Project 365, Week 5

While most of our friends in the U.S. contend with freezing cold temperatures, we're sweltering in the heat. No kidding, yesterday and today I've kept a bowl of ice water in the fridge, taking it out every 10 minutes or so to re-wet my washcloth which I then ring out and wrap around my neck. Still waiting for the storm that was supposed to hit yesterday. So far the only action we're seeing is a few gray clouds.

But on to the purpose of this post: Project 365.

Monday Ivan picked up a cheap cut of pork and then ground it (twice) for me so I could make some Italian sausage. He uses mom's old hand-cranked food processor that has fittings to grind meat, grate cheese or slice whatever. Ever seen one of these before?

Earlier this week I mentioned that Tuesday Ivan was at the lot when a storm hit. He took this photo of the street:

That wall of water careening down the road is rather scary, isn't it? We'll have to be careful how we grade our site and build so we don't end up with water in the house every time we get a rain storm.

Back at the house the frogs kept us entertained. I counted at least nine hopping around -- our backyard always turns into a swamp whenever it rains really hard and the frogs were just lovin' all that water to play in!

In case you're interested, within a couple hours the yard is usually back to normal.

Whenever we have guests I try to keep treats on hand. I had made brownies and Joe was trying really hard to get one out of the cookie jar -- but his hands are too big :)

He kept saying, "It's not fair!" LOL  After taking a photo, Gail relented and got him one.

Wednesday after merienda we went to visit friends and other friends stopped in too, so we enjoyed the cooler evening temperatures out on their patio and watched the girls play.

I may have mentioned our preoccupation with houses, and that I snap photos of ones I really, really like. Here's one under construction a block over from where my Spanish teacher lives. Love all the angles and windows!

Friday Ivan had to go to Cordoba and that gave me a few hours to sew. I'd had an idea for a book bag using a particular fabric. It took some sketching and measuring and figuring since the piece wasn't very large AND it was oddly shaped due to me cutting bits off for other projects, but I was able to make it with what I had (and there were even a few 1"x4" pieces left when I was done). Woot! 

I did, however, run up against a brick wall with the origami flowers I wanted to make. My book on fabric origami (you can see it tucked under the bag in the photo) doesn't have the greatest instructions so although I have successfully made other flowers from it, for some reason the 12-petal flower "defeated" me. I finally just went with a completely different tutorial I found online that also required some minor sewing and gluing in addition to the folding. Since I want the bag to be washable, these flowers will be pinned on for easy removal. I also had trouble figuring out which colors I preferred. The flowers that "matched" the best sort of faded into the background. I think the bright yellow pops a little better, don't you? I still have to make and insert the lining to finish off the bag. I'll be giving it to a friend whose birthday is just around the corner.

I continued working on the flowers Saturday, between baking projects in the kitchen. Even though I was using the toaster oven (which we have stashed in the garage so it doesn't heat up the kitchen), the kitchen was still HOTTER THAN BLAZES. I was only boiling water and melting butter in there, but the day itself was just flat out hot and humid. I had the ceiling fan going full blast and a floor fan we usually have in the living room turned around so it was facing into the kitchen. And then there was all the dipping-of-the-washcloth-into-the-bowl-of-icy-water-and-wrapping-around-my-neck action. Even though I spent all of Saturday cooking, I ran out of time and had to finish this morning. Here's the result of some of my labors:

The complete list of what I made (and not just what's in the photo) includes:

chocolate scones

no bake cookies

granola bars

Mexican cornbread

3 plain pizza crusts

1 pizza with homemade Italian sausage, mushrooms, roasted red peppers and olives

roasted and de-boned chicken

4 batches yogurt

homemade granola

It took all day yesterday and this morning because I was using the toaster oven and it isn't very big. I can't fit my 9"x13" Pyrex dish or cookie sheets in it, so my recipes for granola, pizza crusts, brownies and granola bars have to be split in two, effectively doubling the baking time for each.

I'm tuckered out from all the cooking. But I needed to get it done because we're heading to Sta. Rosa for a few days and hopefully taking a couple of the kids with us -- and you KNOW how teenage boys can pack it away! Not using the oven (here or there) is one of my summer survival techniques which I refuse to budge on, and it's not real practical to haul the toaster oven back and forth. So the menu will consist of things I either made ahead of time, can serve cold, or cook quickly on the stove top.

The original purpose of the trip was to paint the main living area but Ivan put his back out this morning so not sure we'll be able to accomplish much on that project -- he has to be able to do the ceiling before I can tackle the walls. But, if nothing else, we'll clean out the storeroom so I can paint and put up new shelves and then we can store things in a more accessible manner. Right now I have to dig through piles of boxes and containers stacked on the floor.

And that concludes my week. Nothing extraordinarily exciting; just the every day stuff that goes on.