Raindrops on Roses

It rained a good part of the day yesterday. It would have been a good day to catch up on housework, but I didn't. Today, I simply must do some...not that I want to...and it's another gray day in any case. 

It seems there was time for a little of everything else, however. My fondest desire for the day was to finish off the snowflake embroidery. I first needed to finish the outside line of silver stitching.

When that was finished, I needed to sew on the beads.

Oh, but it still wasn't finished. I needed to rinse away the Sticky Fabri-Solvy and add a hot fix crystal in the center. Then it was finished. This is the 10th of 12 Snowflake blocks from Mary Corbet's Needle 'n Thread.

There are just two more snowflakes to make before I'll be able to sew them into a quilt. I'll miss them when they're all finished. Today being Sunday, I'll link up to:

During a break in the rain, I checked outside to see if the peony had bloomed...no...but I noticed this one little rose hiding among the foliage on the one rose bush. The deer missed it. It's a small rose, but very fragrant.

The peony really looks no different from the previous days. I didn't take a picture yesterday, but this is the most recent one I have. Bear with me because I want to show you something. See the tight red petals in the center?

Well, I looked up the old photo I took the day we visited the Adelman Peony Gardens. This is how it will look when it opens:

See how you can see the tight red petals in the center in this one too? What I'm really waiting for are those white petals around the outside. It has also occurred to me that I might be witnessing what I've read about peonies; i.e., that their blossoms aren't as big the first year. There's still lots of time, and so I haven't given up on it yet. 

Also, for grins, I'm going to show you the second bud I've been watching.

This is the one we saw at the peony gardens last year:

Back inside, I baked these little Apricot-Cherry Upside-Down Mini Cakes. I make them every year when I can find cherries and apricots. So yummy. We ate two last night, and we have two more for tonight.

We serve them with a dollop of whipped cream on top, and they are a nice light dessert. It pains me to say this recipe was first published in Cooking Light in 2004, so I've been making these every year for 16 years. I coulda pretty much raised a whole child in that time. Sheesh. I'm old.

So anyway...back to sewing. I was working on the second cat for the Ties & Tails quilt. When I uploaded this picture of my progress, I realized I'd sewed the "tie section" upside down. The darker brown of the cat should be at the bottom, and the contrast at the top.

I gave this one a pink nose, because...you know. He should probably have green eyes too.

So, I'll fix that tie portion today and then, hopefully, finish the rest before the day is over.

Also, I mentioned I was trying a new meat loaf recipe yesterday. The recipe is actually for a meat loaf sandwich. This was last night's dinner of Bulgogi Meat Loaf Sandwich. It's a Korean way of doing things. One first makes the meat loaf. It cools in its pan for 20 minutes. Then, you cut thick slices and fry them on each side, so that both sides of the slice have a crust.

I used a crusty sourdough bread for the sandwich. This is some I purchased at the grocery store. The bread is spread with some kimchi (which I happen to love), and some Gochujang, which is Korean hot pepper paste...kind of like Korean ketchup. It's a little spicier than our American version of ketchup.

When it's served up, it looks like this. (The Bon Appetit photo was a little more liberal with its application of kimchi than I was.)

And it was pretty good! Tonight I want to use the leftover meat loaf to remake a recipe for the Korean-Style Grain Bowls with Spicy Marinated Steak. You might remember I tried this a week or so ago. My only complaint from the last try was that the flanken cut ribs we tried were a little difficult to cut in a bowl. I think this meatloaf, crumbled over the top, might be another good way to go.

Okay, so that's about it from the Three Cats Ranch for the day. I haven't checked the peony yet this morning. Frankly, with the sad news from our country recently, I'm not sure I can take any more heartache, even if it is just a slow-to-bloom flower. Let's stick together, my friends. Despite all the bad news, I'm remain optimistic that better days are ahead.