potato/carrot mash, meatloaf

We headed out to breakfast on Tuesday (11/5) at THE BIG VIEW and saw gas on the way home for $2.98…WHOO HOO…gas under 3 bucks!  Then it was off to BEST BUY for some Christmas presents, and a few other errands before heading home.  Carol and Ned came over to deliver my 150 pounds of soap making oil that they picked up from BG in Connecticut (I see soap making in my future later this week J).  By the time Joanne picked me up for Stitch & Chat, Michael was already making potato/carrot mash to go with the meatloaf I mixed up in the morning.  Once done, he whipped them into the crockpot to stay warm for dinner:

 

 Paula gave me a lift home (Joanne had tennis) and we stopped by Marilyn’s to drop off food for the pantry and the library to drop off knitting magazines before heading home.  Then we sat in the driveway and talked for about 45 minutes!  I came in, shaped the meatloaf (which was loaded with caramelized onions!)and popped it in the oven and got a grocery list made before it was time for dinner.  Anne & Bryce came over for dinner (meatloaf, potato/carrot mash, asparagus and rolls):

 

at 6 PM and left at 7 PM along with Michael, who was going to the movies.  I forced myself to go to the grocery store (last day of the sale) but it was worth it as I spend $32 and saved $22!  PLUS, the checkout lady told me how much she liked my sweater!  I knit the rest of the evening and am almost finished with another baby sweater.

Cookie & Elsie a duex, caramelized onions before & after

Sunday morning we hopped up with a lot to do.  I made a tortellini pasta salad and rolls, while Michael picked up the house a bit.  Angie & Dave and Mary & Stan came for lunch, then Michael left for the performance and we all piled into cars along with 11 other people and went to watch him in Arsenic & Old Lace!  The play was TERRIFIC…lots of laughs and a very happy ending.  Although I have seen it before, I didn’t remember much of it, which was great.  I was home by 6, but Michael had to stay for a mini-rehearsal and he got home at 7.  We opened a bottle of champagne with our white cheddar mac & cheese for dinner and watched TV and relaxed for the rest of the evening.

Monday morning Michael left for golf and I put together BG’s Spanish coffee cake for the ladies that came to knit.  We spent a very pleasant morning together and 2 more people are interested in the Knit Swirl knit-a-long, which we hope to start in January.  I spent a large part of the afternoon getting statistics on the number of houses in SCCL, and dividing them up so that the 6 of us participating in the Art Crawl in 2 weeks can pass out the flyers.  When I came upstairs I got pictures that I think are a definite first:

I was here first!

MOM! leave us alone, we haven't figured it out yet!!

 

 

I’m not sure I’ve ever seen them together in that chair before.  Michael came home at 3:30 and we were both BEAT!  He spent time on the computer, and I just lazed on the sofa until it was time to go over to Jan and Walt’s.  They invited us for a special pizza, and it was FABULOUS!  A new place opened down here a couple of months ago called Papa Murphy’s pizza.  Since we are happy with the other pizza joints that are closer to our house, we have never tried it.  They only sell unbaked backed pizzas, with specific cooking instructions.  J&W got a stuffed chicken and bacon pizza and Michael and I both loved it.  We got home around 8 and watched TV and knit the rest of the evening.

I always laugh when I read a recipe that says ‘place onions in skillet and stir until caramelized, about 10 minutes’.  I have no idea in what alternate universe onions will caramelize in 10 minutes….but it’s not here on earth!  Anyway, I read about caramelizing onions in the crockpot and decided to give it a whirl.  I sliced up 5 medium onions and tossed them with butter, olive oil and thyme and put them in my 4 quart crockpot:

 and cooked them.  Here’s the result:

 

Even Michael (who’s not that big a fan of onions) said they smelled heavenly as I brought them in (I cooked them on the back deck since I didn’t want our entire house to reek of onions J).  I’m going to use some of them in my meatloaf on Tuesday, and freeze the rest in 1/2 cup portions.  Here’s the full recipe: http://cookinginstilettos.com/slow-cooker-caramelized-onions/.

charity quilts 1, 2 & 3

Friday morning (11/1) Michael headed out for LOWE’s with Phil, while I headed down to the studio to work on shawls.  At 11 I came upstairs and pulled together a bit of food for Gale’s arrival at 11:30.  I asked her over for lunch (we haven’t seen each other in forever!) and we talked and talked and talked and talked!  Michael came home around 1:30 as Gale was leaving and we both took naps in the afternoon.  Michael left for a performance around 6 PM and at 6:30 Jan and Willa and Lisa and I headed into Charlotte for the symphony pops concert.  It was the original cast from Jersey boys and they sang lots of Frankie Valli and the 4 seasons stuff, but also Michael Jackson, the Mamas and the Poppas, the Beach Boys and a few others.  It was a GREAT concert, and I beat Michael home by 10 minutes J.

Saturday was all about our attendance at a Bat Mitzvah for our friend Evelyn.  Evelyn is in her 70’s and 2 years ago began to learn Hebrew to eventually take classes for her Bat Mitzvah.  I cannot even imagine how she did it, but at the 3 hour service on Saturday morning, she became and ‘adult, responsible for her actions’.  It was wonderful to see her and there was a lovely luncheon after the service.  Saturday afternoon we did a few chores around the house, then Saturday evening Michael left for a performance and I headed up to the golf club for a dinner, celebrating Evelyn’s accomplishment.  Dinner was wonderful, and I sat with 2 other couples who just returned from a 14 day trip to Italy.  I was enthralled with their stories of all of the meals they ate while there….good thing I was getting fed at the same time.  I was home around 9 and knit for a couple of hours until Michael got home at 11.

Several people asked to see the charity quilt tops….here are the pictures:

 

 

Michael left for golf on Wednesday (10/30) and I read a library book for most of the day!  I did have my usual wonderful talk with Janice in the morning, but after that, it was read, read, read….I liked the book, but felt like I had been dropped down into a series in the middle, so I’m going to look up the author’s other books and see what’s what.  Have I told you about this terrific website I found?  It lets you know the order of the book an author has written.  And if they have several different series that they have written, the website groups those all together.  You can find it at: http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/ and I use it all the time J.  Michael came home around 2, and despite shooting a 7 on a par 3 hole, and a 9 on a par 5 hole, Michael still came home with an 85.  We had leftovers for dinner and watched TV in the evening while I knit.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!  Thursday was a lot of rushing around, first to quilting where we finished THREE charity quilt tops!  I got home after 1 and my honey made me a grilled ham & cheese sandwich for lunch, then I headed off to WALMART for some grocery shopping, then on to the airport to pick up Susan and Melanie, back from a 2 week trip to Malta.  Michael and I were like ships passing in the night for dinner and he left at 5:30 for a performance.  I had settled in to read a bit, then decided to get up and get a glass of water.  As I walked to the kitchen, I noticed Michael’s shirt (the one he wears in the play and brought home to launder) on the sofa!!!!!  I become hysterical and race downstairs to open up the cast list document that I luckily saved on my computer.  I find Sandy’s number (he’s car pooling with Sandy) and dial it as I race upstairs to grab keys, wallet, shirt and race to car.  I yell at her to pull the car over and explain why.  Luckily they are not very far away and I catch up within 10 minutes and hand off the shirt…..WHEW!!!!!  Back home again I have a calm and quiet evening, knitting, until Michael arrives home around 10:30.

I packed up Italian Wedding Soup, Mexican Chicken Soup and Elephants Chicken Soup on Tuesday morning (10/29) and headed off to visit Becky (one of the Fiber Floozies) who had surgery on both feet about 2 weeks ago.  She lives in Monroe, which is about 45 minutes away, but I have been to the town before, so knew how long the trip would be.  I can’t believe she is walking already!!!  Very slowly, and with boots on both feet, but walking none-the-less.  We had a wonderful visit and I got to meet 2 of her sons-in-law as well as her mom, who all stopped by.  I headed home, picking up a sandwich for lunch in Waxhaw, and only got to Stitch & Chat a tiny bit late.  Everyone LOVED the baby sweater…I think because it is so small, it just looks even cuter, and I am excited to start the next one.  I got home from S&C just after 3 and spent a bit of time downstairs with the dog so that Michael could get in a quick nap (he’s still recovering from rehearsing and performing).  We had a light dinner, then he took off for the movies with Larry, while I stayed home and knit on a new baby sweater.

bread, pizza, baby sweater

I got up early on Monday morning (10/28) because I wanted Michael to have fresh bread for breakfast.  After I shaped the loaves Sunday night, I just popped them into the fridge to rise overnight.  The house smelled heavenly when they were done:

 

Barrie arrived at 9:30 and we spent a wonderful couple of hours talking and knitting before she left (with 1/2  a loaf of fresh bread) to pick up Cooper (her 4 year old) at day care.  I spent 2-1/2 hours on the internet and searching through my recipes, trying to come up with the perfect egg roll recipe, then decided I needed to be productive, so started working on another set of shawls. 

I had leftover roll dough, so we had mushroom & pepperoni pizza for dinner:

then snuggled on the couch and watched some of our shows.  I finally finished the first baby sweater:

pot stickers, bread, champagne

I did grocery shopping Sunday morning (10/27) while Michael was cooking the bacon and we both had a wonderful, late breakfast.  We were finished by 11:30 and I started to brown the pork for pot stickers.  You know, I felt guilty a few days ago when I was making ravioli, because the process for pot stickers is pretty much the same.  Michael loves them, and we haven’t had them in AGES….so, since I knew we were doing champagne and puffy things for dinner Sunday (to celebrate that Michael will have 3 days off in a row…something he hasn’t had for about 8 weeks) I spent about an hour putting together 70 potstickers and getting them in the freezer (they cook directly from freezer):

Then it was back to knitting….even though my hands are hurting, I am anxious to see my first baby sweater…I think it already looks very cute (although VERY small)!  Michael called at 5:15 to say they were on their way home, and I mixed up sandwich bread dough and Planter’s Punch before he got home:

 

We had champagne and puffy things for dinner:

  

 

We started out with some pizza rolls I am trying to clear out of the freezer, then moved on to mini-egg rolls, finally ending with the pot stickers, which were a huge success.  I got the second 1/2 of the baby sweater done…now just have to sewn in ends and sew together.

Cookie

We got a REALLY late start on Saturday (10/26), and I barely got a little paperwork done before we left for the movies.  Michael hasn’t been able to have his usual Tuesday movie nights (because he’s been rehearsing) so he really wanted to go.  We saw GRAVITY in 3-D…it was AWESOME…I would recommend this movie to anyone (and definitely see it in 3-D if you can….they should win an OSCAR for special effects)!  We were home by 3:30 PM and I decided I had to buckle down and get rid of the papers on my desk that have been piling up (the most important being the minutes of our last volunteer meeting).  Michael took a shower while I was working…while his faithful companion waited on his sweatshirt: 

We had a reprise of Friday’s dinner again on Saturday and Michael left around 6 for another performance and I spent the night knitting.  I am making good progress on the second 1/2 of the baby sweater….but my hands are really feeling the fact that I have been knitting so much.  I need to figure out what my next sewing project is…and soon J.

soup making, leaf drawing, xmas pillow cases, soup & bread

We got to sleep in a bit on Friday (10/25) after a mid-night bedtime on Thursday night and by the time I IM’ed with BG and got 2 days worth of a blog entries done, it was 10 AM.  I headed back upstairs to chop everything up for the Elephant Chicken Soup I will be making for dinner (if I wait until 3 PM I never feel like doing it J), and to mix up rolls to go with the soup.

 

an action shot, just getting ready to smash my garlic

you can see my bag of veggie trimmings that I keep in the
freezer until I have 3 or 4, then I make veggie stock.  and the
bowl of already chopped onions & celery

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Many of you may know that I started making soap about 10 years ago.  At that time, I lived in Connecticut and BG and I drove to an oil distribution center in Massachusetts to pick up 150 pounds of palm kernel, olive, coconut and castor oil to make soap.  (Yes, that’s how real soap is made, with some kind or kinds of oil/fat and lye.  Most (all?) commercial soaps today are not made that way, instead they are some sort of detergent formula).  Anyway, I have finally exhausted most of my supply of oils (and soap) and it is time to make more.  I have tried to find oil near me to no avail, and having oil shipped to you is prohibitively expensive due to the weight.  BG and I were talking one day and she was trying to find me some oil (because when she came for a visit, she remembered how much she likes my soap (I have a bar in the guest room shower) and I told her if she found me oil at a good price, I would make her some J), and she said ‘too bad you don’t have a way to get oil from CT to SC because I would definitely drive back to MA and pick it up for you’.  On a whim I wrote to 2 ladies that I know go to CT a lot and said ‘is there any chance you ever drive when you go to CT, and if yes, would you ever have room to bring back several large packages, and if yes, would you be willing’?  Carol immediately wrote back to tell me that she would be in CT on October 24^th and would be happy to bring stuff back for me…SCORE!!!!!!!!!!!!  So, BG drove to MA last Friday and picked it all up, and BG and Carol are meeting today for the trade off.  Anyway, palm kernel oil is hard as a rock at room temperature (I still have a lot of that), and I want to make soap as soon as I get the other oils, so the whole time I was downstairs, Michael had the fire on, with the large plastic container of palm kernel oil sitting in front of it.  When I went upstairs, I measured out 4 portions of that oil (that took almost 1/2 an hour…it was still that hard) so that I can hit the ground running when Carol delivers everything else.  By the time that was done (and the soup fixin’s and the roll dough), it was 12:30 and I was STARVING, having never had breakfast OR lunch (except for my habitual morning tea).  I stopped and made a couple of diet pizzas (an old, old Weight Watchers recipe that I still love), then headed downstairs to work on an art project with Michael.  This is the first time we are trying something new and I can’t wait to debut it in the future if it works out….it involves leaves…and I just love leaves  J.  This pen and ink drawing, that Michael completed years ago, remains one of my favorite pieces of art in our house:

I finally got to hit my sewing machine around 1:30 and polished off 2 Christmas pillow cases for Jan to give as gifts to her grandkids:

  

 

She bought the fabric about a week ago, and since my serger was already set up, it was easy to run them up for her.  At 3:30 I headed upstairs to actually make the soup (and bake the rolls) and Michael and I watched a bit of TV while eating:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

and he headed off to OPENING NIGHT of ARSENIC & OLD LACE at 6 PM.  Jan and Walt swung by on their way home from a volleyball game to take home a quart of soup.  I have 2 other quarts frozen for woodworker Bob and Donna & Lee and we still have a quart left for dinner on Saturday.  I’m hoping to visit Becky next week (she had surgery on her feet) and take the last quart to her.  It’s a good thing I doubled the recipe we got dinner out of it, and then 5 additional quarts J.  I knit for the rest of the evening and am about 1/2 way through my first baby sweater.  Michael didn’t get home until mid-night, and we didn’t make it to bed until 1 AM!!

rice krispy treats, ravioli, charity pillow cases

Michael left super early for golf on Wednesday (10/23) and I got a little paperwork done before settling down for my 40 minute phone call from Janice.  We talked about a lot of good things….but she waited until the last 30 seconds of the call to tell me about an insurance claim where someone’s car was BLOWN UP!!!!  I was all excited to hear about it…..but she had to go L.  Oh well, it was an exciting ending to the phone call.  I worked for most of the rest of the day putting my sewing room back in order.  When you do craft fairs, you end up packing up a bunch of stuff, that you then have to unpack and put away when you get home.  Plus I have a stack of fabric that I haven’t yet catalogued, so I worked on that a bit.  I was VERY surprised when Cookie started whining at 11:30, and I went to the door and Michael was home already!  He said he only played 10 holes and that his arms and legs felt like they weighed 500 pounds apiece.  These long, late night rehearsals 5 nights a week are really taking a toll (not to mention this week will be 7 days straight of rehearsing and performing).  I put him to bed for a nap, and he said he felt much better after that.  I made Rice Crispy Treats with chocolate topping for him to take to rehearsal:

these were the very few I left home for him, which was
good because everyone SNARFED the rest down!

 and I spent the night knitting and watching TV.

Thank goodness Michael packed all of my stuff into the car for quilting on Thursday (10/24) or I never would have made it.  I had 5 large bags of plastic bags and 2 paper bags of food for Loree to take to the local food bank, my serger and a box of fabric to make charity pillow cases, my knitting bag, a bowl I needed to return to someone and a quilt that someone wants repaired.  I made a good start on the pillow cases, but wasn’t able to finish them before heading for home around 1.  I worked on them in the afternoon, stopping to make ravioli for dinner (that Michael said was great!):

 

and finally finished the pillow cases around 7 PM:

I got 10 of these done for little boys...

and 2 more of the princess ones for little girls
(I already finished a bunch of princess ones
previously)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I spent the rest of the evening working on my first baby sweater. 

 

One of the women at Thursday quilting (Linda) convinced her hubby to loan me his FITBOT for 2 weeks while he wasn’t using it.  You probably know that we’re all supposed to be getting 10,000 steps a day for optimal health.  I checked it when I went to bed and found out I am doing a dismal 4,000 steps L.  I’m going to try to improve over the next 2 weeks….we’ll see.