Puzzle Pieces

There was a lot to do yesterday morning, and I didn't realize it until I actually started doing it. There was laundry, of course. (Isn't there always?) And there was one other housekeeping chore. And I wanted to do a workout. And I wanted to start dinner in the slow cooker. Also, there was some cornbread to bake. 

On Fridays, I try to make an easy dinner. It tends to be something I can make ahead or else start in the slow cooker. Yesterday's choice was some Tex-Mex Chili in my slow cooker. And it seemed like cornbread was a perfect side for chili. It gave me an opportunity to try out this recipe shared by my dear friend Debi. You might remember a group of us met up at Lake Skinner State Recreation Area on our winter trip last year. We had one shared meal together, and Debi contributed her delicious cornbread. It was so good, I asked for the recipe. This is the first time I've made it. I used my largest cast iron skillet (12 inches, I think), and look how pretty that is!

It was every bit as good as I remembered it. It's a sweet cornbread, and since I'm a sugar fiend, sweet is always good. It includes a can of creamed corn, a can of diced green chiles, and two kinds of cheese. Debi has graciously permitted me to share the recipe, and so here you go:

Debi's Skillet Cornbread

Serves 8-12

Ingredients:

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup yellow cornmeal

½ teaspoon salt

4 teaspoons baking powder

15 ounces creamed corn

4 ounces diced green chile peppers

1 cup butter

1 cup sugar

½ cup cheddar cheese

½ cup Monterey jack cheese

4 eggs

Directions:

Preheat oven and cast iron skillet to 300 degrees.

Mix flour, cornmeal, salt and baking powder and set aside. Melt butter and combine with the sugar, creamed corn and diced green chili peppers. Mix to combine. Add eggs, one at a time, and mix until well blended. Add cheese. Fold in flour mixture until mixed well. It will be clumpy.

CAREFULLY REMOVE CAST IRON SKILLET FROM OVEN AND EVENLY COAT TOP AND SIDES WITH CANOLA/VEGETABLE OIL.

POUR IN CORNBREAD BATTER (BE CAREFUL, IT MAY SPLATTER)

Bake 40-45 minutes, or until top is golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. 

* * * * *

Just as I was cutting and pasting the recipe, I realized I'd left out the cheddar cheese. Oh well...I guess I'll have to make it again! Too bad. So sad. 😏

Okay, so with dinner taken care of, I was finally able to get some sewing done after lunch. When I left you yesterday, I was whining about having to sew a "Y-seam" in the Ties & Tails quilt. Here's the picture I posted, showing how there's a gap in the red sashing squares in the upper right.

My friend Ruth pointed out that what I was really sewing was a "partial seam," and of course, she's right. As I was thinking about how to do this, however, I realized that if I removed the strip of red squares on the right side of the second cat, I could simply add three more squares and then sew it to the left side of the cat in the upper right corner. If I did that, it would work out so that the blocks would fit together. Fortunately, I'd sewn that seam vertically, and so it was easy enough to take it apart.

Then, I added three squares and sewed it to the left side of the cat beside it.

Then, when I laid it out, it could easily be sewn to the cat below. (The blocks for this quilt are to be sewn together vertically.)

And that was all well and good, except when I laid them out, I could see that I had another problem down lower. It's hard to see in the image, but if you look at the area I've circled in yellow, there is an overlap of red squares there. I worried I hadn't avoided the partial seam at all.

But where there's a will, there's always a way. There, I just needed to remove another row of red squares, and take one off.

Then, I could sew it to the left side of the cat in the lower right corner, and all was well again.

From there, I was able to sew the cats together in vertical rows.

When I left it yesterday, the blocks were sewn together, and I'd sewn the one long vertical seam on the left side. It was tempting to sew the seam on the right, but it was getting late in the day. I've learned from experience, it's never a good idea to sew in a hurry. Something always goes wrong.

Okay, so that will be my goal today. After that, the quilt has three borders. It's going to be a large quilt when it's all finished.

We have a meet-up at a winery scheduled with Erik and Mae this afternoon, and I'm looking forward to that. Tomorrow will be taken up with packing for our trip on Monday. I doubt I can finish this off today, but I'll give it a good try.

And don't miss out! Today is the last day to enter my giveaway. I'll announce the winner in tomorrow's post.