Cucumber Salad

 I found a version of this salad on Costco Connection.  I changed a few things to suit me and really liked it.  It makes a nice change from the usual salad 

Cucumber Salad

Package of small cucumbers, thinly sliced

2 green onions, thinly sliced

1/4 cup red onion, thinly sliced

1/2 cup basil, chopped

1/2 cup cilantro, chopped

1/2 cup peanuts, chopped

2 T sesame seeds, lightly toasted

Dressing

3 T fresh Lime juice, I just juiced a whole lime and didn't measure

2 T olive oil

2 T rice vinegar

1 T soy sauce

1 tsp minced garlic

2 T honey

   

Place all the ingredients in a small bowl and whisk together.

      

Slice, chop and toast all the other ingredients per the recipe and place in a medium bowl

Pour the dressing over the cucumbers and toss gently.  Serve immediately or chill up to 24 hours.  It is good both ways.  The cucumbers and onions were crunchy and fresh tasting.  I've made this twice so far and will add it into my regular rotation of delicious salads.

I had enough for two meals.  On the second night I served it over some leftover rice that I heated up with a little water.  I drizzled a bit of soy sauce over the rice and topped it with the cucumbers.  It sounded weird but was quite nice!  In fact, in the future I may serve it that way as a filing side dish.

Bacon Wrapped Smokies

I get emails from Allrecipes with recipes and cooking ideas.  I don't always make the recipes but these treats looked tasty!

Bacon Wrapped Smokies

Lil Smokies

Bacon

Mustard (optional)

Brown sugar

toothpicks

Preheat the oven to 325°.

Cut the bacon in thirds.  Place parchment paper on a baking sheet

    

Wrap a slice around a smokies and pin it with the toothpick to keep it wrapped tightly. Set them on the parchment paper. 

  

Brush the tops with mustard if desired, then use your fingers to put a generous pinch of the brown sugar on top of each one. 

Bake in the preheated oven until the bacon is crispy and the sugar is bubbly. It took me about 20 minutes.

Enjoy them warm.

These were delicious and the crispy bacon and slightly sweet of the brown sugar made them delightful.You can make a whole package or just a few so that is nice for just the two of us.

An Evil Heart by Linda Castillo

I love Linda Castillo.  Not in a romantic way.  But as one of my favorite authors.

When people ask me for my favorite author, I don't have one, but I have many. And one of the best is Linda Castillo.  She and Dana Stabenow are always at the top.

She writes a compelling mystery and each new book in her Kate Burkholder series is as good as the first.  This is not true for all of the series that I enjoy.  One of the best parts is how Kate grows and changes over time.  This is also true of Dana Stabenow's Kate Shugak.  The experiences they have is manifested in their characters and I truly love this.  The characters written by Jack Reacher and Stephanie Plum are pretty much the same in each book. 

In Castillo's newest book, An Evil Heart, Police Chief Kate Burkholder once again has a murder to solve.  A young, well liked Amish man has been killed by a crossbow and she needs to find the killer while still planning her wedding.  Murder investigations take whatever time is necessary and this adds a nice back story to the darkness of a terrible murder.

In typical fashion, Kate dives in to solving the murder and uses her knowledge of the Amish community to her advantage.  

I truly love this series.  As with most series, I suggest starting with the first book and reading in order. Sworn To Silence is the first one, so start there.

The Gatekeeper by James Byrne

 I volunteer at the library in Purcellville.  Recently I was shelving some books and found one that looked interesting.  This is a major perk when working in a library.

The book is The Gatekeeper.  The front cover had a quote praising it from Robert Crais.  He is a favorite author of mine so I took a chance and checked it out. I'm so glad I did.

The main character is Desmond Aloysius Limerick, called Dez.  He has obvious military training, but which one and where?  He is, in fact a gatekeeper.  The man who opens gates and holds them or closes gates and holds them for whatever operation is going on.  He has more than a "particular set of skills".

He saves a woman from being kidnapped and thereby discovers a plot to take over a section of California. This involves Russians, white supremacists, and the military...these are book topics I generally avoid like the plague, but in this case it all works.

It also mentions the Department of Energy and PG&E, both places that my brother has worked. We both like similar books so I texted him to get it even before I finished the book.  It is that good.  

The action takes place in about a week and is fast paced and with smart people and a lot of action. I liked Dez so much, that when I finished the book I went online to see if there was another one with him.  The ending suggested as much.  There is!  Deadlock is next on my list.  Think Jack Reacher, but shorter, tougher and very funny.

This book calls out for a new movie franchise.  I wish my son-in-law, Rob Yescombe, who writes screenplays, would option it!  But he doesn't write other people's ideas, only his own. In fact,  he has a movie in post production and I can't wait to watch it.  Make sure to see Grand Death Lotto when it comes out!

Barnyard Animal Quilt

 When I was looking on Etsy for a transportation themed quilt for my grandson, I ran across this quilt. It is called Sleepy Acres.  It is a bunch of silly barnyard animals in a bed. It was so cute I had to buy the pattern, even though I didn't have an idea of where it was going to end up.

    

This is an appliqué quilt. I cut out squares of the black fabric. I traced the pieces for each animal and all the embellishments on Steam A Seam.  Next I cut roughly around the shapes and ironed each one on the back side of the appropriate fabric and cut on the lines. These pieces were then placed appropriately and ironed on each square.

The white fabric for the bed allowed too much of the black to show through, so the pattern suggested making two of each shape, doubling them up.  This was a lot of ironing, cutting and more ironing.  

Rather than doing a blanket stitch around each appliquéd piece as the pattern instructed, I chose to wait and do a straight stitch around each shape when I got to the quilting phase. This saved a lot of work but ended up making the quilt look a little more rustic where there was a bit of fraying.  I'm not sure how I feel about that. But I am going to do another appliqué quilt and I'll try the blanket stitch and then a straight stitch when quilting and see which I like best.      

There was a bit of embroidery that I did before I put the squares together.  The creases in the rabbit ears, a bit of satin stitching on the cookies to indicate chocolate chips, and the numbers on the sheep to show counting, etc.

Isn't this the perfect back? It is flannel for softness and has a bunch of barnyard animals!  It wasn't wide enough, so I bought extra and made it double wide. Now I have a bunch of left over fabric.  I may make a pillow or something with it.

After I put all squares together with the sashing and borders, I quilted around all the pieces to attach them and sewed the border.

I washed the quilt to see if the areas with triple layers of fabric and glue would soften up a little.  They did.  But then I found places that were fraying too much and added some more stitches. 

The pattern called for buttons and beads for the eyes.  If I had to do it again I would embroider them before quilting. If they pose a problem, I will remove them and add the embroidery.

I really like the quilt and hope the eventual recipient will like it too!

Another Afghan

 On my last trip to California, I stayed with a friend.  I have known her for over 40 years and she is someone I try to visit every time I am there. We were roommates back in the day.

   

I decided as a thank you that I would knit her an afghan.  I found a pattern I liked on Etsy.  

Our local yarn shop closed recently. I don't like to get yarn from the chain stores. If you are going to spend over 100 hours making something, you don't want to do it with poor quality yarn.  

I liked the color of the yarn on the pattern and they kindly included the name of the manufacturer. It was Blue Sky Organic Cotton, so I went online and bought some.

I like knitting in the afternoons when I am done with other things.  It allows me watch TV and catch up on the shows I have on my DVR, without feeling like I am being useless!

I really should have blocked it. This involves getting it wet, then blotting it dry and pinning it into shape on a special waterproof board to dry.  It evens out the project and gives it a finished look.  But I don't have the things needed to do so. That will be my next purchase!

It is in the mail now. I hope she likes it!

Wine Coasters

 I had a lot of fun giving the mug rug class at my local library, Purcellville Library in Loudoun County. We got some of the fabric we used for the class at Web Fabrics.  They sell quilting supplies, among other things sewing related.  A lot of their business is online, hence the "web" part of the name.

They also sell pre-cut kits to make wine coasters.  These are similar to the mug rugs I have been making, as they are made with fabric and batting.  They aren't quilted so they are very quick to make.

The library is planning on buying some kits to use for a future class. 

Web Fabrics has even made a YouTube video demonstrating how to make them.  The fabric is woven in such a way as to allow you to place the base of a wine glass inside.  This means it can serve as a coaster and as a wine glass identifier, like wine glass charms.

I decided to make a coaster using their instructions and my fabric so I would know if I could teach a wine coaster class at the library.

     

In short, this is how you do it.  Cut six 5 inch square pieces of fabric. One can be fabric you don't particularly like as it won't be seen. Try to make the others fun and interesting.

Cut one 4 1/2 inch square of batting.  Fold 4 of the squares in half and then press. 

Place the boring fabric down first. The batting goes on top and the unfolded square on top of that, right side up. This will be the back of the coaster.

Put two of the folded squares on top with the raw edges facing out.  Weave the other two squares in, also with the raw edges out.

Sew around the coaster.  Clip the corners and turn the square inside out.

Use a chop stick or something similar to poke the corners out and press. 

     

Bring on the WINE!