Mid month report

 Wow  It is the middle of the month of September,  Another month where I don't know how it slipped by me.  What have I been doing?

Cooking:

I would like to say that everything that I made turned out right,  Unfortunately if I did that I would be lying. This month I think I have had more mishaps than successes!  Some of the good things I made were:

  Fried Tortilla Chips - Using premade tortillas and cut them into 8ths and then fry on the stove in approximately 1/2 - 1 inch of oil.  That turned out well enough that Dan, who is my guinea pig for food, decided that he would buy me another pack of tortillas so that I could make him more,  LOL!

Creamy Burrito Casserole - I just made this and it turned out good,  Dan will get his sample to try on Wednesday,  It is pretty basic with ground beef, onions, taco seasoning, refried beans, flour tortillas, cheese, etc.,   I did substitute or leave out a couple of things that either I didn't have or didn't like.

Crinkle Coffee Cookies - Dean REALLY liked these.  You don't use much instant coffee in it,  If I remember right it is only a couple of tablespoons that you mix in with a couple of tablespoons of boiling water,  Still they made a nice soft coffee and a good sized one at that.

Things that didn't work out...sigh.  Cheese sauce that was so thick I never used it.  I an barely even look at it so it will be tossed out when garbage day comes around,  There was another casserole that I made that seemed a bit too loose,  Dan took some home so I'll see what he thinks.  It really doesn't matter what he thinks because I know I'm not going to make it again.  LOL,  There were around three other recipes that didn't turn out but I forget which ones now,

Quilting:

I wanted to make a wall hanging of the Ravenshold (SCA group) device,  It has been fighting me from the very first cut,  It doesn't help that I don't have a pattern for it,  The banner cannot be taken apart so I have had a hard time getting measurements.  My house doesn't have a good place for me to lay out the banner and make a copy.  I finally have gotten the background put together after putting it aside for almost a month in frustration.  It is smaller than the banner is so now I have to adjust the applique that I will be doing on it,  It is on my design wall so I won't forget it but I am still mad at it so it is just "hanging around",

Sewing:

The other aggravating thing is my trying to make a  sideless surcoat,  I took apart a garb that mostly fit me but then discovered that I don't have enough fabric to make it,  I don't normally get a lot of large yardage since I mostly make wall hangings,  I figure that I will have to get approximately 4 yards of wide fabric to make it,  Once again I am frustrated at this since I will be going to an weekend event next month.  I have two "loaner garb"  outfits that I "can" wear but would have liked to have one that was with my fabric etc,  Oh well,  I will be going to more events so I will have time to look for more fabric,  This is were having my income get cut by more than 50% puts me at a disadvantage in retirement.  Still I will muddle through and eventually get what I want.  :)

Cross Stitch:

I worked a bit on the cross stitch owl,  I put it away for a bit (again) so that I can work on some cross stitch ornaments for Christmas.  They will be able to go in the cards so that I can mail them later,  Obviously I won't share the pictures until the recipients receive them.  I will do the cross stitch first and then closer to the mailing time I will finish them,  I have one ornament all cross stitched and have started on my second one,  

That should catch you up on what I have been working on,  Wish me luck getting them done!