Sewing while Sick...

...is not highly recommended. Though it is a lot better than cutting while sick...

Yesterday my sniffly snarfly head cold got the better of me, so I stayed home from work.  I still wanted to participate in "Friday Night Sew In" but I was afraid I would not last until "night" so I opted to do some sewing during the day.

Surprisingly I was pretty productive - alhough I worked on lots of things that I can't show photos of because they are gifties or can't be revealed just yet.  Some wool felt work, piecing a top and adding borders to it (cutting and matching a tricky print was not a good idea -but I muddled thorough), and working on chain piecing another quilt I had cut out and kitted up.  I also did a wee bit of knitting on a "year long easy project" - and finished up the binding on a graduation quilt (for someone who graduated in 2011!!!)  A nap worked its way in there, too...  and 4 loads of laundry!!!

I did manage to get a pot of sauce on the stove - figured as long as I was home and could keep an eye on it, I could let it cook down and get happy all day while I rested or puttered on other things.

I had prepped all the tomatoes over the past few weeks and frozen the puree, so really it was just prepping the carrot and onion, adding in diced frozen peppers (again, frozen from the farmer's market) and dropping in the "cubes" of frozen puree.  Oh - and three cloves of fresh garlic!

Friday morning.

Friday evening.

Saturday afternoon.

Our yield was about 9 cups into containers for the freezer.  Add that to the 7 I did a few weeks ago - and we have a happy freezer!

Not bad for a sinffly snarfly day. Unfortunately though mine have improved, Munchkin now has them.  Hubby has a pot of greens and beans soup on the stove for us, and some "super duper noodly chicken soup" for the Munchkin for dinner tonight.

 

Speaking of food...

This is what has been baking in our house the past few days. It will get paired with some stitched creations as a small Christmas gift for a variety of people - provided it does not get nibbled to nothingness first.

Mmmm - smells SOOO good!

It's a Small World...

Some of you readers that have been around a while might recall my "7.5 minute of fame" when Lazy Sister Sue and I were featured on the blog of Joan Hawley of Lazy Girl Designs. (I figure if you add us two sisters together it equals 15 minutes, right?!)

Through getting to know Joan, I have learned that she is as adept in her kitchen as she is in her sewing room, and have enjoyed reading some of her cooking exploits both on her blog and on Facebook.

So last fall, when Hubby and I started our cooking blog Any Ideas for Dinner, I asked Joan if she would consider guest blogging one day.

Late last week an awesome recipe and accompanying photos appeared in my email inbox (no accompanying samples, however... darn) - and they are our featured Guest Post today at Any Ideas for Dinner.

Head over there for the full recipe - the picture is just here for drooling...

I love it when my worlds collide - it brings such wonderful things!

We interrupt this program...

Dirty Tales from the Garden will not be seen this week. Instead we are pleased to present new programming, the product of a joint venture between Matt the Web Guy and The Queen Bee (otherwise known as Hubby and I)

We've decided to take our home cooking (and consuming) out of the home and into your computer - and have launched a new blog: Any Ideas for Dinner? where we will bring you recipes, ideas, techniques, banter, and lots of fun photos.

OK - I will admit here (and probably there eventually) that Hubby does MOST of the cooking around here. He likes to do it, he's good at it, and it works well in our division of labor in keeping this household running somewhat smoothly. That's not to say I don't like to cook - and from time to time I will get the inspiration and kick him out of the kitchen.

So you never know what will be on the menu.

Oh - and watch for some guest bloggers, too (once we talk them into it!)

So grab a fork, dig in, and ENJOY!