Tuesday Ramble

It is fairly quiet here in my little corner of the world.  We had some rain over the weekend and it has rained all day today.  Our local weatherman is predicting storms for the end of the week, but unless I see nasty clouds headed my way, I don't get too excited.  The weathermen here get all wild about winter storms, talking like the storm of the century is coming, and usually there isn't enough snowfall to notice.

The food preservation has slowed down.  We are kind of waiting for the Farmers Markets produce, which may be later this year due to the cool spring.  Generally that produce is well worth the wait.  In the meantime there are a couple of meats that I want to get into jars and on the shelves.  I have canned meatballs successfully and am all out, so that's on the list.  And if ham ever goes on sale I would like to can some more of that as well.  Until then I am just ordering sale items that I regularly use, buying enough to put a couple of cans in the cupboard and stash the rest.  Mandarin oranges were on sale, so I ordered 10 larger cans with my grocery order to be delivered tomorrow.  I think a batch of orange muffins is now on the "to do" list.

I've been looking at alternative cooking methods.  My kitchen stove is gas and even when there is no power, I can still light the burners.  But if for any reason the gas were shut off, I need a back-up.  Because of my location, I'm not crazy about grills or camp stoves out on the deck of my building.  I'm thinking they would attract unwanted attention.  And storing propane or camp stove gas in my apartment probably wouldn't be the smartest thing I have ever done.  But I saw several videos and articles about the little one-burner alcohol stoves and wondered if anyone has ever used one.  I know that the Heet used in vehicles and other kinds of alcohol can be used in these burners, and that might not be quite as bad to store as other fuels.

So until I am back to canning, I am working on projects that have sat far too long.  I have enough of these made for a quilt.

This is all hand sewing, but it is relaxing for me.  I'm in the process of sewing all the hexagon flowers together using a sage green fabric for the connecting hexagons.  I may finish this quilt this year and I may not.  But it keeps me busy and I enjoy it.  I really need a trip to the fabric store.  If you are a quilter, you know that we often have several quilts in various stages of completion and that we can never have too much fabric!

I'm feeling a bit sorry for Oldest Son who worked in the rain all day.  For supper I'm heating up the delicious chicken and rice soup he made a couple of days ago, because I don't want it to go to waste, and am having grilled cheese sandwiches with it.  But thinking that just wasn't enough, I made a Peach Crisp that just came out of the oven.  I hope it tastes as good as it smells!