Good Morning!
The sun is out and the air is fresher this morning. We finally had some very much needed rain yesterday. It started around 3 p.m. as a very gentle rain and then became heavier and heavier. It sounded wonderful and the scent of rain was like a bit of heaven. Our rain gauge is showing we received about 1.75".
Yesterday I did successfully avoid any domestic cleaning chores. However, I was not idle. I did a bit of cooking. We were having Oven Roasted Ratatouille for dinner, so I baked some bread to go with that.
A gooey mess that was perfect last night as the temp had dropped along with the rain. Eggplant, yellow squash, onion, basil and garlic mixed up with EVOO, S&P. Marinara sauce in the bbottm of the pan, pour in the veggies and top with chopped tomatoes. Bake at 400 for about 40 minutes...pull out and pur some mozarella on top...back in the oven to melt the cheese. Kind of like a veggie pizza without the crust!
After dinner I baked a batch of toffee chip cookies!
I used salted caramel chips that I found at Trader Joe's and oh my! These cookies are so easy to make and so delicious.
In between cooking and baking I did work a bit on my stitching and even some knitting. Today is Tuesday, so let's see where the stitching is. First up is the Sampler Aux Bouquets. I am closing in on finishing up the first sesction (of 3):
I love the birds. However, I may need to rip out a few things. There are two versions of the chart. The first one is the chart for this section only - if you were going to stop after stitching this first part. Then there is the version you stitch if you intend to add the other section after this (which I am planning to do). On the second version the X and the Z are placed a little higher on the fabric. I will work down from the top and see how it goes. If I need to, I will re-stitch the X and Z. It's kind of annoying and frustrating that the two versions are noticeably different. And, this 32 count linen fabric is some of the softest I have ever stitched on and (to me) it is noticeable when something is ripped out. Hopefully I will have this figured out by the time next Tuesday rolls around!
Autumn Posy by Plum Street Samplers is coming along nicely.
I'm loving stitching on 40 count linen again using just one thread of the overdyed cotton threads. My plan is to finish that bottom motif today. Of course, I have other things that I would like to work on as well. Busy hands and all that!
How is your Tuesday shaping up?
Mmm, your ratatouille looks really good! I'm going to have to look for those salted caramel chips at TJ's -- those would be amazing in chocolate chip cookies (added to the chocolate chips, of course, not in place of)!
ReplyDeleteYour dinner looks delicious (especially those cookies!) and your stitching looks really good, too. Both of these are coming along quite quickly. Hope your Tuesday is a good one!
ReplyDeleteThat ratatouille does look amazing, Vera - as do the bread and the cookies!
ReplyDeleteI love your stitching...and I hope that you won't have to rip anything out... it looks perfect! :)
It sounds like such a delightful day, Vera. (And those chips? I'm definitely going to look for those . . . ) I love the smell of rain -- although I haven't smelled much yet this year! So glad you got a good (and welcome) drenching! Love your stitching.
ReplyDeleteLove that proud, strutting bird on the first sampler. Is it a peacock? I see a train of feathers. The tumbling strawberry on the second is charming. Both of these are delightful.
ReplyDeleteYour Autumn Posy looks so much better than the online chart photo. Rich color. I ate two recipes of homemade cookies in several days. Need to stop this!! The steroids didn't help but I'm done with them now. Will my addiction to sweets stop too? Heck no.
ReplyDeleteIf I lived closer I would have to invite myself over for dinner....lol. That entire meal looks so amazing. Cookies for dessert? Yes!
ReplyDeleteDo I see the outline of a pumpkin on Autumn Posy???? Both projects are gorgeous!
ReplyDeleteGlad you got some rain. We got a good amount Sunday and Monday, it's dry today, but on the cool/grey side. Tomorrow is the possibility of some more rain.
ReplyDeleteYou guys eat so well! I wish I wasn't so picky when it comes to food.
Love the samplers, and like Dee, I'm very intrigued by that possible pumpkin! (The strawberry is cute too!)
Oh, your food pics look delicious!!!! The stitching is great, too! lol
ReplyDeleteYummy dinner. You got a LOT done. I think you had the weather we have had the past few days. Yesterday started warming up quite a bit and today we had no choice but to turn the AC back on. It was so nice to have the windows open all day and night.
ReplyDeleteBlessings,
Betsy
beautiful stitching, bummer you need to rip out something!
ReplyDeleteThat oven-roasted ratatouille looks great! A perfect use of summer veggies.
ReplyDeleteThe oven roasted ratatouille looks fabulous as does the bread. Your stitching progress is so much fun to watch.
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