Yesterday was sewing/computing day at Pam’s house.  I should explain.  Pam is my sister-in-law and she is the computer/gadget geek of our JSS Bee.  Ladies come from far and wide to take advantage of her computer expertise.  And she loves her computer toys!  You actually met Pam way, way, way, WAY back on Day One of this blog (that would be on April 29.)  But here she is again to refresh your memory.
 

She was chopping lettuce for a fabulous Pistachio Crusted Chicken Salad – it was VERY yummy!  But I’m getting ahead of myself.  I was telling you about her learning three four things!  But I think I’ll have to tell you about them as she learned them – so I’ll intersperse them throughout the blog today.  And I learned some things too!  So I’ll throw those in now and then.  A big learning day for all – and now you get to learn some things too.  What fun!  Learn, learn, learn.  It’s always good to learn new things.

The first thing I learned is that Jack really, really gets excited when I come to visit.  So excited that he flipped all the rugs in the kitchen trying to get to me when I came in the door.  He makes me feel very special!  And in case you haven’t guessed, Jack is the dog.

See how fast he was moving?  His tail was wagging and he was moving ninety to nothing (not sure what that saying means, but it seemed to fit here.)  See how he flipped the rug up?  And I’m going to have to learn what the “fast dog moving” setting is on my camera to get a better picture next time.  Seems I still had the camera on “slow quilter showing quilts” setting.  Quite different from “fast dog moving.”  But I think you get it.

Pam was busy in the kitchen when I arrived, preparing lunch for us.  Which is, of course, why I was there.  I’m all about being where the food is.  I think you learned that about me from the day at Suz’, the day at Susan’s, the Bee days, etc.  So when she called and said she was making lunch, I was all over being there.  Couldn’t keep me away.  Well, the food and the fact that I could gather more blogging material to share with all of you.  Because I’m all about the blog…. and the food…. and the blog… and the food.  So if you’d like to appear in my blog, just invite me over for food.  And I’m really pretty easy to please.  Just in case you were thinking you had to cook like Susan did.  Although carrot cake, for sure, will get me there every time.  Even if it’s on the nightstand.

See how fast Pam was moving while she chopped the veggies for the salad?  Once again, camera set on “quilt blocks holding still” and not on “fast moving cook in kitchen.”  I still have much to learn about photography, it appears.

“Close your eyes quick, Sally!”  Pam chopped up loads of these for the salad too, so it was a very good thing that Sally wasn’t there.

And this yummy Pistachio Crusted Chicken got sliced up and put on the top of the salad too – YUM!  And healthy!  Thank you, Pam!

And the making of lunch brought us to…….. wait for it……. wait for it…………

Pam’s Learning Experience #1
I learned this first from Rachael Ray.  And then again from The Pioneer Woman.  Pam had some fresh basil from her garden that she was going to tear up and throw in the salad.  What?  Tear up the basil?  Didn’t she know how to make basil chiffonade?  Horrors!  So I showed her.  You can see a really good demonstration of how to do it here.  Just in case you need to know how to make basil chiffonade too.  And you do need to know how.  It’s an important thing to learn!

This is Pam making the basil chiffonade.  And may I just add right here that it is waaaaayyyyy easier to take pictures of someone else chopping something with a knife than it is to take pics of yourself.  Even if the person chopping is doing it lightning fast and the camera is still on the “slow, blurry” setting.

….. and Pam tossing the basil chiffonade onto the salad.  Can you tell I like that word?  Chiffonade, chiffonade, chiffonade.  Say it three times and it’s yours.

The salad.  Ready to eat.  Topped with yummy Asian-style dressing.  Homemade.  The dressing, I mean.  Pam said, “Why would you want to buy dressing when you can make yummy dressing from scratch?”  Indeed.

And then……

This.  I drank it so fast that it was half gone before I remembered I needed a picture.  It was prettier when it was first set in front of me, but I couldn’t control myself.  And truth be told, this was the real reason I went to Pam’s.  She bribed me with a Cinnamon Dulce Latte.  My favorite.  She makes them special just for me.  Well, Madelyn got one yesterday too.  And you could get one if you went to Pam’s too.  She’s all about the fancy coffee.  Well, that and geek toys.  She really knows how to make a great latte.

This is the top of Pam’s fridge.  And a huge hint for why she makes a great latte.  She works at Starbucks!  (Not sure what the funny yellow bird/crown thing is in the frappuccino cup.  I’m sure there must be a story.  Maybe Pam will share it with us?)

I just realized I’ve only shared one thing Pam learned.  If we want to get through this posting before the cows come home, I’d better move it along!

Madelyn came to Pam’s to pick Pam’s computer-geek brain.  She has a new iPad and wanted some help with it!  And that brings me to Pam’s Learning Experience #2.  Surprise!  Madelyn actually taught Pam something she didn’t know about the iPad…… how to lock the screen so you could turn it and the image would not turn!  Pam was very impressed.  And Madelyn was overjoyed with how smart she was.  It isn’t every day you get to teach a computer geek something about a computer.  Unless you’re a computer geek yourself.  Madelyn might be a fabulous quilter, but I don’t think she would ever describe herself as a computer geek.  Just sayin’.

Karen was at Pam’s today too.  She was there for help from Pam on a quilt. 

She was also there to use this.  Pam’s serger.  Now one might think that would mean that Karen does not have a serger of her own.  One would be wrong if one thought that.  The real reason that she went over to use Pam’s serger is because it is easier to haul everything over to Pam’s than it is to learn how to thread your own serger.  Have you ever threaded a serger?  I’m with Karen.  Pam apparently never UNthreads hers.  So it is in a perpetual state of readiness.  Heaven help us when the thread runs out.  We’ll have to buy a new serger and hope that it comes pre-threaded.

Karen has been busy making projects for her daughter who just graduated from high school and has a new laptop.  So Karen made her a new quilt.  Sorry.  I don’t have a picture of that one.

But I do have a pic of this fabulous laptop bag that Karen made her!  With fabric that matches the quilt.

And this cool pillowcase!  Again…..matching.  Her daughter is going to be very color-coordinated with that fabulous purple.

Karen used Pam’s fancy, schmancy sewing machine while she was there too.  Pam is all about sharing all her great electronic gadgets when you visit her.  Including sewing machines and sergers.

She was working on the setting blocks for these fabulous sampler blocks with Pam’s help!  Pam has the same blocks so no, Karen’s quilt is not going to be jumbo-king sized.

And somewhere in the midst of the day, the phone rang and brought us to Pam’s Learning Experience #3…..

Karen – “Your caller ID doesn’t come up on your TV?”
Pam – “I can have the caller ID on my TV?”
Karen & Barb – “Of course you can!”

So Pam immediately stopped everything to check out the settings on her TV.  And hopefully tomorrow morning if her phone rings (let’s all call her to test it!), the ID will show on the TV screen.  Karen said it has to percolate overnight before it will work.  Makes perfect sense to me.

By the way, Pioneer Woman would be quite proud of Pam’s kitchen and I’m jealous.

Pam has two, count them, two cast iron skillets on her stove.  I only have one.  I love to cook in a cast iron skillet!

Madelyn had to leave early and received a big hug from Pam.  Actually she received several big hugs, because we had to keep doing it over and over because the picture was blurry.  After today we might be hiring a new photographer for the blog.  Or perhaps Madelyn and Pam just needed extra hugs.

We all picked out fabrics for the class we’re taking together at Quilter’s Dream tomorrow (oooo – another blogging opportunity!)  We are all about getting together for stitching as much as possible in this group.  Works for me!

And I learned that apparently it is also a dog’s job to hold down fabric to keep it from blowing away under the ceiling fan.  And I thought that job was reserved exclusively for cats.  Silly me!

Pam’s Learning Experience #4 (phew! we made it!) was all about picture taking!  I learned about Exposure Compensation from The Pioneer Woman last week.  So I shared that learning experience with Pam.  Now if I can just learn a little bit about shutter speed and blurry pictures…….. maybe next week, PW?

And these beautiful roses were sitting in Pam’s kitchen today.  But you’ll have to ask Pam what Learning Experience they provided for her.  You can ask her about them when you call her to test out her Caller ID on the TV in the morning.

Hugs,
Barb