8/29/14

A Day of Lasts

Today I canned the last of the tomatoes.


Thanks to Dasha who convinced me to try red tomato chutney for the last of this season's tomatoes. She sent me her recipe, but as a dumb American, I couldn't get comfortable making the conversion from metric measurements to whatever it is we use here. Even though I studied it and figured it, it ended up seeming like an awful lot of vinegar, and so I resorted to the recipe in one of my favorite preserving cookbooks, Marisa McClellan's Food in Jars.


The chutney is so delicious and sweet. I wondered if it wouldn't be so similar to salsa as to be indistinguishable, but it is completely different. It is thicker and sweeter. It should be good served over eggs or on sandwiches, but it would also be good just spread on toast, like jam. Yummy. I'm so glad I gave it a try. Of course that just means I'll need more tomatoes when I do my canning next year.

And I'll just say right here that I am terribly disappointed in the plums. They have not done their part, which was to ripen on time for canning. How difficult can that be, Plums? Huh? Sadly, I'm afraid we'll miss the plums this year; although, at the rate they're going, they may not be ripe before we get back.

Mike installed a fancy schmancy different kind of hitch on the fifth wheel last night, and so he drove it to work today just to make sure it went down the road okay. And that just meant there was no way for me to do any packing today. Boo. Hoo. (Not really.) It gave me a chance to work on the last block of the Gardener's Journal quilt. And I finished it!


(I didn't get it laid out very flat for its picture, did I?) Anyway...I sewed it to the rest of the quilt, and there it is...all the blocks are sewn together at last!


And that is the last sewing I'm going to do before we leave. That means the quilt still needs its borders, but I'll save that for when we get back.

Thanks to all of you who gave me your opinions about the inner border. When I went to the fair on Tuesday, I had time to stop off at a fabric store. And I should have known that the Universe would have the last word about what color it would be. When I went into the store, I was still undecided about what color to use, and you all were pretty evenly split on which blue was best. Armed with my swatches, I ended up with this pretty turquoise batik. 


There was no royal blue that I was happy with, and so I decided it was going to be turquoise. I've used this batik in a quilt before, and I was sorry I didn't have any left. I ended up buying some extra so that I can use it in some future quilt. It's such a pretty color.

And that would make this my last blog post before we leave. Tomorrow will be crazy busy with packing, and so the next time you hear from me, I'll be miles away from here.

14 comments:

Kate said...

That turquoise is gorgeous. Congrats on getting all the blocks sewn together, it looks great.

Enjoy your trip!

Junebug613 said...

Sorry your plums aren't cooperating. Safe travels!! I'm looking forward to following along on your journey!

Tami C said...

The turquoise batik that you picked is sure to look beautiful and will add a lot to all of your beautiful hand sewing.

Lyndsey said...

The turquoise is perfect. I hope the packing goes well and that Smitty and Gracie remember to pack all the bits and bobs they need, especially the catnip.

Kaja said...

Oh my goodness I LOVE your quilt. What an original piece of work. Your quilting has such personality.

ana-ane said...

¡¡Que bonito!! me gusta el azul turquesa, ha quedado precioso.

Buen viaje.

saludos

Dasha said...

Try the chutney on toast with a slice of cheddar cheese. Double yum!
Safe Journey.
PS Turquoise batik is a "jewel" colour, Just beautiful.

Donna said...

The quilt looks lovely! Enjoy your trip!

Dana Gaffney said...

The quilt looks wonderful! I'm so glad you listened to me and went with the turquoise, LOL.

crazy quilter said...

Oh boy! Almost finish and On the Road again! Can't wait to see where you are in your travels! Have a safe and fun trip!

Quilter Kathy said...

A beautiful colour! Congrats on this quilt top finish!

quiltzyx said...

Darn those plums for being so uncooperative! But maybe they will wait for you to come home, who knows?

The Gardener's Journal is wonderful all together - YAY!! Like there was any doubt...HAH! Gorgeous turquoise too, I wouldn't have even needed a reason to buy some of that color. :)

Happy Trails to you & Mike & very safe travels!

Dar said...

That turquoise color is beautiful. Such a lovely quilt too.

Kirsty said...

I do love this quilt and I'm glad you found that turquoise batik, it is perfect. I was at a recent quilt show here in Christchurch and saw something similar and instantly thought of you. I shall email it. Hope your travels are going well. x