sauteed apples

I like dutch babies.  They are a hit around here and I have been making them for many years.  Easy to make.  Do not need to hover.  What more can you ask?  But I have been finding that my sweet tooth is not as sweet as it was so cooking the dutch baby with the apples, spices, and sugar on top is making the pancake less  enjoyable.  So what did I do?  I took all the the ingredients for the topping and sauteed them together.  That way the can be put in a bowl or straight on top but there are many more options.

And I think this is easy.  But I keep getting told I am a bit crazy and odd.  Oh well.  That is life. 

This are similar to my roasted apples but I think they are a bit moister.  Both are yummy.

sauteed apples

two small apples, peeled, and cored.  I used honey crisps

2 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ginger

In a skillet, melt the butter over medium low heat.  Quarter the apples and cut each quarter into thin slices.  Add to the melted butter.  Mix in the spices.  Let cook a little bit until the apples start to soften.  Add in the brown sugar.  Mix.   Let cook until the apples are soft enough to be pierced with a fork.  Make sure they do not burn.  All the sugar makes this something easy to do.

Serve with pancakes.  Or ice cream.  Or . . .

a current favorite

While I have been making quilt squares, I have been making other things as well.  There is still a lot of flannel being sewn.  Koda Bear still has more pajamas waiting to be made but I think he can wait a little bit. 

I have actually made a few dresses for myself.  Once I got that sheath style down without a zipper, I made two very light wool ones.  One in black and one in a grey green.  The fabrics were both in my stash.  The black is a great work dress and a great dress for layering.

The grey green got worn all of last weekend.  I even got some flour on it before this picture was taken.  I realized in a few places as I was looking at pictures.  Just a comfortable dress.  It moves with me.  I can throw a sweater over it and be warm.  I can put a t-shirt or blouse under it if I wish.  It just makes me feel elegant and there is not much I can ask for that.  There are other bits of wool and linen in my stash that are large enough to become more of these.  And they will! 

I am working on sanity here so it is quilts, yarn, or finding something else to sew and sometimes it just needs to be something different.  This works.  Stress release.

already?

Can I just say, if this is the way Mondays are going to go that I need to skip them?  The saving graces were a chocolate milkshake and a bit of time at my sewing machine.  The walk helped too. 

The quilt top I laid out is all sewn together and ready to be basted and quilted.  I am looking forward to it.  I actually am looking forward to more quilt squares in the making.  I came a cross a bundle of fabrics I want to purchase at Purl Soho and work with in a quilt.  And I have been working on my quilt blocks from Alaska.  I just need to be in better shape after work.  No more clenching the jaw so hard my head and teeth hurt!

Four more days of this week to go.  I can do this!

what has been on my hook recently

While we were at my parents, I bought yarn.  Mostly because I did not have anything made with me.  I had fiber.  I had a spindle.  But I did not have made yarn.  I also realized that I had not mittens or mitts with me.  I lost a mitt on our travels to and from Alaska.  That was so frustrating because of course they were my favorite pair.

When I bought yarn, of course I was tempted by much too much.  I made a hat, a headband, and two pairs of mitts.  The mitts above and a pair that did not get photographed in purple for the Tall Short Person.  I just added them to her stocking.   With the hat.  

My finished pair are above.  They are lovely.  I found a thickish yarn that was very soft.  Yes, they are not a normal color for me but I really liked the yarn.

This two tone pair was my work project since we came back.  The cuff is brown and the body is brown and yell.  Yes, I know it does not show up well.  These went to my Beloved.  I have another pair of this color combination on my hook at work again.  I have enough yarn to make another pair and they would be perfect for a co-worker.  

It has been nice to work on small projects.  I do get a little time in on my spinning wheel so I can make yarn for sweaters but not much.  I will be working on another sweater soon.  Something not quite so huge.  My boyfriend style sweater is lovely for cold evenings snuggled with a book but I feel like I need something a bit smaller to wear out.  Especially if I am going to put it over a sheath dress.  It is so big that people would think I was running around naked!

finished and ready to wear

I have been slowly working on this shirt between other projects.  The last thing that needed to get done was buttonholes.  They just took awhile to do.  And they did not go in as well as they normally do but I did get those buttonholes done!

Even though it is white and fancy, this is going to be a work shirt.  I have had all the pieces cut out for awhile now.  Part of it was that I was told "I do not need anymore shirts" until of course a shirt was needed.  I can be patient.  Patience means I get to quilt and experiment. 

I saw some very pretty Liberty of London Tana Lawn fat quarters today.  Makes me wish to purchase them and start more squares.  I can see them as nine squares but I also saw a quilt done with triangles that could be interesting.  I felt like I had been hit by a car for most of the day and I all I truly wished to do was sit at my machine and sew.  But instead, I was working in an office.

Koda Bear is so right.