another finish

I don't know if this goes on the "Move It Forward" weekend tally or not. Since Norma and I set the "rules", I suppose it could if I said it counts. Friday was the official day but I finished the remaining bits of stitching on my Bird Brain Santa Sunday afternoon.



Next up: binding on my bargello quilt. I am going to set the room up and get to stitching in a few minutes. A few more books on tape have been downloaded from the local library e-books so I am ready to roll there. I am very pokey when it comes to binding mostly because I stitch it so closely together. This has 80-20 batting and I may need to add a bit of batting in there to plump it up a bit too. However, the biggest reason is that I get sidetracked by the computer. The next thing I know I am off playing my newest fav on the solitaire program or working a jigsaw puzzle or checking blogs and email, LOL. No wonder a large quilt can take 3 days! I will probably drag it to the quilt meeting tomorrow where I will have fewer distractions. Yeah, right--keep telling yourself that, Linda!

Our Easter was a fairly quiet day. I had debated about even fixing a traditional type meal. DJ said he really didn't care one way or the other but by the time I went to get groceries, there was not a single spiral cut ham to be had. I ended up getting a package of ham steaks which is enough for the two of us anyway. The only real fuss I made was making Picadilly Carrot Souffle. Even dessert was courtesy of Mrs. Smith and the scalloped potatoes, Betty Crocker. I just didn't have time to do the scratch stuff I normally would do. I also threw together a little batch of guacamole and some tzatziki sauce for some meals this week. Actually I am sort of combining two sauce recipes but the basic ingredients are very similar.

I have a taste for a gyro sandwich this week but after a check at three groceries, the only lamb I found was two sorry packages of lamb chops and a huge leg of lamb. No ground meat that I know I have spotted before. SIGH. This is one of the times where I realize how spoiled I was in Bloomington-Normal being able to find almost ingredient for fixing anything that struck my fancy. I do a lot of different ethnic stuff to the point that DJ has asked what country are we eating in tonight, LOL. Also in B-N we had a great restaurant to go to and let someone else fix it--the gyro, that is. This place gave you more than two little strips of the meat like the one spot that makes them here that I know of.

More griping about the local stores. I remember when we first moved here not being able to track down pita bread among other things. I attempted to make my own which sorta worked. (Should try them again on my yeast bread making journey this year) At one point a store that closed within the last two years had kits for gyros in the deli that had everything you needed but the produce---alas, even that is not an option. I have also been looking for pierogis for about two months; the one store that DID have them, does no longer but I finally spotted them at another when I got groceries. Wsgon wheel pasta and whole chiles? None in town but a store about 20 miles north of here does have them. I stopped on the way back from Gadsden-Boaz and got some.

I realize that some people are more of the "meat, bread, potatoes and beans" mold than I am. Others are happy to use all the convenience food and mixes too. I prefer to scratch cook if I can to control the fat and salt contents but don't always. Some days when I am really busy sewing, I just it fast and done! Stores can't stock everything, I know. As a matter of fact, I am on the hunt for semolina flour too. Again, they used to have it and don't anymore. I can check at the health food store after our meeeting for that one. Just plain frustrating!

Back to the gyros meat business, I read a suggestion on all recipes that one lady suggested putting the meat in the food processor to compact the loaf and broiled it rather than grilling it like burgers so I am going to try that. I'll prep it this morning and chill it so it is easier to slice thinly when we are ready for it. It has been raining and blowing through the night so I don't want to plan on grilling anything.

If you hung in through the rant, bless you, LOL. Off my soapbox and off to the kitchen.