Meatloaf

Can you believe that before this week I had never made meatloaf? I had no idea that it is so easy! I used my grandma's recipe (below) but substituted bison for half the meat (the other half was lean beef) and added a bit of sugar and cinnamon. My amounts were a bit off, too, but close enough. Instead of making one large I took my mom's advice and made 4 small 1/2lb loaves. Because I used lean meat, my loaves didn't hold together very well. Next time I might add an extra egg to help with that. Even though the loaves fell apart, they still tasted great! One loaf seems to be perfect to split between Chris and I for one dinner. I wrapped the extra loaves in foil and froze them, now we have an easy but tasty and healthy dinner that just needs to be defrosted and heated up!

Grandma's Meatloaf
1.5 lb ground chuck or beef
1 large chopped onion
1 small chopped green pepper
1 tsp chili powder
1 cup ketchup, plus extra
1/2 tube crumbled crackers
1/4 tsp pepper
2 tsp salt
1 egg, slightly beaten
8oz tomato sauce

Mix everything together and form into a loaf. Spray baking dish with Pam or line bottom with foil and spray with Pam. Put meatloaf in baking dish. Spread extra ketchup on top.

Bake 350 for 1hr15min. When done, remove loaf with large spatula into another container so that it doesn't sit in grease. cover with foil.

How does your garden grow?

Remember that empty tray of dirt from a few posts ago? Within days we had little plants poking their tops through the soil and since then they have taken off. Chris swears that if you sit and watch them long enough you can see them growing. The peas are now about 4" tall with several pairs of leaves. The beets are very thin and shorter, but have developed their first sets of leaves as well. Everyday they are getting bigger and healthier. I wonder when they will be ready to be planted outside?

The lettuce and onions in the garden are doing well, though its a bit harder to see the change. We also put in three strawberry plants and I'm hoping to have berries to try soon! We have been getting plenty of sunshine and a decent amount of rain- perfect for the garden. Most days, its still a little chilly for me to want to spend much time outside, especially since our yard has so much shade. Its supposed to be warmer later this week, though!

Sewing Projects

You can tell that spring is here because suddenly my blog is active again. Its an accurate representation of how I feel- energized and full of ideas. This week I've been doing a bit of sewing and having a lot of fun with it. I've discovered that the thrift store (i.e. Goodwill) is a great place to find good quality fabric for cheap. For 100% cotton you can't beat men's button up shirts and women's winter skirts are the best for nice wool. Half a dozen men's shirts in shades of blue and yellow are now made up into blocks for a summer quilt. I think I'll even have enough fabric for the backing, so all I'll have to buy new is batting. I think I'll do simple "stitch in the ditch" quilting to go with the patchwork design and not add too much stiffness. I want it to be soft and casual and easy to wrap up in or spread out as a picnic blanket.

I also made a skirt out of one of the smaller shirts- a boy's large, I think. I just cut off the collar and sleeves and sewed up the sleeve openings. The hemming and the buttons down the front were done for me. It feels good to re-use something that's been discarded rather than buy new fabric and its a quick and easy way to make a comfortable, light and easy to wear skirt! I've also been doing some gardening and cooking but I want to get a few more blocks sewn tonight so I'll stop typing for now...

Here comes Spring!!

We have started having the beautiful sunny weather that means that spring will be here soon. Of course the sunny days are mixed in with rain, but at least its not a cold, icy rain anymore. And in between the rain storms we have been able to get the garden cleared out and ready for the spring planting. Its still a bit early for most plants but we put the onions and red lettuce in today- hopefully they won't be bothered by cool nights too much. We also put a strawberry plant in a pot so it can be taken in if it gets too cold, and to keep it from getting moldy if it gets too wet. While we wait for it to warm up we have seeds starting inside- beets and peas. We planted them on March 11th and hope to see signs of life in about a week.

Mini Pies

I finally found the right jars and had some sent to my local hardware store so today I'm making mini pies! I found the tutorial here. As part of a two-person household I think its a great idea. Chris isn't a big desert eater and I really shouldn't eat an entire full-sized pie myself, so whenever I make pies we end up eating a few pieces and then the rest goes bad in the fridge. Or I eat the whole thing because I don't want to waste the food, and then feel guilty for eating so much pie! That got me thinking of other people who don't really need full sized pies. Like my grandparents or my aunt who lives alone lives without any other humans. And since they are frozen and just need to be popped into the oven they are perfect for my grandparents who don't do much cooking anymore. So guess what everyone is getting for Christmas this year?

I used this crust recipe (so simple!) for all the pies. The blueberry pies are from this recipe using frozen blueberries.

Chocolate Chess Pie
from my great aunt Kitty, as dictated to Will Bullins
3/4 stick butter, melted
4 Tblsp cocoa powder
1 cup white sugar (a little bit more)
2 "egges"
1/4 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla

Mix it all together. Pour into pie crust. Bake at 350 for 1 hour.


Apple Pie
from my mother in law, Dianne Lough
I used an assortment of types of apples for the apple pie- pretty much one of everything they had at the store. Dianne recommends 3 granny smith and 4 golden delicious cut up apples and put into bowl with fresh squeezed orange juice (to prevent browning) in separate bowl, mix together 1 cup sugar, 4T flour, 1t cinnamon, 2 dashed nutmeg, dash salt, 1 tsp cold butter. Mix with apples until coated and microwave for 4min pour apple mix into crust, add top crust and brush with milk, sprinkle with sugar

Instead of the traditional top crust for the apple pie, I used a crumble made with 1 part butter: 1 part flour: 3 parts brown sugar and a handful of pecan bits

Sharing Our Gifts: Project 3

Every month the Sharing Our Gift group selects a charity in a different state to knit/crochet/sew for. The December charity is The Oklahoma Brain Tumor Foundation. Here is the information posted by the group:

From the OKBTF website, here is some information about the origin of the foundation:
“The Oklahoma Brain Tumor Foundation (OKBTF), was founded by Nancy Thomason after the death of her son Cade Thomason to a brain stem PNET tumor on February 17, 2000. She vowed to fight the disease in honor and memory of her son Cade.

OKBTF is dedicated to meeting the needs of Oklahoma families, caregivers and patients affected by primary brain or central nervous system tumors. We work to provide for needs through education, advocacy, research and service.”

OKBTF provides services for 227 families and approximately 908 caregivers and immediate family members of individuals with brain tumors.

THIS PROJECT:
For this project, we will be creating hats, scarves, or shawls to donate to the organization. As always, these can be knitted, crocheted, or sewn, and they must be handmade.

DEADLINE:
Deadline to have these items received by the project coordinator is January 5, so please allow appropriate mail time. She will be delivering to the facility on or about January 8.

Now I'm off to search through my stash and look up some patterns. I'm thinking maybe a warm, chunky shawl, perfect for snuggling. What will you be making?

Cheesecake with my Friends!

My birthday is next week and I had been planning to just go out to dinner with DH and leave it at that. But then I got a craving for cheesecake. And I realized that birthdays are for celebrating with friends. So today I threw myself a birthday party at Cheesecakes by Alex. In attendance were Kelly, Tamsie, Eliza, Alli & her Peanut, my mom and Chris. The weather was amazing, especially compared with the terrible rain and wind we've had all week, so we were able to sit out on the patio. After taking a picture of the cheesecake and the beautiful flowers that Kelly brought me, I put my camera back in my bag and forgot to bring it back out. Thankfully Tamsie was much more diligent and got pictures of everyone which you can see on her blog. Even though I told everyone not to bring gifts, Tamsie gave me this beautiful yarn bowl from Dancing Pig Pots. I've been wanting a yarn bowl for years- how did she know? And whats even better- it was filled with luxury yarn. Two balls of super soft cashmere in a nice, neutral light brown and a ball of Sanguine Gryphon's sock yarn (one of my favorite dyers).

My mom also brought some presents, a couple of new tops (all which I love and fit perfectly) and my new mp3 player! I've been looking forward to it since I picked it out online a month ago. Only, its so tiny! I didn't expect it to be so small. I'll have to make it a little case or else I'm certain to lose it.

On the way home, DH and I stopped by Best Buy to pick up his present to me- new speakers! These are for my studio so that I can listen to podcasts and audiobooks while I dye yarn. I've been using my laptop but its speakers are so quiet that I can't hear some podcasts over the noises of dyeing.

And since there happened to be a Barnes & Nobles in the same shopping center we stopped in to pick up a copy (or two) of the new Yarn Forward (Thanks for letting me know its out now, Tamsie!). Usually I just buy the digital version but this month I had to have the real thing because of Laurel Coomb's gorgeous sweater pattern "Ruth's Tunic", designed for Gradiance yarns.

All in all, a great day! Now I think I'll curl up with a hot drink, my knitting and my sweet husband!