Have you been wondering what I’ve been up to? So have I.

Keep checking the blog myself to see if I’ve written anything lately. Oh right, no, I haven’t.

What have I been doing? Working a lot. Taking walks. Snipped a sprig of jasmine from the vine in the garden and placed it in a white china espresso cup on my desk. The tiny flowers perfumed the room for days.

Finished yet another hat. Intended to knit it for my friend’s 2-year-old, but misjudged the guage and instead of the 15-inch size I was hoping for, ended up with a floppy 22-inch-er. This is the pattern I used. Looks cute enough on me (will have to try again to make one the right size for Arlo). Will add a photo if I can ever get the camera back from my husband, who is busily constructing and photographing and now blogging about his playsets. (Talk about Falling off a… these toy displays/playsets/works of art were merely the glimmer of an idea barely one year ago and now, he’s definitely in motion!)

Also made an extraordinary meal recently. (I warned you I might talk about food if I lagged on the biking.) Threw chopped leftover roasted boneless lamb leg in a pot with canned tomatoes, raisins, apricots, prunes, onion, carrots, garlic, and a little maple syrup and boiled it down into the most amazing stew. Lamb had been spiced with a rub before roasting:

Toasted Spice Rub

1/4 cup fennel seeds
1 tablespoon coriander seeds
1 tablespoon peppercorns
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1/4 cup chili powder
2 tablespoons kosher salt
2 tablespoons ground cinnamon

Toast the fennel seeds, coriander seeds, and peppercorns in a small, heavy pan over medium heat. When the fennel begins to turn light brown, add the red pepper flakes, and toss several times. Immediately turn the spice mixture out onto a plate to cool.

Put in a blender with the chili powder, salt, and cinnamon and blend until the spices are evenly ground. If you have a small spice mill or a coffee grinder dedicated to grinding spices, grind only the fennel, coriander, pepper, and chili flakes. Pour into a bowl and toss with the remaining ingredients.

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Inspiration on how to improvise a fruit stew, which started out as merely a dream/craving, came from this recipe.