A little mail

 I haven't been purchasing linen for a while now, decided to get two small 40 count pieces since my stash is mostly 36.  Today, I received them.  One was Paperbark since I really like the small piece of 36 I have.  As always, not as ecpected.  

Beautiful very light neutral, not pinkish, not greenish, and not like my other piece.  And I don't see any mottling at all.  None.  Do you know what this means?  

I now have a very light neutral in 40 if I need it!  And a good excuse to browse online for a different piece!

Have you seen prices for hand dyed in recent days?  Yikes.

Be safe!

**************

Boom

 

****************

Food

 Food note.

I edited the scalloped potato mention after some had read it.  Yes, I get packaged ham slices, usually unprocessed, or any deli ham can be purchased in a chunk and diced/cubed.  I add to that recipe and increase the sauce by 1/2.

I'm surprised about the banana bread flavor just by switching nuts, and next time with use the pecans again but add vanilla to see the difference.

Today is another favorite in the crock pot which I've posted before.

  1# browned, drained, and crumbled Italian sausage

1 10 ounce bag of fresh spinach, torn (or not)

1 28 oz can petite diced tomatoes (with seasoning or not)

2 14 oz cans ( or close) chicken broth of choice

1 8 oz block of cream cheese cut up

Italian seasoning can be added if canned tomatoes are plain

Add above to crock, stir, low setting for 4-5 hours

Add a 19 oz bag of frozen cheese tortellini to pot, stir, and add 15 to 30 minutes until pasta is tender.  Done.

This is soup, I add instant potato flakes to thicken for some fusspots that prefer more creamy broth.

I usually lay a towel under the lid halfway through any crock recipe to prevent the condensation from watering down the meal.  Not always necessary.

Ready to go!

I also tried a beef roast recipe from a friend.  Mine result in a tough dry meal 98% of the time so went along with her guarantee of a fabulous roast.

She uses sirloin tip, chuck, london, top round, bottom round, just about any thicker roast.

You can rub it with a little olive oil, but not necessary at all.

Heat the oven to 225 F.  Put the roast into a heavy dutch oven (roaster with lid), sprinkle Lipton onion soup mix over, put the lid on.  That's it. No liquid.  After 3 hours, (more or less depending on roast size) you have au jus that is strong enough for a super gravy.  She doesn't make gravy at all, but I added a can of cream of mushroom to the juice and it was fabulous.  Can add more water if too strong.  But the meat was melt-in-your-mouth tender.  Bingo.

My dad's cast aluminum dutch oven, I have the skillet to match.  Best best best for anything and so easy to clean.  So old the lid's handle broke, but no flea markets around to search for a replacement.

Finishing window washing today with my favorite squeegee.

Another injection to my knee Friday will require rest after.  Stitching time!

Happy meals!

*************************

The Cosmo test

 Hi folks.

I found the Cosmo floss with an old DMC wool skein. And here's the result of comparing to the dmc black.

The feel is nicer, the black is sharper.  Not a noticeable difference in the completed stitching on two letters, but the Cosmo seems smoother with less fuzz.

The fraying is minimal with Cosmo, compare the tails of the two.  My dmc has been separating/fraying quite often.

Overall, it seems smoother, more consistent, stronger.  Cosmo is made in Japan, 100% cotton, by Lecien Corporation.  I have all dmc colors and won't be replacing them, but may order certain colors for specific projects.  Not a big difference really, but I will continue testing this black skein (next project has a black hat) since this one was quite limited.

The fill in will be a chore for me.  But will complete Hannah today.

Have a good day.  Be safe.

*************

Thick and thin

 I am not happy at all with dmc coverage on this 36 (looks like Affogato).  Some thread of the same skein is very thin, others slightly heavier.  There are little "hairs" on some lengths, not others that are pulled from the same six strand length.  I should have tried the Cosmo black, but didn't even think about it until it was too late.  Flower thread creates such unique texture to stitchery, but 36 is too high count for it.

This is a small sampler with flower thread.  Love this texture.

(BBD Ooh la la book)

After searching for the post showing this finish, I found that it IS 36 count!  I thought I used 32 so now I'm really crabby.  I like chubby threads especially on single color projects, missed out!  Hannah's first line solid fill with flower thread would make it too tight but using dmc for fill surrounding chubby letters would create interest.  Too late.  Didn't even test it because 32 is regarded as the highest count usable, no recollection of using it on 36.

I'm going to stitch a few letters with black Cosmo in the margin to test coverage compared to the dmc.  .......  damn.  Where is it?  It is with the linen I want to sell and can't recall location?

Enjoy your day!

**************

Simple, small, sweet

 Been busy with fall chores amidst lots of appointments, but working on and enjoying the simplicity of Hannah.

Made a banana bread from a recipe I have used before, didn't think it was as special as my MIL had claimed.  But this time, I did not add vanilla (I thought she left it off the copy) and used the pecans as specified instead of walnuts as usual.  Wowza.  Obviously, no vanilla and pecans make a difference.  Very good.  Scalloped potatoes and ham today (Taste of Home Never Fail Scalloped Potatoes recipe).  I add diced ham and usually make more of the sauce.

The hinges were put back on the larger box and I reversed the leather to the suede side (not as slippery to hold better).  Been gathering more smalls together for a little box party.

Have a good day!

****************