Tuesday's Table Time

 

Sliders anyone? Back when I was first introduced to Sliders I was living in Ohio and I did not even know you could get a Slider with cheese on it. When... many years later, I saw Sliders in the frozen food section of a local store, they had cheese on them. Well first of all a frozen White Castle just didn't seem right, and with cheese was just wrong. We have been here 20 years now, so I guess I have softened my stance a bit... I have bought frozen White Castles, and they did have cheese, and they were not bad. A couple years ago I found a recipe online for Sliders. I tried the recipe and they actually turned out pretty good, and I even put cheese on them, which is just fine... but if I do get to go to a real White Castle back in Ohio, I am quite sure that I would not order my Sliders with cheese.

This was my choice for the Tuesday group this week.  I typically surprise them, but this was a repeat.  I think I did this for them the first week I had them here for lunch on Tuesday.  I made the rolls from scratch, which really isn't necessary, but I wanted these to be extra special.  They were good enough that they all wanted a to-go box when they left.  Oh, and I made some fig cookies for an added sweet touch.

Mid Week Fun

These are called Call Me bags made by a pattern company called ByAnnie.  I made one for myself, showed a friend, and after I made one for her it seemed for a bit to go viral.  Well maybe not viral, but I probably have made about 24 or so of these little bags that enable you to carry your cell phone and maybe an ID badge and a credit card or two.  A real handy little gem. 

The mesh on the side with the cell phone pocket allows you to see the screen of your phone, and the zipper pocket on the other side is a place to put something you might need to have a little more secure.  I love this little bag.

It doesn't look like much, and they aren't very big, but these guys were fun practice pieces for a step up from the beginner status.   These are called Clam Up bags.  I started making bags a few weeks ago already.  Actually I think it has been at least a couple months.  One of the things I discovered is, it is much easier to deal with multiple layers of fabric... if it isn't vinyl or leather.  My machine can handle a couple layers of the heavy stuff, but sometimes it gets a little iffy to get the needle to go through more layers.  I have dabbled with some vinyl and some leather, but cotton definitely has its advantages.

The beauty of the ByAnnie patterns is they are mostly made using cotton.  I have no desire to go into business, so keeping things fairly low-key is a good thing.  These little bags with the clip on one end are the smallest size for this pattern... it is about 4" long.  I think I might enjoy this bag more in one of the larger sizes though.  That is a nice feature for this pattern maker... there are multiple sizes available in one pattern

Tuesday's Table

Tuesday mornings are typically quite busy as we are up early to go to Breakfast with Friends, then it is home to prep the meal I will serve to the "lunch crew".  The menu is always... usually anyhow, a surprise.  The girls, and sometimes Austin, are not picky.  They just enjoy a good home cooked lunch with friends.  I keep it pretty informal and use paper plates.  I am not opposed to paper plates, but not my normal choice, especially to serve lunch to friends... but when lunch is for 6 or 7 sometimes, it makes me quite happy to only have glasses and silverware to wash when it is all done.  They are coming on their lunch break, they come all together, and no one wants to stay behind to help with the dishes and make everyone else wait to go back.  We always have a good time laughing and sharing stories.  My biggest stress point of the whole process is deciding what I will make for Tuesday's Table next time.

Of course you are not seeing the one who ties this whole group together, our Z.  Lots of great people around this table every week.

Today's lunch was Meatball Sub Casserole.  It is so simple... or it can or should be.  The recipe calls for frozen meatballs that you would typically buy at the store.  On Saturday I made my meatballs that I baked in the oven.  Those were pretty easy too, but if you use up two cooking sessions for one recipe, I think it might not classify quite as simple anymore...  What matters is that they enjoyed.

If anyone wants the recipe(s), let me know.