a couple of new recipes

I've tried out a couple of new recipes this month.

First there was Pork Carnitas.  I followed this recipe (click to see recipe) but instead of simmering the pork on top of the stove, I braised it in the oven.

And I made a Tomatillo sauce using this recipe...except I roasted the tomatillos rather than boiling them. There was plenty of juice and I didn't need to add water.

The Carnitas were good. 

It's one of Choppers favorites at the Mexican restaurants. He said they just serve the pork and sauce with tortillas, so that's the way we ate them for Sunday dinner,  but when eating as leftovers we found they are better with lettuce, tomato and some shredded cheese on them.

I've been wanting to try making Cabbage Rolls ever since my dental hygienist was talking about how good hers are. She is from Romania so I'd like to get her recipe sometime, but meanwhile I tried out  this recipe, except I microwaved the head of cabbage to soften it and baked the rolls in the oven instead of simmering on the stove.

I think my rolls may have been a bit small...

...but they were tasty.

Lonnie really liked them and I had plenty to freeze for later.  I think they might be good with a slice of American cheese melted on top!

While I'm talking about food...I've been buying papayas at the grocery.  They are delicious - so long as you let them ripen until they are fairly soft.

The information book in the produce section at Kroger said the seeds are edible...well sure they are but they taste horrible!

I have the top all sewn together for the Ninja quilt. This photo is a little washed out. It's brighter than this.

Next, I am going to put together another top like this but in girly colors because I am not sure if the upcoming new arrival is a boy or a girl.  

Either way I will be glad to have an extra baby quilt on hand...it seems like they just keep coming!

My outdoor project is re-doing this flower bed.  I've dug out an overgrown Forsythia that was there when we moved here in 1986.  It was the kind that arcs over and had an out of control, messy growth habit. It only looked pretty a couple of weeks a year when it bloomed. The rest of the time it was just a tangle of stems, no matter how much I trimmed and pruned.  

I did save about 8 or 10 "babies" from it - you can see them there on the right. Not sure what I'll do with them...maybe plant along the edge of the woods.

Now, I will thin out and spread the Iris, Day Lilies, Daffodils and Crocosmia  growing in there.

Also I will lift those three asparagus plants (you can see the tall stalks - used to be my asparagus bed) and give them to the Sasquatch who is going to try growing some asparagus.

I still think I need something taller and larger to balance out that side of the bed...maybe a small evergreen?  I have some growing in containers that I could use. I'll keep thinking about it as I continue cleaning it up.

some sewing, and pickled eggs

Here's what I've been working on...This is my main project.  I have around 300 of the nine patch squares made and I'm putting them into blocks with the gold fabric.

The pattern is not my idea. I am shamelessly copying a quilt I saw online. It's a good pattern to use up some of my smallest pieces of leftover fabrics.

And to keep from getting burned out on my main project, I am also working on a little boy quilt.

I had ordered a bundle of fabric fat quarters online. They were labeled as "I Spy" fabrics, so I expected to get lots of children's and novelty prints.  

When my order arrived, most of the fabrics wouldn't really work for playing "I Spy" in a toddler quilt. However there was this cute Ninja fabric and some coordinating prints in there.

Not a lot to work with but I added some fabrics from my stash and it will be enough for a quilt.

Unrelated...pickled eggs.   By coinsidence, my older brother and I both started experimenting with pickled egg recipes around the same time.  I had just made a batch when I saw on his FB page that he had made some too.

My first batch had water added to the vinegar and didn't seem pickle-ey enough, and it had too much of a clove flavor from the pickling spice blend I'd bought.

Next, I bought a jar of the expensive pink pickled eggs from the grocery to find out exactly what sort of taste pickled eggs should have.  That was a waste of money. Mine were better.

For this second batch, I left out the sugar and used vinegar, spices, red onions and jalapenos.

They have to set in the fridge for about a week to soak up the flavor...then I'll see if I need to make any more changes.

what's cooking

Click here  to see the recipe for Lemon Loaf.    That link will take you to a blog with a lot of good recipes. The blogger is a ranch wife who has to cook for a crew of hired hands during the times when they are there to work the cattle...so she knows how to make some tasty chow.

The Lemon Loaf recipe is not her original recipe, but it's one she tried and recommended.
She is right...it's good!

My glaze turned out a bit too thin and runny. I will have to make another one soon and try again.

And here is something else fattening...bacon wrapped, cheese filled hot dogs.

Chopper mentioned that he remembered me making these when he was little, so I thought I would make some again and surprise him. 

Actually, my dad made these a few times when we were kids - that's where I got the idea.

Well, the bacon could have been a bit more done and a lot of the cheese ran out on to the baking sheet (but it was easily scraped off and smeared back on top of the dog).

 

Whew, they are rich, so a few of them go long way.  A nice combination of flavors.

 They were even better reheated in the microwave later...it helped to crisp up the bacon a bit more.

tree trimmers

 We had a tree company to trim up some Maple tree branches that were overhanging and touching our roof.   It was a local company that we hadn't used before but I would highly recommend them...Blankenship Tree Service.
It's family owned and there were 3 generations there to do the job. The grandfather, who started the company, his son, who is a certified arborist, and 3 adult grandsons.

They did most of the work from a cherry picker truck, lowering the cut branches with ropes. They had to take quite a bit off - the limbs hanging over the roof and also an equal amount from the opposite side to keep the tree looking balanced.

Then the grandsons climbed up and "cabled" three of the larger limbs together, for less movement in strong winds. 

Next, they moved the truck to trim some Sassafras trees behind the pool house.

Mike, the son, was very skilled at getting the bucket just where he wanted it.

That's grandfather, Earl, at the other end of the rope on the ground.

They were fast and efficient and cleared away all the branches. 

They even used a blower to clear sawdust off the roof and walkways.

I think when summer gets here we might notice that we have a little less shade but it had to be done to prevent damage to the roof and danger from falling limbs.

brown sugar pound cake

I came across this recipe online for Brown Sugar Pound Cake((click here to go to recipe). It sounded really good and, even better, it called for toffee bits and sweetened condensed milk...both were items that I bought on closeout after Christmas.

I scaled the recipe back a bit for a smaller cake but still used the whole bag of toffee bits. Also cut back on the amount of sugar used in the caramel glaze.

 It was a good cake - the recipe is a keeper.

 Here's what's going on in the sewing room.  I am sorting through my smallest fabric bits and cutting them into 1 3/4" squares.

I'm sewing them into nine patch units.  I'll be needing about 300 of them.

Hmmm...300 x 9...equals 2700.   Eek!   2700 little squares to cut!

Actually, it's fun to match them up and they're quick to sew.

And here's what else...I ordered a whole roll of batting.  I've been thinking about it for awhile.

It's always hard to get the wrinkles and puckers out of the folded packaged batting, and then there are the odd strips and pieces left over when it's trimmed to fit the quilt.  

This way I can cut just the width I need. It should cut down on waste.

I watched and waited until JoAnn's had a 50% off sale and used a free shipping coupon, and used up a gift card from Christmas...but it was still an investment.  And it takes up a lot of room.

This is a nice quality brand of batting and it's made in the USA.

It's 90" by 40 yards.   It will last me a loooong time.

finished baby quilt

While we humans rush to the store for milk and bread when it snows, the birds are hanging out close to the bird feeder, waiting for an empty perch so they can hurriedly gobble down a couple of sunflower seeds.

  I counted 12 male cardinals in this apple tree and a couple more on the ground.  There are females in there too but they are hard to see.

I've been working on a baby quilt for a baby on Lonnie's side of the family. The pattern came from a magazine. It was for a wall hanging but it was easy to just make more blocks and make it baby quilt sized.

The flowers were appliqued on. That's a technique that I don't have much experience with.

You cut the shapes from freezer paper and iron onto your fabric. Cut around the paper leaving seam allowance.

Snip the seam allowance on the curved edges...

Dot with glue and iron the raw edges to the back. 

Remove the paper and there's your piece ready to attach to the background.

I just sewed the flowers down with a straight stitch on my machine.  This is a wrong and bad way to do this.  It doesn't make a nice smooth finish, but at least it won't ravel or come apart.

Here is the finished quilt...

The colors are much more vivid than either photo shows.  More like this.... 

You might notice that this quilt is more puckery than usual. I had to run it through the washer and dryer to remove the glue used for the applique pieces.

Here is the fabric I used for the back...Cute!

Now I need to box it up and get it in the mail to baby Piper.

photos from October

I was unloading photos from the camera to the computer and thought I would take a minute and show these photos - from October- of Barbara's donation quilt.

She had collected the blocks in a  quilt block exchange group and wanted to use them in a donation quilt. I told her I would put the blocks together and quilt it.
So here it is all finished...

It turned out so bright and cheerful!  Barbara told me later that she gave the quilt to an elderly "shut-in", a member of her church.

On the back I used this "cheater" quilt fabric...it's printed to look like a quilt.  

I had bought this fabric from a lady who was downsizing and selling off some of her stash, so it helped her out in a small way, gave me a bargain on fabric...and Barbara was able to brighten up her elderly friend's day, who now has a nice quilt to snuggle with. Win-win all around.

 Also in the camera from October...a beautiful fall sunrise....

 It changes so fast...

Here comes the sun...

🙋💗