Quilting and food

Back to Ohio weather - I'm lovin' it! 

A little quilting today -

Great colors. 
 I don't know the pattern.

I had the wood stove going and got a quilt done, so decided to cook something that sounded like it would go with the 50 degree weather we were having. 

So, I made homemade egg noodles with chicken!,  with smashed potatoes and green beans.  How good does that sound?

A couple eggs, a couple of tablespoons of water, salt if you'd like and two cups of flour.  Stir together until combined. 

Turn onto floured counter and knead a few times to work in some flour and until it is still soft, but not sticky. 

Roll out thinly and let dry for a few hours if you have time.  If you don't have time to let them dry, rub well with flour and cut into noodles. 

I have a nice wooden, grooved-carved rolling pin made to cut noodles.  It works well with semi-dry noodles that can dry even more and then break apart on the rolled lines.  These noodles weren't dry enough and I didn't have time to wait to let them dry.   The other cutter pictured (with the green handle) is probably old enough to be classified as semi-antique.  It has rolling wheels like a pizza cutter.  I didn't use it though 'cause I wanted wider noodles.  But it's very efficient at cutting many small noodles.

I used this big ole hunkin' knife, because I already had it out to chop my carrots and celery.

Anyway, quarter, stack and cut into smaller pieces for re-stacking, then slice into noodles.  Mine are really random.  Random on purpose, not because I was in a hurry!  Believe that?  I have some really nice swamp land to sell you!

Bring 32 oz. of chicken broth and 16 oz. water to boil. 

Add 2 cups finely chopped carrots and 1 cup finely chopped celery.  These were very random in size also. 

Boil for five minutes.  Drop in noodles and stir frequently and continue cooking on medium for 10 minutes.  I added about one and a half cups of cooked, shredded chicken.  While this was cooking I finely chopped 3 large potatoes , not peeled, and boiled them in a seperate pan.    Boil until tender and drain the water.  Pour in some milk and warm the milk, then smash the potatoes.  I hand smash my potatoes, so the very nice 70's orange thingy is my hand smasher.  I added some sea salt and butter at the end. 

(If the noodles are a little thick, add some of the water from the green beans- more vitamins!.)

Mmmmmm. 

Dinner:  chicken & noodles over smashed potatoes with green beans.

Even better, as I got out and used my fall fine "china".   And, yes the plate is messy, 'cause I thought I was starving and dished it up, quick as I could.  Sorry I didn't do the presentation wipe around the edges.  Not so pretty, but sure scrumptious!

And, there's enough left over for tomorrow night.   Yea!

meet, greet, sign, reunion, spit-shine

Saturday, I was supposed to be getting ready for my family reunion. 
Instead, I snuck out of the house for just a little bit and made it to the Author's "meet, greet,  & sign" for Sherry Hartzler's book:  "Three Moons Over Sedona". 

It was wonderful.  Sherry did a reading from the book, then question and answer time!  Very interesting on how the book and storyline came about, why certain parts of the book were there, and character development.  Over 30 women took time from their days to make the trip and visit with Sherry.  Some people knew Sherry before the book was published, some knew her because of the book.  There were women of all ages, a couple of book clubs, and just a few relatives, so it was not a "stacked" group. 

That's Sherry
on the stage
sitting in front
of the
greenish doors.
Sherry is just as down to earth, pleasant and funny in person as her writing is.  I was able to grab a couple of signed copies of her books (yes, I paid for them)- one for a friend, one for a Christmas gift. 
 
And, NEWS FLASH!!:  Sherry is writing a new book now!!!!  She expects publication in Spring 2010!  Isn't that wonderful? I think I can wait that long!
The working title is "Island Passage".  She said it is about "reconnecting with an old friend, an old house and an old lover!".
Great interlude, back to reality.
So, I went back home and finished getting ready for my family reunion.  I made home made chicken and noodles.  Baked the chicken the night before, made the egg noodles that afternoon, sauteed some celery and carrots, added the broth and cooked them right before family arrived.  Also baked a delicious pumpkin pie cake.  It's definately a keeper recipe!  Sweeties' brother dropped off a dozen straw bales for us to use around the fire for the weiner roast.  The only thing I didn't get done was mopping the kitchen.  Author meet/greet instead of mopping. I think that was a good trade off, don't you?  And it didn't matter!  If anyone noticed they were kind enough not to say!  Family is nice that way.
So, a couple of pictures...
Here's a group shot of most of the folks that made it:

And I should have taken a picture of the dessert table when it was loaded. 
It was an 8 foot table in the back sun room.  The desserts were all wonderful and just covered the whole 8 foot length.  That in itself deserved a picture, 
but what cracked me up:  my sweetie set up the dessert table next to the treadmill!!!!!  

So I took
a picture
of the
"after table"
with crumbs
and all
and treadmill.


I know that having the treadmill there next to all of those desserts DID NOT deter me one eensey, teensey, teeny, tiny bit.  I still tried them all!  And by looking at all the near empty plates and dishes, I think that everyone else did the same.  Crumbs, just crumbs left!
It sure was nice to connect again with family we don't get to see regularly.  And my house got spit-shined like it does only a couple of times a year!

"I Have a Feeling"

Do you ever feel "run over"? I'm sure you know the equation:


"Run Down" and "Hung Over". Squish that together = "Run Over".


Only I don't think I'm run down and I don't drink, so I'm not hung over,

so maybe its just a mental feeling. Or maybe it's just the gloomy sky,

or the barometer, or the cycle of the moon or some such explanation.

So when we feel "run over" do we complete our projects or let them be until we're back to par?

And par: that brings golf into the situation! How the heck did golf get into this? (Why is par used in this context AND in golf?) The outcome of the project may have a better finish if completed under the better circumstances. You know, Feng Shui'd or something!

My hand stitching usually is a great relaxer, but even that isn't working today.

So, I'll wait to finish my latest project until when my "I Have a Feeling" feeling is a goner. Instead, I think I'll take a walk on the treadmill (it IS raining), maybe read more of the book I have trouble putting down (it's a GREAT book: "Three Moons Over Sedona" by Sherry Hartzler), and then make some homemade chicken and noodles for dinner. Homemade chicken and noodles always have a cathartic effect - we'll see if it works against "I've Got a Feeling".