Lordy, The Thing One Finds When Deep Cleaning

It is almost Christmas, and I'm in a frenzy.  Magic Man's family is coming HERE for the holidays.  I'm excited to be hosting, but what were we thinking?!?!

MIL is a terrific housekeeper.  Me?  Not so much.  I maintain a little dust and chaos is healthy for a home.  But push aside my beliefs, I want MIL to be comfortable.  So along with freezer food preparations, scrubbed floors and bathrooms - and I do mean scrubbed, there's washing sheets, rearranging the guest bedroom to open trundle for Magic Man and me.  (Can't let MIL and FIL sleep in those uncomfortable beds), decorating the house AND the Magic Shop Party Room, where the festivities will be held.  Home was a cheap hotel.  Food to be served at the Party Room where the rest of the family would camp.

All of this nonsense to let you know that in cleaning out the closets, I found a quilt top my Grandmother made, who knows how long ago.  She went into a nursing home in the early 80's.  We suspected it was made long before then.

When Granny was admitted to the nursing home, many of her possessions were divided; her house placed on the market, yada yada yada.  As the only grandchild who shared her passion for "making your own," I received this quilt top.  It had the batting and the backing, she started quilting but only finished about a 4" square, leaving me to finish the project.  With a 4-year old in the house, quilting was out of the question.  So the quilt went into the back of the closet, only to be recovered a month ago, almost 30 years later (see note about a little dust and chaos above).

Quilt Top on Frame

Now, life is calmer - just a tad, so I set up my quilt frame (never used, mind you) and tackled the project.  Magic Man came if from work, rolled his eyes and politely smiled at the monstrosity sharing our living room.  Justification - it isn't any larger than the Christmas tree, so I see no need for complaints.

Granny loved details.  She crocheted and tatted with sewing thread; knitted with fine yarns; hand stitches were practically invisible.  Her work was always exquisite.  She could sew like no one I knew and my daughter, her great granddaughter, has that same natural talent (but doesn't use it often).

Cross Stitched Detail

And now I'm quilting.  By hand.  It would be so much easier to send the top to April and let her long arm do the job.  That would not be acceptable by Granny.  I am happy the quilt lines are printed on the fabric.

Quilting, Quilting and Quilting

If you don't hear from me for a while, you know where I am.

Mimicking Hamburger Helper

Magic Man was a well established bachelor when we met.  He was and is independent, a handyman, a very talented illusion manufacturer, housekeeper, and cooks to survive - not because he likes that task.  To be fair, he does a few really good recipes "up his sleeve", so to speak.  I love his potato salad, beans, ribs, fajitas, and sausage.  HIS personal favorites added Hamburger Helper, canned asparagus, and green beans overloaded with bacon, onions, and salt.

The other night, like every night this week, required a quick meal at home.  At work I wondered what we could toss together and be palatable.  I don't stock Hamburger Helper in my pantry, but decided with our stock we could mimic Magic Man's favorite "blend."

Arriving home from work, I headed straight for the kitchen snatching a large baking potato and onion en route.  My trusty Dutch oven started heating on the burner and after a quick potato prep, we sliced it into thicker-than-potato-chip pieces.  We browned the potato slices in hot oil in the Dutch oven, then chopped the onion while the potato slices cook.  The spuds were done, so they started the draining excess oil process and were set aside.  Back in the Dutch oven, the onions sautéd to which we added some ground beef.  A quick defatting of the meat mixture and addition of some flour - I guess it was a couple of tablespoons, we stirred this together and let the mixture bubble and brew for a while.  It was time to toss in some salt, pepper, and minced garlic followed by a cup-ish of chicken broth.  This mixture was thickening nicely and starting to smell really good.  During that simmering time, I discovered a package of frozen peas and dumped those in.  Back in went the potatoes, followed by a couple of big dollops of sour cream.  A final good stir and it was time to eat.

Magic Man complained.  We should have doubled the recipe.

No pictures to go with this story.  Maybe next time.  No one expected this meal to be a hit.  The best part is, this recipe becomes one of our "Some" collection.