Pumpkin tastes like Fall

Posted on October 31, 2011 by Sewfrench

Remember way back when…  I made up some Madagascar Vodka Vanilla?

Well…..  After chatting with my sostinkinhappy, vanilla extraordinaire, and friend she encouraged me to try some variations.  This one is Tahitian Rum Vanilla.  Could it be any darker and richer?

Begging a little daylight to filter through,the bottle, just to be able to photograph it. Seriously.  It is dark.  And rich.  And oh so fabulous smelling!

What a difference it makes over any store-bought vanilla.

I cracked it open and used it to take these over the top!

Pumpkin Muffins

only slightly altered from  Gluten Free Goddess

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 12-muffin tin with paper cupcake liners.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together:

1 cup sorghum flour

1/3 cup organic coconut flour

1/2 cup blanched almond flour

1/2 cup tapioca starch

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

1 teaspoon xanthan gum

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

Add in:

1 and 1/3 cups packed light brown sugar

1 cup pumpkin purée (canned organic pumpkin is fine)

1/3 cup oil I used half coconut oil and half light olive oil

2 eggs, beaten

1 TBS Tahitian Rum Vanilla

1/4 teaspoon lemon juice

Now add in:

1/2 cup coconut milk

Beat the batter to incorporate the ingredients. If it needs a little more liquid, add up to 1/4 cup coconut milk until it is a smooth consistency.

Stir in by hand:

1/2 cup roughly chopped pecans

Spoon the batter into twelve muffin cups, filling them close to the top. Smooth the tops using the back side of a wet teaspoon.  I ended up tossing out enough batter for a 13th muffin and after I baked them, I realized I could have divvied it all up, they would have been fine.

Bake in a preheated oven until domed and golden, roughly 22 to 25 minutes. The muffins should feel firm yet springy to a light touch. If a wooden pick inserted into the center emerges clean- these babies are done.

Cool on a wire rack. Remove the muffins from the pan after five minutes, and allow them to continue cooling on a wire rack. This helps keep their bottoms from getting soggy.

Wrap and freeze leftover muffins in freezer bags for easy on-the-go treats.

Cook time: 23 min

Yield: One dozen muffins

And she isn’t called a Goddess for nothing.  These are amazing, not as light as a cupcake, but definitely not as heavy as you think of a muffin.  Next, I want to try her pumpkin cupcakes and compare the two.  Or just eat them.

And yes, I realize there are a lot of different flours in these muffins, and I think that is what makes them so good.  To bake gluten-free is not easy, that’s why I go to the experts.  I’m new to all this but they aren’t.  They tell me what to do, I do it.  And with beautifully, yummy success.


Pumpkin Butter
a.k.a. Dessert Soup

only slightly altered from Spoon Fork Bacon

I, also, altered this recipe, in my head, unfortunately not on paper, to make 3/4 of a recipe. This allowed me to make both the muffins and the butter using just one large can of pumpkin.  Good Luck on the math!

Full recipe makes 3½-4 cups

Ingredients:

1 (29 ounce) can pumpkin purée

1 cup fresh apple cider, you could use juice, but cider is in season!

¾ cup granulated sugar

1/3 cup light brown sugar

¼ cup pure maple syrup

2 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon

2 teaspoons ground ginger

¼ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

¼ teaspoon ground cloves

¼ teaspoon all-spice

A splash of vanilla, added after the cooking and removed from the heat

1. Place all ingredients into a medium pot and place over medium heat. Stir.

2. Allow the mixture to reduce on medium to medium-low heat for 30 to 40 minute or until slightly thickened (the mixture will thicken more as it cools).

3. Transfer to sterilized jars and store until ready to use.

4. Serve over toast, muffins, scones, oatmeal….

Enjoy!

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

Favorite Things about Fall Sundays

Posted on October 30, 2011 by Sewfrench

Bargain basement prices on the last of the season’s produce…..
Though our closest farmer’s markets are now history, for this season, we do have a farm market, just a few miles down the road stuffed with all the fall favorites!  Brussels sprouts, broccoli, apples and apple cider, pumpkins and need I say acorn squash???  Can you agree that acorn squash filled with butter, maple syrup and a splash of coconut milk is the best dessert, first, kind of fall food?

To know what you’re going to wear before you even get out of bed….
Being Detroit Lions fans and finally having a respectable team makes pulling on a Lions tee-shirt a heck of a lot easier!

Lazing around enjoying just one more cup of coffee….
Over the Sunday paper while watching Sunday Morning on CBS.  And if that one last cup of coffee is doused with a caramel or pumpkin spice flavor, all the better!

The smell of the crock pot simmering away all day…..
Today was braised ox tails with onions and mushrooms served over mashed potatoes. Wow was that good!

And my very favorite thing about fall Sundays?
Snuggling under a quilt for a quiet afternoon of football….
Getting some over due quilting done is a bonus!

Hope you’re having a fabulous fall Sunday, too!

Posted in Cooking, Eating, Family, hand quilting, Quilting | Tagged , , , , , | 5 Comments

Bloggers’ Quilt Festival Fall 2011

Posted on October 28, 2011 by Sewfrench

Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes!!!  It’s that time again!  The time of year when we can cuddle under quilts while we check out hundreds and hundreds of talented quilters and what they have to show off!  This is the most inspiring time of year.  To see how other artists interpret color and design.  And the very messiest time of year for my desktop!  You *know* you know what I’m talking about.

You’d think that since I knew this was coming I wouldn’t be quilt number 188 to be posted, LOL!

While all the designers, authors and others involved in the quilt industry get together at quilt market to introduce their new products, Amy, over at amyscreativeside.com, hosts a virtual quilt festival.  A place where anyone wanting to join in on the fun can link up to share their work! Follow the link above, over to Amy’s blog, if you’d like to seriously be inspired.

Deciding which quilt to share with literally hundreds, last year over 700, very talented people, who do the same thing you do, can be very intimidating.  It was a tough decision. So many quilts, so many stories.  I decided to go with Sam’s quilt, “Shoot for the Moon” which I made in the winter/spring of 2010.

It was made as a graduation quilt, for my niece.  I have been fascinated with creating quilts with circles for a long time.  I can’t say how many I have finished but this is one of my most recent favorites.  I drew from my vast collection of batiks, only needing to buy the yellow for the backing and the deep purple for the binding.  I have a love/hate relationship with creating with what I already own.  I love almost every new fabric I see and I hate that I don’t own them….

Then I started cutting.  I used the floor that adjoins my studio as my design *wall*.  I was constantly trying different squares in different spots then cutting new ones, until I hit on the look I was going for.  It was one of the messier quilts I have ever put together.

Finally with an agreeable layout, by all who walked past, I was ready for the best inner thigh and ab workout on the planet, *The pinning of the quilt*.  You know what I’m talking about!

And the hand quilting begins.  I *love* these colors.  They talk to me.

Finished while there is still snow on the ground tells me, I’m ahead of schedule!

And the back.  I used up all the extra pieces that didn’t work where I needed them to, on the front, and gave me the width I needed for the backing.

And when the finished quilt is all washed and comes out of the dryer all warm and crinkly I am always in awe that *it* worked!  My plan came together and worked.  My latest is always my favorite, but this one has stuck with me.  Not literally, but there are invisible strings attached…

Finished and ready for gifting.

For Sam

~Shoot for the Moon~

~HS Graduation 2010

64″x 72″ machine pieced, hand quilted, with love.

Now click on that link above and see all the other goodies out there!

Posted in 2010 completes, Bloggers' Quilt Festival, Family, festival, Quilting, Quilts and their History, Sewing, Snow, studio | 45 Comments

They’re bacckkkk…

Posted on October 27, 2011 by Sewfrench

We were a little nervous, what with all the landscape changes, that the deer would not return. Never fear they are back and I think they approve.

As seen, on a foggy morning, through the window~  They look so small way out there.

And from the trail cam, hung on a tree, on our east property/tree line~

Oh and look at that sweet buck!  We’ve not seen him, in daylight, in a very long time. Glad to know he’s still out there!

Around dusk, a couple of evenings ago, I snuck out the front door and walked around out back.  Ducking behind a car, in the drive, I got several shots before I decided to walk up closer.  There were three of them and one appeared to be the *lookout*.  We’ve seen her for years, she is easily identified by the injury on her side.

She just watched as I walked closer and closer.  That tender young grass is more tempting than I am dangerous, I’m guessing.  One of her back legs has an issue, too.  Poor thing…

They finally decided they had enough.  *Lookout* watches for planes on the runway before they all cross.

Hmmm, that’s a joke people.  We have seen exactly two planes land there in the 5 years we’ve been here.  It’s private and I believe there are only a couple of pilots, besides Peter, that still have permission to land here.  But why would you want to?  It’s a grass landing strip that runs behind the half dozen houses that line our street.  It’s not like it will take you anywhere.  Well, unless you’re coming to see me!

What I didn’t photograph was the older two teaching the younger to cross the fence.  They kept nudging her, in the rear, trying to get him to jump.  They finally went ahead and went over and left her to her own devices.  She was so tempted.  Finally opting to walk to the east, (right) about 20 feet, where the fence is partially down, to just walk across.  I think she’ll last around here.  She seems pretty smart to me!

Yeah, they approve of the changes…  I’m happy.

Posted in Landscape, Nature | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

Hand quilting vs Machine quilting

Posted on October 26, 2011 by Sewfrench

What a windy day I chose to photograph this project! At least the rain had stopped and the sky was blue.  And warm.  60° at noon in late October?  It doesn’t get any better than this!

This was a quilt I started way back in the summer.  It was a lazy Sunday afternoon, at the cottage, not particularly suitable for the usual Lake Day.  I had the urge to create something with what little inventory I had, on hand, and having recently spotted this I decided I should give it a try.  Because I wanted only one set of the five blocks, as opposed to all four sets, and I wanted it larger than one-fourth of the quilt, I had to enlarge all the parts proportionally….  I got the math figured out and went to work.  Then daughter decided it would be even more interesting if I linked the squares…  I set about recutting parts…  I barely had enough of the blue.  I was just able to squeak by.

Lilie's Quilt

All the solid fabrics are Kona cotton solids. On the back, I used the same size square repeated, in the same Robert Kaufman Primrose Dot, as the front and the binding for continuity.

Lilie's Quilt the back

I chose to hand quilt a spiral square at 1 1/4″ intervals, which makes for superfast quilting.

Then I added my embroidered, quilt signing, discreet signature.  The date and the baby’s name will have to wait for the arrival, in a couple of months.  I am ahead for once!

Because I truly love the look of some of the machine quilted quilts I’m always tempted to think it’s quicker and would be fun to do.  So many options….  So for this project I thought I’d check and see just how much time I’m putting into the quilting.  This one is 44″ square, a nice sized baby quilt.

I machine piece most baby quilts so I didn’t bother taking the time to track that because what I do is no different that the next.  A Sunday afternoon and it was finished.

I tracked the hand quilting and hand binding on this one and it came out to

1/2 hour to mark the quilting lines.

5 1/2 hours to hand quilt it.

1 1/2 hour to bind and embroidery it.

The verdict is in, for now….

For the 7 hours involved (a good part of which was done as a passenger in a car) I suppose I will continue to hand quilt.  I love the way it looks and I love the feeling that I’m stitching every quilt with love.  I often second guess myself, knowing that I could produce more and faster, but for me and now, I’m going to continue to hand quilt.

What about you?  What’s your choice for quilting?  I’d really like to hear it if you think I’m just a stuck in the mud dinosaur and need to get help….

Off to my local quilt store this morning to hopefully find all the colors for my next Kona solids project.  I’m *really* excited about this one.  Everyone in our house has been involved in this project.  Can’t wait until I have enough to share!

Hey, don’t forget to click on the WIP button at the top.  There are some really cool things going on, all over the world!!

Posted in 2011 completes, fabric, hand quilting, Quilting, Quilts and their History, Sewing, WIP | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 26 Comments

The sky last night

Posted on October 25, 2011 by Sewfrench

was incredible where we live!  If I hadn’t been on Facebook, when I was, to see the local weatherman chatting about the sky, I may have missed it.  It was the strongest Aurora Borealis I’ve ever seen. Granted, I’ve only seen one other Northern Lights event and it was back in the dinosaur print photography days.  There are no photos to prove what I saw, then.

According to Bill, our local weatherman, A coronal mass ejection (CME) hit Earth’s magnetic field on Oct. 24th around 1837 UT (2:37 pm EDT). The impact strongly compressed our planet’s magnetosphere and may have exposed geosynchronous satellites to solar wind plasma. Mild to moderate geomagnetic storms are possible in the hours ahead as Earth’s magnetic field continues to reverberate from the hit.  Sky watchers in Scandinavia, Canada, and northern-tier US States should be alert for auroras, especially during the hours around local midnight.  This Aurora are visible down to Illinois, Indiana and Ohio so far.  You got that.   Right?

I chuckled when my friend asked if isn’t this what happened in the movie Frequency? Anybody tried the CB radio yet? 🙂  It definitely was very alien~esque feeling.
And what a gorgeous star filled night it was to watch the sky.  If it wasn’t for the smell of a recent skunk, it would have been perfect!

I have to give the photo credits to our daughter, Amanda.  She ripped my camera right out of my hands and sent me running for the tripod and a flashlight.  She assigned me Facebook update duty, too.  Not sure how I fell for that, but I did.  She did a great job! No photoshopping needed.

We did try to video the movement, in the sky, but I was using a little pocket video camera. The quality wasn’t enough to record anything.

If you are interested in seeing more, check out this quick 28 second time-lapse video from a guy just south of us.  It is amazing.

I need to learn how to do that…  Next time, I could probably use my good camera to do the videoing and make daughter run, for hers, for the prints….

Posted in Nature | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

Join me on my favorite hike. Quietly, please.

Posted on October 22, 2011 by Sewfrench

Smelling.

Listening.

Reflecting.

Pure Michigan.

There’s nothing else like it.

Posted in Cottage, Nature | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

Thai Vegetables with Seared Cod

Posted on October 21, 2011 by Sewfrench

On a recent trip to Detroit, we had time to kill before a ball game.  We headed out, dodging the raindrops, while looking for something a little healthier (not to mention gluten-free) before the big game.  We happened upon Detroit Seafood Market and decided to give it a whirl. Boy were we impressed.  The lunch menu had so many great options, cheaper than the price of a hotdog.  And this was *good* food!  The fish was so fresh the food didn’t last long enough to even take a picture…

Decisions, decisions…  It was a tough choice but I went with the Pan seared Tilapia with sweet chili sauce over vegetables.  It was our last great meal before we lost that fateful ALCS, game 3.

The game wasn’t pretty, but the meal we enjoyed so much, we came home and recreated it.  We’ve had it twice since.

It is SO good, I need to record it here!

Thai Vegetables with Seared Cod

Sauce
1/2 c sweet chili sauce, we like Taste of Asia
1 TBS seasoned rice wine vinegar
1 tsp sesame oil
1/2 tsp Sriracha sauce (or more)

Vegetables
1/2 carrot, cut into match sticks
1/2 a stem of broccoli, cut into tiny florets
1/4 red bell pepper, slivered
1/4 red onion, slivered
1/4 zucchini, cut in circles, then halved
1 green onion, sliced
several mushrooms, quartered, if I have them
1 or 2 garlic cloves chopped

Wild or brown rice, prepared

Stir all the sauce ingredients together.  Set aside.

In a twirl of olive oil, stir fry or saute the veggies until near tender.  Add a splash of water, cover and steam for a few minutes, if needed, then toss in most of the sauce, reserving some for the top.  This is really pretty quick.

We like to get a cast iron skillet smoking hot, on the outside grill.  Then sear our fish, salt and pepper, for seasoning, until cooked through.  This was about 3-4 minutes a side. Then serve it over the veggies and wild rice, topping with additional sauce.

You could easily do this with bite sized chicken pieces, tofu, or just veggies.  I have also seen fried eggs served over the sautéed, sauced vegetables.

Make it your own, just make it!

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

WIP #12

Posted on October 19, 2011 by Sewfrench

Yup, I crossed one item off my list.  Two weeks in a row, wow.

We just don’t need to talk about how long it’s been there. But when push comes to shove sometimes you just have to put your nose down do what you’ve been dreading most.

I turned this humongous, way too big and heavy, 40# tarp…

Into this…

A custom fitted, hot tub cover’s, cover.

That also included having to clean my studio so I had room to work on the stiff, unweilding piece.  It tried to knock everything it bumped into, to the floor.  Hubby had to help support the weight of it to keep it from pulling my needle into a breakable position. Thank goodness I have a huge table to work on, but still.  No fun.

Yeah, we’re those kind of people that shut our tub down in the winter…  Strange, I know, but it doesn’t get used, so why not save the electricity and chemicals??  Better ways to spend my money, I say.  And if I could have bought one of these covers, I gladly would have.  Apparently it’s our brainchild.  Someone should run with the idea and make a fortune.

Between the 1o0+ inches of snow and the southern exposure and wind, yes, we should talk about the wind, lots of wind, our hot tub cover would never be able to withstand the elements and keep the tub dry, on the inside, without protection over the insulated cover that is used year round.  The last one, I made, lasted 7-8 years before it got so thin in spots that I feared I had waited too long.  I was glad when we pulled it off in the spring that all was as we left it.   Knowing this tarp is much heavier I’m hoping to have bought myself plenty of extra time for more entertaining things than cleaning a wet,  mildewy tub….  Glad to have that chore off my back.

Speaking of entertaining things….  Like making double fold, continuous bias binding?  Yeah, fun, you know it is!  Taking a square yard of fabric, cutting it corner to corner, putting it back together in a whole new shape and cutting round and around into one really long 2 1/2″ strip.  Then pressing it in half lengthwise. I’m getting dizzy thinking about it, but yeah, I do that for every quilt I make.  No strip pieced binding for me. Grandma told me otherwise.  I listened to my Grandma…..

Sometimes I wish I hadn’t…..  If you do binding, this way, you know what I’m talking about.

What do you do for your binding?  Should I be doing it another way?  What say ye??

And while marking and cutting binding it gives you lots and lots of time to think….

I have been thinking a lot about how to quilt my version of this Moda Sunkissed Squares quilt.  I started it a while back and after finishing the top, I put it away to work on other projects.  Now it’s time has come.

Decisions, decisions…

Lots of sketching, coloring, drawing, trying different ideas…  This quilt just called for some kind of straight line quilting.  I went with a square spiral.  It’s fast quilting, that’s for sure.  For the first time, ever, I’m timing how long it takes to hand quilt a project. This should be interesting.

If all goes as planned, I hope to have it finished next week.

If you got through this long-winded post then you must really be bored and ought to pop over to Freshly pieced and see what Lee and everyone else has been up to this week!

Make it a great one!

Posted in Cottage, Quilting, Snow | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

It’s that time again…

Posted on October 18, 2011 by Sewfrench

in Northern Michigan.

to fall.

It’s that time of year to cut back and clean up.

everywhere.

That includes cutting back the ever producing Green Zebras and finishing them off. We were totally shocked and surprised that it stood up to the winds and has kept on producing.

Brrr….  the winds are blowing out of the northwest with strong gusts.  It’s not quite 50° and hard to get enough layers on.

We persevere.  The deck has been cleared, the herbs harvested, the hostas and grasses have been cut back.  The refrigerator has been cleaned out and the spare beds covered like ghosts.

After a long hard day of house and never ending yard work we sit back and reflect (bundled in blankets) on what a wonderful summer it has been.  It really is the most beautiful place in America.

It’s beginning to look like a winter sky out there.

Posted in Cottage, Eating, Gardening, Landscape | Tagged , , | 2 Comments