Panko-Crusted Mashed Potato Patties

These are simple to make and quite a nice change from regular mashed potatoes.

All you need are seasoned left over mashed potatoes (not too whipped and creamy or they will fall apart--the lumpy ones work best for this),

 a beaten egg to dip the potato patty in and some bread crumbs (I used Panko). I also did not have leftover potatoes, so I just made some earlier in the day and refrigerated.












Fry them in a butter/oil mixtuer until golden on both sides.  YUM!

A nice crunchy celerytini with a little cream cheese herb dip was the vegetable.

I also finished my metallic runner project.  This is the block I ended up making:

I made 12 similar blocks. You can click here to go to my sewing/quilting blog to see the project I finished Saturday morning.

We ended up going out of town Saturday and did not get back until Sunday at 1:00 p.m.  It is so wonderful to be empty nesters and able to get away whenever we feel like it.  Once the work week is over, the next two days are ours to do whatever we please.  So when I got an 8:00 a.m. call from a friend who wanted us to hang out with her that night, we took one look at the cold wet day and decided to get away for the whole night.

After getting home Sunday, I cooked for two hours  making advance meals for the week--grilled chicken breasts, chicken noodle soup, pasta salad and egg salad.  By then I had no time or energy to go outside and cut down the Sedum. So that project is still hanging over my head. I am hoping to get to it after work this week.

Fabric Luvvvvvv

Earlier this week I was in Joanne's and I spotted this home dec/upholstery? fabric.

 I don't know what it is, but it is a quite stiff and has rope it it. 

I immediately wanted it, but I knew that today a 50% + 10% more off sale started, so I waited and hoped it would not be gone. 

I was thrilled when I walked in and found it was still there. 

Then I got to the cutting counter and  was crushed when I found there was only a tad over 3 yards on the bolt. It's not enough for my project.  I have been thinking about my project for the past three days and I just could not walk out of that store without this fabric.  So the 3.33 yds. came home with me.

 I want to use it for  dining room chair covers (I bet many of you guessed that already).  Long time readers know that I am obsessed with dining room chair covers.  I stood it up against a chair to see what it would look it.

I think it's perfect for a new spring look in the dining room.  I just have to figure out how I can cover six chairs when I only have enough fabric for 4.5.  I have an idea mulling around my brain.  You all know when I make them, you will be the first to see the result. :)

I also picked up 3 yards of this "fishnet" fabric.

I thought I would make myself some new leg wear for work.

NOT!  I am well beyond wearing fishnets, though I do remember when I used to love them!

Of course this fabric is also for the dining room. Just imagine a bright red tablecloth with this thrown over it....or lime green tablecloth....the possibilities are endless.  I can't wait to set a table with it!

I get so excited over the littlest things. :)

I hope you all have a great weekend.

I Had a Quiet Saturday

This dinner of steak  and oven-roasted french fries was the highpoint of the day.
DH did the grilling while I made the fries.

They were so good and easy to make. Just slice up fresh potatoes into a stick shape, sprinkle with olive oil (or vegetable oil) and seasoning. I used a french fry seasoning, which was basically salt, pepper and paprika. Then bake in a 425 degree oven until almost tender. Mine took about 20 minutes.  I then put them under the broiler for a few minutes to get them nicely browned.

Freshly-baked M&M cookies served as a sweet after dinner treat.

I spent some time today sewing counter mats from quilt blocks that I had no other use for. 

They are a nice big size. As you can see the red ones easily accommodate a 9 x 13-inch cake pan.

Right now I am watching the Florida Republican Presidential Debate. I expect the remainder of my day to be quiet and relaxing.  I hope yours is, too.

Burlap Lamp Shade Remake - part 2

 (see yesterday's post for part 1)
I was happy to see that the shade dried completely overnight and looks good.

I am always amazed how Mod Podge dries and never looks blotchy. 

No, I am not leaving it like that.  The finishing details is where the fun begins.  I made a long piece of ruffled burlap (just like I made for the Ace shopping bag redo, but much longer).  Then I used hot glue to attach it across the bottom.

Of course, I won't leave that raw edge exposed.

Luckily I had just enough of the black wooden beads left from the animal handbag I made last month.

I just hot glued them on. I was very careful not to use too much hot glue because I didn't want a messy trim with hot glue gobs dried on the front side. I  bought those beads a few years ago with a lamp shade redo in mind. Yeah, it took awhile for me to get started. :)

I could not find anything new to use on the top edge, so I just reglued the original black trim back on.

I finished both lamps early this morning, but that was just the beginning. 

 I decided  the table needed to be covered in something complementary.  I spent until noon redoing things.

 When that was done, I felt I needed to add some burlap to the curtains. I ended up taking down the blue curtains and replacing them with an old set of tab-topped rusty maroon curtains. I cut them apart and added a 10-inch block of burlap near the top.

This is where I am at now. I have a major problem because I can't find the second set of rusty maroon curtains! I have searched two floors and they are nowhere to be found.  I am too pooped to do much more today. It's nearly 1:00 p.m. and I still have to get some major cleaning done.  

So one window will remain curtainless for a while. We always remove the curtains from that window anyway during the Christmas season as the tree goes in front of it.  Hopefully I will find the curtains before I take the tree down!

Ace is the Place

to get one of these shopping bags.

You  may be asking yourself why anybody would want one of these.

Yes, it's just a cheap reusable shopping bag that nearly every store sells for a buck or two.






Here is more information than anyone (but me) wants to know about this bag:

• 100% recyclable polypropylene
• 12.5"W x 14"H x 8"D
• Handle: 19"L x 1/8"W
• 24 lb. capacity  
• Each bag is designed to replace 2 paper bags or up to 4 plastic bags
• Used weekly for 2 years replaces 416 plastic bags 

I find it has some admirable qualities, though it's pretty plain--certainly not fashionable. I also hate to carry a bag with a logo.  They are not paying me to advertise for them, so why would I tote around their logo?

Right after putting the Ace bag aside, I wandered out to my garden shed and saw this roll of burlap.

I wonder when and why I bought this? It must have been during a streak of ambitious shopping. Truth be told,  I am way too lazy to cover shrubs with burlap.  So the burlap sat for multiple years in the corner of the shed.

 Hmmmmmm.....maybe I could do something with the burlap to transform the useful, but bland shopping bag...my mind soared into overdrive as I happily toted the coarsely-woven fabric into my sewing room.



I immediately took a measurement and began the restructuring of the Ace bag.

When I get done with this bag, nobody will know that it began its life in this somewhat dull/boring form.

Well, that is nobody but all of you, because I am about to  blab all the details right now.
The burlap just happened to be the perfect width after finger pleating to fit across the bag front. I cut an approximately 4-inch strip, raveled the bottom, sewed a zigzag stitch at the top of the ravels to prevent more ravelling, then  pleated it to this size.

I just eyeballed the pleat size. It does not matter one iota if one pleat is wider than the next.

I wanted to use two fabrics, so I picked out a complementary fabric to alternate with the burlap. I chose a fabric with a black background  so it would blend in with the handles and side of the bag, which won't be covered in new fabric.

Layer #1 is on.  Notice I put a hem in this fabric instead of fraying it.  All I am going to do is alternate this with the burlap and sew five strips on top of each other across the front & back...simple, simple, simple!

It was quite easy to turn the Ace bag into this handy little carrier:

It can be used for lightweight food shopping, with an heavy stress on the "lightweight".  I think the
 24-lb. capacity stated above is on the optimistic side.

Oh, but does it not look prettier than one of those awful plastic grocery bags? 

It almost makes me want to take over the grocery shopping just so I can use this bag. 

Whoa--Zo--Get a handle on it--just listen to yourself--are you ill?

Whew--I was a bit lightheaded for a moment! Now that I have come to my senses,  I think I will just use it for my library books.

I would normally post this on my sewing/quilting blog, but since my garden is done, I have little to post here, so I decided to post it on both.  My apologizes if you follow both of them.

I Got so Much Done This Weekend!

My weekend went by super fast, but I feel good about all the inside cleaning/outside garden work I got done. I will spare you the details of my long overdue cleaning chores.

Our local strawberries were ready this weekend.  DH stopped and bought two quarts from people who sell them by the roadside.  They go out picking at the crack of dawn and by 9:00 a.m they are selling them for $3/quart all over town.  I put the two quarts in my vintage strawberry carrier and set in beside my nearly-ready-to-bloom white astilbe for this photo Op. Then I took them inside, cleaned them and squished the to smithereens!


Then I took them inside, cleaned them and squished the to smithereens!.We often buy California strawberries in early spring. They were pretty good this year. But they never give off all the sweet juice that our local berries do.

The local berries made for a tasty dessert served over some store-bought pound cake.
This morning I decided to remove some of the Lamb's Ear I planted last year. It has grown so fast that it is taking over my lavender in the front Arbor Garden border.


I removed this big clump and planted it here:

I think it looks nice between some blue spiderwort and Johnson's blue geraniums.
After moving it, I cut it down and then moved a second Lamb's Ear to this area.

I think I am going to enjoy it in this garden.

Saturday afternoon I spent a bit of time on the deck tying these green beads to a project that I finished on Sunday.

Do you have any idea what I made?
Well, you can find out by going to my sewing/quilting blog. Just click this sentence. 
If you want to know how I made this altered fabric, check the previous post by clicking here.

February Blog Funk

I have had nothing to write about for the past week as I haven't done much but sew in my spare time.  I did a lot of sewing the first week of February.
 I have posted all my projects on my quilting blog, http://www.zoeyquilts.blogspot.com/, or just click on the link on my sidebar if you want to know more about the projects. They are all made from free patterns that I got on the Internet and I have posted links to the free patterns, if you are interested in making any of them.

Today I pulled these lovely bananas from the freezer.

and turned them into 2 loaves of a glazed banana bread.I have not yet tasted the bread, but it looks a lot prettier than those frozen bananas, don't you agree?

I hope it's good as I intend to take a loaf to my MIL tomorrow. We are going there for dinner for my father-in-law's birthday.

Did you notice those roses behind the banana bread? It's my Valentine's Day flower from my sweet husband.

If I can keep it alive until June, I can plant it in the garden. 

I hope you are all having a good February. It's been very, very cold here. A couple of days last week were below zero.  I am enjoying the cold weather. I don't have to worry about spending too much time on my sewing projects because there is nothing else I need to do outside.  Spring will be here soon enough.

LOVE Flowers

I have been back to work for two days and have had little time or energy to do anything around the house.

I think I am nearly caught up at work so hopefully I will have more energy to do more interesting projects at home.

The one thing I did do tonight was finish three easy flowers that I intend to use for some sort of Valentine's centerpiece............don't ask me just what as I have no idea, but I am sure I will eventually come up with something!

Sunday I finished the third snowman block:

I was hoping to work about an hour a day on #4 this week, but so far, I have not even started him. I think I am burned out on snowmen.

Other than these two projects, I have done nothing but come home from work, read blogs, heat something up for dinner and go to bed. 

On New Year's Eve I stayed up until 5 am -- over 24 hours without sleep.  I think I am still trying to get this old body back to normal!

Hope you are all enjoying the new year.

Miscellaneous Musings

Yesterday, Patti, from Osage Bluff Quilter, left me this message:

Me again, Do you get Country Living Magazine? I got mine today and they have stockings made from tissue dress patterns! You iron it onto bondable vinyl. Weird!!
Mon Nov 22, 08:33:00 PM 2010

I read the comment early this morning and since I no longer get this mag, I googled it to see if I could find a picture.  After not too much effort, I found it.

How creative is this?!! I sent Patti a reply stating that I could see these used for a gift of notions for someone in a sewing/quilting group.  What a unique packaging this would be for a gift!  I only wish I was in such a group so I could use this idea. 

If you are in such a group and want to make one of these stockings,  you can find the directions here at Country Living's site.  If you use the idea, send Patti a thank you email. :)

Speaking of magazines, I got my December issue of Southern Living today.  I have not opened it yet, because I have been busy setting my Thanksgiving table (you can read all about it here.)
Back to the magazine...........today I sent in my $20 for 13 issues of Southern Living. What a bargain!  I don't live in the South, but I really enjoy this magazine.  At less than $2 an issue, I could not pass it up.

Before going to work this morning, I spent about 15 minutes sewing on the 'Ho Ho'  banner.

 I am going to make the reverse side say "Noel" so this one takes double the work of the Thanksgiving banner.  I hope to have it done by the weekend.

Tomorrow is hump day. I can't believe how fast these weeks go by!

Umbrella Vase & Some Denim Delights

Is this not the cutest, most creative use of an umbrella you've ever seen?
It was in this month's issue of Midwest Living along with this watering can creation.

I think they are both simply adorable and I will probably be making them soon.

In the meantime I am still recycling slightly used jeans into handbags.
I made this one with leather accents first:

Last night I finished this tulip/denim handbag.
Can't you just see this one with denim capris, navy shell and pink jacket? Maybe some denim flip flops with 10 pink-topped toes....Ah, what fun I am having making these to coordinate with the clothes I already own. I hardly ever wear those jean jackets in the first picture...I rarely wear jeans, but I think that may change this year.

I am so happy to report that I received my 1 Cent USB cable from Amazon and it works! So now I can get back to blogging on a more regular basis. The cable postage was only $1.56, so I guess you guys were correct in saying they made their profit from the shipping ($7.49). But still it was a reasonable price and I am a happy customer!

I Get a Lot Done When I Can't Blog

I am still waiting for the camera cord. I got an email stating that it has shipped, so I am pretty sure it's not a scam. It said it would arrive between Feb. 28 and March 15. March 15! I hope it's not that long. In the meantime, I found a friend's laptop to use to pull up my pics without the cable.

I've been cooking a lot. Last Sunday I had an oven full of ribs, baked chicken,blueberry muffins and oven-roasted carrots.

There is nothing like an oven roasted carrot--they were like eating candy!

All I do is toss with a bit of vegetable oil, salt and pepper and bake in 350 - 400 degree oven. This time I used 350 since that's what the other items needed. I had them on the top shelf before I put the ribs in.

We've been eating this food all week. I won't have to cook until Friday night when I have to do fish.

No cooking during the week gives me more time to play after work. I made this handbag


and am now working on some denim projects. I can't believe that this week is almost over already!