Foggy Friday

Quilting weather hath arrived. This is both good and bad. Obviously, quilting weather can't be bad; however, not seeing the sun for six months can get a little old. It isn't true that we will not see the sun for six months, but sometimes in the dead of winter, it can seem as if it's been that long. Here's the view from our living room window...fog so thick we can't even see the fence at the edge of the field. Heck, we can barely see the bird feeders.

This morning I was supposed to walk with Sue, but I weenied out when I couldn't find my rain pants. It was blowing rain at my house, and so they were practically required attire for our walk. I have a feeling I left them in the camper, and Mike has the keys. Between now and our next scheduled walk (next Friday), I'll need to find them or risk being double weenied. (Sue and I agreed that there was something a little pornographic about being "double weenied". It does bring a picture to mind, no? But I digress.)

Since walking was out, I had plenty of time for hand stitching this morning...until my rechargeable headlamp gave up the ghost. (A perfect Halloween metaphor.) I finished Block #32 for the Live, Love, Teach quilt. Once again, here is Tyler's original block:

Here is my rendering of Tyler's block:

Also, I'm nearly all the way around on the Blushing Aspens table runner. There's just one long side left to finish.

(I left my toes there so you could get a look at my pedicure from yesterday.) I've turned three corners now.

Today is going to be a sewing day. There are leftovers for dinner, and so even cooking can't stand in my way.

Speaking of cooking, I wanted to share a recipe story with you, along with the recipe. If you're on Facebook, then you're familiar with the "You have memories to share" feature on Facebook where they show you things you've posted on the same date from previous years. Recently, one of my memories was a post from a couple of years ago for "German Winter Stew". I was going on about how delicious it was and sharing the recipe, and at least a couple of my friends had made it and agreed.

Well, having been born in the 14th Century, I had absolutely no recollection of having ever made that recipe, let alone having shared it with friends. So I went to my recipe database (where good recipes go to languish), and sure enough...there it was! I'd also written a bunch of notes about what I liked and didn't like, and the recipe in the database was my own new formulation of the stew.

So when a high school friend's adult daughter came for dinner last night, it seemed like a good way to use one of the pork roasts that was included in our CSA pork share along with some of the other CSA veggies. And since I couldn't remember the recipe at all, I was taking it on faith that I'd typed it into my recipe database because it tasted good. And it did! It was delicious, and it's a great recipe for wintery weather. Give it a try one of these times when you're enveloped in a cloud, as we have been for the past couple of days. It takes four hours to cook, so get an early start. Also, you could probably do it in your crockpot, but I'd recommend browning the pork first. Here you go.
                     
German Winter Stew
adapted from a recipe by Rori Trovato and published in the April, 2004 issue of The Oprah Magazine
Servings: 10    Preparation Time 4:15

3 Tablespoons Extra-virgin Olive Oil
4 Pounds Pork Shoulder -- boneless, cut into bite-sized chunks
1 1/2 Teaspoons Kosher Salt
1 Teaspoon Cracked Black Pepper
1  Onion -- diced
7  Cups Chicken Broth -- plus more as needed
1 Tablespoon Caraway Seeds
1/4 Small Green Cabbage -- cut into 1-inch pieces
1/4 Small Red Cabbage -- cut into 1-inch pieces
1 Granny Smith Apple -- peeled, cored, and thinly sliced
1 Red Delicious Apple -- peeled, cored, and thinly sliced
2 Cups Wide Eggs Noodles
Stoneground Mustard -- optional
Sour Cream -- optional

In a large Dutch oven, heat olive oil over high heat. Add pork and season with salt and pepper. Cook until golden brown, about 5-7 minutes. Add onions and cook for an additional 3 minutes, stirring occasionally until translucent. Add four cups of chicken broth and caraway seeds. Bring to a boil; reduce heat to low and cover. Cook for 3 hours on low; broth level should stay at about the level of the pork so that the pork is submerged. Add more broth if needed to maintain level. Add remaining 3 cups of broth, cabbage, and apples and continue to cook for 30 minutes. Add egg noodles and cook until noodles are done. Taste and adjust seasonings if necessary

Serve soup with a dollop of mustard or sour cream, if desired. (We like it with one or the other equally.)

Today I'm getting a start on Smitty's portrait.

How can you resist those eyes? Even after successfully completing Gracie's portrait, I still embark on this with a certain amount of trepidation. But what's the worst that can happen, right? It's always only fabric...and for these, not even very much fabric.

I'm going in. Wish me luck.