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| Little white square |
When I applique I want to get comfortable and enjoy my handwork. I think about my chair, my tools, my lighting, and my time. Once I'm set up I don't want to get up!
I started to applique this butterfly block and found it difficult to thread my needle working over dark fabrics. With my bifocals, holding my needle and thread in front my light is always awkward and ineffective. I break and lose my needle threaders... I needed a simple solution to thread my needle!
I hate to struggle and love to overthink my situation to find an easy solution. I just needed a little light source to hold my needle over to thread.
The solution, a 2" freezer paper square ironed onto the corner of my block and voila!
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| Eye of the needle |
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| Needle threaded | |
Get a block together and try this! It works great and you can reuse the little freezer paper square several times before you need to make another one.
Happy Quilting,
Mary
I admit when summer rolls around it's hard to focus on the projects I want to work on in my studio. On sunny days I want to stroll on the beach or read lazily on the porch. I don't want to cook much but I still want to eat! This lentil salad cooks quickly and can be eaten hot or cold. Today is a bit cool and grey and calling me to get some quilting done. A perfect day for this salad!
Lentil Salad
1 lb lentils
2 medium leeks
2 T. olive oil
1/4 c. moist sun-dried tomatoes
2 T. chopped parsley
2 c. cooked brown rice
Balsamic Dressing
1/4 c. balsamic vinegar
1/2 c. olive oil
1 clove garlic
1/2 tsp. thyme
1/2 tsp. oregano
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. fresh ground pepper
1. In a fine mesh strainer rinse lentils picking out any stones etc.
2. Put lentils in a small sauce pan, cover with 3 cups of water. Bring to a boil then simmer 20-25 minutes until lentils are tender.
3. Trim the leeks cutting off the root end and keeping 2-3" of the green top.
4. Slice the leeks in half then place cut side down on your cutting board. Chop into 1/4" half moon slices.
5. Put leeks the fine mesh strainer to rinse off any sand. Drain well.
6. Add 2 T. olive oil to a heated saute pan. Add Leeks, saute and stir on medium heat for 5 minutes or until tender.
7. Chop sun dried tomatoes and parsley. Set aside.
8. Make Balsamic Dressing.
9. In small jar or bowl (I use a pint mason jar with a lid for shaking and storing) add balsamic vinegar, finely chopped garlic, thyme, oregano, salt & pepper. Stir to blend. Whisk olive oil in a steady stream into balsamic/spice blend until combined.
10. Drain warm lentils, add sun dried tomatoes, leeks and the cooked rice. Stir to combine.
11. Drizzle balsamic dressing on the salad. Note you may not use all of the dressing. Stir and taste to see if you need more.
12. Garnish with chopped parsley and more salt & pepper if you like.
Eat warm or refrigerate for later. Leave a note for your mister. Quickly head to your studio to quilt!
Happy Quilting and Eating,
Mary
Egg on Bread
Some of my earliest childhood memories are of food. Consequently and luckily I grew up to be a foodie and a quilter! The other day wanting to get to my studio early, I whipped myself up a quick breakfast of Egg on Bread, and thought about it's history in my family.
This is one of my Dad's contributions to the family menu of memories. He learned this from his mom and he nicely passed it on to me. I remember cool school mornings having a hot serving of Egg on Bread and a "Man Lunch" to get me through the day.
A "Man Lunch" usually consisted of an overly mustardy sandwich, green pepper strips, and a pickle all of which probably mirrored his own lunch for the day. Not exactly a little girl lunch! At school I nibbled at the edges of my peppers and tried to wipe the mustard off my bologna or ham sandwich. Sorry Dad most of it went into the bin! I still don't gravitate toward raw peppers or most pickles but the Egg on Bread is a keeper.
Egg on Bread
A cast iron or nonstick griddle
1/2 tsp bacon fat
1 egg
2 slices of bread.
1. Heat the griddle to medium low (ours is cast iron) add the bacon fat and melt. When melted spread around the griddle with a paper towel.
2. Crack the egg onto the griddle. Using a fork quickly spread the cooking egg out into an enlarged oval shape while loosely blending the broken yolk and the egg white. You want a portion of egg yolk and egg white on each slice of cooking bread. Spread the egg out covering enough surface area to hold two slices of bread positioned end to end.
3. Place the bread on top of the cooking egg. Lower the heat and wait about two minutes for the egg to cook. I like to cut the bread slices apart at the butted bottom ends so the egg cooks through completely.
4.Remove from the griddle, plate egg side up. Sprinkle with a little salt. Roll one up and start eating from one rolled end.
Makes 1 serving.
Thanks Dad for this and many other things you taught me. Happy Fathers Day.
Happy Eating & Quilting,
Mary
