Making Do

We are 4 people and 2 dogs living in 1100 square feet. Out of our dining room we run the home and two businesses. In theory, there is a basement reno underway. It moves in fits and starts, but it still generally moves forward, sort of.

Last year I was using my

fence as a design wall

. But to be honest, that's rather annoying when you are trying to actually sew from it. So when Hubby gave me the day off weeks back I rigged up this temporary design wall.

This is the wall between our kitchen and dining room. Since I sew at the dining room table this set-up worked great.  Well, except for one large detail - I kept walking into the chandelier.

The Letter S

Pardon me while I get sappy.

You see, this week I've also been recovering from a medical issue. It's made me tired, shaky, and mopey. So this afternoon, after I put some tomato sauce in a slow oven to come together, I took a nap. Wrapped in the arms of my husband. It was the best nap ever.

So tonight's dinner was spaghetti and meatballs, and for dessert, strawberry ice cream. More specifically, strawberry sour cream ice cream. It was the slightly more elegant version of Baba's berries and cream. It was all comfort food.

The ice cream recipe comes from, who else? David Lebovitz. All the recipes in my books were custards and I didn't have many eggs in the house. So a little search led to many, many descriptions of this ice cream from The Perfect Scoop. It seemed like fate considering the pounds of strawberries I bought at the market and my own need for comfort. 

But no amount of comfort food can replace the love of your best friend.

Strawberry Sour Cream Ice Cream

(With great thanks, perhaps literally as I don't actually own The Perfect Scoop, to David Lebovitz.)

1 pound strawberries

3/4 cup sugar

1 tbsp vodka

1 cup sour cream

1 cup heavy cream

1/2 tsp lemon juice

1. Rinse, hull, and quarter your strawberries. Toss with the sugar and vodka. Let sit for an hour or so.

2. Add in sour cream, cream, and lemon juice. Blitz with a hand blender, leaving it as chunky as you want.

3. Chill for an hour. Process with ice cream maker. Freeze until ready to eat.

Aside

Well, this was no leisurely Sunday dinner. When Hubby got out of bed this morning he suggested a little day trip to Banff. His aching bones and sore neck were calling for a soak in the Hot Springs. And his tummy was calling for his favourite eggs benny at Bison. So I put my massive Sunday to do list aside and we loaded up.

Just one quick stop at the market for my special order Tonka Beans from Silk Road Spice Merchants! Oh, and mango lassi for the girls and coffee for him.

We had a great time! Brunch on the upstairs patio, a walk along the Bow River (and partially in it), and a not very leisurely soak in the pool. Hmm, the girls don't quite get the soak concept yet. It was a great day and certainly worth the frantic evening upon our return.

Thankfully, I did think ahead and took out some fish to defrost before we left the house. We picked up a box of fish from Dor-Bel Fine Foods when we went to the inaugural Kingsland Farmers Market. They sell all Ocean Wise fish from the West Coast. I didn't have a clue what Hubby actually took out this morning, so it was all a surprise. As we drove into town I took a mental inventory of the remaining groceries in the house to come up with something.

Hubby told me that it didn't have to be fancy. In my world this doesn't qualify because it took about 10 minutes, but it sure sounds fancy.  

Roasted Sablefish with Cherry Tomatoes.

Chop a clove of garlic, pick some oregano from the garden. Turn on oven to broil. Take a hot pan. Add a bit of olive oil. When the oil is hot add your fish, flesh side down. Leave it for a minute or two until it is sealed and you can easily flip it without sticking. Toss in the garlic, add the dregs of a bottle of white wine. Once that has reduced a bit toss in a pint of cherry tomatoes, the oregano, and season. Place it in the oven for 5 minutes or so. Serve with linguini.

Oh, and the rest of the family had some fresh peas with feta and mint, but I did not touch those. We know how I feel about peas.

Stitch

This week marks the return to reality. Hubby and I ventured East for a wedding and a bit of a holiday. A much needed holiday. I took no laptop, no sketch book, no crackberry, no little hand project. We didn't even take the girls!

This Mama needed a break from it all. 

Imagine my surprise when in the tiny, tiny village we were staying in I come across a fabric store just a few doors down from the cottage we were in. And get this, I managed to stay away from it for 2 whole days!

I am so glad I finally broke free from all that napping, reading, and cuddling to visit. I ogled the yarn (I still can't manage to knit), browsed the small but varied selection of Lecien, reproductions, 30s, French General, and visited with Jocelyn, the owner. And yes, I bought a few things.

Isn't this the sweetest looking quilt/yarn store ever? This is Stitch.

PS Don't forget to be here on Monday. I'm the first stop in a blog tour for Cherri House's City Quilts. I will share with you a special interview with Cherri, and there will be an opportunity to win both a copy of City Quilts and a special fabric treat from Robert Kauffman. And after me comes a great line-up of hosts. Stay tuned!