A more productive day

I had a hard time being productive a few days last week, so I made myself a few goals for today:

• I'd post something thoughtful on my sabbatical blog. DONE!
  
• I'd finish a sewing project. DONE!
  
• I'd make a big batch of some kind of food to put into the freezer. SIMMERING!
  
• I'd make some Mexican food, from scratch, for dinner for Cinco de Mayo. WILL DO THAT IN THE NEXT HOUR!
• I'd do some laundry! DONE!
  

The sewing project was a bag from a recent special edition magazine from Better Homes & Gardens Creative line - Bags, Pillows & Pincushions. The bag I made was featured on page 46. I was looking for a larger bag that I could take on trips, or use to hold books/etc. while going to the office. This bag looked like it might work. I modified it in a few ways:

• I used medium-weight canvas as a stabilizer, rather than heavy-weight interfacing.
• I used cotton webbing inside the handle, to make it easier on my shoulder.
  
• I added a zipper pocket inside (following these directions). The written pattern has just two open pockets inside.
  
• I added a zipper-top. I made the bag without a zipper on the top and it was just too floppy. You couldn't use this bag for much; everything would have fallen out! It only had a single clasp in the middle, which is not enough for a bag that's roughly 13 X 3. So, I improvised a zipper-closure. It's not perfect, but I'm quite happy with it, considering I don't really know what I'm doing!

The outside fabrics are from Amy Butler, purchased at a shop in New Braunfels, TX. The bag is sitting over my antique rocking chair. In front of the bag are two small pouches - one with velcro (rough directions here) and one with a zipper (better directions here).




The first cooking project is simmering away on the stove presently. I'm making the classic ragu bolognese recipe from Marcella Hazan's Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking. Prep took about 45 minutes (I tripled the recipe, to make sure there was enough to freeze), and it's now been simmering for about 3 hours. I think it has at least another hour, or maybe two to go before it's finished. From that description, maybe you can tell why this isn't a recipe we make often! Matt made it once before, and it was yummy. This is a gift to myself, really - one night in June, I'll come home from work exhausted, but will be able to pull off a home-made meal thanks to a container of bolognese in the freezer!

The second cooking project will be Green Chile & Chicken soft tacos from Rick Bayless' Mexican Everyday. It will have grilled poblano peppers and onions, along with chicken. I think I'll top it with our favorite avocado-tomatillo sauce (which I pulled out of the freezer - I love little rubbermaid containers!) It winds up tasting a bit like my favorite item at Taco Deli, the chicken frontera fundito (not entirely, but close). I figured the ragu would need more time to simmer, and it's also Cinco de Mayo, so tacos seemed like a good choice.

The Marcella Hazan cookbook is probably only for those who want to spend a lot of time cooking (though the food is good, the recipes are time-consuming). But, I'd happily recommend the Rick Bayless cookbook (that title, or others) to anybody! The recipes are actually doable on a weeknight, are very tasty, and are usually fairly healthy. If you want to try his dishes before buying the book, you can find quite a few on the Frontera website, or check out the show on PBS.