Slicing & Freezing Sourdough Sandwich Loaf

 Saturday I made two sourdough sandwich loaves. One was plain bread, using hard white wheat; and the other also used hard white wheat but I added sauteed jalapeno pepper pieces and small pieces of cheddar cheese.

That was a big hit. In fact, the loaf is over half gone and the plain bread had not been cut yet.

I went ahead and cut both loaves into slices, put the sliced bread back into the bag I had each loaf in, then put both of those into a 2 gallon zipper freezer bag.

A reader on the other blog had suggested putting the bread back into the bag and not putting two or three slices in separate bags as she suggested. 

The bread that has been sliced, frozen, then defrosted and toasted really does taste 100% fresh. I wish I had been brave enough to try this years ago. It's so much easier to make two or three or more loaves at one time, freeze it and not have to be making bread every few days.

September, 2025 Cross Stitching Plans

 Having a plan, in writing, and keeping myself accountable helps me stay on track with my stitching . . and anyone who knows me knows I need lots of help staying on track! Keeping everything in the journal, as well as writing about it here will hopefully help.

Stickers are added for September. I used to spend a lot more time on stickers than I do now . . some months don't even get stickers but that's ok.

In the cross stitching world, September is Sampler September where many stitchers will either start a bunch of samplers or work to finish samplers that are started or a mix of both.

I have no new starts planned for September. I really want to finish some of what I have started, and make good progress on those I cannot finish in September.

Here's the plan:

This is G. Leger by Reflets de Soie. I had actually done a bit more on this but made a mistake and had to rip back so this is a photo from a few days ago. Right now, I'm at 4.3% completion.

Goal:  I would like to end September at 10% complete.

Next is Let Freedom Ring by Lila's Studio. Finished, the stitched area will be 15-1/2 x 12" on 40 count. It is very stitch heavy, with 35,827 stitches. I would love to have this finished, framed and on the wall by July 4, 2026. Currently I'm at 26.13% completion. 

Goal: I would love to be at 40% by the end of September.

Third is Let Freedom Ring by Teresa Kogut. I have 33% completed on this one.

Goal: Finish this by the end of September.

Fourth is Long May She Wave which is in The Broad Stripes and Bright Stars by Teresa Kogut. There are 7 charts in this book and I want to stitch all seven of them! This one is 21.5%.

Goal: This is another one I hope to have completed by the end of September.

Fifth and last is Winter Rose Manor by Brenda Gervais. I don't even have this one in Mark-up yet so I'm only guessing but I'm going to say I'm 50% finished.

Goal: Because most of the harder parts are done (borders except for a few flowers, house outlined, snowy area with the trees below the house, etc.), I'm thinking I can get to 75% by the end of September.

I'll share progress reports throughout the month but will have a final September report at the end of the month. Wish me luck!

Eggplant Salsa

For those of you who have been following me on Patchwork Times, you're probably cringing at the thought of another Eggplant Salsa post. Yes, I'll admit that I a so in love with this recipe. When I make the recipe, I triple it and I've made it 5 times this year so I have about 50 pints of it to get me through the year. 

I used two boneless, skinless chicken breasts, sliced them lengthwise into three pieces (I don't like huge, thick chicken breasts!), then sliced those into "slivers. Those were seasoned with salt, pepper, and Cajun RedHead (my favorite Cajun spice). They will mail order. They are in my hometown but they do not know me. Not affiliated in any way but they say they have almost 50% less sodium than other brands. If you've tried a Cajun spice before and thought it was too salty, Cajun RedHead is NOT too salty. I always add extra salt and we are not heavy salt users. OK . . so much for the promotion . . 

Once the chicken was sauteed til it was almost done, I added one 8 oz. package of mushrooms that I sliced, one jalapeno pepper that I seeded and sliced, sauteed those, then added about 1/2 cup of white wine (the kind in the box - nothing fancy around here). Near the end, I added a handful of sliced fresh basil.

We had this dish over cooked, hulled barley, which has less net carbs than does white or brown rice. We also had black beans that I had canned a while back.

Until recently, I would not eat Feta cheese. Didn't like it at all. Vince loves it and we bought some about a year ago at Sam's Club and that Feta is my very favorite cheese. I eat it on everything. 

Several times a year, I will go on a bean canning binge. I'll can five or six pints each of black beans, garbanzo beans/chickpeas, pinto beans, small red beans, great northern beans, cannellini beans and Lima beans. I don't like black eyed peas and Vince doesn't like kidney beans so I don't can those. I will usually can 12 jars of cannellini beans because those are both of our favorites. I usually try to can 5 or 6 dozen pint jars over several days. We eat beans almost every day but not EVERY day so the canned beans will last us three to four months. As soon as the garden canning is done, I'll get busy canning beans to restock those shelves.

Welcome Friends!

 This is a very basic blog - no ads (I hope). If you see ads, they are not there because I requested them! I'm sure there will be changes along the way. Please be patient while I re-learn Blogger. As always, if you see anything terribly wrong or that just needs improvement, please let me know.

For now, I have set all comments to be held for approval. The old blog was being overrun by spam comments. We'll see how this one goes and I may turn off the moderation but please know it isn't because of something YOU did.

The best news is that I think there's a place to sign up to get an email when I post. It may take a while to get that figured out too. Again . . patience, please.

I will try to post at least once a day. Everything will pretty much be the same as before. Patchwork Times will remain in its current location with all the posts until the hosting I have paid for runs out  . . sometimes in the Spring of 2026 I think. So, if there's anything you want from there, please find it and save it.

I started out with Blogger in 2004 as Sunshine Quilts. I had that blog from 2004 - 2007, then switched to another blogger account for probably another four years, then to Patchwork Times in about 2012 (I think). Blogger is more basic and something I can hopefully deal with and "fix" by myself. We shall see.

Anyway, it's good to feel like I have a new home and maybe things will get back to normal with everyone finding me and finding something to enjoy here.

Thank you all so much for being a huge part of my life!