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.

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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.