Even During Summer Break in a Pandemic, There Is Never Enough Time

Even though I'm technically off this summer, I'm kinda not. Because of the pandemic. And I hadn't really been sewing for the past two years (thanks to an extramarital affair and a midlife crisis). Now that I'm back into sewing, I resent work that takes me away from my hobby even though I need said job to do my hobby. What's weird is that when the sheltering in place began, I was too anxious to sew or create like I used to and enter into flow.  All I could do was run, hike, walk and cook. And be anxious. Worry. Yesterday I finally finished what I'm calling the Michaela Quilt after its recipient. I looked at all my lines of stitches to fill in if need be. 

I repaired gaps like this binding which didn't get stitched down and so I zig zag stitched it close. And sewed on my label.

And climbed up a ladder to take a pic because I didn't have time or motivation enough to hang it on a fence and take a pic of it outside over the weekend. This pic is how it will look in my Pinterest as a log of all my handcrafting.

So cool, I get to start another project and pulled out this quilt kit which I've had for years and years. I read the directions over the weekend, but was unsure of the dimensions of the block. It contained two layer cakes and fabric for the binding and the letters.

I saw directions on the layer cake contents on how to cut each 10" square, and so I cut into charm blocks. And started arranging and sewing according to the color chart the bottom half of the quilt.

As I was looking at what blocks I had leftover, I thought wow, this is a lot....I could make like three more of these quilts....Doh!!?@*$#...I can make more of these quilts from these two packs of layer cake because a block in the quilt is supposed to be cake block of 10" x 10", not a charm square of 5" x 5", meaning I wasn't supposed to cut up the layer cake blocks. Well shit. But then I got philosophical about it. My condo can't fit a wall quilt that's some 60" x 68" big, and more suited for a mini quilt. A maquette or 30" x 34" quilt will fit on the wall next to the flat screen. And shoot why not make three more of these for any of the family members and their mates? And so that's the plan. Maybe one of them can even be some craftivism, with the messaging of #BlackLivesMatter. Gotta figure that one out.

I do like the concept of this quilt, and I don't want yet another blanket to add to my stack. I had two work meetings and one training yesterday and yay no more meetings this week. I do, however, have to peer review a colleague's lesson plan and be at a different work site next week--told my assistant principal, yeah I'll be bringing my sewing machine with me to that library. One big quilt down, four mini quilts to go.

Quarantine Cooking: Stuffed Anaheim Peppers

I had harvested some beautiful Anaheim peppers from our garden a few days ago and decided last night to finally cook and serve them. Usually I make chile rellenos, but didn't want to deal with frying. Google is your friend when it comes to trying to change up your rotation. I found a recipe for stuffing them with meat and cheese, like the bell peppers I used to cook in my starter marriage. I used to stuff the bell pepper with ground beef, rice, tomato sauce and cheese for that first husband and beans, rice tomato sauce and cheese for me, the vegetarian at the time. My present husband said early on, no, to stuffed bell peppers. The recipe I found for using the Anaheim peppers called for slicing them in half, removing the membrane and seeds and then blanching them in boiling water for just a minute. Next time I'll probably just skip that step as I like my peppers vibrantly green with a bit of crunch.

I had one Anaheim pepper that was really small and curled up and unsuitable for stuffing, and so I chopped it along with a small yellow onion. Waste not, want not.

The recipe called for using Cajun seasoning, but I had Creole seasoning. I wondered what is the difference? And here's what I found: Cajun seasoning relies on the use of many peppers, such as white and black pepper, bell peppers and cayenne peppers. This cuisine also incorporates paprika and garlic. ... Creole seasoning primarily relies on herbs like oregano, bay leaf, basil, thyme, rosemary, parsley and paprika. Okay! I could definitely taste all those herbs and supplemented the salt and herbs in my can of seasoning with Mexican chili powder, cumin, and chipotle sauce. I also put in a bit of pureed tomato with the sauteeing onion, pepper, ground turkey and seasoning.

There was a lot of liquid in my cast iron, and so I removed the turkey to prevent it from getting tough and cooked down the liquid and then put the meat back into the pan.

Time was running out, and so I didn't take photos of the blanched peppers I stuffed with the cooked meat and the grated Cheddar and Monterey Jack cheeses. The hubs declared it good. He liked that the Anaheim had a bit of heat and spice. I did capture an image of the two small peppers left.

I had served the stuffed peppers with leftover refried beans and cilantro lime rice. Oh my gawd, where has rice cooked like this been all my Mexican-eating food life? 

This rice is gonna be a staple from now on and will be fantastic in my burritos.

Quarantine Baking: Plum Galette

I'd rather leave the baking to the hubs, but I'm partial to fruit pies whereas he'd rather bake and consume chocolate cakes and brownies and cookies. Below is a plum galette from the site on which I got a recipe, but I want to eventually bake a peach one. I had downloaded a recipe for a peach pie and was even looking for low sugar pectin yesterday to bake it, which the supermarket did not have. And this morning, I thought why? Galettes are so much easier, especially with already prepared pie crust, and yep, I prefer not to make my own pie crust.

Yesterday I used the plums a friend gave me plus some more I bought at my favorite produce store to bake a galette.

Okay now to give neighbors and friend slices of plum galette, so I can bake a peach one.

Quarantine Cooking: Not As Yummy As a Crab Sandwich, But It'll Do

I had salmon salad I wanted to consume before it could go bad, so here's yesterday's lunch, grilled in the same way as my favorite seafood sandwich.

I am getting more proficient at grilling sandwiches if I do say so myself.

Still cleaning leftovers from my fridge. Today's lunch is going to be leftover hummus and baba ghanoush.

Quarantining: Cooking as My Love Language

I'm one of those who thrives on words of affirmation, but I also appreciate acts of service. Most definitely, I express my care for the people I love by an act of service, which coincides with my love of cooking. Hubs brought home some beautiful tomatoes, and the one below, a Chianti Rose, had split. I had originally put it aside to blend up in my Vitamix to make into marinara, but then decided to slice up half and had a bite and took the other half out of blender to use the whole thing for a salad. It was that DELICIOUS and sweet and juicy. I dressed it simply and rained sea salt and chopped basil and drizzled balsamic vinegar and olive oil on the tomato.

I had also found a 1/3 of a bag of scallops and thawed it the night before. I love any kind of seafood pasta, and set a pot of salted water to boil linguine, chopped garlic and scallions and garlic chives and parsley, zested and squeezed juice from a lemon, and caramelized the scallops to a light golden brown in olive oil.

 

I moved too fast and was too involved in the process to show in this post the sauteeing of the aromatics and then deglazing of the pan with wine and lemon juice and then simmering with cream to drive off moisture. I lastly nestled the scallops into the pasta. No waste! I know I had fried the baby artichokes at least a week ago, but reheated in the oven, they were still delicious. Below is how I show my love.

I had intended to make a plum galette, but nope. I was too inebriated from drinking the rest of the Chardonnay (two big glasses) and decided to refry the pinto beans I had boiled that afternoon. I dug in in the fridge for peppers and bone broth and grabbed a yellow onion and a couple of Green Zebra tomatoes.

While chopping the tomatoes, I sauteed the onion and peppers in reserved bacon fat.

You know how I hate to waste? I had bought a new bunch of cilantro, and so chopped the older bunch including stems to add to my stewing beans. And let that baby simmer until bedtime.

Carnitas burritos, we're ready for you.

Quarantine Cooking: Mapo Tofu

I'm even closer to finishing the ROYBGIV quilt. I get a bit fatigued from rows and rows and rows of stitching that I can't always focus to keep them straight, which is okay as long as the quilt is sturdy and doesn't unravel. I'm channeling the quilters of Gee's Bend and hoping my crooked stitches lend an improvisational quality and charm to this blanket.

And so after quilting, I was more than ready to escape into the Zen of cooking. I had been coveting a carbon steel wok from Made In, but it costs $100. I found a proletariat version at the World Market for $25. Before cooking, I spent the late afternoon seasoning it. Finally I could use my wok spatula and spoon. I love it. I used up the rest of the chili sauce in my fridge, but think I have more in my pantry from Milk Street. This time around I used a silken tofu instead of extra firm--my neighbor Nancy said she liked the soft curds. I wish I had used more chili oil and more Szechuan peppercorns. I wanted to see more red and feel the burn. Next time.

I also had leftover bbq chicken and stir fried zucchini and wax beans for even more leftovers this week. 

You bet I'm gonna make mapo tofu again.

Quarantining: Crooked Seams and Cracked Clay

Hubs got annoyed yesterday that I got up early and was making too much noise before leaving for the sewing studio. But I've some work meetings in the week and want to get this quilt done before work or the school year really inundates me. I discovered these skipped stitches on the back of my quilt.....aaargh. And so I re-threaded the machine.

And made a quilt sample. Yes! Re-threading my machine and putting the tension back to normal led to consistent seams. I'll go back later and add more seam lines next to the lines of ugly loops to make this quilt endure.

I also headed to the clay studio after a couple hours in the sewing studio. One of my smooth red or dark clay mugs had to be tossed into the scrap bucket because the handle was cracked. The white one seemed okay. However, I added underglaze to the dry clay, which potentially could crack it. I've decided I'm going to be okay with that if it's a lesson learned on what not to do. These mugs I make this year are gonna tell a story as indicated by my stamping.

After applying Western light blue underglaze, I also decided to adhere a Chinese underglaze decal.

I do love to try different surface decorations and fingers crossed that adhering the decal with a wet paintbrush will also NOT crack my mug.

We shall see later today after quilting. After doing clay, I walked the dog at the park where we also have a plot at the community garden. A fellow gardener gave me more wax beans--my fav--and my husband made me pop these little green pods into my mouth. Cucumbers! Yes, below to show the scale, is the actual size of a certain Mexican gherkin, which chefs scatter into salads.

Quarantining: Weekending

Stores have been re-opening, which I have appreciated because I do like window shopping. I stepped into my favorite home goods store, Crate and Barrel to pick up my 8 Mercer appetizer plates (see below) and the small mortar and pestle or mini molcajete I ordered online. I'm really liking the small bamboo plates too that were displayed next to them. I do dream of entertaining or hosting crafty girl nights again after this pandemic.

I also like to get inspiration for my hobby of ceramics from the shapes and surfaces I see in stores. Below are some examples that got me thinking about sgraffito.

In fact, I'll be heading to my friend, Meral's garage today to do some distance handbuilding. I told her this weekend that small vases are in my brain because I like to buy at the florist shop, Blossoms, and forage for small blooms. I've been working with smooth red clay and want to play with contrast with matte surface.. I was thinking I could use pasta to create textures as well.

The centerpiece below would be especially fun and experiment with height and make low floral arrangements for my social gatherings.

While windows shopping, I did actual shopping at Joann's. I finally gift wrapped the birthday present for the 14-year-old recipient with some scrapbook paper and stencil.

I was going to originally stitch on my machine the gift paper to her gift, but washi tape works beautifully too.

I'm starting to think of gift wrapping as crafting too. Yesterday instead of playing with clay, I cooked. I finally got to make an antipasto pasta salad. And used up the hard salami and artichoke hearts in my fridge, but I also added mozzarella balls, rotini pasta, anchovies, red pepper flakes, red bell pepper, pepperoncini, black olives, Italian cheese shreds, and chopped basil for lunch.

And dinner became all about getting rid of leftover--chicken schnitzel and mashed potatoes and beef--and finally digging into my stone fruit galette.

 

I also finally Marie Kondo-ed my shoe closet. I had this large basket that I used with the intention of keeping the pairs of shoes I had that I wear, but that wasn't practical. I was having to dig and toss shoes over my shoulder to get to my rain boots or winter dress boots or running shoes or trail boots or espadrilles or dress flats or black heels or flip flops--which I would then have to toss back into the basket.. It was kind of time-consuming and efficiency-defeating. But then I spied this rack of wire drawer baskets at the dumpster....

Life-changing I tell you, being able to grab the pair of shoes I need either for work or for exercise or for lounging without re-organizing later (i.e., tossing the shoes hiding the shoes I need back into the basket).