Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Knitting a vegetable garden

So, my son loves his vegetables... always has! His favorite baby food was "squacolli" a combination of butternut squash and broccoli. He's recently developed an obsession with eggplants - thanks to his pal Curious George. In an episode (Seed Trouble), George plants a rooftop garden with tomatoes, peppers, corn, eggplants, watermelon and cucumbers.

After watching that episode, my son begged his for an eggplant - which he got. It was a monster of an eggplant! I thought it was an umbrella when Owen showed me the bag. He wanted to eat it, and did take a bite of the raw eggplant - not too tasty. So I fixed him Eggplant Parmesan - which he refused to eat. When I asked him why he didn't want it, he told me I killed and cooked the eggplant. *sigh*

For the next few days, he continued to ask for the eggplant, even going to the fridge to get an egg so he could plant it and get an eggplant. I think he got that from George as well, but it does sort of make sense... Finally I gave in and knitted him his very own eggplant - one that I couldn't kill and cook!!  Next up will be corn, followed by pepper...



Knitted Eggplant
 Yarns:
  • Brown Sheep Burly Spun "Jack's Plum"
  • Stitch Nation Full o' Sheep "Thyme"
 Needle:
  • US 15 (10.0 mm) bamboo circular needle 24in cable for magic loop, 
  • US 8 (5.0 mm) bamboo circular needle 24in cable for magic loop
 Gauge:  Really doesn't matter, it's destined to be felted

Pattern:
    CO 18 stitches and join in the round - I used the magic loop method. 
    Knit till piece measures 6 inches, then start decreases 
    k1 ssk k till 3 sts remain k2tog k1 (16 sts remain) 
    k k1 ssk k till 3 sts remain k2tog k1 (14 sts remain) 
    k k5 k2tog k4 ssk k1 (12 sts remain) 
    k k4 k2tog k3 ssk k1 (10 sts remain)  
    k repeat knitted row for 2 inches k2tog across whole row (5 sts remain) 
    Break purple yarn and pick up green kfb of all loops on the needles 
    K 3 rows, start decreases k2 tog all rounds till 3 sts remain 
    Icord stem - move three sts to one needle and make a 1 inch icord 
    Bind off and sew icord closed 
    Stuff the eggplant with fiberfill or stuffing of choice - but do not make over full - don’t stretch the yarn. sew bottom opening closed, using the thread to pull in the corners to make it rounded.
    Felt and present to your veggie obsessed loved one

Eggplant Parmesan
1 eggplant sliced
1c milk
1 egg
5 drops hot sauce
1 c flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 1/2 c Panko breadcrumbs
1 c Parmesan cheese (ground)
1 c Parmesan cheese (shredded)
1 box spaghetti noodles
16 oz Spaghetti sauce

Cook spaghetti noodles and set aside.  Combine milk, egg, and hot sauce and mix well. Combine flour, salt and pepper in one bowl. Combine Panko and Parmesan in a resealable bag - I like the gallon freezer bags. Dredge eggplant into flour, then egg and milk mix, and place in baggie with the panko mix and shake.  Place a layer of spaghetti sauce on the bottom of a 9 x 13 baking dish and top with spaghetti noodles, then eggplant, the rest of the sauce, and top with shredded Parmesan.

Bake for 35 minutes, cut and enjoy!

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