And There Went a Week

I didn't intend to take a blogging hiatus. But I've been experimenting with a new schedule in which I get up and head straight to campus to do some reading before class. The benefit of this schedule is that I don't spend an hour or so online before getting my day's work started. The drawback is that blogging fell by the wayside. But I'm trying to find a way to make it all work together.

So a few random things:
*I made this spinach-artichoke dip for a Super Bowl party. It was good but I think I'm going back to my old spinach-artichoke recipe --- a recipe I'll share here as soon as I make it and can photograph it. It's not as healthy as this yogurt version, but I just like my pepper-jack laced spinach-artichoke dip.

*A few readers have asked me for tips on getting started with sewing and quilting. I'm pondering the best way to do this and will soon offer my take on a few things. In the meantime, the Sew Mama Sew blog has dedicated February to Fat-Quarter month and is showing some great projects one can make (pretty easily) with fat quarters. Doll quilts may not be up your alley, but the basic instructions hold for any size quilt.

Image from here

Another one of today's projects is a patchwork floormat, another simple, anything-can-work, you-don't-need-a-lot-of-experience activity. Instruction from Montessori by Hand for a similar patchwork bath mat can be found here.

*This weekend brought home how important cooking is to me and the degree it stabilizes me. I was in a funk on Sunday for no particular reason -- it was even sunny and warm (well, warm for a midwest winter; I could run outside without freezing my face or feet). I spent the afternoon cooking (lentil soup (recipe forthcoming), the aforementioned spinach-artichoke dip, and whole-wheat cheese bread. I thought about a dinner party menu for next weekend and, poof, life was good again. I need to remember this lesson for the future.