Happy Valentine's Eve...and Other Stuff

Here we are, almost half way through February, and tomorrow is Valentine's Day. The only room where I have Valentine's decorations is the dining room.  I did add a thing or two this year, though. On the table is this little setting:

The hearts on a stick in the vase were a gift from Daniel last year.  He bought them on the day we spent together while Ann took her friend Dayna on a round of doctors and hospitals.  Every time I look at those four hearts, I smile.  And I'm smiling, too, because Dayna's latest MRI showed further shrinkage of her brain tumor and a PET scan showed no active cancer cells!  Her doctor told her she's in uncharted territory and gave her three weeks off of her chemo.  She's enjoying renewed energy and a trip to Mexico with her sisters and mom as I type.  

I liked the leaves I made for the knob of the china hutch last fall so much that I was inspired to stitch out a Mary Engelbreit heart for this season.  Such a simple addition sure adds a lot:

Here's a bigger view of the whole hutch including a candle with a seasonal wrap:

Several years ago I created a banner for the embroidery club I taught at the quilt shop.  There's no mantle over our fireplace to place it under, and I couldn't figure out where else to put the banner, so I'm embarrassed to say I never put it up. This year I had an idea and it worked--under the dining room window:

Here's a longer range view showing the banner, the table, and the ultimate Valentine's decorating essential, a bowl of appropriately colored Peanut M&Ms:

Meanwhile, our hearts have been heavy this week as our friend, Steve, seems to be losing his battle with cancer. Steve, just a few years older than our kids, has been a good buddy of Dan's, is one of the pastors at our church, and with his wife, Tina, has provided us and many others, with an end of the holidays party known as Italian New Year's for a number of years.  As a couple, they have touched many lives near and far. We and hundreds of others are in prayer for this family that includes two young sons.  ♥

More Kitchen Stuff

About a thousand years ago, or not (but sometimes it seems that way), I was on my way home from college for Christmas break.  A friend from high school days drove me as far as some friends' house and dropped me off so I could spend the evening with them before they drove me the rest of the way home.  Actually, I remember the year, 1969, because one of the things I had with me was a pink satin formal (which my high school friend, Bob, called my "gown" as he carefully moved it into and out of his car) and I know that the only time I wore it was to the Navy Ball in December of 1969.  But I digress...

My friend, Maggie, had dinner waiting when I arrived and it was my first taste of cabbage rolls. They were delicious!  Maggie graciously typed out the recipe for me and a few years later, when I was married, I made her recipe numerous times to rave reviews by all tasters. The recipe takes a while to put together, however, and it was left to languish in my recipe box all the years I was teaching.  I needed speedier suppers.

Lately I've been seeing various bloggers and Facebook friends mention "Deconstructed Cabbage Rolls." Basically, cabbage roll ingredients but the cabbage is just chopped and added to the meat and sauce.  I actually remembered to buy a cabbage when I was at the store yesterday, and tonight was the night to experiment.  I googled Deconstructed Cabbage Rolls and looked at several recipes and then had a thought: make it using Maggie's recipe.  Amazingly, I found it in my recipe box, typed out on a yellow 3 x 5 note card.  I made a few changes; I used uncooked rice and used some chicken broth I had open in the fridge to add extra liquid for the rice to cook.

It was a success!!  Dan loved it and so did I.  I made it virtually salt free for me, so Dan added a little at the table.  Here's a picture of our leftovers for another night.

And here's the recipe:

Maggie's Cabbage Rolls--Deconstructed

 1 small head of cabbage, chopped

1 pound lean ground beef

3 8-oz cans of salt free tomato sauce

2 T brown sugar

2 T vinegar

1/2 cup uncooked white rice

1 cup salt free chicken broth

Brown ground beef in 4-Qt Dutch oven, adding pepper and salt and a dash of Montreal Steak Seasoning. Mix tomato sauce, brown sugar and vinegar together. Add uncooked rice to ground beef and stir.  Add chopped cabbage and pour sauce over and stir well.  Add chicken broth, 1/2 cup at a time and stir well.  Cover and let simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Makes six generous servings. ♥

EDITED to add a photo of me about the same time. And yes, I still wear my hair the same way!

The photo was taken at a park in Spokane when my roommate, her boyfriend (who took the picture) and my Navy ball date and I drove up to spend the day.  I guess it was about a thousand years ago! ♥♥

What's Happening in the Resort Kitchen?

It's been a while since I had a food related blog.  Over the holidays I was busy in the kitchen but most of my efforts were directed toward Christmas: cookies, breads, and of course the holiday dinner itself. My everyday cooking was just to get food on the table: edible and norishing, but very basic. 

Now that the holidays are behind us (or long ahead of us!), I've been having lots of fun with our everyday meals. The electric pressure cooker has been getting a workout (more on that later) and other lovely vessels have made appearances.  First up is this beautiful cinnamon Staub 4-Qt Dutch oven I fell prey to last fall.  

It was on a terrific sale at King Arthur Flour and I couldn't resist.  I made a yummy elk stew in it.  It's supposed to be excellent for baking artisan bread, but I have yet to test that.  Soon, though!

Next up is another beauty.  A stoneware roaster from Pamper Chef that was a gift a few years ago from my adorable daughter.  

It makes the most incredibly delicious scalloped potatoes!  I used up the last of the Easter ham (found in the back of the freezer) and made short work of the potatoes with a mandoline.  We all know I'm a potato lover, and these made me swoon over their yumminess. The recipe is an old one from my trusty red plaid BH&G wedding present cookbook.  

I've been drinking my coffee from a fun new mug that was part of my Christmas from Ann and family. (For someone who never drank coffee until she was thirty-five years old, I've certainly made up for it since.)  The mug is a Pioneer Woman design.  Love the polkadots and the sunny yellow base.

Green Mountain Coffee has a seasonal selection called Pumpkin Spice that I've been enjoying since the first of December.  With Creme Brulee creamer, it's like pumpkin pie in a cup! A few weeks ago I swooped up five more boxes on closeout so I'm set for a while longer.  

And onto the pressure cooker.  It's gotten a good workout since the new year began including more yogurt, cheesecake, steamed butternut squash, and some very yummy baked beans.  While I still love and use my stovetop pressure cooker, I love that I can chop up a squash, program the cooker, and let it go while I work on the rest of dinner without a worry.  Did just that last night while I made turkey enchiladas which are somewhat labor intensive since I make the sauce from scratch.  No boilovers! ♥

What's Going On at the Resort?

Well, actually, nothing! As is evidenced by the Christmas wallpaper still here on the blog.  However, the entire house is still decorated for Christmas and probably will be for at least another week, so the wallpaper stays.  :-)

We still have snow although none of it is new.  It makes the days brighter and we love that.  We often call January Janu-dreary so the white is much appreciated. And we wouldn't object to some more.

Don't know if I've mentioned that Dan, with son-in-law Eric's help, got the shower stall installed over Thanksgiving.  They also got the new sheetrock up around it. Over the next few weeks Dan got it taped and mudded and finally textured.  After Christmas he got it primed and painted.  Now we await our shower door which seems to be lost in limbo-land somewhere.  Hmm, I need to call about that again.  

I'm pondering my next sewing project.  I've been digging through my quilting books and have seen many things I'd like to make; deciding is the next step.  

First up, however, is the laundry.  The excitement never ends here.  ♥

And It's Done!

I'm such a pokey hand-sewer, but I got the binding all finished on the tree skirt!  (I did stitch the ties by machine though.)

I'm very happy with it, especially as the shape was very different from anything I've pieced or quilted before. 

Here it is under the tree.  The perfect size for where we have the tree these days.  

The white sheet can retire! ♥

Stitchin'

Ever since Dan put the new lift in my sewing cabinet I've been like a woman with a whole new persepective on sewing.  I think it's because it's so easy to switch between embroidery and regular sewing.  Whatever, I've been having fun in my sewing room and that makes me smile.

A couple of quilters I have followed for years did a "24 Days of Christmas" on Instagram (no, I'm not on there, but I can view) and they inspired me no end.  Each day of December they posted pictures of quilts and other stitcheries in Christmas vignettes.  I got new ideas for my own decorating and ideas for new projects, so to my sewing room I went.

First up was this simple little quilt for our bedroom dresser.  I used fabrics from the Christmas quilt I made a couple of years ago.  

Next up, I decided it was time to get a tree skirt made! After forty-four years of marriage, I needed to do this. I had purchased more of the Through the Winter Woods fabric to make the skirt in the book by the same name, but then discovered the skirt was huge--like six feet across which is much too large for where our tree sits.  I had thought of trying to scale the pattern down, but it had so many pieces it just seemed to be too much to contemplate so I did nothing.  Until this week when I decided I had to prevail and get with the program.  I looked through my books and patterns and found Happy Holidays by Atkinson Designs.  Right there on the front was a tree skirt that would work perfectly.  

I used the Winter Woods fabrics and a few scraps from other projects and got the top done Saturday. As usual, Terry Atkinson's directions were perfect (her methods are genius--I don't know how she figures out such clever ways to cut and sew) and a top made of equilateral triangles came together perfectly.

I just finished quilting it and now will get to the binding. Stay tuned for a final viewing!  ♥

A New Year . . .

. . . and it's a cold white one here at the resort.  By Christmas Day we had a foot or so of beautiful white stuff, and a little more came down in the days that followed.  And then it turned cold.  Cold as in it was one degree last night at nine o'clock.  We've had some fog and that, coupled with the cold, has resulted in hoar frost that covers every little branch, twig, and spider web. It's a fairy land out there, people!

Box Elder at the end of our deck

View out the front door

Look at that brilliant blue sky!

I am loving every moment of this incredible beauty.  It's warm and cozy here in the resort and we were blessed with a lovely Christmas season with family.  Bruder Bear and Karen drove up to our home town on Christmas Eve and then on Christmas Day drove our parents up here for a day of feasting and visiting.  BB's son JR and daughter Kirsten and husband Tim also came.  Ann, Eric and the boys were able to run over for a hour or so (Eric's parents were spending the holiday with them) and we had fourteen of us catching up with one another . . . and putting a puzzle together!

Peanut M&M's are a must for puzzle work!

My Dad was particularly pleased to have so many of his family around!  (And the cookies didn't hurt, either!)

At 92, his biggest gift was family together

We celebrated Christmas with Ann and family on New Year's Eve and had a great time.  We dubbed the event "The Pizza and Present Extravaganza."  :-)  An excellent time was had by all.

And now, it's 2016.  A whole new year before us.  ♥