Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Squash and Spinach

Due to snow days and sick days here, our cupboard is rather bare. I have had very little luck with those websites that let you type in your ingredients and come up with a recipe. I guess it is because I always try it when I am down to a weird and limited assortment of foods. Some of my own imaginative combinations have been less than successful. One that I will share here was surprisingly nice. I do not have a picture to show how lovely it looked. We did not know it was a winner until it was partly eaten. At that point it was less lovely.

2 small butternut squashes
1 bag of spinach (not frozen)
1 bag of wide egg noodles
olive oil or butter
brown sugar
sour cream

Cut the squash into 1 inch cubes, and boil until just barely tender. Start cooking the egg noodles as usual. Carmelize the squash cubes in a little olive oil or butter, and brown sugar. Wash and drain the spinach. Cook it covered with just the remaining water until it wilts. Drain it again. Toss together the squash, spinach, and noodles. Add a little dollop of sour cream on the side, and a fair amount of salt and pepper. -Polly

Friday, January 23, 2009

Sweet Old Girl


Thirteen years is a long life for a big dog. But, when a girl and a dog are friends, it's not so long at all.

-Polly

Monday, January 19, 2009

Silk for scarves

Here is my big pile of silk cloth to work with. It looks like scrappy bits that just tumbled from a bag because that is just what it is. Now comes the fun part of pairing colors together. When the sewing is done, I will have a better inventory of scarves like this one. These aren't woven by me, but they do get my blue square trademark.

-Polly



Saturday, January 17, 2009

Cold

The weather is still cold as can be here. We all have colds, so this is a good weekend to stay in and attempt household projects. Cookies of course. Maybe a little cleaning. I have no idea how long this has been on the wall. Notice the erased s.

I don't expect to get to this knitting, but it does look appealing.


-Polly

Friday, January 9, 2009

My friends Bernice and Ruth Ann



I once had a lovely dress makers form named Bernice. She was a charming size 12 wolf. She accompanied me to fine craft sales. She joined me in the craft section at little fairs. She graciously greeted customers in my store front studio. She had her metal cage skirt, but her stand was missing. She fell down a number of times, and her chest caved in. In time I started to think that she was losing her looks. One day, I put her in a dumpster. Now, I can only hope that she was salvaged from her fate by someone wiser. Bernice cannot be replaced, but I now am ready to introduce Ruth Ann. Her form is to my eye, quite immodest. She has excellent manners however, and I think we will get along nicely.


-Polly

Wednesday, January 7, 2009

Monday, January 5, 2009

Thrifty Village

Now it is time to pack away the village. All through the year I seem to find these little houses at the thrift store. They are only a few dollars, but they usually have not been painted very carefully. The yellow one here is just the way I found it . The white church was an unpleasant stucco color with brown windows. I spent 45 minutes painting it , and now it is a favorite. The yellow house may get the same treatment next year.


-Polly


Warm Curtains

After visiting a clever friend I realized that I needed to make window coverings out of old quilts. This weekend I turned this bedspread into four curtains that seem to help keep out the cold. The pom poms were immediately recognized as cannon balls by my two resident pirate boys.
Several years ago I started to make a play quilt, but I put it aside when my littlest outgrew the idea before it was finished. Yesterday I cut it in half, finished adding scraps of cloth, and covered two more drafty windows.













-Polly

Saturday, January 3, 2009