Spicy Sunday

My one great weakness is a good sale and after a recent buy one, get one free offer on chicken breasts, I found myself with a bit of a surplus. So perfect timing for this Seasaltwithfood recipe for spicy ketchup chicken. The dish was pretty quick to throw together and tasted really good. I've got a pretty high threshold for spice, so it didn't taste super hot to me. But the tingling of my lips and fine layer of sweat on my face while I was eating tells me it had some heat.

It didn't have quite the red colour like in the picture, I think because I dumped the chicken and all the cornstarchy sauce into the pan. I should have just scooped in the chicken pieces. I also got a bit carried away with the ginger, but I really like fresh ginger.

Verdict: Definitely a recipe to make again.

Forging ahead

All 10 pieces of my Moroccan tile quilt are now done. I just can't believe how quickly I'm moving ahead on this.

Cheery and cosy

Last night my plan was a True Blood season 5 marathon to ready for the new season starting soon while snipping away on my rag quilt seams. When I spread the blanket out to see where I needed to pick up with the scissors, I found a very nasty surprise - a spider so big it should have been paying rent. Girly scream done, I took the quilt outside to get rid of the unwelcome guest. But that sucker did not want to let go. The more violently I shook the quilt, the more I worried the spider would fly up and hit me in the face. I finally got it off, but then the relaxing evening vibe was ruined for some time. Especially since I had to keep checking that it wasn't crawling on my hair or in my shirt.

I finished the cutting today, then tossed the blanket into the washing machine. Two go-arounds in the washer and then the dryer, it seems adequately fluffy and not shedding too much anymore. It's super soft and I love the cheery colours.

Now I'm thinking about that spider again. How dare it sully the sanctity of my craft room!

Scissor time

My first rag quilt is sewn together. Now for the part that seems so wrong - going at it with the scissors. And boy are there a lot of edges to clip when you've got 80 squares.

Judging by the fuzzy mess the flannel blanket left around my sewing machine, I'm gonna need to get out the vacuum soon into the snipping.

If you're looking for low-pressure sewing, try a rag quilt. Precision isn't need since the end product is supposed to be a big fuzzy mess. But an oh so cosy fuzzy mess.

Focus

This weekend my personal sewing guru, a.k.a. my mom, came over for an afternoon to get me started on a neat quilt kit she bought me when I first started quilting. Generally I'm a bit skittish around this type of project and stick to small sewing endeavours that I can soon pat myself on the back for finishing. But I have a few very lovely kits gathering dust that I really need to suck it up.

After the day with my mom pushing me along, I was really surprised to see how far I can get if I just focus. Which made me realize that focus is really where my crafting falls flat on its face. I'd like to blame many things for my short attention span - the internet, hectic job driven by tight deadlines, cats that always want to sit on what I'm sewing - but it's really just a lack of discipline.

But yesterday I buckled down under the watch of the most crazy productive crafty person. I cut out all the fabric needed for the Moroccan Tile quilt, so now I can just sew. I stitched together stacks, then cut them into triangles. I learned a nifty trick for making pentagons so you don't have a bump in the middle. This was like freaking magic watching the fabric fan around the centre!

I made a few pentagons to make sure I could do it on my own later. (We'll still see about that.) And then I sewed on the other fabric bits needed to make one of the 10 pie pieces that will become the finished quilt.

I like the fabric - Northcott Stonehenge - because it's not something I likely would have picked myself. But it has an amazing texture. Such a complicated project is also something I'd normally shy away from. But I jumped in and now I'm so glad to have a good start on it.

Getting my hands dirty

Last year I bought way too many plants for my planters and several disappeared under the more hardy ones never to be seen again. This year I really held back, so for now my container gardens are looking pretty sparse.

But there are a few petunias in each box, and I know from last year those are rigorous growers. While I was contemplating the plant below in the greenhouse, a woman was suddenly at my side saying how it's her favourite flowering plant. Nope, she wasn't staff. Just a real enthusiast for these particular blooms.

The firework-like blooms are lantana. I also got purple and pink petunias, and white verbena and geraniums.

This year I added two herb gardens. One container is dedicated to mint with three varieties. I've been cooking a number of dishes lately with fresh mint and thought it would be nice to have sprigs ready whenever needed. The other pot has lemon thyme, basil and curry, which has an amazing aroma that makes me want to rush out for a curry dinner.

Next I need to hang the bunting around my front porch to get into full fair-weather mode.

Grizelda's kitchen

Since I love both crafting and eating, I figured why not add my kitchen adventures to my blog. I try new recipes pretty regularly and already pass along the keepers to friends and family, so why not put it here? A lot of recipes I find online, making them easy to share.

Yesterday for lunch I made this spicy Indian vegetable soup I found on Meet Me At Mikes, which is a great crafty/cuisine combo blog. The soup's super easy, tasty and satisfying. Plus you probably have all the ingredients in your cupboard already. I used a cup less of broth and an extra carrot, so mine bordered on being more of a stew. Oh, and spicy paprika because that's what I have.

I served it with heated naan and a dollop of Greek yogurt on top. I had to stop myself from going back for a third scoop. (I may have sampled some cold soup while setting up this picture and it's just as good!)

I spotted this recipe during my blog surfing last night for hot and cheesy caramelized corn dip that I'm going to have to try soon.

Looking for a tasty new breakfast? I've been obsessed with Smitten Kitchen's spinach and smashed egg toast since she posted the recipe. It's my new favourite way to make eggs for just about every breakfast dish.

(For those wondering who is Grizelda, check out the brilliance of Hilarious House of Frightenstein and Grizelda the Ghastly Gourmet.)