thursday sewing marathon

So yeah - sport is unhealthy - I realize that time and time again ... but I just can't stop - well that's what tape is for right?!

Yeah I had some time to catch up on some sewing - of course the I really had to get going with the Red Herring, it's a QAL project that's been on since the beginning of September.

               

Yeah well I'm not this focused on one block kind of person, so catching up was hard work - but I managed to get a sort of chain piecing system going. I did each step with all 8 strip sets, so after a few hours and hmm a little bit of Longmire (the TV series) - ok lots of - I had a 3x3 layout ready in the evening, and as it's autumn the light is gone early, so there are only crappy pictures.

I think it was Claire who wondered what lamb sausage is - well it's really just any kind of sausage made from lamb meat - in this case it's liver sausage, Fleischwurst (ask wikipedia) and some hmm well I really have no idea and the dictionary isn't really helping with explaining German sausage variations in English ... maybe I should just send a tin hmmm customs won't like that ...

Which is why I can't possibly really explain how to do "traditional" (that is traditional in my family) Maultaschen (filled pasta) are made because you need special sausages - it's really interesting how every country has its own special kind of filled pasta ... Anyway grandma is happy to have a full freezer again ... ohh and that's a "pasta board" there ... very useful for all kinds of fresh pasta ... but then there are only two kinds one really needs - Maultaschen and "broad pasta" for "Krautnudeln" (cabbage pasta)

aye the "old" Ladies at work (that is mom working and granny giving 

not always so useful comments) and me taking pictures

Hmm yeah I always get a little sentimental when I was home and got all the good food and then go to the stores here just to see bewildered faces when asking for some ingredients, I guess I will have to learn how to make my own sausages eventually ... or just move back ...  It would all be so much better if they could just get themselves to make some decent lye rolls ...

Löni

quilting at last and other things

I finished this top a really really long time ago - I think it's my first "big" quilt top ever. I made it using my first giveaway winnings - a charm pack. Well I was out of batting for the last 2 or 3 months and finally got a load last week, but couldn'T start anything as I had to prepare for my sister's confirmation - lot's of nice food and an interessting field study on the reaction of my catholic grandparents (both in their late 80ies) to the protestant service.

So anyway that's my quilting/sewing corner (I should clean up a bit before quilting errr taking pictures next time) so far it's been stitch in the ditch-ing for me. But I already started on the big triangles. [here's a picture of the top] And if you wonder what the backing is - yes it's sort of a rosé coloured fabric with flowers printed on it - well a vintage sheet - cut open on one side, was just big enough for the back. Now you could probably say it doesn't fit - well I'm not one to worry too much about such things and I like the front and I like the back so they work together.

Oh and I think I haven'T shown you my April bee blocks yet? I was in such a hurry to get them send off that I forgot to do a post about them - I need to work on making more individual posts instead of one big post with a ton of things in it - I know that the attention span of humans has limits.

And as a last picture to cause an overload on your end - I finished that quilt as a Christmas present and never took a picture so while visiting for the confirmation I snuck up on my sister and got a shot - she's not into having her pictures taken, though it's gettign better she doesn't hide anymore on group shots. [Not that I'm any better]

 
 Leo

dozen in one post

uhh yes I have been quiet - didn't read a single blog, barely read any mails, but I read a thousand books and had lot's of chicken soup, I could effectively refuse the offers of warm beer. Now after a week I reduced my tissue usage to hmm 2 packs a day, I almost used up a honey jar and there's no thyme left on the spice rack.

So I did promise some potholders - because yes I did finish them on the train.

I even started quilting something - no idea what I thought when I started apart from "I want to work on my tiny stitches"

Ok the circles are far from round - storing the project squeezed in a tiny bag didn't really  help with the wrinkles. For comparison that is a circle:

And that is a lunch that's composed of food sins - not really healthy at all but tasty and yes perfect to scare off a lot of people - they just don't appreciate it.

That's some "Münster", deliciously smelly cheese at the left, half a bread with "Griebenschmalz", lard and greaves, "grobe Leberwurst", liver sausage with chunks in it, not the finely ground kind then there's some "Bauernbratwurst", well hmm no idea how to explain that one then there is "Schwarzwurst" (black sausage) that wants some mustard to go along - I won't tell you what's in it because then you might not ever give it a try if you come across it.

Don't be afraid you can get some simple plain cheese or a salami here if you want- much more common actually. Well yeah most people don't like the "traditional food" because they want to firmly believe that meat grows on trees and that chickens are made up completely of chicken breasts and cows only consist of tenderloin and the occasional steak.

So that was todays excursion into strange German food - maybe I should introduce more of that. Some "Szegediner Gulasch" (which is not German at all but my Grandpa used to cook it a lot and there's Sauerkraut in it)

 Leo

ice cream and snow

Well I admit I haven't done any sewing, more packign and cleaning and researching and reading books and watching movies and ... but well even I need to go shopping for food once in a while, the are tearing down the supermarket across the street so I had to walk a bit to the next one and came by those huge windows in the new addition to the National Library and as some people have been hinting they would want to see a picture of me ... well there you go:

Much of the snow has been thawing away the alst couple of days, with high temperatures of +2°C. Well I couldn't resist some ice cream for the way - I mean after all I was carryign all my shopping home .. . well just me - ice cream and snow are the perfect combination.

Leo

lasagna, skirts and a quilt

"We" had some fun yesterday - first eating lots and lots of this:

And then taking up the skirt I started sewing last year ... now I just need to hem it - how do you hem a skirt?

I also started quilting my little pinwheel quilt and as I could hardly feel my fingertips anymore I thought maybe a timble could be the solution - just it wore through the thread really really fast, maybe I'm just using it wrongly. My solution was to cover my finger in tape.

Ohh yes and that's the quilt - which is probably much more interessting ... 

 Leo

Late Christmas Presents and Guest

The little ones are on the train home again - so I can realx with a cup of coffee and proof-read a paper and watch some 16+ DVDs

We did some knitting - the littlest asked if I culd teach her, so we went through my yarn and needle box. For an eleven year old she has got a lot of patience

And I did learn a lot of new modern "cool" ways to express frustration and hate from little one after she realised just how much straight stitching she had to do once she started on the Ticker Tape Mini that she picked from a book (I told her to try a big Wonky star).

In between we had some lovely

And of course we exchanged Christmas gifts - I did talk little one into posing with the quilt. But littleset one refused (I was lucky to score a picture of her knitting).

Leo

The usual suspects that I link to

Introducing a (for me) traditional food

I asked for a traditional food in the "Holidays are Over - back to school blog hop give away" so I thought maybe I should offer up a traditional food too.

Krautnudeln

 cabbage pasta / pasta with cabbage 

You need for the pasta (equals 600g dried pasta):
* 500g flour
* salt
* 1- 2 eggs (or none)
* 1/8 l water (equals 4-6 filled half egg shells)


(You are all quilters so you know your math - use it to get the right amount, or just let the rest you don't need dry up completely and store for another time). Ehh yes sure you can also take the short cut and just use store bought broad/wide pasta - but that's cheating!


Mix it all and knead very well, you should end up with a big ball of ver firm, even textured dogh.
Cut in 4-6 pieces and roll out very thin, cut in stripes (not using your rotary cutter, but freehand knif cutting. Leave them to dry off a bit
Cook in boiling water 5-10 minutes depemding on how thin/thick your pastas are, take out of the pot and into a bowl with warm water

For the cabbage:
* 1- 2 onions - chopped in tiny pieces
* cabbage - a normal sized cabbage use 1/4 per person, sliced (that's a teeny tiny fresh tipped cabbage on the picture)
* salt, pepper

Fry the onion until a little brown, add the cabbage, let that get a little brown too, then turn the heat on low for another 15 minutes or so, add salt to your taste
Top off with fresh ground pepper

Bon Appetit!


Leo

The usual suspects that I link to