Turkey Tracks: Recipes: Red Juice Green Juice

Turkey Tracks: November 9, 2015

Red Juice Green Juice

Red juice is YUMMY!

I don’t like to mix red and green veggies when I’m juicing. The juice looks like mud then. Red and green are opposites on the color wheel, so to mix them makes a kind of brown color.

This juice includes the following:

One small beet

Three or four carrots–I love the rainbox carrots

LIME–about half a lime

GINGER–a knob of ginger the size of a…???…whole pecan

Half a red pepper

A chuck of red cabbage

An apple

Green juice is yummy too!

This juice contains the following:

Chard (fresh picked from the garden), but any of the good greens will do.

Cucumber

Celery

Apple

Ginger (always put in a knob of fresh ginger)

Lime

Green cabbage

Kolrabi pieces are a nice addition

Green pepper would be nice in this drink. Parsley, too. Maybe some other herbs.

You can feel the goodness ALL THE WAY DOWN when you make one of these drinks. They are a powerhouse of nutrition for your body.

PS: I have information on my juicer on other blog posts here.

Turkey Tracks: The Braided Rug I Wanted to Make

Turkey Tracks: November 8, 2015

The Braided Rug I wanted to Make

I finished it.

And it’s just the rug that I wanted:

So now I’m happy.

It takes me about two weeks working at night while streaming something fun on tv to make one of these rugs.

The rougher one is happier at the back door:

See the little rough rug to the left? It’s made from worn-out t-shirts knitted with a garter stitch. It’s perfect for the dogs’ water and food bowls.

Turkey Tracks: Walking the Dogs

Turkey Tracks: November 4, 2016

Walking the Dogs

When sister Susan came in mid October, we walked every day.

And I have been walking pretty much every day since as the weather has allowed the walking.

Walking is another of those activities that I’ve suddenly had energy for again.

I used to walk a lot, but when John was sick and after he died, I had no energy to walk.

Needless to say, the girlie rat dogs are in heaven.

Miss Reynolds Georgia, aka as The Beauty Queen, aka Rey Rey, is 13 years old now. And, she’s pretty much deaf. But she’s a game little dog and loves the daily walking. She starts following me around shortly after her breakfast, wondering if its time to go out yet. It’s like living with a child who is on a long car trip with you and who is asking “are we there yet” every few minutes.

Here she is–neither of my ratties will look at me if there is a camera in my hand.

I observed something really funny on our walk yesterday.

When we start out, especially if we walk Union Street in Camden which is a long straight road with a few hills/grades along the way, Penny is out front just moving along at a good clip, while Rey is behind us the full length of the retractable dog leash. I thought Rey was just slower than Penny in catching all the delicious doggy smells along the way or peeing just where Penny already peed.

But, yesterday, when we turned around, Rey dashed to the front and started back the way we came at a no-nonsense good clip.

Hmmmm….

What’s going on with that?

Rey has always, always been timid about getting away from home grounds. Even as a tiny puppy, she’d go about 50 feet from our yard and start worrying: “Do you know where we are? I think we’re lost. I’m sure we’re lost. Let’s go home now. I don’t think you know what you’re doing.”

I thought that I’d just let her lead us and see what happened. A mile later, we drew near the car, which was parked in a line of cars. I thought for a minute that Rey would just walk past it, but halfway alongside the car, she stopped and sat down, just as good as a dog pointing a bird.

Hmmmmm.

She’s like a horse heading back to the barn.

Next I took her on a circular two-mile walk where we would approach the car, which was off the road and in a parking lot, from an entirely different direction.

Again when we rounded the final turn and headed for the car, which was a good half-mile away, I watched to see if she would walk past the entrance to the off-road parking place.

Nope. She turned into the lot and took me right to the car and sat down.

Rat terriers are so, so, so smart.

Rey also takes care of No No Penny. She comes and gets me if Penny wants to go in or out. She comes to get me when it’s time for her dinner.

I hate it that dogs have such a short life in comparison to our own time span.

Here’s No No Penny, who is a real rat dog–not a highly bred one that has been bred back to Chihuahuas to make them smaller. She’s hunting for the chipmunks that live under the porch and fuss at her when she tries to huff and puff down the back seam of the porch floor where it meets the house wall.

Turkey Tracks: Tales of Braided Rugs

Turkey Tracks: November 3, 2015

Tales of Braided Rugs

Some years back I bought some green cotton sheets and some used men’s shirts in order to make a braided rug of recycled materials.

I finally got to this project this fall.

Can I say that the resulting rug is without a doubt one of the ugliest things I’ve ever made.

It’s one of those projects the maker looks at and thinks “what was I thinking?”

I had the yellow sheet strips already on the loom–and I should have taken them off. Or done a different color rug. I had one men’s shirt with yellow in it, and I think that’s where the trouble began.

Worse, I should never have put more of the yellow into the rug.

The two dark strips sort of in the middle are some of the men’s shirts, and these should have been gradually worked into the rug alongside the green sheets. More like what is going on along the right side, before the yellow. Also, the men’s shirts provide great material for quilting, but one can’t get long strips out of a shirt–and that means a lot of knots in a rug.

Whatever–these rugs wash and wear like iron, and it will be fine at the kitchen door. Right now it’s living in front of the sink while I work on a new green rug that is more like what I imagined. AND, I must remember that I have recycled materials that might have been trashed otherwise.

Meanwhile, I visited a friend who is making the most gorgeous braided rugs. Here’s one that sits in her kitchen.

How yummy is this rug?

Gorgeous, gorgeous.

Her husband made her a bigger loom than I have been using, and its size is great in her kitchen. She’s now working on a very soft rug, with lots of mellow and warm colors. I can’t wait to see it finished.

Meanwhile, here’s the rug I should have made in the first place–it’s coming along nicely. I will finish it tonight.

And into the kitchen it will go.

The rug on the floor was made a few years back from old sheets and bits of fabric. It and its sisters are washing and wearing like iron.

Turkey Tracks: One Quilt Top Finished

Turkey Tracks: November 3, 2015

One Quilt Top Finished

I got the final borders on this quilt last night–and the pics here do not do it justice. The border fabric is so cute with this quilt, for instance.

I have loved working with these bright prints and these so-fun neutrals. (You can see part of the other/companion quilt hanging over the bars on Lucy the Longarm.)

I’m going to call this quilt “Yellow Bird,” after the repeating bird in the borders.

To remind this quilt block, Carolina Chain, was designed by Bonnie Hunter for her “Addicted to Scraps” column in Quiltmaker magazine.

I am thinking that though I do have backing fabrics bought on sale that what these two quilts need is some sort of cream/black/neutral backings that match…

Not sure what I’ll do yet, so will finish the other top before deciding.

Turkey Tracks: Quilting: Coastal Quilters 2016 Challenge

Turkey Tracks: October 30, 2015

Coastal Quilters of Camden, Maine

2016 Chapter Challenge

This challenge is about exploring opposite colors on the color wheel.

We also had to include white, black, and grey.

The piece had to contain 16 pieces and be 16 by 16 inches.

Here’s mine–and trust me, it will pale in comparison with the creativity that some of the other Coastal Quilter members will devise.

I am, though, interested at the moment in how geometric shapes work together.

Purple and yellow are my opposite colors. The primary colors (red, blue, yellow) and their opposites (green, orange, purple, really a blue violet) create the biggest visual “pop”–and to me, the purple/yellow combo is the most startling. Red/green and blue/orange seem much more mellow to me.

One of the fallen petals is black.

In order to keep to 16 pieces, I used the background piece and the arrangements of the hexagons to make the center star.

Then I used pearl cotton to “quilt” the piece–and had to search to find the violet/purple color.

I left gaps in the stitching ini places to accent the dominate shape.

The buttons were in my stash of buttons and matched perfectly. Lucky find there.

Hexagons can be linked via diamonds–and three diamonds can work together to create the hexagon shape–which you can see when one diamond is removed from the hexagon. That manipulation of color–as you can see in the top right with the grey area–can make the “tumbling block” that is so interesting in a quilt. You would make a light “top” triangle, a medium triangle, and a dark triangle–and keep the color placement fixed.

The hexagon can also be fractured into parts using the kite-shape. Remember this quilt? My 100th, which I called “Centurion.”

See the block up close. The outer ring of neutrals is also made from the kite shape.

I am, at the moment, working with some large hexies in purple with yellow diamond joins–not sure how this study will develop, but it will be the last of my color studies.

Here, again, is red and green:

This is the Lucy Boston “honey comb” hexie being paper pieced.

And, here’s blue and orange–made with large Octagons linked with squares:

Turkey Tracks: Sister Sue Visits and Fingerless Mittens

Turkey Tracks: October 22, 2015

Sister Sue Visits and Fingerless Mittens

It’s been busy, busy here.

Sister Susan came for a visit to see the fall leaves and me–the trees are still turning and are very late this year. But many were beautiful while Sue was here.

While Sue was here, the old oven went out (the back door had to be removed and the old oven dismantled in the kitchen), and the new oven went in.

Sue brought good luck: this stove event went flawlessly thanks to carpenter and friend Stephen Pennoyer (who came today to install the new stainless steel backsplash), the installation crew from Kelsey’s Appliance, and Linda McKinny, who cleaned where the old stove had been. The new stove came in with a half-inch leeway!

We walked every day. The girl dogs were in doggie heaven.

There was a cold snap one day, and we bundled up–which meant I could use the hand-knit fingerless mittens Stephen’s mother Mary Sue Bishop made for me. (Mary is one of my oldest friends here in Camden.)

Don’t they go nicely with my new light LLBean coat and the winter hair band Bonnie Sinatro made for me last year.

Mary Sue Bishop takes orders for the gloves and uses all sorts of wonderful yarns. And Bonnie is a fellow Bellevue High School (Offutt AFB) 1963 classmate and terrific email friend.

Here’s Sue at Camden Deli for a cup of coffee after our cold-snap walk:

And here’s our view of the Camden Harbor at dusk. We’re at the point where the river comes under these buildings and spills in to the harbor. The windjammers are getting their plastic winter cocoons these days, and the harbor is slowly emptying out.

Turkey Tracks: “Garden Tumble” Quilt

Turkey Tracks: October 23, 2015

“Garden Tumble” Quilt

I don’t know…

This quilt is either the ugliest quilt I’ve ever made OR the funkiest fun quilt.

Bonnie Hunter’s current leader/ender challenge is to make a quilt with the tumbler patch. And there is something very sweet about traditional one-block scrappy quilts.

I had a 3 1/2 inch thick sturdy template bought years ago AND a lot of the veggie and fruit prints in my stash. So here’s what evolved.

Someone on Bonnie’s FB site for her fans suggested making a darker “self” border by combining dark blocks.

I like the darkish red binding…

And, here’s the backing:

Here’s a close-up of some blocks:

AND:

I quilted with a light fern green thread that’s nice on the back–using Debra D. Geissler’s 11-inch pantograph, “Deb’s Swirls.”

I think “beauty is in the eye of the beholder” with this quilt. It is funky and fun and just “is what it is.”

Turkey Tracks: Fall Bounty

Turkey Tracks: October 12, 2015

Fall Bounty

The nights have cooled, and the trees are starting to turn. Finally.

Hope’s Edge CSA (Community Shared Agriculture) farm has two more weeks to go.

I will miss going out there weekly so much.

The winter squashes are all coming in now–and they are so bright and pretty:

The long orange one in the back is a pie pumpkin. I’m going to roast/carmelize it and use it in a salad recipe from Jennifer McGruther’s book The Nourished Kitchen. (Search on this blog for more info.) The recipe pairs the sweet pumpkin with bitter greens, nuts, and balsamic vinegar, among other ingredients–as well as I remember.

The funny looking veggie to its left is a rutabega. I cook it like a potato. Rutabegas are great cubed in soups and stews. The flesh is buttery yellow and mashes well.

The oblong squash to the left is a spaghetti squash-one of my very favorites. I cut them in half, seed them, and roast them (cut sides down on a greased piece of parchment paper). Once done, run a fork through the flesh and it breaks into strands. I heavily butter and add salt and pepper. Scoop out the stands and put on your plate. This one reheats well too.

The striped squashes are delicatas. They are so sweet that you don’t need anything in them but a bit of butter. I bought some one fall in Charleston, SC, and they were bitter and bad. This squash may need more of a New England climate to develop its sweetness????

The tan squash is a butternut. Mild and delicious. You can eat the skin on both delicatas and butternuts. I’m going to put it cubed into a stew with black beans, hamburger, and Indian seasonings–in the crock pot.

How did that banana get into this picture? Mercy!

The orange squash in the middle is a “Sunshine” and has a heavier, sweeter flesh. I’m going to cube it and roast it with garlic, rosemary, small potatoes, red onions, and chunked green tomatoes. It’s a dish to which I look forward every fall. I’ll make it while sister Susan is here next week.

That’s likely the last large tomato to come out of the garden. I”ll get some Sun Gold cherry tomatoes though.

The garlic crop is great this year. I’m loving all the fresh garlic in the kitchen.

I’m missing a Blue Hubbard squash, which is a great keeper. I’ll pick one up though.

That’s the last bit of annual flowers I’ll cut from the garden behind the squashes.

I cut these Panculata Hydrangeas this morning for the dining room. Hope they dry nicely.

It’s a BANNER year for apples in Maine this year. Every tree is loaded down–even old trees that have had significant storm damage:

Local folks are making apple sauce, apple butter, drying apple slices, and making lots of apple pies.

The girly dogs and I have been walking every day in this glorious fall weather. Sunday afternoon I drove by a friends Harry and Marsha Smith’s house to see their gorgeous fall yard.

What a treat this view was!

Turkey Tracks: October 2016 Quilting Update

Turkey Tracks: October 6, 2015

October 2015 Quilting Update

I seem to be working on about 7 quilts–three using the 4-patch blocks I spent the summer making.

The tumbler quilt is off Lucy the longarm and is ready to be bound.

The Coastal Quilter’s 2016 challenge quilt is ready to be bound. That’s a little guy–16 inches square, with 16 pieces, and using one set of opposites on the color wheel.

The two quilts that are emerging fast though are these bright and happy darlings–both using Bonnie Hunter blocks from Quiltmaker magazine: Criss Cross and Carolina Crossing.

Carolina Chain: I saw this quilt completed on the Bonnie Hunter FB site in regular, not bright, scraps, and I loved it on sight. I’ll make this one twin size. Love the bright happy colors.

Criss Cross. I think I want to make this a medallion quilt with these blocks as the center. I’m going to go to a border of white fabric with tiny dark blue stars next and then build out from there. Not sure which block I’ll use next. If it gets too wide, I’ll just extend on the ends???

I think these two quilts want to be companion quilts, and I know two little girls who are getting a new, shared bedroom in the near future. One of them does not have a “big girl” bed quilt from me.

Hmmmmm.

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