Cold Sweet Home

Good frozen morning, my friends. It has been frigid here the past couple of days. This was quite a disappointment to Miss Sadie, who took a seat on the kitty pole and stared out at the frozen landscape, wishing she could get outside and play with her mousie friends.

Our precipitation didn't start until later in the afternoon, but then started coming down as sleet. When I heard it pinging against the windows, I looked out and took this picture. 

Looking out this morning, it looks like this. It's sleet, not snow, and slippery as all get-out. Mike informed me that the temperature was actually warming, and that it was a balmy 18°F. 

All of my slow-stitching time yesterday was spent making the Home Sweet Home section of the Purrfectly Pieced quilt.

It was around 2:30 p.m. when I was finally able to get into the sewing room. My first task was to repair the final two of six Shop Hop blocks. Now that annoying task is complete, and we shall never speak of this again.

From there, I was ready to finish up the Purrfectly Pieced section. Smitty has very strong purreferences when it comes to making cat quilts. It's important that he and his brethren be well repurresented when it comes to art.

When he was satisfied with the plan, he gave his purrmission for me to continue.

You may purrceed.

I needed to sew three sections together to complete the background.

Then, I fused the sleeping kitty to the pile of quilts.

And then, I added top-stitching and button embellishments.

That finished it off. Here are the four sections I have for this quilt so far.

I believe there is just one section left. Looking at the pattern cover...

Just the bottom section remains.

That took me to the end of my sewing day. I'd already made dinner in the morning. When I planned to make this Old-fashioned Chicken and Dumplings, I didn't realize it would be such a welcome addition to a very cold day. I still needed to make the dumplings, but that was some tasty comfort food, and there's enough left over for at least another meal.

I've linked to the post I wrote the first time I made this dish. After making it a couple of times, I decided it was better done in a Dutch oven than in the slow-cooker. The problem with the slow cooker is that everything is first browned before it is put in the slow cooker. So, that's at least one dirty pot. Then, after cooking all day, my slow-cooker doesn't get hot enough to cook the dumplings. I was taking it out of the slow-cooker and putting it back in the Dutch oven to add the dumplings and cook them on the stove-top. So, that's another dirty pot to add to the dirty slow cooker. It made more sense to me to just start it in the Dutch oven, put it in the oven, then take it out and finish it off on the stove-top as before...just one dirty pot. Everything is done just as before, but I brown and mix it up in the Dutch oven, roast it in a 250°F oven for 5-6 hours, and then proceed as written in the recipe. Yummy.

So we're hoping for warming temperatures today with rain starting eventually. As far as I know, we're going ahead with plans for our family get-together tomorrow night. Erik is roasting a prime rib, and it's going to be so good. Today I'm making a Bailey's Chocolate Chip Cheesecake, a family favorite. But when I'm asked to provide dessert, I can never resist trying something new. Tomorrow, I'll be baking an Apple Skillet Cake with Salted Caramel Frosting. It's a recipe I saw in the NYTimes a couple of months ago, and I've been dying to try it. I mean, apples, and caramel, and baked in a skillet! How could it go wrong? Well, just in case it goes completely wrong, I have the cheesecake as an emergency back-up. There's nothing to worry about, my friends. Dessert is covered.

Okay, so I have a busy couple of days of baking ahead. Nevertheless, I believe I'll have time to get started on the next two blocks for the Whimsical Garden quilt. Here are the two blocks I have so far:

Those should help brighten up an otherwise dreary and cold day. 

We're almost there, my friends. Are you ready for the holidays? Ready or not, here they come.