I Like Thursday #190

 OK so I am a wee bit late this week.  But sometimes it is just the fact that you show up, am I right?  

Welcome to my 190th I Like Thursday post, where we are encouraged to share things, we like/love which we have discovered throughout the week.  Thank you LeeAnna of Not Afraid of Color for hosting and encouraging us to find the positive in life. 

Every New Year we see posts about getting organized, cleaning, purging, getting healthy.  I am just trying to get my dining room table cleaned off.  Many times as I am sewing cutting, I cut up scraps and then they get lost in the mess.  I bought a couple of sets of these cute tiny baskets to through my scraps in as I cut them up.  Then I can transfer them to the bigger containers.  Also if I am using a template I have that in the basket too.  I will say at least I can see a larger part of my dining room table.  Still not cleaned off yet, but I am working on it.

My second organizational, clean up was getting a handle on my patterns, and quilting books.  I am sure none of you have ever purchased the same pattern, or book multiple times....but I have.  A few weeks ago I started a spreadsheet on my computer listing the patterns I had just sitting on my dining room table, chairs, and nearby.  This is not even attacking the bookcase in my sewing room, or the expand file sitting at the top of the stairs.  

My first page was organized by designers, then as it started to get a wee bit full, I started breaking it out into tabs by pattern name.  I even added a label if it is a pattern, block, applique, embroidery.  

But then I had this pile of patterns, what to do with them.  I always keep in the back of my mind that I need to consider that we will be moving in the distant future.  

 So I bought 4 of these file boxes, a box of hanging folder, as well as a box of manila folders.  Every day or so I will spend an hour or so cataloging the patterns, and filing them.  If I have a small kit, I even throw it in there.  

If I have a BOM, SAL, or large pattern I put it in a pocket folder, and place it in the file box too.  I am sure eventually I will be buying more hanging folders and using more of the boxes but for now this is as much as I have got accomplished.  

I have tried a couple of new recipes lately.  One I made (sorry no pics) was tortellini soup.  I used this recipe by Peas and Crayons.  But I wanted it to be a bit more hearty.  So I added some browned spicy Italian sausage, broccoli, and kale instead of spinach.  I also used 2 cans of diced tomatoes and peppers, and added a can of tomato paste.  The recipe made enough for 8 servings, and I actually froze 6.  The soup had  a lot of flavor.  

The 2nd recipe I tried was on the back of a bread bag which we produce in the bakery.  We have a new vendor and they make a nice sized Italian Boule bread.  Slice the bread (not all the way through) going two directions.  Then stuff with a mixture of mozzarella, cheddar, jalepenos, and bacon.  Drizzle with about 1/4 cup of butter, wrap in foil and bake for about 30 minutes.  Remove from oven, open up the foil and bake an additional 10-15 minutes to brown it up.  

 UPDATE:  I found the recipe in the burn bag, so I will share it now.

It was very good, and I had a few pieces then promptly sent it next door for the kids to devour.

 

Even though I have worked a lot of days in a row, I did manage to get a couple of my ribbon star blocks cut and sewn.

I now have 8.  Perhaps today I will get a few more prepped to sew.  This is my first day off since before New Years.  

I have been reading of course. 

Wolves of Winter by R. Allen  Chappel.   Book 6 in the Navajo Nations Mysteries.  A ancient burial of a disabled girl at an archaeological site helps to unlock two recent murders. 

Tie Died:  A Quilting Cozy Mystery by Carol Dean Jones.  Sarah Miller has moved into a retirement community much to her chagrin.  As she unpacks her belongings every item holds a memory of her late husband or grandson.  Thanks to a very outgoing neighbor Sophie,  Sarah starts to find friends and hobbies, one of which is quilting at the local quilt shop so that she can make a quilt of the ties which once were her husband's.  When a local neighbor is found dead in his own home, the local police are convinced that the murderer is one of the community residents.  Sarah and the rest of her friends can't believe one of their own would do such a thing, and so they start to investigate.  Along the way Sarah meets the former police officer that had notified her of her husband's death, as well as worked on the death of her grandson years before. 

The Book of Candlelight by Ellery Adams.  The 3rd book in the Secret Book and Scone society does not disappoint!  There has been a lot of rain in Miracle Springs, so much that a pedestrian bridge washes out upstream.  As Nora is crossing it among the wreckage she discovers a body.  The body belongs to a Danny a local Cherokee potter.  Though the death is ruled as an accidental drowning, Nora is not quite convinced and decides to investigate further.  

Medium Dead by Paula Paul is the 4th book in the Dr. Alexandra Gladstone mysteries.  Under Queen Victoria's reign women are not allowed to be called physicians.  When a local medium is discovered murdered in the graveyard in the small town of Newton-Upon-Sea wild rumors circulate including one naming the regal personage visiting the local Manor house of Lord Dunsford being the perpetrator of the crime. 

A Noble Pair of Brothers by Suzanne Downes.  When CH Underwood arrives to visit his brother, the vicar of the small village named Bracken Tor in 1820, he fully intends to take a long needed rest after tutoring at Cambridge.  He soon becomes in intrigued with a local murder that had occurred the year previous when the corpse of a young, headless woman is discovered on the property of landowner and Magistrate Sir Henry Wynter.  

Thanks for stopping by, and please head over to LeeAnnas at Not Afraid of Color and check out the other I Like Thursday posts.