there's no place like gnome.

Dave and I have discovered gold. Gold in the form of lovely seasonal produce — spaghetti squash. We’re obsessed.

We go through a couple a week so we went to our local produce market place last weekend to stock up. We bought six spaghetti squashes. And then yesterday I bought a couple more at Aldi. (For only 43 cents a pound!) We’re like squirrels, stockpiling for winter.

We’re on a kick where we don’t incorporate carbs into our evening meals. Hello, spaghetti squash and its perfect base for pretty much anything. Spaghetti squash lasagna. Spaghetti squash with marinara, ground turkey, and cheese. Spaghetti squash with leftover barbecue from the confirmation family night. On the menu this weekend: chicken bacon ranch spaghetti squash casserole.  Maybe sometime we’ll try spaghetti squash pizza crust or spaghetti squash hash browns.

Here’s the other piece that makes me love spaghetti squash so much more: it’s SO easy to cook in the Instant Pot. If I had to roast the squash in the oven, I probably would not be such an exuberant fan. (Roasting for nearly an hour, probably chopping a finger trying to cut it in half beforehand, blood, etc. no thanks.) Enter the Instant Pot. Poke a few holes in the squash. Put it in the Instant Pot (raised up from the bottom; I use a little metal trivet thing) with a bit of water. It’s done in 30 minutes (15 – 18 minutes at actual pressure, depending on the size of the squash) and I still have all of my fingers.

Spaghetti squash can do no wrong in our books. We’ve already determined that next year the garden will have dedicated space for this fall/winter veggie.

Since the wedding is in the not-too-distant past, do you know what that means? I get to sew for fun again. No more napkins for me for a long while!

I finished up a baby quilt for a new boy named Brecken last week. Brecken, born to my cousin, Mike, and his wife, Jennie, is bound to be an adventurer in the making. No doubt he’ll be out among the trees and at the cabin in no time.

And so his quilt is one of trees with a border/backing fabric full of outdoors-i-ness. It’s off in the mail soon, hopefully to be enjoyed and loved and used.

(Did you notice? Now that I have a live-in husband, I have a live-in quilt holder-upper.)

Next up? Finishing a quilt that’s been in the works for a year or so. A version of this. It’s taking me forever because it is pushing my sewing abilities to the brink! There’s also a jelly roll rug in my future, another baby quilt, and sewing for the fall craft shows. Let’s just say there is no lack of projects in this girl’s sewing room. (I’m sure there never will be.)