Some Favorites

Sometimes I can easily pick the most favorite Book of the Year but not this year.   So instead here are three books that make The Favorite Books of 2016.

Food in Jars - Marissa McClellan, 
     I had a lot of fun with this book during canning season.

Why We Get Fat - Gary Taubes 
     Science easily understood

The Quilters - Women and Domestic Art - Cooper and Buferd
     This is a compilation of interviews that is a warm historical treasure.  

The Extender

It's something Amy didn't use because the ends were too thick, making them too difficult to get under  a piece of meat and turn it over in a pan.  Take it she said.  OK!

This is the topmost shelf in the staples cabinet and there is another cabinet on top of this one.  Higher ceilings and no pantry is why this happened. It is 83" from the floor making access a step stool requirement.

Ha! Not anymore.  Those thick ends make easy gripping, not to say some caution isn't required as I would not want to sustain a head injury due to relaxed vigilance.  Still, there was nowhere else to store 26 cans of broth at $.40 per can.

At 24", there was not a drawer that could be rearranged but I did find the perfect  storage space...

Hanging on the side of the basket that holds the garbage.

Oh, and the extender came in handy this morning, too.

Catching Up

The January baby quilt was completed but it was completed in February.  It took two charm packs of Kate  Spain's Honey, Honey and the pattern is a split 4-patch   It's bordered with 2 1/2 inch strips of coordinating solids. Finished size is 44x44, a good size for a baby quit but just big enough that I had to piece the back. Quilting is stitch #18 on my machine which I call the wiggle stitch. I quilted over every seam because I had pressed all those seams open. Won't do that again.

It's washed and ready to gift when needed which means it gets counted against the stash and placed in the fabric cabinet. Yay, d-o-n-e.  Better late than another UFO!

Ranch

Not Utah, but it is a googled picture of a ranch in springtime and it is truly a Spring Day here, sunny and 66 degrees.  Windows and doors have been appropriately flung open!

So salad sounded good for lunch but I did have to mix up some dressing.  This Ranch Dressing recipe from Barefeet in The Kitchen is my favorite.  I pretty much make it as per but I did reduce the milk to make it just a little thicker.

Homemade Ranch Salad Dressing
Yield: about 1 1/2 cups

1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup sour cream
1/3 cup buttermilk or regular milk
3/4 teaspoon dried dill weed
1/2 teaspoon dried parsley
1/2 teaspoon dried chives
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
1/8 teaspoon finely cracked pepper
freshly squeezed lemon juice to taste, 1-3 teaspoons

Whisk together mayo, sour cream and milk until smooth. Add spices and whisk until combined. Add the lemon and whisk again. Pour into a jar and chill in the refrigerator before serving. 

Notes:  I keep dry buttermilk on hand also I like 3 teaspoons of lemon juice but only a teaspoon if I have to use the stuff in the green bottle.

Well, Hello February!

Pretty sure the groundhog will not see his shadow tomorrow!

I shoveled twice yesterday and twice today.  Light powdery snow so easy shoveling and those sidewalks and driveways that were shoveled both days melted to dry pavement as the days warmed up.  A good thing too because now we have two very cold days predicted before we get back into the mid 30s for daytime highs.

It was a very good day to be at the sewing machine quilting the January baby quilt.  There is a heat vent under the sewing table, directly in front of my feet.

PSA for Sewists

I was sewing on a block yesterday and had just finished a seam. I pulled it out from under the presser foot only to discover it was not sewn together because I had run out of bobbin thread. No alarm had sounded and it should have as that is a feature of my machine.  However, because this has happened before, I didn't run my machine over to the Cotton Shop for repair. That would have been embarrassing as is so shockingly shown in the picture.

So I've decided to make cleaning my machine an end of the month, every month, priority. You might want to consider it if your are sewing constantly.

Testing

Ha!  Perhaps it is just my positive attitude today and even though I did not spend any time editing or I should say finding out about editing in iPhoto, I am calling this a victory.

A clear sign for all of 2016.  Yay!