"Casket Factor"

 We all know the best part of starting a project is searching for the right embellishments and getting to fondle all our stash...  Well making the "proper ladies" into a book warrants a truly elegant  selection...  And I have so much stash that if I don't use it, it will have to be buried with me...hence the "casket factor"  This stripe is the remains of a valance that looks like real silk... I am delighted to use it..

The antique metallic lace ( lower center) I bought in London last fall.  The dealer had 4 yards and I only wanted one and she wouldn't cut it.  So of course I had to buy it all and it was expensive.. I must  use it all because looking at it languishing makes me feel guilty.

The heads of the proper ladies are a bit bulky and really need a good firm fabric for backing.  I wished I had had a really heavy velveteen in the right color.  DH had to go to a meeting for an hour yesterday so he dropped me off at the thrift store nearby.  Lo and behold I found two huge velveteen pillow shams in the right color ($1.99 for both).  And I was able to remove enough matching piping from them that will make the pages nice and firm... but I'm sure there will be plenty of velveteen leftover to add to the stash.  That's how it grows...a little goes out and more goes in...

Another item that I'm determined to use are these organza roses "by the yard".  They looked so cool when I bought them years ago but every time I tried to use them they looked so tacky.... But come hell or high water they are going on this project.

The weather has either been subzero or a blizzard.  We are just coming out of a subzero spell and expect heavy snows all week.... A good  reason for lots of comfort food...  Recently Paul on the British Baking Series made a ham and turkey pot pie which I tried with a potato crust rather than pastry.  I also add lots of roasted parsnips.  It was yummy.

I was looking for a different side dish to serve with this white cod and made  spanakopita  filled with spinach, feta, and eggs. Rather than use individual layers of filo dough I used sheets of puff pastry.  It was so easy that I will do that all the time.  Spinach is DH's favorite  vegetable (not mine) and it is a hard one to use in different ways.  I cooked up a huge bag and will use the rest of it to make gnudi on Monday...  Today is Asian Beef and Broccoli with yakisoba noodles...

On these super cold days I like to use the oven to warm up the house....  maybe banana bread  is in order also. Our house is 111 years old and is so drafty even with quilts on all the windows .