Fried Chicken soup and more...

I brought this to work today and had numerous people following their noses to the lunchroom only to be surprised by the cause of it.

5 to 6 chunks of batter-fried chicken (Mark's recipe) frozen,
1 boullion cube, with water
olive oil
a handful of canned carrots
diced red pepper
diced onion
garlic and onion powder
oregano
lots and lots of black pepper ground up
a bit of salt

Put that all in a plastic container and brought it to work - it marinated together, and by lunchtime it was ready to put in my ceramic bowl in the microwave for about four minutes (2 min at a time). It was VERY good. I had made something like it at home last night as a steamer pack and it was quite good that way, too -- although I wished for more of a gravy-like garlic marinade to pour over it then.

Tonight when I got home I continued the cravings and went to the kitchen to make what I thought would be a soup and quesadilla sort of thing... but I ended up putting the raw tomato in the blender with some more carrots, spices, boullion, pepper and chopped cheese and mixing it all up fine and then cooking it to warm. Looked awful. Tasted great when dipped with tortilla shells and then drunk straight from the bowl.

I think the cold is about halfway fought - need to keep it up and hope it doesn't double back on me. Too bad Esme won't eat any of it - Daddy is getting her to eat some regular chicken noodle soup with him during the day.



Fabric from April, 2010.. some of it has been used and some is in my stash

Part of me says I should enlist help to buy 2 yards of light blue cotton fabric (any print or solid, content more important).... after the cutting table ladies keep running away from me :( But, I'm well and able (willing not quite) to wait until Wednesday (my next day off). My fingers are itching over the new pattern and I'll go poke in what I have to see if there is enough of anything. I know I have one yard left of the fabric in the very middle... maybe I can find something to coordinate with it. Maybe I can scrape together some of those purples and make something? Not sure...


Patterns that came in the mail! YAY!
The one on top is the next dress I hope to make for Esme

LATER: I just realized something. My vintage 1960 size 2 pattern and the modern size 3 pattern are the SAME size.... but the vintage one has a 5/8 inch seam allowance and the modern one has a 1/4 inch seam allowance. So.... I'm shooting for the size 2 pattern anyway, with some ludicrous fabric I have hanging about that Esme is bound to like... I'm thinking LOUD large cow print, with green bits in between.... Maybe the cold virus rewired something - but I'm in the mood to be silly.

Stuffy Noses and Scratchy Throats

Mark and I have different degrees of them - and Esme is 'snorking' but seems to be her cheerful self. She is talking even more and being VERY observant about some things - she asked me for her sheep game again last night by saying not only did the sheep have a hat but there were letters in the waterfall we need to crack the code and make a word. HAHA. Her auditory memory is doing better than mine! I kind of dislike that game for the repetition - but she likes it and I went there because she asked so thoroughly. We did some counting with mama and baby elephant cutouts I made last night. Mark mentioned that was a HUGE amount of cleanup.. (after elephants, not the cutouts).

I've made chicken and carrot soup with garlic powder to bring to work today. I am going to work. I can talk and breathe and swallow and my nose isn't running down my face, yet. And it is absolute that whoever gave me the bug was at work the past few days - so many people complaining about being sick the past few weeks. It just flows from one person to the other until we've all had it/got it etc. Oh, the joys of the public venue! Someone had strep a week and a half ago -- thought I would have gotten that by now if it was that... but again, with so many people in the mix it could just be getting around to us now. I hope that isn't it. If the sore throat continues to worsen I'll probably see the doctor on Monday. And - I'll be watching Esme for any other signs, too.

LATER: Came home from work an hour early - throat not quite as sore, maybe it is not strep. I've been taking cough drops all day. I'm still sneezing though (which always tears up the back of my throat), and the runny nose threatens to get worse tomorrow. Esme's nose is pretty stuffed up - worse when she is crying, of course. I gave her a bath earlier which she enjoyed immensely, and she was doing well afterward, until she threw a big fit. She was being mean to her kitten and generally disagreeable at 8:30, so we made some 'bed' threats and tried to follow through on them. The fit and subsequent 'no I walk/show you stuff/play' bed escapes lasted nearly until 9:30... finally she agreed to stay in bed if I read 'Go Dog Go', which I did. And she did. She fell asleep very nicely afterward hugging her frog toy like a pillow.


Mr.Frog, as pillow

I would love to go sort through some of my fabric and get some laid aside for another pajama jacket and pair of pants for myself... but she would likely wake up then. And, I need to be at work at eight am tomorrow. *growl* I know I'll have to make it, unless this cold turns into a monster overnight. Drinking lemon tea and going to bed.

The first two of the new dress patterns came in the mail yesterday. I am really looking forward to working with them!