French Chicken in a Pot

I've made a version of this with scallions, ginger, and soy sauce, which was Chinese Chicken in a Pot, but whatever its passport, this is a fine way to treat a chicken. You brown the bird in a nice big Dutch oven, add some aromatics (celery, onion, bay, carrot, if you want to Frenchify it) then put it, covered with a lid over foil, in a very slow oven (250 degrees!) until done. Normally I wouldn't sacrifice crispy chicken skin for anything, but it is hard to argue with meat this tender, or juice so succulent when reduced and seasoned with lemon juice and served, with the chicken and its vegetables, over rice. Yum. Is it needless to say that the idea came to me via "Cook's Illustrated"?

Little Learning Socks

If you're not a sock knitter you won't appreciate the news that Cat Bordhi's book, New Pathways for Sock Knitters, is finally out. I must tell you, however, that it is the book I have most looked forward to getting in years. Cat Bordhi is a genius: an endlessly inventive knitter, a wonderful teacher, and a terrific writer. New Pathways is all about reinventing the fundamentals of sock knitting, and I am dying to knit about half the projects in it. It has you start, however, by knitting two kinds of "little learning socks" which teach a few of the techniques used throughout the book. Normally I would never follow directions and actually knit them, but when it comes to Bordhi, I don't second-guess. The only problem is, what in the world will I do with two adorable pairs of baby-sized socks?

Twins!

Here's a picture just to prove I can actually finish what I start. The second toe is still a bit odd, but less so than the first. I wish the color were truer in the photo.