Cauliflower, Tuesday Knitting Group, Textiles and Tea

Tuesday involved using that cauliflower you saw in the misfits box, and a very nice head it was, good all through. I had decided on a cheese sauce, long time since I made that staple. I used cheddar and feta cheeses, didn't add salt because they're salty, but did use plenty of black pepper.

I really like baking food in glass dishes, and I have several sizes, so it fits.

About six meals here, and I have soup in the freezer full of vegetables, so there's a range. I can make a helping of this cauliflower make a meal on its own. Dessert was yogurt beaten with pumpkin and sweetened.

Then off to the food pantry with sugar, flour, and malt vinegar packets, on the way to the Tuesday knitting group. Small group, no new projects, just a lot of fun with friends. 

Chat ranged over forthcoming wedding with pictures of The Dress, past and present pets, with baby pictures, misfits market, that  supermarket and restaurant app that gets leftover food, dreams about furnishing rooms, meditation, yoga, pilates, AARP, butterflies, groundhogs and more. It was such a relief from the news. 

Here's the view down into the ground floor, from outside the room where we meet. Vertiginous, no? Scroll past quick if it's too much.  

Left is where I sit when I read here,  behind you see the gallery and current painting exhibit, right are the study tables where people often work, between them and the food permitted area is the new book section.

Home after that to Textiles and Tea with Joyce Robards,  a beloved weaving teacher whose own students joined up to sponsor her appearance. 

Her own work is pretty classical in style, and excellent in quality, scarves and yard goods. Mainly she was interested in encouraging people to abandon their fear of difficulty and just plunge in and learn. You could tell she's a great teacher. 

And here's the weaving Center she founded and where she teaches,  in Rochester, NY.

That laugh is typical of her happy approach to life, I think!

Happy day everyone, still waiting on the paper copy of the heat pump info,  which they mailed on the 11th.  Anyway, stay strong, don't cave, we got this.

And keep fit

Rain, rain, rain, and more interesting things

 So here's Saturday, clever us

Every few minutes another local road reported closed. Circuitous path home from work for Handsome Son.

Meanwhile cosy cooking, cauliflower cheese with cilantro, cheddar and parmesan, chickpea flour for the roux.  Guinness book of records for most letter cs in one sentence.

First time in ages of making this, comfort food, hot, bubbling, cheesy.

Enough for several more meals.

And while I listened to podcasts, Margaret Cho and Lisa Ling talking on Archetypes with Meghan Markle about their lives in the broadcast and entertainment world as Asian American women, I stitched this

The new pillow cover, draping elegantly, fringes there, but not so as you'd notice.

And I continued my art winnowing, here artist books ready to give to friends while I'm still here to enjoy giving them.

I now have several magazine holder things these were in, to Freecycle unless Handsome Son needs them. 

There's a range of art forms here, handmade paper from my own plants also abaca (banana) fiber and first cut cotton linters, stamping with my hand carved stamps, drawing, painting, beadweaving,  couple of little portfolios of small works. They've been with me long enough, so they're ready to leave. I'm only partway through the boxes yet.

I did decide to keep this book about my town.  I think it should go to Handsome Son, because of this picture. This was back when Handsome Partner could still walk, though we helped him up after this shot.

Here Handsome Son is getting instructions on where to dig. I held the camera and the sack of mixed daffodil bulbs. This was October 2001.

We were planting the 9/11 memorial daffodils from our family, back in the trees. They're blooming out there now.

Happy day, everyone, stay dry if you're in the flood zone, where the crick can be counted on to git up.

Snowdrops and cauliflowers

The snowdrop bulbs arrived this morning, as hoped.  And, as usual in this tiny realm of mine, the first order of business before planting is to remove enough pachysandra to make room.

I love pachysandra, hate seeing bare earth stretching out between plants, much better to me to have plants pushing up with a sea of green around them.  But it is aggressive.

So here's the lovely Dutch bulbs, awaiting my planting, complete with a gift card sort of thing with a stamp closing, all very civilized.
And here's the bucket of pachysandra removed from the future snowdrop bed, and wet down to wait next door 

for friend to plant them in this space

He already put dibs on any pachysandra I pull out.

And the snowdrops, planted, covered with some good organic stuff, watered in.  Watch this space next spring!  it's where my current six bulbs are, but not disturbing them.  I hope that removing the pachysandra will encourage them, too.  Maybe the competition from the new arrivals will spur on a bit of proliferation, too.

Meanwhile, back at the stove, Handsome Son will be coming for dinner, so the menu is all about cheese cauliflower, roast chicken breasts, with tiny pies for dessert.

The chicken breasts I pounded with a mixture of flour, seasalt, pepper, and Old Bay Seasoning.  Thinking about Washington is good for happy pounding, I find.  Hitting something is timely.  So they're in the fridge, and will be started on top of the oven in the castiron pan, then finished in the oven along with the cheese cauliflower.

I made the cheese sauce, using half and half sharp cheddar and shredded Parmigian,  and steamed the cauli.  This steamer was a wedding gift from my MIL.  That was in 1963, and it must have been used daily since then.  Definitely proved itself.  There's a tight fitting lid, which I removed to show you the contents.

Then added one, the sauce to t'other, the steamed cauliflower, and the dish is in the fridge, ready to be warmed through this evening.   

 
Dash of red pepper and shredded cheese over the top after it cooled. 

This afternoon a bit of study of Chinese art, and calligraphy and a spot of practice, too, if I'm up for it.  It's all go!