I have always been a somewhat decent homemaker, knowing how to clean house, wax floors, organize closets and cabinets, cook, and common things like this, but I have always wanted to be a seamstress. Years ago, when my boys were little, I made several play suits for them and I can sew up a tear or rip and sew on a button, but I have always wanted to be able to really sew something fantastic like a quilt.
As a child I would always love to go to my grandmother’s when she would be hosting a quilting bee. I was just fascinated as my grandaddy would lower the big quilting rack from the ceiling of her sitting room. It was not as big as I envisioned it being, but I do believe it was big. It took up the entire room when it was dropped to working height. I realize now that the room itself was not as big as I thought it to be then.
She would always invite her friends and close neighbors to come to the frolic and it would be like our “ladies’ luncheons.” She would cook something before they got there, and they would enjoy her lunch at noon as they took a break. I was fortunate enough to be present for at least two of these special events, and I have never forgotten the great learning experience or the fun that it was for me as a young girl.
Everyone who had a needle in her hand was an expert hand seamstress. The stitches were tiny and tight and so very neat. My grandmother let me sew a few stitches and bragged about how good they looked. She really loved me because they were not tiny or tight but loose and scraggly.
Now days all the hand work is done on a sewing machine made especially for this quilting. I have a quilt top that my mother hand sewed and pieced together while my daddy was in the hospital taking chemo before he passed away with cancer. It’s not a fancy Log Cabin Quilt, Wedding Ring, Crazy Quilt or any of the more recognized quilts. It’s made of very small squares cut from scraps of dresses and clothing she had made for our family and some discounted materials that she bought at a discount fabric house. But it’s beautiful to me because she “hand sewed” the little pieces together as she kept my daddy company at the end of his life. I have talked to a quilt maker, and she is going to quilt it for me. No, not from the big wooden quilt rack lowered from the ceiling but it will be a forever treasure to me.
I love cabbage and ground chuck, and I especially like cabbage rolls but they are difficult and time consuming, so I have made a recipe that’s almost as good and lots less work.
Cabbage Casserole
1 pound of ground chuck
l large chopped onion
½ head of chopped cabbage
6-ounce can of tomato sauce
¼ cup of water
1 chopped garlic clove
salt and pepper
Brown onion and garlic in a pan with 1 teaspoon of olive oil. Add the ground chuck meat. Then add remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil and simmer for 30 minutes. You have cabbage rolls without the rolls.
