both shopped for these delicious items at this bakery. I can see that I am going to have to pay an in-person visit there. Especially when they have lattes that look like that.
Question for all of you who live in Indiana. Last weekend when we were driving up to meet College Guy and College Girl, we passed fields and fields of these bright yellow flowering plants. What are they? They looked so cheerful, and they were planted in rows so I know it’s something that was planned and planted on purpose. We just couldn’t figure out what they were. Does anyone know?
Today’s recipe was adapted from the Year of Crockpotting blog. She has such great recipes – I hope you have that site bookmarked. This soup recipe is delicious and SPICY!
Buffalo Wing Crockpot Soup
3 cups cooked and cubed chicken
1/2 yellow onion, chopped
3 stalks celery, chopped
1/4 cup butter, unsalted
1/4 cup flour
2 cups fat free milk (or no higher than 2% – it will curdle)
1 cup chicken broth
4 oz. Velveeta
1/3 cup hot wing sauce (more, if you like it hotter)
1/2 tsp. celery salt
1/2 tsp. garlic salt
Add chopped onion, celery, and chopped chicken to your crockpot. Pour in chicken broth and milk. Add Velveeta and salt.
Make a roux with the flour and butter. (Melt butter in microwave and then whisk in the flour.) Add to the crockpot, along with the hot sauce.
Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours (or on high for 3-4 hours). Delicious.
Watch for next week’s Sneak Up – we have fun things going up! Just in – the new Color Commentary from Lorna’s Laces, and this time it’s in honor of our friend Wendy at WendyKnits. We ordered lots in Shepherd Sock, Shepherd Sport, and Roving to go up next week. We’ll also be adding in new colors of Claudia Hand Painted Fingering and Silk, as well as new colors in Mountain Colors Bearfoot. We have more Fleece Artist Trail Socks to go up, Yarn Pirate Roving and Fingering weight yarn, and Creatively Dyed in a new Worsted Weight. We did a lot of photographs this week (and by “we”, I mean Elf Wendy) and we’ll do a lot of color correcting this weekend (and by “we”, I mean WH), and then we’ll get it all up for you asap next week (and by “we”, I mean me). It takes a village, you know.
Sheri whohasn’thadmuchknittingtimelately,haveyou?
the fields may be rape seed aka canola…i’ve seen pictures of yellow fields in canada that look like this. just a guess.
I don’t live in Indiana but we have those in Ohio. It looks like wild mustard. It smells really good when the wind is blowing across the field too!
The yellow fields look like canola (or rapeseed…same thing).
Have a good weekend!
I agree about the canola. Those fields were common in the part of the UK I lived in, too. Either that or a form of mustard.
Posting the link to that bakery was just cruel! 😉 I’m doing Weight Watchers now!
But reaaaallly delicious looking, too. One more reason to come to see you all at TLE!
I grew up in Indiana. It’s canola.
looks like rapeseed/canola. I remember taking a similar picture in Scotland one trip and asking the same question.
Wow! Thanks for the crockpot link! As a single mom, I’m always looking for good crockpot recipes to make life simpler. 🙂
it is most likely canola. we have it in Idaho too. the fields are beautiful to drive past.
Sounds like things at TLE are busy! Which, overall, is a good thing, but yes, definitely taxing. Frantic Fridays do indeed benefit from some good desserts, though.
Of course, I feel like that most days. Ask BFF Liz. She’ll tell you what my schedule is like. 😎 Or the puppy and kitty. They both let me know how busy I’ve been, and that it’s not acceptable.
Which translates to no, I haven’t had much knitting time lately either. I think I’ve done an inch since Fling on my project, and I have not quite finished the poppies for the hat. Workin’ on it! 😉
The desserts you descibe? Sound delish! Mmmm! Which reminds me of a question I had for you…at the Fling, I think it was on Friday maybe, there were those triangular shaped cookie-bar things, kind of tasted like pecan pie without the pecans…they were incredible. Any idea what they were? Did the hotel supply them or did you get them from somewhere?
It’s canola (well, technically, rapeseed). Lived in ND where they grow it, too.
I’m now very happily waving goodbye to the busiest two weeks I can recall in a long, long time (academic conference here, academic conference there, 26 page report in the week after those), and a few days ago, on the way in to work, I managed to knit a row on the shawl I started at Fling. Just one row, but oh my did it feel GOOD. This weekend, I get to re-discover my husband and cats, who are all saying, “Where’ve you been and why don’t I have any clean clothes/kitty liter/edible food in the fridge?”
As a fellow Hoosier, I would agree it appears to be canola.
Yay – I’m looking forward to WendyKnits Sunset color from LL – hope you have that in one of your many boxes.
I do feel soooo sorry for you – yarn AND chocolate!!!!! Must be a tough way to live!!!! Carry on!!
Looks like canola to me.
That is one lovely cup of coffee almost a shame to drink such a work of art. Oh, and now I really want chocolate
It is most certain to be canola seede growing. We use too own a farm in Nebraska. Can’t wait to try the crockpot receipe
Did you notice they were hiring at the bakery?
In California that looks like mustard. But canola sounds reasonable.
I can seriously relate to Frantic Friday (actually the whole darn week is frantic these days)—thanks so much for the recipe (with a little alteration I think I can make this one work over here)—and next week’s sneak up sounds really good! Hope you find out what those fields are growing. Here it’s very simple—tomatoes, sugar beets, winter wheat, alfalfa, or field corn. Or you’re letting it go fallow for the season, in which case you get a lot of poppies (remember that scene from “The Wizard of Oz”?)
oooh!! gonna try that soup tomorrow i think~~
We have canola in Oz too. Very pretty! Bit weedy though.
My memories of it involve it smelling fishy – possibly because I was travelling with some fish sauce that leaked in the hatch of my car. LOL
Hi
Actually it is a noxious weed – that we hoosier farmers call wild mustard. This year it is especially prolific. Fields and fields of yellow.
Now I know what rapeseed looks like. I work at farm supply and we sell seeds but it’s not a crop we have round here. I’m excited about Wendy’s Sunrise too but may miss out of first shipment as sneak ups seem to always be on Monday night when I’m at knit nights.
Had a fun Saturday today at small fiber fest a couple of hours away. Bought some alpaca, alpaca silk and some 50/50 wool/mohair rovings. Had someone “snatch a baby llama fleece right out of my shopping cart” while I was shopping for other things. Hopefully seller has more at home.
Have a nice day off tomorrow.
I love the crockpot site, though I haven’t made that many items from it (umm, I’m a vegetarian with a really tiny crockpot… like 2 quart or less). Everything I made was pretty good except the macaroni and cheese, which so many people had problems with I don’t blame myself about even though it was still obviously operator error.
Do you think — just maybe — that not one, but TWO Wollmeise sneak-ups contributed to the madness that was your Friday? It’s a long shot, I know, but maybe . . . just a little?
Y’all are too amazing for words. TLE’s resilience, effiiciency and bubbly service is clearly fueled by more than Looopy motivational speeches and gourmet chocolate desserts. Thanks, BTW, for the link to Russell’s bakery. If that lady in red proffering that tray of cookies doesn’t look 100% evil, I don’t know who does. And speaking of evil. . . I did not fail to note that Russell’s has an online store as well as a brick-and-mortar location. File that in “things I did not need to know.”
“Loopy Groupie Lori stop by with Chocolate Chip Gooey Butter Bars”…mmmm sounds yummy. Was this recipe ever given out? –take care.
I’ll bet today was manic for you with your WM updates. 😉
Hi Sheri, Thank you so much for posting the link to the bakery that ships to the continental US. I really needed this. 🙁
Martha
I can’t believe I’ve never been to Russel’s Bakery & it’s less than 1/2 mile from house! I think Sofia & Max are going to go for a walk tomorrow with Bama up to the corner!!
I can’t believe I’ve never been to Russell’s Bakery & it’s less than 1/2 mile from my house! I think Sofia & Max are going to go for a walk tomorrow with Bama up to the corner!!