Pull Apart Sandwich

Sometimes on Facebook you can find some pretty neat recipe videos... a few of which I have tried.  Many more I have gone to their website and saved the recipe for future possibilities.  I saw a recipe the other day that I determined was worth a try, although I knew I had to make a few modifications.  The reason this one caught my attention is I had some leftover beef that I had cooked in a crockpot.  The recipe video was started with a ribeye cut into strips... I was a few steps ahead because my beef was already cooked.  Next change from video which used Dr. Pepper in the sauce... I typically only have Ginger Ale on hand.  It called for a loaf of Italian bread... I had bread dough in the freezer, so I baked my bread.  I did go to the store to buy Provolone cheese. In keeping with my avoiding aluminum foil coming in contact with my food... whenever possible, I used parchment paper to wrap the loaf before I baked my creation long enough to melt the cheese.  I think they called this a Pull Apart Sandwich.  I had to document the process I used so I could repeat this scrumptious discovery.  It was even a Ron approved creation.  If anyone is interested in the recipe as I made it, leave me a note in the comments and I will share.

Birds can be a nuisance when they create nests on your porch, which is most annoying when you have to clean the walk... often.  It will be a while before they are back in nest building mode, but I was determined to find a deterrent before their return in the spring.  Best to do these kind of tasks before the problem reoccurs, and while it is fresh in your memory.  These plastic spikes might be a flop, but I'm hopeful that they will do the job they were intended for.  I previously tried a tinsel banner which they seemed to think quite amusing as they sat on the ledge with the tinsel floating all around them in the breeze.  It will be spring before I know whether my new deterrent is successful.

Almost quilting...

Quilting has been kind of on the back burner lately.  I am not saying that I don't get any quilting done... it is just that it isn't a priority on my list of projects and things that need to be done.  There is a quilt retreat coming up soon, closely followed by the BIG quilt show in Houston... Inspiration!!!, but meanwhile I am trying to work at putting quilting back in the active mode... at least a little more active than it has been in the last several months.

My longarm is all set up in a room upstairs along with my embroidery machine.  These are important elements of the quilting process, but not necessarily something I use on a daily basis.  I have moved my regular sewing machine around a couple times since our move... trying to find the right spot, and I think I have found a corner of the dining area... downstairs... that does not stand out too much.  Now I know there are some that would not consider putting their sewing machine in the main living area... but when I feel like doing some sewing, I did not want the stairs to be an obstacle.  A more important obstacle would have been an objection from Ron, but he is totally with the plan.  It is far enough away from his TV viewing area, that the minimal noise I might create is not a distraction... and I am in the same room... kind of anyhow.

I recently started a quilting project using scrap pieces of fabric that I just happen to have on hand.  I have made a couple of these quilts in the past 2 or 3 years, but it has probably been at least a year since the last one. I think it is a fun project for a few people to work on at the same time... each on their own quilt, and it is amazing to see how different the end results are.  There are a few steps of this process that are a little confusing at first and someone that is easily intimidated might push this one aside.  I have helped a few others along with these steps... and I am freshening my memory before I make the suggestion to one of my quilt groups again.

This is one of those scrappy quilts that I finished a couple years ago, then took it with me to a retreat... to show them how cool this Kwik Krazy quilt can turn out. Turns out my sister really really liked it... almost as much as I did, and I could not say no when she asked me if she could have it.  I am trying to document my progress of the current "sample" quilt and will attempt to put a tutorial together. Another neat part of this quilt is the scrappy border that I made using adding machine tape. That could also be a process that would merit another tutorial.

First day of Autumn

Pumpkin pie anyone?
A pie is probably one of my favorite things to bake... and pumpkin pie is right up there at the top of the list.  Up until a couple years ago I made my pumpkin pies using a can of pureed pumpkin.  I think way back a very long time ago I attempted to make a pumpkin pie from a really fresh pumpkin, directly from my garden.  The pumpkins were great, but the process was tedious and quite messy... and I seem to remember them being too watery.  I determined at that point that there was no way I would ever make a pumpkin pie from a whole pumpkin again. 
Moving ahead to just a couple years ago, I read an article somewhere online about cooking a whole pumpkin in a crockpot.  Of course that was preceded by discovering a recipe for Homemade Fresh Pumpkin Pie.  I decided I would have to give fresh pumpkin a try... just this once.  I proceeded to do a search to find the best way to cook a whole pumpkin... I found a technique I would not have thought to try... using a crockpot.  It has been a couple years, maybe three since I discovered this new method of cooking the pumpkin.  It is in my head... and I did think I made note of the process and/or link... but when I went to double check, because it is only in the Fall of the year when the pumpkins start showing up at the store that I need to remember.  I cannot send you to a link, because none of them I found in my recent search are done like the one I use.  That is when I decided I needed to document how I do this process. 

Now this is absolutely the easiest possible technique.  You buy a "pie pumpkin", also known as sugar pumpkins. I have a couple different size crockpots... the one I use for this is one of the smaller ones and these "pie pumpkins" fit perfectly.  I had to cut the stem end down a bit so the lid would sit properly.  After I wash the pumpkin, I put the pumpkin in the crockpot and put the lid on.  I did not add any water and I did not pierce the pumpkin.  Put the pumpkin in and close the lid.  Turn the crockpot to High and walk away. 
I needed to look for a note somewhere to determine if I needed to use the high or low setting... but I don't think it really matters.  Supposedly the lid will start to jiggle when it is time to give it a check.  I didn't hear the jiggle, but I did check after exactly two hours and it was done perfectly.  I pierced the pumpkin with a fork and it was done.  If I had put it on low it just would have taken a little longer.  At this point I removed the lid and shut the crockpot off.  When the pumpkin was cooled a little, I removed it to a cookie sheet where I cut the pumpkin in half to let it cool enough to handle while I scooped the seeds out.

Next step is to scoop the pumpkin out.  There is very little waste as the seeds are already cooked.  When I am done I swoosh some water in the cup with the seeds and separate the seeds out to spread on a parchment lined cookie sheet and sprinkle some salt on them.  They dry a little while I go to the pie stage of the process.  When I turn the oven on to preheat, I put the seed cookie sheet in and by the time the oven is heated up, the seeds are pretty much ready to come out.

Back to the pumpkin... I use a hand electric mixer to puree the pumpkin to a smooth consistency.  The recipe (link is above) for the pie calls for 2 cups of cooked pumpkin and there is usually close to 3 cups from this size pumpkin.  By the way, the recipe that is linked to above includes a pie crust recipe... that part of the recipe I do not use.  I have my Grandmother's recipe for pie crust that is Tried and True. 
There is no way that I would buy a can of pumpkin again... unless there was just not any fresh pumpkins to be found and I had used up all that I had frozen.  Freezing the pureed pumpkin in 2 cup packages makes it easy to make a pumpkin pie when it just feels like a pumpkin pie day.

Mid September

Ron called me out to the front porch the other evening... and suggested that I should come now.  Beautiful clouds can change... quickly.  I just happened to have my phone handy to capture the magnificent display.

My quilt room has had a few updates in the process of transforming this former bedroom into my den of creativity.  The lighting was upgraded a few weeks ago, but in an attempt to capture the new valances in two of the upstairs rooms, I made another discovery... the difference that LED technology has made in lighting.

The ceiling light in the guest bedroom really isn't as "yellow" as it appears in this picture... but these two pictures were taken only a couple minutes apart.  When I sent the pictures to a friend in a text message to share the valances, and saw the images side by side... I
could clearly see the benefit of LED lighting in the work environment.  By the way, we do have an LED light fixture over the desk in the guest bedroom.

We often have mission projects we work on at quilting.  Pillowcase dresses are pretty easy to make and whoever it was that put the decorative embroidery and crocheting at the bottom of these pillowcases I am sure had no idea they would end up as dresses.  These will be sent off to Haiti along with several more.  White is not necessarily a good color to put on young children, but it was suggested that because of the adorned borders, these would likely be only used for special occasions. 

August silliness

When you buy a new house... it takes a while to get settled in. Lots of changes have taken place already to make this our home.  We arrived here with my car and Ron's truck.  It took a couple of weeks or maybe close to a month, after our arrival, to get the garage cleared enough on one side to get my car in.  When we bought Ron's new Mustang, it became a new focus for projects to be done... clear the other side of the garage.  Yesterday we worked at clearing the other side of the garage till shortly before noon.  Next on the agenda was lunch, which I started, as we had a new living room set being delivered between 12 and 4.  I figured we would have plenty of time for lunch, but before I could get the onions sautéed I got the call from the delivery guys and they were going to be there in 20 minutes and we had not taken the old set out yet.  We got the old set out and the floor cleaned in record time.  I don't think it was much more than 10 minutes... not 20 like they said. Whoever heard of delivery guys arriving earlier than expected. We have the double reclining love seat and single recliner pretty much where it needs to go and Sugie has already claimed his spot on the middle seat.  Right now I have a couple quilts in place to keep the seats as cat hair free as possible.

I have had my new washing machine for a while already, but it still does not fit my idea of what a washing machine is supposed to be.  Trouble is when we were looking, none of them have the spinner in the middle anymore.  This machine vibrates instead of spinning... I guess there is a certain amount of spinning that still happens, but it is not like anything I ever imagined for  a washing machine.  Today when I opened the lid to take the clothes out, this small quilt looked like an oversized bowl of bread dough.

WIP Wednesday

WIP (work in progress) completed. I think that is supposed to be a quilting acronym, but it does kind of apply here... I did shorten them... so a sewing machine did come into play.
I bought curtains a while back with the hope that I could get them put up sometime in the near future.  There is a big significance to say up... as these needed to go WAY UP.  I had my sturdy ladder holder in place.  He kept my ladder securely in place and handed me the tools I needed to get the job done.  The ceiling is 18.5 feet up, so it was no small feat.  Definitely a team effort. You know you are up there when the ladder you are on kind of waves in the middle as you climb, and you are real happy that you have someone holding it in place. I was also very pleased with the decision to buy pressure rods that do not require any hardware to be screwed to the wall.  A side note here, I was able to get rid of some cobwebs while I was up there. I am sure one day I might have gotten around to finding a way to get rid of these cobwebs, but considering where they were, it was unlikely anyone would have noticed them... unless I brought their attention to them.

The curtains were not really necessary.  No one can see in up there.  There is hardly any change in the light coming in as these curtains are pretty sheer.  It does feel more homey now.  I have to be honest... it was not my idea to begin with.  Ron said a few times that we needed to do something with those windows that looked like plain old square openings up there... so after he brought my attention to them, I kind of agreed and bought some curtains, then the rods... then we had to wait for the right moment for both of us to feel like dealing with the ladder thing.

 Job done and we are both quite pleased with the new look.

 I'm not sure about this quilt project that was intended for the stairway half wall.  I thought it would be cool to make a quilt in the shape of a triangle.  A dear friend gave me the panel with the butterflies and I discovered X-blocks a few weeks ago.  I began to run into issues when I pinned it up on the wall to find my angle does not match the stairway.  At first I thought it was the blocks that were pulling the triangle out of square.  I tried to compensate with the added tan wedge shaped border, the tan is actually leftover pieces from the original panel.  I embroidered Romans 12:2 on this border... hard to see, but it is there. The wedge made minimal difference.  That is when Ron got out his square and pointed out that if the stairway was at a 45 degree angle, it would be very steep.  In other words, there is no way this quilt could ever match the stairway without lots of calculating.  So right now, I think I am going to finish it as is... then search for a solution for hanging it once it is done.  Never saw a quilt hung on an angle before. 
Oh well, we shall see if I complete this one.

Mac 'n Cheese

On Sundays I try to keep my kitchen time to a minimum.  Today I had a plan in mind to stay with that scenario.  We stopped at the grocery store on the way home from church to pick up a few items, and the produce guy was just putting out some new corn.  I had taken a couple chicken breasts out to thaw with the air fryer in mind.  Corn seemed like a good choice to go with the air fried chicken.  With the chicken being cooked in the air fryer, I had to come up with another option besides my typical French fries that I love to make in the air fryer.  Now until recently I was not a fan of Kraft Mac 'n Cheese... you know that little blue box that makes a quick Mac 'n Cheese dinner for your hungry kids.  I was scrolling online through recipes a while back and came across an Upgraded Kraft Mac 'n Cheese recipe that looked interesting.  I made it once just to give it a try and was so amazed at how good it was that I am now totally into that little blue box.  I have to control the urge to fill my plate with this mac 'n cheese and forget whatever else I made to go with it.

What makes this recipe so special is the added "cheeses" and the buttered cracker crumbs that top it off, and how quick and easy it becomes a really awesome part of supper.  The recipe calls for addition of sour cream and shredded cheddar cheese... which works fine, but I sometimes don't have sour cream, so Greek plain yogurt is often what I use.  Also, I almost always have Mexican 4 cheese blend for my shredded cheese that I keep on hand.  I think the bake time is the part that completes the transition from a top of the stove box quickie dinner to what almost appears to be homemade.

So today's supper had three really great components... tender, fresh sweet sweet corn, air fried chicken, and awesome Mac 'n Cheese.  If you have never thought you wanted to ever consider using that little blue box of Mac 'n Cheese, you really have to give it a try... you'll be converted... I am quite sure.