Soup and Sewing

You might remember I was going to try a recipe for a slow cooker French onion soup last week. Then, I realized my slow cooker didn't have enough volume for the amount of onions I wanted to include. The onions are started dry in the slow cooker, and I felt as if I needed to monitor it when I tried it the first time. Ordinarily, I don't give too much thought to things catching on fire in the kitchen, but in this case, I felt more comfortable starting it up on a day when I could be around to keep an eye on it. And...you know...kitties. I worry about their welfare at all times.

So I had a sewing day planned yesterday, and it seemed like a good day to give it a go. I've made French onion soup before, and I rely on the recipe from America's Test Kitchens for "The Best French Onion Soup." They've come up with a way that does not require standing for hours at the stove top. The onions are roasted for several hours in a hot oven, and it is delicious. In the confines of the RV, however, with only a propane oven, it would be a little too much to expect. So, enter this new recipe I found for making it in the slow cooker. The original recipe calls for 5 pounds (about 16 cups) of onions sliced vertically. My RV slow cooker is only 4 quarts, and so I could only make half the recipe. When I started it in the morning, my half quantity of onions filled my slow cooker nearly to the brim.

It starts by placing butter, a bay leaf, and some thyme sprigs in the bottom of the slow cooker, and then adding the onions. Then, just a little bit of sugar is sprinkled over the top, and it's ready to go. Since I didn't have any fresh thyme sprigs, I did a little Googling to see what the recommended substitution of dried thyme would be. The consensus seems to be that 1/4 teaspoon of dried thyme equals one fresh thyme sprig. Thank you, Google. Good to know. Okay, so lid on, switch set to low, and off it goes for 8 hours of cooking. Stick with me to the end of this post, and I'll tell you the exciting conclusion to this new recipe excursion. A cliff-hanger, I know.

From there, I finished off the fifth blackwork basket. After I'd washed and ironed it, it looked like this:

Here are the five baskets I have so far:

This being Sunday, I'll be linking up with:

And now I have the 6th basket ready to go. I'll start on it this morning. Of all the baskets, this one seems the least interesting.

It isn't lost on me that I'm more than halfway finished with this project, and we are not nearly halfway through our trip. I'm worried a stitching emergency is in my future. Possibly a visit to another quilt shop might be required. That would be just terrible, wouldn't it?

With that finished, I moved on to finishing off the Strips & Stripes (aka City Bank) quilt. Smitty was my sewing cat yesterday.

The bottom half of the quilt was already sewn together, and so I focused my attention on getting the top half finished.

When the top half was all sewn together, I sewed together top and bottom halves and my quilt top was finished. Yay!

When I finished sewing that last seam, I looked overhead to see this:

His sewing duties complete, he settled down for a long winter's nap.

Okay, so let's just get back to that soup, shall we? You've done an admirable job of containing your excitement. After eight hours, the onions had cooked down about halfway, and they were just a little bit browned.

All I needed to do was add in some beef broth and some seasonings. From there, I turned the switch to high and gave it another 30 minutes to heat through.

Now, I don't claim to have any talent as a "food stylist," and so don't judge me for the quality of this finish photo. I was using some leftover bread from the freezer for the "crouton" on top. I first used the rim of the bowl to cut the bread slice to the right size, then toasted it, then added grated Gruyere cheese and melted it in the microwave oven. From there, I moved it to the soup bowl, and dinner was served.

Now I'd be lying if I said it tasted as good as the version from America's Test Kitchens that I usually make. Their version caramelizes the onions, which adds another layer of flavor. Still, it was very good, and it gives me a way to make French onion soup when we're traveling. I'll definitely do this again. If easy recipes are your thing, I can highly recommend giving this a try. It made for a tasty dinner, and we'll have it again with some French Dip Sandwiches a little later in the week.

The hummingbirds are giving Sadie something to think about. It keeps her entertained, and the hummingbirds seem oblivious to her pawing at the window.

Yesterday I saw a tiny bird (the size of a hummingbird), but with a short beak. It came to the feeder and was slurping around the edges of the lid. It was a seed eater, and I really wished I could put out my seed feeder. I tried to get a picture, but it flew away when one of the thug hummers came to guard the feeder. 

Today I have plans to get out for a walk. I've pulled two more projects from the bag...two because I'd put it all away when I realized I'd left one out. Next up, I believe I'll start sewing together the bag of bonus triangles I brought along. I don't have any plans for them, but nothing will happen until they're sewn together and I can see what I've got. When those are finished, I'll get busy sewing together the Dancing Chickens and Flying Pigs quilt top. Here are the finished blocks:

This one has one border around it, and when it's all finished, quilted, and bound, I'll hand-stitch a single row of cross-stitches all around the outer edge. There are no sashings and nothing fancy, and so the top should go together fairly quickly. Finishing it off will take longer.

And it's Sunday morning. That means Blueberry Oatmeal Pancakes, and that's where I'm headed next. Enjoy your Sunday. And you folks in the east digging out from under piles of snow...stay warm, dry, and safe. You're in my thoughts. I wish I could send you some Boulder City sunshine.