Happy Hump Day

Good morning, my friends. Well, we're set for groceries for another week or so. Having not done any grocery shopping for nearly two weeks, our list was long. We were also slow getting out of the house. I did everything I could to procrastinate, including spending some extra time with my slow stitching. I can say I'm off to a good start on the latest Raggedy & Friends block.

From there, we got ourselves out the door and our shopping done. It was just after noon when we arrived back home. We put everything away, had some lunch, took naps, and basically took care of anything we needed to. I managed to get into the sewing room around 2:30. That gave me plenty of time to make another row of blocks for the Gumballs project. 

I'm really enjoying this project. I've been working more scrap quilts into my list of WIPs simply because I'm afraid my scraps are going to stage a rebellion if I don't start putting them to use. Scrap quilts often seem tedious to me because there is so much cutting to do. This pattern has just one block. When they're set in the quilt, each one is rotated 90 degrees from the one to its left. Here are the blocks I made yesterday.

When I worked on this project last time, I threatened to sew all the blocks together as I go. Instead, I moved on to the next project, but I decided to sew them together this time around. Smitty helped me keep the blocks oriented properly. He's very good at left and right. 

When all four rows were sewn together, it looked like this. As chaotic as it is, there's something pleasing about the subtle pattern. This one is done in all reds, purples, and pinks. I'm seriously considering starting another one in blues, greens, and teals.

That took me to the end of my sewing day. For dinner, I tried a new recipe for using up Thanksgiving leftovers. I'm sharing it here because it was a good way to use up leftovers, and it was palatable. It's a little like a taco casserole. We liked it enough to keep it in my recipe database with a few changes. Here's how it looks coming out of the oven.

It's made by dipping wedges of corn tortillas into some store-bought enchilada sauce. After dipping, they're turned into a sort of bottom "crust." Then they're layered lasagna-style with shredded turkey, cheese, vegetables of your choosing, until it's finished off with a topping of more corn tortilla wedges, cheese, and the remaining enchilada sauce. I made it because it was going to help me use a lot of extras I had rolling around in the fridge and on my pantry shelves. I was able to use a portion of a cut onion, some corn tortillas, some cheddar-jack cheese, and a can of black beans. It would have been good with some frozen corn in place of the black beans. The recipe for Thanksgiving Leftovers Enchilada Pie suggested sweet potatoes or sauteed greens.

My only caveat about the recipe is that it called for Velveeta cheese. Really? I can remember liking Velveeta when I was a little kid. Also, I'll confess to cutting it into little cubes for my kids when they were babies. It was a good finger food for them when they were still sitting in a highchair. Since their highchair days, I can't recall ever using Velveeta cheese for anything since it falls under the heading of "highly processed food." Read that: Is it really food? And, honestly, I didn't even know where to find it in the grocery store. On the shelf? In the refrigerated section? Pet food? We found it on the shelf. No refrigeration required for this milk and cheese product. 

Okay, so with all of that, I still made it using the Velveeta. When I try a new recipe I usually make it just as the recipe says to, and then I make adjustments if I think it's a keeper. In this case, we didn't think the Velveeta added anything. It has a half cup of Velveeta and 1-1/2 cups of cheddar jack. Probably I'll make this again when I have stuff to use up, but I'll just use all cheddar jack (or cheddar) next time and skip the Velveeta. 

And now...despite helping me use up all that stuff...I'm stuck with 3/4 of a loaf of Velveeta. Not sure what I'm going to do with that. Oh yes, and by the way, once you've opened it, it needs refrigeration. It wasn't packaged in air-tight packaging, so I ask you...why? The answer to that question is probably above my pay grade. 

Today, I'll get back to my usual stuff. I'm going to debone our turkey today. I'll take the leftover turkey and package it up in two-cup portions for the freezer. One of our Thanksgiving dinner guests asked for the carcass. I think she was kidding at the time, but it so happens I'll be in her neighborhood tomorrow, and so I'll take the carcass to her. There was a time when I might have kept it to make broth, but I'm getting older and crankier. Ain't nobody got time for that these days.

When I make it into the sewing room, I'm going to make the next block for the Raggedy & Friends project. The embroidery was finished last month.

Today I'll sew it into a quilt block. These are the blocks I have for this quilt so far.

It won't take long to make that quilt block, and so I'll probably get a start on the final block for the Kittens in Teacups. This quilt is going to be impossibly cute when it's finished, but these blocks have been a PITA. I'll be very glad to finish off the last one. I haven't selected any fabrics yet, but I expect this will be another multi-colored teacup. Not sure about the cat yet. Here are the blocks I have for this quilt so far.

Okay, and so that brings me to the end of my post and the start of my day. How are things going at your end?