Quarantine Weekending: Saturyay & Sunyay

Even in a pandemic I love weekends, especially if I'm working because there's seemingly more time and breathing space at the end of the Monday through Friday grind, to make a summer squash rotini casserole...

to walk Sadie and harvest peppers in the garden...

to make a lazy supper of leftovers into nachos...

to repeat funday on Sunday with a Med lunch and an alcoholic beverage...

to count my blessings and ponder it...

Self-Publishing: Zines

Yesterday I had planned to do a Make Your Own Pizza physically-distant class with a 4-year-old and 6-year-old, but the heat wave put the kibosh on that. I had the pizza crusts, pizza sauce, mozzarella cheese, mini pepperoni and other ingredients all ready, but then my niece said it was too brutal to be in Benicia and that she was taking the kids to the beach. Prior to the cancellation, I had prepped the kids with instructions or content with illustrations in zines. So fun! Paper folding and cutting and writing and drawing totally consumed my Sunday last week. I watched this YouTube as a refresher on how to fold and cut and construct--and you can watch other zine makers make some really cute magazine-like publications that are like scrapbooks depending how fancy you get with decorations.

And then I thought about one of my go-to orders at Papa Murphy's.

I just could not seem to stop, and I could tell with my drawing that I needed to stop.

Seriously, if you want to have a drawing and illustrating practice that is not as massively intimidating as an empty journal or sketchbook, then making zines is a great outlet for your creative expressions. The Bindery is wonderfully informational on what is a zine? And before I take up the art of binding my own books, I'd like to figure out first how to make compelling content.

Pandemic Cooking: How to Consume Leftovers or Pork Chop Sandwich I, II, III

A couple weeks ago, I had the hankering for spare ribs, but the grocery store was out and I bought boneless pork chops instead. Oh boy. Not the hubs' favorite and so I had to finish the leftover buttermilk fried chops. I could have made my sheet pan macaroni and cheese to consume with the leftover pig. But I get pretty bored with mac 'n cheese. 

I do, however, love a sandwich. One of my favorite meals. And thank goodness for remoulade sauce. Because I can eat a sandwich for dinner repeatedly if it's delicious, and luckily like butter, remoulade makes everything better. And it's pretty darn easy if you've got your favorite mayonnaise on hand--I just also added some chopped tarragon, parsley and chervil from my herb garden, chopped capers though I was too lazy to chop an additional anchovy. However, I did add hot sauce. Pork Chop Sandwich, part 1. Luckily, I had remembered to buy a bolilo at the supermarket.

I ate pork chop sandwich, part 2 on a fresh french roll and had to make more remoulade, to which this time I added lemon juice as well as the usual fresh heirloom tomato and lots of arugula. I think you could probably also add some sweet relish too because the French version has diced cornichons. Pretty darn tasty. With an icy cold Chardonnay, a pretty darn perfect meal.

Fresh bread with a crusty exterior and soft interior sure makes the sandwich. And so went the last pork chop sandwich, part 3 on a telera roll.

And again Chardonnay, like remoulade, makes everything better.

Pandemic Cooking Or Not Cooking When Temperatures Are Triple Digit

It's still summer, but the past week has been unseasonably warm, dry, hazy and quiet (despite last night's thunder and lightning and fat rain drops). Luckily our garden produced this weekend's gazpacho. It all started with this Instagram posting I saw for the easiest recipe.

Luckily, I had all the ingredients on hand except for the pepper. And so on an early Saturday morning before the brutal heat started, I walked Sadie at her favorite park and picked Anaheim peppers from our vegetable patch.

How awesome and grateful I am that we can grow what we eat.

I remembered last minute to also include garlic, which like the onion, the hubs also grew.

Next time I'll use only one small clove of garlic. I removed the seeds from the cucumber but left the skin on to have a pop of dark green.

The heirloom tomatoes are so sweet and delicious this time of year.

I always have sea salt, sherry vinegar and extra virgin olive oil on hand.

Next time, I'll just pulse the tomatoes. And leave the cucumber in small chunks rather than let it get pulpy.

The soup was and is delicious (Monday's lunch at work), and I'm adding a can of vegetable juice to inject more red color into the soup. I bet this gazpacho would also make a delicious Bloody Mary with a celery stick, squirts of lemon, a teaspoon of horseradish and vodka, of course.

Weekend Sewing: 3 Wall Quilt Tops & Wishes for a Halloween Quilt

 I spent my weekend sewing! What a thrill as I feel I've neglected this hobby for a couple years. It was great to also tackle goals from so long ago. Much of my crafting was making text for the quilts with fusible web. I remembered to trace the image right side up on the rough side of the web before cutting it out and adhering it with a hot iron to the fabric.

And then the zig zag stitching of the text on the quilt top. I will probably hang this political quilt in one of my school libraries.

I'm not really pleased by this personal quilt. I wish I had centered the ampersand and juxtaposed it between the "you" and "me" on the white background. However, I have one more of these quilt tops and will do over.

I am pleased however with the placement of names in this wall quilt for my brother and his wife.

I did a run this weekend to the brand new Hobby Lobby in my town and was impressed by some of goods there. This ugly sign is so not what I would hang up in my home, but I love the message--and so I want to make a personal wall quilt with Sadie's cute chihuahua face on it with these words.

And I still want a chalk board sign in my dining room instead of the coffee poster I have hanging now. And so my plan is to buy some board cut to measure and then paint it with black chalk board to replace the poster and the window glass in order to make a menu board like below.

And the pillow below is a goofy and impractical shape, but the imagery is cute and would be fun to applique on a square pillow.

I also bought some beautiful India turquoise cotton for the garden quilt I'm making from a Purl Soho pattern, but aargh I only bought a half yard instead of the 3/4 yard called for in the instructions. It's okay. I'll run there after work today. I also discovered Kona cottons and what looked like some gorgeous threads if I should ever need to run there instead of my favorite Joann's.

And so I've got the garden quilt for next weekend's sewing, and I spied this on my Instagram feed and am in love with it though yes in my stash, there are Halloween-themed Cotton & Steel fabrics, which I'll tackle before this awesome paper-pieced quilt.

Quarantine Saturday: Retail Recreation

I finally cashed my check from scoring AP essays and had planned to go to the farmers market, but then remembered that I wanted to get canning jars, more food storage, and a mortar and pestle--of which I'm most excited because now there's larb and garlic butter noodles and other Thai and Chinese stir fries in my future. But my shopping didn't stop here.

I wanted a Labor Day light read. Which looks lightest? The Devil Wears Prada sequel of course....love that movie.

I did want the nonfiction below, but in the end decided I was going to put it on hold at the public library instead.

And after the books aisle, I saw the Back to School aisles.  Holy smokes! I bought a Hello Kitty and Star Wars lunch bags, two composition books, two boxes of crayons, two boxes of markers, two boxes of fat Ticonderonga pencils, one box of black Ticonderoga pencils (for me),a bottle of Chardonnay (also for me), pizza crusts, mini pepperoni, pizza sauce, cans of pineapple and black olives (for us)--we're having a DIY distance pizza making activity this Saturday. I then impulsively afterward stopped in an off-price retail store and bought a sandwich container to haul my lunch to school, a box of Godiva dark chocolates for the hubs, jelly beans for me and the kiddos, hazelnuts, and only eyed the Himalayan pink salt. And then I stopped at the wine & liquor warehouse. I grabbed this Chardonnay, but then put it back because...

I saw this Chardonnay...And then this Chardonnay...

And then this Chardonnay...

And then I looked at my phone which reminded me to get Godiva chocolate liqueur and Frangelico. There was no Godiva chocolate liqueur, only Godiva chocolates. What the heck?!? And so I bought this French chocolate liqueur to go with the Frangelico into a delicious coffee drink for after dinner.

And  when I brought my alcoholic beverages home and lined my wine bottles on my kitchen counter, I saw a color palette or a wine palate?

Ha! Anyway I was a bit cray cray on the shopping spree, me thinks.