6/18/15

Two More Tulips

Because I'm certain you know how much I hate paper-piecing, I won't say it again. Oh wait. I think I just said it again. Sorry. But I've whittled my original ten tulips down to just two. I was hoping to finish them yesterday. My strategy has been to do one, then do something else. So when I did this one yesterday,


and then, I decided to go upstairs and get a start on dinner. Only, I just didn't go back. With just two more to do, I'm fairly confident I'll get them finished today...if only because it means I won't have to work on them again tomorrow. And then I'll never speak of them again. It will quickly become a nightmarish memory of the Terrible Tulip Troubles I had in my 61st year of being. I'll probably need therapy, but it won't be the first time.

So what kept me in the kitchen after my tulip trials? Well, it was this salad. I started with a recipe I found online with the enticing title of Bibb Lettuce, Chicken, and Cherry Salad with Creamy Horseradish Dressing. Cherries are in season here in the Northwest and they are my favorite fruit. I'll seriously eat them until I'm sick...and even knowing that I'll soon be sick, I keep eating them. 

Yesterday, I picked up some cherries at the grocery store. Look for them in my Baking on Friday episode tomorrow (if I don't eat all of them today). Since I had a plan to make this salad for dinner, I was considering my CSA veggies as I drove home. Unspoken for on this week's menu so far were the bunch of golden beets and the pint of snow peas. I decided to roast and chill the beets to include in the salad, and what the heck? I decided to slice the snow peas on the bias and toss those in too. Also, I have two Walla Walla sweet onions and some beautiful red leaf lettuce. A salad creation was born.


There's some of my own greenhouse lettuce mixed in here too. I substituted the Walla Walla sweets for the chives and used half an onion. The horseradish dressing had a nice tang that made the salad more savory than sweet. It was a nice mix of flavors. It filled to the brim my largest stainless steel mixing bowl, but Mike and I managed to devour the entire thing. Dee-lish.

These days, it's all about using as many CSA veggies as possible in any given dish. I was able to knock off the lettuce, half an onion, all of the beets, and all of the snow peas. Ta-da! Still much to go. Tonight I'll be working with the collards and whatever else I can conceivably throw in the pot. I'll tell you how that goes tomorrow.

Today I'll just trudge back into the sewing room and finish up those last two tulips. For real this time. And then I'll throw a party and invite all of my friends and relatives help me celebrate my liberation from this paper-piecing persecution. Sadly, it will be temporary since there is more paper-piecing in the quilt. I'll give myself (and you) some time to heal from the trauma, however. You're welcome.

5 comments:

Dogwood Lane Rambles said...

I'm in the "i hate paper piecing camp" too but I have to say that your tulips are turning out to be terrific so worth the effort. As usual your food looks yummy and you're inspiring me to use more produce but you will Never inspire me to paper piece.

Vroomans' Quilts said...

I just love a nice 'meaty' salad - lots of cruchies with different texture, color, and flavor.

Doreen said...

Paper piecing.....ugh!!!! Yours are turning out wonderfully (don't they always? Well, maybe not). The salad looks like my kinda food!!!! Yum!

quiltzyx said...

Maybe you should send the pp to me to do for you. I don't hate it as much as you do...

The salad does look delicioso! I'm working the 4:30 - 8pm slot at work tonight (almost time to go home). It was 103f when I got here & salad definitely sounds wonderful on hot nights like this! Hopefully it's cooled off some by now!

Brown Family said...

Beautiful Salad. I have my PC as much or more than you hate paper piecing! Now some pictures are blanked out or color washed in IE and I can not comment! However, I can comment in Firefox. I love having to swap between browsers just to enjoy a blog!