cooking and sewing

There has been some progress on the Quatrefoil quilt front.  Hooray for me! I have been trying to carve out a little sewing time each day if the weather will permit Oscar logging a bit of outside time.

The first block took me WAY too long.  Where the 4 patch meets the pointy pieces---at 8 points---it can be just a little bit tricky.  I know, I know she just whips right along in the video with little worry about lining up.  I couldn't be so lucky, LOL.  For one thing the seam line where you line up is at a 45 degree angle so you have to either mark where the 1/4 inch point is on both pieces and try to offset it somehow.  The first block required a bit of un-sewing till I figured about how to line it up better.  The next two blocks took about the same amount of time as the first one did!  Good thing too or I was going to be looking at 22 hours time to get the stinkin' top done!  I have a hard enough time carving out a couple of hours worth.

The picture shows the top at the half way point as it will be a 3 x 4 block set.   I finished up block 6, sashed it, joined it to row two and then joined the two completed rows today.  I also pieced Block 1, Row 3 before I called it quits for the day.

Yesterday was our Bama Belles meeting and I had taken my machine in hopes of sewing there.  I was just getting ready to join the block rows when Lois came with two tops to pin.  Jane was right behind her so we worked together to get the tops taken care of.  (Just the 3 of us---it is fall school break week and one was watching her grandkids, another couple are out of town, another has therapy, no doubt someone else is not feeling well, so they all have their reasons for not coming).   I had intended to stay and get back to work till it was time to break for lunch but the machine started acting up.  I suspected it needed to be cleaned up and needle changed etc though I had just changed the bobbin and that could have the culprit as well.  Thankfully, just doing the simple things got me back on track, unlike the Jem--never did get the tension set right.

I had spent the morning "binge" cooking again.  Scalloped Potatoes--I like the one in my Betty Crocker New Cookbook copyright 1996.  Not so new but a tried and true recipe at my house! I also made some Company Ham Loaves since I had unearthed the leftover quarter Easter Ham the other day.  My mom's recipe, I think, or one she submitted to a quilting cookbook.  No eggs or breading and then that brown sugar-vinegar-tomato soup topping but it calls for mixing the ground ham with ground beef.  Some recipes call for ground pork.  I had gotten a grinder attachment for the Kitchen Aid some time back so here was another chance to use it.  Plenty of leftovers for the freezer.  I also made another half batch of Baked Oatmeal but used a can of crushed pineapple rather than the dried cranberries it calls for.  I had done that recently with some leftover pineapple and liked it--and then reheating it, put a bit of almond milk on it.  Actually I just put some more pineapple juice it it this time as I had used up every bit of milk I had on hand making the Scalloped Potatoes.  I had to use evaporated milk in the ham loaves but mistakenly tossed what was left.  Oh well!  I see a stop at the store for milk anyway after I walk tomorrow.

 Last thing I tried was Pumpkin Dump Cake  AKA Pumpkin Crack.  I had all the ingredients on hand and wanted to try it.  BUT I did not like the outcome and tossed it.  It tasted kinda bland and had an odd texture like pudding.  I didn't care for cake mix taste.  You would think that something with sweetened condensed milk and all that butter would be more delectable tasting.  If I am going to waste some calories I want it to be one something luscious, not just okay.

Then there is the name---annoying.  Crack?? Are you kidding me?  Since when did "crack" and "hack" become  GOOD words or descriptors?   Those two terms are everywhere, like sriracha or chipotle and now they are over-doing anything pumpkin too.  Now this one I might try  Pumpkin Poke Cake from Favorite Family Recipes.  Maybe baking the cake instead of dumping the cake mix on top and/or swirling it in it would work better?  Or forget the pumpkin and just make one of those German Chocolate Caramel Poke cakes and use that new caramel sweetened condensed milk??

I don't know that there is much of anything else going around here.  Family concerns do continue.  My little great-nephew Wyatt has reached the 3 month mark and is nearing the 6 lb mark.  He is still facing multiple surgeries and prolonged hospitalizations in Neonatal Unit if that happens.  Our little warrior and his young parents are still in need of prayers.  Great nieces Lily (15 months) and Lydia (6 months) are thriving but Lily will be having more surgery near years end.  I don't know if I am allowed to share pictures so won't risk upsetting their parents by doing so without express permission.

I'm going to go plop on the couch and put my feet up.  Oscar is laying in the doorway to the living room waiting for me.  Skyler gave up on the open window when I quit sewing and is napping up high.  At least they are not snapping, snarling anf meowing at each other that way.

THX for stopping by and I hope you are enoying the beautiful fall weather we had today where you live.  No way would I have been cooking if it had not hit low 50's and 70 degrees in the house overmight!!

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.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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.

thank heavens for leftovers!

As you know I enjoy cooking and trying new recipes---most of the time.  I DO collect cookbooks and read them like novels, after all.  I think you can tell by reading the ingredient list if it will work for your needs and flag it.

Other times, when I am busy with something in the sewing room, I could care less about cooking and will throw together anything as quick as I can.  DJ would refer to my actions in the kitchen on those days a bull in the china shop--- in, out and back to sewing.  Come on, we all do it or just give up and order pizza or run through the closest drive thru burger joint.

I also consider myself lucky that my husband is NOT a picky eater or one that will NOT eat leftovers.  Lord, I would hate to see what our food budget would have to be in that case!  We do not waste food around here.  We are retired so that means most of the time BOTH of us are here for lunch.  Last night's supper is often lunch the next day.  If there is still some leftover, then it is off to the freezer to be "born again" in another form.  When we need some soup to round out a sandwich  meal, I usually have a couple kinds on hand in the freezer.

Last night I did what I call "spoil your husband" meal and fixed his all time favorite of turkey breast and most of the trimmings.  Obviously that is NOT what you are looking at, LOL.  This was my Tuesday efforts.  I tried my hand at replicating Olive Garden's Roasted Chicken Potato Florentine soup.    Ever since the Belles' Christmas luncheon and we tried a sample of it, I knew I was going to have to come up with my own version of it!   They are only going to serve it for a limited time at the restaurant and I only get down there every two--three months or so.  I liked it enough to make a stab at it.   I also made a pan of King Arthur Flour's No Knead Garlic Cheese Flat Bread since we were not going to have access to those yummy Olive Garden Bread Sticks.  This is all that is left for the freezer after two meals.   My 5 qt. Dutch oven was full to about 3 inches from the top.

OH, this bread recipe is very good as well and would be great for panini sandwiches if you cut into squares and half it.  Blitz Bread: No Fuss Focaccia.  The other recipe gives a tip for using the leftover bread and turning it into crispy breadsticks.

So if you want to try making a batch here's what I came up with--------

                   
* Exported from MasterCook *

   My version of Olive Garden's Roasted Chicken Potato Florentine Soup

Recipe By     :  Linda J
Serving Size  : 12  
Categories    : soup

  Amount  Measure       Ingredient -- Preparation Method
--------  ------------  --------------------------------
  2                                 carrots -- peeled and cut into match stick pieces
  1          medium           onion -- diced
  1         tablespoon       olive oil
  2       14.5 oz cans      chicken broth  (or more)
  1                cup           water
  3                                 potatoes -- diced small  (NOTE:  see below if you want the slices of potatoes)
  1       10.75 oz. can     condensed tomato soup
  1          8 oz. can         tomato sauce
  1/2       jar                   Ragú Alfredo Classic Pasta Sauce
  1/2  9-10 oz. pkg.       frozen chopped spinach -- thawed
  8             ounces         cooked chicken -- cubed
                                    salt to taste
  1           teaspoon       sugar to cut the acidity of the tomatoes
  1           teaspoon       prepared minced garlic
  1           teaspoon       Italian herb seasoning
  1/4        teaspoon       black pepper

Prep the carrots and onion and saute in a 5 qt. Dutch oven till softened.

If you plan on using diced potatoes in the soup, prep them and add to the pot along with 2 cans of broth and water.  Bring to a boil and cook about 8-10 minutes till the potato cubes are fork tender, not mushy.

Add the pasta sauce, tomato sauce  and condensed tomato soup adding more broth or water if needed to thin the soup to the consistency you like it.

I used slightly less than half a box of Green Giant chopped spinach left from another use.  It looked to be more than what we were served at the restaurant but I like my soup substantial.

Cooked Chicken:  as I had no leftover chicken on hand and did not want to spring for a rotisserie one,  I used a prepared package of grilled chicken pieces from the meat case.  Tyson and John Soule brands are at Walmart.  Any other time I would have poached a breast or two or used some leftover chicken from another meal.

NOTES : If you want to use the sliced potatoes like they do in the restaurant, I think I would get a package of the microwaveable red potatoes.  Let them cool enough to peel and cut into small slices adding just at the end to heat through.  I used cubes as I would for regular potato soup.

ENJOY!  LOL, we did.

Lazy Sunday afternoon

I think that I will take a cue from my Skyler and take it easy this afternoon now that I have the tenative menu planned and the groceries laid in.

With yesterday's sewing I have 32 of the 48 blocks I need for the QOV completed. I think I will take the day off from machine work though. The hand work on the Overall Bill blocks that I recently button hole appliqued is on today's "list" and maybe some embroidery or hand quilting on my Bird Brain Santas if I feel like it.

After we ate lunch, I mixed up a packaged mix of pound cake. It smells pretty yummy at my house! Even though I do have a birthday coming up this is by no means, "birthday cake". Everyone knows I do NOT make my own cake, LOL. I couldn't find any already made in the store bakery so made a pound cake in a loaf pan. I wanted to try the chocolate panini recipe in my 4 in 1 grill manual which calls for sliced pound cake (with Nutella and sliced strawberries on the inside) I WILL track down a from scratch recipe that doesn't require a tube pan---just not today in the interest of time.

The Bread flour is out because I promised DJ homemade pizza tonight. I like the crust recipe from the Prepared Pantry the best. Trust me, I tried about 7 different recipes in my quest to learn how to do yeast bread type stuff last year. I, more or less, follow their recipe for Veggie and Sausage Pizza subbing my own topping choices. Sometimes I let the crust go thru a little bit of a rise once it is rolled out. If you prefer a whole wheat crust, I can heartily recommend Perfect Pizza Crust from Taste of Home. I probably will just get the kitchen cooled down when I will have to heat it up again baking pizza, LOL.

And sew it goes------thanks for stopping by!

sidetracked

Color me distracted---in more ways than one! Because of the order the pictures posted, we'll go with this first.

Goodbye to most of the huge holly bush that was overgrown into the support post, the soffit and the driveway! DJ sawed off most of it yesterday but whittled away at it a bit more this morning. We both drug branches down to the burn pile last night, manually and in the wheel barrel---just ahead of a thunderstorm!

The biggest one you see down the row needs to go as well but can wait a bit. Actually till we are allowed to burn brush again (whole state is till under a burning ban as far as I know), we can't really pile much more on the brush pile.

I didn't get the best of pictures here but the crape myrtles bushes are beginning to show their color. The large more mature tree, white one, has been out for longer but not a whole lot of blossoms.

And look who was waiting for me to come back in the kitchen? He wants his treat bite (teaspoon of Fancy Feast canned) I was greeted with the full throated meow version. If you can't figure out what THAT means, then you don't speak "cat" very well, LOL.

Yesterday afternoon as I was working on the stitching project that I am piddling with (more about that in a minute), I got a call from my friend Lois. Did I want some sweet corn? Her husband Les had picked some that morning. I drove on over in short order. I guess they had been putting up corn for the freezer all day!

She asked me if I wanted some zucchini and cukes which were also producing in abundance. Now, I love cukes but DJ does not but I took a couple off her hands to slice up and marinate for my pleasure. Lois also gave me her recipe for zucchini soup which calls for 6 cups of shredded or sliced zukes. I peeled and shredded that all up last evening in addition to prepping the corn. I steamed the ears she already had husked and nuked the stuff on the cob. I have had good success using a recipe for fresh corn in the husks in the microwave---found HERE on cooks.com.

You see the good looking soup here---the extra bits. We will have some of it with our sandwiches for lunch. I tweaked her recipe just a wee bit adding a bit of thyme and celery. The sample I had about 1030 was delish! I add the leftover corn but now cut off the cob to the mix as well.

I was busy in the kitchen for quite some time. The soup was the last thing I made but before that I did up a batch of tuna mac salad for our supper, threw some chicken breasts in the crockpot for enchiladas later in the week and hard boiled some eggs for one of DJ's fav breakfast dishes. That puts me a little ahead of the game for meal prep.

In between there was a quick store run to get some more blueberries. I had two cups of fresh berries leftover from another purpose--the pie takes 3. I had toyed with the idea of making muffins but I didn't feel like baby sitting muffin pans all morning ( I am short a pan to bake them all at once). I use the Creamy Blueberry Pie recipe from allrecipes.com. The remaining cup of berries went up in the freezer to IQF for pancakes or whatever down the line.

So here is the sidetracked sewing project. 5 days into the month and I realized that I had not switched out the July wall hanging ----Be Attitudes and Calendar quilts. One is easy to do but the Be Attitudes uses a closed dowel rod hanger ( found HERE ) and hanging tabs. Each month I have to sew the tab over the hanger. After I put "Be Honest" up, I decided to just make some more tabs, get some more buttons and make one for each quilt fastening the back with a snap. I did an inventory to see exactly how many I need in what color groupings---one more green, 4 more blue and 3 reds since I already had 4 made that I could revamp. Just need to cut the tabs out and buzz them up on the machine and I will be golden from here on out, LOL.

I still have bias strips and binding to sew but I am on a roll with this tab thing and will see it thru first! Hopefully it will not be an all week deal----provided I can stay out of the kitchen for hours on end. Well, it is time to go warm up the soup. If Lois okays it, I will post the recipe down the line.

Design wall Monday, wk. 4---amended

Not much on the "wall"---the next donation quilt top from the fabric that keeps on giving. This is the last of the green habitat fabric, it and its companion print that some of the group got when we did the challenge. I don't have enough fabric to make another BQ 2 from this same stuff so I came up with this instead. The Patience Corner top will be the 4th one I made using this particular challenge fabric. Apparently the challenges continue long after they are officially completed, LOL. I stumbled upon some of the paint splash stuff from the 1st one the other day!! And there is still some of the most recent Romance stuff left. Some point down the line, I will come up with a plan.

No, I am not crazy about this combo but I am busting stash. I found the tan print the other day when I was hunting for backing yardage. It had been used for backing and/or some long ago quilt. Nice Moda Marble left from a previous project too---a past t-shirt quilt if I recall. It is only 12 blocks and maybe it will be okay.

I told Norma yesterday that I may be in the process of making the world's ugliest quilt. I thought that there should be a name for committing this "crime"----quilticide or fabric abuse, maybe? Yeah, I am stash busting but at what cost to the eyes for this combo?? I like the EQ printout, LOL...... and if I were not whining, I would have to admit to having made or quilted worse in the last 11 years, I guess.

The previous shot shows the pile that I had chained thru Sunday evening,adding the short strips to each square. At right is another trick I picked up from my friend Joy. Hiding under the block components is a flannel (actually this one has heavy dressmaker weight felt on it) covered piece of cardboard/foamboard. She suggested that you lay the block out as it should be pieced---always a good idea. It is easy to get confused about what goes at the top and sides on this pattern. Ask me how I know! The board is big enough to cover the bottom of a pizza box for transporting and light weight enough to carry it to your machine. In my case I will pull out the desk flat surface so it is right at my workspace and ready to nab a section.

Hopefully the weather will hold off on the precip and freezing temp combo so we can have our quilt meeting. I have already started making the strawberry pretzel salad/dessert that I was taking for the potluck part. Just waiting for the crust to cool down a bit and then the strawberry jello/frozen strawberry part can happen. I'll prep our supper taco toppings while I am out there. Because I shared our Sunday supper with our recently hospitalized friend, I'll have to fix lunch today too. I am beginning to feel like I am taking up residence in the kitchen but some days are like that. I really don't mind as it is just another way of being creative, right?

Better get going or I will be chopping tomatoes at noon!

WIP Thursday, wk 43

I totally forgot that yesterday was Wednesday and didn't post what I was working on!

Since some of my deadline sewing projects (birthday gifts, FAB challenge) were complete, I had time to do a little extra cooking/baking yesterday morning. Poor DJ has been the quick, down and dirty version of meals lately OR the leftovers from the freezer as the cook was busy. We aren't going to starve or anything but the faster I could get out of the kitchen, the better lately. I had sewing and/or crafting to do!

You see, I like have some homemade muffins or bread on hand in the freezer for an occasional mid morning coffee break. A quick zap and we can split a jumbo muffin or chunk of bread. Alas, the cupboard has been bare of that stuff for about a month. I made two loafs of the copycat version of Starbucks Pumpkin Bread since the recipe uses only half the can. Then the leftover sweet potatoes I had stashed in the freezer became a sweet potato pie with like a praline topping on it (Susan Branch newsletter) That goes with tonight's turkey breast in the crockpot meal though we did try a slice last night. Possibly poor planning on my part since the cholesterol/triglycerides are bound to be up.

SO anyway, what I DID do yesterday afternoon is prep some stitcheries. Above you see a Crabapple Hill Studio freebie designed by Meg Hawley that can be downloaded HERE. At that point I was just getting ready to trace it off.

To the right, the cornerstone blocks for the Bird Brain Santa project. Once stitched I will trim them down to the 2 inch finished size required in the kit. I have an itty bit of the #12 Santa block done. Since I plan on going to DJ's cardiologist appointment with him tomorrow, I will drag that along with me----and judging from the wait times he has experience on his previous appointments, I will get a good bit done on it.


Lastly, the last 3 Halvorsen calendar quilt blocks were traced off and ready to pull the required floss colors. I did a little bit of the stitching last night and will back to it this afternoon till supper prep time.

I am pretty sure that my next piecing/applique project will be Pumpkins 4 sale from Country Threads. I had pulled some of the fabrics a few months back and it being fall, something fun to work on. I had spotted this done up on a blog last year about this time and Margo at Heart in His Hand was so sweet to let me know the pattern source so I could track down the pattern. If I can dig up some dark green fabric from my stash, I think this one could be a reality!

At some point Lois and I will make a run up to Boaz to pick up our quilts from Susan, our long arm quilter. If not Saturday, then after Wednesday next week. My Daisy Chain is done and that means binding and a sleeve coming in the near future---my next quilt show entry, no doubt.

MMMMMMM, it is starting to smell like Thanksgiving at my house---the turkey in the pot. DJ will be eating good tonight! Have a wonderful weekend and thx for stopping by------

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.

This and that on a Monday

All too soon it will be Christmas Day. I had some quick errands to run bit ago which included a run to Wally World. I could not believe the cars in the parking lot! It looked like everyone in town was shopping for something there. Me? Just some frozen yeast rolls since we are not having stuffing and a turkey sized oven bag that I forgot on yesterday’s grocery shopping day. Quick dash in and out with the self check out.
Thanksgiving was such a bust with DJ being ill earlier in the week. We wound up having homemade mac and cheese for the holiday meal. The golfing friend showed up at 530 pm on Thanksgiving but had already eaten. I fixed the steaks I had planned for our meal the next night, more meat than any of us could eat in the first place especially since I fixed twice baked potatoes (the frozen kind—why bother with any other kind?), tossed salad (from the bag) and a Dutch apple pie. I don’t “do” crusts but the rest of it was homemade.
Normally I just make do a small turkey breast in the crock-pot but the turkey had been on sale for a decent price between the two “eating” holidays. I’ve got about 8 lbs of meat thawing for the big day. I can see that there will be plenty of leftovers---some for the freezer that will be repurposed for soups, salads and casseroles later. Wednesday, I’ll be making the cranberry sauce and pecan pie. Either way, I’m making up for the not so festive thanksgiving.

Skyler has made himself at home on the sewing room perch this afternoon keeping me company and sunning his backside. I think I wore him out tossing his little sponge ball around. Now that was the best buck and a half I have ever spent!! Early he was laying on a pile of clean laundry that I need to put away. I am happy to report that he has paid no attention to the tree ---maybe since it is artificial and has nothing dangling down on it? He has made no attempt to get to the snow village either. Jan from It's the cat's house suggested in an email that he might find the brushy trees too attractive if he did which never occurred to me! I wonder if she is speaking from experience there? No more sheep are missing from the nativity set either. I must admit that this is mainly because I stuck the lone sheep down to the bookshelf top with some poster putty rather than a reflection on cat behavior, LOL.
Good to see that sun! We were in that pattern of it warming up to rain last week. Mild, humid temps but that cold front that many of you have been experiencing around the country whooshed in last night. The wind was howling and DJ was putting more weather stripping on the front door. The temps dropped from 61 at midnight Saturday night to around 31 yesterday morning---quite a shock to the system the first trip out the door.
Speaking of sun, some fabrics I ordered last week arrived—the “go-withs” for the FAB “summer in winter” challenge. Pat and Cher are the challengers this round and after they put their heads together, Pat sent us all a yard of that speckled yellow-orange fabric (the second one from the left) . The picture does not show just how bright it really is. Darn near glows---just like the sun! I will be making a gift for Norma this time around. I am not to tell what I am making but I can torment her a bit with a preview, LOL. The 2nd gold-ish print is something I already had that I might use but the rust color, blue and the two greens are the new acquisitions.

As usual I am on the spend down program as my gift from DJ. I don’t care if there is no package for me under the tree—this works for both of us. One package arrived today and here is my picks-- two cute patterns I found online from Happy Apple Quilts. I really like the graphic look of “Charlotte’s Star” and the lap size is right in line with the preferred range for the Wrap Them in Love donation quilts. The Buckaroo Bears is just darned cute for a donation quilt too. I am thinking that you could substitute any critter or motif you wanted in that space if you didn’t want to do bears—say, a cat maybe?? Again, right in the Wrap ‘Em size range. The fabric, a fat quarter, came with the patterns. Pretty cute, huh? I just ordered a neutral package of Essential thread from Connecting Threads (on sale, even better) and Cable Confidence knitting book for next to nothing from a book club with my bonus points. The rest goes in my Dream Trip to Oregon (DT2OR) fund.
No cooking tonight as we had leftovers available for both meals. Yesterday I made a pot roast on the stove top last night, braising it in the Dutch Oven following the directions in “Joy of Cooking”. I believe it was the best roast that I have ever made. Very tender and fairly moist even without the gravy. My gravy even turned out right meaning without a swirl in the blender to get the lumps out! I made sort of a modified beurre blanc, (I think that is what it is called) with equal parts of butter and flour kneaded together and dropped bits of it into the drippings whisking with each addition. You need 1 tablespoon of each for each cup of liquid-- something I read in the local paper. I might learn how to cook one of these days, LOL rather than the slap dash methods. Okay, butter is not so good for you but then margarine would not have been either. Or red meat for that matter. You gotta eat! Once the meat package in the freezer is depleted we won’t be eating much roast or steak anyway. Who can afford it? Who can afford even chicken lately---sheesh!
Normally I would throw a roast in the crock pot or the pressure cooker, depending on what cut it was. Since it was cold out, it was a bit chilly in the living room/kitchen with those vaulted ceilings and the wind howling. I didn’t mind the heat from the stove top or the oven being on to roast the veggies later. If it were summer time I would re-think that whole deal! But summer seems so far away now that the first official days of winter are full at it.
Well, fabric ironing awaits. I hope to do a little cutting and possibly sewing tomorrow on that top secret project. If I feel the need for a little handwork, there is always binding on those appliance covers. Yeah, still not completely finished with those and thinking ahead to the next project---will I never learn?
Merry Christmas to all!

this and that

Obviously something outside, possibly the neighbor across the lane's dog or a bird flitting by, has attracted Skyler attention. He has developed quite a fascination for the bathroom sink when you run water or brush your teeth but no way can I get a picture of him doing that. Moves too quickly. If not for his rapt attention to whatever it was outside, I would not have gotten this shot, LOL.

A little of this and that going on since my last post. Mostly spent finishing up the binding on the commissioned T-shirt quilt. I know--boring! I took the last stitch in it Saturday evening--big woo hoo there. Still trying to make connections with the owner for delivery or pickup.

When I got my haircut the other day, my neighbor/hairdresser said to come on over and get some apples from one of the trees that was bearing. They are small and the skins are blemished but I didn't find any worms in them at all. I must have peeled and chopped those things for over a hour and half yesterday morning but boy, did we get some good applesauce that I cooked up in the crockpot.

This morning I got to walk for the first time in two weeks. I only went 2 miles rather than my customary 3.3 but I didn't know how I would do wearing my walking shoes and the uneven terrain of the park. They had just spread some new gravel to fill in the rain washed out areas and not too evenly at that. I managed fine though the foot was squawking a bit by the time I was done. I plan to keep adding a lap a day to get back up to where I was provided I don't have any increase in pain. I was at the MD's on Friday on an unrelated manner and he offered to x-ray the banged up tow but I didn't think that would be necessary. Yeah, it is a bit sore with shoes on but I know from my 12 years in a podiatry practice what little bit would be done if it WAS fractured. I'll live and don't think I need a surgical shoe.

Which brings me up to the next subject, a frozen banana fell out of the freezer last night and almost hit the same sad little toe. Since I had about 7 of them in there, I decided to use up the last of the buttermilk and half of those bananas make a banana oatmeal cake this morning. It smells wonderful at my house though I did warm up the kitchen a bit making it. (Air won't go on till at least 1030 or 11---the annual summer gripe from me). Caramel frosting will be made once it cools but I will use the tried and true one recipe from the Cake Mix Doctor for that. I love to cook and bake when I have time. Don't need to be eating much of it but it will freeze---just like the surplus applesauce.

At right (and above) the next t-shirt quilt. It will be one of those 3-D appearing ones like the last one. The polka dot stuff is what the family wanted used but it will be tempered down as the frames around the shirt sections. Maybe someone can make some pillowcases of the leftovers for the owner-to-be. Won't be me though, LOL. Fabric content is indeterminate but I am guessing that there is some synthetic in it as it feels and looks a little slick. I'll deal with it as I did with the gingham from last round. Susan sent 4 yds of WOW -- washed and pressed that up on Sunday. I already have the black fabric for the shadows on hand ready to use.

Just for grins and giggles, I am keeping track of the time it takes to make one of these since essentially that is what I am getting paid for on this one. 19 shirts--small to medium sized so less interfacing needed. FYI: I have found that it can range from 10 to 13 yards of the stuff. Took 45 minutes to rough cut them apart with the rotary cutter. Took 4 hours and 40 minutes to cut the interfacing out to rough cut size and fuse them. Next up: square the sections up so I can start the sashing process. Then I will follow the process I outlined in this post for the design process so the shirts float on the background. It all takes time and as for size, it is what it is.

Here is the last one quilted. I am afraid that I cannot get a full out shot of it as it is too big and too heavy to hold up. I won't be at the meeting place for another week to spread it out on the fellowship hall floor so DJ's bed will have to do. Susan did a wonderful job of quilting it. She used little swirls in the picture frames and all over meander between but not through the main figures of the shirts.

This is what I would like to do next after the t-shirt top is done though. I have had this pattern for years---best guess, 97 when we moved in here. I had big plans to make matching kitchen accessories but only got as far as making the curtains. Chair cushions were cut out too so if I really want to be a glutton for punishment I could make them. I still have the fabrics on hand plus others to add to it though I need greens for the job, not blues. Mainly we need a new toaster cover but I had always hoped to make the blender and food processor cover as well. The wallhanging, while cute, is nice but there is no blank wall in my kitchen to hang one anymore.

I still have a list as long as my arm of things I would like to work on for ME. I'll get to them in due time--waited this long, after all so what is a bit longer going to hurt? Norma and I have been talking about doing an Atkinson Design Cheese and Crackers with some of our 30's stash so that probably tops MY list. My mom and some of her quilting friends in Lexington (IL) made one for the Taste of Country Fair quilt raffle and she was given the leftover scraps including some that she had donated to the cause. She is going to box them up and pass them on to me. A head start, I guess.

Guess that cake has had time to cool so unload the dishwasher and make some frosting.

some progress 'round here

I'm making some progress around here on that Christmas row----and otherwise, LOL. Two of the blocks are complete except for the appliqued bits and the other three have all the components done. There they are stacked and pinned down to my flannel workboard.

This is often how I work---print out a mock up of the block for reference and keep it right where I can see it. If it is a quilt, then I print that out too especially if I need to know how much sashing to cut, etc. This time since I was foundation piecing I needed to watch the sectioning so I did a screen shot of the EQ page that shows that prior to printing. I had to be mindful that not all those tips were red and mark the foundation as such.

Yesterday I prepped all the leaves and the little gold circles that will form the center of the flowers. The bias strips for the stems I did while I was working on the first block. I MAY use that old Jinny Beyer border stripe between my rows depending on what my rows turn out to be. I have owned this piece of fabric for a long time so this might be the perfect chance to use it in some manner, don't you think? Bust some stash? The pattern calls for a lot of red and white checkboard but I don't think the pattern needs to be slavishly followed--that's for inspiration. I am setting this aside for a few days though as I need to get a couple quilts quilted before our Tuesday meeting.

Yesterday afternoon/evening I quilted the other half of the Rising Star in those purples and teals that I love so much that Nancy sent us earlier this year. Well, HERE they are before I made them into two smaller quilts rather than one large one, including the Crossroads to Jericho and Boot Scoot Boogie that are in my "to quilt" stack. The original faux log cabin is HERE shown with its original border. That one is now living at the Boys Big Oak Ranch while the 2nd half is the one that I will be working on today--maybe a quick zoom lines one first though. I don't like having to change thread on the needle when I am on a roll quilting so decided that I am going to do something different this time---keep quilting however many I am going to do in the couple days and THEN do all the binding and label application as one step. Normally, I get that part done before I move onto the next quilt and have to stop to unthread/rethread in between. See how this goes.

I guess Sunday is the first day of fall. We have had a few cooler nights lately and have been able to forego a/c completely for two days and reduced time the last two. I don't have to get up quite so early either to avoid the heat and sun which is nice. I think we are in for some rain today though--a little muggy, overcast and a bit of a breeze blowing in. Maybe due to that approaching storm in the Gulf?? We still need it as our little burg is still under watering restrictions. The burn restrictions were lifted a month or so back, unfortunately so one of the neighbors is back to smoking up the neighborhood--then we have to close the windows and doors. Good bye fresh air. GRRRRRR

Good thing I did my grilling LAST night if we are due for more rain. We tried out a couple of the steaks that came in our meat package and yummy!! I fixed baked potatoes and since I had the oven on, blueberry peach cobbler. We also had the last of those green beans that the neighbor had brought us (I blanched and froze most of them at the time) and a tossed salad. All we needed was some yeast rolls and we might have thought we were out at a restaurant for a special occasion meal. I think DJ felt like he was a king last night eating that good as it normally doesn't happen. He does not often rave about my cooking but he specifically came back to the sewing room to thank me. Usually I only get that kind of high praise after a holiday meal. I am not saying this right---he doesn't take it for granted or anything but he is just USED to things being good that he just doesn't compliment me all the time about my efforts. AND if we have guests for dinner, he will not say "this is really good, Linda" in front of them and put them on the spot either. He might chime in and say, "she is a good cook" if they say something first.

I have no confidence when it comes to making steaks though---I always afraid I am going to ruin an expensive chunk of meat. A roast, no problem. Cheaper cuts, no problem. I may have told you this story before--my parents were gone on vacation and left us older three kids home as we all had to work--late teens. My brother Steve had bought a t-bone steak and asked me how he should cook it. Why I didn't consult a cook book I don't know---I would now--but I said that Mom always put the meat in before we went to church (obviously a roast) but I must have told him to put it on broil??? I will always remember his coming out like, an hour later, to see the last charred bit from the rack blow away with the wind. (Mom, there may have been a very good reason for all the potato peeling detail though I could make a mean fruit salad and stir ice cream custard pretty good then, LOL. Obviously I was NOT ready then but could follow instructions when told what to do.) Live and learn.............

Speaking of fall (LOL, several paragraphs ago I was---my mind is not going in a linear fashion today, is it?) Jeanne has been making some neat blocks lately, some with a decided fall theme. Three of the row quilts that I have coming up are fall/Thanksgiving themed so I had been looking for some appropriate blocks in BlockBase and have a list of some possiblilities if someone else doesn't use them before I do my part. I mentioned this to her in comments and Jeanne asked me to post what I had come with. I will next post, with thumbnails---this quilting isn't going to give me any blog fodder for a few days.

Till next time---