Sewing and Sowing

The sky has looked deceptively sunny for a few days, but as soon as you step out the door a wave of cold air hits you like a sheet of ice. The snow has melted and things are looking deceptively spring-like. I have venison sausage, onions, and peppers simmering on the stove for sandwiches later, and am finally feeling like I am getting ahead on some sewing projects.

Last summer I saw a great pattern in a quilt shop for a sewing machine cover. It was by Lazy Girl Designs, and I just loved the name! It sounded like something that might be easy to do, and how perfect- I needed a sewing machine cover. Most patterns are somewhat complicated for me to read, possibly because of my dyslexia. They never have enough pictures to show me what to do (I'm big on visual learning) and sometimes the language leaves me wondering what in the world they are talking about. But I was so delighted with this pattern and, wonder of wonders, it really did come out okay. Plus it only took a few hours over the course of two days to complete. Count me as a fan of the Lazy Girl Design patterns.

Now I am piecing those charm squares I showed you last time for a table runner project. So far, it's going well, and I'm so excited about the colors. It's the Nature's Notebook collection, April Cornell for Moda, if you are a fabric enthusiast. (which I am not, but there is potential there.)

Oh, and I'm cutting out 144 charm squares for a new quilt project that will some day be called "stuff I wore" and I just get so excited about sewing this time of year, which is so unfair. Because in another couple months those projects will be dormant and I will be so excited about gardening, again. In just a few short weeks we'll be planting peas.

Speaking of projects, I'm sorry to see Beth at The ImPerfect Housewife announce her plans for an extensive blogging break. But, I completely understand the need for a break and the need to manage and prioritize life and its many projects. And I was thinking maybe, just MAYBE, she could stop by and do a special post as a guest blogger sometime to tell us how and what she is doing. What say you Beth?

Library Do's and Don'ts

Don't start your question with the phrase "I hate to bother you..." I don't mind you bothering me- I'm here to help you. It's the deal I made with my employer. Don't worry, I'm compensated for helping you. Also, lets face it: If you really hated to bother me, you just would not unless things got desperate. Don't be insincere.

Do tell us when you think we've been extremely helpful or when you find something you like at the library. We really care about what you like as much as what you don't like.

Don't (and this is a big one) leave your small child unattended anywhere in the building while you go to the restroom/check your e-mail/mess around with your phone. This is a public building. Anyone can, and does, come through our doors. That includes predators. And although most of us are woefully overqualified to watch your child, we are not a daycare.

Do be courteous of other people who are also waiting for help.

Don't be afraid or embarrassed to ask us anything. We really have heard it all, and some of your questions are ones that we hear several times a week.

Do take your phone calls to the lobby where you won't disturbs college students trying to study, homeschool families, people writing resumes and looking for jobs. It's distracting the first time when your phone goes off with its ring tone playing "New York, New York" and it's worse a second time when we listen to you shout "What? WHAT? YEAH, I'M AT THE LIBRARY."

Don't forget to use the library and remember that we're more than just books. We're also a free source of entertainment, a free place to bring your family, a free place to take classes, and a place where information professionals can help you find out about anything. For free.

Love,

Your Librarian

In and Around the Home This Week

I have a quality that may be a gift. I can get along with difficult people. Often with hilarious results. This does not mean that people whom others have a hard time getting along with are really not difficult to get along with, or that they go on to become my best friend or anything like that. It simply means I can tolerate them, usually long enough to work with them for a few hours, and a few here and there even rise to "buddy status" where they seem to become less difficult. Part of it is that difficult people like me because, up to a point, I allow them to be difficult. I can stand there and nod my head sympathetically while they complain about whatever it is they have to complain about, and I let them complain and don't jump in and try to fix the problem. To me, that just seems like being polite. The other part of it is less charitable: If someone is really a BIG pain in the neck, inflexible and unbending, I simply write them off as crazy and then they don't annoy me as much because I recognize their handicap of sheer madness. And yes, like everyone else, there are a few people who I really can't stand, and literally, can't stand them enough to stand there and listen to them. That is when the grace runs out and I walk away. I'm imperfect too!

This quality is one that I've somehow recognized I have over time, and one that I hope grows because it makes life easier and less stressful.

Yesterday's message in church was "Love your enemies." But I had been thinking about this for a while. How timely.

Anyway, I had a slight panic yesterday when I pulled biscuits that look like this out of the oven:

What?! How can something so simple, something I've made a hundred times, go so wrong??

I worried for a minute that maybe I had lost my "gift" to bake, and then where would I be? No place, that's where. So I baked a self-confidence booster, just to make sure I haven't lost it.

Ah, that's better. Yes, the earth is still on its axis. A perfect Sunday evening snack.

I cleaned out the refrigerator this weekend and learned a few things. If the "use by" date on the bottle is so old that it's worn off, the date has probably passed. For some reason, we own a dazzling array of mustard. Pickles, too. And unbelievably, we've decided it's better to open a new jar of jam rather than eat the last tablespoon in a nearly finished jar, judging by the number of jelly jars I unearthed with just a fragment of jam or jelly left in them.

My productivity stats:

Ovens cleaned: 1
Number of old dresses turned into quilt squares: 2
Number of days until spring: 18 days
Amount of snow the past 3 days: A measly 4 inches
Meals made into a second meal: One big pot of chili served up as second time as cheesy chili quesadillas. I found my inspiration here.

In and Around the Home This Week

It was an uphill battle from the start. You see, I pieced it, and was full of good intentions to finish it in a timely manner when the first hurdle appeared. We announced our engagement. With a wedding looming on the horizon, a dress to make for the special day, and non-stop dates with a realtor in our search for a home, it laid dormant for a year. That second winter, I picked it up again and kept at it, stabbing it with the needle in tiny stitches. A few stitches here, a couple more there. A whole block. Sigh. It would take forever and I was already so tired of seeing it. I didn't even like the looks of it anymore! And then the snow days happened, providing endless time to stitch away, until finally, one winter night, the last "X" was quilted on a corner square and the hard part was done. It was finally time to dig out the old binding that I made a hundred years ago and sew it on.


But then, to just put the binding on without any complications would not be in line with this quilting odyssey. So one evening last week there was a flat tire that set off a whole chain of events that ended with a time-pressing crunch as I attempted to get to my sewing spot to finish it off. I finally did arrive, and in just a few hours had the binding sewn on my ancient "eternity" quilt that took an eternity to finish. (It's actually not an eternity design- it's called a "variable star" pattern.)



The specs: Variable Star lap quilt, finished size 45"x45"
Machine pieced, Hand quilted
Fabric: Cheap stuff from JoAnn (because I wasn't confident on how this was going to turn out and didn't want to invest a lot in good fabric. Also, there were no nearby quilt shops around when I started this, but in the time it took me to complete this project, two have since opened!)


Yes, I'm glad that's over. I am not someone who likes unfinished projects hanging around that never seem to get done, so you could probably hear my sigh of relief when this was finished from wherever you are located.

February is always the hardest month for me. My energy level is LOW Low low and I'm worn out from the weather. It's hard to find balance during the darkest moment of the year, but let me try...

I'm thankful for finished projects.

I'm giving thanks for the ten pounds of venison sausage that was given to us by a generous coworker of my husband's. That should make for some easy meals.

I'm enormously thankful that when that flat tire happened on the interstate, at rush hour, a nice man from the state Dept. of Trans. was nearby and saw me right away, put on my spare tire, and got me back on the road in under twenty minutes! Talk about tax dollars at work.

I'm barely surviving the mud, but giving thanks that I saw something green under melted snow this morning. And a robin in the front yard last week.

Of Fasnachts and Failed Plans

Every year I miss the opportunity to buy some fasnachts on that one special Tuesday known as Fasnacht Day in Pennsylvania. It sneaks up on me, and I somehow think I'm going to come up with a few hours to drive out to the county and get some, and it never works out. This year, it really seemed like it would happen until a combination of snow and holidays caused me to miss work, so it is just not possible to make a trip out for a dozen of those special donuts once again. For those who don't know, fasnachts are fried yeast donuts, and many churches and bakeries sell them on the last Tuesday before Lent. For years I did not know what Shrove Tuesday was, or even "Fat Tuesday" having only ever heard of Fasnacht Day. My grandmother told me how her mother would use up all her lard and sugar making the donuts, and then hide them on a long tray under furniture so they wouldn't be eaten all at once! Since the Mister did not grow up with this tradition, I have always wanted to get him some fasnachts to taste so he can see what all of the fuss is about. Well, better luck to that project next year.

Oh, and don't ask me to make them, because that is a big and messy project for a week day.

I finally know what it takes to get some serious quilting done fast. It takes a lot of snow! In fact, I've nearly completed a four-year-old hand quilting project and am already coming together with ideas for my next one. It won't be hand quilted, though. Do you think I can do something with this lovely pallet?


During one of the snow days, I cleaned out my big binder of recipes and found this moist muffin recipe which I had been meaning to try. There were a cup of frozen raspberries in the freezer, so this was good timing. I'm working on cleaning out the freezer too, because I like to start the growing season with a lot of empty freezer space.

Lemon Raspberry Muffins

2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
3 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 eggs
1 cup half and half cream
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 tsp. lemon extract
1 cup raspberries

In a a large mixing bowl, combine flower, sugar, baking powder and salt. In another, combine eggs, cream, oil, and extract. Stir into dry mixture. Fold in raspberries. Fill greased muffin cups 2/3 full. Bake at 400 degrees for about 25 minutes. These are extra good warm.

In and Around the Home This Week

So. All of the snow has amounted to plenty of time around the home. This morning I tried for almost two hours to get my car out of the driveway before giving up and retreating back inside. The Mister, who was stranded for the night at my mother's house, had not yet arrived home to help. Thankfully, the sun came out today and melted quite a bit of the ice, so perhaps better things are on the way. Okay, not really. More snow is supposed to arrive early next week.

We have this dog we call Rascal, an Australian Cattle Dog. Rascal idolizes my husband. That dog never stops looking at him, following him, and waiting for his return. We had read that this breed of dog gets very attached to their owners, but we had no idea. Whenever my husband goes outside to clear more snow, Rascal sits there and stares at the door waiting for the Mister's return. If it takes a while, the devoted dog just falls alseep on the floor, facing in the direction of the door. Anyway, here she is in action....


Do I even need to tell you how much my husband enjoys this?

While Rascal entertains us with her loyalty, I tried my hand at some candy making. For an upcoming bake sale at the library, I signed up to make homemade chocolate peanut butter cups. This was rather daring as I am not a candy maker at all. The recipe looked easy enough, but I'm glad that I did a trial run to figure out the challenges ahead of time! The recipe was from Jam It, Pickle It, Cure It and Other Cooking Projects by Karen Solomon.

Makes 12

The Filling:
1 and 1/3 cups fresh roasted and salted peanuts
2 tsp. honey
1 tsp. canola oil
2 T confectioners' sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. salt

Coating:
2 cups chopped chocolate

You will also need: A cupcake or muffin pan filled with cupcake liners.

To make the peanut butter filling, puree the peanuts for 3-4 minutes in your food processor until very smooth. Add the honey, oil, sugar, vanilla, and salt and puree until completely combined, scraping down the sides as you work.

Take about 2 tsp. of the peanut butter mixture in your hand and make a tiny hamburger patty that will fit into the center of your cupcake liner without touching the sides. Shape the remaining 11 centers.

To prepare the coating, you need to melt the chopped chcolate in one of two ways. You can use the double boiler method, but in the interest of speed, I prefer the microwave. Place about half the chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl and heat on high for a minute. Stir, then heat again for 30 seconds. Stir. Keep heating as needed until the chocolate is melted and satiny and drops like ribbons from the end of a fork. I will note that the recipe suggests using chocolate chips, but I really advise against that. Chocolate chips are designed not to melt and as such are difficult to melt in the microwave.

Once your chocolate is melted, working quickly, spoon about 2 tsp. of chocolate in the bottom of the cupcake liners, being careful to completely coat the bottom in a thin layer. Gently drop the peanut butter discks into the center of each cup and give it a gentle tap to secure it in the chocolate (but do not puch it all the way to the bottom). Cover each center with additional chocolate until the disk is covered and the sides are coated. Chocolate should be evenly distributed. Finally, let it sit undisturbed for four hours until the cups harden completely.


Store up to two weeks in an airtight container, but do not refrigerate.

We found these to be good, not nearly as salty as commercial pb cups, and much more generous with the chocolate.

You Know You've Had It with Winter When...

• The reading pile that you thought would last until May might not make it through March.

• You forgot what it was like to open a window.

• You know all events are canceled before someone calls to tell you, and you're surprised that the person delivering the news sounds surprised.

• A discussion on how much snow is in the forecast suddenly counts as meaningful communication among friends.

• Due to random power outages, you and your friend have given up trying to e-mail each other and have reverted to written letters and stamps.
  

• You see the filled parking lot at the store and decide you really don't need milk after all.

• You're baking just because it's a warm activity.

• You feel competitive when comparing the size of snow drifts on your property with other people's.

• You no longer remember where the flower pots you forgot to take in are located, as they've been buried for so long.
  

• You are acutely aware that there are 39 more days until spring!