Super Woman at it again

Socks for me from Amy!

I am balancing on one foot so that my new sock does not touch the ground.

Can't get them to stand still so I can take their picture but try to keep them away when you don't want them in one!  (Click on the pictures to make them bigger so you can appreciate her work.)  The socks are merino and cashmere.  Fabulous on the feet, so very soft.

Selecting the perfect spot

and diving in!

It's stopped again and the sun is out.  I just had 60 pounds of dog food delivered so we are good for a while, actually about four weeks.  60 more pounds are on the way and then I will feel secure.  The place where I have been buying this food has been a bit inconsistent with their supply so now I won't have to worry about that.

Beach Towels

Not for the beach of course but for toweling off the boys.  Dylan tolerates it but Jack loves it.  Only problem is that Jack has to be leaning into my legs as I dry him off or he tips over.  Another reason I worry about taking him for a bath and some grooming, even if I can get him into the car.

Boxing Day

I so want to embrace this Canadian holiday but sadly I am still un-boxing.  While I was gone, UPS and USPS left seven (7!) boxes, two of which held furniture and much packing material.  I am hoping to take the four ginormous bags of packing peanuts back to UPS or possibly to my friends in the Novell shipping department.  I will admit to actually putting my tongue on one of those peanuts just to double check in case it was made of corn and would dissolve.  No such luck.  Re-using is at least  something.  Well and my sister's video with her packing peanuts does provide some amusement!

I would like to be at my sewing machine all day today but I must go out and shovel first.  I left my coat in Seattle which means I am waiting for yet another box!  It also means I am shoveling wearing several layers of clothing topped only with sweats.  Heavy sigh.  I know my neighbor will shovel the public sidewalk for me, I think he does it as a trade for my summer duties in his garden.  Still it's my responsibility and maybe the snow will stop long enough for me to go out there and not get soaking wet.  There is an outside possibility that there is a hooded windbreaker in the car but I think I may have tossed it when I cleaned out the car recently.  Another. Heavy. Sigh.

Oh, and the miles of that columnar type of bubble wrap in the top picture?  I cut each air compartment and rolled it all together because that is recyclable.  The roll weighed just over a pound.

Froebel Star

I needed something quick to do this morning.  This took just minor cutting and some pressing before I got right to the folding.  This is not as fancy as the ones Amy did last year which also had some poking out points from the center and because it is fabric, it is rather chunky.  I wanted to see how striped fabric would end up and I like it but I thought it looked rather plain and so that's why I added the button.

A Yard Ornament

I have a list of blogs that a check on a regular basis.  Yesterday morning I read a quilt blogger's opinion of pre-cuts and the lack of imagination (she was ranting on the jellyroll race) of those who use what is really created as a marketing strategy.  This woman is a graphic artist and comes from a family of artists.  Still, I let her comments bother me.

Then I got an email from a dear friend and she said that her goal was to complete a quilt top every other day.  That is an amazing goal and she will do it.  Still, I let it bother me.

I have another friend who will say, why are you letting these things bother you?  That thought nagged at me all day. In other words, it bothered me that I was bothered by these things!

So after stewing about this all day, my conclusions are:

• I am happy to be a follower.  I can change patterns to suit me as needed but I do not need to be an innovator in design.  I'm good where I am.
• I used to say that I never watched a tv show if I wouldn't want to live next door to the main characters.  Really it should be the same with a blog.  Deleted.
• I don't need to be intimidated by anyone's goals (or skills) but will just admire them.  To be intimidated is to be diminished.  My sewing goals are between me and Time.  Efficiency is what I will strive for.
• It's good to be bothered by things.  It's like a small stone in your shoe.  You think, investigate and solve.  If you aren't bothered or don't let yourself be bothered how do you differ from a yard ornament?

Christmas Crafting

There's a lot of that going on here!

A few weeks ago Janie and I stopped in at Harmony, the new boutique just around the corner and as usual the shop was loaded with inspiration.  Loaded.

I gravitate to the yarn room just because of the colors I think.  There was a charming project, casually displayed with the yarns pictured above and well, they just fell into my "cart".

As we were checking out, after voting for our favorite hat, I said to Laura that for pete's sake, I had plenty of projects to do and what was I doing buying more yarn.  She said there could be another plan.  She had seen these very same yarns with sticks from trees stuck in their centers, looking very much like apples and used as part of a table centerpiece.

And that would be Plan B.

Today's playlist:

• Christmas in the Aire - Mannheim Steamroller
• A Timpanogas Christmas - Varied artists
• Light Jazz Christmas - Varied artists
• Silent Night, Holy Night - Mahalia Jackson

Winter Light

This afternoon at about 4:30 from the deck.

The Magic Pot

I do believe I may have extolled the virtues of this pot before.  It's a 2 3/4 quart Le Creuset Dutch oven that can be used on the stovetop as well as in the oven.  It's mushroom colored not green as it looks by the light of the oven and is the perfect size when cooking for one or two.

Today's recipe is a keeper and so fitting for a grey winter day.  I cut the recipe in half and followed it almost exactly.  I had to use whole grain brown mustard because it was all I had and I added carrots to the pot because I love them cooked this way.  The recipe can be found here, make sure you read the part about the beer. 

Beer Braised Chicken  from Simply Recipes

1 teaspoon butter
3 chicken thighs, about 1 to 1 1/4 pounds
Salt
1½ pounds yellow onions, sliced 1/4-inch thick, root to stem, about 3-4 cups sliced
½ Tbsp brown sugar, packed 
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 Tbsp smooth or whole grain Dijon mustard
3/4 cup dark beer (I used Michelob Amberbock)
½ cup chicken stock
4-6 carrots, cut in chunks of uniform thickness
Freshly ground black pepper

Melt the butter in a heavy pot with a lid, such as a Dutch oven, over medium-high heat. Pat the chicken thighs dry with paper towels and set them skin side down in the butter. Salt the meat side lightly. Brown the chicken on both sides well. Remove the browned thighs from the pan and set aside in a bowl.

Drain off all but 2 tablespoons of fat from the pan, taking care to not discard any of the tasty browned bits.  Lower the heat to medium and add the sliced onions to the pan.   Sprinkle brown sugar over the onions. The added sugar will intensify the natural sweetness of the onions. Cook the onions slowly, stirring occasionally, until they begin to brown, about 15 minutes.

Add the bay leaf, thyme, mustard, 1 teaspoon of salt, and beer to the onions. Scrape up any browned bits from the bottom of the pot with a wooden spoon. Add the carrots, chicken thighs and the chicken stock and bring to a simmer.

Bake, covered for 45 minutes at 300⁰ then uncover the pot and simmer until the liquid is greatly reduced and the meat wants to fall off the bone, between 45 minutes and 1 hour.  Add freshly ground black pepper and more salt to taste.

Serve over egg noodles or with rice or potatoes.

Q.O.T.D.

"Sometimes I distract myself from buying fabric by sewing with it."

Laurie Matthews  Dresdenlane(dot)com

Personally, I am not having such a good sewing day.  Seam ripper overuse.  Simple stuff too.  So when I need to step away from the machine, I head for the ironing board and make mini bolts.

My latest attempt at order

During the drawstring bag blitz, I unearthed all kinds of fun fabrics and as a bonus, found some to share.  Including the estimated five yards I used for the bags, I shared/donated another fourteen and a half yards of fabric.   Should be noticeable but isn't.

Making these mini bolts should help in thinning out the stacks.

Cincinnati Chili

I was a bit nervous about this recipe but so many people raved about it and I had everything in the house so I gave it a try.  It is very good!  It's just so odd.  This picture is of ground beef boiling in beef broth.  Did not brown the ground beef, boiled it.  I never knew anyone did that.  The recipe I started with is found here but I made several changes based on the reviews.

Cincinnati Chili

1 pound ground beef

1 (10.5 ounce) can beef broth

2 tablespoons chili powder

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

1/8 teaspoon ground allspice

1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

1/2 bay leaf

1 ½  tablespoons  unsweetened  cocoa powder
 1/8 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper

1 (8 oz.) can tomato sauce

1 tablespoon cider vinegar

Cooked spaghetti

Shredded Cheddar cheese

Chopped onion

• Bring beef and broth to a boil, reduce heat to low and simmer for 20 minutes.  Stir occasionally. 
• Add chili powder, cinnamon, cumin, allspice, cloves, bay leaf, cocoa powder, cayenne, tomato sauce, and cider vinegar. Stir to mix well. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low; cover and simmer 1 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally. 
• It is the best to refrigerate overnight. 
• Remove the bay leaf.  Reheat gently over medium heat. 
• Serve over hot, drained spaghetti.  Top with shredded cheddar cheese and onion.

 4 servings

(Suggested as a topping for hot dogs too.)

DSBs... Done!

In the mail and can you believe I forgot to count them!  I think there are 24 bags but perhaps only 23.

When the kids were here in September we (as always) made a trip to DI.  I scored this sleeve board for $1 and it is something I have always wanted!  It came in very handy for pressing the bags.

I bought very little fabric for this project, just a couple of small pieces for the contrasting tops.  Most are lined with muslin of which I do believe I have an unending supply.

Most of the bags are cat related, some are Christmas and there are a few novelty prints just because I had them.  This Peanuts Christmas bag has fabric from 2001 (the red print), 2004 (the blue print) and the green stripe is still on the shelf in the store.  I'm estimating that I used up 5 yards of fabric from the stash.  Hooray!

In celebration, the sewing machine will have the day off tomorrow and maybe the iron too!

Dwindling November

Almost time to switch out the pumpkin plates for something appropriate to December.  Notice the Stuffing Bread in the picture?  Great Harvest makes it just this time of year and it is not bread to use for stuffing, although you certainly could do that.  It is ideal for leftover turkey sandwiches!  Ideal.  I thought why can't they just make this bread year-round.  Answer, of course, is it wouldn't be so special then.

Never did get new fall curtains made for the kitchen.  I have some fabulous Kaffe Fassett fabric that is perfect but by next year may be something else.  It seemed like the curtains would get done and I held on to that thought too long and not only did not get last year's fall curtains up but in fact the summer curtains are still hanging.  Simply scandalous.

Have a very fun Christmas specific fabric for December curtains but they are kind of at the bottom of the production list.

Speaking of lists, this is today's playlist:

• Michael Dowdle, Christmas
• Nat King Cole, The Christmas Song
• An O'Neill Brothers' Christmas, Coming Home 
• The Carpenters, Christmas Portrait

We Heart Amazondotcom

At the door shortly before 5 last night.  I took a breath of relief.  Disaster averted.  We've been two days without their dental chews and the big dogs have been pretty darn grumpy after their dinner.  They pestered me for more than an hour.  Palms up and the words "all gone" were repeated endlessly pretty much to no avail.  It was exhausting.

Also in the box was coffee.  I had four pods (two days) left.  I think if I had run out I could have trumped their grump.

Season Opener

I know there are many (my sisters) who have been listening to Christmas music pre-Thanksgiving.  I've always been able to hold off and for the last couple of years I am pretty certain I have not played any Christmas music at home, at all.  When you work retail it is always playing in the background and depending on the length of your shift, it will loop through and repeat at least once.  The radio station that we are supposed to have on starts the Christmas music season on November 1st.  Arrgh.

So I was excited to start singing at home today!  This is what we opened with:

I try to alternate vocal and instrumental and we did have some quiet time as well.  The "play list so far:

• A Christmas Together, John Denver, The Muppets
• Christmas, Mannheim Steamroller
• The Christmas Song, Roger Whittaker
• Christmas, Kurt Bestor
• Christmas with The Rat Pack. Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr.

There are many more to come!

In case you were wondering, the John Denver album came out in 1979.  Yikes.

Green Beans and Thanksgiving Re-Cap

The green bean story is that I made three different recipes this year.  I have been having Thanksgiving with Jan and her family for a long time.  We can't seem to pinpoint it exactly but it is many years.  I pretty much can decide what I want to bring and over the years that has included salads, sides, even a turkey one time when I wanted to try brining but I'm pretty sure I have never brought dessert as that is something I do not generally do well.  And really, a Parker Thanksgiving is synonymous with PIE.  Oh and Jan makes fabulous rolls from scratch.  No need for me to mess around there either.

So, this year I brought:
1.  the Green Bean Casserole - which to me is Thanksgiving.  I never have it any other time.
2.  Tangy String Beans - Gaye said this is her family's favorite green bean recipe and something her mother made.   Gaye emailed me this picture from a church cookbook.  It was the one her mom had contributed.  Everyone liked it and I will definitely make it again.
3.  Caramelized Green Beans - this recipe can be found here on Our Best Bites.  I followed the recipe exactly and used frozen green beans.  This one was the favorite, most likely because of the, you know, bacon.  (Stewart said "We are pork fat people."  I'll be laughing about that one for some time.)  I'll make this one again when Don's fresh right-out-of-the-garden green beans are available.

Jan had a girls activity for after dinner.  She had scrapbook supplies, bunches of pictures and we just had at it.  The granddaughters jumped right into it and made pages with pictures of themselves and did a great job of it!  Debbie also did some fabulous pages.  I was more than content to look through the pictures and marvel at the changes over the years.

It was a delightful Thanksgiving day and one of the best so far.

It Works!!!

I know other people do this but I had to do it once to prove it to myself.  It works!

It is Alton Brown's recipe found here.  It shouldn't surprise me because I already swear by his mac and cheese recipe and his baked brown rice.  What a guy.

I heart AB

I have a fairly puny microwave and while I got a full bag of popcorn and a nice size bowl full, only 3/4 of the kernels popped.  Could be the corn or it could be the microwave.  There is no best by date  stamped on the corn.  The original recipe called for jalapeno seasoning which I left out.

Plain Brown Popper - Recipe courtesy Alton Brown

Makes 1 serving

• 1/4 cup good quality popcorn
• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• 1/4 teaspoon popcorn salt
• Paper lunch bag
• Stapler

Toss the popcorn with the olive oil, salt, and jalapeno seasoning mix in the paper bag. Fold the top of the bag over and staple the bag twice to close. Place the bag in the microwave and microwave on high for 2 minutes to 3 minutes or until there is about 5 seconds between pops.

NOTE: Popcorn salt is a super-fine salt that is designed especially for sticking to food such as popcorn. It has the taste of regular table salt, but its granules are much finer.

That Moon Girl

You know I despise commercial tv.  In fact, the day you see me watching The Price Is Right, load me into the car and head for Oregon.

It's not that I don't watch programs made for tv of course, I just do it on Netflix, commercial free.  Lately I have been watching a lot of Frazier.  Perhaps too much.  I find meself speakin' like Daphne Moon.  Just in my head, not out loud.

I have to watch Netflix on the computer, at the kitchen table.  It gets uncomfortable fairly rapidly.  Must get me knickers out of a knot and find the bloody WII remote!

Stayin' In

Yesterday it was mostly sunny and even when there were clouds, it was very bright out because of the snow.  A project came to mind.

We have newer, faster ways to do this of course, it's possible to use your printer to print an embroidery pattern directly onto adhesive wash-away stabilizer and then just stick it on to your fabric and start stitching.  This pattern is redwork and I just traced it on with a pen that disappears when you apply heat.

I did notice someone watching me.

The Supervisor, a snow lover!

Today, more excitement.  A dusting of snow this morning but power went out for about 2 1/2 hours just before noon.

Man on a pole!

 

 

 

Lucky that crocheting does not require plugging in. 

Simply Perfect Potato Soup

Why is it there is a  15 pound bag of potatoes on the kitchen island?  Well, the 5 pound bag didn't seem to have enough potatoes in it.  The 10 pound bag was $1.99.  What a deal!  Except...what's this, 15 pounds is $1.79!!  Less than 10 pounds?  Can't pass that up!

That was about a month ago.  The potatoes are fabulous and fresh out of the ground.  Right away I gave 6 to MNDeb.  I have baked two for dinners and used another two to cut up and cook with onions and an egg in the mornings.  I took a quick count and found still a dozen remaining.  Time for another recipe. Although as it turned out it only took two potatoes to make the 4 cups.

Fast and very good.  MNDeb and I had it with a little cheddar cheese shredded on top.  Just a little.

Simply Perfect Potato Soup

Adapted from AllRecipes(dot)com

4 cups peeled and diced potatoes      1/2 cup diced celery 1/2 cup finely chopped onion 1 cup diced cooked ham 3 1/2 cups chicken broth

1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste 1 teaspoon black pepper* 5 tablespoons butter 5 tablespoons all-purpose flour 2 cups milk

	Combine the potatoes, celery, onion, ham and water in a stockpot. Bring to a boil, then cook over medium heat until potatoes are tender, about 10 to 15 minutes. Stir in the chicken broth, salt and pepper.
	In a separate saucepan, melt butter over medium-low heat. Whisk in flour and cook, stirring constantly until thick, about 1 minute. Slowly stir in milk so as not to allow lumps to form until all of the milk has been added. Continue stirring over medium-low heat until thick, 4 to 5 minutes.
.	Stir the milk mixture into the stockpot, and cook soup until heated through. Serve immediately.

*This might seem like a lot of pepper but I thought it was perfect.