Tales of Tails

Good morning, my friends. Okay, September 1st is over, and on we go with what remains of summer. It was a good day for sewing here. There was enough progress made on the Plaid Cat that I decided to move my hoop. The green stripes on the cat need to be stitched first because the purple stripes are stitched over the top where they intersect. I'd taken the green stripes about as far as I could go without moving to a different position.

It made sense to me to move to where I could stitch the tail.

Smitty helped with that decision.

Smitty will tell you that a cat's tail is its most impurrtant appendage.

Sadie thinks that is purrposterous

If you ask her, she'll tell you that a cat's tail is supurrfluous.

We discussed this while they helped me make September's purple inverted star.

Here are all the stars I have for this quilt so far.

Also, I sewed the binding on Tulip Time. There was no hand-stitching on this, however.

That will happen today. Today I'm going to make some apple-pear chutney. It’s good with pork, and I really love it spread on toasted baguette with a sprinkle of blue cheese. Originally, I found the recipe for this chutney in Marissa McClellan's Food in Jars book. Since I can't find it anywhere else online, I'll give it to you here.

Apple-Pear Chutney

Yield: 6 pints (or 12 half-pints)

Recipe from Marissa McClellan's Food in Jars

Ingredients:

3 Pounds Apples, cored, peeled, and chopped

2 Pounds Pears (preferred Bartlett or D'anjou), cored and chopped

3 Cups Dark Raisins

2 Cups Chopped Yellow Onion (about 2 Medium)

1 Lemon, seeded and finely minced with peel

2 1/2 Cups Apple Cider Vinegar

4 Cups Light Brown Sugar

2 Tablespoons Mustard Seed

3 Whole Cloves

2 Cinnamon Sticks

2 Teaspoons Red Pepper Flakes

5 Garlic Cloves, chopped

1 3-inch Piece of Fresh Ginger, peeled and grated

Directions:

Combine all ingredients in a large pot, stir to combine, and bring to a vigorous boil. Reduce the heat to medium and cook, stirring often, until the mixture has reduced and developed a thick,spreadable consistency, about 2 hours.

After the chutney has cooked for approximately 1 1/2 hours, prepare a boiling water bath and 6 pint jars. Place the lids in a small saucepan, cover them with water, and bring to a simmer over very low heat.

When the chutney is finished cooking, remove the cinnamon sticks and discard. Ladle the chutney into the prepared jars, leaving 1/2-inch of headspace. Wipe the rims, apply the lids and rings, and process in a boiling water bath for 15 minutes. (Add 5 minutes for each 1,000 feet of elevation.)

* * * * *

The recipe prefers Bartlett or D'anjou pears. I'm using the Asian pears I scored from Erik and Mae. It takes quite some time to cook down to chutney consistency, and that will give me some time to hand-sew the binding on the Tulip Time quilt today. It’s a small quilt, and so possibly I can finish it in a single day.

If there's more time for sewing, I'll get to work sewing the Santa Quartet into a finished quilt top.

After digging through my Christmas fabrics yesterday, I'll admit I'm a little torn about whether to use just reds and whites or whether to include some with more green. I'm leaning toward the latter, but I'll have to wait and see what my hands decide when I get back to it.

So, there's plenty to keep me busy today. I'll admit I'm hoping to finish off the Tulip Time quilt. We'll see how that goes. Chutney is going to take up most of my time today. I’m still hoping to get enough green beans to can some plain old cut green beans, but they aren’t coming in large enough quantities. For now, I’ll be using them for side dishes. The corn will be ready soon too. If I were to get antsy about having fresh corn, I could probably harvest some today. It’ll be better if I wait a few more days, and I’m pulling together my fresh corn recipes in preparation.

In years gone by, we’ve blanched and frozen whole ears. This year, I’ve purchased a special tool (OXO brand) to help me take the kernels off the cob. We’ll have an overabundance, no doubt, and so I’m going to try freezing the kernels (no cob) this year. Usually, we prefer fresh produce, but corn is one of the few vegetables I sometimes buy frozen at the grocery store. It makes sense to freeze our own. For now, I’m focusing on the fresh corn recipes, and we’ll probably have some of that later in the week.

It was a gloomy day yesterday…looking awfully fall-like. If the forecast is to be believed, it’ll be like that through Friday. Next week should be warmer, which is a good thing because I’ll be running back and forth from the house to the RV in preparation for our upcoming trip. And since I know y’all are wondering what kind of clothes you’ll need for this trip, I promise I’ll tell you more about it soon.

For now…off I go. Have a good day, Everybody!