Small Projects and Food Friday

Even though I have inherited a crazy number of vintage tablecloths from far and near, from relatives and from friends still do need to have a number of easy to wash and iron cloths for regular use.  If I had deeper pockets or spent my money more freely I would buy Marimekko fabric. The color and patterns are wonderful. The fabric wears like iron. It does cost between $30 and $50 per yard which kind of defeats the purpose of having an inexpensive and cheerful tablecloth. 

A lovely budget substitute is IKEA fabric. I bought 

two yards of this loud print. The other night I hemmed the cloth so I could use it starting tonight.

As I mitered the corners( that's a sewing term for manipulating the corner so you get  tidy diagonal folds at each corner,

I thought about how I learned this skill. I read dozens of sets of directions over and over again. I made hundreds of truly ugly miters. Every couple of years I would try to miter a corner yet again. 

I thought about how I have shown students the seemingly illogical steps that when followed leave you with a not bad looking corner. I thought about how easy it is to show someone how to manipulate fabric and how difficult it is to translate those simple moves into words.

I learned nearly everything I do in the universe of sewing by reading books over and over again. There used to always be several sewing skills that were slowly being learned by reading how to do them in a wide variety of books written over about a century. Eventually one of those sets of directions opened my understanding of the seemingly impossible.

As I completed the cloth I realized that I probably taught myself to sew in the hardest possible way. My inefficient way of learning does have a real silver lining though. I have learned that there are probably a dozen different ways to complete any task. When I teach someone a sewing skill if one method doesn't work I can pull out three or four others that will be easier for my student.

Here is my cloth ready for Shabbat.

I staged this photo andI only set my place so far. The other places will be set before we sit down to eat.

What are we eating you ask???

This was a challah baking week so we will have two of these challot.  I didn't do anything fancy because I was rushing to be ready for a client meeting. The challot rose a bit too much and sank a bit. It was just so hot. That's how it goes with summertime challot.

We are eating chicken wings. The sauce I cooked them in is made with  the following:

 Chopped candied citrus peels

Mustard

lime and Tabasco sauce

Mix. I know this looks repulsive. Just put it on the chicken. Move the chicken around in the pad during cooking so all the surfaces get brown and crispy.

The end result will be delicious.

I made gazpacho and also roasted okra with zucchini slices and smashed ripe tomatoes and spices ( I can't swear top what I used, I just know that spices were involved). Smashing the tomatoes was fun. The tomatoes were very ripe. I just squished them in my hands. It felt like the sort of thing a mother would scold a child for doing.  I ought to remember to do this the next time I cook with a child.

I think we have entered the phase of the pandemic where the return to regular life feels like yearning for the Messiah to come or like hoping that the Red Sox would win the World Series someday. 

Shabbat Shalom!