It's Almost Halloween

It's almost Halloween. Candy, check. Trick or treat bag, check. Hollywood is bringing her little charge to our neighborhood to trick or treat, so I made him a fancy bag. Hollywood has fond memories of trick or treating, we have a fun neighborhood. My mom usually made chili for Halloween, but we're attending a chili cook-off Saturday, so I think I'll pass on that tradition.

This is what Bones thinks about the approaching holiday. "Oh no....doorbells and laughing children. I hate both." I'll get the old man cozy in his crate so he doesn't bark all evening. He loves his crate. Or, I might dress him up in a costume. Ya hear that Bones? Behave.

Look at the size of these dried chili peppers. I have no idea how to use them, but I'm going to find out. Mexican night again. Everyone will be happy. Adios!

A Finish

I was trying to find a neutral linen for the bottom of my tote bag, but then I stumbled on this colorful IKEA print. The bonus is that it's a nice and heavy canvas. And mostly black to hide dirt.

I got a little ambitious and tried an inset zipper inside of the bag. Piece of cake. The detailed instructions I found held my hand the entire way. I almost feel like an accomplished zipper putter inner.

I also added a row of pockets on the other side of the lining. One can never have enough pockets in a bag. But your car keys will always be at the bottom.

All done. I had second thoughts about the busy IKEA fabric, but I think it's growing on me.

If you're looking to win a giveaway, your odds are pretty good on this calendar giveaway. I'm going to pick a winner in the next few days before I forget all about it.

Selvages, Selvedges

I gave this apple cake a try. The Inspector loves apple pie. He would eat it daily. We've been doing the grocery shopping together (I know), so he put a bag of Jonathan apples in the cart as a hint. I've been eating an apple a day. Jonathan apples are really good and not as big as your head like some of those apple varieties. Wish I had read the recipe a little closer and saw that peeling the apples wasn't really necessary. I spoiled my dinner eating apple skins. I've always thought that was the best part of the apple.

Had a great time playing with my selvages yesterday. Do you write selvage or selvedge? The latter is the British English version. It took me years to figure out one way to write it. I'm making a tote bag from these little 4" string-like blocks.

I only need 16 blocks. Kind of sad to quit piecing. They make interesting secondary designs. I put the selvages on muslin foundations.

Dumb dot, ribbon registration/color marks, and teed off tulips.

Good Folks, because many of my selvages are gifted by good folks.

Three of my favorite fabric designers. Kaffe Fassett, Brandon Mably and Jane A. Sassaman.

Love the little black sewing machine on this Japanese selvage. Yumi, if you're reading, what does the type say?

How about one in all color dots?

Didn't even put a dent in the collection. I can't wait to use them again.

Dinner last night was a variation of this Greek Roasted Shrimp with Feta. I used boneless, skinless chicken thighs in place of the shrimp. I just browned them first. The dish was really good. It makes a tangy tomato sauce with white wine, calamata olives, feta cheese, breadcrumbs, and lemon. I'll have to try it with shrimp next time.

A Monday in May

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I found a little distraction over the weekend and made a quick tote bag. The instructions can be found here.

Ellison Lane Quilts kicked off the Summer Sampler Sew Along today. The blocks will feature the tasty treats of summer. The first block was a Popsicle. I made a banana one, because those were my favorite as a kid.

Our ice cream man was named Smitty and he looked a lot like Santa Claus. He had a neat old truck, wore red suspenders, and smoked cigars. If you forgot your money, Smitty would front you a cool treat for the walk home from school. We always remembered to pay him back the next day.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Mother's Day. My family was good to me as usual. And I was able to see my mama before she flitted off to the Virgin Islands. My favorite gift was this Rachael Ray Garbage Bowl.I usually use a plastic grocery bag beside my cutting board, so I'm styling now.

My usual Sunday family dinner of roasted chicken. I put sun dried tomato and herbed goat cheese under and on the skin before baking. Get the how to right here. I served the chicken with mashed potatoes, pan sauce, lentils, corn on the cob, salad, and cornbread.

Tuesday Tidings

The tequila lime chicken was okay. Meh. I doubt I'd waste tequila make it again. I do love grilled chicken thighs, but just a spicy rub or Asian inspired marinade is more my cup of tea. I made barbecued chicken a couple of weeks ago and forgot how good that is. Barbecue sauce gets really nice on the grill. Even the bottled stuff.

To go along with the chicken, I made a Mexican rice recipe that was long and drawn out. It was also just okay. Too bad it made such a gob of it. I think it needs more tomato.

At least the salad was good. It's hard to mess up a salad. You win some, you lose some. We sure didn't go hungry, but it wasn't the most memorable meal. As my maw always said, "fill up on salad if you don't care for the liver squash casserole."

Still in ladybug mode. This taggie toy was fun and easy.

I also made a little coloring tote for Hollywood's charge. The tutorial is right here. Note, it holds smaller size coloring books, but you can adjust it to hold just about anything. I think blank paper would be nice too. Encourages creativity or a quick game of tic-tac-toe.

We Survived

We survived Tropical Storm Issac. Our bored Florida meteorologists get so worked up. Poor people never get any snow, blizzards, earthquakes, etc. Even hurricanes are few and far between. That's why we're the Sunshine State! We didn't get much rain or wind. Bones was brave and weathered the storm like a champ. As long as there's no thunder or heavy rains, Bones is cool.

The rainy day put me in a baking mood, so I whipped up October Farm's butterhorn rolls. I halved the recipe. Inspector Gadget can only eat so much bread and the kiddos started back to college so I have no idea when I'll see them again. An empty nest is awful when you like to cook. I may have to open a restaurant or rent some children.

To go along with the rolls, I made this basil lime chicken. Yep, I was out there grilling in the middle of a hurricane cloudy day. Ha ha! My produce market had purple potatoes, which I've never seen in person or eaten. I have watched a Chopped episode that had them as a mystery ingredient. I simply boiled them and tossed them with fresh parsley, butter, sea salt, and pepper. I wonder if the purple variety have a lower glycemic level like sweet potatoes? They tasted like regular potatoes. The chicken was spectacular.

I try to make a salad every night. Takes the guesswork out of a side vegetable. If I'm in a fancy mood, I'll toss the fresh vegetables rotting in my crisper and nuke frozen vegetables.

Some basil and peppers from the garden. I neglected everything and my jalapenos turned red. Wonder if that makes them hotter? I know the tan markings mean a hotter pepper. I'll have College Boy test them out for me. He likes them on quesadillas.

I made a little quickie pouch from this tutorial. Fun and easy. I used 5" charm squares and a CD for the template.

The Week Begins

I dusted off the bread machine and made these Cinnabon knock-offs over the weekend. Then, since I had the machine out, I found a recipe for pepperoni bread. It was so good. We ate it for dinner. Nothing else. Just pepperoni bread. We're dieting. Ha! I grabbed the ice cream maker out of the pantry as well. I want to make blackberry sorbet. All these silly appliances I rarely use are going to get a workout this week. I might even bust out the pasta machine. Somebody stop me.

Little Bit was attending a wedding over the weekend and needed a small wristlet to hold her phone. She picked out the fabrics. The coral ruffle and strap matched her dress and white sandals. It took her forever to choose the perfect fabrics. She says she's keeping my wall o' fabric after I croak, because she loves it. She doesn't sew, but she pets fabric. That's how it starts, sister. Been there, done that.

See, no dieting here. Roasted chicken, sweet and regular potato mash with pan sauce, pepperoni bread, ratatouille and baby green lima beans. There are not many foods that I won't eat, but frozen green lima beans make that list. But if I make the dried version, I absolutely adore them. The frozen beans are too much like plastic and have no flavor. Inspector Gadget had no choice to eat sweet potato if he wanted potatoes. I'm getting tricky like that. Now I need to figure out how to get eggplant and Brussels sprouts into something everyone will eat.

It's Not All Black and White, 7" x 8"

I had to miss our guild's Sew Day due to prior commitments, but I did have some time to finish up another mini quilt for AAQI. Our lake community had a huge charity event on the lake Saturday and it was a complete zoo around here. So nice to be back to our quiet little community.

Summer Time

I always get stuck on ground beef. The child natives hate meatloaf and I don't like need to eat hamburgers. The kiddos would eat tacos for every meal, but I like variety. This Korean Beef recipe was really easy and tasty. I snuck in some brown rice. I mix it with the sticky white stuff they like. Don't tell. Someone mentioned something about dog food, but I smacked them in the head.

Tropical Storm Debby dumped a lot of much needed rain on central Florida. I love the rain when I don't have to go out. Perfect to stay in to cook or sew. I made this artichoke spinach dip and pico de gallo for the littles.

I asked Inspector Gadget to get me a chicken while he was out and he bought the biggest dang chicken he could find. A la Julia Child, I coated it in a compound butter and roasted it for dinner one night. The next day I made stock from the bones. Then I had to figure out what to do with all the leftover meat and stock. Gumbolaya or Jumbagumbo sounded pretty good. First, you start with a roux.

Chop some veggies while your roux is getting the perfect peanut butter color. You really should use green bell pepper, but the Inspector has issues with them (long story). I substituted a yellow pepper and a jalapeno pepper. Once the roux is the right color, throw the vegetables in and saute them for a bit.

Add your rich chicken stock, a can of diced tomatoes, a splash of tomato juice and creole spices. Cover and let simmer for at least 30 minutes.

After the veggies simmer a while, throw in some turkey smoked sausage, cooked chicken meat, frozen okra and simmer some more. Right before you're going to serve, drop in shrimp. They cook quickly.

To serve, ladle the gumbolaya into a bowl and plop some rice in the middle. Garnish with scallions and parsley. Betcha it will be even better today. The sauce is rich and spicy and the roux thickened it nicely.

Not much quilting going on, but I did manage to practice zipper installation with this fun bag tutorial.