Home Happenings Tuesday: Sewing patterns and Chowder

A little sparrow cleans up leftover chicken feed in the snow.

 Our snow has finally started melting after being on the ground for over a week- which is very unusual for East Tennessee, where most snows are gone by the next day. I have to admit, it's kinda nice to see the grass again... even if it is brown.

From my sewing room:

I've not been doing much sewing this past week (unfortunately) because of the weather... the temperature was below freezing for several days and it seemed like I was constantly having to go outside and thaw the water out for all the animals... I don't like to be starting and stopping a project, especially when it comes to sewing- I'm afraid I'll forget a step and mess up.

However, I did take the opportunity to start organizing some of my patterns... gosh, I didn't realize how many I had! I'm trying to get them separated into groups, since some are for clothes, some are for crafts, etc.- then I'll put them back in order that I want to make them. I have a little plastic 3-drawer cabinet I bought at Walmart that works great for pattern-keeping. I know I'll never get around to making all of them, but maybe this will help me in finding one if I need it.

From the Kitchen:

A dutch oven full of potato chowder is on the menu for today.... we like ours served in a bread bowl and topped with shredded cheese and crumbled bacon.

(I would rather make my own bread bowls, time permitting; but if not, I'll buy large rolls at the local grocery.)

Potato chowder with bacon

12 medium potatoes, peeled and cubed

2 medium onions, chopped

1/3 cup butter

1 cup all-purpose flour

8 cups milk

2 medium carrots, shredded

1 tablespoon salt

1 teaspoon pepper

Crumbled bacon for garnish

Place potatoes in dutch oven and cover with water, bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and cook for 20 minutes or until tender. Drain and place potatoes into another container; meanwhile, in the dutch oven, melt butter and saute onions. stir in flour until smooth, then gradually stir in milk. Bring to a boil over medium heat, cook and stir for 2 minutes until thickened. Reduce heat, and add potatoes back into the onion mixture along with carrots, salt, and pepper. Simmer on low for 15-20 minutes. Sprinkle with crumbled bacon and serve.

(Click here for the bread bowl recipe I use- it's one of the best I've found, but I did cut the sugar content down from 1/2 cup to 1/4 cup.)

Lily Mae photo of the day:

Lily lays in the sun chewing on a stray sock that fell out of the laundry basket.....

(Only after 30 minutes of me looking for the sock everywhere... *jeez*)

Caught cha!!

Happy Tuesday, everybody!