Weekend Winery Fall Festival

We could not possibly have asked for a better fall weekend for this festival this year!  What perfect weather, such fun and talented people to spend two days with, and the food items were yummy.   Santa makes a mean beef veggie soup in a big black kettle, I'll tell you that.

These are a few shots of my booth and the things I've been up to lately. 

You just can't get a good shot of glass without reflections somewhere. 

Speaking of glass, I'm on the lookout for wooden window panes.  If you have any you would like to part with, and you're in the Central PA area, please send me an email at imakestuffallthetime@gmail.com

Have a great Monday!

Lego problem

 

              I'm sure I'm not alone with my Lego problem.  There are never the same number of head compared to bodies.  Or the head is the wrong color, which does not bother me in the least but I am told by my little boy you can't do that.  It's a crime against humanity apparently.  

             No, I did not point out the lack of humanity in dealing with plastic Lego men, especially since we were dealing with Lego droids.  The argument seemed pointless. 

I did however, cure our mis-colored head problem but getting out the trusty Sharpie.   

There.

No more headless droid. 

Please don't remind him there are still five heads on the table and no more spare bodies. 

              Big weekend coming up!  Fall Fest at Armstrong Valley Winery in Halifax Pa.    If you're in the neighborhood, stop by for some yummy food, good wine and browse the 30 or so vendors that will be set up.   I can almost guarantee the weather will be better than the Spring festival.

             Remember that one?   Rain all day Saturday, the Dorothy, Toto, and the Kansas winds all day Sunday?   Fun stuff, right there.

Two out of one: A mini-sewing project

            When I was pregnant a million years ago, I got one of those long body pillows to help me get comfortable while sleeping.   For the last few months, I've had the pillow tucked behind my sleeping pillows on my bed, mainly to keep my kids from either getting their head conked on the iron bed frame or from getting their head stuck between the iron bed frame parts, I haven't decided which yet since neither happened with that pillow there.  Since I have no plans on having another pregnancy any time soon, a new project idea was born instead. 

I decided it two pillows would look more visually appealing and the two red pillowcases might fit better if I just cut the thing in half.   So I did. 

So I cut.  Foam insert thing and all.  Actually it turned out to be rolled batting instead of a solid foam core. 

I kept the original fabric cover on the batting and just did a quick whip stitch to hold it together. 

New cases on, pillows in place.  Pretty!

....and yes, I am still completely in love with the red and white quilt.  I have fantasy plans of making pillow shams with some of the same fabrics from the quilt to go on the bed also, but the time hasn't seemed to materialize for me yet.   Where they add another hour or two into the day, someone will have to message me to let me know. 

A simple tomato sauce plus variations

It is my belief that the best sauce is a simple sauce.  The fresh tomatoes do not need to be dressed or overpowered by a dozen herbs or spices to bring out their perfect flavors.

To make my sauce, I start with a big pot of boiling water.  I fill a second large pot with tomatoes and pour the boiling water over them.   If I'm making sauce, I'll let them sit for 15-20 minutes or so with the lid on to steam off the skins.

When the water is cool enough to put your hands in, the tomato skins are slipping right off the ripe tomatoes. 

I add nothing more than garlic, onion, and maybe a red pepper if I have one I can pull out of my garden.   A little salt, pepper, or a small pinch of basil if you have it.

After I've slipped the tomatoes out of their skins and removed the cores, I give them a good squeeze before adding them to my sauce pot.   There is a lot of remaining liquid in the pan so I poured off a bit of it to make some tomato soup for my daughter and I for lunch today before adding my tomato pieces to the onions and garlic.

Simmer for 1-2 hours.  Puree with an immersion blender until smooth if desired.

That's it.  That's my sauce recipe.  You can can these and process according to your altitude directions to put up for the winter.  You can let it cool and put it in ziploc bags to freeze flat.  Or you can move onto dinner with a yummy veggie lasagna (which is what we did)

I'll post the veggie lasagna recipe as well as the simple tomato soup a little later this month.

Enjoy!

What I worked on this weekend - glass and tomatoes

 Good Monday morning everyone!

          Let's see if I can get this new blog schedule rolling as we head into fall.  I've been working like a loon around here lately; heading back to school (the job) and back to college (the degree), working on a few quilt commissions (two t-shirt quilts through the Etsy shop plus one more local, vintage feel quilt), putting together my graduate art show works, plus I've been prepping for another Fall craft fair.  And I can't forget getting the garden harvest to put up for us to use all winter.  Oh, the tomatoes!  I canned 10 quarts of whole tomatoes this weekend and I still have a mini-mountain of the ruby jewels on the counter top. 

(not a picture of whole tomatoes, instead a photo of a few pints of my sauce)

     With all that going on I did have a little block of time this weekend to work on a piece I've had buzzing around in my mind for a bit.  The craft fair next weekend is at a local winery and I've made these flattened wine bottle plates for my booth, but I have also worked with stained glass before so I have a few bins of scraps given to me by the lovely wife of a former pastor at my church.

     A few years ago I used those scraps and a picture frame I had in my basement to make this for my kitchen window.  It was propped behind my herbs for a bit but hoisting it up to the center of the large window did wonders for it's display, and for the herbs too.  They like a bit more direct sunlight. 

      With three monkeys in the house, I do need to be concerned for safety so I set up a little spot in my basement for my "glass table" and I started playing around with the idea of a bottle vase with flowers window.  Using a window frame I picked up for $2.00 at a yard sale, I've been working on this....

 (photo taken from below the table)

        I'll adhere the glass to the window with 100% silicone and grout over the pieces with a gunmetal gray colored, un-sanded grout to finish it off.    The strength of the window frame will support the weight of the extra glass but I'll still add heavy duty eyelet screws and framing wire to hang it.

      Hopefully, I'll get back to it tomorrow and have it grouted on Friday for the Saturday Fair day.  Hopefully.   Best laid plans and all......

I'll be back on Tuesday with a recipe to share.

Have a creative day!

11 Sept 2013

 

                                                    

Oh what a summer!

How can I wrap up an entire summer's worth of activities in one post?  I just can't.   So here's some photos of what you may see coming up in the next few weeks.  

I'm working on a more consistent posting schedule, I truly am.  Let's see if I can stick to it!

For now, here's just some of the fun.  Recipes and directions to projects will follow.   Happy September 5th!