I also tried making some baked cauliflower, it was good but needs a little work so I'll wait before I post that one.

Finally I made a batch of our current favorite, kale chips. Clean the kale and cut it off of the stems and into chip size bites. Drizzle with a tbsp of olive oil. Lay flat on a baking sheet and sprinkle with salt. Place in the oven at 350 degress for 10 minutes. Yummy.

US #8 double point needles
your choice of worsted weight yarn ( I recommend something washable like red heart)
stitch marker
yarn needle

Finished Measurements:
Will fit standard beer bottles, will stretch to fit cans but will stay stretched out.

Directions:

Cast on 30 stitches, spread around three needles, place stitch marker,and join to begin knitting in the round.

Work 4 rounds of k1, p1 ribbing
Begin knitting all stitches until work measures 4 inches from CO edge.
Work 4 more round of k1, p1 ribbing.
Purl 1 round
Decreased for bottom:
row 1: k2, k2tog* repeat until last k2 before stitch marker
row 2: knit
row 3: k1, k2tog * repeat until last k before stitch marker
row 4: k
row 5: k2tog*

Cut yarn leaving a 6 inch tail and using yarn needle thread yarn through remaining stitches and pull tight. Weave in ends.

MERRY Christmas!

Today's ride wasn't long or particularly difficult. What it was was a practical exercise in how to make progress when you're unsure of where you're going. At the outset of our ride, we had to dodge a carnival, then a foot race, then a tire blew, then we got lost and on and on. We persevered. We rode where it was difficult to ride in the directions we felt were correct. We stopped to evaluate where we were if we felt we deviated from a sensible route.

Tim picked me up at our co-worker Joy's place. Milwaukee was quiet that early on a Sunday morning. A failed text from me had declined to inform Tim that I needed no coffee, but he picked some up for me anyway and I was most appreciative. Three bikes on Tim's 2-door Civic made the upper feet of the bike rack hover off the glass of the back window. The rain started minutes after we left and never quite let up enough to say that it had stopped raining.

Our route to the starting point was through the small towns around Aurora. It was the frontier of suburban sprawl. Pocketed castles of industry and government set into fields. They built where land was inexpensive. We parked south of Aurora and rode the Fox River Trail past the Hollywood Casino. Along the Fox River, we saw herons, ducks, woodchucks.

When we got to the other side of the river, we found that the Trail was being used for a race from St. Charles to Aurora and back. The Illinois Prairie Trail was on the other side of the river, so we took it. Our plan was to connect with the Fox River trail later, after the runners were done. A squirrel ran in front of Joy and she got scared. She kept claiming she'd almost run over a beaver. The Illinois Prairie Trail is not paved in most areas and Tim's rear tire didn't agree with the change. I take pride in being the unofficial team mechanic.

Despite our best attempts to follow our original plan, we ended up following a trail to a sidewalk in the middle of farmland to ... nothing. The rain pelted us and soaked our shoes as we tried our best to consult our smart phones' maps. We rode miles on roads with no shoulder or with steep drop-offs just a few feet away. In Warrenville, we consulted a man on the location of the nearest restaurant, which we were very thankful to receive. The Warrenville Pancake House was kind enough to seat us at a window next to our bikes as none of us thought to bring a lock. After way too much coffee and some well-deserved breakfast, we hit a laundromat a few doors down to use their driers. We dried what we felt comfortable enough to stand around not wearing in front of strangers: Jackets, gloves, socks and shoes.

We got lost one more time before we found the Prairie Trail again. As we crossed a slick wooden bridge not 5 miles from the car, Tim's wheels went out from under him and he crashed hard. We stopped to make sure Tim and his bike were alright and a local man with a mechanic's patch that said "Elvis" stopped to tell us about his ideas for fundraising. Back in the car, we used what little cell phone battery that wasn't used to GPS our route to navigate a much quicker way back to the city.