The Avocado Problem, Solved.

I love avocados.  When I have lunch with my old friend Torey at the East Bay Cafe on the Timpanogos Tech Campus, I frequently will buy a Cobb Salad because of the avocado.  You get half of an avocado on your salad and it's a big half.

Aside from the ripening challenge, I have so much trouble saving a remaining half here at home.  This week I found the solution and it's not even a gadget.

Small avocados!  The picture shows an avocado sitting in a quarter cup measuring spoon and next to a medium sized lemon.  An entire small avocado is the perfect size for one serving.  And they are even sorted that way at the grocery store because they are priced differently.  I would say "who knew?" but I've seen them before and they just never registered with me. 

Breakfast yesterday, a small egg quiche topped with the entire small avocado and splashed with some Sriracha.

Breakfast this morning, bacon, scrambled eggs, and avocado in a roll-up.  A little messy, one of those things you don't put down until you are done but so worth it.  Yum.

Finally...

It just won't stop but at least it is not sticking to roads or sidewalks.  Makes Springing ahead next Sunday seem silly.

Health Hazards

Big fires in the southeastern part of our county and about 10-15 miles from us.  The Pole Creek and the Bald Mountain have burned more than 100,000 acres.  No lives lost and possibly no homes either.  6,000 people evacuated some of whom are just tonight being allowed to return to their homes.  Air quality has been terrible because of the fires.

Kind of hard to take a picture of smoke but this is what our backyard looked like on Friday, September 14 at about 10:30 am.  It all has to do with the winds of course and so far, that has meant closing the windows the minute we get up because by then the air quality is already moving into the unhealthy zone.  Later in the afternoon it clears out and returns to normal or moderate levels.  We go to bed with doors and windows open only to start the whole air quality thing over the next day.  The fires are only at 23% containment so this could go on for some time.

For me it has meant burning eyes and feeling it in my lungs.  That's why we stay in during the day.  I'm curious what it does to Min, if anything and hopefully nothing at all.

The other health hazard:

It's Min herself, for pete's sake.  This is one of her favorite spots to snooze.  I like to think it's because she has a direct view of the front door and the house rules are no barking unless someone is actually walking up the front walk to the front door.  (I'm really the only one who follows it.)  

While this spot is not the actual center of the house, I need to step over her to get almost anywhere.  Generally I announce myself with a quiet "coming your way" or "heading to the sewing room", etc. so as not to startle her and have her jump up, knocking over me or the ironing board with the hot iron on it.  

Oh yes, and she has peeled that rug off the carpet tape that is designed to keep it from being a tripping problem.  Sigh.

The August Baby Quilts

I did finish the baby quilt with the black and lime flying geese border in August but I am not including that in the official count of August Baby Quilt.  I made two others start to finish and one that just needed the binding finished.  I am including that one here even though it was completed over the Labor Day weekend.  There will probably always be overlap from month to month, I just don't want to count any quilt twice :-)

This quilt was for my dear friend Torey's newest Great Grandson.  All the fabrics had been in the cupboard for some time, the newest being the blue and white print.  I used every bit of the red, yellow and white prints which had each been a third of a yard.  Notice that the borders on this quilt are all different.  No scraps left except some of the blue and white!

My neighbor bought this quilt for her niece's new baby.  This is the quick version of the Alex Anderson 3-Hour Baby Quilt (top).  The boarders are not pieced with flying geese which is what makes it much faster.  I was quite pleased with the end result and had plenty of the grey "rick-rack" fabric to use for the back.  Pat reported that the mother-to-be loved it!  Always nice to get some feedback.

You will recognize this quilt pattern but it's fun that while it was all stash fabric on the front, the cowboy fabric came from my sister's stash!  When I was out there in July, she suggested that I go through her stash and take what I wanted.  There was a good sized chunk of the cowboy fabric with spots that had been fussy cut for specific images.  Ha!  That was because she had used those images in a flying geese strip that she used to embellish a sweat shirt she gave me for Christmas...at least 20 years ago.

I just happened to have purchased a backing fabric this summer that was perfect. $4.99/yard from the flat-fold clearance table at The Cotton Shop. 

SMOA, visit #3

Amy and I went just last Tuesday and it seems like it was forever ago.  Tuesday was the day she went home but we discovered that the museum is no longer open on Sundays as it has been in the past and as Jan and I remembered after the fact, they aren't open on Mondays either.  So Tuesday it was.

Here are the quilts we voted for, Amy's first and then my choice:

I'd really like to go one more time...  The Quilt Show ends on September 22.

Serendipitous

I mean really, who would have thought that a rather routine book package from Big A could have provided so much delight before even reading the first sentence.  Not me.  I was a bit confused because the package felt like it might be a dvd set except that it was quite heavy and I didn't order a dvd set.

It is a book that I ordered after hearing the author, Beth Terry, interviewed by Doug Fabrizio on RadioWest,  a local program on NPR.

1 lb. 7 oz. !

with a measurement of 7"h x 6"h x1"d.

Plain cardboard covers that are 1/8" thick

It looks like it is hand bound which certainly can't be and because of this the pages lay very flat for easy reading.

Of course I don't know who Iris and Ron are but it is a signed by the author copy.

Altogether, a wonderful tactile experience.  Can't wait to start reading!

June-August Baby Quilt

I started this one in June and finished the binding in August.  I was gone 10 days in July and it threw me off in odd ways.  I think I just drifted about in the second half of July not getting much of anything accomplished.  Of course it was bloody hot here and that could have been part of it too.

This is my favorite pattern to use when there is a big bold print for the center.  I had also taken a challenge of making 100 geese units in a month and this quilt alone has 44!

What I learned.  I was intending to machine stitch the binding which means I sew it to the back and fold it over to the front and stitch again.  That was a mistake for two reasons.  I was so unhappy with my attempt at stitching on the front, I ripped out a section three times before giving up on that.  However, by folding from the back to the front, I had more that than a quarter of an inch to stitch down, now by hand.  That extra binding covered all the outside points of the geese.  It would have happened whichever method I used, machine or by hand.  No baby will notice of course, but it surely annoys me.

I took this photo in the early morning before the sun was over the mountain.  The colors look good except the corners are more coral than red.

The quilt measures approx. 45" by 48".

SMOA - Second Visit

This time it was me, Carol, Carrie and her nephew Peter who starts kindergarten tomorrow.  A very nicely behaved boy!  And, there were more visitors today often with husbands.

This is the quilt I voted for this time:

Because of the fabric choices, men's shirts, it's a very comfortable, soft, peaceful looking quilt.  Makes me think of the Japanese quilters and the colors so many of them work in.

I'm hoping to go to the museum at least one more time.

SMOA

First trip, if you don't count Monday when we discovered they were closed, to The 45th Annual Springville Quilt Show.  I wish I knew what year I first started attending this wonderful exhibit of quilts mostly by local Utah quilters.

Here is my favorite from today and the one I voted for:

This was big, at least a twin sized quilt, but no measurements were given.  Also hand quilted!  We love that.

And one more, a close up because oh boy, I really, really love this quilt.

Today's View

I would say the deck dropped another three inches overnight.  sigh

Not the way I wanted to restart

This is the picture I took at 9 this morning on my way to Macys to take my blood pressure.

Once again, my street is closed but this time it is the west side of University.  Detouring still required to get west of course but north and south are accessible.

I thought that was as exciting as the day would be but Jan called just before noon.  She was feeling pretty good and suggested that we go to The Quilt Show at the Springville Museum of Art.  It's a tradition with us, just like the tulip festival at Thanksgiving Point.  I was picking her up at 2 so she could grab a quick nap.

Our first clue should have been that there were not very many cars in the lot.  We walked to the door with the women that had pulled in right behind us.  Door was locked.  Museum not open on Mondays.  Heavy Sigh.  Three of the five of us knew that but hadn't remembered that it was Monday I guess.

Dropped Jan off, tentatively scheduled for tomorrow.  If I had come to the computer which sits on the kitchen table, I might have noticed another clue.

A leaning umbrella...

The big dog needed to go out and I had seen what looked to be two more cucumbers as I looked out the window.  Yes, there were two more cucumbers and as I was lifting leaves to see if there were even more, I heard Min make a sudden move on the deck, like she was slipping.  Not uncommon for her but why?

It's a little hard to tell but the deck is falling off the house.  You can see in the first picture it has dropped about 6-8 inches.  The second picture shows the angle of the railing to the house.

I have since moved the table and chair ever so carefully because it doesn't feel very secure and then I noticed this:

Right where my toe is the planks are separating.  Above the line is even with the planks that butt up to the house.  Hopefully that will not be larger in the morning.  There will be a deck man here tomorrow morning to see what should be done.

So, I wonder what my blood pressure reads now.

One of Our Very Favorites!

Asian Zoodles with Chicken

1 lb. rotisserie chicken cut into bite sized pieces

oil

1 small onion, diced

4 cups shredded cabbage

2 cloves garlic, minced or pressed

2 teaspoons fresh ginger, grated, I used Gourmet Garden Ginger Paste

1/3 cup low sodium soy sauce

1 tablespoon sesame oil

2 medium zucchini, spiralized

Heat a large skillet on medium high heat.  Add oil.  Add onion, cabbage, and zoodles; cook for 5 minutes.  Add chicken.

In a small bowl, mix together garlic, ginger, soy sauce, and sesame oil.  Pour into skillet and cook for 5 minutes.

5 servings

Right after I took the picture, I realized there was no way to toss and stir that panful of goodness and had to switch to a larger pan.

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Busy Hands

Baby sweater update and Amy is "winning".

All she had left to finish yesterday was to seam the underarm of the sleeves.  There was 29 grams of yarn left on the ball so....

enough to whip up an ickle baby hat! Still 7 grams of yarn left when the hat was finished.  It will be interesting to see how the yarn works out for me.

I am behind, as usual, and have 11 inches to go.  Just straight knitting for the body of the sweater.  I hope to have enough for a wee hat as well.

Sleeves finished

However, I did whip this up because I needed some machine time and this is a great little project.

The Open Wide Pouch

Chunky Chicken Salad - Hellman’s/Best Foods

• 1/4 cup Hellmann's® or Best Foods® Real Mayonnaise

• 1/4 cup Wish-Bone® Italian Dressing

• 4 cups cut-up cooked chicken or turkey

• 2 Tbsp. chopped red onion

• 2 Tbsp. chopped red and/or yellow bell pepper

• 2 Tbsp. chopped celery

Combine mayo and Italian dressing then pour over remaining ingredients.  Chill.

A new recipe we tried and really liked using rotisserie chicken.

Grilling

This week I picked up 1/8 of an organically-grass fed steer.  65 pounds.  Two years of meat, at least.  We grilled up the first package tonight.  Oh boy was it good.

mine

Amy's

We also tried a new recipe with corn we got from the farm.  A hit as well!

Mexican Street Corn Salad

Oil

5 ears of fresh corn

3/4 teaspoon ground cumin

3/4 teaspoon chili powder

4 1/2 tablespoons sour cream

1 1/2 tablespoons fresh lime juice

4 tablespoons crumbled Cojita cheese

Heat oil in a large skillet to medium high.  Cut corn from cobs, add to pan and sauté until tender and lightly browned, stirring occasionally, 5-7 minutes.  Add chili powder and cumin, cook 2 minutes more or until fragrant.

Remove skillet from heat and stir in sour cream and lime juice.  Sprinkle with cheese.  Serve warm or at room temperature.  Makes 10 side servings

(If you like cilantro, chop and stir in with sour cream)

Very gusty breezes tonight!

Simple Spaghetti Sauce

Periodically we try different spaghetti sauce recipes but here is our most recent iteration and it is what I think of as classic:

SImple Spaghetti Sauce

1 large sweet onion, chopped

1 large red bell pepper, chopped

1 medium green bell pepper, chopped

3 cloves of garlic, minced or pressed

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 teaspoon Italian seasoning

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1 lb. ground beef

1 14-oz. can diced tomatoes

1 8-oz.can tomato sauce

1 6-oz. can tomato paste

1 cup water

Sauté onion and peppers in oil until beginning to get tender, add garlic and stir until fragrant.  Remove from pan and set aside.

Brown beef, breaking apart as it cooks.  Drain.  Add tomatoes, tomato sauce and paste, stir to combine add as much water as needed.  I usually fill the tomato sauce can with water. 

Add vegetables back to pot and simmer until tender, 30-45 minutes.  Check seasonings and serve.  We enjoy this over zoodles.  4-6 servings.

My zucchini plant only yielded 4 zucchinis but fortunately I get at least 3 from the farm each week.

A new alpaca baby!

Sliders

A great dinner!

King Hawaiian Sliders -  by Nick Iverson from Taste of Home magazine

2 pkg. (18-oz. each) Hawaiian sweet rolls*

4 cups (16-oz) shredded cheddar cheese, divided

2 lbs. ground beef

1 cup chopped onion

1 can (14-oz.)diced tomatoes with garlic and onions, drained

1 Tablespoon Dijon mustard

1 Tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

3/4 teaspoon salt

3/4 teaspoon pepper

24 bacon strips, cooked and crumbled*

Glaze

1 cup butter, cubed

1/4 cup packed brown sugar

4 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce

2 Tablespoons Dijon mustard

Preheat oven to 350.  Without separating the rolls, cut each package of rolls horizontally in half; arrange bottom halves in two greased 9x13 baking pans*.  Sprinkle with 1 cup of cheese.  Bake 3-5 minutes or until cheese is melted.

In a large skillet, cook beef and onion over medium heat 6-8 minutes until beef is no longer pink and onion is tender, breaking beef into crumbles; drain.  Stir in tomatoes, mustard, Worcestershire sauce, salt, and pepper.  Cook and stir 1-2 minutes until combined.

Spoon beef mixture evenly over the rolls; sprinkle with remaining cheese.  Top with bacon.  Replace tops.  For glaze; melt all ingredients together, stirring occasionally.  Pour glaze over rolls.  Bake uncovered, 15-20 minutes or until golden brown and heated through.

*Notes:  

24 strips of bacon is approximately 6 oz. of the pre-cooked and crumbed Kirkland bacon from Costco. 

I did not find 18-oz. packages of the Hawaiian rolls, only 12-oz. packages.  We configured them to one 9x13 and one 7x11.  If there is too much space in the pan, you run the risk of burning the glaze on the bottom.

You do have to watch these so the tops do not burn. 

We ate these with a fork and knife.

Freezing option:  Cover and freeze unbaked sandwiches; prepare and freeze glaze.  To use, partially thaw in refrigerator overnight.  Remove from refrigerator 30 minutes before baking.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Pour glaze over buns.  Bake sandwiches as directed, increasing time by 10 - 15 minutes or until cheese is melted and a thermometer inserted in center reads 165 degrees. 

Not a knitting injury but from a box grater!

Bowls

Grey and blue self striping yarns

Amy is here on vacation for a week.  So fun to have her here!  Yesterday we sat out on the swing and started a knitting project, baby sweaters for Yvonne's coming baby boy.

And yesterday we also went to the Provo Farmers Market and we bought 5 lbs. of local nectarines.  Yum, yum, yum!

MYO Cream Cheese Spread

1 cup softened cream cheese

1 teaspoon dried parsley flakes

1/2 teaspoon dried chives

1/4 teaspoon dried dill weed

1/2 teaspoon Beau Monde seasoning

Stir all together and chill an hour before serving.

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Parsnips? What?

I know, I have a thing about my Spiralizer but when I saw this recipe that uses spiralized parsnips, I was surprised and eager to try it.  The only time I have used parsnips is in a beef stew.  Jimmy Wilson used them diced in his pastie recipe along with potatoes and carrots.  They have a sweet taste similar to carrots but different.

It was a little tricky to spiralize the parsnips I found because they were not very large.  Also not every store here carries them.  That did not surprise me but I hope maybe next week to get to the Provo Farmers' Market and perhaps find some there.

It was all I could do not to eat the entire pan of this!

Broccoli, Parsnip, and Sausage “Pasta”  adapted from Skinnytaste.com

• 2 cups bite-sized broccoli pieces

• 1/2 lb. Mild Italian Sausage

• 1/2 tsp dried oregano

• 2 parsnips, peeled, spiralized, noodles trimmed

• 2 cloves garlic, minced

    1/2 cup quartered mushrooms, optional

• 1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

• kosher salt and black pepper

• 1/2 cup low sodium chicken broth

• 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese

Place a large skillet over medium heat. When hot, add the sausage and oregano and cook, breaking up with a wooden spoon 6 to 8 minutes, until browned. Transfer to a plate.  

Add the broccoli to the skillet with the garlic, mushrooms, and red pepper flakes and cook about 2 minutes, then add broth and parsnip noodles and cook until the noodles are al dente, about 5 minutes.

Return sausage to the skillet, add the cheese and stir to combine. 

2 servings