April's Theme-a-licious Stitcher Wrap Up

April's Theme-a-licious Theme was Amazon April: Dip your needle into the vast swath of fabric dedicated to your BIGGEST projects!  I'd identified four of my bigger WIP projects to work on, and confidently started out - but wound up only touching one of those four this month.

But I am still going to count this month a success, because I FINISHED that WIP after two years, and also made good progress on another piece and finished two (count 'em, two) ornaments.

Here is my big finish:

Quaker Sampler

(freebie - source unknown)

blue 28ct linen

variegated flosses (mostly DMC)

I came very close to not being able to finish it until I hiked back to a store to hunt for that last yellow/pink medallion's floss.  It became obvious I wasn't going to have enough to finish it as graphed - but it occurred to me  that I hadn't left a space to sign it, and I was pretty sure I had enough to do that. I was right, but barely - that snippet of floss is all that was left:

Whew! That was close!

The other project that occupied my attention was my mermaid project - this is titled "Midnight Dip" and was meant to be on black or navy fabric, and the fish are graphed as negative space (not filled in) - I am working it on sky blue Monaco, and decided to make the fish orange - it's different enough from the original intent that I'm tempted to do it again at some point as a matching nighttime motif (perhaps mirror imaged).  I have really enjoyed working on this:

Lastly, I completed two ornament sized bits of stitchery.  One was my seasonal ornament for the Ornament SAL:

Beltaine Fire

from Celtic Cross Stitch,

by Anne Orr & Lesley Clarke

18ct Aida, DMC floss

34 x 35 

 And the other is for the Theme-a-licious Ornament Challenge - to stich something with Santa or Elves:

Santa

Prairie Schooler 

(Book 172: Christmas Favorites)

Oatmeal Aida, 14ct

DMC floss

So, now it's time to turn to next month's plans!  I'm not fully planned out yet, but here's what I'm looking at doing:

In seasonal ornaments, I will be stitching something with a peacock - June is Juno's month, and the peacock is her bird.

The Theme-a-licious ornament challenge is to do something monochrome. It will be for Yule, but I haven't decide what I'll do yet - there are a few good possibilities!

The Theme-a-licious main challenge for May is:

"Monochrome May:  

Pick a color, any color, then stitch only on projects that contain that color for the month!"

My first thought was PURRRPLE, so I'm going to go with that, although I may cheat with the mermaid, too.

The WIPacalypse themes for May are:

Designer – Blackbird Designs, 

Style – Humor, 

Colors – Purple and Brown

Since I managed a WIP finish, I'm giving myself permission to start a monochrome PURPLE piece if I find one that appeals to me - so yay, new starts!  Maybe I'll look and see what Blackbird Designs has.

Looking through my stash, I can also work on these:

 Tree of Life

The Stitcherhood

(browns and purples)

Peacock

Theresa Wentzler

(browns and purples)

Hare Biscornu

from The Floss Box

(brown and purple)

ABCs

Lizzie Kate

(browns and purples)

As ever, we will see how this goes!

Shared with:  Theme-a-licious April Wrap Up

What's Cookin'? Apr 29 - May 5

Here we are - end of the month, and stretching out the last few things in the freezer.  Luckily, we had a lot of leftovers last week, so planned meals are getting pushed forward to this week.  We won't be able to get down to the farm to stock up on meat until the 4th, on a day that's already crammed full with other things going on.  All the Farmer's Markets are opening up this week, too - but I don't know if we're going to be able to squeeze in time to go next weekend. Everything we need to do is miles away from everything else, with no clear line between them, especially when it involves getting back home to unload perishables.

Ah well - and abundance of good things isn't a terrible problem to have!

Here's what we ate last week:

Monday, Apr 22

 Clean Out the Fridge Chicken and Vegetable Soup

Tuesday, Apr 23

Veal Meatballs and Sauteed Veggies (Zucchini, Onion, Mushrooms)

in Coconut Milk

Baked Sweet Potatoes

Wednesday, Apr 24

Leftovers

(added leftover meatballs and veggies to the last of the soup)

Thursday, Apr 25

Chili

Grain-Free "Corn" Bread

Friday, Apr 26

Roast Boneless Leg of Lamb

Roast Asparagus

Roast Paprika Potatoes

Saturday, Apr 27

Eat out (friend's house): take out Chinese

Sunday, Apr 28

Leftover take out, stir-fried with egg

Our intentions for  this week:

Monday, Apr 29

Lamb Curry with Spinach and Chickpeas

(from leftover lamb)

Cauliflower "Rice"

Tuesday, Apr 30 (May Day Eve)

Leftover Curry

Salad

Dessert Crepes with Lemon Curd

Wednesday, May 1 (May Day)

 Lemon-Garlic Roast Chicken

Sauteed or Roasted Mixed Veggies

Thursday, May 2 (Stitch n Bitch Night)

Leftovers

Friday, May 3

Quiche

Canadian Bacon

(make Gulaschsuppe for tomorrow)

Saturday, May 4 (Beltaine at the Grove)

Potluck:

Bringing Gulaschuppe

Sunday, May 5 (Cinco de Mayo)

Taco Salad

Shared with:

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Tackle the Menu Tuesday. 

No-Grain Quick Bread Squares

Very simple dinner last night - spicy chili and this 'corn' bread.  There is no cornmeal in it, actually, and although it tasted delicious, a few seasonings to make it more savory would have worked very well - and a few sweet seasonings would have just as happily rendered it into a tasty snack cake dessert.

This recipe is the neutral template - it can and should be altered, because the important part is that it works.  It is moist, has a mouth-feel identical to quick bread squares made with flours, and it's quick and easy to make up.  It tastes good as-is, but is totally open to variations.

As a side note - I am totally sold on the blend of almond flour, coconut flour and arrowroot as the key to making grain-free breads that aren't unduly dense.

No-Grain Quick Bread Squares

(makes 8 x 8 square pan)

1 1/2 cup almond flour

1/3 cup coconut flour

1/3 cup arrowroot flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

3/4 cup whole milk (or almond milk)

1/4 cup melted coconut oil (or other good fat)

3 eggs

3 T. maple syrup or honey

Lay a square of parchment paper in the bottom of an 8 x 8 square baking dish or cake pan.

Combine flours, baking soda and salt, and stir to blend.  

In a separate bowl, combine milk, oil, eggs and sweetener and whisk to combine.

Make a 'well' in the center of dry ingredients and add wet ingredients.  Whisk to combine until all dry ingredients have been moistened.

Pour into prepared baking dish, spreading if necessary.

Bake at 350F for 25-30 minutes.  Test for doneness with a knife or toothpick inserted into center.

Let cool slightly and cut into 9 squares to serve.

Ideas for savory bread squares:

Decrease sweetener slightly (keep in mind wet to dry proportions) and:

Add a cup of grated cheese to batter.

Add diced green chiles (drained) to batter.

Add some savory spices to the dry ingredients, such as chili power and cumin or a selection of herbs.

Add minced garlic and/or onion.

Add some salsa or a bit of chopped chipotle pepper

Mix in some chopped black olive and feta cheese crumbles

(you get the idea - take it from there!)

or top with any of  the above before baking.

Ideas for sweet snack cake squares:

Increase sweetener slightly and add:

Dried fruit bits, raisins, nuts, etc.

dark cocoa powder 

chunks of dark chocolate

Sweet spice blends - gingerbread seasonings, etc

Bits of fresh fruit, such as apples or bananas

etc, etc, etc.

I am looking forward to experimenting further with this!  If you have any ideas for how to use it, please do add them to the comments!

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April WIPocalypse (and I Feel Fine!)

I missed posting on my April's Ornament SAL yesterday, so here it is a day late.  For this Stitch-a-long, I'm not focusing on Yule ornaments (since the Theme-a-licious Challenge covers that) but instead doing seasonally themed ornaments for my year-round tree.  Coming up in just a few more days is May Day, which is also celebrated as Beltaine, when traditionally bonfires are lit.  I thought I'd do something floral - May Day for me is all about the flowers blooming, but at the last minute (and we can blame Trillium Gathering for this, as we were doing a lot of fire-based workshops there), I decided I wanted something fiery.  This fills the bill just right.

 Fire

from Celtic Cross Stitch,

by Anne Orr & Lesley Clarke

18ct Aida, DMC floss

34 x 35

Meanwhile, it's April WIPocalypse Check-In time!  The suggested themes were:

Designer – Mirabilia, 

Style – Samplers, 

Colors – Blue and Orange

I had no WIPs from Mirabilia, but I did manage to work on one sampler, and one blue and orange item:

Quaker Sampler

(online freebie)

Back on the 15th, I said I was going to knock this out, since I only have that last medallion at the bottom right to finish.  Um yea... and I'll make sure to do that before the end of the month, too.

Instead, I turned to this one to bring along to Trillium, because it's big blocks of just a few colors that I could do while listening to a speaker or hanging out grooving to some drumming. And it turns out it is also Blue and Orange, so it even fits this month's suggested theme!I made good progress on it and am going to try to have it finished by next month.

Midnight Dip

The Stitcherhood

Blue 28ct Monaco

DMC floss

108 x 98

I have had to monitor my stitching time, because I'm trying to get some Spring organizing done.  This week I've been working on our bedroom, which has taken on a sort of terrible 'catch all' feel to it that, quite frankly, is neither restful OR sexy, and so needs to not be happening there.  I managed to organize and clean the top of my dresser (and now have 'need a jewelry organizing system' on my to-do list) and yesterday I spent a couple hours going through all my clothes and weeding out the too-small/too-hideous items to give away or repurpose as appropriate, and also to put away the heavy winter items into under-the-bed bin storage.  And I am so leery about whether or not Spring is really safely here enough to do that, but here's hoping!

My big takeaway from that project is that I have WAY too many t-shirts and not nearly enough tops that make me feel pretty.  That should be corrected, I think.

While I was working on that, I also started up a crockpot of chicken broth.  Using the chicken carcass we picked clean for soup the other day, along with the frozen remains of another chicken, I threw some apple cider vinegar on the bones and let them soak for an hour or two.  The reason for that is to let the ACV begin to break down the bones, softening them up so that the broth will have as many nutrients as possible.  I'm not sure how much gel these bones have left in them (I used a lot in the soup), but even if it turns out to be a light broth, it's great for flavoring vegetables or to use anywhere one might just use water.  And it lets me get as full a use out of my pastured chickens as I can.

After soaking, I just topped it off with enough water to completely cover the bones, and it's been simmering away merrily all night and today - I will let it go for about 24 hours before straining and storing the broth.

I keep forgetting it's going and getting a scent of something delicious, startling myself wondering if I've left the stove or oven on before I remember. hah!  It's also driving Sadie Beagle a little mad waiting for her share, and she's my favorite critic.

Today, so more bedroom decluttering, a bit of writing, and tonight a big pot of chili. And maybe some stitching as a reward at the end of the day.

Shared with The Ornament SAL April Check In and April 2013 WIPocalypse Check In
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Getting Back into the Swing of Things

Our trip to Trillium Gathering was truly a success - it was very much a spiritual retreat as well as a whole lot of fun and laughter, and the various workshops and ritual work has still got my head so full of things to think about, take in and simply absorb that I haven't really felt fully like I'm back yet.

I spent some time yesterday doing some decluttering and organizing in the bedroom - mainly the dresser top, which becomes a catch up for all sorts of things with no thought given about where they actually belong.  I plan to do an hour or so of organizing and decluttering a day until the house is done... this was one of the things I came to realize while away -  that too much stuff has been trapping me and keeping me from actually enjoying most of what I have.  Living simply for a few days will do that - it was easy to see how much less stressful it was to live lightly.

I'm also slowly getting back into the groove of cooking - we've got a little grocery shopping to do tonight, but last night we put together a soup made of whatever we could scrounge up, and it was very satisfying and delicious.

I don't think I can even lay out a real recipe here - it was very much 'toss this in!' 'hey, how about some of that?!'  If I remember rightly, what we used was some stored homemade chicken broth, about 1/3 of a slow-cooked roasted chicken (deboned), along with whatever gelatin had encased the leftovers when they were put up.  Then we tossed in a diced onion, some minced garlic, sage, rosemary, thyme, salt and pepper and then we went hunting for vegetables.

A couple chopped sweet potatoes, a package of frozen spinach, the remains of opened bags of frozen peas and corn, a few carrots.  I'd have liked to have had some celery, but our celery was used up.

We ate two big bowls of the stuff, and found it a tasty, easy dinner for a tired wind-down Monday.

Before I forget, I also want to note that we used this recipe for Grain Free Banana Bread from Small Footprint Family as our contribution to the Trillium potluck (I was mystified at how one brings a potluck dish on a camping trip that starts Thursday, when the potluck isn't until Saturday, coldish weather aside).  I actually quadrupled the recipe and realized in the middle that I was 3 eggs short for what I'd need for a straight quadruple, so I tossed in a halfpint of homemade peach marmalade and hoped for the best.  It was still very banana-ey and moist, thought possibly slightly less bound than it would have been with eggs.  The quadrupled batter filled 2 regular sized loaf pans, and cooked fine all the way through.

It held up very well and was delicious to the end - we will be doing this again.

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What's Cookin' Apr. 22-28

I'm not going to bother listing what we ate last week. It was very 'catch as catch can' in the few days before we left for Trillium, and then during the gathering, we were gloriously fed (and they even pulled off gluten-free options that were delicious), so I didn't cook enough to share anything.

Now, we're into the end of the month period, where pickings are getting a bit sparse.  I'll need to shop for some produce to round out meals, but otherwise, I'm grazing according to what we have in the freezer or pantry.

It so happens, I have some good stuff in the freezer, so by 'sparse' I mean not a lot of choices - I do NOT mean that what's on hand isn't really good.

Here's the plan for this week:

Monday, Apr 22

Chicken and Vegetable Soup

Tuesday, Apr 23

Meatball and Spinach Spring "Pasta" with Spaghetti Squash

 Lemon Curd and Cream Cheese Crepes for Dessert

Wednesday, Apr 24

Chili

Grain-Free "Corn" Bread

Thursday, Apr 25

Roast Boneless Leg of Lamb

Asparagus

Lemon Potatoes

Friday, Apr 26

Clean out the fridge Leftovers

Saturday, Apr 27

Quiche

Canadian Bacon

Salad

Sunday, Apr 28

Garlic-Lemon Roast Chicken

Sauteed Mixed Veggies

Shared with: Gluten-Free Weekly Meal Plan, Menu Plan Monday, Monday Menu Plan, On the Menu Monday.   

What's Cooking Apr 15 - 21 and a Theme-a-licious Progress Report

I am not sure we followed last week's meal plan at all this week - between scheduling issues and silly stuff like forgetting to take down meat to thaw, along with a dash of just not feeling like it, most of what we ate was more spontaneous than planned.

Here's what we actually ate:

Monday, Apr 8

Main Dish Veggie Salad with Leftover Chicken

Tuesday, Apr 9

 Gulaschsuppe (German Beef Paprika Stew)

Grain-Free Coconut Flour Biscuits

Wednesday, Apr 10

Ground Beef and Veggie Stir-Fry

Cauliflower "Rice"

Thursday, Apr 11

 Homemade Pork Sausage and Sweet Potato Hash

Fried Eggs

Friday, Apr 12

Main Dish Salad with Sauteed Shrimp

Saturday, Apr 13

Salad

(we weren't hungry otherwise)

Sunday, Apr 14

in Baltimore all day

Ate Out

Our plan for this week is very short - we will be out of town during  the latter half of the week, attending Trillium Spring Gathering. (yay!)

Monday, Apr 15

Fend for Selves 

Tuesday, Apr 16

Roast Chicken

Veggies

Wednesday, Apr 17

Leftovers

Thursday-Sunday

Apr 18-21

Trillium Camp food!

Meanwhile, it's also time for a Theme-a-licious status report.  For "Amazon April" we were challenged to "Dip your needle into the vast swath of fabric dedicated to your BIGGEST projects!"

I did pull out 3 or 4 large projects to work on this month, but I have actually only stitched on one - a Quaker freebie graph I can no longer find the original designer of.  This is where it was at the start of the month: 

... and here is where it is now - I'm almost finished! Just that last medallion in the lower right corner left to go.

Since this is so close to finish, I'll be getting the last of the stitches put in before I switch to something else.

Most of my time this past week was occupied with getting these two pieces framed, in preparation for our UU church's annual auction:

Spring Sampler

Gentle Arts

DMC threads

54x58

This was an unfinished frame Michael painted for me - I think it really sets off this little piece and makes the stitchery 'pop'.

The second piece had a near disaster - this is one I actually stitched over a year ago and then tucked aside.  When I rinsed it before ironing, I was horrified to see that the threads bled!

This was a mere day before it was due to be handed over for the auction, so I was in a place of having nothing to lose - if I couldn't fix this, it was too late to find a Plan B.  I decided it couldn't make it worse if I tried to tea-dye the linen, thinking maybe it'd cover up the blotches and hoping it wouldn't just suck the rest of the color out of the non-colorfast threads.  

I brewed up a very strong cup of tea, poured it into a bowl and let it cool, and then wadded up the offending bit of stitcher and shoved it into the tea for about an hour.  Holding my breath, I pulled it out - and don't ask me why this worked, but the dye stains were gone,  the cloth was a slightly deeper shade of tan that was prettier than the original light brown, and the threads were still vibrant and, if anything, brighter  than they were before.

I don't get it - I can't even recommend it because I don't understand why it worked.  But.... it did, so I was able to get it into a frame and delivered for auction:

Joys and Sorrows 

(part of the Valentine Booklet)

The Stitcher Girl

Threadworx floss

This month's Theme-a-licious ornament challenge is Santa or Elves - I haven't made any start on that yet, but I will once I get back after Trillium.

Shared with:

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Gulaschuppe and a TUSAL

The other night, I was slowly caramelizing some onions and browning beef cubes intending to make some beef curry, when I suddenly thought of Gulaschsuppe, and that sounded a lot more interesting than curry. I asked Michael which he'd prefer, and after a moment's thought we agreed that a nice spicy stew was a good idea.

I have realized that this dish is as close to a 'signature' dish as I've got. The one that my children will remember many years of sitting down to it for dinner.... the one I know will be well received (at least by those who like spicy) at any potluck I might attend.  It is surely the recipe I've been making the longest that I still enjoy eating!

This is a popular German stew/soup - some areas will add peppers to it, others will remove the potatoes and just make it about the beef.  It wouldn't be traditional - but I think sweet potatoes could be happily swapped out for the potatoes.  I already talked about it at length in the entry linked above, so I won't repeat all that, but a couple minor changes this go-round - I used tallow instead of olive oil (it was, simply, what was at hand). I like using tallow to brown beef because it adds a rich, meaty taste and lets the meat brown really well while remaining tender.  I also added a splash of balsamic vinegar when I deglazed  the pot, again, because it was at hand.  It smelled good! I'm not sure if it did anything particularly different from the wine, but everything came out quite rich and hearty.

Here's the recipe again:

Gulaschsuppe
Serves 4-6

2 T. olive oil (or tallow, coconut oil, etc)
2 onions, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1.5 lb beef, cubed into bite sized pieces
2 T. balsamic vinegar
2/3 cup red wine
6 med thin skinned potatoes, peeled and cubed into bite sized pieces
32 oz beef broth
water
3 bay leaves
2 T. caraway seeds
1 T. hot Hungarian paprika
2 T. sweet Hungarian paprika
1 small can tomato paste

Cook onion and garlic in olive oil until the onion is caramelized.  Scrape pot and add beef, browning well .. the crusty bits add to the flavor. (Don't burn.)  Scrape the pot again and add the wine and balsamic vinegar, which will deglaze the pot - let it simmer on low until the wine has almost entirely evaporated.

Add broth, bay leaves, caraway seeds and paprikas, and let simmer for as long as you've got time for... I like to give it at least an hour, but less is fine, as long as you let it cook long enough to tenderize the beef. 

Add potato cubes and enough water to cover plus about 1 inch above, and bring to boil.  When potatoes are tender, add tomato paste, lower to a simmer and let cook for about another 15 minutes.

If you like, give it another splash of wine just before serving.


I also served this with the Grain-Free Biscuits that have become our go-to choice for bread, when we need some.  One a whim, I tossed about a 3/4 cup of shredded cheddar cheese into the batter, and they turned out really moist and delicious that way!

Meanwhile, I'm a day late with this month's New Moon TUSAL (Tptally Useless Stitch-a-long) but still in the zone!  I pushed the threads down a bit, but you can see I've done a bit of stitching since last month's New Moon:

My ort jar, hanging out with a photo of my granddaughter, Hailey and the Easter Bunny.

New Moons are always a great time to star new projects, or to take a concrete action toward a goal. Even if it's something that has languished for awhile, this is the time to make a fresh start, slough off the old baggage, and just do something, already.  This month's New Moon is in Aries - the first sign of the astrological calender, so it's really a new beginning, magnified, and Aries take-charge attitude can be a great motivation to get some progress done on things that have been stalled.  So... make a decision, take the lead, take a step.  It'll lead to some good things!

As for me, we're going to be away for a few days later this month, but other than that, by new project that needs some attending to is some serious Spring cleaning!

Shared with: Daffycat's TUSAL Ort Report
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A Favorite Thing, Get Schooled Saturday, Saturday SHOW-licious Craft Showcase, Simply Natural Saturdays, Show & Tell Saturday, Sweet Saturday Link Party, Weekend Show-Off Party.    
Craft-Create-Inspire Link Party, Creative HomeAcre Hop,  Sunday School Blog Carnival, Sunday Show-Off Linky Party, Think Pink Sunday.  
Busy Monday, Clever Chicks Blog Hop, Craft-O-Maniac Monday, Frugal Crafty Home, Gluten-Free Monday, Homemade Mondays, Homestead Barn Hop, Made By You Monday, Make It Yourself Monday, Making Your Home Sing Monday, Manic Monday, Marvelous Monday,  Mealtime Monday, Melt in Your Mouth Monday, Mix It Up Monday, Monday Funday, Monday Menu Plan, Mop It Up Monday, Mostly Homemade Monday, Motivate Me Monday, Motivated Monday, Natural Living Monday, Nomday Monday, On the Menu Monday,Thank Goodness It's Monday.
Anti-Procrastination Tuesday, Backyard Farming Connection Hop, Eco-Kids Tuesday, Family Table Tuesday, Fat Tuesday, Hearth & Soul Hop, Scratch Cookin' Tuesday, Slightly Indulgent Tuesday, Tasty Tuesday, Tempt My Tummy Tuesday, Time To Sparkle, Totally Tasty Tuesday, You're Gonna Love It Tuesday.      
Allergy-Free Wednesday, Creative Spark, Down Home Blog Hop, Fluster's Creative Muster, Frugal Days - Sustainable Ways, Gluten-Free Wednesday, Healthy 2Day Wednesday, Party Wave Wednesday, Show and Tell Wednesday, Two Girls & A Party, Waste Not - Want Not Wednesday,  Wednesday Fresh Foods Link Up, Well Fed Wednesday, Wellness Wednesday, What's Cooking Wednesday, Whatever Goes Wednesday, Wheat-Free Wednesday, Whimsy Wednesday, Whole Foods Wednesday, Wicked Awesome Wednesday, Wildcrafting Wednesday,  Wonderful Food Wednesday,  Works For Me Wednesday, Wow Me Wednesday.