Practicing, Practicing, Practicing

I had done some practicing on smaller pieces, 12x18 and thought it was time to try a larger piece.  This quilt is 36x36.  Jan and I took a class in 2001..  She was making a queen sized quilt for her daughter who was getting married.  I was planning on a full size which is about 80x90.

This is what I had pieced together.  There are more blocks made and more fabric left to make more blocks but really it was at the beginning of my serious quilt making craziness and not many of those pinwheels meet at the center.  I thought it would make a good practice piece and it did.  I learned about moving the quilt around on the table and also how the machine and the operator have to deal with those lumpy pinwheel centers where so many seams meet occasionally.  Top and bottom tension adjustments are a learning curve as well.

So while not something I will even bother to bind and put in the DI box, it was a good piece to practice on.  The extra blocks I callously just tossed.  Now I will go back to 12x18 pieces and practice some more.

I never think to take a stained glass picture until after it is too late  It's a fun effect.

a new blankie for Dylan

Taco Seasoning

I gave this one a try because, amazingly, I had everything I needed.  It is perfect for me.

Taco Seasoning – (slightly adapted from Barefeet In The Kitchen who adapted from allrecipes)

4 tablespoons of chili powder

1 teaspoon red pepper flakes

¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 teaspoon oregano

2 teaspoons smoked paprika

2 tablespoons ground cumin

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon onion powder

1 tablespoon kosher salt

1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

In a small bowl, stir together all of the spices. Store the seasoning mix in an airtight container.

I tested the mix by making enchiladas.

3/4 lb. ground beef

1  tablespoon of taco seasoning

6 corn tortillas

1 pint jar of tomatoes from my very own garden

1 small can of green chiles

chopped onion

shredded cheese

Brown beef, breaking with the back of a spoon, then drain off any fat.  Add taco seasoning and about a cup of water.  Simmer until water is pretty much gone.

While meat is simmering, add tomatoes and chilis to a small saucepan and simmer.  I let them reduce about a third and then pushed the mixture through a sieve.  I ended up with a nice mild enchilada sauce.  I like this so much that I will never buy a can of enchilada sauce again.  (Also because I bought a case of green chiles when they were on sale.  Yes, 24 cans.  Laughable for a German-American.)

Fill tortillas with meat, onion and cheese and roll tightly.  Hahaha, it's just a suggestion because I can't do it!  I put three tacos in my favorite cooking-for-one Pyrex baking dish.  It's 3 cups, 7x5x1.5 inches and has a plastic lid which makes it nice for refrigerator or freezer.

Cover with sauce, a little more cheese and bake at 350° until top is crispy.  Perfect!

Count Me In

Every month I get  newsletter from Superior Threads.  Bob, who owns Superior Threads, is Josh's uncle.  (Josh, my bud, was our Payroll intern.)  The last thing in every newsletter is a joke.  This was in the newsletter today:

BOB'S SUPERIOR JOKE
	A driver was stuck in a traffic jam on the highway outside Washington, DC.  Nothing was moving. Suddenly, a man knocks on the window.  The driver rolls down the window and asks, "What's going on?"  "Terrorists have kidnapped the entire U.S. Congress and they're demanding a $10 million dollar ransom.  Otherwise, they are going to douse them all in gasoline and set them on fire. We are going from car to car, collecting donations."  "How much is everyone giving, on average?" the driver asks.  The man replies, "About two gallons."

Penny Update

On Monday February 4, 2013, Canada stopped minting pennies because well, the same as it is here, they cost more to make than they are worth.

Those Canadians.  Everyone has health care,  there are sane gun laws and they have ended the wasteful expense of minting a penny.  Perhaps it's all that cold air that helps them think clearly.

It's the US zinc lobby that keeps the expensive penny in pockets here.

On the Needles 2/15

A joyfully sunny day today!  So here is one week's worth of work on the Baby Surprise Jacket.  By the end of last night's class, I had finished row 14.  I actually knit 18 rows because I had to rip out and re-do the first four rows.

It's pretty exciting to add another color and I have two more colors to add as I go along but the main color will be the green.  This is only a 4 week class so to keep on schedule I will need to get to row 45 by next Thursday.  I'm stoked!

(The math so far:  14 rows = 2088 stitches)

HBE

Because of the new stove top, I've had to do some "eggs"-perimenting with the timing of hard boiled eggs.

For years I believe I used Martha's method which was to place eggs in cold water, bring to a boil, remove from heat, cover and let sit for 16 minutes.  It's possible that the 16 minutes had been adjusted for elevation but regardless, that was no longer working on the induction unit.  So, there has been much adjusting of times as well as the bring to a boil temperature.  Finally, today I was successful!

4 eggs straight from the fridge placed in my smallest saucepan*.  Cover with cold water an inch over the top of the eggs.  Bring water to a boil using the second to the highest setting. When boiling begins, cover and turn off the heat but leave pan on heating unit.  Wait 20 minutes.  Pour off hot water, crash the eggs around in the pan and fill with cold water to stop cooking.  Peel and enjoy.  This works for me.

*  I starred this because I try to use the word sauce as much as possible.  I say it out loud for no reason at all except that it makes us laugh.  I say it like Jacque says it... sew ssss.  Really, it cracks us up every time.  (Ha! an egg joke)  That's him under the bowl of eggs.

Common Sense or Otherwise

It's been talked about for years and yet no one in Congress seems to be able to act on this very easy cost saving measure.   It costs more to mint pennies than they are worth.  Way more.

Nice article this morning from the PBS Newshour's Paul Solman that you can read here but this video is entertaining and to the point:

Dash off a quick email to your representatives in Congress about the "cents" of ending pennies.  This should be a no-brainer, fps, so perhaps there is a penny lobby.