Goals of February & Exotic Foods

This month I’m all for setting goals to help keep me on track in my somewhat busy schedule.  I  do some house cleaning for a neighbor  that has 2 types of cleaning.  The first is the ‘normal’ day to day stuff… no biggie.  But the second one is the DEEP  cleaning.  As in scrub the thick coat of nicotine off walls and such.  That is my workout routine right now and man I found muscles that I forgot about.  I  go down a few times a week between Mondays & Thursday.  Wednesday is quilt group, Friday evenings is Quilt Chat on Q&N.com. The weekend is just enough time to try and recoup.  This is when I usually drag the sewing machine across the dining table for a marathon if I have something ready.   If not I move on to do some hand work.  This could include drawing lines on HST’s, some cross-stitching (which is pretty new to me), Redwork or some hand quilting . Depending on what mood I’m in.  Variety is important to keep from burning out.  Of course that rule goes out the door if I’m working on a specific project like quilting an “Auntie Quilt” or a swap deadline project. 

Anyhow, I was thinking about what I wanted to accomplish this month and I’ll share them with you.  These of course are in a random order of listing.  I know that I have so much to work on, as many quilters do; that I could add to this list but I think it’s best if I start on a short list.  But if I list all the things I want to accomplish -- it would very long and daunting.  It would have me conquered before I even started.  These are relatively small  projects with “Autumn Trails”  top being the largest at 23” square.

1.) Make my “Pop Stars Runner” from a free pattern on Stitchintree.com . This is my Gift of the Month for the Seasonal Swaps @ the end of the year.

2.) Start by doing the 3 B’s & hand quilting UFO “Autumn Trails”.

3) Get to the letter “R” in my Brass Cross-stitched Bookmarker that was a gift from Canadian Ms. D 2 years ago - oh my. 

4.)  Finish hand quilting my little table runner “Penny Candy”.

And for my reading goals – finish at least  2 books I’m currently reading. I think I have 5 going at the moment.  LOL. 

It should be interesting to see just how far I get on these. I will keep you updated as I go along.  What about You … do you have any goals that you want to meet this month? 

I have been trying out new recipes from this great book “Thai & South-East Asian Cooking & Far Eastern Classics” by Deh-Ta Hsiung, Becky Johnson and Sallie Morris.   I love exotic foods from around the world.  And these days I’m breaking out of the rut of the Mr. S’s “normal”   mostly bland menu.  I have checked this book out from the library and have had it close to 2 months now.  I’m the only person who has checked it.  LOL.  The hardest thing is finding some of these special ingredients in the slightly bigger towns much less in the little village.  Ingredients like Kaffir Lime Leaves,Tamarind Paste, Lemon Grass,  Dried Shrimp Paste just to name a couple. 

My menu this month will include Pork Belly with 5 Spice (tonight’s dinner), Beef in Oyster Sauce, Omelette Soup with Shrimp, Chicken with Lemon Sauce, Rice in Green Tea with Salmon, and Noodle & Vegetables in Coconut Sauce.   It will have a nice variety to mix in some of the meals that will come up out of packaged based meals.  Like Venison Raisin Curry made with Knorr’s new Rice Sides Thai  Curry Rice, and Chicken Fried Rice as an example.

Then there is the whole Crockpot meals of BBQ Country Pork Ribs, New England Pot Roast & Veggies These are great for the those all day sew-a-thon’s that usually happen during the weekends.  I have been know to also do pots of homemade soups, “Fend for Yourself”  leftovers, and “On Your Own” sandwich nights when I really get into a serious quilting zone.  I know that I can’t be the only one who gets this way.  I heard about it all the time.  And as for house cleaning… well let’s just say I clean the bathroom and he does the dishes beyond those paper plates.  LOL.  But I have to say Mr.S is pretty forgiven with me & my endless quilting “stuff” everywhere and all the time it takes to keep me busy.  He knows that when the occasion calls for it, all the supplies can disappear and the dining table will be covered with table cloth and placemats settings in no time at all befitting the company that is coming. 

Now having rambled on a while,  I think I’ll move over the couch to do some hand quilting on “Autumn Trails” as it has been sandwiched, hooped and the thread have been picked out. 

But let me remind you of the drawing for 2 of my gift bags that I did the tutorial here during the “Grow Your Blog”.  Please be sure to go over and leave a comment for a chance to win on Feb 15th.

Until next time…

Toodles,
Tricia