Quilt Update and Italian Wedding Soup

I've been diligently working on my quilt everyday. I try to reserve an hour or two every afternoon to cut, piece, sew and press.

After many happy hours of solitary sewing I finally put the quilt together - pinning and basting the back to the batting to the top.

Some quilt facts:

Two hundred and twenty-four patches make up the quilt top. The patches are made up of nine 2.5 inch squares each. That adds up to 2,016 two and half inch squares.

This is what the wrong side of the quilt top looks like, so many stitches!

This is what the quilt top looks like:

I am finally at the actual hand quilting of the quilt and have new found respect for our great grandmothers and their daughters and all the other generations of women who quilted. And to think they did it without the aid of rotary cutters and electric sewing machines. After all this work I'm not sure I'll ever let anyone actually cover themselves with this blanket.

With all the snow we've been getting I find myself cooking more and more warm, satisfying food. You can make this nourishing soup in 30 minutes. It makes a nice size pot and tastes every bit as good the next day as the first.

Don't wait for an Italian wedding to make:

Italian Wedding Soup (serves 8)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

For the meatballs:

1 pound ground chicken

2/3 cup panko bread crumbs (or fine bread crumbs)

2 cloves garlic, minced

3 tablespoons fresh parsley, minced

1/4 cup grated Pecorino Romano cheese

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1 large egg

Combine all of the above and mix well. Form into 1.5 inch meatballs and place on parchment lined baking sheet. Bake for 30 minutes, turning the meatballs half way through.

While the meatballs are baking:

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 cup onion, minced

1 cup carrots (about 3 carrots), diced

3/4 cup celery (about 2 stalks), diced

10 cups chicken broth (canned or homemade)

1/2 cup white wine

1/2 cup small pasta (I use Acini di Pepe, but you can use Orzo, tubetini, stars or any other small pasta)

12 ounces baby spinach, washed and rough chopped

Heat the olive oil in a large soup pot. Add the onion, carrot and celery (the mire-poix). Cook until tender (about 8 minutes.) Add the broth and wine and heat to boiling. Add the pasta and boil according to package directions for al dente.

When the meatballs are done baking, add to pot with broth and pasta. Simmer for 2 or 3 minutes. Stir in the spinach and simmer for one more minute.

Serve with a sprinkle of parmesan cheese on top.