Weekend Projects...

 

Session One (of two) for the latest Clara Warshauer (@clarastitching) class was Saturday afternoon. This project is to create a koi brooch, but Clara is looking for suggestions from her class on other ways to finish it. When it's finished, it's a bit larger than I'd wear a brooch, but I have a few other ideas in mind that I'll share later.

Our class was two and a half hours long, and they're Zoom classes so we get to meet other classmates and interact with Clara while she's teaching. She also records the sessions so that we can watch them later, if needed. Her classes are always fun, and two of the other students have goldwork certificates from the Royal School of Needlework, so I value their shared information, too.

Our second (and last) session for this class is next Saturday, and Clara would like to see our work at that time, so I will be stitching mine this week. She also encourages students to use their imaginations when assembling their own pieces, so you may see that mine will have a few variations when I get to that point. I only took notes on Saturday, so I'll be busy getting caught up, and will share my progress as I work on it.

Handsome and I did some more canning this weekend, too. The result of our labor is twelve half pint jars of pizza sauce, and eight pint jars, plus one twelve ounce jar of salsa. This time we used Mrs. Wage's Pizza Sauce Mix, but only half of the 5 tablespoons of sugar it called for.  The salsa is also a Mrs. Wage's mix that we've used before and love.

One thing I'm doing differently since learning it from my aunt, is that I'm not blanching and skinning the tomatoes prior to processing them. After washing and removing the stem and core, she cuts them into quarters and chops them up with her stick blender. While I have one, I chose to use my Cuisinart™ food processor instead. Once everything is chopped up, the skins just about disappear in the mix, and as they cook, the chopped tomato skins don't rise to the top as larger pieces usually might. They're well and truly incorporated into the tomatoes, saving so much extra time and effort. They also add just a bit more texture to the cooked tomatoes, which Handsome and I think is a plus. We'll continue to do them this way.

This week, in addition to my needlework assignment, we're planning to make applesauce. I still have canned mushrooms and canned potatoes on my list, but that won't likely happen this week. I'll be needle dancing instead.

I hope you're planning something that makes you happy for the next few days. If you're in the mood to share, I'd love to know all about what you'll be doing.