Thursday, February 6, 2025

I Like Thursday # 438 valentines, everyday cooking, French, and a question

 

Time for an I Like list for this week, starting with one of my older Valentine quilts. About 50" square. 

I like this one so much. It is watercolor style meaning all squares were cut 2" and light to dark they create the lines. I did raw edge applique flowers and turned edge vines. I love the inset turquoise border with the tiny multi color trim couched next to it, and the thick binding of the same ombre border fabric. 

Heart quilting lines done repeating every half inch.

It is hanging in our family room for February, on a curtain rod with spirals

Still listening to and reading the same books as last week, just finishing the toe of my second sock. 

I did a bit of cooking ... don't enjoy cooking but do like to eat. 

Fine Dining


 one day we made BLT mac and cheese for lunch and it was so good. This was a new combo and I like diversity even in food choice! 

we use the box mix plus some extra cheese,  served on a bed of lettuce tomato (turkey)bacon

Let's play crime scene kitchen... what do you think I made with these?

carrots, raisins, ginger, apple

My carrot salad

My carrot salad

grate carrots (this time a mix of orange and yellow ones)

mayo

cinnamon, dash of salt

grated fresh ginger and grated orange peel ( I zest all oranges and keep grated peel in freezer bags)

golden raisins half an apple in tiny mince

maple syrup to taste

dash of cider vinegar or lemon juice

 

warm greek potato salad 
Greek potato salad

boiled potatoes, minced red onion and crisp bell peppers, oregano S&P, lemon juice, mayo

Pizza

half left for tomorrow's lunch
this time we allowed the dough to sit overnight in the fridge which highly improved texture and taste
(artichokes, turkey pepperoni,mushrooms, onion slivers mix of italian cheeses

Sweet and Sour orange sauce 

my recipe
I sub for soy sauce and corn starch

aminoo arrowroot, and use fresh ginger and orange zest

I am working on two challenges for the week's quilt making. More on Saturday's post

I am LOVING my little stash of cherrywood hand dyes so much I ordered fat quarter bundles here: 

https://hobbyhouseneedleworks.com/collections/bead-kits

they not only have those fabrics, they have EVERYTHING to hand stitch with I also got a kit of an artist palette in beads, some floss, some beads. 

I'm still getting word a day in Italian but now systematically learning French again, this time through our library and " transparent languages". It's challenging French, but the hardest for me is writing it with all the accent marks. Sheesh. I'll manage as long as native French speakers speak S L O W L Y. 

Prompt

What’s one of the most exciting things you’ve done in life so far?

My answers involve travel.  Growing up in central Florida, where it takes almost a day driving to escape the state, I had a need to go see and do. My parents saw this as a character flaw. 

I met and fell for a Canadian man who asked me to move there to see if we might truly belong together. I put my career on hold, and moved to Edmonton. It involved a cross country road trip with a girlfriend, where we saw and did along the way. She left me there and flew home, and my Canadian adventure started. After a while we decided I should exit the country and apply for a work visa which I did. I became a nanny there for a bit over a year and left when I contracted meningitis and needed a longer recovery period. We never married but it was a grand adventure. 

After I went back to Florida to recover my strength, my friend was living in Germany working as an USA army nurse, and I took a few weeks to visit her there. Traveling alone  with a Eurail pass, with a rudimentary knowledge of German and French, I got on a train every day, got off and found a room and explored many places. I had adventures. I met people also traveling around Europe from distant places. I realized it was nice to set my own itinerary but lonely with noone to chat to at end of day. 

I asked my husband this prompt and he said meeting me and marrying was the most exciting thing to him. He also found learning to do scuba diving and diving in exotic locales exciting. When I met him he was flying with the Hurricane Hunters (NOAH) out of Tampa, and I found that terrifying and exciting myself. 

Watching online 

 so touching such love is a balm to my heart

https://youtube.com/shorts/CAHvj84EbN4?si=BjAJE8R-8dFscgMx

Milo's Memories

my puppy visiting Conn. with us. He loved travel too... 


he loved ripping up old magazines. Here he looks guilty but that sound was so satisfying and fun for him. To the end, he liked ripping paper and the last thing he tore up was the paper towel tube. 

How I loved his spirit

Please visit thses folks to read about their week, and let me know if you wrote a post to add in

5 comments:

Debra She Who Seeks said...

Love that valentine heart quilt and your crime scene kitchen! I think that travel probably represents my most exciting things done as well.

grammajudyb said...

Wow!, I love your Valentine quilt ! It’s gorgeous. Traveling is fun. But tou had real adventures. Brave girl met Fearless guy! (Hurricane Hunter) ! And adventures in your kitchen too. Carrot salad is a favorite of mine to eat. But Mr. Busy doesn’t like it , so I don’t make it. Sounds yummy. BLT Mac and cheese, yum!

Duke said...

Love your Valentines quilt and your carrot salad has more yummy ingredients than mine does. Next time I will add the apple and cinnamon!

Angela said...

Love that quilt! Your hubby is the sweetest!

Cloudia said...

That is really a beautiful quilt. Thank you for showing!