preparation

I finished another quilt this weekend.  I am trying to have four ready for the Maker's Market I am going to on the 2nd of April.  We will see.  I am finding that the quilting, piecing, concentration of working on a quilt is helping to take my mind off the madness of work.  Layoffs are just crap and how people react to the situation is all over the place.  I understand that but having a place to hide in a quilt is a good thing.  I hope to get some spinning done this weekend as well but I will have to see.  Even though my weekends are longer there still does not seem to be enough time!

because

When I was putting together Spikey's red quilt, I actually made myself two dresses.  I bought the plaid piece of fabric at the general goods store in Sitka, AK.  The grey piece is a wool cashmere remnant that I found at the place I bought the red cottons for Spikey's quilt.  Even at 50 % off, it was pricey.  Very pricey.

And on the hanger, it looks like a bag.  But on. . . it makes me feel elegant.  They are both my favorite dress right now.  It is actually the style.  There is one more plaid cotton that I made that I would have to say the same about.  The only problem with them is they are not very wearable for riding bicycles or motorbikes.  But I can do most else in them.

But if you cannot do it in a dress, it is not worth doing or the dress needs to be changed.  That is when I pull out the A-line ones.

Yes, I am odd.

playing with lamination

Putting hands in dough is always a good place for me.  I really want to be able to make a nice naturally levained croissant and have in the past.  But people swear by the Tartine Bread book.  I am not sold.  But I thought to give it a try again.  In that book, yeast is used but the flavor should be right.  Part of the levaining is actually sourdough/levain.

The first try was disasterous.  Over baked and the kouign amman I made by using another recipe that said start with a croissant dough was awful.  My tastes have become less American.  I like salt and the American recipe I used was too salty.  I composted the end result.  Which I really do not do with bread.  But am I willing to just give up?  No.  So I tried again.

The croissants were not bad.  The end bits I faked into a kouign amman type pastry.  I think I will go looking for another starting point.  But then maybe that is really not fair.  I have never liked any recipe I have tried from the Tartine Bread book.

I am odd.  I need to buy more butter.  I thought I was going to be out of town last weekend but that did not happen so maybe this weekend more lamination can take place between stitching for the Maker's Market.

it has been an interesting week

I will have to say it has been an interesting week and I have been hiding at my sewing machine.  As work gets more stressful, that is where I spend more time.  Soon, we will know how many people no longer work where I work.  I spend more time at my machine.  It does help for me trying to get ready for the Maker's Market in early April.

We had company because a friend called and said "can I come over?"  She did not wish to sit at home and brood.  Since it was a bad day for me as well, sure.  That was an evening full of laughter that helped.

I have been fighting having a migraine.  I could feel it on Monday but it felled me on Thursday.  My head hurt so badly that I had no balance.  Vertigo means my stomach was upset.  I got myself together enough to get to work but when I got home, I fell asleep.  I feel the effects today but my head is better.

Hiding means another quilt top was pieced.  More nine squares put together.  Not a bad way to hide.

ketchup

I am that crazy person who after the sixth time forgetting to purchase ketchup at the grocery store, I make it.  I usually have the ingredients in the house in some for so I thought why not.  I did not have all the powders and salts but I did have the real vegetables.  Why not?

When it was done, I got asked if it would be okay to put it on pizza.  It is ketchup silly wolves!

I did this in a crockpot very slowly so there was not a lot of watching or worrying about burning. 

ketchup

2 28 ounce cans of peeled roma tomatoes

1/2 cup water

2/3 cup sugar

3/4 cup apple cider vinegar

1/2 chopped onion

1 stalk celery, chopped

1 3/4 teaspoons salt

1/8 teaspoon mustard powder

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1 clove

In a crockpot, combine all the ingredients.  The water can be used to clean out the tomato cans if needed.  Cover and put on high.  After about 12 hours blend.  There should be no lumps at all in the blended vegetables.  It will be a puree.  Cook the puree down until it is half its volume or the consistency of the ketchup you like.

It took me two days.

I got about two pint jars of ketchup.  I have not checked to see if it gets put on mjustat when I am not around so there may be less now.  This has much more depth then store bought ketchup and when Nancy Reagan said ketchup could be considered a vegetable, this is more of a fruit puree.  Because tomatoes are fruit.

If you want more spice, add some cayenne.  Basically, when I looked at ketchup recipes, it was all about what you wanted the ketchup to taste like.  Tomatoes, sugar, vinegar, and salt were the constants.