Sauerkraut/Sausage Skillet Supper

Our days are full working outside and it's been a challenge to get meals on the table. I mean we're not on a schedule and I can come in whenever I want to, but have to think ahead more and with fewer trips to town, I'm getting creative trying to use what I have. In my sewing room, that translates to scrap quilting. Does that mean I'm scrap cooking? 😉

I've been trying to be more intentional about using things up. Thankfully, DH is easy. I made this last week and it was quick and easy and good. It started by me needing to use up some leftover sauerkraut. The only time I buy it is when I'm making Reuben Sandwiches and we ate those twice the week before. 

Coming from a German/Austrian background, sauerkraut and sausage was a common supper, but honestly, I've never made it. My mom would make homemade sauerkraut, but I never learned how to make it and now, the jar works just fine for those Reuben sandwiches we love. 

But, I pulled this together and it sure did hit the spot. I had a handful of little red potatoes left in the pantry and threw those in too. I used a link of Polish Kielbasa because it was on sale and the whole combination kind of whisked me back to Ulm, Germany and Vienna, Austria where my folks were from. Brats would be good too.

Sauerkraut, Sausage, and Potatoes

 ( I started throwing it all together and then checked in with Pinterest and found a recipe which was pretty much what I had in the skillet. I added the onion, garlic, and caraway seeds.

Polish Kielbasa or Brats (sliced into coins)

Sauerkraut (drained)

Red Potatoes

1 diced onion

1 minced garlic clove

2 Tbsp butter

1 tsp caraway seeds

Coarse ground pepper 

*Saute sausage for 5-10 minutes until browned and a little crispy around the edges. I drain off most of the grease, and add a little butter. Toss in onions - saute for a few minutes. Toss in garlic. Add sliced red potatoes - cover and cook on low for 10 minutes Stir in sauerkraut, caraway seeds, and pepper. Simmer for another 10 minutes or until potatoes are tender. 

I served this with fresh green beans and some toasted rye bread with a side of spicy brown mustard. 

Spiced Apple Twists for dessert because there was a can of crescent rolls in the fridge leftover from when I made this last time that I needed to use, plus 2 extra Granny Smith apples in the fruit basket.

A Few Stitches

 Last Thursday DH saddled up and trailered out at 4 a.m. to help a neighbor gather some country.    

                          

Then he helped them brand on Saturday. I'm so glad we're beginning to meet folks and that he's getting to help with cow works again. We're so happy here, but he's managed ranches all his life and I think he's missed this part of it a little. Once a rancher, always a rancher and I love that about him.

Right now, our herd is 12 hours away and we're incredibly grateful to have them. Lease country is hard to come by, but we're praying for an opportunity to move them closer at some point.

While he was helping the neighbors, I started the morning on the deck and added a few stitches to my binding.

Then I popped into my sewing room. I spent an hour pressing and trimming threads from a quilt top and securing the edges by taking a final lap around it

I cut out a new apron for myself and stitched it together

That fabric is an old Cranston print and it's been in my stash for probably 30 years... and I still like it! LOL. I faintly recall wanting to make valances back when we lived at Timber Mountain. I cut some for drawstring bags and I may use more for a quilt. The library likes to raffle them off.

Then I started working on the I Spy quilt for our grandson

I'm waffling between 2 designs so that means I'll probably be making 2 which just means 1 gets to stay at Gram's house. 😉

A little bit of deck time working on binding + time spent adding stitches to projects to move them forward = a good day.

Smokey Bear Days

 I've mentioned before that the little town we now live by is home to Smokey the Bear. Every May the town celebrates his birthday and no small town celebration is complete without a parade

My inlaws love a parade so we were glad they joined us for E's first one

Sirens were quite vocal

But the kid made out like a bandit...that stash ought to last her until next year!

The weather could not have been more perfect

The kids used to live outside of Phoenix and they said it was so refreshing to live in a place where you could participate in activities outside

The day included rock painting

Face painting

A visit with Smokey

Smokey's Birthday cake

And pizza

Gram even snuck in a nap after she got home. 😉 Family days are the best!

Quilt Shop Road Trip

 About 10 days ago, I drove 90 minutes and met up with this sweet friend.

Then we drove another 90 minutes to Lovington to visit a favorite quilt shop that was closing.

Every shop has it's own personality and this one was so good. They had something for everyone...novelties, western, 30's, Civil War reproduction, Kaffe, holidays, batiks, modern, and blenders. 

The sales had been going on for some time and much of the fabric was gone. Each week the owner put a different color of fabric on sale and that probably worked well for locals, but for those of us who lived out, it was not feasible to make multiple trips. But she finally put the fabric that was left on sale and we wanted to make one last visit.

We spent a lot of time perusing and discussing options for various projects. Neither of us bought a lot, but the point of the trip was really to spend the day together and catch up.

Here's what I came home with...this fabric for an apron

A small piece of the rocket ships for an I spy quilt and the blue check for my stash...possibly cornerstones for the I Spy quilt.

We both bought the 3 pieces in the middle because it was an unusual color combination for a western quilt. I pulled the other fabrics from my stash as possible coordinates

C had this pattern that we're thinking of using

I had shown her a plaid quilt I had made for a friend that she liked and I said I was ready to make another so we pulled plaids to begin her collection.

I have a healthy plaid stash so I only added a few. It's hard for me to turn down a plaid.

These 3 prints will make a cute quilt for a little girl and I may add a few more colors and prints from my stash to the mix depending on the pattern I select

C was also wanting to find fabrics to coordinate with this fabric she had. 

                                 

I have the same fabric. It's been in our stashes for a number of years, but we never came up with a good idea of how to use it so we put our heads together. She had recently made this quilt.

I love it. The square in a square is one of my favorite blocks and we're both thinking this may work.

I pulled my vintage piece when I got home and began to pull others from my stash and send her photos

Maybe I don't have too much fabric because while we were at the shop, I knew I had those pieces and I was positive they'd be a good match. I sent her pictures of what I had and will share my fabrics with her.

We enjoyed a leisurely lunch when we got too hungry to think and then returned to the shop to have everything cut.

6 hours of driving for me, 5 for her, but definitely worth it when you get to spend the day with someone that is such a joy. We've both been pretty busy. Texts back and forth looked like this

So I'm glad we were able to find a day that worked for both of us. Sometimes our busy-ness is self inflicted, but that has not been the case for either of us lately. We were both exhausted before we met, but our buckets were filled by spending the day together.