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Do you remember dial up modems, and much older slower computers, sometimes they would say LOADING>>>>>

and an egg timer would revolve on the screen?

That is kind of where my latest project is at.

 I spent most of yesterday and a fair portion of this morning pulling the foundation papers out of my Windswept quilt top. A great task to take along to club and fiddle with while I listen to the chatter and join in occasionally. One of the girls even sat beside me on the sofa and helped out for a while. It was very much appreciated.

So here you see it being loaded on to the frame ready to be quilted.

It is fully loaded and a new to me pantograph has been selected.

It's one of the collection that was gifted to me a good few years ago now, and seems appropriate for a quilt called windswept. I used colours that for me evoked memories of great drifts of fallen, dried and windswept leaves in the Autumn months. 

Now we reach the LOADING>>>> part. When I went hunting for just the right thread I discovered that I will need more of that particular colour....

It's been ordered and will hopefully be here by my days off and I can play.

That is of course if I don't get distracted by something else...

This morning in those moments before you are truly awake, but not asleep either my mind wandered to another quilt and inspiration struck! As soon as I woke properly I scrambled to find a pen to scribble about my inspired thoughts. You might see Papaver Pazazz getting some attention in the near future.

As with most dreams and daydreams some of the details faded before I could record them, but hopefully I have salvaged enough to make progress when I'm ready to quilt this one.

Both of these tops are mentioned in my Chookshed list, I may have to tweak it a little. LOL

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Meanwhile how about a recipe?

This one is inspired by a meal I used to eat at an Italian restaurant back on the Isle of Man. I enjoyed it a lot and have made it a few times since we moved here to NZ.

Pollo Milanese. 

It is pretty easy to reproduce, A crumbed chicken schnitzel topped with Bolognese sauce and some grated parmesan.

You could use precoated chicken or make your own. Tony and I used plain chicken breasts, I took out some frustrations on them with my rolling pin to flatten them a little, then coated them in melted butter and our almond, garlic and parmesan crust to keep it Keto. I baked them in the oven for 20-25 mins at 190 C

Then topped them with some home made Bolognese sauce and plenty of parmesan. At Momma Mia's restaurant it came with a green salad and fries. I just served it with homegrown tomatoes the other day. It was delicious. 

A great way to use up a little left over Bolognese sauce or stretch out the chicken pieces.

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Charmaine and Torstein were here today and we dug up their spuds in buckets. They grew a nice wee crop but I forgot to get photos before we ate them. LOL Hopefully I'll have some more sprouting soon and I can plant more.  It's the first time I have tried growing potatoes in buckets. I plan to continue.

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I could start quilting Windswept, but I feel some slow stitching Sunday is in order. 

Hope your weekend is going well. 

Mid Month Check in.

While I was chatting with Janice recently I mentioned that I had a bag kit to make up. I finally got around to pulling it out last week and even managed to get it made earlier this week. 

And now I don't like it!

It has turned out smaller than I had hoped and no way will those straps go over my shoulder.

It may become a gift, it may be donated.

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On to some happier news, I have completed my Chookshed challenge for the month. Yay!

It was #6 which for me was to make a couple of my Christmas ornaments. I have made some practice ornaments and then gone on to make some that I am happier with. LOL

Yay! one big tick.

Of my other goals this month, only one is awaiting some attention.

I am waiting for templates for the Pretty Little Pots project. As soon as they are here I will make a start.

I have walked every day, not just the usual, to and fro at work, plus the necessary to achieve my daily chores in the house and gardens. I have been going for extra walks too and if the weather is not playing nice then I have found a guided walk on youtube.

Another big tick.

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Now I promised a recipe.

Lemon Cream Pie.

It looks a little washed out in this photo, but I assure you there is a lovely lemony layer in the middle.

For the Crust.

180G Almond meal.

3 tbl spns Coconut flour.

50g your preferred granulated sweetener.

110g butter 

pinch of salt

zest of 1 lemon.

Grease a 25cm pie dish.

Place all of the ingredients in to a food processor and whizz until the mixture forms a dough.

Press the dough into a greased pie dish.

Bake for 15-20 Mins or until golden brown.

Allow to rest while you make the lemon cream.

For the lemon cream

2 eggs

Juice of 2 lemons

200 ml thickened cream

95g your preferred powdered sweetener

zest of 1 lemon

30 g butter

250g mascarpone /cream cheese.

1 tbl spn vanilla. 

In a large heavy saucepan over a medium heat whisk the eggs with the lemon juice, cream and sweetener.

When the mixture starts to boil, reduce the heat and continue whisking for 2-3 mins until it starts to thicken.

Remove from the heat and add the lemon zest and butter, whisking until the butter is melted, add the mascarpone and continue to whisk until it is incorporated and the mixture is smooth and silky.

Pour the cream mixture into the crust and refrigerate for 8-12 hours. 

For the Cream topping.

200 ml thickened cream

1 tsp vanilla

Lemon zest and slices.

Whisk the cream and vanilla until stiff.

Smooth over the top of the pie and decorate with lemon zest and slices.

Serve cold.

We didn't bother with the lemon topping, deciding that the cream would be enough.

And it was.

Tony got a little carried away and made too much lemon juice for the filling, I put it in anyway and it didn't hurt.

This was a very tasty treat and  although it needs a long time to set it was worth the wait.

Obviously we used a sugar substitute. Our usual Whole Earth Bakers secret in granulated form for the crust and Icing Not Sugar for the powdered sweetener in the cream filling. 

This one is on the make it again list. 

My First Recipe for 2025.

 

I feel like I'm bringing zucchini in from the garden almost every day at the moment and I have found a lot of ways to use them.  They are great in salads, I have a spiral cutter and make zoodles to add to salads or serve with stir fry. One recipe that gets the tick of approval from both Tony and myself is is...

Keto Chocolate Zucchini Bread.

As you can see it's baked in a loaf pan and can be sliced like bread. We have been enjoying it with a dash of cream and the other night we tried our hand at home made strawberry ice cream. That was YUM! So, on with the recipe...

3 large eggs.

2 cups grated zucchini.

1/2 - 3/4 cup of your preferred sweetener.

1.5 cups Almond flour.

1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa.

1.5 tea spoons baking powder.

1 tea spoon ground cinnamon.

A good pinch of salt.

1/4 cup heavy cream or coconut cream.

55 g butter or coconut oil, melted.

1 tea spoon vanilla.

1/3 cup unsweetened chocolate chips

1/2 cup chopped walnuts.

Preheat your oven to 180. C.

Line a 9x5 loaf pan with baking paper.

Place the shredded zucchini into a clean kitchen towel or muslin bag and squeeze out as much liquid as you can. Then squeeze a little more. It needs to reduce to about 1 cup. 

In a large bowl use a electric mixer to mix the eggs, cream, vanilla, melted oil or butter and your sweetener until frothy. 

Add the almond flour, cocoa and baking powder and continue to mix until they are combined and the batter is smooth.

Now using a wooden s[poon stir in the zucchini, nuts and chocolate chips.

Pour your batter in to the prepared tin and bake for 50 - 55 mins or until a skewer comes out almost clean. This bread is super sticky when you first take it out of the oven so the skewer might not be perfect.

Allow it to cool in the pan for 10-15 mins before lifting it on to the cooling wire.

Delicious warm or cold.

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There you have it. A very tasty way to use up some of those zucchini and a sneaky way to get them in to picky eaters. 

Let me know if you try it. 

Welcome to 2025.

 I've had very little time to stitch or craft so far this year, we are nine days in and I only had two days off work. I didn't get to do any stitching or sewing on those days as one was Tony's birthday, we had a houseful for people to entertain, but first a lot of preparations. Then the following day we had the tidy  up and took down all of the Christmas decorations. 

There has been work in the gardens and green houses to keep me busy also. I feel like I am picking a courgette/zucchini every day and we are eating just as many. Though I did manage to give one away yesterday. LOL I discovered a new to me recipe for using them up too. More about that in another post.

It hasn't all been work, parties and gardens though. I did manage to make time to prepare for my Chookshed #6 project and everything I need to make a start on my Secret ornaments is nestled in to a project box and is sat here by my arm chair. And yesterday before an extra shift at work I played in my room for a while. I was supposed to be having a tidy up, but found myself adding to a list of things to make and do. Which led to me investigating a wee tin that held a collection of left overs. And a squirrel was born but some scraps were used.

Hopefully I can progress things a little further today.

Or maybe finish the tidy up?

Something I have been able to maintain is walking. I said that I want to walk every day, even if it was just for 15 minutes. And I have done that. I am on my feet for eight hours at work but I don't class that as walking or exercise. When I get home I get changed then if the weather is cooperative I go back out for a real walk, or I'll look for a guided walk on youtube. So every day of this new year I have walked.

There may be more extra shifts as one of the Diversional Therapists / Activity ladies has taken a tumble and fractured one of her vertebrae. We are not sure how long she will be out.  Yesterday was an activities shift for me. The morning was easy, no thought required, the pastor was coming in to hold a short service so I rounded up his usual crowd and let everyone else know he was here and reminded them they were welcome to join him. While the service took place I spent some one to one time with another resident, soaking and trimming her nails. After helping with the lunch service I sat with quite a large group of residents and we had a quiz. There are several boxes and books of good general knowledge questions in the cupboard and we had fun with those. 

So plans for the next two days.... Don't answer the phone, it might be work calling! 

Unearth my crochet project and leave it where I might see it and pick it up when I am too tired to do anything else. 

It would be nice to complete the tidy up in my room, I have a good pile of ironing to do then it would be good to make progress on my wee squirrel project and maybe sit down for a while and make progress on one or even two ornaments. It would also be good to add a few stitches to my Winter Fairy cross stitch. 

There you have it, plans for the next two days. 

I'm off to get the ironing done so that is out of the way and I can relax and have fun.

I hope your new year got off to a better stitchy start than mine did. 

My last new recipe for 2024...

 Baked Zucchini 'Mac' and Cheese.

2 large zucchini spiralised or grated.

2 cups grated cheddar cheese

1/2 cup heavy cream

115 g butter

1 cup grated Mozzerella

125 g cream cheese

2 cloves garlic crushed

1 teaspoon mustard

salt and pepper to taste

1/2 cup grated parmesan. 

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Preheat the oven to 180C / 350F

Place the zucchini in a colander over a bowl and sprinkle with salt.

Melt the butter and cream cheese in a large pan over a medium heat, add the cream. and stir together.

Add the cheddar cheese and mozzarella, garlic, mustard and salt and pepper.  Stir well until the sauce is smooth.

Squeeze the water out of the zucchini with paper towels or a clean tea towel and stir them gently in to the sauce.

Pour the whole lot in to a greased baking dish, sprinkle over the parmesan and bake for 20 mins until the top is golden. 

Notes

We found this very greasy, in future we would half or even omit the butter.

I have used a very similar cheese sauce recipe (No butter) over cauli and broccoli. 

Sometimes I add mixed herbs or diced crispy bacon, or left over sausage.

Yum!