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!

Cross Country Preserving

It was supposed to be a vacation. Hubby and I travelled, sans kids, to Ontario this past weekend. We attended the wedding of a very special friend in a ridiculously gorgeous location. The weekend also afforded us the time to take leisurely drives, naps, and meals.

I promised myself that I wouldn't worry about capturing every little food related tidbit along the way. A difficult thing when you spend 3 days in the Niagara Greenbelt. So, my camera hardly came out of the bag, I didn't take a single note, and I even left both my laptop and crackberry at home. This girl needed a vacation from it all - kids, the full time job, the part time job, cooking, cleaning, and simply doing for everyone else but me.

So I read a novel, I ate more than I should have, I slept at many points in the day, I cuddled with my Hubby, and even took a spontaneous helicopter ride over Niagara Falls. It is, however, impossible for me to resist a farm stand. Especially a farm stand that declares the sale of sour cherries.

Remember, it was only last year that I discovered the truth about sour cherries. And I only found them that one time. I promised myself that if I ever discovered them again I would buy in bulk and preserve the bounty.

So I made Hubby reverse the rental car in someone's driveway and pull out his cash. After our day trip the cherries were carefully stored in the hotel mini bar. Then packed in a plastic bin, surrounded by gifted books and craft paper. The bin was taped up and made the journey back West in the cargo hold of the Airbus 320.

When we finally arrived home last night I pulled them out and despite my desire to sleep I spent an hour and a half pitting cherries. But when I make that first cherry pie the effort will be worth it. Sadly, the journey resulted in more than a few casualties. But I still got 11 cups of cherries, enough for 2 quart jars and 2 250 mL jars. I figure that is at least 3 whole pies or more than a small army's supply of cherry hand pies.

Cherry Pie Filling

Makes 1 quart

4-5 cups pitted sour cherries

1/3 cup water

1/2 cup sugar

3 tbsps cornstarch

1. Clean and sterilize jar and lid - if you intend to can and not use right away. Keep hot

2. Bring water and sugar to a boil.  Add cherries all at once and let cook for 5 minutes.

3. Combine cornstarch and a few tablespoons of the liquid from cooking cherries. Stir until smooth. Add to cherries and return to the boil. Let boil 30 seconds.

4. Immediately pour into the hot jar. Seal with clean and sterilized lid. 

5. Process for 30 minutes in a boiling water canner.

* Scale up this recipe depending on your total amount of sour pitted cherries.  

Multi-Tasking

There are people who cannot start their day without a fresh cup of coffee. In my Hubby's case, it is a Venti Americano from Starbucks. (Oddly, he is too lazy to make a pot of coffee at home, but not too lazy to get in the car and drive to Starbucks or go for a walk with the girls.)

Me, I can't stand coffee. Hate it, hate anything that tastes like it. No mocha, no tiramisu, no chocolate covered coffee beans. And no amount of convincing or tastes of supposedly the best-cup-of-coffee-ever will make me change my mind.

But pour me a boiling hot cup of strong black tea, maybe with a touch of honey, and I am a happy girl. Generally, I have a pot in the morning, and maybe one in the afternoon.  Of late, however, my stomach hasn't been so happy with all that tea. So I have a cup, maybe two, and that's it. I can't break the habit of making an entire pot though.

So I do what any sane Ukrainian girl/miser would do. I pour the leftover tea in a jar and place it in the fridge. With a splash of lemonade or a bit of simple syrup I now have iced tea for an afternoon treat or with dinner.

You could cold brew your iced tea, sure, but frankly, I find that takes too long and uses more tea bags than necessary. And I already have the tea made and it would otherwise go to waste. It is perfect for a picnic or a hot afternoon.

Prepare yourself, I'm contemplating making a quilt from a single fabric line.

Shocked, aren't you?

You see, I won this gorgeous Daisy Jane organic fabric from the Blogger's Quilt Festival. And when it arrived I got to thinking about making a solely organic piece. I know I could mix in some other lines, or at least some solids. It would be a bit of a statement, and somehow it seems wrong to mix it with the conventional stuff.

Kind of like getting organic, local strawberries and making shortcake with Bisquick mix.