cooking

What do you cook for a sick woman? My daughter-in-law has been staying with us.... She's on a special diet;

• no grains
• no fruit
• no root vegetables
• no pork
• no starchy vegetables
• no raw food..well she eats celery and lettuce...sometimes
• yep, there's not much she CAN eat.

It could be worse...just chicken broth as her cousin ate for a long time.

I have chicken soup simmering with red peppers, peas and spinach... She'll read this and I want her to know that cooking for her is NOT A CHORE! This is the simplest thing I can do to help.

We'll see if she can eat it.

red Irish Chain updated

I've been working on fixing the blocks for my Irish Chain for 9 days now and am 81% done. Out of 32 finished blocks 3 blocks did not get any ripping done. Some of the blocks had 5 squares picked out, most just had 2. Since I was ripping anyway if I didn't like the fabric next to the one I was ripping I ripped it out too. One of the exchangers used a Coca-Cola fabric which I don't drink or like so I've picked it out.... One has a pinky red fabric where there should be a dark red so it comes out too. I so want to quit working on it and do something fun...but I'd have to sort and label and pack it back up...so I just sit and stitch when my back is hurting to much to do anything else.

THE QUILT: Color block log cabin

The masses (1 person) were unanimous and all want to see the quilt; wonky lines and all.

First I quilted the lines roughly 1-1.5 inches apart; that's when I panicked and thought it looked bad...it did. So I went back and quilted a line between each of the 1 " lines and it looks pretty good. The above colors look a bit...foggy/ faded...whatever, the picture below is closer to the right color.

The back; but the color is closer to the second picture; a blue and black plaid.
Before quilting this quilt was 74X98 after quilting it is 70X97.

Stash report:

in: 0 yards

out: 12 yards!

year to date:

in:50.75

out:103.25

I made it. 100+ yards used in 2009. It's only September I have 3 months to go.

Details? You mentioned details? I've blogged about this quilt several times this year. Look here and... here...and here.

That was fun looking for that last post. While hunting I found a stash report where I reported buying 3 yards of fabric but not counting it since it was for this quilt so I have to modify my stash report.

in: 3 yards

out: 12 yards!

year to date:

in:53.75

out:103.25

in progress

I remember seeing a quilt in blogland that had sort of straight lines of quilting going straight down the quilt. Today I can only find quilts with very straight lines and I'm half done with the charity quilt with wonky lines..... maybe too wonky. It has to be done by 3... So it is getting wonky lines; I didn't want it to look like I was trying for straight lines but it still does. So if/when I post a picture keep that in mind please. I really thought it would look greater than it is....which is why I went looking for the inspiration piece.

German

Jeffrey and Andrew are taking German this year. Andrew is trying to say everything in German! He has had German for 3 weeks! I forgot to mention how dificult it is for this English speaking Mother to understand her son. It will probably drive her nuts in the next few weeks.

Textiles merit badge

For some reason I decided that since my hobby is quilting I qualify to teach textiles to a bunch of Boy Scouts Saturday. It is one of the easier merit badges and a friend in CA taught it to our boys in about 45 minutes. So I get to quit sewing and tending kids to read the merit badge book again and then hunt up the samples. I need samples of different kids of weaves and something other than cotton fiber!

I also have a deadline of Saturday for 2 charity quilts...One is put together, one isn't....

stash post

My many readers were wondering why I haven't posted a stash report lately.... WELL I haven't been able to subtract anything for ages and I bought stuff in the 2 weeks since I posted... and I want to buy more and I don't want to see the numbers rack up until I finish something.... oh, well here are my totals so far.

In:6.25

Out: O

ytd in: 50.75

out: 91.25

The gap is narrowing I really need to finish something!

I bought some white with red 8th yard pieces and 3 reds to repair the Irish Chain I've been working on. I ended up replacing an 'abc' fabric that I had planned on putting in Andrew's 5 year old quilt and didn't think it would work for the 12 year old that is getting a quilt for Christmas. Then the big project that I'm collecting fabric for has a long story... but of course I'll tell it to you;

Years ago, about 23 years ago, I was expecting baby #4 and I thought it would be really cool to make her an 'I don't know what to call it but a quilt with pictures of things in it.' Anyway now I know it would have been called an 'ISpy' quilt that has been all the rage for a few years now. Well, 15 years ago I started making baby quilts for my nieces and nephews' babies as they each had their first...we have about 40 nieces and nephews and I quit after about the 12th. I got the idea to make that fabric up into an 'I Spy' quilt and I cut 1 piece out of each fabric...and decided that it was too much work and would save that project for my own grand babies instead of my sister's.

Fast forward to my quilt retreat when the Quilt Guild president announced that she is coordinating an 'I spy' exchange. Boy, am I jumping on that exchange.

100 blocks due in February to make a 50 x 50 quilt.... I have 4 children that will need to have an 'I Spy' quilt in their home; true one of them is only 12 but I believe in planning ahead. I wouldn't want to run out of projects, would I? So that's only 400 blocks! They are so simple I'm going to go make one so I can show you a finished block.

Easy Easy. But I'm not sure of the triangle size or I'd be whipping these out. Half of my blocks will have white corners and half will have black. It's going to be a great 4 quilts.... but don't hold your breath!

Star pies

I'm nuts I know. In the midst of trying to dejunk my house I fell off the bandwagon and bought one of these. I saw them before the 4th of July and wanted them... which is crazy it's mostly crust and crust is not my favorite but my kids like it. So now I need to fit in a baking session with the stars.

I quilted 2 hours this morning, until I was shaking...I guess I need to eat. I'm experimenting on a busy border so even though when I get done my mistakes won't show much it makes it hard to sew 'cause I can't see what I'm doing well.

My sampler needs to come out and a charity quilt go in.

*the link no longer goes to the hand held pie mold that I bought and cannot find today...;)

meal

I just made an amazing pasta dish due to the magic of ...garlic. I think if you throw in enough garlic it'll taste good. We had some shrimp left over from the other night and it wasn't great shrimp so I wanted to help it by adding a garlic and oil sauce to it. Then I needed to add pasta to stretch the portions and we had fresh broccoli and zucchini and clam juice and clams; then I found a wrinkled red pepper and a leek that needed to be used... The broccoli went in with the pasta when it was half cooked, I fried the 4, should have been 6, garlic cloves in olive oil then thickened the clam juice with a 2 Tablespoons cornstarch and cooked it with the garlic and added a can of clams, grated the zucchini and added parsley. I split a portion out for Angela added some cream (really only about 1/2 cup 'cause I had it) and poured it over the broccoli and pasta. Then I found the red pepper and leek so I cooked that and added it to both pots. I heated mushrooms for mom and dad and overcooked some broccoli for Angela (she has to have vegetables very soft) then added a can of black beans to Angela's. I thought it was GREAT!

Tyler hadn't eaten much today so right before dinner he told me he had just finished 6 cuties..so he didn't eat much. Jeffrey still thinks he doesn't like shrimp so he didn't eat much. So not a success all around but not bad for the crew I cook for.

Back to the red quilt...I counted that I need 98 'white with red' squares; 40 red squares and 6 burgundy squares. What a pain this quilt is turning out to be.

wrapped

This is what we woke up too. Courtesy of the band kids. All the freshmen band kids got wrapped after the first home game. I don't suppose the wrappers got much sleep last night.

And, yes, I am obsessive compulsive enough to sit and pick out all the polyester squares while watching an old movie last night. Next i need to pull red fabrics and cut 2"squares.....or maybe I should count how many I need before cutting.

edit; Back to the red quilt...I counted that I need 98 'white with red' squares; 40 red squares and 6 burgundy squares. What a pain this quilt is turning out to be.

key lime bars

Since I fell in love with key lime tarts in Washington D.C. I found a recipe for Key Lime Bars. I've mentioned my favorite magazine before; Cook's Illustrated. It is a fun magazine to read since it talks about why and how a recipe works; usually a page about the development of each recipe. I love reading it and then trying the recipes. I ran into a friend at the grocery store while buying the ingredients for the key lime bars and promised to post the recipe since she claims to love key lime pie as much as I do.

Key Lime Bars

Cook's Illustrated; 'American Classics'

Crust

5 ounces animal crackers

3 Tablespoons packed light or dark brown sugar

pinch table salt

4 Tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly

Preheat oven to 325

grease a 9x9 inch pan or line it with foil.

Crush animal ers in food processor add the brown sugar and salt. Add the butter gradually until the crumbs are evenly coated with the butter. put in pan and press down with a flat surface. Bake for 20 minutes.

While crust is cooling make filling:

Filling

2 ounces cream cheese, room temperature

1 tablespoon grated lime zest, minced

pinch table salt

1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk

1 large egg yolk

1/2 cup regular lime or Key lime juice (do not use bottled juice but the juice from regular limes is great)

I added a bit of green food coloring so you had an idea that they were lime bars; otherwise there is very little color.

Add the zest to the yolk. Beat the cream cheese in a medium bowl until smooth and lighter. Add salt and milk; whip until the cream cheese is no longer seen as bits and lumps. Add the yolk, stir together then add lime juice until mixed together. Pour onto crust. Bake 325 for 20 minutes. Cool on rack until room temperature. Chill for 2 hours. Use the foil to lift the bars out and cut into squares. Enjoy.

I made these for the football pre-game dinner tonight so I made a triple batch. I ran out of limes before I had 1 1/2 cups so I juiced 2 lemons and 3 oranges....

It's great; not as tart as it was the first time I made it, but that makes them better.

I think these are a lot of bother but easier than making drop cookies. The last time I had kid-help; to squeeze the limes and grate the zest; which made it easier.

Look at those bites of wonderfulness....the only thing that might improve them is a layer of chocolate on top of the crust... doesn't chocolate and lime go together?

Now go out and look at Cook's Illustrated magazine. I love their books and their other magazine; Cook's Country, the only other magazine I look at...... for recipes... I look at quilting magazines a lot too. Hey there's a lot of magazines I don't look at; car and truck? beading? scrap booking? crossword? hundreds out there that don't interest me at all.

edit- more about these key lime bars here.

obsessive compulsive

How obsessive compulsive do I want to be over the polyester in this quilt? I found 2 more ugly reds that are polyester...do I pick out the blocks I've already made?

more headaches

I'm sure you think I sew all the time but really when I have a project ready I just sew for short bits of time. This morning I sewed from 6-6:30 then again from 8:45 to 9. I decided to check a few of the squares that I kept thinking couldn't be cotton...and they weren't. Now I have a stack of strips that have the non-100% cotton fabric in them; 3 whites with red are definitely polyester (burn the fabric; cotton has a soft ash, polyester has a melted , crisp edge) and now I think one or 2 of the reds from the same sewer is also polyester.

Where were the quilt police when I needed them! I may put this away until I'm old and patient to work on it....

On the home front James is sort of potty trained. We set the timer for 40 minutes and when it goes off he goes potty by himself. Public toilets still scare him but with encouragement he can still perform. Automatic toilets are REALLY scary; mostly cause they are loud and echo in the large tile rooms.

Angela needed to go to a different Dr. yesterday so we took Tyler out of school early; left notes for my boys and went to northwest Houston, 1 1/2 hours away. Tyler threw up in the back seat of our new car! We tried to clean it up when we got home but the seats need to be taken out to clean the carpet. So we'll do it tomorrow when we have someone without a gimp back and ill to help. Then Andrew called that he needed a ride home since he'd missed the bus. :( I was kept busy chasing boys around the complex; none of the trees were climbable ;( The one that was had a big bed of fire ants at the base; no one is brave enough to try to climb over that.

Monday Angela starts a new diet; no grains, fruit or sugar for a month. She tried to do it cold turkey Tuesday and got really sick so we backed off and eliminated sugar and fruit for a week then she will do the grains next week. We'll make a menu up and go shopping so she has plenty to eat that is allowed. The Dr. convinced her that she will feel much better if she will do this now. If I was a good Mother I would go on the diet with her....probably not happening.

Tonight is the first home football game and I GET to make dessert for the pre-game dinner. So I better get busy.

Red Irish Chain

Our camera has problems. It takes great pictures in daylight but with the flash everything is completely washed out. So this is the best I could do. I forgot I had a design wall so laid it our on the floor on top of the Lego.

If you had asked me a week ago I would have told you that I had copious notes about this project; so that I could pick it up and keep going. The reverse is true. The envelope that was in the box cannot be read so I don't even know when I did this exchange. I don't know who participated in the exchange, when it was (I'm pretty sure I was living here...so anytime in the last 12 years...although not the first 3 and not the last 5? so I can narrow it down to 2000-2004) or even how big the quilt was going to be. I vaguely remember that it had 3 borders; the first one extends the pattern of the blocks one row, then a plain muslin strip, then 1 of repeated red squares. Actually the only reason I 'remember' that is that I have a black and bright Irish Chain exchange that is put together, so I got it out and looked at it. Using highly developed detective skills I counted the blocks I have started and the number of large muslin pieces that are cut and I've determined that I was planning on making 2 of these. I think I pictured a guest room with 2 twin beds with these on them...

Anyway, years ago I got tired of ripping apart the strips that had been sewn with too large seams and put it away. During retreat's show and tell time I borrowed a seam ripper (couldn't find the 2 I brought with me) and picked apart the offending strips. The plan is to replace the Coca Cola, and large cherry fabrics, cut new 2" squares, resew them and use them. You can imagine that I wasn't real happy to do this ripping but I have been humbled as I made the blocks that many times I have to stop and rip out a seam or two that I had sewn to big and resew so that I can get this quilt together.

I have 32 finished pieced blocks and 8 finished muslin blocks. To finish one quilt I need 32 and 31 respectively...so it's well on it's way to being a top.

Tyler 'helped' last night by picking out what strip I needed to sew next. As soon as he went to bed I sewed the wrong strip on....So maybe I NEED the 5 year old to stand next to me and keep me on my toes.

retreats over

I LOVED seeing ALL the things accomplished this week end. One friend put together 3 quilt tops! Then went on to work of 2 more projects; (that I don't think she finished.) I HATE that I forgot to take the camera but I've put up the ONE thing I finished on my design wall so you could see it.

Andrew's

Jeffrey's

It looks alot like Jeffrey's quilt doesn't it? It should, since it used alot of the same fabric and they will be in the same room. Alas, the boy's are destined to hate these quilts. NOW I WILL INSIST THAT THEY MAKE THEIR BEDS; so I can see them together on their bunkbeds.

Retreat!

I signed up for a retreat that starts TODAY! Who knew that I'd need most of the space in the Pathfinder for my stuff?

If you give a mouse a retreat

then you have to give her bags of fabric to take.

If she has bags of fabric she'll need a sewing machine (freshly repaired),

an iron and my 'antique' heavy (I swear it weighs 40 lbs!) ironing board, a table to put the sewing machine on, a light, an extension cord and a power strip.

If you take fabric you need a mat, acouple of rulers and a cutter and scissors!

Oh, my word, she needs her chair! Then a couple changes of clothes, sheets, and towel., toiletries, and money. Did I mention the 5 quilt shops that litter the path she must take to get to the retreat? And the antique stores in the town nearby?

Seriously, I'm taking 3 projects to do...maybe 4....

Andrew's quilt that I cut out for his 5th birthday (he's 12....he did not need a quilt since he got to use his brothers.) A quilt a friend asked me to make for her, a thirties Dresden plate. A GPS bag for us, and maybe a sample for my patterns....

Melissa's birthday

It's my first born's birthday. Where did the time go? Now she holds her own baby instead of mine. Oh, the sweetness of life. What joy she brought into our lives.

Clearly she is having FUN today since every time I call she isn't home. So Happy Birthday baby girl that grew up so straight and beautiful. When I think of her I understand the verse; I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth. 3John 1:4

foodie

I got a new cookbook 2 weeks ago and have been inspired to try a few things. This rounds out my collection of similar cookbooks for each year, or 2 years, from 1999 to 2006. Some of our all-time favorite things to eat are from these cookbooks(blasted broccoli and corn soup come to mind) and I've barely scratched the surface of the contents. Each recipe is prefaced with a paragraph or 2 about it so I'll read the book like a novel putting post-it notes next to the recipes I want to try and start a shopping list as I read.

The last 2 weeks I rediscovered Frittatas, tried a new recipe for broccoli, and cooked turnips for the first time! The frittatas were SOOO easy and Angela can eat them. The broccoli was fabulous and the turnips only the adults liked. I think the kids need to taste them a couple of more times to get used to the taste and texture of turnips (peel your turnips, simmer them in chicken broth with 2 tablespoons of maple syrup and butter; dip them out of the broth and boil it down till it is syruppy add some parsley, drop the turnips back in and heat and stir to coat...serve...very good).

In the Soup chapter alone we've had the Rich Red Pepper Soup and have marked and bought the ingredients for Senegalese Peanut Soup; then as fall approaches I'm anxious to try the Italian Pumpkin soup, Red Lentil and Apricot Soup, THE Lentil Soup, Cornmeal and Kale Soup and Heavenly Carrot Soup. That's over half of the recipes in the Soup chapter; then I have the salad, Breakfast, Main Dishes, Side Dishes, Breads, Desserts and Drink chapter to eat through.

Sunday we had (because Angela wasn't here) Tuscan Flatbread with Roasted Grapes. Roasted grapes are delicious AND easy. Using red seedless grapes spread a bit of olive oil on a cookie sheet, lay out a bunch of grapes, bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour turning (actually shaking the pan) a few times. Done. Sweet and delicious. EVERYONE except Tyler loved the bread (He called it the yucky bread and soon everyone was asking for another piece of that 'yucky bread'.).

Stash Report

I'm not late! I'm early! Instead of posting my stash report a day late I'm posting early and scheduling it for Sunday. Weekends are too busy around here; and to many people with too few computers. (We only have 3 computers! but 3 adults, 2 teenagers, and 2 young children that also want to get on the computer. I am usually the one that stays off.)

I bought the back for my beautiful pink quilt....9 yards in :)

I love it but I really need to get the border on; I did it once and it was too short, the quilt looked gathered to it so I picked it off and need to redo it.

in; 9 yards

out; 1/4 yard

ytd in: 44.37

out: 91.25

zipper

I stopped at the thrift store and bought their last blue zipper; my grandson wanted the red one; so my zipper stash went up 2. :)

Hey, I have plans for that blue zipper and James has zipped and unzipped the red one about 50 times. He wants me to change the zipper in the zipper tie that he wore Sunday to a red one....not happening in this lifetime.

Jeffrey's first football game is tonight...in Dayton. He is an alternate in the band so he probably won't be marching. Sitting in a bleacher is brutal to my back but I think we need to go....

I got a perm yesterday and look fairly normal again after having straight hair all summer. James said he didn't like it. Tyler got home from school and stopped talking and just stared at me like he didn't recognize me.

Yesterday the sewing room got Angela'd. It's a verb for worked over, cleaned out, reorganized ala Angela. I'm letting go of the rest of my Martha Stewart Living magazine; most of my quilting magazines and my scrapbooking mags....ouch, ouch, double ouch. They are still around if you have a good home for them...they will be in Angela's trunk for a few more days.

edited; Jeffrey was sick and didn't go to the football game. He has had a sore throat all week and now Roger has it too.

organizing

Today I tackled my personal junk drawer; it's a big drawer in our coffee table where I stash Dr. bills, school papers, knitting needles, misc stuff that I don't know what to do with. I'm ready to stuff most of it back in.

I needed to do some sewing upstairs so Angela decided to go through our videos. Considering we got our first video player about 27 years ago and have never gone through them we have a fair number. We still have a great many but we did cull out some duplicates and some tat we taped off the TV that I could get rid of. Now they all fit on the shelves again and I'll get a box together to send to my sister. One of these days we will manage to convert them to DVD but haven't figured it out yet.

This is after she finished the toy cupboard project. WHAT do YOU do with the 27 odd game pieces that you can't find the game they go to?

Angela found 4 balls that go with this toy. Guess who played with it for 4 HOURS?

Anyone wondering what to get a 1-3 year old for Christmas might take note. I'm not sure that is the hammer that goes with it but it works and was fun; the balls come out the bottom with enough momentum that you need to chase the ball just a little. He NEVER puts the balls against a different color; his brother immediately tried it with the colors mixmatched.

Frogs

This quilt should have a snappy title don't you think? Can you come up with something better than 'Frogs?'

This is my latest customer quilt. The owner is making it as a gift for a dear friend that collects frogs. I enjoyed working on it and learning how to digitize an image. I traced 2 of the frogs from the border and scattered them across the main portion of the quilt.