Well, isn't July just speeding right along.
This is one time of the year I don't mind time
going by so quickly. Other than a daughter's
birthday, August has nothing to recommend but the
fact that 🧡 September 🧡 follows it. I do declare it
safe to bring out some mild fall decor during
August so that's kind of eventful, if you're me.
(With everything practically dead from the heat,
I need to see that color is on the way.)
Speaking of being practically dead, I'm currently
recovering from 8 rounds of golf in 10 days, in
said heat, but I am here today faithfully joining
How's that for dedication?
Was I dedicated to my weekly goals with
all that time spent on the golf course?
Hmm...
Last Week's Goals
1) Finish binding Pines.
DONE.
Another finish!
Among the little red pinwheels is a red/black check fabric
that I had my heart set on for making a bias binding.
One sad story later, I had put all the bias-technique work
into it, but somehow ended up with regular binding.
And some extra seams.
All I can say is that I had about eight interruptions over
the ridiculous 36 hours it took to get the task completed.
Sure, it still looks good.
But darn it all to heck, ya know?
2) Load next quilt
DONE.
And quilted. And trimmed up (after the above pic).
Currently working on the binding.
3) Sew 3-5 Waves blocks
NOT DONE.
4) Sew 6 more leaf blocks for "unnamed fall quilt"
NOT DONE.
5) Work with hubs to get a permanent outdoor
quilt hanger for photo shoots.
NOT DONE.
We did talk about options but we're still undecided.
(I wouldn't be out taking pics in this heat anyway.)
6) Golf: Work on the "heavenwood"
DONE.
This has been something like 3 steps forward and
2.5 back, and repeat. There are other factors at play
but I'm close to scheduling lessons. We'll see what I
can teach myself from YouTube first. Maybe.
About that 8 rounds in 10 days...
To avoid the heat, we were up by 5:15 am for part of them
but it's hot by 8 or 9 anyway, and the rest were at various
sizzling hours of the day. Needless to say I'm a tired girl.
This week promises daily triple digits so, at least for now,
the plan is for very little golf and lots of sewing.
In summary, even with multiple NOT DONE's, I don't feel
too badly about my week. Finishes are a priority and
there was success there. Plus, hubs was on vacay--thus
all the golf, but we also did a decent amount of work
around the house. Hoping to keep chipping away at
it now that we got a kick-start in the right direction.
Food Talk
We had a good friend over for a dinner so this brought
to mind some foodie things I want to share.
Cheesecake
I like to make this lemon raspberry cheesecake in the
summer when the berries are fresh and the cooling
citrus flavor is always welcome. My notes are as follows:
*I once put it to a full taste-test among family and guest
and all preferred the 'Nilla Wafer crust* over the
shortbread as listed in that recipe so I've included
the 'Nilla Wafer at the end of my post.
*It's worth hunting down the lemon emulsion but I
would caution using much. Sometimes less is
more, especially when tummies might already be
fairly full.
*I'm a huge fan of using crock-pot liners for the water-bath
method because I learned very early not to trust foil.
Even the heavy-duty stuff. Or even two layers of it!
However, I have had a liner leak so I do BOTH the foil
and the liner, and it's a darned good thing because that
very thing happened this weekend and the foil saved
the day. The crust was crispy and delightful. Whew!
Triple precaution pays!
Mixed Greens/Light Salad
Last week hubs and I went out to eat at our favorite
French restaurant to celebrate Bastille Day
(I'm not French, I just like France. And celebrating.
And I've visited the actual place so that's cool, too.)
Because we like to entertain, we always pay attention
to menus, plating and such for ideas. Fast forward to
planning our own meal for our guest, we both decided
we needed that little bit of mixed greens that he had
accompanying his Steak Frites.
I used to be really good at guessing what is in
a dish--it's a really fun game!--but I'm rather
out of practice. But hey, this was an easy one
and I nailed it on my first try.
I really don't know the measurements but I tried
something like 2 T of sour cream, about 1 t sugar,
a pinch of salt and some red wine vinegar...
maybe 1-2 T? Sorry, that's very vague but I have
faith in you. You can figure this one out. Anyway,
it worked. Very well. [Sorry, no pics.]
So the next time you need that little bit of greens
to round out your meal, think of me, make this and
let me know how it goes.
(Why not a full salad? Remember when I said
sometimes less is more? That. And besides,
we'd already had an appetizer.)
Pizza & Sauce
Now this has nothing to do with our lamb dinner
but the next day we wanted something easy.
And from the garden.
Pizza!
If you like [need] a fairly thin crispy crust with minimal
effort then this easy pizza crust is for you.
Even better? I divide it into 4 pieces, putting 3 in the
freezer for, say, busy days of sewing. One crust makes
a pie for the two of us, plus hub's lunch the next day.
Curious? Above is ham and pepperoni, topped with garden
offerings of red onion, green pepper and Italian sweet pepper.
After baking I topped it with fresh basil. For cheese, regular
and fresh mozzarella along with parmesan and Romano.
And under it all? My fave sauce from Emeril Lagasse,
also featuring fresh tomatoes and herbs from the garden.
(We're pretty farm-to-table around here!)
I like a tart sauce so I usually leave out the sugar.
Because I always make it from fresh tomatoes, mine needs
more salt and sometimes tomato paste to thicken it up.
I found this online a couple months ago so I tried it,
loved it, printed it. When I went to add it into my very
disorganized and over-stuffed binder of recipes,
lo behold, there I found the exact same one already there.
(Truly, it's a wonder I even found it.)
Apparently I discovered it, loved it, printed it once before
so here I am passing along a great pizza dough recipe
that's fully-endorsed by me. And me.
Back to quilty things.
I was asked for ideas on a quilty issue and I can't
say I've come up with anything great so I'm
putting this one out there to you all:
This quilt was made by a grandmother's mom.
The grandmother (recently passed away) gave it to her
four granddaughters (all sisters, teens to early 20's).
Their mom is wondering if it could be split into
four pieces. The most I could come up with would
be to make 4 table runners out of it but I just can't
advise cutting into that hand-quilting. She did
suggest maybe giving it to the first great grandchild
and leaving it at that. Any other thoughts and
ideas here would be appreciated.
Now for next week's goals...
As I said, it's going to be something like a bajillion
degrees here all week so I'll be holed up in
my studio doing that sewing thing.
1) Load Spring Dresden and quilt.
2) Bind and label Winter Woodland
3) Make HST blocks for Waves
(for real this time!?)
4) Make leaf blocks for fall quilt
Now you.
What's on your list?
Happy quilting!
'Nilla Wafer Cheesecake Crust
Fits an 8-9" cheesecake (springform pan).
1 1/4 c 'Nilla Wafer crumbs
5 T butter
3 T sugar
Mix all together and press into springform pan. I have a
specific drinking glass that works really well at getting
a perfectly smoothed crust. (It's practically therapy.)
Bake 325 for 10 mins. Continue on with cheesecake
directions.
Comments
Thank you for sharing with us at To Do Tuesday!