When recovering from a cold...

Cleo meow-talking, wondering where our

4 nieces went a day after their visit to us!

Mr. Husband took me out on Monday for Canadian Thanksgiving

to the diner, as I relapsed with my cold and was unable to make anything for it.

I had a lot of soup, tea with honey (and a few things of what a local friend

calls 'garlic tea': steeped 10 minutes minced garlic clove, honey, lemon and 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper),

and a little bit of medicine (first lots of Advil c+s, then the one pictured).

I cooked slowly on the stove a chicken and rice soup:

3 or so cloves of garlic, sliced ginger, some mushroom cleaned and chopped,

chicken thighs cut into 3 sections each, left over cooked basmati rice, 

carrots peeled, cut and sliced, a peeled, sliced and chopped onion, water, 

a carton of organic chicken broth, salt and pepper. 

Enjoyed, put in cartons and much frozen for future meals! 

I dreamed of making granola that my sister-in-law told me a recipe

for and of having dairy again...

I also researched and discovered a cleaning supply that will

care for my enameled Dutch oven when it gets

white spots on the inside.

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My cold is pretty much gone now and I am hoping

to play catch up with the many things I was unable to do while ill.

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I am grateful to God for all the blessings I have,

including a home to rest in, hot tea and soup and 

the many other blessings He has heaped upon me,

unworthy though I be!

A busy day... with the making of bath salts

Rose Petal Bath Salts, recipe here.

Layered with the salts and rose petals.

We put a few drops of rose geranium essential oil on the petals

and a little in the milk salt mixture.

Epsom Salts and Baking Salt 2:1 Ratio

Lavender oil, as many drops as were needed for the 

amount of fragrance we desired.

Layered with salts and lavender. 

Tea Tree Oil with oatmeal (quick cook kind), 2:1 ratio of 

Epsom salts and baking soda. 

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Also made a milk salt bath (same ratios as the rose petal one)

with chamomile layers, with hints of citrus, sandalwood and rose.

Chamomile was put with vanilla extract with a pipette, until it was a more

layered scent.

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Also did bath salts with eucalyptus essential oils.

I drew this bath for my

friend who is staying overnight tonight.

Baths can be so restorative...

Just a few notes...

My time with my family was wonderful!

Hope to write on that later.

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I am still battling a head/chest cold but am hoping to be over it soon.

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I've finally had a moment to upload the lessons

for the Sunday School year that have been taught so far,

all of these lessons are written by me, FYI.

I am so thankful I am not the only teacher at my small church,

as there have been various times Mr. Husband and I were unable

to be there in person and stayed local and went to our local church.

1+hour drive to church does that sometimes.

Anyway, the lessons so far are found here.

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I am hoping to be fully better soon as I have plans of apple picking

and applesauce making that I hope will come to fruition! 

{dinner parties} ~ our housewarming/labour day dinner

Things that helped this 15 people dinner party go well:

1. I set the two tables the night before

2. We had organic grilled vegetables, pulled pork and curried lamb catered

3. We had hors d'oeuvres (organic!), ice cream, pie, fruit and lettuce delivered

the day before.  

4. Mr. Husband and I did detailed meal planning

5. Two carafes of lemon wedges in water per table

6. Cheese Pizza and Doritos for the kids 

7. Wonderful dinner guests and two happy kids!

A blessing of a Dutch Oven and my first Roast Chicken with Vegetables

So we found the lovely dutch oven on a great Labour Day Sale!

It was a gift from Mr. Husband for my name's day and our 3rd anniversary!

My friend told me how to make this chicken roast with vegetables...

"

"Wash the chicken and take out the neck and gizzards, etc...you can put them in the pot. Stuff with onion, half a lemon and Rosemary. Pat the skin dry and rub it with butter. Sprinkle generously with salt, pepper and thyme. Bake breasts down with a splash of white wine to cover the bottom of the pot, chopped carrots, potatoes, onion and whole garlic in a 350C oven for an hour. Cover with a lid for the first 40 mins, then take off the lid to crisp the skin."

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I prepared this chicken as I do for 

lemon-ginger with thyme roast chicken,

other than not using a lemon itself this time!

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Thanks to wonderful Instagram, she let me know that I had the veggies in

bigger sized portions for baking than she would do and if they were not done,

keep the lid on for another 20 minutes and check again.

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I did this and by 60 minutes at 350F the vegetables were cooked.

My friend realized that I was roasting a bigger bird than what she usually did in

her Dutch oven, which explains why I needed another 45 minutes total,

going up to 425F.

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I was so pleased with how it turned out!

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I added more than a splash of white wine, adding a total of 187mls

of wine, about half of this before roasting and the rest

in two more douses as it was baking.

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I had a lovely bunch of juice, wine and lemon-ginger olive oil all melded together

at the bottom of the pan!

Used it the second night with a bit of corn starch to make

a lovely savory gravy! 

The second night we had my quilting friend over to share this meal

and reheated some of this chicken and vegetables in our small

toaster oven tray at 425F for about 20 minutes! 

Was delicious! 

Red and White

Today finds me with a head cold and

with family flying in to visiting tomorrow for a few days.

So not great timing.

Prayers Requested.

I am have made myself chicken soup meanwhile....

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Some wash cloth knitting done, but not a lot else.

I did however finish the quilting block

for my Quilt Guild Meeting!

We raffle the blocks we win off at the meeting....

No one was more surprised than myself

that I won them!

I have a great idea for a quilt using them

but it will be a surprise gift God willing and not started

until I finish the first two quilts I am working on!

Reading is still the book of Saint's lives - and cookbooks.

It's a busy season so not a lot of reading...sadly...

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What are you reading and creating?

Yarn Along with us!

{Quilting Adventures} ~ Learning a 9 Patch Variation

I learned this in my local quilt guild and sewing classes!

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Using pens with ink that disappears with ironing,

three centre lines, 1/4" apart.

Sew on two outer lines....

two squares together, wrong side out on both ends...

when sewn together cut the middle line...

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Another way to do this is the just do the centre line

and use the 1/4 guide on the presser foot to made the two

1/4 lines on either side of the centre,

which is the line that you cut to make the two sewn triangles. 

And you have two half triangle squares! 

These were made larger than needed so that after

they could be cut down to size.

I used the strip cutter to do this and messed up on two of them,

forgetting to put them on the 45 degree angle line where

the red and white meet in the middle...

My quilting friend was helping me so she redid these for me,

as I was running out of time!

2.5 inch squares, 8 of them, from measured strips of fabric

sewn together and then cut with a 'strip cutter', inverted

red and white make this cute 4 patch!

I am learning how important ironing before and after sewing 

these is important so that one does not lose

the right dimensions...

Then you put it together, with a centre red piece already cut out

to proper size!

Now I just have to sew it all together

for a very fun quilt block!