Let's Sew

Peter declared that it was time for him to make a quilt.

A log cabin quilt.

So we are making a quilt.

 We went through my stash of fabric and he chose these reds and blues.

He was really drawn to my Chinese fabrics,

which are eight of those.

He wanted to cut out Pooh characters for the center square.

 Ironing so we can cut the fabric into two-inch strips.

SEWING!

The part we've been waiting for.

 Love pushing that (race car) pedal.

Pressing the seam out.

Two strips sewn around the center!

This is very exciting.

Notice the bandaid on his right pointer finger.

After nicking me with the rotary cutter,

he got himself.

Yes, sewing is dangerous.

We also learned about the dangers of leaving the iron

flat on the board.

This is good.

Makes sewing adventurous and manly, right?

More pictures to come as we progress.

Feels Good

I'm not pregnant.

(But now that I think about it, today marks exactly nine months since our homestudy was done and our wait to be matched with a baby began.  So, that's neat.  Which might explain...)

But I did wake up with an intense nesting sensation.  I must clean.

Paul and I (he's so great) spent three hours decluttering, which led to a painting project, throwing gobs of stuff out while the boys were distracted by www.armorgames.com, and reorganizing galore.

It felt really good.  Like a boot camp workout.

But in the midst of the fray, Paul went to the post office to mail a package and pick up our mail (no home delivery for us in this here town of a thousand) and now we don't know where our mail is.

So if you see it could you let us know?

Thanks.

He's Home

And the volume just boomed.

Running, wrestling, chasing, squealing.

And comments like:

"Dad, will you fight me?"

and

"Dad, throw stuff at us."


Paul was gone all day, past dinner, at the hospital.

We had a fine, calm day, the boys and I.

It is amazing how Paul excites and riles the boys upon his arrival.


Don't I need to go somewhere?  There must be a group of moms getting together somewhere tonight, dipping into chocolate fondue and talking about their upcoming midwinter vacations on various warm islands.  Moms... Where are you??

It's Like She Knew

Yesterday afternoon I got an email from Nolan's mom asking if I could watch him today, even though she knows it's our protected family day.

But she said, "I just figured if perhaps Paul was going to be gone or something maybe you could make an exception."

Paul and I talked about it and decided we were going to stay in town and not do much and it would be fine for Nolan to join us.

Then the phone rang his morning.  A couple in our church had been in a car accident and are now in a hospital in The City.  Broken vertebrae and spitting up glass.  So Paul declared today a work day, grabbed his laptop, and headed east to spend the day with the family in the hospital.

How did she know "Paul was going to be gone or something?"

So the boys and I are enjoying chocolate chip pumpkin pancakes for breakfast and will make chocolate chip caramel apples in a bit.  I may even sacrifice some of my mint M&Ms to crush and use as a topping.  Doesn't that sound nice?  Then I may attempt to cut into two pumpkins to process into pumpkin puree.  Have you done that?  It's quite a chore.  But I've got time today.

Paul and the Fish

For starters, Peter just discovered my secret stash of Mint M&Ms.  Bummer.  No one is supposed to know they exist but me.  Fortunately, he's not the sneaky one.

If Reuben had seen me getting into the secret supply, he would be on me all day long to share them,

and then

he would get up in the morning before everyone else, climb up on the counter and eat them.  Lots of them.  Then he would come to my bedside and say, "Smell my mouth," and blow on my face.  Yes, similar events have occurred.  Sweet boy.

 Here he is reading the Sunday comics

on the kitchen heater vent -

the warmest place in the house.

Pure innocence.

So onto the fish.

Paul declared he needed a whole fish today.

While we were out and about

we stopped at our fave international market

and Paul picked out a fish.

The fish guy behind the counter cleaned it for him.

My kitchen staff thanks him.

 Here it is,

nice and cooked now.

 Removing the skin.

Reuben wanted to poke it.

"Why?" Paul asked.

"For fun."

 Smothered in a Lebanese tahini sauce that Paul made.

Does this make you think Heathcliff?

Peter likes to read Heathcliff

and the fish skeleton made me think of him.

Good, spontaneous fish by Paul.

While he worked on the fish,

I prepared the Greek Potato Salad

for tomorrow's church lunch.

I am secreting kind of hoping no one eats it because

it is good.

And I want to eat it.

Garlic and feta and dill.

All warmed with the potatoes

and wrapped in creamy yogurt.

Must do yoga now,

after all this food talk.

Crazy-Go-Nuts

Oh my.  I am crazy-go-nuts over this new-to-me cookbook!

 The Meatless Gourmet - Favorite Recipes From Around the World.

Tonight we had the Veggie Rice Fritters from India, Ginger Tomato Soup from China, and Spiced Peaches and Dumplings from Eastern Europe.  So Good.  And filling.  And excellent for our bodies.

So tonight I perused the Middle Eastern section of the book.  In twenty minutes I made a menu and grocery list of eleven dishes!  I love this book.  I could make every dish.

Our church is having its annual Thanksgiving Fellowship Dinner after church.  I joked that we should bring a Turkish dish to every church meal until we leave.  A bit later Paul said we better get on that Turkish dish for this Sunday.  It was a joke.  I thought.  But we're bringing a Greek Potato Salad, served slightly warmed.  Not exactly Turkish, but pretty close.  With feta cheese and plain yogurt.  Yum.

If you want to join us for dinner next week, pick a couple dishes below and I'll prepare them for you and our family.  It's been so long since we've shared a meal.

• Spiced Veggies over Cinnamon Couscous ~ pg. 256
• Spiced Tofu over Noodles~ pg. 255
• Angel Hair Pasta with Feta and Broccoli ~ pg. 254
• Lentils and Couscous ~ pg. 252
• Lentil and Potato Special (my first time using filo dough!) ~ pg. 250
• Greek Peasant Beans ~ pg. 248
• Artichoke Rice Salad ~ pg. 247
• Moroccan Carrot Salad ~ pg. 245
• Roasted Garlic and Butternut Soup ~ pg. 237
• Date Squares ~ pg. 247

For another great cookbook, visit my sister-in-law's post over at Simple Organic.


Nicole mentions the More Is Less Cookbook that was introduced to me while living in China.  Cooking from scratch, including cream of whatever soups.

Okay.  Go cook something!

The Menu

I grabbed a new cookbook on our way out the door to the Immediate Care clinic on Monday.  I used the hour drive to plan this week's dinner menu so I could shop for the groceries while we were out.

After I made my list of six meals I announced that we were having Indian, Indonesian, Chinese, and Japanese dishes this week.  And I hope that's okay with everyone.

I had randomly opened up to the Asian section in The Meatless Gourmet - Favorite Recipes From Around the World.

Here's the complete list for this week:

• Golden Butternut Soup ~  pg.357

          With Samosas ~  pg 354

• Vegetable Rice Fritters ~  pg 356

          With Sweet Banana Raita ~  pg 368

• Delhi Potato and Bean Stew ~  pg 371

• Sweet and Pungent Tofu ~  pg 430

          With Gingered Cabbage and Vegetables ~  pg 422

• Tomato Ginger Soup ~  pg 420

          With Chinese Bean Cakes ~  pg 412

• Indonesian Peanut Soup ~  pg 419

          With Indonesian Corn Fritters ~  pg 414



So far we've had the Sweet and Pungent Tofu (Chinese) and Gingered Cabbage (Japanese).  The tofu dish was nice.  Pungent, really.  The cabbage had a harsh flavor due to the vinegar.  But Peter really liked it.  And I loved using my new food processor to slice and shred all the veggies for it.

Tonight was Golden Butternut Soup and Samosas, both Indian.  Both delicious.  Once the boys saw that I was messing with biscuit dough for the Samosas, they washed up and jumped in.

 The filling for the Samosas was potato, peas, and onion with lots of spices, including curry.

I made biscuit dough, rolled them thin, and cut them in half.

Put a dab of filling on the biscuit semicircle, fold over, and crimp the edges with a fork.

Look at that cute little bandaged hand.

Bake for longer than Paul could stand

-twelve minutes-

and enjoy with the curry-spiced soup.

Our house smells very international when you walk in.

And for your post meal pleasure,

a Roaring Ninja Reuben.