THIS AND THAT

I'm reporting in......we sampled our meat purchase for dinner last night.  Rather than having steak, the husband decided to brine the pork ribs and BBQ them in our Big Green Egg outdoor grill instead.

All I can say is I hope the steak is better......we might as well have eaten this boot!  The meat (what there was of it) was dry, tough, tough, tough.  We are now trying to remember which restaurants this meat processor serves to avoid ordering the ribs!

I've spoken about my long time teacher pal Judy Simmons, who lives nearby.  Her work is always so creative and top notch, the kind of sophisticated designs I wish I could do!  Her brand new website is now live......check it out.

GONE LOCAL!

After 2 1/2 years here, we still find great differences between living in the South vs. the North. I often felt isolated living in Brodhead, WI......that's nothing compared to living in THIS area of North Carolina.  There are moments when I feel as though I've stepped back in time 50 years. 

'The husband' read a small article about a meat processor who apparently supplies meat to many of the high end area restaurants.  While living in Wisconsin, we had a favorite, out of the way resource, so we decided to head out to find this one.

As the crow flies, it'd probably be a 30 min. drive, but again, mountain living isn't that easy.....so it was more like 1+ hr. away....and truly 50 years back in time.  We followed a vague set of directions which led us off a main road (which is more like a back rural road any where else) up, around and around, up higher and higher to the plant.  Signs pointing the way were a big help....without them, we'd have never found it.

 
So, we get there and this is what we saw.....if it would have been my decision, I'd have turned around and gone back home.  'The husband' pointed out that the trunk indicated NCDA inspection....and their business card that I picked up says 100% full time inspection....hummmm.

Believe me, I could have taken MANY more photos of this place.....but since there were folks there picking up meat, I didn't want to show my city slicker side or frankly, insult them if they looked and saw my jaw hanging wide open in disbelief.

There was a tiny retail shop....where you could look right in to where 4 or 5 butchers were working in a very small room...it didn't have a dirt floor, but it felt like it should.  The folks were very pleasant and apologized that their supply was low since they've been busy with 'all the deer meat' that's coming in to be processed now. 

We purchased 'whole hog sausage', beef steak, pork ribs, and bacon....all for an astonishing price of $24.  If I don't post tomorrow....someone please come and do a 'welfare check' on us.....cause we are cooking steak tonight!

I'm making a bit of fun here....but seriously this was amazing to me......we are sure the products will be wonderful, even if the location of purchase was very unconventional.

As a bonus to this trip, I stopped at a small bead store on the Cherokee Indian Reservation.....GREAT selection of beads at a modest price.  And since it's on the reservation, there is no sales tax either.  I'll be going back there for sure!

NEW QUILT RESOURCE WEBSITE

My, oh my.....the internet certainly has opened the world to all of us.  We can find answers to most any quilt related question we seek.....  There's inspiration at every click.

I just learned of a new resource:    Quilt Qua (definition of qua:  In the character of or capacity of).

You'll find extensive lists to locate instructors, shops, and even the new rage.....quilter's blogs.  Check it out.....

PACKER BACKERS

We aren't the only avid Packer fans in our family.  'The husband's" sister and family have tickets and of course love to partake in the famous Lambeau Field parking lot tailgating fun.

Our two college student nieces took a minute out from roaming the activities to chat with Saint Vincent (homage to one of the most famous coaches in professional football, Vince Lombardi.)

Several years ago we purchased a 'memorial' brick as a Christmas present for the family....here the girls are pointing it out for us.....   There truly is nothing like football in Green Bay, Wisconsin!!

POPOVERS

Our unconventional Thanksgiving meal consisted of standing rib roast and a huge hockey puck, which was supposed to be Yorkshire Pudding!  I've prepared this recipe successfully for years....but alas, baking what is essentially Popovers in high altitude requires changes.

DAH, I hadn't even given this a thought as I happily mixed the ingredients on Turkey Day.  After the disappointment, I began searching for answers.  I gave up on making a large batch (AKA Yorkshire Pudding) to avoid more waste and began experimenting by making smaller batches of Popovers.  This is my 3rd attempt...which still needs some tweaking, but it's getting there.  

Thanks to Chef Bob - The Cowboy and The Rose Catering in Grand Junction, CO, I'm now on the right path!  Here's the recipe and the reasoning behind it.  I'm heading out to get an oven thermometer and more eggs....I will get these perfect....no matter how many tries I must attempt!

FOOTBALL SUNDAY AND SNOWY MONDAY

Yes, of course I know there is a good football team in the state of NC that I can cheer for....but guess what?  My heart just isn't in it.  So.....sadly we watched Carolina beat the Packers in the last waning moments of the game, as the snow started to blow over Lambeau Field yesterday afternoon.  Sigh....

Then.....we wake up this morning and I begin to wonder yet again.....why did we move?  Hummmm....this is our 5th snow of the year and it's just Dec. 1st.  Averages are supposed to be 6 snowfalls.....were we tricked?

The good news is the sky is now blue and temperatures will reach the mid 40's, so hopefully this pretty scene will be remembered but soon gone.  I must confess, doing our daily 'forced march' up the steep mountain road is dicey when there is snow because generally that means there is ice beneath it....going down is tricky too.  But I made it...which allowed me to indulge in 3 cookies that I just baked for a fiber arts holiday meeting that I'm attending tomorrow.....

WORD DESIGNS

Lately I've been creating designs using words and numbers.....sorry, since I'm talking Xmas presents.....I can't post the results till Santa comes.  

My research of this subject has taken me to such amazing internet sites.  One of the best is  wordle.net  It's a toy for 'word clouds' generated from words you provide.  It allows you to use different fonts, layouts, color schemes and the results are yours to keep!  I've been spending a serious amount of time checking out the gallery.

Here's one I created to use in my challenge design for a fiber arts group I belong to.

Once I downloaded a jpg. of the words, I imported it into Keynote, running the 'clouds' together.  After my first sample printing on paper, I noticed that the vertical words gave the appearance of a line which was distracting.  I removed the offending words and added a few horizontal ones to fill in the blanks and printed it out on solid fabric sections.  I'll piece these together and use for the background of my design.

The website will make you wonder....how on earth do they do that.....it's just fascinating....have fun!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

GOBBLE, GOBBLE......  Mr. Turkey is giving thanks that he isn't our meal today!  We recalled yesterday that we haven't seen the neighborhood brood of wild turkeys lately.....oh my, perhaps some of the locals are planning their day with them.

However, we are doing Moo....... on this our 3rd. Thanksgiving in NC where the temperature will be near 60 degrees.....now that's what I'm talking about.....and this is certainly worthy of Thanks!

THANKSGIVING PREP.

Well....if you are reading this, and not in your kitchen, you are probably not hosting Thanksgiving OR you've got a big generous family who will all be bringing a dish!

In times past, I always enjoyed spending the day before Turkey Day......cooking away as I listened to sappy Lifetime TV movies.  Our move 'down south' has created such a distance from family that popping in for turkey and pumpkin pie is no longer an option.  Actually, we lived about 3+ hrs. from any family anyway, so gathering was usually a weekend long event.  Our son (the perfect child) and his wife now live on the West coast and in fact are in Argentina to be part of her brothers wedding on Friday.

So.......we are still keeping busy, but in different ways.  'The husband' is considering putting up the Christmas lights since it's a balmy 46 degrees and rising.

Me?? Instead of cooking potatoes in hot water.....I steam cleaned our bedroom carpet.  Yup, I really did.

As a youngster growing up in Wisconsin in a city on the shores of Lake Michigan, I can still picture snow on the ground during this holiday.  The family generally gathered at our house.....two sets of Aunts and Uncles each with 4 kids, and our family with 4 kids......gosh it was festive.  The Packers ALWAYS played that day.....usually against Detroit and everyone would gather around the TV yelling about stupid plays and/or screaming with delight over the great ones.  Touchdowns by the Packers were a free-for-all.   It was a different time then, when families were physically close and bonded.  Only 2 of the 12 offspring still live in that town....the rest have scattered across the country; TX, OR, CA, NC.

This year it will be just the two of us, so we decided to forgo the traditional Turkey/Stuffing/Pumpkin Pie menu for a standing rib roast, Yorkshire Pudding, fresh sugar snap peas, AND.....ta da.....Turtle Cheesecake......which can all be easily prepared tomorrow......when we WILL give Thanks for the wonderful life we have.

ZIPPERED BAG INFO

I've been contacted from so many of you, both via the blog and directly, regarding the beaded pouches.  So...here's the scoop regarding the circular designs.

They are created using a even-count circular peyote stitch around a large flat sequin.  Beaders who make jewelry also use this stitch to attach cabochons to leather or ultra-suede.  I don't feature this stitch in its entirety in any of my books, however, the first round of beads is stitched with the basic bead back stitch, which is covered in every one of my publications.  Here's a link to a book, Best of Bead & Button Magazine which provides good instructions that can translate to secure sequins (and other round objects) to fabric.

Don't forget to be sure your fabrics are properly stabilized....I like to use Pellon non-fusible lightweight interfacing to support the weight and prevent buckling of the surrounding fabric.