Swoon….

Posted on December 8, 2011 by Sewfrench

Another Wednesday has come and gone and now another Thursday….

If you’ve been playing along, the mystery quilt is 36/36 heavily, hand quilted, up from 32/36 blocks quilted last week.  Binding is attached and mostly hand stitched down.  It needs the final look over, thread clipping, cleanup, then the laundering for the clinkle effect and the embroidery added before another one bites the dust.  I do believe if I had a place for this one a white lie might have been told and a substitute might have my signature all over it….. Thankfully I am full up and wasn’t forced to lie…. It truly is my favorite, so far.  I can’t wait to share it! Can you feel how giddy I am? It’s actually spread out on the floor right now so I can drool over it before it hits the wash.

The days are slipping by and the finishes have been slow coming. The Bubble Quilt top got finished and put away along side the Jane Austen Quilt, only because I haven’t decided it’s finished size.  6 nice projects in the works. MANY small projects either on the cutting board or in my head, and only one completed project totally missing.  Anyone seen it?

It could be worse….

The mantle is decorated. The tree is up, lit and strung with pearls. Boxes of ornaments are strewn about. Most presents are ready and awaiting their wrappings.

I just needed a distraction from all this elfin’ work…. I just don’t understand how Santa gets it all done…. But, of course, he works year round…. Maybe I should, too….

I just received my first, of the season, self purchased, Christmas gifts. It’s the first, I swear, only one tiny package. But what a treat! This was a huge splurge for me. I  just couldn’t contain myself any longer.  I’ve watched these fabrics, since before they went into production, drooling, wanting something totally new and I went all out. As soon as these Christmas projects are finished…. the fun begins!

I can’t wait to cut into me some Echo by Lotta Jansdotter from over at Hawthorn Threads. I adore that website! I love how you can pick a fabric, see what coordinates with it and also see what creative things people have made with said fabric.  Way cool. And I don’t get kickbacks.  Wish I did…. But I don’t…

I totally have no idea what I am going to do with all this goodness, but I’m sure something will come to me. If you have a brilliant idea, let’s hear it!

~~~Pitter patter, goes my heart~~~

Excuse me, but for now I think I’ll just go fondle my fabric….

Have a wonderful evening!

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Comfort food reinvented is even more comforting when it’s healthy

Posted on December 2, 2011 by Sewfrench

Corn casserole, corn souffle, scalloped corn whatever you call, I call it comfort food.  Maybe it’s my Native American heritage showing? Not sure….

I promised to make a gluten-free, dairy-free version for Thanksgiving.  Then…. We all stood around laughing, talking, having a good old-time, thinking I’ve got this timing thing down pat, this year.

Then…. I remembered….

You see, since it’s such a quickie recipe to throw together it was going to be easier to make it last-minute than to find room for the unbaked version in the refrigerator. So soon after Thanksgiving, with my tail between my legs , I threw this together. I’m told it was the best I’ve ever made. I think it was more like cornbread, but who am I to argue with their bellies.  It was good! And gone in the blink of an eye. It made Thanksgiving leftovers into a whole new meal.

And besides… this dish didn’t match my Thanksgiving setup. Do you have certain recipes that you *always* use a certain dish for? Never mix it up? This is one of those for us.  I’ve had this set of casseroles for close to 35 years and corn casserole always goes in the larger, shallower, bottom of the stack, square dish.  Just like Rotel dip goes in the taller, smaller, next to the top, one.  Well, that is back when we still ate Rotel dip…. Bah…

Anyway… This recipe is the original, dairy, gluten version. It fills a 9″ x 13″ pan.

Corn Casserole

INGREDIENTS:

1 (15 ounce) can creamed corn

1 (15.25 ounce) can whole kernel corn

1 (8 ounce) container sour cream

2 eggs

1/2 cup melted butter

2 tablespoons white sugar

1 (8.5 ounce) package corn muffin mix

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350°. Grease a 9 x 13 inch baking dish.

Mix together corn, sour cream, eggs, melted butter, and sugar. Mix in muffin mix. Pour into your casserole dish.

Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, or until a knife inserted midway into pan comes out clean.

Serves 12 at 263 calories, 14.9 g fat, 5 protein, 1.2 g fiber, 616 g sodium.

And the healthier, for us, new and improved version~

Gluten-free Dairy-free, (half recipe) Corn Casserole

1 small can (cup) creamed style corn (or frozen from your summer adventures)

1 c frozen corn

4 oz soy yogurt, plain

1 egg

1/4 c melted butter, or butter alternative

1-2 TBS white sugar 1 was good, 2 would be more like a Jiffy cornbread

1/2 bag (6 oz) of Pamela’s 12 oz cornbread mix, or your favorite GF recipe

1/4 c soy milk

Mix up and pour into a greased 8×8 pan and bake at 350° 30-40 minutes.

Serves 6 at 161 calories per serving, 9.4 g fat, 2.8 protein,  1.1 g fiber, 228 g sodium.

Enjoy!

Posted in Cooking, Eating, Family, Gluten Free, Recipes | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

WIP #18

Posted on November 30, 2011 by Sewfrench

It would seem I haven’t gotten much done this week, but I have. I did get my tablecloth and napkins finished, just in time for Thanksgiving.

Lots I can’t show though…

Got the Bubble quilt put together this week. I replaced a couple of colors and fixed a totally misaligned arc.  I can *not* believe no one called me out on that last week!  Took my husband to do it.  Jeesh people, can’t you help a quilter out? Forgive the wrinkles, I spritzed the blue lines and apparently didn’t lay it flat to dry. It can only look better. Though I am extremely happy with it. I suspect it will now to tucked away until after the holidays while I finish up some other things. Like shopping. Wrapping. Decorating….

It will finish at 42" square. Yes, square, even if it doesn't look it.

I’m now up to 32/36 blocks quilted from 27/36, last week. Time to get the bias binding done so it’s ready when I am, right? I did get 504 inches of stone colored Kona bias binding made for my mystery quilt.

Hate having to stop what I’m doing to make binding, but I adore having a drawer full of all the different leftovers. A square width of fabric (45″ x 45″) makes enough continuous bias binding for a queen and a baby sized quilt all in an hour’s time.  Gotta love it!

Have a wonderful Wednesday!

Posted in Quilting, Sewing, WIP | Tagged | 11 Comments

Thanksgiving Success!

Posted on November 28, 2011 by Sewfrench

A gluten-free, dairy free celebration that left us all feeling good and full.
No deprivation here.

Posted in Cooking, Eating, Family, Health, Photography | 6 Comments

The one where she figured out how best to piece circles!

Posted on November 23, 2011 by Sewfrench

Hmmm…

I haven’t been here in a week and WordPress went and rearranged things on me.  How dare they. Trying to quickly write-up a post isn’t as quick as I had hoped.  Though I *love* the new uploading media button.  It’s much more user-friendly.  I’ll have to play with it to see what all is new.  Just not today.  Thanksgiving prep is well under way at our house.  Two dishwashers  are running at all times, and it smells fabulous in here.

But it is Work in Progress Wednesday so I thought I’d pop in here and let you know that Bubbles is coming along quite nicely.  I’ve made a few fabric changes and I think it’s flowing so much better. Not that there won’t be more, but for now, I’m pretty happy.

My most anxious piecing was putting the chartreuse, a nearly full circle, into the larger red bubble piece. It wasn’t nearly as scary as I had envisioned it to be. As I cut the pattern apart, I made little clips into each piece to match them back up, after tracing around them and adding the seam allowances.  I also marked the clips with the erasable blue pen so it would be quicker doing my pin ups than searching for a tiny clip.

It worked so well, I wish I had done that, with all the curves, from the beginning.

Keep in mind this has not been pressed at all. The blue lines have not been erased, just in case I want to swap out more colors.  Blue pen is permanent if pressed over… Yes, I meant it when I said it last week and it’s still true this week.

My points all meet up and all the seams are smooth. It doesn’t look that way from the picture, but it is. I’m pretty excited with this challenge!

Mystery quilt update ~ 27/36 blocks heavily hand quilted, up from 21/36 last week.  All I can say about it is that it is in Stone and Ivory and is my most favorite quilt ever.

Be sure and spend some of your Thanksgiving weekend relaxing over at Freshly Pieced seeing what kind of ideas you might dream up.  Or just drool. That’s where I’ll be on Friday. Maybe I’ll see you there.

Here’s to a blessed, relaxing weekend! Make it count!

Posted in fabric, Sewing, WIP | Tagged , , , , | 13 Comments

How do you define hummus?

Posted on November 23, 2011 by Sewfrench

For hard-cores, hummus, the Middle Eastern, dip is defined as cooked, mashed chickpeas, blended with tahini, olive oil, lemon juice, salt and garlic.

For me, as long as it is a white bean blended with garlic, salt and lemon juice, it’s hummus.

So if you are a hard-core this recipe has a problem. It’s not really hummus.

So I’ll concede, if I must, that it’s not hummus.

It’s better than hummus.

Way.

Better.

See for yourself and let me know what you think.

Better than Hummus, Hummus
printer friendly

1 head garlic

1 TBS olive oil

a sprinkling of salt

a grinding of pepper

a dash of chili powder

as much as you dare of cayenne

1 15 oz. can cannelloni beans, drained, and rinsed

1 lemon, juiced

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp cumin

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Slice the top off of the garlic (do not peel) and place in a foil lined cake pan. Drizzle with the olive oil. Sprinkle with a bit of salt, pepper, chili powder and a dash of cayenne.

Roast for 30 minutes or until golden brown.

Let cool and drain the oil into a small dish.  Squeeze out garlic cloves into your food processor or high-speed blender. Be careful with the papery skins. They do try to stick to your fingers and find their way into your spread. Add beans, cumin, salt, and lemon juice. Process until smooth. Taste and adjust the flavor and thickness.  A bit of water or more lemon juice can be used to thin it, even more, if you like. I say you can never have too much fresh lemon juice.  Scoop out into a small serving dish and drizzle the reserved seasoned, garlicky, olive oil goodness over the top.  Toasted pine nuts won’t hurt, either.

Then fight them off.

This stuff is so good!  We almost always double the recipe.  I like it best with a nut cracker and veggies for spreading and dipping. You could eat it with pita chips or even tortilla chips.

However you eat it, it makes healthy, gluten-free, garlicky breath, high fiber snack.

I wish I had doubled it today……

I won’t breathe on you.

I promise.

Posted in Cooking, Eating, Gluten Free, Recipes | Tagged , , , , , , | 3 Comments

WIP # 16 ~ Bubbles

Posted on November 16, 2011 by Sewfrench

Remember this pretty stack of Kona Cotton?

Remember this daughter designing a pattern off of Brigitte‘s idea?

Then color coding it for me?

Well, I finally got caught up on most everything around here and found the time to play and see if I can make it work, in fabric, with what I have in my head.

I started by cutting my paper pattern apart, on the stitching lines, representing each color.  I then traced around the pieces, on to the corresponding color of fabric, with a water-soluble blue pen.  I go through these things right and left. I never know which one is the *newest* one, as in, not dried up. I figure if I have enough of them, I’ll surely have a working one within arms reach.  Buy, buy, buy, buy….  If you don’t know what these are then you are missing out. Whether you are a quilter or not, no matter your hobby, these are handy-dandy.  A spritz of water removes your lines. The only issue a person *may* have is if you iron over the blue. It will never truly go away.  That explains why this quilt isn’t being ironed as I go.

Anyway…..

I traced around my pattern pieces, then cut outside the blue line leaving a scant 1/4″ for a seam allowance.

I know if I seam them up and a blue line shows, I’m not as good as I think I am and they also won’t lie flat. It’s like a puzzle.  Which seam is next? Which seam has to be laid down before the next one will fit? I am cutting one or two colors, as I go, to keep it all straight in my head. And pinning, using lots of pins for all these deep curves.  The chartreuse set within the red concerns me. Any ideas? More pins??  LOL!

I only had an hour to work on it, but so far, so good.  I know that I may be removing segments as I go, and replacing them with other colors, to get the look I am going for. I’m okay with that. Sewing isn’t the hard part. Using the tiny color cards to imagine and pick colors isn’t the easiest. And sorting through 212 colors of Kona cotton, at the fabric store, leaves behind a terrible mess….

Among these projects…. my under~wraps quilt with 14/36 heavily, hand quilted blocks finished last week.  This week it’s up to 21/36.  Several hot and heavy evenings of quilting and several with none : (

Jane Austen has now been folded up while I contemplate her finished size and work on this new one…

Wall hanging quilt is staring at me, patiently waiting its turn….

Pop over to Freshly Pieced and see what everyone else is doing.  I’ll meet you there as soon as I pour one last cup of coffee!

Posted in fabric, Quilting, Sewing, WIP | Tagged , | 11 Comments

Cabbage and Sausage Soup

Posted on November 14, 2011 by Sewfrench

I don’t know about you and yours, but this has been a fall for soups around our house. Soups are often gluten-free which makes it something we can all share. Such an easy way to have a hot filling meal, full of nutrition, low in calories and on the cheap! Always a bonus as we settle into a slower paced season.

Does any one else have anxiety over an overstuffed refrigerator? I’m not talking like after a huge shopping trip, with more goodies than you can choose from, I’m talking condiments, little bits of this and that left over, slightly wilted veggies, nothing much to eat, but it’s still full? It makes some people, in our house, *crazy*! So looking to reduce inventory and lighten up the produce drawers, mainly a big fat head of cabbage, I decided to make a cabbage soup. Perfect for a windy, blustery day. No one was interested in it, but me…..  until they smelled it cooking.

“Please, sir, I want some more”, quoted from Oliver Twist, was heard more than once.  They aren’t laughing now….

Cabbage and Sausage Soup

1 T. Extra-virgin olive oil

8 oz Aidell’s chicken sausage, split lengthwise and cut into half-moon slices, this habanero green chili one was delicious, you could use kielbasa or the like, instead

1/4 t. crushed red pepper flakes

1/2 head cabbage, cut to preferred size

1 onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 stalks celery (including some celery leaves), sliced

2 carrots, peeled and diced

2 potatoes, cut into bite-sized cubes, I used a handful of fingerlings that aren’t enough for anything else

1 can tomatoes, with the liquid, 2 would be really nice, too

6 c. gluten-free chicken stock, or as much as needed for your preferred consistency

1 T. dill weed, fresh would have been better, but I didn’t think of that when I was at the store

1 tsp caraway seed

salt & pepper

garnish with whatever fresh herbs you have and need to use, today it was sage

Heat olive oil over medium-high heat in a large soup/stock pot. Add the sausage and crushed red pepper flakes and cook for 5 minutes.

Add the cabbage, onion, garlic, celery and carrots.

Cook the veggies for 10-15 minutes, until the onions are translucent. Add the tomatoes and chicken stock. Stir in the potatoes. Bring to a boil.

Reduce heat to a simmer, stir in dill and caraway, and let cook for as long as you want. The soup will be ready to eat as soon as the carrots and potatoes are tender but it tastes better the longer it simmers. Season with salt and pepper as needed.

If you have an army to feed, you could easily double this recipe and use your entire head of cabbage, but I don’t have that many to feed.  We all had our fill for Sunday lunch. I put a quart in the refrigerator for weekday lunches and a quart in the freezer to see how freezing works.  You could easily leave out the meat and use vegetable broth, or even just water, and make it vegan.  I could see adding some cannelloni beans or barley (if gluten isn’t an issue) to mix it up.  So many options for our predicted long and snowy winter….

Enjoy!

Posted in Cooking, Eating, Family, Gluten Free, Recipes, Soup, Uncategorized, Wellness | 4 Comments

Pinterest sucked me in again…

Posted on November 11, 2011 by Sewfrench

When I spotted this pincushion on Pinterest, I knew I had to make one.

The popular name for this quilt pattern, Dresden Plate, reflects the romance of the Victorian Era with it’s love of elaborate decoration on household items and décor. Dresden, Germany was a center of 19th century romanticism movement in art, one that included the fine decoration of porcelain. The plates were embellished with elaborate design using flowers, fruits and foliage. The beautiful plates would surely have been admired by women of the early 20th century.

I’m pretty sure my Grandma made a scrappy Dresdon Plate quilt, in yellow and white, and we used it until it’s last dying snuggle.

So when I saw a way to use a single Dresden Plate in a more modern, usable, don’t have to spend years appliquéing kind of way, I was ready to jump on it.

You see, I don’t think I’ve owned a traditional pin cushion since Mrs. Summitt’s Junior High Home Ec class.  You know the tomato with the dangling strawberry pincushion?

According to folklore, placing a tomato on the mantle of a new home guaranteed prosperity and repelled evil spirits. If tomatoes were out of season, families improvised by using a round ball of red fabric filled with sand or sawdust. The good-luck symbol also served a practical purpose—a place to store pins.  I’m just glad someone decided to improvise, otherwise, things would have started getting a little messy by now….

The strawberry is generally filled with some kind of abrasive to help keep pins sharp and burrs away.  When I started thinking seriously about replacing my purple magnetic pin catcher with a real life pincushion I knew I wanted it stuffed with emery sand. Dull, burred pins, bent and those missing the little balls on top make me crazy. Many days I am cursing myself for having tossed out so many pins.  Then I swipe my magnet pin catcher across the floor and gather more…  I digress….

Following my spotting this pincushion on Interest, I searched out Molly Flander’s Dresden tutorial and quickly realized, not only did I not have a Dresden ruler, but with all the quilting books I own I couldn’t find a paper pattern, either.  I tried, several times, printing Molly’s pattern and couldn’t get the size right, no matter my printer settings. My ignorance, not hers, obviously…  So on to winging it. I could tell from her pictures each fan piece was 2″ in length with the width tapering from  1.5″  to 1″.  Digging into the Kaffe Fassett scrap basket, from my Jane Austen quilt, I came up with all the fabrics for the fan-like pieces. I think mine took 19, as opposed to her 20, so I wasn’t off by much.

I then using this lollipop technique to add the circle to the top.  I always wanted to give that a try and it works.  Appliquéing it down was much easier when it was partially down with the iron on interfacing.  You should check it out!

I continued on and made a big fat yo~yo for the top.  I discovered this yo-yo maker when looking for fun crafty ideas for my granddaughter, last summer.  It’s so easy and fun to churn out yo-yos when you’re 12, 22 or even 30….

For me, it took a couple more tries.  I eventually got it, right side out and all! I then tacked down the interior valleys leaving the tips to hang dimensionally.

I added a textured button from my Grandma’s button jar, topped it off.

For the filling I made a pillow, the size of the top, maybe 6″ round, and filled it with the emery sand and then proceeded  to stuff it in.  Reminiscent of when we made meditation zafu cushions…  Trying to stuff a buckwheat filled liner into a cover where the hole is too small is not easy. Eventually it all filters in….

Same here, no pattern, we had nothing but a picture to go by.

I then added stuffing to fill the rest of the cushion, under the sand pillow, and stitched her shut. The sand really gives it a nice heft, no need for the cardboard liner.

Now to buy some new pins to replace all the bent and missing head ones that are constantly being confused for needles….

It sits on the sofa arm, just where I need it, beautifully.

I am in love!

What fun, thanks, Molly!

Now I need another for my studio.

I’m going to stretch it and link up with Pillow Talk over at Farbstoff. It’s a stretch because these people are making amazing pillows, and since Brigitte says a pincushion is a mini pillow….  I’m going for it! I so need to be the random winner of her amazing fabric! I’m working with the quilt weight of “Juggling Summer, Laces” from the Zen Chic line right now. My heart does an extra little pitter patter every time I sit down to quilt on it. I can’t wait to share what this fabric does to a project!

Hope you find time to do a little of something that makes your heart sing this weekend!

Make it a great one!

Posted in Crafting, fabric, Pinterest, Quilting, Sewing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Potato Leek Soup

Posted on November 10, 2011 by Sewfrench

This soup was so good, the three of us ate it up.  Well, almost….

There is one bowl left for us to fight over tomorrow.

On a cold, snowy, wind blowing 50 mph kind of night this soup couldn’t be more perfect. Pair it with a crusty bread or crackers and you are all set.  It is such a hearty soup it will stay hot in your bowl and will burn your mouth like cheese on a hot pizza, long after most soups have gone cold.  No need to preheat your bowls for this one!  And as a bonus, leeks give lots of iron-rich mineral nourishment, while garlic and onions add their immune-boosting and heart-healthy benefits.  This is a good for the body, and soul, kind of soup.

If you have never cooked with leeks, you should give this a try.  They taste like a cross between a garlic and an onion, as a shallot does.  Where a shallot looks more like a giant garlic clove, a leek looks more like a giant green onion.   They usually come in a bundle of three or four just like green onions.

The trickiest part is to make sure they are washed well.  They can be gritty and dirty which is not good in a soup….  No need for me to retype what is already all over the web….  Here’s a good explanation of leek cleaning.

Potato Leek Soup
my version very, very loosely based on Julia Child’s dairy laden and gluten version
printer friendly version

2 TBS butter

3 leeks, or one bundle, trimmed and rinsed and sliced

1 1/2 cups sliced onion

1 garlic clove, minced

2 bay leaves

6 cups gluten-free chicken broth, homemade or low sodium boxed broth

4 cups peeled, thinly sliced yellow potatoes

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

salt to taste

Heat the butter in the saucepan, stir in the leeks, onion and garlic and sauté for 5 minutes, over moderate heat to soften.

Add the potato chunks and bay leaves, and just enough of the chicken stock to cover all the vegetables. Season with the pepper and a sprinkling of salt. Bring the soup to a boil over high heat, partially cover the pan, and adjust the heat to maintain a gentle simmer. Cook for about 30 minutes or until the potatoes are tender.

Mash, blend or purée to your desired consistency and adjust the seasonings. Add additional stock if needed. At this point some people may add a cup of whole milk, cream, or half and half.  We don’t do milk products so our creaminess comes from pureeing half , mashing half with a potato masher and combining the two.  Still some texture and creaminess without needing to add dairy. Serve the soup right away or chill thoroughly and call it Vichyssoise.  Don’t you love that word?  Vichyssoise.  Beautiful.  Just like this soup whether hot or cold.

Sprinkle with chopped chives and enjoy!

Posted in Cooking, Eating, Gluten Free, Recipes, Soup | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment