Tuesday check in

This little cartoon that I found on Facebook this morning probably says it all---and the figure even has red hair!

Morning's are usually computer time around here and today was no different.  I visited the "Put Your Stamp on It" Blog Hop participants and checked a few odds and ends on Pinterest, thinking like yesterday. that I need to move a few things around on my boards.  After that, I did a few things out in the kitchen to prepare for meals within the next few days. I had to make yet another run to the store but I think that will be the last of THAT nonsense (should have pulled the recipe rather than trust things to memory), gassed up the car and got a big old cup of coffee that I will ice up later once it chills. 

The sewing machine part?  Well, after Skyler got me up at 5 to feed him, I could not get back to sleep.  The noisy cars out on the road below were being just that.  Also I kept thinking about the little bit I had managed to sew yesterday.   My design is on point and there is just not enough contrast between the block elements and the setting triangle fabric I had chosen.  It looks too light and blendy, not quite what I had in mind especially with what will become the border fabric.  Don't get me wrong, I like the fabric but just not there.  Fortunately I was not too heavily into the project before making this decision to replace with the fabric I had considered first.  I had gotten a yard of each so I was prepared.  Thing is I over cut, LOL.  I only needed to cut 3 squares to cut 12 quarter square triangles, not 4 squares for 16.  I did this on BOTH yardages.  Where is my head???

Actually in retrospect, I cannot think of a project that I have changed my mind about so many times.  I am not normally this indecisive.  It is the 3rd option I have started sewing and it will be the one that finally sticks.  However, the waffling has probably made it necessary to order more backing fabric as it has also been used in the body of the piece.  I need double what I have on hand at this point--another 1.5 yards.  The request was for white or cream on the back and I do not have 3 yards of something else on hand.   I may be making something else to include with this gift piece down the line so any leftovers may show up there. 

And no, I can't show you as it will be a HO HO HO blog hop entry.  I have just shy of a month to get this done and another entry besides.  That is my goal anyway.  It has taken some time to get this squared away in my mind including cutting, drawing, swapping of fabrics from one holiday item to the other.

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I have spent a good deal of time in the kitchen in recent days too.  By choice but mostly because I had decided that I wanted to make some traditional style gyros meat (minus the vertical spit) and make my own soft wrap bread.  I researched online and my cookbooks to sort of combine a couple of recipes but basically followed the recipe I found on all recipes.  (The link above). On Sunday I made the meatloaf because that is essentially what it is, Greek style meatloaf but I wanted it to chill so I could cut it very thinly. 

Yesterday my task was to make the soft, gordita style wrap bread.   I have made this once before and thought I had it timed out so we would eat around 12 like we normally do.  Well, I missed one line on the read through and review.  Cut the dough into 8 sections and then let it sit another 15-30 mins.  I told DJ that lunch would be a little later than I had hoped.  He was teasing me about how hungry he would be by then but of course, I was not having that.  "Have another slice of toast if you can't wait.  We eat when it is ready, same as always". Silly boy.  Still, I still don't think he knew just what I was doing out in the kitchen all that time because he kept going " You made this bread??  From scratch??"  Even when he saw me dry frying it and I had him manning the griddle pan to re-heat/crisp the meat a bit, he commented about the meal.   After we ate, I rolled out the remaining six dough balls and fixed them so leftovers today will be a breeze plus now we have some for the freezer.  The bread is excellent with the Grilled Chicken and homemade Caesar salad part of the recipe from King Arthur that I linked to. 

Yummo for THAT lunch though I thought the meat needed just a tad more salt.  He didn't care for the feta cheese I told him to try on the sandwich.  More for me!  Amazingly, he loves my only slightly tweaked Chef John's Tzatziki Sauce!  I had made some a week or so prior to go with a turkey burger recipe I tried that had a Greek vibe going on.  The burger was just okay but the tzatziki was good!  I threw the leftovers in the freezer and it came out just fine.  I expected it to be a little more watery but it really was not.  Now the amazing part is he does not care for cucumbers nor is he particularly fond of yogurt.  The local pizza place that does serve gyros as well as wonderful grinders (the founders were Greek) skimps on both the meat and sauce and does not give you any feta cheese.  He loves their stuff but he said mine was better!  There was a restaurant we used to go to in Bloomington-Normal where I always ordered the gyros plate, patsitsio or moussaka.  I think longingly of that restaurant for that reason at times but attempt to make my own versions of those dishes.  Much too far away and then never enough time when I am back in Illinois.

Anyway, he was happy, I was happy.  Since I told him it would probably just be a turkey sandwich for supper,he was even happier when I fixed fresh corn on the cob and grilled smoked sausage for supper instead.  Then we had a slice of Easy Lemonade Pie with fresh strawberries on top.  I want to make my version of those Berry Almond Chicken Salads (like Wendy's) using the leftover romaine from the gyros, so fresh berries it is.  Anything leftover after that? Smoothies.

It is fun to dig out the recipes for a few things we have not had for awhile.  I forget what I was that I fixed last week but DJ was happy to see whatever it was, LOL.  He, that seldom comments was quite complimentary.  Mostly though I am trying to avoid turning on the oven much these days turning instead to the crockpot, stovetop, electric skillet, grill and microwave.  More main dish salads and sandwiches than casseroles and soups.  Too blamed hot and muggy to want to have the oven on more than 30 minutes, max.

So I think I am off to make a simple pasta sauce to go with some salmon I just baked unless it needs to simmer longer than I recall.  I WILL get back to my HO HO HO item #1 after lunch, I promise.