Well, I was planning on doing a post about S'mores Lattes, but after looking over some videos and recipes, I decided I didn't have anything new to add, and, in fact, my ideas were much more boring than what I was seeing on YouTube.  So, for your enjoyment, edification and perusal, I present to you

In which she uses a mini-flame thrower...errrr....kitchen torch or whatever.....to toast her mallows.  Ahem.  Let us move on.

I had so much planned but I am looking down the barrel of another Lent and I want to make this one count more than usual. So usually, I would put some kind of "hey I'm going off social media for Lent, see you in about 40 days" kind of post but, strangely, I've decided the opposite, at least, as far as the blog and videos go.

I want to make some content that will be quite useful and maybe entertaining.  So, instead of just cramming in some bunk right now, I'm skipping trying to make a latte post or video, and instead I'm going to start brainstorming and trying out new ideas instead of hanging out on Facebunk and TwitFace all day. 

Hey, maybe I'll even make something really worthwhile, I don't know.

Please stay tuned, at the very least it should be interesting.

I'd like to make at least two more blog posts and one or two videos before Lent is over.  I'm thinking something in the area of sustainability or repurposing or repairing things.  

So, keep looking at this space!

​Ciao!

Hello everyone. I'm glad to be back at the blog again after being away for so long.  I had so much to do and think about for a while, it took me a few months to sit myself down and make another post.  But it's worth the wait, I think, because

I can almost guarantee nobody is making this coffee just like I am.  I say this because I don't know of anybody making the toasty marshmallows like I am. And they are the key to this yumminess.

We're going to get right into the recipe, but I want to explain a little about the marshmallows first.  

You will need toasty marshmallows.  I am tempted to call this a Nutella Crunch Latte, but I digress. I was trying to do something else with the marshmallows, but wound up making a mistake, and decided to make a coffee drink with the mistake.

I did a dumb.

But dumb like a fox!!!!!

Ahem.  Let us proceed.....

THE TOASTY NUTELLA LATTE RECIPE

• 2 oz strong coffee of your choice
• 1-2 tablespoons Nutella
• 3-4 crunchy toasted mini-marshmallows
• 1/2 cup milk of your choice

Basic directions:  Make coffee how you want.  Stir Nutella into hot coffee.  Crush up all but one marshmallow.  Steam or froth milk, attempt latte art, mess up latte art, stir coffee, since no one will care, because you are sprinkling marshmallows on it anyway. Sprinkle marshmallows on failed latte art.  Garnish with remaining marshmallow.

Drink before anyone asks you about failed latte art.  Wash cup and all other utensils and put toasty marshmallows in a secret place where only you can get to them.  Repeat as often as desired.

The first time I made this, I used coffee I made in my Aeropress, two ounces worth.  This time it was evening, so I decided I wanted decaf, so I used instant decaf crystals.  You could use two ounces of any kind of strong coffee you like. If you have an espresso machine, use a double shot of your favorite. 

I put the electric kettle on, and got other things ready while I waited for it to boil. 

​The next ingredients are milk and Nutella, or store brand hazelnut spread, whatever you like.  I got my milk cup ready for the frothing later.  Of course I can't microwave that cup, so I poured 1/2 cup milk (whatever kind you like) into a glass measuring cup and got ready to put it in the microwave.  I can't use the electric kettle and the microwave at the same time in my kitchen, so that step has to wait.

​The star of the show, the toasty marshmallows.  I took about 3 or 4, crushed up all but one with that little 2 cup measuring shot glass thing (it's pretty heavy for its size, so it works well, just use what you've got) and left the last one for a garnish.

All these things get set aside until the coffee is made.

​So, if you're using instant, pour two ounces of boiling water over your coffee crystals.  As soon as you can, put a spoon of Nutella in there.  

Stir until the Nutella is melted and mixed in.

Is it time for the marshmallows???

Not yet.

​
​Warm up your milk.  If I take milk straight from the refrigerator, it usually takes about 30-40 seconds to get it to a good temperature.  I'm usually trying to get it to about 120-130° F.  Don't go over 160° (You'll probably burn the milk at that point).

Sorry for the blurry picture.  It was the microwaves!!! Yeah, the microwaves are the reason I took a blurry picture..... ::eye roll:: ROFL

​So, the hot milk is transferred to the steaming cup.  And since I don't have a machine, today I'm using this Bodum hand frother.  I also have one of those other Bodum manual frothers that is essentially a French Press that you can't actually use as a French Press because it is missing parts, but I've only had marginal success with that, so I decided to get this other thing and try it. (Thank you for putting up with my run-on sentences) I'm actually having a bit more success in getting close to achieving latte art with this thing.  I'll link to the video that kind of gelled in my mind how to achieve milk that you probably can do some latte art with without an espresso machine. I'll put it at the end of this post.

Essentially you want to get the frothing wand in the milk enough so that you're not getting a bunch of frothy noise, but still getting a whirlpool (but not the air vortex in the middle).  You want to froth for about 20 seconds until the milk is glossy and silky but you don't have a bunch of big bubbles on the surface.  I actually did pretty well this time.  Tap the cup a few times on the counter and swirl the milk around.  Does that do anything?  I don't know.  But all the YouTube baristas do it, so I guess I should.

​THE CLOSEST I'VE COME YET

THE OTHER ONE I CAN'T PUT ON THE INTERNET BECAUSE FULTON SHEEN WOULD BE ASHAMED OF ME

​STIR IT UP AND NOBODY WILL BE THE WISER

​Ok, back to business..

Sprinkle the crunched up marshmallows on top, and garnish with the uncrunched marshmallow.  I guess you could garnish with more than one.  But these are so sweet, I wouldn't do more than two.

I guess there's some kind of S'mores version to be made alongside this with chocolate syrup instead of Nutella and graham crackers worked in somehow (I'm thinking graham cracker infused milk) but I'll figure that out later.

And now, a word about today's sponsor:

CRUNCHY AMAZING TOASTY MARSHMALLOWS

I stumbled across these by accident.  I had some bags of mini-marshmallows that I didn't use for a while, I used some, but after the bag was opened, moisture got in there, and while they didn't get moldy or stale or bad tasting, they were all stuck together.  I just made some rice krispy treats with them.  However, I wanted a way to keep them for longer, and drying them up seemed like a good way to do it.

So, I put some on a cookie sheet in a warm oven for about 4 hours, and they dry up nicely.  You do have to make sure there's a bit of space between them because, surprise, they swell up as they dry.

I've been slowly going through a new bag of mini-marshmallows, drying up some whenever I get the chance, eventually I will have dried the whole thing.  The day before yesterday seemed like a perfect day to make some more.  I had baked some sourdough, some mini-apple pies, and tuna pot pies for dinner.  I had just turned the oven off from baking the pot pies at 350° and figured that the oven would be warm enough to dry out some more marshmallows.  As it turns out, it was a bit TOO warm.  The marshmallows shrank up a bit and browned a little.  I was disappointed at first.

Then I tasted one.

And then I knew.

​I knew what I had to do.

Little mini-marshmallow shards of heaven.  

They are a bit crunchy before they get wet.  That's why you could probably call this a Latte Crunch.

They add just enough toasted marshmallow flavor without being overpowering.  And the marshmallow bits get re-hydrated by the coffee a bit and make little fluffy taste treats right there on your spoon.  And I'm a huge fan of Nutella, so that was a natural add-in for me.

​And, yes, a S'mores option is probably forthcoming pretty soon.


And, as promised, here is the link to the YouTube video on how to use a hand frother to froth milk for latte art:  CLICK RIGHT HERE

​Well, that's all the coffee related things for today.  Watch this space for the inevitable S'mores version I know I'll be making before Valentine's day hits.

And, anyway, any ideas for a good Valentine's coffee drink?  Let me know.

Thanks for letting me ramble on about coffee, and hope to see you again!  Thanks for reading, Ciao.

​So, today I want to talk to you about some things.

Some yummy things.

Here we have Milk and a Banana. 

And a little jar of spices.  But, more on that later.

You're going to want to make this.  Seriously.

There are some things missing, like Boba Pearls and Brown Sugar.  We'll get to those, don't worry.

Just to let you know that I don't mess around on this blog, we'll just jump right into this, OK?  OK.

Chop the bananas up sort of small.  We're going to be blending these, and all I have is a GE personal blender, so I don't want huge chunks that are going to make the blender explode or make the blender motor burn up or something.  I've seen some people absolutely mash the daylights out of their bananas before blending, and in a full-size ninja blender or something, really, are you that afraid that your mighty blender will burn up?  I think small pieces are ok.  I smelled something a little funny that smelled a bit like burning oil the last time I blended bananas, but we'll ignore that, shall we?  Moving on now.  Oh, you spotted something? Just to the top right of the cutting board? You did? 

And to further prove I don't mess around on this blog, it is now Later.  You see, you thought you'd have to wait a lot longer for Later, however, indeed, Later is Now.  And we're going to talk about another ingredient in this....drink...smoothie, boba....thing.

Banana Spice.  You don't have it.  You know how I know you don't have it?  Because I made it up. I thought, if there's Apple Spice and Pumpkin Spice, there has to be Banana Spice.  I didn't see any recipes for it.  So I made it up.  No, Cinnamon, that's too Apple-y.  No Ginger, that's too Pumpkin-y. I wanted something with a sort of, I don't know, fresher punch of flavor. So here we have:
*2 teaspoons Mace
*2 teaspoons Cardamom
*1 1/2 tablespoon Brown Sugar
*1/4 teaspoon ground Cloves

Be careful of that Cardamom.  That's what gives it a punch.  Of course, this amount is not what you use in the drink.  Just mix it up and use it with your banana deserts.  I like it.  I hope you like it, too.

​Put your bananas in your personal blender (or big blender) with about 1/2 to 1 teaspoon of the Banana Spice.  Or whatever spices you like.  If you're not using the Banana Spice mix, you might want to add a bit of brown sugar or maple syrup in.  Be careful, especially if you're using really ripe bananas, though.  They can be really sweet on their own. Stevia leaf is a good sweetener, too, I've heard.

Add about 1/4 to 1/2 cup of milk.  Regular cow's milk, oat milk, whatever milk you like for smoothies or drinks.  Some nut milks or stuff like that can have added sugar, so watch for that and adjust your sweetening levels accordingly.

Blend this up for a few seconds at a time, about 3-5 times.  Just until you think it's blended enough. If you're using a full size blender, you could probably just put the whole amount of milk in, we'll get to that in a minute.  With this personal blender, I still get tiny chunks of banana in my banana milk.  I like it that way.  Maybe that's why some people mash the heck out of their bananas first.  I like it just a miniscule amount of chunky, however.

​

​Ok, I'm pointing to the maximum fill line on my blender cup.  I'm going to fill this up the rest of the way with milk.  I think I used about 1 1/3 cup of milk total for this.  I had a little left in the measuring glass after this step, so I poured it in before I chilled it and stirred with a spoon.

Anyway, we're going to blend just a bit more, get to the smoothness you like, and then put it in the fridge to keep cool while the boba cooks.  My blender cups came with different lids and stuff, so I can just leave it in the cup, put the lid on, and refrigerate the whole thing.

Let's talk boba for a minute.  I did a blog post about a Strawberry Milk Boba drink, and did a whole thing on how to make the "5 minute" Boba pearls, so I won't go into all that here.  If you want to read that blog post, click here: Strawberry Milk Boba.

I used to like my Boba a bit more soft than I do now, so I cooked it to the maximum suggested time on the package.  

​So, now that the boba is cooked, I put about a tablespoon of brown sugar (dark brown or light brown, whatever you've got/like) in the bottom of my boba cup, and dumped the still hot boba right in there.  Stir it around a bit to get all the boba coated and melt all the brown sugar.  You can cook up a brown sugar syrup thing on the stove, but sometimes it's just as good to just use the hot boba to melt the brown sugar.  You might want to cook up a brown sugar syrup on the stove if you want to do the "Tiger Stripes" in your drink.  But I wasn't worried about that this time.  Just trying to make it a bit simpler.  

Since I'm not doing the Tiger Stripes, I'm just going to pour my milk on top of the boba and stir.

And that's it.  Cutting up the bananas in the beginning is a bit time consuming, but not really that much.  Cooking the boba is more time consuming.  But assembling the drink is not that bad.

​The finished drink.  Ain't it sweet?  Well, you'd have to taste it to know. 

To recap on the ingredients:

*1 medium to large banana
*about 1 1/3 cup of milk, or just however much works with your blender
*1/2 to 1 teaspoon Banana Spice, or to taste, or other spices to your taste
*1/4 cup of cooked boba or as much as you like
*1 tablespoon of brown sugar, or to taste

You could use maple syrup in place of the brown sugar to coat the boba if you want.  Maple syrup pairs really well with bananas.

You could add some caramel sauce, too, if you're feeling fancy and you want to raise your sugar level dangerously.  


​

So, there you go!  Lots of options to personalize, and adjust sugar levels and such.  Enjoy!  

Wow, I didn't realize how long I've been away.  I've been doing a lot.  A lot of little things.  Let me tell you about it.

I still struggled with some illnesses/injuries, and am finally getting around to feeling better.  I finished the "Secret Project" I was talking about in the previous blog post, it's been more than a year?  Wow.  I have to integrate my Facebook Knittingfoole page in here somehow, I've been posting there.  More information about the "Secret Project" will have to wait, however. I've got something else to tell you about.

I've been working on postcards.

I'm going to be offering them for sale on a limited basis.  Let me explain.

I've considered having an Etsy store.  Actually, I had one for a few months a long time ago. I never sold even one thing on there.  But it was only up for a very short time.  However, I've heard that Etsy is not so great for small sellers nowadays.  Also, I'd have to figure out taxes and whatnot.

I don't really want this to be a "business."  My whole mode of operation is that I "solve problems" for people.

Someone asks me, "Can you make [something that solves a problem for them]?" and together we figure out what I can make to solve their problem.  They pay me, either in some form of cash, a barter, or a combination thereof.  Usually just enough to cover materials and a bit for my time.  I'm not looking to make a bundle.  But it would be nice to be able to not have to worry about where the money for materials to continue making things for people will come from.

So, I don't think I'm going to have a store on Etsy or anywhere else.  I will probably figure out how to have a "Garage Sale" here on this website somehow.  

In the meantime, let's talk Birthday Postcards.

I'm offering these for sale. I only have this one set!  If you're interested, contact me via the contact form on this website OR if you've found me through one of my social media accounts, contact me there.  I've set up a Telegram account for this sort of thing, I'll link it to this website somehow, soon I hope.  Keep a weather eye out for it.  I've also got a Discord for chatting about Crafty Things, but I don't know how to use it yet. I'll let you know about that when I get it organized as well.

So many things! But, postcards.

These are not up to my usual standards. They are what I would consider "Seconds."  Do you remember Seconds in the department store? Those were things they would sell at a discount because they had some little defect that did not otherwise affect the use of the item.  Like a pair of socks that had the wrong color on the heel or something but you could still wear them.  Nowadays they call this "normal variation" and sell them full price. ::eye roll:: ANYWAY... See the little gel pen smudge? I don't like it.  It's not really **that** bad.  And whiteout would have made it worse.  Believe me. I would send this postcard to someone.  Maybe not an art critic, but to one of my kids or brothers or something....yeah, I would. The white gel pen on the black banner is not as good as I would have liked, either.  It's getting harder and harder to find a good white pen lately.  Even the Gelly Rolls seem to be slipping.  

But I digress.

The little defects.

On this card, I forgot to erase the pencil guidelines before I treated it with Dorland's to seal it.

I could try erasing it.  But after putting the wax on...no, I'd rather not wind up with that result. So, the pencil marks remain.  I think it looks kind of quaint.  Maybe that's just me.

Yeah, probably just me.

But, it's still usable.

Kinda rustic.

​Maybe.

As I said, I've only got this one set.  My plan is to make more sets, like for Thank You cards or just plain sending a note cards, Wish You Were Here when travelling, etc.  I thought of maybe Condolence Cards, but that would be a regular folding card, not a postcard, I think.  That would be tacky, in my opinion. But, I would prefer to do this kind of thing on commission so I could make what a person needed, not just some random thing.  But I probably will make Birthday and Note cards available semi-regularly.  My problem with pricing is shipping.  For all six, it looks like it could cost up to $10 to ship them, because the envelope to send them in would be rigid and probably very close, if not more than, a quarter of an inch.  Both those things can cause a price increase in shipping.  They don't weigh much, though.  I may have to go down to the post office and talk to a postal employee just to make sure I have my facts correct.  I also want to make sure you can use a standard postcard stamp on these.  I have the dimensions correct, but the fact that they're watercolor paper and a bit thicker than regular postcards might make a difference.  Even so, all you'd have to do is use a regular stamp.  Annoying, but not overly so.  Oh! Another thing.  I was thinking of selling these with postcard stamps on.  But since these are Seconds, I'm not going to do that.  To keep the price down I'm selling these without stamps.  Later cards that I'm sure of the quality and that they qualify for postcard price will get the stamps attached and will cost quite a bit more.

Now, what next?

I'm going to make a Postcard Page with all the pics and details, and if you're interested, contact me via the contact form or on Facebook or Twitter.  First come, first served.  (If the cards have been sold, maybe we can make a deal about a custom pack for you! Please feel free to ask.) If I'm careful, I think I can keep shipping to about $5.  I kind of looked around for standard pricing on handmade postcards and it varies widely.  A few cents a card (for "homemade" printed cards) to 3 or 4 dollars per card (for hand painted ones).  I think $15 for a set of 6 would not be out of line.  I would also break them up, sell 3 for $9. (This would be WITHOUT stamps) Then there would be two sets.  But wait! These are Seconds, after all.  Therefore, the price would be $8 for a set of 6 and $4 for a set of 3.  Then add shipping to that.

So, go HERE or following other links around the site to the Postcard Page.  See you there!

​Have a crafty day.

Sorry I was sick, guys.  I wasn't doing too well for a while.  But I'm pretty much better now.  

I started a "secret" project, here's what it looks like so far:

Can you tell what it is yet?

This is the first time I've attempted something like this.  Once it's finished, I'll do a whole post about it.

The other projects I've been working on are tea towels and napkins and things.  Let me just put up some pictures of what I've been working on.

I made a few sets of towels and napkins and bread cloths.

I'm still working on the process, and I'm not sure that I'm totally pleased with the outcome.

I did made myself a nice tea towel for use in my kitchen, I'll show that one at the end and explain a bit more about whether I like these towels or not.

​This is the kitchen towel for the first set I made.  I embroidered a little line on this one near the ends, I didn't really like that idea, though.  I abandoned that idea because I figured it wouldn't stand up to repeated washing.  This towel and the napkins are made from Wal Mart fat quarters, they are not of the very best quality.  This was really just an experiment.

It turned out decently, though.

​Here are the napkins.  This was all made from sets of fat quarters.  I think the lighter yellow and lighter purple were from one set and the more vibrant batik ones were from another set.  It seemed like they could go together for my purposes.

​Here's the Dalmatian towel.  I cut the darker fabric a bit larger so that when it was sewn it automatically mitered the corners and made a little lining on the opposite side.

I abandoned that idea as well, because doing this for a smaller size is just too fiddly.  I've got no problem doing this with something bigger, like a blanket, but a towel is just a little to much work for too little impact.

​This set was made from not quite a yard each of two fabrics instead of fat quarters, so I managed to arrange things to not only make some napkins, but a couple of bread cloths as well.  I could have sewn the bread cloths together and made another towel, but I thought a couple of lighter bread cloths would be useful in a set.

​I call this one "Roses in Bloom" for obvious reasons.  I have some more fabric which is similar but has rosebuds on it.  I may make a set of that one as well.  I was going to put the blooming roses on one side of the towel and the buds on the other, but that seemed like it would be too busy and also be too similar to make the design interesting.

I really like this one. And I can use the pink solid fabric (which I bought plenty of for two sets) with the rosebud fabric also.

​I used a yard each of the two fabrics and I had plenty for a towel, bread cloths and napkins. 

I debated on this one on whether I was going to make two towels or a towel and two bread cloths (as before the bread cloths are basically cut from the same raw size as the fabrics for the towel) but I liked the idea of the lighter bread cloths for different purposes or maybe to use them as large napkins. 

​Napkins. If I had made them smaller I could have made six of them instead of four.  But I like a good large napkin.

So, four it was.

I might try the smaller size with the other fabric, but I'm not sure.

Those two sets could easily go together to make a set with two tea towels, four bread cloths and eight napkins.

Here's where it all started with the tea towel idea.  I made the bread cloths before already, but I wanted something a little more sturdy for a tea towel, and I wanted something special to actually use when I used my tea pot.

I found this tutorial: https://sewcanshe.com/2014-2-8-easy-fat-quarter-tea-towels-new-tutorial/ on how to make a tea towel from two fat quarters and I was a bit skeptical, as I hadn't thought that fat quarters would made a nice, soft, absorbent towel.  But the tutorial assured me that "The two layers of cotton are not too thick..." and "...the more I wash them the softer and more absorbent they become." I decided to try it out.

At first I wasn't convinced I had made a good choice in doing this.  Should I have used some terry or something?  I have to admit, however, that the more I wash them, they do absorb a bit better.

I don't expect that I am going to use this to mop up grape juice or something like that.  That stain would be way too hard to get out. But to dry a few dishes or cover up a tea pot so it stays warm....well, yeah, I think it's good for that.  And cute!

That's why I said I wasn't sure about these towels.  I will probably not make any more for a bit until I've used my lilac one for a while to see how it holds up.  If it seems like this was a good idea after all, I'll make a few more sets to put up for sale.  I'll let you know.

Anyway, that's what I've been up to.  When I feel lots more better, I'll post some more! Happy crafting!
​

Sock loom stuff

Hummingbird Feeder stuff

Apparently Weebly's function of allowing you to embed a YouTube video is broken or something, I'm not the only one having a problem and no one from Weeby is answering any questions, so here is a link to a video of the feeder in action: Hummingbird

NOTE: Sorry I got this out late.  My allergies have really been tough lately! 

It's a Friday in Lent.  For me, and, well, every Friday, that means it's fish day.  I think I've finally found something I can dress up or down and change around enough so that I have a simple go-to recipe for when I'm stumped about what to eat on Friday.  And I usually have all the ingredients on hand unless it's just before a shopping day.

​First things first.  Wash your hands.  Since this is a home kitchen, I don't wear gloves, but I do wash my hands thoroughly and often.  I use Hibiclens periodically.  It was recommended by my daughter's pediatrician.  That's what I used this morning just because I haven't refilled the regular liquid soap dispenser.  But anyway, however you do it, wash your hands, because I'm telling you right now I don't stand on ceremony.  We're going to be shaping these tuna patties by hand.  No special tools needed.  Just your mitts. So be prepared.

I'm not going to put a picture of little bowls of ingredients and go through the measurement of each one because I don't measure very much.  You start with two cans of tuna which you have thoroughly drained and one cup of bread crumbs.  I like to make my own bread crumbs.  We're going to put in two large eggs in a bit, and that's pretty much all I measure for this.  Pretty much everything else is to taste, but I'll give you can idea of what I do.  I dice up about half of an onion, it depends on how much you like onion.  I have this vegetable chopper thing (I might do a post about that later on) that can dice things up really small. If you dice it really small it cooks up nicely with the patty so it's not too raw when you've fried these up.  Then the dumping of the spices starts.  I do tend to measure out 1/2 teaspoon salt just because I don't like too much salt but the rest is pretty much sprinkle in.  Things like: garlic powder, onion powder, turmeric, chili flakes, parsley, etc.  The things you like.  No more than about one teaspoon of each I should say.  Go easy on the hot spices if you're not into the hot foods so much. Things like cumin also go good with tuna.  Again, pick and choose according to your taste.  I also like to sprinkle in some Chipotle Tabasco. I love that stuff.  Maybe any amount up to about two teaspoons? Maybe more, I just pour it in.  I go heavy on the parsley, too, as the dried parsley flakes I've got tend to be a bit bland.  Beat up your eggs separately and then pour those in, and mix everything up. Get everything distributed evenly. Almost forgot! The cheese.  Cheese is important.  The first time I made these I had some Gouda on hand and shredded that up with a grater and dumped it in.  Somewhere around four ounces.  Again, to your taste.  The 2nd and 3rd time I made these I only had the plastic can sprinkle Parm on hand, but that turned out reasonably well, probably about 1/2 cup of that.  I usually put that in before the eggs but don't stress too much about the order you put things in.  Just make sure it's mixed well before you start making the patties.  Also, the original recipe I got the idea from (I got this idea from The Cooking Foodie's Tuna Patty recipe, but mine is quite different) called for rolled oats instead of bread crumbs. If that's what you've got, try it.  I guess cracker crumbs or maybe a crushed up corn flake cereal would work too?  Anything that you would put into meatloaf as a filler would probably work.  Who knows? I've been baking a lot so I usually have bread crumbs on hand.  Just go for it.

​

I recently made a huge batch of Polenta and spread it in a rectangle casserole dish and chilled it and cut it into pieces.  For some reason in my mind I've associated this Polenta with the Tuna Patties.  Maybe it's because the pan is already hot and the Polenta is so good fried up in some olive oil.  Crispy on the outside, creamy on the inside.  Just make sure the pan is still hot before you put the Polenta in or you'll get a mushy but partially crispy mess. 

Since it's Lent, and Fridays in general are penitential for us, I try to keep things simple and not flashy.  The Polenta fits the bill perfectly.  A salad would also be good, or some sliced tomato. I also make a sauce out of mayo, tomato paste and sweet relish to put on the patties.  Hot sauce is also a popular condiment for these.  Cocktail or tartar sauce would probably also be good but I don't tend to keep these things on hand.

Well, there's the long and short of it.  I hope if you try these, they work out great for you.  The main thing is not to stress, and to make them to your taste.

PLEASE NOTE:

Since this is Lent, I'm kind of taking a halfway break from some social media and online things.  To that end, this is going to be my last post until Lent is over.  Have a blessed Lent, and pray very hard for our world.  Things are more complicated than the MSM would have you believe and many everyday people are going to be hurt because people at the top want to play games with people's lives. Ciao for now.

So, I was going to blog about making my own bias tape.  I guess I never did.  It was easier than I thought, but I didn't take any pictures.  You get more than 5' from one fat quarter. Probably like way more, I don't remember how much.  Here it is.

I had no plans about how I was going to use it.  I just made it.  Because I could.  What was I going to make that needed black with white polka dot bias tape?  Who knows? It just needed to exist.

So, some time goes by and I'm experimenting with making a liner for my "banneton" (aka Dollar Store colander) because just laying a towel in there and flouring it works but it's hard to make sure the towel's not flippity flapping around too much. But, all the patterns I was seeing were highly complicated trapezoids with an added rectangle piece and then you have to calculate the right size circle for the bottom--woooooo boy, too much work for me.

I figured if I could get a circle of fabric with a wide enough circumference and put a channel in to run some elastic to keep it taut around the rim of the colander, it would just settle in the well of the colander and just kind of be OK until I put the bread in to rise.

I wanted things to be as simple as possible. I got so caught up in the process I didn't take pictures.  Naughty me.

 

The first one I made, I made just about an inch bigger around than the top of the colander.  Not ~~~quite~~~ enough.  The next one I did maybe a little too big, but, hey, better too big than too little, and maybe it will have other uses as well.  I used the bias tape to make the channel to put the elastic through to draw it up.  And I saved the first one, it fits pretty well in one of my Corningware bowls that I sometimes use to serve rolls or bread slices in, so that works out well.

The reason I'm making this all about the bias tape was how easy it was to apply it around the circumference of the circle.  I was not looking forward to sewing it on, or sewing it up on the back to finish the channel.  But it turns out my fears were unfounded.

As it turned out, homemade bias tape is much easier to work with (in my opinion so far anyway) than commercially produced bias tape.  The stuff I get at the store is so stiff and hard to work with it makes me cringe just thinking about it.  My homemade stuff was soft and pliable and worked out really well.

Despite loving the homemade stuff, I probably won't use it all the time, because it is a somewhat complicated process to make the stuff.  It's not really that hard, just a bunch of steps that you must make sure and get right the first time, no exceptions.  But if you pay attention, you have a good final product.

And, as The Critical Drinker says, "Anyway, that's all I've got for today" but I'm not going to tell you to "go away." LOL

​Have a great one!!! Ciao for now!