Category Archives: Kitchen Tools

Bizeeee!

Posted on December 7, 2014 by Terri | 2 comments

😀

I swear, for someone who’s “retired” my calendar sure is full these days. I’m not complaining, but feeling very lucky and in some cases very appreciated 😉 There are stitch-togethers one night a week at my LNS; twice a month sew-togethers with a local group; guild meetings twice a month; a sew-in at my LQS; manicure and pedicure appointments, dental appointment, COMICON meetings – the event is next weekend!; and Christmas and our trip to California is just around the corner. Plus there are 2 other sew-togethers each month that I haven’t been able to attend yet, because of my busy schedule. Oh, and let’s not forget the mystery quilt!

While all of this is bringing me joy (okay, except for that dental appointment – which actually contained good news on the surgery front) it is sapping my mental capacity and I’m forgetting to blog again. I haven’t felt like there has been that much to share.

So, I’m pulling out my phone to see what pictures I’ve taken this past week.

Our oranges are starting to turn. Yum! Winter harvest.

I bought a new cooking tool. I’ve wanted one for quite a while and it ended up on sale at my local grocery store, on 10% Senior Discount Day! Yay! Haven’t used it yet, but I see a pot of stew brewing in my future.

I finished another stitching project

which meant I got to start a new one

As to the mystery quilt, I managed to get 28/100 of the first part made. I’m cool with that. Last year I got behind and gave up. This year I’m following Bonnie’s instruction to stop where I am and start on the next part when it come out. After I hit “publish” I’ll be working on part 2.

Before I forget, again, I know I haven’t shown any weight stuff on here lately. With the busy-ness I have had I have been hopping on the scale Tuesday morning, writing it down, and hitting the road running, so to speak. I actually haven’t been running. Or even walking. I’m just now back to my knee not hurting after my graceful tumble down the mountain a month ago. I’ve been throwing a month-long pity party and eating sugar. I’ve paid for it the next day waking up with a headache, and my weight has bounced up and down. I’ve reminded myself that this is a lifelong way, forgiven myself, and this past week, it was back down to what it was the week I fell. I’ve got my alarm set to get out and start walking again tomorrow.

Unless I get a chance to share my Part 2 Grand Illusion progress, I probably won’t blog again until after next Sunday.

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Posted in Bonnie Hunter, COMICON, Grand Illusion Mystery Quilt, Health, Kitchen Tools, Lizzie*Kate, Sam Sarah, Stitching

A whole lot of spending going on

Posted on August 31, 2014 by Terri | Comments Off

Yesterday Mister and I went shopping. It’s been a long time since the 2 of us shopped like this. I had a list and some coupons and was on a mission to replace some things and wanted his opinion. I love to shop with him.

First stop, not on my list but his, was Sports Chalet. He wanted me to have an easy to carry water bottle for our hikes since he’s going to start running and leaving me hiking on my own. He normally humps a Camelback. I also needed a whistle. Isn’t he thoughtful?

Next was Bed, Bath and Beyond and here’s where I did some major damage. I had 20% off coupons from before September 2011 😀 I love BB&B!

Asian Fusion Wok and Spider

We eat a lot of stir fried foods and even though I lived in Okinawa for 6 years I’ve never owned a wok. It’s been on my wish list for a long time, but it seems like other things always bumped it down the list. I also wanted a spider since they’re great for poaching eggs.

Salad spinner, dressing carafe, storage jar, Spirooli

I bought the cheapest salad spinner I could find. I didn’t want a fancy one, and I wanted a small one since I normally wash our greens after I’ve chopped them. My current dressing carafe leaks so it needed replacing. The storage jar is the first of several I’ll be buying for my non-gluten baking goods. And the Spirooli! I can’t wait to start using it for zucchini noodles, etc. Huge shout out and “thank you” to Mel for all of our back and forth texting and email conversations about this lovely 😀

Zwilling J.A. Henckels Pro 7″ Santoku Knife and Steel

I have had Henckels knives for about 5 years. Mister bought me paring and utility knives for Christmas one year, and it was an immediate love affair. I never knew I was that capable with a kitchen knife until I had a quality one to use. Good knives, and a good cutting board (I use bamboo), are miracle makers, and while I’ve always loved to cook, those 3 items ramped up my skills. The next year I bought myself a 5 1/2″ Santoku knife and just about swooned. It was so much better than my slicing knife. I’ve had a steel for a while, but lately my knives have felt like I needed to sharpen them more often. Yesterday, I found out that the steel I have been using wasn’t hard enough for the Henckels. I went in to the store to buy myself a Chef’s knife, but ended up with a 7″ Santoku instead after my 30 minute conversation with the “knife guy.” I had to go find Mister afterward, since he got bored and wandered off. LOL I still have that chef’s knife and a peeling knife on my wish list. I also have the bread knife, but am now considering taking it off the list since, hey!, I don’t eat bread anymore. 😉

I headed over to another store to look at sheets but decided on some at BB&B and trotted back in there to snatch them.

I have 1 more purchase to make. I want a Lodge 6-qt Enameled Dutch Oven, and a Lodge 8-9″ skillet, then I’ll be set.

Mister’s 35 mile bike ride had him dragging and he wanted lunch at Olive Garden. Of course, by that time it was 1:30. What I ordered was okay, and I left food there instead of bringing it home. Since we ate so late we ended up just having a snack at 8 last night.

I guess I’ve made up my mind about which version of Dear Jane I want to do. I had posted a photo of an Amish version in this blog post, and this morning I ordered this:

Kona Swatch Card

303 cotton swatches.

Still haven’t sewn this weekend. I did stitch last night during the LSU game. Boy was THAT something to raise my blood pressure.

Today’s a lazy day. A little bit of laundry, and decide how to prepare some salmon for dinner tonight, are my only have-to-dos for the day. Want to get a Wild & Goosey block stitched up and then get on my Civil War Club tablerunner.

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Posted in Civil War Club, Domestic, Kitchen Tools, LSU, Wild & Goosey

Ginger Beef Stew

Posted on August 3, 2014 by Terri | 1 comment

This is one of those recipes that I’ll be tweaking the next time I made it, but man oh man, did I love it. I wanted to eat the leftovers for breakfast the next morning but made myself wait for lunch, and then there was plenty for Mister and I to have for dinner, too!

Ginger Beef Stew

2# stew meat
2 lg yams (Not sweet potatoes. You want the yellow ones.) Cut into bite size pieces
4 lg carrots, thinly sliced
3 stalks celery chopped
1-2 T fresh minced ginger
1 can coconut milk (whole fat, and shake it before you open it)
1 T coconut oil divided

Cut up your veggies, and mince your ginger before starting. Pour the milk into a dutch oven, stir in the ginger, dump in the veggies, and set your heat to medium low. Divide your oil into a separate pan, and brown half the meat. Dump the whole thing into your dutch oven; add the remaining oil and meat to your pan, and brown it up. Dump it in. By this time you should have a good simmer going on your dutch oven. Stir everything up the best you can. It’s going to look like you don’t have enough liquid, but it’s going to cook down, and thicken up.

Cover and cook for about 25 minutes. Stir a few time and check the tenderness of the meat and potatoes.

NOTE: Next time I make this I’m going to cook it for 20 minutes, then add in my potatoes and cook for 15 (or until they’re tender). My potatoes were too soft for me. I will share those results.

As shared in my previous post I’ve had a good weekend. Another trip we made was into Scottsdale to visit the Williams-Sonoma store. I received a birthday gift card 3 years ago (I know, bad, bad Terri) and finally spent it on this month’s new kitchen tool(s). I love them. If you bigify the picture you can see on the bottom the different grinds you can get. The pepper grinds down to super, super fine (6 different grinds altogether), and the salt had 3 different grinds.