Sleeping In

It was a slow start to my morning when I slept in until 7:00 a.m. It's almost unheard of. Usually I'm up between 5:00 and 6:00 because I have a hard time sleeping more than about six hours at a stretch. I wouldn't say I have trouble sleeping, however. I wake up feeling refreshed, and so, what the heck? Anyway...all of that to say that the morning flew by when I spent an extra two hours of it snoozed out. Usually, my furry alarm clock wakes me up, but apparently he was a bum this morning along with the rest of us.

While I was writing this post, Mike came in to let me know that a Bad Cat has been at work again. Want to see what a Bad Cat looks like? Look no further than that image above. He has been such a turd, practically from day one, about chewing the cords off our pleated window shades. I've had three of them repaired (at about $45 each). Yesterday we were hanging a picture in the guest room, and Mike put the shade up to let in more light. We usually keep the cords draped over something or coiled up and stored away to keep them out of the chewing teeth of little fractious felines. 

Anyway...all of that to say that Mike neglected to store the cord away and that was all it took. Another one chewed off. Oy. Today I did a search for cordless pleated shades, and in fact, Levelor makes one. They sell them at Lowes, and they don't cost any more than having the current one repaired. I guess a trip to Lowes is in our future to see if it makes sense to replace rather than repair. And I'll just go on record here as saying that it's a good thing he's so cute, and such a love bug, because he has a few habits that make him something of a painus in the anus.

This will probably be a no-sewing day. I've been having so much fun sewing that I now find myself woefully behind in my housework. I'll find a way to get that finished today if I can keep my feet propelled forward...never an easy task when I'm trying to propel myself toward housework.

In my efforts to procrastinate just a little longer, I wanted to tell you about a new recipe I tried last night for these Bourbon BBQ Meatballs. I found it on the Anolon website, but it is the creation of Brandy O'Neill, who writes the blog, Nutmeg Nanny. I'll say that I'm sometimes suspicious of recipes I find on blogs because they are often poorly written, and the results aren't always what I was hoping for. Nevertheless, I've had good luck with Brandy's recipes, and so I decided to give this one a try. We were hungry and so anxious to feed our piggy faces that I completely neglected to take any pictures. I'm borrowing this one from the Anolon website. 

(image source)

The recipe is written as an appetizer, but we had it as a main course. I made just a few changes because I didn't have the exact ingredients, as written. I used half ground pork and half ground beef for the meatballs. I really like the texture the pork gives them...a little chewier, and I think they hold together better. Still, I think you could also substitute ground chicken or turkey, but you might need to add a little more fat to hold them together. Also, the recipe calls for "chipotle" chili powder. I just used regular. I was almost out of breadcrumbs, and so I used a combination of dry bread crumbs and panko. Finally, I didn't have any "honey mustard", and so I just used regular yellow mustard and added about half a teaspoon of honey.

They were so good. I had hoped to get two meals out of this, but we ate almost all of them. Mike ate the leftovers for lunch. Yum. I'm definitely making this again soon. It was that good. You can find the recipe right here.

And I paired it up with yet another new recipe. I've never been much of a cooked carrot person. The texture always seems so mushy to me, although I do likes me some carrot coins in soups. My mother used to make the best carrots when she made pot roast. I've never been able to do it just like she did, and I suspect it was something about her Dutch oven that made the difference. She had one that was the color of brushed stainless steel, but it was still cast iron (I believe). It was possible to use the lid as a skillet too. It didn't have a long skillet handle...just two loop handles on opposite sides. I've never seen one like it, and it makes me wonder if it had been handed down. In any case, her carrots were the best.

Lately I've been on a quest to make some really good roasted carrots like hers. So as an accompaniment to last night's dinner, I tried this recipe from Food & Wine. 

(image source)

Like I said, I was too much of a pig to operate the camera, my hooves having gone cloven and everything, so I borrowed the image from the Food & Wine website. It wasn't exactly like hers, but it was a good stand-in, and it paired up well preparation-wise. I started the carrots first, and then went to work on the meatballs. The carrots take a full hour to roast and that gave me plenty of time to do everything related to the meatballs. Everything was ready at about the same time. And, in case you're wondering, I bought two bunches of organic carrots, and that was just the right amount. Again...all devoured in one sitting. In case you missed it, I linked to the recipe right above that image.

So even though I probably won't do any machine sewing today, I did spend some time this morning working on my embroidery. My days just don't get off to a good start without a little hand-stitching. I'm working away on the Quilting Snowladies. One of the things I've loved about this stitchery is the way the trees look. I find myself running my finger over it because it looks like a real evergreen right there on my muslin fabric. The trunks and branches are worked with one strand each of a pine green and a dark brown floss. Then the needles are done with one strand of pine green.

The ladies are looking pretty good so far. 

I'll just keep on stitching, but for today I'm linking up to:

What's on your agenda for today?