more posts about knitting and food

hi...remember me?
this is my first post in a looong time and it's nice to be back. now that my first year of teaching full-time is over, i feel like i have a lot more time to be a well-rounded person, doing the things i always used to post about (cooking, crafting, gardening, etc.). before i get on to those things, though, i should mention my big news--yesterday i was officially offered a position as a tenure-track, assistant professor of anthropology at augustana and i accepted! maybe you're thinking, "carrie, isn't that the job you interviewed for back in january and didn't get?" if so, you're right, but since then one of my colleagues took a job elsewhere and because the department had already done a national search for a tenure-track anthropologist this year, they decided to ask the runner-up (me!) to come on board and replace him. this kind of thing rarely happens in academia, so i feel extremely lucky and blessed.
so now, on to the photos...



i've been back on the needles a bit, making baby hats for our own little one and the spring babies born to friends at work. my parents bought me itty bitty hats by susan b. anderson for christmas and i'm finally putting it to good use. it has cute project ideas and also gives great technique directions, so it's been a good all-in-one book to use when trying out new things. i've broadened my knitting horizons to include working in the round on circular needles, switching to double-pointed needles, and making i-cord (to produce the "top knot" on these caps).

a few weeks back, i made my first trip to naomi's kitchen (make it, take it, bake it) in north liberty to fill up our freezer with entrees. i'm counting on our cache of frozen stuff to cut back on shopping and prep time for dinner when the baby arrives. you leave with 24, 2-person portions of each meal you choose, which takes up pretty much all of your freezer space, as you can see (the drawer is completely filled, plus all of those aluminum pans above). we've eaten a few things already (the chicken enchilada bake was a big hit), but are saving most of them till they're really needed. i have to mention that their most popular dish is ham balls. i have never eaten a ham ball, but i felt oddly compelled to try them ("most popular!"). last summer, while waiting my turn at fareway's butcher counter, at least four people ahead of me ordered ham balls. i thought this might be an iowan delicacy i'd yet to be introduced to, but rob (my go-to native iowan) claims ignorance of the ham ball phenomenon. hmmm...

lest you think our diets have been reduced to frozen meat products alone, check out our first week's produce delivery from the sass family farm. we're splitting a share of the farm's summer bounty with our friend john. this week we were delivered a half-dozen eggs, a half-loaf of chocolate chip banana bread, some asparagus, rhubarb, green onions, radishes (any good ideas for radishes, aside from slicing into a salad?), a bag of mixed lettuces and a bag of spinach. fresh, local foods are a wonderful thing!

in pregnancy/baby news, all is well as we rapidly approach week 37 (full-term!). the little one holds his/her own dance party in my belly every evening around 8:30 with lots of movement all over the place. i've had to bump myself up a size in maternity tops as none of my clothes were really fitting over my belly anymore...the other day, bill brought over his grandmother's glider, which we'll be using in the baby's room. many thanks to bill and kathie for letting us borrow this family heirloom!