What’s On Your Workdesk this Wednesday?
First of all, a beautiful card from Shaz (Silverwolf). Thank you, Shaz! It’s shiny and glittery and quite 3-D, and I love the embossed background too. Brilliant!
As for what I have been doing this week, I have been making slow but steady progress on my crochet squares for the kitty throw I am making for my hubby.
I’ve begun working in my ends on various squares, and adding extra rounds to them to try and make them all the same size. It’s not easy to be consistent when you are using up yarns from your stash – I’ve had to double some of them up to make them thicker and they’ve come out thicker than standard DK, so it’s a continuous job of adapting and hoping for the best! I never seem to follow instructions exactly to the letter, either in crochet and other crafts, or in cooking! Everything tends to get Shoshified.
A couple of weeks ago, Lynne of Lynnecrafts suggested I looked up Cat Stitch, a crochet stitch which looks like cats! I was most intrigued, and found the pattern, and I have made a couple of squares using it, embroidering the kitty faces on afterwards. It’s really fun and easy to do.
This is another pattern I have found, and have yet to try, for adorable kitty paw print coasters! These will be appliquéd onto various squares.
I also took time out on Sunday to think about my colour scheme for the Persian Tiles throw that I am going to make for the new settee, and I made this drawing.
The colours should co-ordinate nicely with our sitting room. I have to check what I’ve got in my stash, and will probably have to buy some more. I want to make this blanket quite a bit bigger than the size in the pattern.
Food
Recipe of the week
As usual, I adapted the recipe somewhat. You can add anything you like to a dish like this – whatever you’ve got to hand. In this case, I added mushrooms, butternut squash, sweet potato, leeks, green peppers… I always use the Cavolo Nero variety of kale (also known as black kale) because it is by far the sweetest and most delicious. Also, you can buy it whole from the supermarket, rather than already chopped and bagged – if you buy it like that, you have to spend ages picking through it and cutting out all the woody stems, but if you buy it whole, it is a quick and simple thing to strip the tender leaves away from the stem with a single motion. I love how the sauce for this casserole is made in the blender, with white cannellini beans as a base – aids with thickening, and also adds lots of nice fibre and protein.
This is a very delicious recipe. I was looking online recently for some more vegan casserole recipes to add a bit of variety – I’ve been making the same one for a long time and wanted a change! With this recipe, I was careful to choose lighter coloured and green vegetables to add, to keep the colour light. There is no tomato or red pepper in this one, or darker vegetables such as aubergines. The dark kale gives a nice shot of rich green. Really tasty and good.
Other cooking
I also made another big batch of Cauliflower Cacciatore this week – featured as recipe of the week back in January. As always, I made it with variations, adding loads of stuff I happened to have. Each time I make these recipes, they come out a bit different, and they never seem to look like the original photo on the recipe!
This one is delicious with wholewheat pasta.
Bread
This week I have made cornmeal bread. The first loaf I made was with a mixture of cornmeal, whole wheat and strong white bread flours, with my usual dose of added seeds for nutritional benefits and crunchy texture. My grandmother’s beautiful old bread knife seems even more appropriate this week!
It came out a bit dense and hadn’t risen quite as much as I’d expected, but then I didn’t follow the recipe exactly.
The second one, which I made yesterday, was made with the cornmeal and all strong white bread flour, as specified by the recipe. It rose better, and had the yellowish colour so characteristic of cornmeal bread. I did add seeds, and this didn’t seem to affect the baking. It was very tasty, with a gorgeous crust and a nice soft texture. Cornmeal bread is lovely and moist.
I don’t usually make bread without at least half whole grain flour for the fibre, but the addition of the cornmeal should compensate for this. This isn’t a loaf I would be making every week, anyway, and it’s nice for a treat.
Nutrition
Nutritional benefits of corn
Corn, or maize, was first cultivated in Mexico and Central America, millennia ago. It is actually a grain rather than a vegetable. It is rich in fibre, antioxidants, vitamins and minerals, and these nutrients are contained mainly in the kernels of the seeds.
Corn is rich in vitamin C, B vitamins, folic acid, and iron which is essential for the health of the red blood cells in the body. Eating corn can protect against iron-deficiency anaemia. It contains complex carbohydrate which is more slowly digested, thus providing energy over an extended period. It helps reduce blood cholesterol and because of its high fibre content, is helpful in regulating insulin levels.
A corny tale
There are several varieties of corn.
Most corn comes in various shades of yellow, but there are some unusual colours, too. I’ve never seen any of these in the shops. They look pretty enough to wear!
The best variety for cornflour and cornmeal is Dent.
There seems to be a huge amount of confusion over terms. First of all, corn? Maize? It turns out that all maize is corn, but not all corn is maize. Go figure. There’s corn, sweetcorn, corn-on-the-cob. Are they all the same? Then there is cornflour, cornmeal, polenta, cornstarch… How to distinguish between them all? One of the problems is “two nations divided by a common language” – and divided by the Atlantic Ocean – the United Kingdom and the United States of America! We share so many English words in common but very often, they have different meanings. It’s surprising we can understand each other at all at times! There was a discussion about this on the recent WOYWW Zoom meeting where we decided that in the USA it was perfectly OK for a man to go out wearing his vest and pants, but it would be a different matter entirely in the UK. However, I digress…
Here is a picture from the USA, of what they call cornstarch and cornflour.
Here in the UK, we would call these cornflour and cornmeal respectively. Confused yet? I’m glad I don’t have to go shopping in the USA. I’d come home with all the wrong stuff!!!
This is what we would call cornflour in the UK. Very finely ground, and pure white in colour, used for thickening sauces etc. Cornstarch to our American cousins.
And this is what we would call cornmeal.
Bright yellow in colour, and quite grainy in texture. This is the stuff I use to make cornmeal bread. More confusion – my wholefood supplier calls it polenta!! This is often the name given to the coarser-ground cornmeal (UK). Here it is, beside the normal cornmeal.
Strictly speaking, polenta is a cooked dish prepared from cornmeal, somewhat resembling porridge, but the word can be used interchangeably. More confusion.
This is how I prepare my cornmeal to go in the bread, cooked in a pan with water, salt and a little oil – I use coconut oil. (This is about the only time I use oil at all in cooking. If you don’t add oil to the bread, it sticks and you can’t get it out of the machine!) This cooked cornmeal (polenta!) goes into the machine at the time you’d normally add the water. The recipe also calls for a small amount of milk, and I use either almond milk, or (as I did yesterday) some whey left over after straining my home-made soya yoghurt – a slightly cloudy clear white liquid very rich in protein and probiotics.
And finally – for heaven’s sake, what on earth are grits? To me, grit is something that denotes a tough and brave character, or this – fine gravel!
Not something I’d want to eat, unless I wanted to break my teeth.
Grits is something that has always completely mystified me. It is not something you ever find on a UK menu! (No grits for the Brits! – oops, that was a bit corny.) I found a picture.
It is apparently made from white, rather than yellow corn, and more finely ground (though not, presumably, UK cornflour?). This ground white corn is also known as hominy – another name to stir into this confusing mix! I looked up how to cook it, and it is made more or less like porridge. It doesn’t look very gritty to me.
Corn, in its whole form, is the only plant food that I will not eat (apart from celery, which I hate). This is because the outer husk is very indigestible, and with an ileostomy, unless you chew them to absolute pulp, you are likely to swallow whole grains which can pass right through you unchanged (you can see them in the loo!!) and they could cause an obstruction. I used to love sinking my teeth into a corn cob dripping with butter… However, with so many corn-based products around, I can still eat the stuff!
New blender
Several years ago I bought a VeggieBullet – part of the NutriBullet family. This is a sort of glorified food processor that would shred and slice, and also spiralise vegetables. I found I wasn’t using it as much as I thought I would, especially after I bought my food processor, but a bit later on I bought the bullet blender attachment for it, which I used a lot. This is the whole machine and all its component parts.
As the bullet blender was in constant use, I kept it on the machine base with my other kitchen machines, and stored the two bowls elsewhere.
About a week ago I noticed that the motor was running somewhat irregularly, and the last time I used it, when I removed the blade assembly from the base, I saw that there was a lot of black carbon residue. The motor was obviously failing. I decided that since I wasn’t using the other components much, I would not replace this machine, but go for a dedicated bullet blender instead.
This is a useful machine because the blade assembly is at the open end of the blender rather than at the bottom of a deep goblet as in a common liquidiser or high-speed blender. This means that if you are making something that is quite thick such as guacamole or nut butter, it is much easier to get it all out. Bullet blenders were originally developed for smoothie making but I don’t drink smoothies, preferring (for sound nutritional reasons) to consume fruits and vegetables whole and unprocessed as far as possible.
I did quite a lot of research online, thinking initially that I would get a NutriBullet or Magic Bullet. It turns out that these much trumpeted machines have quite a few drawbacks – the drive bearings are plastic, and subject to wear, and the motors seem to burn out fairly quickly (as my VeggieBullet did), and I also came across some pretty horrifying YouTube videos that showed that food tended to leak out of the goblet and seep underneath, and people had to unscrew the bottom to expose some pretty smelly mouldy residues. This is a definite design fault, so I decided firmly against getting one.
After much deliberation and reading quite a few independent reviews and comparisons, I settled on the Australian Sage Boss-to-Go blender which was the top choice in more than one review. This arrived yesterday, and I have yet to try it, but it feels substantial in every respect, and it looks as if it’s going to be just what I need. It has two goblets, both with lids, and these are bigger than the cup that came with the VeggieBullet attachment.
Unboxing
The blender assembled. It’s very neat and compact, but heavy and substantial.
The base of the blade assembly is stainless steel, and concave. Together with the curved lower blades, this is designed to draw the food down into the blades rather than being forced outwards to the sides of the goblet by centrifugal force. This results in a more efficient and smoother blend.
The metal drive bearings in the base and in the underside of the blade assembly.
The underside of the base. I like the neat cable storage which means that you don’t have to deal with a lot of excess cable on the counter if the socket is near at hand. The base is quite heavy, and has two large curved rubber feet which really hold the unit firmly in place on the counter with no movement. The old machine had rubber suction feet. This was a bit of a pain because it made it difficult to move the machine at all.
So far I have only got around to washing the relevant parts, and haven’t had the opportunity to try it out, but will report back on this.
I did debate whether I really needed to replace the old blender at all, since I’ve got my extremely powerful high-speed Froothie Optimum high-speed blender, but for ease of cleaning when preparing thick sticky foods, and also for grinding seeds, for which I always used the old machine, I thought it was worth it. Also, when I had problems with the Froothie and was without it until I got its replacement, I was dependent on the VeggieBullet blender. I use a high-speed blender every day and need a standby should anything go wrong.
Bearing all this in mind, I think this is going to be a valuable asset in the kitchen.
It also looks pretty good alongside my other machines on the counter, with the common theme of silver and black (and the new bread maker which is white, of course). All these machines are in regular use.
Kitties
A LOT of sleeping has gone on this week. They are taking full advantage of the new furniture. The other morning, I actually sat in my hubby’s chair to have my breakfast, because looking at this:
how could I possibly disturb them? Later in the day:
Glued together like a single kitty. Lily’s head is nowhere to be seen. Goodness knows how she manages to breathe, with that great lump of a Ruby lying on top of her.
Finally, Ruby’s nose. I have a soft spot for this adorable little button which she so often wrinkles at me in such a charming fashion!
Health update
Still nothing from the hospital, and I had another woe this week. Every month I order my repeat prescription from the GP surgery by email. Immediately after sending the email, I receive a confirmatory email, and a couple of days later my hubby goes to the pharmacy and picks up my prescription for me. Last month I didn’t get the confirmatory message, and my hubby went several times to check to see if they were in, and they were not. Eventually, I had only one left, so with great difficulty I eventually managed to get through to the surgery on the phone and they dealt with it urgently for me. I was not pleased to find no confirmatory email this month, either, so on Monday I tried without success to ring the surgery about it. I dialled and redialled over 50 times and the line was constantly engaged. In the end I wrote a letter and my hubby delivered it to the main surgery for me. Sometimes, in this modern technological age, you have to resort to good old-fashioned methods! They phoned yesterday in response to my letter, and said they had no record of my email request either this month or last, and had no explanation for this, and put it down to a glitch. They said if it happened again, I would have to phone, which I said I was very reluctant to do, considering that it is virtually impossible to get through! I know the problem isn’t at my end because my emails are not bouncing back with a failure message, and they are safely in my “sent” folder. It’s all just more hassle that I could do without!
Have a happy and creative week, everybody.
There is a website/tutorials for everything under the sun eh? Those cat patterns made me smile, I do think the paw prints in particular are very clever! Lovely design of the Persian tile, it’ll be interesting to see how that develops!
Hugs LLJ 7 xxx
i have every sympathy for you on the GP front. Ringing in these days is a nightmare. I ring and am “number five in the queue”. Ten minutes later I am maybe down to number three and in the end I give up hanging on and ring again later but I am still “number x in the queue”. One of my tablets which I do need kept being ‘out of stock’ and they pharmacy could not get any anywhere. The third time this happened I rang another pharmacy and they had them? So I changed pharmacies for my electronic prescriptions and the new one had run out by then but on speaking with the manager he managed to get me a half supply fro the person who puts them in those weekly dosage packs. But what a lot of hassle!
I just love the kitty photos but then I always like to see what they are doing, even sleeping.
As for shopping in America, I used to despair when I went over there. If I wanted to bake I found that they didn’t have some things (think one was fromage frais, could not get it anywhere) or they went under a different name. Thy don’t have SR flour and plain – they have ‘all purpose flour’ and it is not the same to me. Still, as I found out, they do jot bake fro scratch, they tend to use packet stuff more than anything. Well, at least the ones I have stayed with. I well remember on an early visit my friend saying she would “cook some peas” which meant warming some frozen ones, not really cooking!
Hugs, Neet 16 xx
SO MANY THINGS! Yes, the whole corn thing was a real problem when we moved over here. we soon settled on ordering masa from Mexgrocer or stocking up on cornbread mix packets when we went home for visits. Easier now than 20 years ago to find cornmeal. Tradition dictates black-eyed peas cooked with a ham hock and served over cornbread on New Years day to ensure good luck in the year to come, so I have to be prepared!
We have a Nutri Bullet and for me it is the small size, that allows me to leave it out, on the counter all the time, that is the real benefit. I even use it to well-scramble eggs! I have multiple spiralizers and love to spiral up a bunch of different things, like broccoli stems, carrots, parsnips, etc and cook them all to make a sort of colourful confetti spaghetti. Lovely.
Commenting. Yeah. I know lots of people have anonymous comments turned off on Blogger/Blogspot/etc blogs, that then force you to sign in to Google in order to comment. Google collects quite enough info from me for things I can’t manage to avoid so if I can do anything signed out of it that is my choice. Sucks I can’t comment on all the WOYWW posts, and there are some people who only comment in reply to a comment on THEIR blog, so I imagine a few deskers don’t have any idea who I am LOL! I have started adding a link to a blog I can’t comment on to the bottom of my WOYWW post, to at least acknowledge then and comment there on things I WANT to comment on but won’t, cause I am a stubborn old coot. 😀
Happy too close to Christmas WOYWW!
Mary Anne (1)
(ps I’m on WordPress to so we can easily comment to each other!!)
Hi Shoshi, indeed two countries separated by a single language! Had a discussion on a US forum I’m part of over ‘spelled’ and ‘spelt’. To them, spelt is a type of grain, not anything to do with the written word, for which they use spelled, which always ‘reads’ oddly to me, lol. So many blenders of one type or another these days, it does indeed take a lot of research to find the right one for our particular needs. Lots of lovely kitty photos, they are so sweet. I’ve generally been very fortunate with my gp’s, i can usually get through quite easily, but I too have had the odd hiccup with my ostomy prescription, items being missed off. That can be really annoying, but I try to always have a good supply in hand, just in case. Stay safe, have a lovely week, hugs, Shaz #6 X
I’m going to miss the tiny carpets, but I see you’ve found yourself another project with the Persian Tiles! The paw prints look so cute! Enjoy your new blender – Like my kitchen gadgets but some of them rarely get used – it’s all the washing up I don’t like. Happy #602, Shoshi!
Your kitty blanket is going to be adorable! The real kitties are precious and I love how they keep each other warm and snug. All your food looks delicious ~ Enjoy your new blender and the holidays ~ Love, Karen #32
The cat patterns are adorable! Love the look of the little paws as well. Your kitties are so cute and cuddly together. Good luck with all the GP nonsense…it is such a nightmare at the moment. Happy WOYWW. Take care and stay safe. With love & God Bless, Caro xxx (#13)
I love your crochet squares! hope your new blender. Very frustrating for you with your surgery – I am lucky that my surgery answers reasonably quickly and takes my order over the phone. I have to phone a lot of surgeries as part of my job and the service varies widely !! take care and stay safe. Helen #2
got the message saying I was denied access today!!
Time to comment on one of my fave blogs!!!!!! LOL Loved your blog today! I laughed completely out loud!! So, as usual, I totally want to make some of your recipe of the week! It sounds delicious!! Second, cornbread…..YUM!!! Nothing better than fresh out of the oven cornbread!! One of my favorites and would probably take that hands down over another!! I haven’t made any in awhile, and now you have me wanting some!!! Ok, for the record….those of us in the US get just as confused about the different corn flours! LOL Cornstarch, as you said is a thickener, and its very light and powdery, and not like corn meal or corn flour at all! Cornmeal is more gritty and used to dust breads and I’ve used it most in corn tortillas, although there is a whole other story on the flour for those as well. In the south, where live, they use it for what they call “lacey cornbread” which is ohhhhhh so good, but ohhhhhh so bad for you as it is cooked in grease!!! Corn flour, as you can imagine, is much finer and fluffier than meal. I have used meal and flour in cornbread. I think it really boils down to preference and what other ingredients you will be putting in with it!! Now…..on to grits!!!! LOLOL I really laughed out loud on that one! As a rule, I’m not a big grits fan, I am a hashbrown or shredded breakfast potatoe fan!!! But, if cooked correctly, grits can be really creamy and delicious. In the south, folks like to put cheese in their grits. And it’s a staple when you eat fish….fish and grits. And the holy grail is shrimp and grits!! Oh my goodness its amazing! If you get a chef that knows what he is doing, it will be fabulous!! But as you eluded to, grits can be grainy and bland if someone doesn’t know what they are doing when they cook them! It’s a pretty sore subject around the south! You don’t mess with someone’s grits! LOLOL Up north, which is where I was born and grew up, you don’t see grits too much. It’s all hashbrowns! YUM!
I have a bullet similar to yours and I LOVE it!! But my favorite kitchen object is my Vitamix. It was pricy but so worth it! I also have a food processor, but that is used for only certain things and then the Vitamix is used for others!! We all love our gadgets don’t we???
Love your card from Shaz, so special and I really love your crochet squares! I absolutely love the colors and those kitty squares are the cutest!! Can’t wait to see the finished product and I KNOW hubby will LOVE it!!
Well, the Merriest of Christmas’s to you my friend and many many blessings come with that! Stay safe and healthy! Felicia #31
Your posts are such a joy to read! I have learned a lot in the past few weeks!
The cat squares are adorable and I look forward to seeing the completed project!
Your cornbread is definitely different than the cornbread we cook here in America in the South! People would definitely give you the side-eye if you mixed flour and other grains in with the cornmeal! :D) To be honest, I am one of those people! 😀
Great post! Have a fabulous week!
Hugz,
Chana Malkah, #34
Having moved around a bit in the UK I can tell you even here we call things by different names. The one I’m thinking of in particular are Bread Cakes, at least that’s what we call them in South Yorkshire where I originate. When i lived in Wigan they had no idea what I was talking about and I managed to work out that they call them Balm cakes and in Newcastle Upon Tyne we bought Stottie Cake and that’s all in the same country so not surprised there is so much confusion between countries. Kitties looking well and they are going to love their new blanket I’m sure. Take care and have a lovely creative woyww, Angela x12x
The cat paw crochet pattern is such fun, they’ll look lovely strewn across the throw. Excited to see the start of the Tiles throw too, a pattern that I very often consider having a go at, just for the colour possibilities!
Great post as always Shoshi – I must say that cat stitch is cute especially when you add the details!! I now know a lot more about corn than I did – though I’m not entirely sure I’m any the wiser! I agree I have never discovered what exactly grits are and the name does put you off!! Loving the new blender, that looks like it could handle anything and the cord storage is a bonus. So agree regarding the GPs and technology. Saw the practice nurse for a smear and asked her about a small lesion on my leg that has flared up again. She said do the e-consult form via the web page and send a picture because she thought someone should have a look. (We were of course in the surgery at the time. With my records up on her screen. I can never understand why they can’t just sort it there and then but hey ho). So armed with a photo I go online, go through the econsult form, which goes on and on. Get to the end and not only does it become apparent that there is in fact no way to attach a photo to this questionnaire but it just stops and says You require immediate attention – Please ring the surgery or 911. This is not an emergency, the only boxes I had ‘ticked’ to elicit a response was ‘yes’ to is it itchy and to is it getting larger/spreading. So with a big sigh, I ring the surgery, where I physically was earlier in the day but not allowed to speak to anyone (except the nurse who is obviously super fit and can’t catch anything) . I listen to the usual list of options, and this not being an emergency in my book I choose the one for a routine appt. I then get told to go online and book through the e consult and the phone cuts off. I do just double check in case I am being an idiot but no, the normal online appt booking system has been disabled and the only thing there is is this new ‘econsult’ which didn’t like my answers and has told me to call the surgery. (The appt system was there earlier during Covid and they were ringing you back instead of face to face). So I call again and this time I choose emergency and get through after a relatively short time. I mention to the receptionist in a very jokey way that things could be a little clearer or staff could give the right instructions and you can’t attach a photo to the econsult – this is met, as usual, with the stony silence peculiar to GP receptionists. However she pulls up my details and after the usual great long ‘chat’ with her (never will understand why I have to tell everything to the receptionist but it’s easier just to accept it these days) she finally says I’ll book you in for a telephone consult on Weds. Could you take a photo and send it? (My head is now rhythmically banging on the desk). She then texts me a link which I click on, attach photo and send. Fine. It is acknowledged. The Dr calls me this morning, one I have never spoken to before. She explains she is pretty reticent about prescribing for this as she would prefer to see it. I say I have been under dermatology since 2018, its been biopsied, they constantly deferred seeing me for follow up for 18 months and I was discharged by phone in July (surely this is in the notes?) I don’t necessarily want anything prescribed, (it hasn’t dealt with it in 3 years) I want advice, I don’t understand why it has suddenly regressed and I don’t know what to do for the best. She says can you send a photo? (I am in danger of serious self harm by now). I say, I did send one on Monday when I booked the call back. She starts looking for it so I suggest she calls me back. Half an hour later she rings me back, she’s found it. Anyway, all sorted now. Personally I just think its a mix of central heating and going into trousers rather than shorts which i can sort myself. What a palaver. I should have just scribbled a note the day I was there. On the plus side, I have to say the repeat prescription service works quite well…….so far. Have a good week, stay well, stay safe, Cindy #26
Very annoying about your prescription emails Shoshi. I do hope it’s sorted soon. Love the look of that cat stitch and the paws for the throw. Some great food tips as well. I have just finished my morning low salt/sugar granola with the addition of some flax seeds. Meow to Lily and Ruby. Stay safe and happy WOYWW. Sarah #3
what a lovely lot of crocheted squares, and it must be a problem with the yarn all different good luck with that ,Love your cats they are so cute,
The colours for the throw you are going to do will be stunning,
Take care and stay safe
Your blanket is coming along a treat – you seem to be racing through those squares. I love the little kitty ones – what a great crochet stitch to discover and the paws are cut too. The Persian tiles throw is going to be quite spectacular – I love the design but it looks tricky! Super cute photos of the kitties this week, they must be snuggling down a lot more as we’ve been having such dreadful weather. I’ve had to cancel a doctor appointment this week as I’m full of cold and it took me three hours over 3 attempts and still couldn’t get through, in the end I emailed and got an answer straight back, so I’ll be doing that in future – my surgery is blaming Covid but to be honest they’ve always been pretty difficult to contact but I think they are using that to justify their appalling system!
Hope you have a great week,
Diana xx #22
Beautiful photos, of so many things. The colored corn is Ornamental Corn here in the states. My husband plants it. Mostly for fall decorating. There is sweet corn yellow to eat usually planted in gardens eaten and extra’s for the freezer. and there is bigger yellow field corn (dents) that goes to market to be processed for can/frozen veggies, cornmeal, corn syrup, etc. Have a great weekend. Hugs to the kitty’s
Hi Shoshi, getting prescriptions in our village has gone a tad haywire. It is supposed to take two days but now taking a week. I had a blood test today, you have to phone the surgery, they give you an email address and you get a reply with the time and date. They wouldn’t give me an appointment because I hadn’t got a form, so I had to collect a form from the surgery and email again. It used to take one phone call!! That information about corn was interesting. I have not heard of cat stitch before, a very apt one for your throw. Have a great week Angela #5
Hi Shoshi! Thanks for your visit to mine! Such lovely photos of Lily and Ruby. I can imagine being a cat and curled up like that for hours on end! I LOVE your cat squares! This will be an awesome blanket for hubby. I learn so much when I read your blog! We call the white powdery stuff cornstarch, and the yellow stuff cornmeal – I love cornmeal bread, but our is usually very sweet, sometimes with bacon or jalapeno in it. Great with Chili! When I was growing up we could get hominy in a can, and I used to love it. We would just heat it up like any other vegetable. I’ve never seen hominy since we moved to Canada. I made a delicious soup this week, a butternut quinoa crock pot soup, which also had chicken and kidney beans it it. You could easily leave out the chicken. https://www.chelseasmessyapron.com/crockpot-butternut-squash-chicken-and-quinoa-soup/
And add kale or spinach, I used white kidney beans. Your design for your new squares looks beautiful. How are you enjoying your new furniture? Have a lovely week! Lindart #33
Hi Shoshi, happy belated WOYWW. Another great post from you. The cat crochet squares look great – I’m sure your hubby is going to love his kitty throw. I’m looking forward to seeing the finished throw. I am quite enjoying learning the different crochet stitches. I’m not quite up to following patterns – but don’t need one for the baby blankets I have been making. I enjoyed the corny tales – and fully agree how confusing it is when I go shopping in USA/Canada – I did try grits last time I was over, and we had breakfast out, rather than my usual fruit and cinnamon brioche – I’ll stick to my normal breakfast in future! I can sympathise with the struggles getting through to GP surgery. I’ve now nominated a pharmacy, and I order my repeat prescription on an App – so much easier for me.
Thanks for stopping by my blog, and your kind comments about my quilts and my lonely Christmas card. My plan is to make a few more cards this weekend for my neighbours and those that I can hand deliver. I don’t know why I didn’t learn to crochet years ago – but I only took up ‘creative crafting’ 5 or so years ago, after an operation. The recuperation period made me appreciate how nice it was to spend time trying crafts – and I’ve never looked back. The wonderful thing about WOYWW is seeing what other people create, and thinking …. oooh, I’d like to try that – wonderful place for inspiration. Have a lovely week, Heather xx #30
Hi Shoshi, sorry for my lateness! That cat-themed throw is going to be fab, hope you get it done in time for Christmas. I love the cat stitch, had never seen that before. I’m ready to start working on the mini carpets now, if you’re still happy for me to pinch your designs – are you able to send me a One Drive link or something please? Still turning over ideas for a middle eastern bazaar or something … Hope you’re having a lovely weekend. Annie C #28
ooh the crotchet is coming along really well. The stew and breads look good too, I know what you mean about kale as I grow it on the allotment (we are both vegan so get through a LOT of veg) and the stalks can be really tough. Ah the joys of repeat prescriptions, one of mine tablets are only allowed to be issued once a month as its so strong etc and when I called the pharmacy to see if it was ready they told me No as it wasnt due to be released until Friday. I asked if they were open Friday, no she said as it is Christmas day!! Then the line went quiet and suggested I call the GP to ask for it to be released!! Made me laugh, but what a pallaver!!
Kyla
Hi Shoshi, looking forward to seeing your cat blanket, your take on cat stitch is great. I’ve emailed you some colourway files and tools from the Persian tiles group on Facebook. They have lots of good video tips in their files as well.
Many thanks for my magic carpet, I’m saving it to open at Christmas.
Your cats are lovely. Thea has priority as well but mostly prefers either her fleece tepee by the radiator or my lap!
I’m late visiting this week as my osteoporosis treatment knocks me for six.
Happy Christmas, stay safe
Hugs
Lynnecrafts 18
So much to read today!!
Love the kitty squares…
Very impressed with the new gadget…
by the way have you every made crispy Kale – baked in the oven?
Sorry I am so late commenting…
Happy 602nd WOYWW!
Stay Safe and Keep Well…
Susan #23
Calling All Crafters! – My personal Blog!