LaVieEnRosie

Station break...

As in, we (Rosie and me... well, mostly me) interrupt this not all that regularly scheduled blogging for a not-quilting-related message.  

A few months ago, Ginger called to ask me about taking a cooking class at Sur La Table.  While she initially suggested a Valentine's Macaron class, after looking at the schedule -- and more importantly, the macarons we would be making in class, we decided to take Mastering Macarons.  

The flavors we would be making ~ and sampling ~ would be:

• Banana Macarons with Banana Custard Cream
• Hazelnut Macarons with Praline Buttercream
• Pistachio Macarons with Chocolate Ganache
• Chocolate Macarons with Salted Caramel

I've read about making macarons but while the recipe always seemed pretty straightforward, I figured there were a few highly technical skills that had to be required to make such wonderful confections.  Yes and no.  Actually, make that no and yes.  

While there are definitely a few tricks, it's sort of like making a pie crust.  It isn't hard... so long as you know what it is supposed to look and feel like.  Once you've got that down, it's pretty easy.  That's what I would now say about macarons.

We made these Banana macarons in class.  

I wasn't sure how "hands-on" the class would be since it was just two hours but really, we -- the students -- made those macarons shown above in class.  Chef Michelle did a quick overview of the process, then started the first batch of cookies, the Banana Macarons while we watched and sort of helped.  As soon as that first batch was being piped onto the cookie sheets, she had us in small groups -- of three or four people -- and we started from scratch.  As soon as we were done with one, we started the next one.  It was very informative and a whole lot of fun -- I highly recommend it if you've got a Sur La Table near you.

Since I was busy baking and trying to take pictures with my phone, I hope you'll bear with me as I try to share the process.  

These were our ingredients for the cookie part of the macaron: eggs ~ we use the whites for the cookies and sometimes the yolks for the filling, almond meal or flour ~ which we made using almonds we ground in a spice grinder; and powdered sugar.  Other flavors can be added to the cookies, and food coloring can be used for color.  There is also cream of tartar and granulated sugar that is used with the egg whites to make the meringue.

The eggs are beaten until stiff peaks form.  We then transferred the meringue to a bowl to start the "macaronnage" ~ the technique of mixing flour and meringue to make the macaron "batter".  

The flour/meal and powdered sugar are sifted twice, and any large granules of almond or nut that remain are ground again, and sifted again.  

The flour mixture is sifted into the bowl in small amounts and are "folded" into the egg whites.  

This is Chef Michelle showing us how it is done.  

See the batter in the mirror above the sign?  That's Ginger paying close attention.

This was the pistachio ~ don't you love the green?

Here's where it gets interesting ~ and this is where I was sure I would mess it up.  We've always been taught to be very careful when folding egg whites but with the macaronnage, you reach a point where you have to take some of the air out.  How much depends on how much is still left after all the folding you've done.  If you're a slightly aggressive folder ~ that is usually me ~ then you might not have to "cut" it as much to get the right consistency.  And there's my pie-crust metaphor ~ for the cookies to form and set properly, the batter needs to be firm but still be able to drip slowly when scooped.  So you mix/fold/cut and then test it... mix/fold/cut a little more and test again... until it's just right.

Then the batter gets put into a pastry bag and piped onto a sheet of parchment... with one very brilliant little trick!  A sheet of paper ~ regular old copy paper ~ with rows of little circles all the same size printed on it.  

Piping technique is very important.  The tip should be at a 90-degree angle to the cookie sheet/parchment and just slightly above the sheet.  Slowly squeeze the bag until the batter fills the circle and then quickly twirl off.  If the batter is the right consistency, the little twirl-off-top should sink right back into the batter leaving the top of the cookie very smooth.  

Ginger did a terrific job piping the Chocolate Macarons ~ she was pretty fast and they were all the same size.  Of course... I had gotten the batter to the perfect consistency... (It was luck and by virtue of a really good teacher ~ thank you, Chef Michelle.)

Then the cookies have to rest and dry until they don't stick to your fingers when lightly touched.  

Because we needed to hurry the macarons along a bit, we used hand-held fans to speed up the drying process a bit.  

This is a sheet of the banana macarons with some dark brown sugar flakes sprinkled on them.  I thought it gave them the same speckled look as a ripe banana.

After they've dried, the macarons bake for 10 to 15 minutes.  When they're done, they should have a nice "pied" ~ the "foot" or frills that form along the bottom edge of a macaron that makes the cookie distinctive and authentic.  

After about 1 hour and 45 minutes of class, this is what we had...

Some of the Hazelnut macarons got red sugar flakes.  Just because.  

While we were busy mixing, sifting and folding, Michelle and her assistants were hard at work preparing the various fillings for the macarons.  We got pointers on making caramel, custards, ganache and cooked buttercream fillings.  When everything had cooled, we started assembling macarons using pastry bags.

They were really good.  I mean... really, really good.  Good enough to try making at home some day.  I mean, that is why I bought one of those big metal mixing bowls, right?  And this way-too-cute spatula.

I'm just disappointed they didn't have this in red.  By the way, if you're into all-things-aqua, you need to get to Sur La Table soon as they've got all sorts of wonderful things right now in aqua.  They've got kitchen shears with an aqua-and-white gingham pattern on the blades, polka-dot ceramic knives, polka dot or plaid dishes, striped napkins and kitchen towels... all in aqua, aqua and white, and even quite a few things in aqua, red and white.  (And you should have seen the oh-so-cute pink, black and white girlie-girl stuff by the register.  It isn't "me" at all but it sure was tempting nonetheless!)

Seriously, if you have a Sur La Table near you and you can stand the shopping temptations, I highly recommend checking out their cooking classes.  Ginger and I had a really good time.  I think she's going to sign us up for a Paella class next.  (Just so you know... you do get a 10-percent-off your entire purchase, good-for-a-week discount card when you take a class.)    

And lest you think I just played all day... I did get a little "work" done.  Since I was going across town anyway, I ventured over to ETC, a scrapbook-cum-quilting store in Mesa to see what I could find to finish up one of projects I'm working on.  

This ought to do me just fine. 

Hanging out with a friend, fancy cookies and pretty fabric.  It was a good day.  

 

Tom Jones...

Porquoi?  Because I have "what's new, pussycat?" rattling around in my noggin this evening.  No other reason.  

It's been somewhat busy here though you wouldn't know it based on the number of things I've actually finished.  It seems as though I've got multiple projects going at once, which is good or bad depending on how you look at it.  It's good because it could mean that I've got more ideas than time... or it could mean that I'm not very focused right now and I'm flitting from one thing to another.  

It's probably a little bit of both, though it may also the result of needing to add a couple of pieces of fabric to a quilt and not having the time to head to the other side of town to the quilt shop that might have what I'm looking for.  

This is one of the things I've been working on -- a new quilt for Spring Market.  But "old" fabric -- Sandi Henderson's Meadowsweet.  I have had it in my stash for forever and when I was trying to think of what to use for this quilt, this kept popping into my head.  I finally decided that it must be a sign of some kind.

I put it together with the polka dot from Strawberry Field because I wanted something a little "bouncier".  We'll see how that turns out when it's done.  So far, I have a lot of this to show for it...

My little "scrap bowl"... an idea borrowed from Rachel Ray and her "garbage bowl".  I save these scraps to donate to groups who use them to stuff dog/cat beds, or for other purposes.  I use the bowl -- which is then emptied into a big clear plastic bag -- so that the scraps are kept separate from thread-tails and such as those can be dangerous to dogs and cats.  

Of course, I also save them like this for a little while because I just like the way they look.  What is up with that?  I know I'm not alone there.  

I've also been cooking, particularly trying a few new recipes.  

Penne Pasta Quattro Formaggi with Butternut Squash and Sage -- by chef Mitchell Rosenthal.  The recipe is in his new cookbook, Cooking My Way Back Home, though I found it in the latest issue of House Beautiful magazine.  (The recipe isn't up on the website yet though it should be soon.  For now, it is just in the magazine and the cookbook.  The picture above is from the magazine.)  

Basically, mac' and four cheeses with the squash mixed in.  It was very good but I have to tell you that it was also pretty rich.  Meaning, as good as it was, it isn't likely that I would make this again as there are mac' and cheese recipes that I like just as much, or more.  

The dish I made that I really loved is from David Lebovitz -- Israeli Couscous with Butternut Squash and Preserved Lemons.

Israeli couscous is  pearled couscous, meaning that the little grain-things are a little larger and they're round.  Like little teeny pasta.  The dish has terrific mix of textures and flavors, and sweet mixed with salty and tart.  It also has a Middle-Eastern flavor with the cinnamon and raisins.  (Picture from David Lebovitz.com.)  

And yes, I love butternut squash.  I might have to make this again this weekend as I still have two lemons left in the jar.   

I also remembered to take a few pictures of some of the other things I do for storage and organizing in my workroom.  I wish I could show you pictures of really cute storage tins and containers but no matter how much I might wish otherwise, I just don't have the "cute gene".  (I have The Container Store gene... and the Pottery Barn gene.)      

Can you tell that I love boxes?  And wire baskets -- I love wire baskets and bins.

I got the baskets just below the red boxes at Pier One more than 10 years ago -- at least.  The baskets on the shelves on the right side of the picture are from Target, also several years old.  Since neither of those are still available, my current "new" favorites are the Marche baskets from The Container Store.  The small size -- 13" x 9" x 5-1/2" h -- is what I have been using, it is just a skosh bigger than the Pier One baskets on the shelf above.  

The red boxes are just CD storage boxes, also from The Container Store.  I like them because they come with label holders, and the size is terrific for threads, buttons, ribbons/trim, etc.  The cream and black boxes are perfume boxes that I re-purposed when I realized that as much as I loved and coveted the beautiful vintage-looking storage boxes from Sajou in France, they were going to cost me at least 25.00 each... and there weren't any guarantees that I could get them home in one piece.    

These are the Sajou boxes -- they're even prettier in person.  The irony is that this must have been the reason I had been saving the cream boxes for years -- besides their being too nice and too pretty to just throw away.  Now I'm thinking I need more of them as they are perfect for some of the little doo-dahs I seem to save. 

There are some of the larger boxes with various small projects and scraps.  The little label-holders come from the scrapbook department at JoAnn's.

Speaking of JoAnn's -- have you seen this little book?

It's very cute.  If you like small blocks, this is a nice little block book.  It is divided into ten chapters and each chapter has at least 10 blocks that all finish at the same size.  The blocks in seven of the chapters finish at 5" x 5", and the blocks in the other three chapters finish at 3 1/2" x 3 1/2", 4" x 4" and 4 1/2" x 4 1/2".  The blocks in each chapter are made using a single collection but there is a real mix to the styles and colors of the different collections.  It's the sort of book that, given a layer cake and a few hours of time, a girl could have a lot of fun making a cute little sampler quilt.  And, yes, there are lots of ideas in the book about little projects, possible layouts, etc.  If you're interested, the book can be found at Amazon.com for roughly the same price I paid at JoAnn's with my coupon.  (If you go looking for it in the store, it's over with the books by the sewing machines.)

That's all for today.  

I'm off to finish something.   

 

But can she actually sing?

With all due respect to Barbra and Marvin...

Memories... Lost in the corners of my mind.  Misty-watered colored memories... of what I was supposed to do.  Scattered lists... of the tasks I needed to get done...

Do you ever wish you could sort of back-up and replay your day the way you can go back on Tivo and see what you missed?  Or forgot?    

Here's what I remember:  Today is the day that Pat is posting about my tips for organization on The Learning Center.

Hi Pat!

It's a really short post because I'm not organized.  Actually, I don't know if it is a short post because I don't remember what I sent Pat...

Sidebar:  You can say it... it's probably not a short post because "short post" and "Carrie" are not two things one generally finds in the same blog post.  

Now where was I...  I remember sending pictures of some of my things for storing all that stuff we quilters seem to accumulate.  I've got boxes, bins, baskets and drawers... but I don't remember the specifics.  When Pat e-mailed be about this, she asked me for my "top Studio organization idea or tip"... (as in a special way to store fabric or thread, or a cool item I use to keep my workroom tidy... etc.)  And I was to include a photo.  I responded with a dozen questions and in short order, her single question resulted in my sending her a couple of e-mails with a half-dozen or so photos.  It's my nature to be thorough.  Just in case.   

But wouldn't you know it, after seeing all the really terrific tips and pictures that The Happy Zombie (Monica), Olive and Ollie (Heather), The Bumble Bean (Victoria), the Bunny-on-the-Hill (Anne), and One Piece at a Time (Erin) shared... uh oh.  Is this what Pat wanted?  Maybe I misunderstood her question ~ she said "studio", I thought "workroom".  What did I send her?  So I e-mailed Pat in a panic to see if there was anything else she needed, wanted... whatever.  She said she had enough... she was probably afraid I would send her more "nada".    

So after seeing what I sent, if you have questions, be sure to ask.  And I will include a few more pictures of what I've done as soon as I see (remember) what I sent Pat.  

One of the things I can show you now is in response to a couple of questions I've gotten, and a few of the comments left on the earlier post.  What to do about the huge pile of quilt magazines we all accumulate?  I admit it, I saved them religiously.  I had American Patchwork going back almost fifteen years and probably another 70 assorted issues of other magazines.  But not anymore.  I cleared them out!  Mostly.  When I was in the process of re-doing my workroom, I went through all the magazines I had and tore out the pictures, pages, articles and projects I wanted to save.  As hard as it was to do, it was very nice to turn an almost 48" stack of magazines into about 2" of porfolios.  

Portfolio?  That's how I save all the "stuff" I want to keep, in an Itoya Portfolio.  They come in all sorts of sizes of pages and number of pages -- I prefer the 8 1/2" x 11" pages in the 48 page/96 view size.  That means that there are 48 actual pages or sleeves, but since each page can be viewed from either side, I can use a single portfolio to save 96 different things.  Yes, they are just like binder sheets.

I put all the pages relating to each article, pattern or project together on one side of the page.  Some have just a single page with a photo ~ like the Yoko Saito quilt in the top picture ~ and others have all the pages/templates for the project ~ like the Etta's Santa by Sandy Gervais.  (Both were from Quiltmania.)  This makes it easy to see what I've got... as in, find what I'm looking for.  And each portolio can be labeled to make it easy to find the right one!  What?  I had over 100 magazines, there wasn't any way to fit them into only 96 slots!  

The Itoya portfolios are very sturdy and they last for years.  I've been using them for one thing or another for more than 20 years, and I still have a few of the early portfolios.  The Itoya portolios are available on Amazon, at many FedEx Kinkos stores, at a great many art stores, and at many office supply stores.

One caveat though.. that grey and white paper label that comes with the portfolio is a little blah.  That's easily fixed with a little bit of scrapbook paper.

So that will have to do for now.  

What else?  Sewing?  I've gotten to do some of that -- Blueberry Crumb Cake is still a "work in progress"... mostly because I've been easily distracted lately and have felt like working on other things.  I've made two new little quilts using Urban Cowgirl and Hello Luscious... though not together.  I love those collections.

So pretty.  That's Urban Cowgirl.  

A funny thing about this collection... it's always interesting to see how other people interpret and "see" the fabric.  Sister Nicole put it together with the red, black and pink prints from Farmer's Market and it looked terrific.  But when I saw the fabric, my first thought was that the colors had a beautiful faded, almost sunwashed, kind of look so I saw the fabrics in something lighter and "looser".

Today I'm going to start a new quilt... though I don't know which one.  

That isn't the result of a memory issue... it's a mood thing.

And no, Glenn Miller doesn't have to worry.  I'm done.  :) 

P.S.  The answer is no.  I can't sing a note.  I mean, I can actually sing... just not very well.  Not.  Well.  At.  All.  

Tuesday tickle?

As in something to tickle your funny bone this Tuesday.

 

 

 

Happy Tuesday.  

I should have made a list...

There are all sorts of things I want to remember to include here but I didn't make a list. I could have but well, I forgot. I suppose I could have put that on the list -- Make a List.

I've always been a list-maker but I need to start keeping on-going lists of things I need TO DO. Maybe I should make that Teux Deux. Did you read about that a few weeks ago on The Pioneer Woman? It's an app for iPhones and other smartphones, though I gather there are some things that only the iPhone app will do.

There are two versions of the app -- the free Lite version and the $2.99 (Heavy?) version. Because I don't think Apple has enough of my money, and because I wanted to support a little start-up at the same time, I went for the fully-caffeinated version. I've had it for almost two weeks now and I love it.

Whew! I had a busy day on Monday. What I have really liked about Teux Deux is that I can add things to the list while online and it syncs the information to my phone. I need that kind of help. I've talked a few friends into trying it and they're liking it as well. And since it seems like nobody goes anywhere anymore without their phone, its easy to keep updated as you think of things.

But back to my list for today... Oh. My. Gosh. Did you see all the amazing, gorgeous, creative, innovative and absolutely wonderful Full House quilts, pillows and table-toppers? I think most of the ladies ought to be happy that I don't know where their house is because if I did know, their "house" would be living at my house. Permanently. Sinta and Sherri did an amazing job with the parades. If you haven't seen them -- Sherri's Full House parade and Sinta's Full House parade. Now they're on to I.S.T.H... at least that's what I'm calling it.

Next on my list is the brilliant ~ and indefatigable ~ Pat Sloan. Did you know that Pat has teamed up with Michele at the Quilting Gallery to create The Learning Center. Each month of this year, Pat will have a series of posts on a variety of subjects:

• March – Back to Basics
• April – Piecing, Pressing, Thread
• May – Appliqué Techniques
• June – Tools, etc. – What’s new from Spring Quilt Market
• July – Foundation Paper Piecing and English Paper Piecing
• August – Embroidery/Stitchery
• September – Borders, Batting and Basting
• October – Quilting
• November – Tools, etc. – What’s new from Fall Quilt Market
• December – Finishing Techniques

February's topic is Studio Organization and a few weeks ago, Pat conned badgered roped asked me to participate. The hilarious part is that Pat actually thinks I'm organized. It's all a sham. A huge con that I've managed to perpetuate for several years... until now. I'm not going to pretend to be super-organized with a really cute, incredibly well-organized work space. If nothing else, that wouldn't be me, and it definitely wouldn't suit me for the way that I like to work. Ironically, that's the secret to being "organized" -- figuring out what it means to you! What works best for you?

Pat's first post -- Organization 101 a la Pat Sloan -- can be found here.

When I re-did my workroom a few years ago, I did several of the things on Pat's list. (Imagine how organized I would be if I'd had Pat's list two years ago!) The biggest thing was moving everything out and going through it. Box by box, bin by bin, and yes... bag by bag. It took forever and I gave away a lot of stuff that I knew I would never use in my lifetime. Repeat... A LOT of stuff. If I had one "tip" for anyone organizing or re-doing their space, it would be this -- let it go.

Be honest with yourself -- if you don't think you're ever going to use it, let it go to someone who will use it. There are guilds and charity sewing groups that will happily take whatever you have and put it to good use. If you don't want to take the time to sell them on eBay, books and magazines can go to your guild library, or your local library. Ditto for rulers and tools that you'll never use. If you have scraps and strips and "leftovers" from quilts that you're saving for that "just in case"... let those go too. They clutter up your space and seriously, it starts to weigh you down. At least, that's how I felt.

Most importantly, don't feel guilty about it. And try to avoid the need to measure all the yardage for a "stash report" because then you'll be compelled to start figuring out the dollar value of what you're getting rid of. Just do it.

But don't worry... you'll still have WAY more stuff than you have room for, and that you'll ever use. Or maybe that's just me.

The other advantage is that as you go through boxes, you're going to find some really funny stuff. I've been trying to clean out some boxes in storage. While I've found several wonderful old quilt books that I knew were there, I found a few that I had forgotten about.

I got these when I was first learning to quilt at The Great American Cover-Up on Parker Road in Plano, Texas. The books are a lot of fun from a historical perspective but the information is a little... well, outdated. And there weren't a lot of pictures in the book -- a few black and white diagrams and lots of text.

What else? Work on my Blueberry Crumb project is "progressing", which is a nice way of saying I made some progress on it but not very much. As for the "publication", it's destined for a book but I'll try to sneak you a peek before it goes off for that. While work on that will continue this week, I've pulled out a couple of charm packs to start work on a new Schnibble quilt for Spring Market. I am trying to pretend otherwise but that is now about three months away.

Oooh... do you remember the picture of that beautiful watch from Pinterest? I found it! Or rather, I found the shop that has it for sale. No, I'm not buying it. I love the watch. Really, I do. But I don't love it $70,000.00 worth. That's right. Seventy. Thousand. Dollars. The bat won't be necessary.

The last thing I wanted to mention... back in April of 2010, in a post about something else, I mentioned the Olde World Quilt Shoppe in Cave Creek, Arizona. In telling you about the shop, I suggested that if you had a handsome son, you might want to bring him by the shop to meet Jordan, the beautiful daughter of Dee, the shop's owner.

Someone you might know had the same idea -- Renee Plains of Libery Star Designs. Renee has a son -- three of them, actually -- and she thought Jordan and Jake might make a lovely couple.

Neither Jordan or Jake thought much of the idea when Renee brought Jake to the shop to meet Jordan.

But Renee's a pretty smart lady.

:

:

:

:

They were married on Saturday.

Congratulations Renee!

And Jordan and Jake. And Dee and Scott -- Jordan's parents.

Until next time, I'm off. I've got a full Teux Deux list for this Monday too.

 

Rolling into walls...

Not literally.  Figuratively speaking.  

I was doing so well... a couple of posts in a couple of days.  I was on a roll.  And then pfffffttttttt.  I've got to just get back on the horse, right?  And stop mixing metaphors.  

I'm trying to finish this up ~ a quilt made mostly from Blueberry Crumb Cake by Blackbird Designs.  I loved this fabric when I first saw it and got an idea that I started working on.  But life got in the way and now I'm back to finishing it up.  It is destined for "publication" other than as a pattern, and while mine is made mostly with the collection, it is one of those kinds of quilts that will work with anything.  At least, I think it will.  The best part about it is that I think the quilt feels very much like "me" even though one part of it will be a surprise to some folks.  

One of the things I added to the collection was pink -- a reddish-pink, almost a watermelon-sort of pink.  Just a little bit.  The funny part is that five of the six pink-ish prints I'm using are also from Blackbird Designs. 

I'm asked sometimes which comes first -- the project or the fabric?  Do I have a quilt in mind and then find the fabric for it, or do I find fabric I like and then try to come up with an idea for the quilt?  Uh... both.  With this fabric, I loved the fabric and immediately had an idea of how the finished quilt should look.  Somewhat structured but not too formal was my thought process as I thought about blocks, setting, borders and such.  And yes, for most quilts, I usually get a pretty good "picture" in my head of how the finished quilt is going to look before I start.  Not always though, and sometimes it does change.  You don't think every idea I have is a good one, do you?  I wish.  Some of them are really bad and they don't get finished.

And yes, I have published a few that I still like even though I am probably the only person who does.   

So that's what I'm working on right now.  That and "planning".  I spent the other day making lists and organizing what needs to be finished when, and what might be in store for Market.  The good news -- for me anyway -- is that I have ideas for a bunch of new quilts.  Big, small and in-between... some were inspired by fabric and some are in search of the "perfect fabric".  With the Schnibbles, which ones get made will depend on the fabrics and the designs that get made first... meaning, if the first two I make have a straight-setting with sashing, those will be the only two.  I'm a little odd that way but I do think about how similar quilts are when I'm working on new patterns.  For example, I love quilts with stars but seriously, how boring would it be if every other quilt I did had some variation of a star block in it?  Or a piano-key border?  And I mean -- that would be boring for me!  

Two other things have been going on here... I've been experimenting with some new recipes with pretty good results.  My Mom loves stuffed Green Peppers and decided that that was what she wanted for dinner so after searching through recipes online, I found one that sounded interesting -- Green Bell Peppers Stuffed with Tomato Lentil Couscous.  When I couldn't find a package of Near East Red Lentil Couscous at the grocery store, I did what others did and substituted a different variety.  In my case, I used the Olive Oil and Garlic Pearled Couscous mix.  I also used chicken Italian sausage instead of ground beef, and I cut the peppers lengthwise as recommended -- a very nice variation. 

Yes, my next career will be as a food photographer and stylist.  Yeah, right.  Terrible picture aside, the peppers are terrific and we'll make these again.  

Remember those Pinterest recipes I mentioned?  I tried one of those too -- Mac and Cheese with Roasted Chicken, Goat Cheese and Rosemary.  

Not my picture but you probably already knew that.  I found the recipe when this person pinned it.  I made half the recipe and it was still quite a bit, enough for dinner and leftover-lunch for two people.  I used rotisserie chicken, fresh rosemary, cavatappi (my Mom doesn't care for rigatoni pasta.) and a Chevre for the cheese.  From start to finish, this took less than 20 minutes to make and we both loved it.  It's another one that we'll make again.  

But my favorite was the recipe on the side of the loaf of La Brea Sun-dried Tomato Herb bread.  I will happily admit that this isn't the kind of bread that generally floats my boat.  It's nice but I prefer a good crusty sourdough bread.  But since there were five loaves of the Sundried Herb and none of the Sourdough, I picked up the package and decided to see what sort of inspirational temptation the side-of-the-package recipe might provide.  Fried Egg and Mozzarella Open-Faced Sandwich.  Sold.  

Back to the deli section for mozzarella and over to Produce for a few more tomatoes.  Yes, I did make one... okay, two, tiny changes -- I added some sliced tomatoes to the top of the cheese.  I also rubbed the toasted bread with a garlic clove before buttering it.  Then add the grated cheese and broil until melted.  Top with sliced tomatoes and broil another minute or two until hot.  Then add the fried egg and the basil.

If I really was a food stylist and photographer, I would have carefully arranged each piece of basil instead of just glopping it on there.  Next time, right?  Except that there has already been two "next times" and I didn't get pictures.  All you need to know is that this is a terrific sandwich, perfect for breakfast, brunch, lunch or whatever.  And the next time I go to the grocery store, they'd better have that Sundried Tomato & Herb bread or heads will roll!  

Since I didn't find the recipe on the La Brea website, I scanned the bag with the recipe and it's included here and above.

One last thing... about Pinterest.  When I started the last post, some of the things I wrote were a little snarkier but I decided to self-censor.  As with many things, the very nature of Pinterest says a lot about our society and culture, and it isn't all good.  But much of it is.  If it hadn't been for Pinterest, I might never have come across these pretty little pumpkins made by Jenny at SeaPinks.  

And that would have been so wrong.  

Happy Monday!

 

 

 

What's in a PIN?

In the past few months, nice ladies from Texas and Michigan have written on their blogs about "pinning" -- Pinterest.  I've decided to weigh in on the subject because I'm not sure they gave you the whole truth -- the plain, unvarnished, "can we talk" truth about this pinning-thing.  

If your New Year's Resolutions for 2012 have led you to take a Vow of Nicety, then I'll bid you good day and I'll hope to see you soon.  But if you're in a mood to release a tiny bit of your inner snarkiness, read on.  

Pinterest is a lot of fun.  As a quilter, you can be inspired and left speechless.

From the Quilts board of Rocky Colavito. 

From quilts to fabric, embroidery projects to crochet -- which, by the way, is hugely popular judging by the number of crochet-related pins and boards -- if somebody on the Internet makes [fill in the blank] and posts a picture of that [fill in the blank] somewhere/anywhere online, it's going to wind up on Pinterest. 

Quotes!  Everybody loves them and they're easily found and in many different forms.  

From the Words for Camp Sloanie board by Pat Sloan.  Artwork from The Wheatfield by Katie Daisy - on Etsy.

By the way, some of the best quotes aren't necessarily inspirational... though I might still deem this one motivational.

Searching for "sassy quotes" boards can be an enjoyable pasttime, especially if you've had one of "those" days.  

Do you like to cook and save recipes?  It's almost like Food Gawker -- a one-stop "shop" for recipes and food blogs.  

Toffee Crunch Cupcakes.  

Ironically, it seems as though some of the best food-related boards are done by people who also pin lots and lots of workout pictures. 

I also think that a lot of people pin pictures of food that looks good without ever reading the recipe.  I want to read the recipe before I pin something -- and on a couple of occasions, I've deleted pins for things I actually made that tasted awful.  Some things look fabulous but if you read that the cupcakes pictured above were made with rice flour, carob and tofu, would you save the recipe?  (Don't worry, they're made with the real stuff, the good stuff.)  

If you're looking for direction and inspiration for your home -- more importantly, for your maybe-someday dream studio, then sit down, get a cup of coffee and get ready to call a contractor.  

And maybe you should turn off the phone because "eye candy" is meant to be enjoyed.  Slowly.      

From Dream Studio by Melissa.  Photo of studio from/by Kelly Lautenbach.

The same is true if you like to shop for make-up / shoes / handbags / clothes / jewelry / accessories.  

That's the upside.  But has anyone mentioned that Pinterest can also be a giant, gaping black hole of time spent doing not a whole lot?  You think you're going to spend 15 minutes... okay, maybe 30.  It will be fun, you'll scout out some recipes... get a little inspiration... maybe even find something cool and wonderful.  Two hours later you've pinned nothing but you've bookmarked twenty-three craft projects, printed out sixteen recipes -- not one of which can you make because you're lacking important ingredients -- spent $150.00 on Etsy and checked flights to Prague, Santorini and Beijing on Kayak.  Or maybe that's just me.

At its best, Pinterest is a giant magazine that you can customize to contain just the things you like.  And the things your friends like.  And the things that total strangers like -- total strangers with really cool taste.  

It is the biggest, best, coolest bulletin board you never knew you always wanted.  And it's filled with great recipes, awesome blogs and more nifty ideas than you have time to process, let alone actually do.

At its worst... it is a business and people use it to advertise, sometimes to advertise themselves.  While most everybody gets into it to create "personal pin boards" of stuff they like, there is no question that it is also a growing part of social media -- the promotional part of it.  Many designers -- interior, lifestyle, personal style -- with blogs as their business, or part of their business are on Pinterest, and much of what they pin comes from their own blog and/or business.  If you click a picture to get more information about a product, you'll find yourself on their blog where you were just tallied as a hit for their traffic numbers, thereby increasing their advertising revenue and so on.  Some are good about linking the picture back to the specific post with the information you were trying to find but many just link back to the main blog address, meaning that you have to go hunting for whatever it was you wanted to find.

But again, if they show a product that you're looking for, you'll be able to find it.  And that's always a good thing.   

But be warned, it can get a little competitive.  I'm not saying that there's a contest to see who has the most pins, boards or followers, or to see who has the best board names -- though really, Monica wins that one in Secretariat-like fashion -- I mean something else entirely.  I think I could be involved in an altercation should I ever manage to find one of these... 

Pretty cool, huh?  I re-pinned this from someone/somewhere and added my own tag, and then when it was repinned by someone else, they wrote that I would have to fight them for it.  Yikes!  I'm a little worried because Rocky has a bat.  

Just so you know, vintage sewing machines are big on Pinterest... actually, vintage anything is big.  Huge.      

A nice lady in Florida pinned this picture of a vintage Rolex today and I can honestly say that I would fight her for it.  Then again, she does know someone whose got a bat...

So in the almost-a-year that I've been on Pinterest, I'm still not a very prolific pinner.  But I am being inspired by what I see though I do seem to keep getting side-tracked into reading recipes and the instructions for craft and do-it-yourself projects.  And I seem to wind up on Etsy a lot.  But its been fun and I'm really looking forward to my wool arriving.

Since I saw this on Tara's Wool board, do you think I can send her the bill?

P.S.  I didn't buy this exact bundle of wool.  It sold back in December.  I bought something else... but I think I'm still going to blame it on Tara.  

 

I spent the weekend cleaning?

It wasn't supposed to be that way but a very nice but somewhat wicked person asked for a couple of "organizational tips" for a project she's got coming up next month, and the end result is that I had to clean and dust and straighten up a bit because her project meant I was going to have to take some pictures.  

Does that make sense?

When I have a little more information about the whens, whats, whos and whys, I'll let you know.

This was supposed to be the weekend I finished up the last of the Christmas presents I've been making and finished stitching the Primitive Gatherings pincushion for 2011.

Pretty cute, huh?  

This is the perle cotton kit I bought to go with the "free" kit.  Yes, I see the irony of this... I spent $35.00 for the thread kit to make a free pincushion kit.  But I'm making extra pincushions and I did share some perle cotton with a couple of friends who also got the kits.  So that sort of amortizes the cost a bit.  Come on... stretch with me here.  

By the way, while getting my pictures together for this project, I noticed a recurring theme.  Do you see how compulsive organized I am?  I have little trays or baskets for each project I work on.  Even though the balls of perle cotton look like they've been casually tossed into the tray, looks can be deceiving.  The balls are usually in neat little rows with the label facing up so that the color number is visible.  And the O-numbers are not allowed to mingle with the M-numbers.  To make it worse, when the project is done, the balls go back into the storage box, the pins go back into the box with the pins and the pattern gets put in a pattern bag and filed away.  I don't know how I got this way but I'm hoping there is a 12-step program of some kind.    

I was also supposed to be working on a couple of other things but since I can't show them to you, I won't tell you about them.  Do you remember the days when being a "tease" was a bad thing?  Now it seems to be de rigueur.  It's annoying, isn't it?

Though it also means that I won't have much to show for a little while.  Except this.  This has been hanging out in a basket, waiting to be cut up into pieces:

Sandi Henderson ~ Secret Garden.  Isn't it gorgeous?  I've had it for a little while but just haven't been able to get to it.  I know exactly what I want to make with it, though I do need to make a decision about background.  I'm considering two options - one is obvious, the other will almost certainly elicit a "that doesn't look like you" comment from someone.  Yes, I do hear that.  I heard it a lot with Fresh Palette and Nine Dots.    

And yes, it was one of the things that I was referring to last week when I expressed some frustration about what direction I want to go with the quilts I'm making.  

I appreciate all the kind comments from last week about direction and risk, and about my quote box.  Though I did have to laugh when I got an e-mail from someone who suggested I had been raised in a monastery and taught handwriting by monks... like I could ever live someplace where folks take a vow of silence?!?  As if!  Can you imagine?

What I was trying to express was this -- I love the quilts I've made because each one has presented a different challenge or fulfilled some kind of whim.  When I first started quilting, I tried almost every style of fabric and color palette, everything was an exploration.  Part of that was because everything was new and different, and I was still trying to figure out what I liked.  But it is also my nature in that I like variety - which might explain why I have Le Creuset pieces in four different colors.  When I started teaching at a local quilt shop, I was given pretty free rein over what I taught so I continued to experiment with different things.  But lately, I feel like I've done less of that, especially with bigger quilts.

So that's where I am right now.  

The scariest part about actually making some of the quilts I have had living in my head the past few years is that I haven't got a clue how I would write the pattern.  

But I'll worry about that later.  I have to go finish that {thing} I'm working on.

 

 

 

 

Friday silliness...

Happy Friday the 13th!

I've mentioned before that I get the funniest e-mails from Ramona.  

I will confess to you that when she first put me on her e-mail list a few years ago and started forward me e-mails, I was just a tad bit annoyed.  There isn't a one of us who doesn't get way too much e-mail... half of it junk.  That is especially true if you've ever had an AOL e-mail account.  

But then I started opening the e-mails... and moved Ramona to "preferred mail" status.  I also made it a point to thank Ramona for adding me to her e-mail list.      

Ramona sent me this yesterday.  She had sent me something like this last year, and after receiving that one, the name and reference on the picture lead me to the blog/website of the man genius behind these creations. Terry Broder of Bent Objects.  He's a funny guy... a little twisted... but in a really, really good way.    

This is what you get when you give someone who is very creative some wire and a few household objects.  

You say tomato, I say tomato. You say potatoes, I say zombies.

Fruit with life experience.

Zombies are nuts about brains.

Modest pear.  

Literary interpretations.

Paper training our little dog, Frank.

These are two of my recent favorites from the website.  

Grim Brulee.  Will you ever look at another creme brulee without thinking about this?

And because it is Friday the 13th...

Children of the Candy Corn.  

Have a terrific weekend.  

 

Gathered thoughts...

Did I say Friday?  I meant today.  Thursday.  

Oy vey.  While I seem to have misplaced a day somewhere, I do remember what I wanted to show you.  

It isn't any secret that I love quotations.  Whether they are from poetry, someone's personal writings or a speech, I have been saving little bits of paper onto which I've scribbled some "words of wisdom" for as long as I can remember.  My Dad used to do the same thing and one of the things I miss were the quotes he would run across and send me.      

Quotations are even part of my quilts.  When I started putting labels on my quilts about fifteen years ago, I included a quotation... just because.  In a few instances, the quotation I used inspired the name of the finished quilt.  

When it comes to saving those "words of wisdom", I'm not alone.  It seems like everybody who is on Pinterest has a board for "words" of some sort or another.  

So when I saw these boxes in a catalog a couple of years ago, it was love at first sight.    

Gathered Truths by Sugarboo Designs.    

On a side note, if you love quotations and words, I hope you know about Sugarboo Designs.  They have created beautiful artwork, frames, pillows, postcards and notebooks using quotations.  

Sundance Catalog had one in red.  One word -- lust.    

The boxes are painted wood and they're filled with 365 cards made from handmade paper, and printed with quotations.  But as much as I really wanted one, the price was a little steep for a box of quotations.  

But fate intervened one fine day last year... a friend had given me cash/money for I don't-remember-what-reason.  A few hours later, with a few extra minutes and dollars, I impulsively stopped into a favorite local shop to find that they had the boxes.  Make that "box", singular.  The last one -- in black.  

Do you know what the best part of it all was?  That last lonely little box was marked down -- by fifty percent.  I think I heard angels singing... or maybe it was just Maria... I must have done something really good that day because things like that never happen to me.  Or almost never.

That's my box.  (Don't touch.)    

As much as I enjoy reading the quotes ~ and yes, I've read them all ~ some of my favorite quotes aren't in there.  So I thought about making my own box of "gathered thoughts".  But I'm not much of a carpenter and I wasn't having much luck finding substitutes.  I have some vintage cheeseboxes that I considered using but I wanted something a little different.  And that's when I found this Farmer's Market Basket at Anthropologie.

I thought about trying to use my computer to print my favorite quotations onto cardstock but in the end, I decided it would take me longer to do that than just to write them out by hand.  So I bought a pad of 140 lb. watercolor paper at Michael's and cut it into cards measuring about 3 1/2" x 4".  Since I love the look of really black ink on the heavy paper, I used my regular Extra-Fine and Ultra-Fine Sharpie pens.  

Even though writing each card by hand takes extra time, I love the look of them.  I know my Dad would have approved as he often asked me to hand-write quotes for him to keep on his desk.  

Just to change up the look of the cards a bit, I'm varying the spacing, the margin alignment, the lines, etc.  

The card is my divider ~ everything in front has one of my quotes and the cards behind it are waiting to be filled.  

So there you have it.  One of the things that kept me occupied over the holidays.  

And with that, I'll leave you with another one of my favorite quotes:

Yesterday is but a dream, tomorrow is but a vision.  But today well-lived makes every yesterday a dream of happiness and every tomorrow a vision of hope.  Look well, therefore to this day.  Sanskrit proverb

Toodles.