Bonus Delicious -- Sweet Stir Fry

The first time this meal came together was kind of accidental. Remember the cabbage I used for the asian coleslaw back in June? Well, I only used a little over half of the cabbage and the rest went back into the fridge.

Then, week in, week out, it would be in my produce tupperware. And I would think and say "We have got to do something with that cabbage," concurrently being amazed that it was still fresh.

Finally, last week, right before my parents got here. . . our cupboards were bare. We could make rice. And what would go with the rice? It was a tuesday, and Ian wouldn't be getting home until after 8. I started pondering. Opening the fridge and staring at all the empty space.

Goal 101-- 9/12 COOK A NEW DISH EVERY MONTH

It's September! My birthday month, and if you've read recent posts, you know my mom and David (step dad) are in town.

One of my unwritten goals for their visit was to have a spot for the four of us to eat family dinner. It's a tight squeeze, yet a gate leg table fits in our kitchen and the four of us do fit around it. The call to dinner includes "dinner time! Bring your chair!" because we barely have four chairs in the apartment.

I love David's pose! And look at poor Ian's face. . . exhausted.

I mentioned that my dish this month would be gluten free because the 'rents steer clear of the gluten (David is gluten intolerant). The original menu written on the week's grocery list was "Grill night. peaches," and I think the intent was to grill some defrosted tilapia filets and PEACHES. I love grilled peaches. Ian arrived home, exhausted from work and kindly informed me we would not be grilling. Mostly because the hard topper from our new-to-us Toyota Corolla Wagon is bungee corded to our small deck-- leaving no room for the hibachi. I imagine he was also relieved because this relieved him of any cooking duties. "Just bake it, it's easy to bake," he said. "I don't know how to do it!" I said. "Look it up!" he replied before closing his sleepy little eyes again.

A quick look at one, two, three different recipes from the internet yielded confirmation to Ian's proclamation. Baking tilapia is easy. It takes little more than a bit of olive oil and salt. Oh! Speaking of salt, I took the opportunity to use some Curry salt from my brother (part of my belated christmas present).

Quite a complete collection of yummy salts, the curry is the yellow one far away.

I was plain giddy when I finished cooking the meal. All the elements were simple, steamed green beans, mashed potatoes and the easy baked tilapia. What I was so excited about is that everything was ready at the exact same time! It was all perfect and hot together! That is a skill that has escaped me and I think it about every thanksgiving.

I think this is the first complete meal I've made for four that wasn't a one-dish concoction.

It even stayed hot long enough for my photo shoot. "I thought dinner was ready" "It is! I just want to take a picture, just one more!"

bonus crafty-- mini quilt no. 2

"crazy quilt" style, adding pieces as you go. To be truly a crazy quilt there would be much more embroidery along all the seams.

Perhaps it was all the nervous energy from anticipating my visitors' arrival. Perhaps it was a little left over procrastinating the last bits of cleaning the apartment. Perhaps it really was the fact that there were a couple of extraneous holes in my wall from trying to put up the final curtain rod (and not knowing there would be sheet metal to block my progress) and I just could not get them out of my mind.

I made a mini-quilt yesterday and I love it! It is mostly scraps from my tool rolls which means heavy canvas and this quilt is, like a good garlic, heavy for its size.

Ian thought it looked right at home, forgetting all about the unsightly holes behind it!

Goal 101-- 8/12 COOK A NEW DISH EVERY MONTH

The other day Ian says something along the lines "Hey, what happened to...weren't you going to make lasagna last week!?" and I replied "I was, but then it was too hot so we had sandwiches" "oh yeah" "I was also missing some ingredients"

Last week's lasagna was spurred by the unopened container of ricotta cheese that had been hanging out in the fridge. Two weeks ago I picked it up and found the expiration date "I've still got til September!" The ricotta was originally purchased for a no-bake lasagna I saw in Martha's Everyday Food mini-magazine. Ian teased that the no-bake lasagna seemed like more prep and work than traditional lasagna. I couldn't say either way. I can't remember ever having made lasagna before! Can you believe it? Everyone's made lasagna right? It's like the easiest thing in the world. Also, I'm not 100% sure that I haven't aided and abetted at least one lasagna.Yet, since I have zero recollection, I'm calling it a new dish.

I had forgotten the mozzarella and extra sauce the first week lasagna was on the menu.

The back of the box has a convenient recipe for a basic meaty lasagna. I made a vegetarian version using spinach and mushrooms instead.

All my Food Network favorites are right! Frozen spinach is so awesome.

I cooked the frozen spinach and made sure to drain it really well. I didn't want any soupy spinach juice mucking up my lasagna. I like the convenience of frozen spinach, but every time I'm pressing all the extra water out I also feel like I'm watching all the good nutrients go down the drain. 

creminis!

A quick text to/from Ian confirmed my suspicions that it was okay to put the mushrooms in the lasagna without having to cook them first. I like the close up of the mushrooms sans stems. I might turn it into a drawing.

I had to read the same directions over and over again after I put any one layer down. "What comes after the sauce..."

This picture reminds me of one of my favorite childhood boardgames. 

I LOVED this game! Not really fun as an adult. I'm hanging on to a nostalgia copy anyhow.

It was all pretty good timing, the lasagna went in the oven just as Ian was getting home. Once it had its 50 minutes covered, it was supposed to have 15 uncovered. Ian likes things well done and I am never sure if something is finished so for increments of 5 minutes he got little rachel saying "Is it done yet? What do you think? Will you take a look at it? I'm not sure if it's done yet"

The lasag-na in the oven.

yum!

Ian and I ate a little less than a quarter for dinner. He took the rest to work for him and Clinton to have lunch on Sunday. Well actually, I took it to work for him with his change of clothes after we rode up Mt. Tabor again Sunday morning (read about my first trip here). That's 3 times so far!

Accomplished! Goal 11-- Make a quilt!

Something on this crowded wall is a fresh addition!

When I originally wrote this goal, I intended to make a bed sized quilt. Often, when I try something out, I'm jumping in all the way.

So maybe it's bits of wisdom surfacing, or maybe I was just enthralled with my new book Whip Up: Mini Quilts. That this time, I started small. (Turns out Mini-quilts is Book no. 14/52, I'm also reading Princess Bride at bedtime so that's 15/52)




Well, I actually started huge like normal:

Gnomes become diamonds become cubes become quilt and... go! Maybe this was too ambitious for my first quilt. It will take hundreds of diamonds.

I'm still working on the Gnome falling blocks quilt. It is going to take a long time because it is English paper piecing here's a video from youtube about it:




My new book has mini-quilt projects, a great way to use up scraps it says, and small projects to learn the basics of quilting. I'm actually unimpressed with the instructions so far. There are portions that I have not understood at all, and luckily, we live in the future, so I can just go to youtube. (I started the other quilt from another book I have and wish I had watched that video first, it answered a lot of questions I had and have just sort of been winging.)

A mini-quilt is also great for instant gratification! In spare time over three days I have made an entire (mini) quilt! So with no further ado, I stamp Goal 011--Make a quilt as ACCOMPLISHED! This was a very good lesson for me in how goals change. I wrote the goal with that big quilt in mind, yet after a while I realized that the point of my goal was not to end up with a blanket, but to learn basic quilting. With that clarified I could take on a smaller project and still fulfill my goal.

Here is the photo essay:

The project is a photo-quilt, I picked an image from a trip to Mexico. I'm just out of frame making shadow figures on the wall of my Grandpa's wood workshop. It is printed on ink-jet printable cotton! Cool huh!

All three columns are sewn! See the backside, all those pretty seams pressed open.

Sewing the columns together to make the top of the quilt. This mini-quilt was almost all machine sewn.

Here is the back of the top being altogether. My squares ended up a little wonky. I need to work on that.

Just a close up of the backside. I like how the back looks.

The finished front. I'm impressed, all but one of my corner seams lined up between the photo and its neighbors.

My mini quilt is for hanging so I used heavy iron-on stabilizer on the backing fabric so it will hang straight.

The step I didn't understand from the book was applying the binding. YouTube to the rescue! Also in the upper corner are Ian's sketches for the quilting. You're supposed to do that before you attach the binding. . . which I know now.

Close up of Ian's sketches for the quilting. I really wanted to do the last one, but curves are too difficult at my level. Can you tell which one I chose?

The finished quilt. Two bits of ribbon are sewn to the top for hanging. It's just a temporary stop here on my wall, I plan to give this quilt to my mom.

Where to spend the dollars?

So here's the dilemma. I found these shoes yesterday.

And I adore them. Like I said on Facebook yesterday, I'm not one to fawn over shoes, but these, they're calling my name. They have a heel, but not too high of a heel, they are feminine and cute, and would look so right with the style I want to have. The style I dream about in my head. A style that I have yet to start curating.

And then the battle begins. $114. $114 could buy that scanner I've been eyeing (I want to replace my p.o.s. all-in-one with a real scanner and separate laser printer), it could buy lots of yummy food (like a week's worth of groceries for two), it could pay for a hotel room for a night when my parents come to visit and we go to Crater Lake (fingers crossed, no tickets yet, but I would love it in September!),

Next battle area: are they practical? I'm a relatively practical person. Which is why I own three pairs of Danskos and three pairs of tennis shoes. Riding bicycles and standing on concrete all day has informed my shoe purchasing over the last two and a half years. But like I said to Mayzie on one of my last days at the Paper Zone, "I can't wait to post that I no longer have to take 'comfort while standing on concrete for 8 hours' into consideration for my shoes anymore!"

random thought: I would need to buy some stick-on grippy doodles for the bottoms as the footpad is a very slick leather.

More pictures of the style I like:

Yesterday at the store, Ian suggested I sleep on it. This morning I was hanging out in his office and he said "So have you decided about the shoes?" or something, and I said "I'm still thinking about it" and he chuckled and said "That sounded more like 'thinking=obsessing' opposed to 'thinking= contemplating.'" And he was right, as evidenced by the fact that I'm sitting here typing this.

And if I want to get them from the store in town, I have to decide kind of quick because it is a small shop and I have an average sized foot, and they sell out of their limited stock pretty fast. sigh. I have only found them one place online, and it was more expensive than at Imelda's.

It's funny how exactly on-the-fence I am about this. If I so chose, I could easily sway the argument either way. For instance, if I really wanted to buy the shoes and needed to convince myself:

• Style has to start somewhere, and a great pair of shoes is a great first pick.

• $114 is reasonable for a pair of shoes that will last you years.
• Your mom and david did give you birthday money in advance!
• You said you would rather spend money on quality clothes than on more toss away clothes.
• You want to attend a glamorous party (goal 57) and for that you will need glamorous shoes.
• All those episodes of What Not to Wear, you know the value of feeling great in what you're wearing. ( The transformations are amazing, even for people who believe what's most important is on the inside, the difference well designed, well-fitting clothes makes is astounding.)

If I needed to convince myself that they are a bad buy:

• That $114 could be spent so many other places. 
• You just bought all those craft supplies.
• They really aren't practical, think of how fast you'll wear down that skimpy front pad!
• You only have one outfit they might go with!
• You still need to pay for the second half of your spanish class!
• What if your business fails tomorrow, would you rather have shoes or food?
• You can't wear them in the rain.
• If you buy them, you will want to buy clothes to go with them, and that is definitely out of the budget. 

What do you think? I could use some outside opinions on this one. 

Double Bonus Delicious -- Fresh Berries and Zuke Salad

Yum. Fresh berries. An expensive treat, but all three types were together looking so beautiful, so irresistible.

Ian has already left, for the morning, to go mountain biking. I reckon they're looking to get a head start on the heat. Point of the story, I was on my own for breakfast (unusual occurrence) so I kept it simple. Yesterday's coffee, rye toast with homemade apple butter, and a bowl packed with Oregon berries, fresh via the grocery store yesterday. Berries. berries. b-e-r-r-i-e-s. So many memories are packed into the taste of fresh berries. Especially black berries, since the first time I really had them was after college, when I lived in Bristol. 

It was winter then, so I would make oatmeal and pour (rice) milk on top and sprinkle on fresh blackberries. They were a weekly staple. Eating them now reminds me of all those lovely days in a borrowed city, walking about drawing postcards and joking with Shills.

I'm a bit more sentimental than usual, since today is my last day at the Portland Paper Zone. I'm typing up a nice long letter for my exit interview and looking back on the last two years is pulling at my heart strings a little. I ought to concentrate on what I'm going to stock up on with my last employee discount! Lots of Bookbinding supplies I reckon, bookcloth and handmade papers, and christmas presents. Oooh, pretty presents. There we are, all cheery and better again. On to the Zukes.

Yesterday, when Ian and I were making our list for grocery shopping this week, I realized we still had the zucchini and corn for the raw salad I was supposed to make last week. Throwing away rotten veg makes me feel immature, and unhealthy! Luckily, the corn and the zuke were still fresh and firm (the cucumber was not so lucky) Knowing it was a "now, or you'll be throwing away rotten veg, again" kind of situation, I started on this simple salad as soon as we were home again and all the new veg was safely stowed.

For this delightful side-dish, to serve 2 adults (with a healthy appetite):

1 corn on its cob
1 small zucchini
1 juicy lime
1 TBLsp olive oil
chopped cilantro (the one week we forget to buy cilantro)
salt and pepper to taste

Husk the corn and cut the kernels off the cob. I love the feel of the juicy kernels popping off into the bowl.

See that giant plant? That's a Rachel kind of plant. You water it when you remember and if it's summer, it's growing. No special instructions required!

Hey Dad! That's me, voluntarily preparing zucchini to eat! Slice zucchini thin and add to corn.

add the juice of a lime (two limes if they aren't very juicy).

Olive oil to coat and cover, stir.

Salt and pepper to taste.

Ready to hang out in the fridge until dinner! Ta-da! Delicious and nutritious.

And I took (almost) my fair share of zucchini (Ian only got a couple of extra slices)! This recipe can definitely go into the summer rotation. Leave out the pepper and it's a dish raw foodists would give a delicious thumbs up! I felt so healthy eating the delightful little kernels of juicy corn and the kind of crunchy, but sort of tasteless zucchini was nothing to be scared of! Next time I'll remember the cilantro.