Chicken-Pesto Minestrone

Wow, this is so good!  Of course my recipe is a bit different because I used mostly what I had on hand.  I did buy asparagus which was $1.67 per pound and a couple of Roma tomatoes.  I would not hesitate to use a drained can of petite diced tomatoes next time because the tomatoes are there pretty much for the color.  Tomatoes that have traveled from Mexico do not have much flavor anyway.

You can find the original here:  http://bevcooks.com/2012/02/chicken-pesto-minestrone/

My version:

1/4 cup basil pesto (I used Classico)
1 10-ounce package frozen spinach
1 cup uncooked small shell pasta
6-8 cups chicken stock
1 shredded rotisserie chicken
1 bunch of asparagus
2 Roma tomatoes, seeded and coarsely chopped
Coarse salt and ground pepper
Shredded Parmesan cheese for garnish

Cook spinach according to package directions then pour into a food processor.  Add basil pesto and puree.  I added a bit of chicken stock to help the food processor along but never got a total puree.

Bring chicken broth to a gentle boil, add pasta and boil for a minutes.  Trim end of asparagus and cut into 1-inch pieces.  Add shredded chicken, spinach puree, tomatoes and asparagus to pot.  Add a pinch of salt and pepper and simmer for about 5 minutes or until pasta and asparagus are tender.

Taste for seasoning adjustment.  Serve garnished with shredded Parmesan cheese.  (Thanks Heather for finding this!)

Fun to serve on St. Patrick's Day if you are not into CB&C.

(Does anyone know how to add an accent mark in this program?  Or a degree mark?)

Design Wall Monday

Two more rows to sash and attach and then I can work on the borders.  This is my February UFO project that I had labeled as the Frolic quilt only it is the Freebird quilt because that's the name of the line!  Frolic is a similar colorway and I also have a jelly role of that on the shelf but that one didn't even make the 2012 UFO list, fps.

Stash Report Week 9

Uh-oh, lapsed.

 And I figured that this charm pack is almost a yard.  The sneaky little thing!  Ordering online got me in trouble this week and I didn't get my UFO quilt done either so nothing to offset those purchases.  Heavy. Sigh.
 
Added this week          6.5
Used this week            0.0
Added year to date     11.63
Used year to date         9.38
Net year to date           2.25 YARDS

TGIF or

TGIFF.  I saw this on a blog this morning and it stands for Thank Goodness It's Finished or even better Thank Goodness It's Finally Finished!   It made me laugh out loud because it is Friday and I have finished and then I said amen!

Today's quilts

A better picture of The Flower Pot Quilt.  Gaye took it home today after our staff meeting and quilted it on her long arm machine and also put on the binding.  She did a fabulous job and as I always say, the quilting makes the quilt look better!

Here is the quilt Gaye made for the Buggy Barn extravaganza.  It's one of my favorites and I love how it turned out.  It's larger by two rows but they had to be folded over because of the limited hanging space.  It's a good size bed quilt!

Design Wall Monday

Obviously not but I just want to prove that it's done.  At least my part.  I am very happy to have it finished.

I'll get a better picture outside someday.  The green and pink borders are much prettier IRL.

"President's Day"

I know.  A George Washington cookie.  Took the grump right out of me.  Thanks Gaye Ann!

Stash Report Week 8

Added this week           .25
Used this week            0.0
Added year to date      5.13
Used year to date         9.38
Net year to date          -4.25 YARDS

Worked a couple of extra shifts and of course still working on The Flower Pot Quilt.  No time for any personal projects.

A Crazed Shopping Moment

I pretty much never shop at Smith's because they have the highest grocery prices in the area, highest percentage of college students shopping and then there's the  b.s. about needing a card to get the sale prices.  However, they do have a fabulous cheese department and it was calling to me.

I almost zoomed past a pile of Best Mayonnaise jars.  The sign said $3.69 or $3.29 with your Smith's card OR $2.99 with your Smith's card AND if you buy TEN.  This buying ten business to get a sale price is another reason I don't shop there.  But really, $2.99!?!  And HA!  I do have a card!  It has bogus information on it and I learned that from someone near and dear to me who has a Safeway card under the name of Mrs. America.  Not the real Mrs. America's name of course, just first name Mrs., last name America.  It always makes me laugh.

There will be some people getting gift wrapped jars of mayo because really, it is crazy for a one person, two dog household to have 10 jars of it.

Oh yes, snow again on Sunday.  Kind of melting just like last Sunday.

QOD

"If we treated everyone we meet with the same affection we bestow on our favorite cat, they too, would purr."  Martin Buxbaum

Stash Report Week 7

Added this week         1.63
Used this week            6.63
Added year to date      4.88
Used year to date         9.38
Net year to date          -4.50 YARDS


Now there's a happy number, the stash really went down this week!  I bought enough to make a pillow case and I made a pillow case plus...

February-March Kitchen Curtains

Woo Hoo!  I never got the December-January curtains made so this makes me very happy.  Even though they are dark, the batik is very cheerful on a snowy day like today!

Light Snow

From the sewing room window

We woke to a steady rain, the kind when I open the door to let the dogs out they just stand there looking out but never step across the threshold.  It makes me laugh every time.

It changed to snow at about 7 and has been falling like this since then.  They are calling this light snow with little accumulation.  Current temp is 32 so it is heavy and wet and there will be no shoveling.  Maybe just some pushing if it stops.  It was 62 yesterday and the forecast for today originally was just rain.  I was excited when I got home from work because the driveway was finally dry cement in front of the gate which for more than a week had been a hazardous ice slick and then followed by a large puddle.

The boys were out less than a minute to take care of business and also eat some snow.

Dog Handmaiden

I suppose I really should say Dog Hand-matron so no one laughs but matron evokes an image of a scowling old woman dressed in grey, wearing nun shoes and working in a prison.

So there is always picking up in the yard but feeding is as much a time taker.  Interesting that the two are so related of course.  Every six weeks I haul in approximately 65 pounds of dry food and every week 20 pounds of raw chicken leg quarters.  That ratio changes, mostly related to weather, as I only give the dogs the raw chicken if they can eat it outside. The dry food is decanted into quart jars, one jar = one meal for one dog.  I buy two different kinds of dry food and put a cup and a half in each jar.  I also add one glucosamine tablet and a vitamin E capsule.  I fill twenty jars at a time.  When I refilled the jars this last time I discovered that almost all the vitamin E capsules were stuck in the bottoms, fps.  It's quite the process because the boys are underfoot just waiting for a piece of kibble to drop.  The dry food remaining in the bags is stored in the dog freezer which also has the 10 pounds bags of chicken.  As the jars are emptied they are stored under the island.

Still...

Slow Learner

I had some money left from my last paycheck and I decided to go to JoAnn's for Kona.  It was in the ad for 30% off and then today was an additional 20% off for seniors.   First I had to find the Kona  They have recently redone the fabric department and the Kona is at the front now.  I wondered why it wasn't posted at the 30% off and reviewed the flyer and wouldn't you know I had failed to note the dates and the Kona was no longer on sale.  Grrh.  They got me again!  Of course I did buy the knitting magazine because it was already on sale for 10% off so then with the additional discount it was an acceptable price and I really, really like that sweater on the front.

It wasn't until I sat down with the magazine that I remembered that my arms do not look like that.  You know, firm, and I had totally forgotten the 2 inch inner seam rule for minimum sleeve length.

Heavy Sigh.  I hope my sister doesn't already have this one.

The Quilt Formerly Known as Grawlix

What?  You're saying, what?

It's true, I not only have made peace with this quilt but I am really beginning to enjoy it!  I'm not sure why we had such a rough beginning (and also middle).  It could have been my general winter-no-sunshine problem.  It could have been not getting Christmas finished.  It could have been not getting any January projects done.  Whatever, we are having fun now.

Sadly, the quilt will be two weeks overdue and I hope I do not lose my job over it.  I will take the pieces in with me today because Gaye and I are closing and we will hopefully have a minute to lay it out and figure out the sashing.  And while sashing is usually straight (pun intended) forward, not so with TQFKAG.  That's just the way it is with The Flower Pot quilt.  :-)

Oh and this should be my Design Wall Monday post!

He's Back!

I can't think of too many people that make me think as hard as this man does.  I'm so glad he is back on public television:

http://billmoyers.com/

Stash Report Week 6

A little birthday bag

 Used this week (yards)            1.25

Added this week (yards)             .25

Used year to date (yards)          2.75

Added year to date (yards)        3.25

Net year to date total                   .50

I found a yard piece of a pastel "girlie" stripe in my stash that I gave to a friend who has a use for it and I made the gift bag.  I also picked up a quarter of a yard of some heavier kind of terry cloth that might be a better insulator for pot holders than batting.  Purchase price was 87 cents so worth the experiment!

Hmmm

Around Town

You have to be paying attention around here!  Buildings are falling and rising at an alarming rate and you find yourself saying "what used to be there?"

January in Review

For 15 minutes this morning there was a fabulously beautiful sky. 

 Pretty crabby today.  My January UFO project?  Not started.  My January Color Palette Challenge.  Not started.  My January Embroidery Project?  More than half done.  My Christmas projects?  Still not finished.   The sample quilt, Grawlix?  That nightmare continues.

So here it is February and none of the quilting I wanted to do in January was done.  Some of it was because I took the first week "off" because I was exhausted after the puppy tending.  The rest of it was poor time management and unrealistic expectations, i.e. Grawlix.

I did get some sewing done and order is being re-established in the sewing room.  Still, I am a month behind now and FPS!, February is two days shorter than January!!

January UFO

What I Learned Today

You can scan and email a document from the copy machine at the Library and it doesn't cost anything!  Yipee Skipee!