Morning Glory

Bittersweet

Its time to say goodbye to the Zinnia bed......





One last look......

Sign of Fall

While sewing this on Saturday....



...I kept hearing a rumbling noise....

When I checked to see what it was, this is what I found:

Okra Fritters

We planted a late row of okra and they are finally beginning to bear. This means we will be eating okra until first frost.




My mother often talks about how her mother could cook such delicious meals and made use of everything in delicious dishes. One thing she reminisces about is her mother's okra fritters. Evidently, when there were only a few okra, she would make okra fritters. I'm sure feeding 11 children was a challenge, but my grandmother rose to the challenge and excelled in the kitchen.

I don't know the recipe Grandma used, but I came up with my own. Basically, I made my fried cornbread recipe and just added some okra that I partially cooked in the microwave. I added a small amount of chopped onion, but I don't think it added anything to the taste of the fritters.

The batter:



Frying in the pan:



The fritters:



The verdict: We like them a lot. I made too many! I think they will be good reheated on a cookie sheet in the oven on a low temperature.

I also put away in the freezer one bag of mashed potatoes for a side dish to a future meal.



Happy Tuesday!

Friday Sewing Report

Happy Labor Day Weekend!

I'm looking forward to the three day weekend. I hope to do some sewing and housekeeping.

I've set up some sewing projects in the sewing room to work on beginning now and during the fall and winter. I posted about this yesterday on my quilting blog. Click HERE to read that post.

I would also like to restock my Etsy Shop and so last night I made the above clothespin bag. Click HERE to visit. I looked back through the items I have sold and this is the 8th bag I've made using this fabric.

Another item I plan to make for my Etsy Shop is a Thomas the Train quilted play mat. I found enough of the fabric to make 2 more mats. I've had some interest in these, so hopefully someone will want one for their little boy. Christmas is coming, you know!

My grandson enjoying his mat last summer:



I hope you enjoy your weekend!

Spiderman Fabric Basket

I'm on a mission to finish some UFOs, aka WIPs. What ever you want to call them, I hate to have them hanging around.

I cut out this fabric basket quite a while back and finally got down to the business of finishing it up earlier this week.



I'm going to fill it up with books and other little boy goodies for a surprise for my grandson.

Its nice to finish something, even if its something small!

Photos of the week

My grandson is four!!!



This is an old Southern home that has been turned into an accountant's office, and is located right beside the CVS where I shop. Imagine the sound this huge old tree made when being uprooted during Hurricane Irene. The city workers had quite a job cleaning up the portion of the tree blocking a major street in town, but this part of the tree hasn't been removed yet.





Cat on a hot tin mailbox!

Freezer Inventory

The thing about freezer cooking is that you must continue to put more food in the freezer consistently in order to keep the inventory up. You also have to keep a list of what is in there in order to know what you have and make sure you use what you have. I've really been enjoying having a variety of meals and meal starters in the freezer.

Sunday, after the power came back on, I did some batch cooking of chicken breasts that were on sale this week for 99 cents a pound.

Here's a list of what is in the freezer now:

Browned ground beef and onion (1)
Individually wrapped baked chicken breasts (5)
Shredded BBQ chicken for burritos (1 bag)
Baked cubed chicken (1 bag)
Great Northern beans (3 bags)
Chicken Broth (several bags)
Oatmeal muffins
Slices of banana bread
Brownies
Shredded boiled chicken (1 bag)
Vegetable beef soup (3 bags)
Hamburger Patties (4)

These are the freezer foods we've eaten since I began seriously putting them away:

Chicken pot pie and dressing
Italian chicken
Chicken Tetrazinni
Meatballs
Meatloaf
Hamburger stroganoff
Hamburgers
Chicken Pastry using a bag of broth
brownies
oatmeal muffins
banana bread

Most of my freezer inventory is made up of meal starters. During my next batch cooking session I hope to freeze some side dishes and possibly complete meals. I think some bags of rice would be handy.

Good Night Irene

Hurricane Irene has gone on to hassle some other people. Our damage was minimal because Irene's track was east of us. We did have high winds and lots of rain.

The zinnias didn't like it:



The plants have been carted back to their places:



A little rearrangement:



Hopefully this week will be quieter! No hurricanes or earthquakes I hope!

IRENE, GO AWAY

I hope we won't need them, but the flashlights are ready!

IRENE GO AWAY!

Work Night Sewing

I had a request to make some burp cloths, so I've been working on that the last couple of nights after work.

Here's my work in progress.

I love to pick up unusual fabric from the remnant bin at fabric stores and fabric departments. I just check the size to make sure its big enough to use. Actually, no matter how small it is I can usually use it in a quilt. This Boyd's Bears flannel was a recent find. It was about 22 inches wide, just big enough to make two burp cloths. I washed, dried and ironed the fabric before beginning. Then after placing the fabric right sides together, I cut 2 sets of rectangles about 11 by 22. I traced around a cup on the corners to make them round. Then I sewed around the edge leaving an opening for turning. After turning and pressing, I sewed a decorative stitch around the edge.

I think these will be so soft for a baby to lay his or her head on Mom's or Dad's shoulder.





Here are a couple of the burp cloths that will be quilted. So far I've finished the tops, but will make the quilt sandwich, quilt and bind them over the next few days.



The burp cloth sets will include three quilted ones in pinks and two of the flannel Bears ones.



On the to do list! Some how over time the Grandma Quilt that I have been hand quilting has become a work space for all the scraps I have been pulling to make burp cloths, mug rugs and various other sewing projects. Its right beside the ironing board, so I just reach over and find the color of fabrics I need, iron it and then cut it. Its turned into quite a mess, so I plan to straighten this out and actually start the hand quilting again, after several months of not touching it.



In fact the condition of the entire sewing room has deteriorated to the point I need to straighten it out so I can enjoy sewing more.