Apples! Apples! Apples!

Last weekend, we drove out to Homestead Farms to pick apples and pumpkins. We had a lot of fun, and it turned into quite the adventure. We came home via White's Ferry (yes, a real ferry) and stumbled across a carnival when we stopped for dinner.

We also came home with a half a bushel of apples and an assortment of decorative pumpkins. This week, I've been trying to use the apples in cooking.  Here are two recipes for things that I put together that are a bit different than the usual pies and such. I made the first one to go with our pancake supper tonight.

Pancake Apples (for spreading over pancakes or maybe ice cream)

1/2 stick of butter
1 medium apple, cored and sliced thinly; peel if you want
1/4 C. real maple syrup (substitute brown sugar if you don't have the real stuff)
water
cinnamon

Melt the butter in a small frying pan over medium heat. Place the sliced apple in a single layer in the butter. After 1-2 minutes, flip the apple. After another minute, continue to saute for about 5 minutes. Add the maple syrup and enough water to cover the apples about 2/3 of the way. Mix well. Cook for another 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Spread the apples back out into a single layer in the pan and give them a dusting of cinnamon (don't be skimpy on the cinnamon; you want it a bit strong here). Mix well, continue stirring, and cook until the sauce begins to bubble and carmelize. Remove from heat and let cool slightly. If it gets cold, reheat in the microwave for 30-60 seconds before serving.

Chicken Sausage with Apple Salsa

mild olive oil or canola oil
1/4 - 1/2 C. onion, diced
2 red bell peppers, diced (don't use green ones here; you want them to be sweet)
4-6 chicken sausages with good seasoning
1 apple, cored and thinly sliced

apple cider (or chicken broth)
1 Tbsp. corn starch

In a large frying pan or skillet with a lid, heat 2 glugs of olive oil over medium heat, making sure there's enough oil to lightly cover the bottom of the pan. Saute the onion in the olive oil. When the onion starts to be translucent, add the red pepper and continue cooking. After 5 minutes, add the sausage and try to brown on all sides. When browned, add the sliced apple. Mix thoroughly and then add enough apple cider to halfway cover the sausages. Cover and simmer until the apples and peppers are soft and the sausages are cooked, flipping the sausages and stirring the mix once or twice while it's cooking. Remove the lid and let the cider reduce a bit. Remove the sausages and keep warm. Mix the corn starch with a bit of cold water and then add to the pan. Continue stirring the mix and cook for a few more minutes. A gravy-like chunky apple salsa should form. Serve the salsa over the sausages (and rice or potatoes, if desired).

I served this with a side of broccoli, and then realized that I could have made this a one-pot dish by adding some shredded cabbage or broccoli slaw to cook with the onions.

Save the Bits!

Today, 1010, has been designated by the Council of State Archivists as Electronic Records Day to raise awareness about the challenges in preserving our digital resources. This gives me the opportunity to share with you some information from my professional life that can be useful if you are trying to preserve your own digital memories.

Image from the Library of Congress' National Digital Preservation Program.

How to Preserve Your Own Digital Materials: http://www.digitalpreservation.gov/personalarchiving/
Handouts from the North Carolina State Archives: http://ncrecords.wordpress.com/2012/10/10/happy-electronic-records-day/
Born Digital for Those Born Analog: http://hangingtogether.org/?p=2158
Personal Digital Archives: http://personaldigitalarchives.blogspot.com/
The Practical Archivist: http://practicalarchivist.com/ 
Caring for your Family Archives: http://www.archives.gov/preservation/family-archives/

Check in with the Day of Digital Archives (10/12, this year): http://dayofdigitalarchives.blogspot.com/

If you are an archivist, librarian, or dedicated family historian and want to explore digital archives further, you can check out the Archivists and Records Managers Blog links provided by L'Archivista (scroll down).

And just for fun: a video of the earliest surviving copyrighted motion picture, the Edison Kinetoscopic Record of Fred Ott's Sneeze

Happy First Day of Fall

It's hard to believe this is what we were doing 4 years ago today. 

Can you believe how tiny they were?

Two Starts and a Search

With the craziness of August over, I've found some time to be stitching again. I've made two starts, about which I'm very excited. The first is the start of an anniversary present for DH. Our 20th comes in early December.

The second is a pumpkin. You know how I love to stitch fall-themed items, especially pumpkins!

Finally, I saw this on Edgar's blog. Isn't his stitching and the finishing lovely? Do any of you know whose design this is? Searching on "Be Ye Thankful" hasn't turned up the chart. And yes, I did ask Edgar already.

Happy Fall and happy stitching!

Fall Cards

Look! I've been making some cards.The first was inspired by some colors I saw on Coni's blog, Spinster Stitching. These are meant to be birthday cards for my nieces, the oldest of whom turns 13 this November!

Papers and punches are Stampin' Up. Ribbon and eyes found at A.C.Moore.

The second was inspired by a layout on Clean and Simple. I love these fall, manly colors. Once I pulled the papers, this really was a simple card to make.

 Papers, stamps, and punches are Stampin' Up, except the star paper in the lower left.

I'm having trouble making a Halloween card I like this year. I want to use the owl punch again, but the colors and design are just not working for me somehow. Since my craft time is so very limited right now, I may throw in the towel and move on to Thanksgiving.

San Diego

We spent our second big summer vacation in southern California. DH and I lived in San Diego in the mid-1990s, and we really love San Diego. The girls loved it too, especially since we celebrated their 4th birthdays there.

L., cousin C., and A. bubble rolling in Long Beach. 

C.'s dad helped construct this; you can just see him behind A.'s bubble.

At the San Diego Zoo Safari Park. They also went to the Zoo, 

on a different day while I attended a professional conference.

Birthday Princess A.

Birthday Princess L. (looking like the Paper Bag princess!)

Cake! (They goofed on L.'s name.)

Candle time 

J., L., A., and C. at SeaWorld. 

They went there 4 times during the week! The girls loved SW.

L. dancing with J., a friend from DC, whose dad also was in San Diego

 to attend the same professional conference.

A. dancing by herself.

C., L., and A. watching the whales. (I have dozens of whale photos.)

Catching up on some SBQs

Here I am proposing all these questions (and I do enjoy your answers), but I forget to answer myself. So here goes:

January - What's the oldest pattern in my stash? I have a Girl Scout surface embroidery pattern that was my mother's when she was still a Girl Scout. It's probably from the '60s. I can't decide if I want to keep it, sell it, or see if GSA would like it as a donation.

February - Are you ready to break up with any pattern/project in your stash? In the past year, I've been trying to week out patterns I'm not going to stitch. The ones that I'm having the hardest time breaking up with are ones where I've started the project. The one I most need to release is a dupli-stitch sweater bought from JCS in the early 1990s. It's so country and 1980s and so not me any more, but it's 3/4 of the way done and one of my first BAPs, and so it's still in the closet. My mother would probably wear it if I got it to the point of being done enough.

March - Round Robins and Exchanges - nope, haven't done these. I did put in an inquiry about Fair and Square earlier this year, but haven't heard anything.

April - was there an SBQ? I think I missed it.


May - Favorite floral piece? I'm not into stitching large floral pieces. I love to see them, but they're not the types of pieces that I enjoy stitching. Hmm, maybe that's why Spring is underrepresented in my stitching. My favorites include a spring breadcloth I did for a friend of mine, probably in 1995. It was a small corner motif with daffodils. I also did a wedding sampler for my cousin that has a background of variegated trees.


June - Do you stitch patriotic pieces? I love the color combination red, white, and blue, and I've stitched a few patriotic pieces. I'm surprised I haven't stitched more.


July - "I don't have the patience for that!" - I hate when people dismiss cross-stitch, especially with the patience bit. And I never know what to say. For the most part, I think they have it backwards - cross stitch helps me be more patient. I find it soothing and calming. It is an oasis from the go-go-go part of the rest of my life. It also gives me a guilt-free excuse for sitting down and perhaps watching some TV. Some people run; some woodwork; others garden. I stitch.

Whew! Now I'm caught up, until Monday!