Some Sewing on a Slow Day

Sue and I had a nice breakfast yesterday morning, and we said our good-byes until next spring. I ran a couple of errands on my way home, and I'll say more about that in a minute. Since I was fast out the door yesterday, I had some things to take care of on the home front before I could make my way into the sewing room. Once there, I made the next Tiny Tree block.

When I wrote yesterday's post, I was thinking this was the last Tiny Tree block, but there is one more posted today along with the instructions for finishing it off. So, that will probably be on today's agenda. First, though, I want to finish up the November and December blocks for the Garden Sunshine quilt. Yesterday, I did the top-stitching for the applique portion of November's two blocks.

For the cherries, I machine embroidered a vein into each leaf.

Then, I cut all the pieces for the flying geese blocks.

That was where I left it yesterday, and so that will be my first priority for the day's sewing. There is still one more block to make for December's contribution...all pieced, if I'm remembering correctly.

As for my "errands" from yesterday, there's a short story behind this next image. When Mike and I were at the grocery store on Thursday, I saw these little car deodorizer trees next to the register. We know someone who lives in a very small space...too small to accommodate a Christmas tree. And so I got this idea to make a funny tiny Christmas tree. They only came in packs of three, however, and I really just wanted one. So I bagged the idea, but then couldn't stop thinking about it. So...shortening a long story...I went back to the store and got them. (As it turned out, there was even a dollar off coupon! Man, did I ever feel smug.) Then I took it home and used metallic thread and hot-fix nailheads to decorate it.

Maybe I could submit it to the Guinness people for inclusion as the smallest Christmas tree ever! And I still have two more. If we don't win the prize for the Charlie Browniest Christmas tree this year, maybe I'll consider one of the remaining two for next year.

This morning I tried cutting down a recipe to make breakfast for two. The original recipe for this Baked Apple-Blueberry Oatmeal makes enough to serve six, but I got an idea to make it for two by cutting the recipe and using a small baking dish. It worked!

Lately I've been collecting "smallified" baking dishes for storing leftovers, baking desserts for two, and what-not. Often, I freeze leftovers in individual serving-size dishes. They make great take-along pre-cooked meals for when we're traveling. To that end, I recently purchased several of these 5 x 7 x 1.5-inch glass baking dishes from Pyrex. They also have plastic lids, which make them perfect for freezing single-sized servings of, say, lasagna, or any kind of casserole. And I figured I could make this breakfast recipe into a recipe for two by baking it one of these dishes. Here's this morning's recipe, cut to make it a yummy, and relatively low-fat breakfast for two. It's even diet friendly.

Baked Apple-Blueberry Oatmeal for Two

Ingredients:

1 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon table salt
3/4 cups milk
1 large egg white
1/2 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted
1 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 tablespoons maple syrup
1/2 small Granny Smith apple, cored, peeled, cut in half and thinly sliced
3/4 cups fresh or frozen blueberries

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375° F.

Butter 7 x 5 x 1.5 inch baking dish and cover bottom with apple slices.  Then sprinkle half the blueberries over top of apple slices and set aside.

In a medium bowl mix together oats, baking powder, cinnamon and salt.  Stir to combine.

In another bowl beat together milk, egg white, butter, vanilla, and maple syrup.  Add oats to dish and gently pour milk mixture over oats.  Gently rap pan on the counter to make sure the milk has gone all the way through the oats.

Sprinkle the top with remaining blueberries and bake in oven for 30 minutes until the top is golden brown and the oatmeal is set.  Allow to sit for 5 minutes before serving. If desired, drizzle the top with more maple syrup.

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So...that was a yummy way to start the day. Today I'll get back to the Garden Sunshine blocks. I'm hoping to get them finished, and then I'll focus my energy on making the Tiny Tree quilt top.