Sewing Projects, and more Cooking Exploits

 I've been continuing to work on my various sewing projects and even to invest in some more colorful fabrics for quilts, trivets or whatever else I can dream up. When we head out west I will have a bag full of trivet supplies to take for my amusement. The quilt topper is finished and now I just need to sew on the backing. Being as this is the first quilt I've made, I am finding this last step a bit daunting. I'm using a fleece throw and I'm not sure how easy it will be to work around the edges with. I know, it's 85° out and I need a quilt why? 😀 It will look pretty on the bed during the day and on the floor at night, lol.

Crazy bright puff quilt topper - tada! Each fabric square represents
material I used to make a trivet with, so I love them all so much.

I had also decided to downsize my cross-body purse to something more dainty. The big one is great for travelling and has, in addition to the essentials, every manner of things in it, like lotion, mints, a nail file, meds, & wet wipes, but around town for errands, too big & unwieldy.

I happened upon some fairly decent looking faux leather fabric at Walmart and figured that would do fine. $5 later, here's what I ended up with, a quick little bag with velcro closure. It'll hold wallet, phone, keys, lipstick, advil and that's about it.

The other night after a big shopping day, (grocery, drugstore, library, et.al.), I was pooped so I pulled out of the freezer an old standby - a beef and black bean burrito.  Add the fancy Tex-Mex rice w/onions, corn and cheese & you've got a delicious gem. I use a combination of enchilada sauce & salsa, plus a dollop of the chipotle sauce mixed in as a topper while cooking.

Believe it or not, we get 1 dinner each and 1 breakfast (w/egg)
each and we still feel like we pigged out a bit. So good.

I've been tackling a few pressure canning opportunities as I find meat on sale, (Ms. Frugal here 😊), and this week I found 10# bags of chicken leg quarters on sale for $4.70 a bag! I bought 2. There are about 10 leg quarters per bag, and sure, they have a fair amount of skin/fat on them and may have come from older birds, but they're great in a casserole, a stew, or even pulled off the bone for burritos or chicken salad.  I set some aside raw to grill later, and froze a few too.

I chose quart-sized jars and got 5 quarts.
Each quart held something like 3-4 drums and 2-3 thighs.

I can them using the raw pack method, so after rinsing, I skin them, take off excess fat and cut the drum/thigh apart. Most of them have a small portion of the back attached (with the oyster), so I cut those off too and use them to make broth. Into clean jars, bone and all, with just a skosh of chicken stock and some salt. They cook in their own juices. Great to have a few of these handy for soups or easy meals.

And lastly on the food topics, I was (finally) on the other side of town within easy reach of this fantastic Oriental Market - they are huge and have been at that location for many years. I was on the hunt for dried mushrooms. After trying to source them online, I decided I'd rather pick them out in person, and at a better price.  Eons ago, I took a cooking class with the emphasis on Chinese dishes and enjoyed using Cloud Ear mushrooms. I have wanted to round up another package, so we made a stop. I bought 3 different types to try, as well as some ultra fresh bean sprouts. We'll see how they do.

2 different types of shitake's and one of the cloud ear
 (black fungus is how it's labelled).

The reason we were on the other side of town was to freshen-up the funerary flowers on the family plot. We try to get by a couple of times a year. I can't believe it's been 5 years since Ed's Mom passed, talk about time flying by.. we certainly still miss her!

Finally, from my Irish roots and for my Mom & Sister, both born on this date, I'd like to wish you a 

Well, that's about it for today, thanks for stopping by and check back again soon. Appreciate you taking the time to read it. 💚

Homeward bound

 Sorry this blog is long overdue, but we got very busy at the end of Sept and we're still playing catch-up.  And so it went, the buttoning up of Rocky, our summer abode, and then on the road heading back to Florida and our forever home, where the cleaning, unpacking and organizing is still in progress.  The trip is about 1900 miles and usually requires 4 overnights. We take the 1st night in Fort Collins because by the time every little thing is done, all we want to do is drive down the canyon (45 miles of twisty, slow-going road), shower, eat and crash.  This year we took an extra night so that we only had a short 3-4 hour final leg before rolling into town. This gave us a few hours to work on opening the house up, get the water & fridge turned on, the place aired out, do a small shop and get squared away throughout the afternoon and evening.

The last week out west was pretty busy, and most especially the last couple of days before leaving. We had several boxes with canned/boxed foodstuffs that couldn't go into the car until the last minute for fear of bear activity, so our other "bring-backs" got piled up here and there inside the rig. In our down time, we watched the turkeys enjoy themselves around the park and up on the fence next door to us.

These turkey's got to where they liked sitting up on the fence and preening.
They would come into our park to browse for bugs, then fly up and preen,
then jump down to the property next door which is largely undeveloped.

One day while up at the laundry room I was sitting outside on the phone talking to my sister and I watched this squirrel stock up on pinecones. He'd race across the driveway and up the pine tree, pick out a likely pinecone, and with it in his teeth, race back to the shed and into his entry hole to stash it. I guess his eyes were bigger than his entry point! These cones got stuck and he couldn't get them inside, lol.

Not the best shot but here he is.

And so it began, the long drive back home, first through the diminishing hills of Colorado, and into the huge stretch of agricultural land in the mid-west.

I often wonder exactly what is being grown, sometimes
it's pretty obvious but other times it keeps me guessing.

 As we made our way through the Missouri/Tenn territories we found a few roads with light traffic - what a treat! Driving through big cities, even on the bypasses really taxes the patience of my DH.

Made it home in one piece, and a couple days afterwards, started the big cooking projects, which is fun for me!! 😀  A visit to my handy Publix for a ready-made pizza crust, got a pie made up for supper one night. I always keep on hand the fixings for pizza, it's an easy fix up.

Before the stint in the oven.

One of my first priorities is always to make up some of the dishes that I haven't made over the summer and get them stashed in the freezer for easy, delicious meals on those days I'm not feeling it. The ground beef, black beans and rice filling for stuffed peppers and burritos is a bit time-consuming, (the meat is fully cooked), but so worthwhile. I add plenty of onions, mushrooms and corn plus all the taco-type seasonings that "Tex-Mex" it up, Hatch chilies too. They aren't super spicy, just flavorful. Here's what I ended up with; 3 sets of stuffed peppers, (we ate one set), and 6 burritos. Yum in advance.

With a few tortilla chips these are a favorite. They freeze well
and reheat easily in a covered frying pan, a low oven or the microwave.

I pop these into a covered frying pan, nestled in a "dirty rice"
mixture, pour on some salsa and sharp cheddar, cover them and
let them heat over a low burner for a half hour or so, again more chips.

One of the veggies I love, LOVE most is collards, and you can get a big bunch, cook them and end up with some for the freezer. This time I used a big bunch of turnip greens and a big bunch of collards. Add a ham hock, sauteed onions & garlic, some chipotle sauce and homemade stock and you've got greens to die for, for days! I got 6, 4-serving batches, 5 of which went into the freezer. 😋

Still mopping, polishing and doing laundry, not to mention clearing up our overgrown, weed-infested palm tree beds, but early morning sunrises like this are truly something to be enjoyed with your sweetie and a cup of coffee.

Thanks for checking in, see you the next time.