Short and Sweet

Hi all
I made salmon tonight from my Wednesday delivery from Blue Apron.  Their photo then mine.

That's Seared Salmon on spinachy barley with sorrel and dill on top.

There's mine looking small, but I think that's because it is a big plate.

And hurray,  I finished the shirt for my son-in-law.  Here it is.

This is, of course, without him in it.  Maybe I will get a photo of him wearing it sometime.

It's map fabric in greys, white, pale blue, tan.  I found the buttons in my button box and they work well with it.

My cat, Eddie, has discovered the blue rug I set my spinning wheel on.

He doesn't seem to mind sharing.

Silly Eddie.  

Until next time, eat a piece of cake.  Enjoy.

My Blue Apron

Ah, it has arrived and as of today I have made 2 of the 3 recipes for this delivery.  What arrived?   Oh this . . . 

My first box from Blue Apron.

Excitement.

Well, insulated.

The veggies on top. Well, they're actually on the table in this photo.

A lemon, an onion, garlic and yellow fingerling potatoes are visible.

This is most of it spread on the counter.

I've invited my friend, Pam, for dinner tonight.  I was too excited to do this first one alone. And so I start preparing.

 Asparagus,chives, ramps and dill.

Shaving strips off the asparagus for a salad.

The cut up asparagus

 The dill.

The ramps.

Browning the fingerlings.

The steaks cooked and resting.

Mixing it up.

Two servings.

Sliced flat iron steak, fingerling potatoes and asparagus with an asparagus and shallot salad topped with creme fraiche, dill and chives.

It was very good and only one pan, but I did use lots of little bowls and plates as I prepared.

Each one of the dishes comes with a Knick Knack bag.

Butter, creme fraiche and a shallot.

Thank you for joining me for my first adventure with Blue Apron.

All gone.

P.S. Please note: The spotty apple which appears in one of the photos above was not used in the preparation of this meal.

Cooking?

Cooking?  Do you love to? Hate it?  Just put up with it?  My cooking story goes like this.   A long time ago, I thought I would like cooking and so I tried to cook.  I was okay.  When I had kids I started to love trying new recipes and even going back in time to favorite meals from my childhood or from "The Little House on the Prairie"   I wanted to make 'vanity cakes' but I never could figure it out. 

Then there was Sesame Street and Ten Tiny Turtles song, so we tried rutabagas and artichokes. I made up a recipe called "Chick-kung Fooey".  We liked it, but not so much any more.

Ten Tiny Turtles Song here

My kids were good at trying new things.  Much later they would cook.  That was fun too.  Now everyone is gone, grown into their own lives and doing well.  Now I don't want to cook.

My daughter who is single cooks for herself and she's a whiz.  She makes things and takes them for lunch and/or freezes it for later. I don't want to do that.  See her yummy blog here. Well, I have done that.  One day about 8 months ago, I made chili,  scotch broth (from the Harry Potter Cookbook) and a mushroom barley thing from Scotland magazine.  This was extremely rare and out of character for me.  It went well as I froze a lot and it was nice to go to the freezer instead of the store.

Here's the Scotch Broth.  The chili was good, but the photos aren't.

You say this isn't a cooking blog?   Yes, you are totally correct.  But I have discovered . . . . . Wait a minute  . . . . . . .

BLUE APRON

It's not something to wear while cooking it's better. Follow the link and read all about it HERE

 Tomorrow my first box of meal ingredients arrives.  Inside will be everything I need to make three meals for 2 people (6 meals for one).  Everything will be fresh and measured out in the amounts needed.  The directions for preparing will be there.

Come back. I will take photos and show what I do.  I hope it will be a great adventure for all of us.

Some Finished

Finished brown batik dress.  Well, in this photo, I hadn't done the hem.  It's done now.  I'm going to stop using my phone for photos, some times it works well, but not always.  This photo is trash.  The dress turned out nicely.  I added a bit of braid at the waist.  I took a close-up, but it was terribly blurry.

Teal jersey top made from a kit from Craftsy.  The price included fabric, thread, and pattern.   In this photo I hadn't attached the front self facing down.  I needed some advice as to how to accomplish that.  The pattern instructions were unclear to me.   I spoke with a very nice gal at Meisner's in Folsom who is knowledgeable in knits.  She recommended Steam-a-seam to hold it down smoothly without showing any stitching.   I have some now and I'm going to give it a try. Thanks to my friend, Pam, for letting me try some of hers.

These garments are made for my two daughters and I'm thrilled they fit.  Perhaps I will get a photo of them wearing them soon.

Also I finished a pair of salmon pink (or coral) crop pants.  By default, my daughter will have them as they didn't work out for the original recipient.  Moi.

In knitting, I finished two piggy dishcloths.  I only have a photo of one of them.  Oh, gosh, I can't find it.  Well, never mind.

I'm thrilled to be sewing and must get on with it.  I'll be back soon.