Sweets for Sweet People

 I chopped strawberries and added them to the scone recipe (to which I had added 1/4 cup of ground flax seed).  After they were done I iced them with two ounces of cream cheese, some powdered sugar and vanilla, and more strawberries.
I followed the suggestion of a blog reader who said they just scored the scones and didn't cut them apart.  Well they grew into a lovely golden mass that obliterated the scoring lines.  I might not have rolled/patted the dough thin enough.  Anyway, with this much golden goodness, who cares about disappearing scoring lines!  I must make these again!

What are your favorite sweets to cook for the people you love?

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy quiltmaking......

Baking Fruit Pies

When I was a kid growing up on the farm, near El Paso, Illinois [not TX], it often fell to me to make the pies.

 In fact, it's safe to say that in our family, we ate more pies than cakes.  Without a doubt my grandfather and dad preferred pie to just about any other dessert, with the possible exception of ice cream.

I remember making pies several times years ago and then not bothering to do that very often because the crust, which I always considered the most work, was returned to me with just the filling eaten.  I've made a few pumpkin pies since then, but that's about it.  And frankly, as long as there were little kids in the house, I usually just baked the pumpkin custard and skipped the crust!

Sweet Teen came home a couple of weeks ago and announced that the FFA alumni were having a pie auction as  a fundraiser to benefit a local family that has experienced recent tragedy, and as an officer in the high school FFA chapter, she needed to bake a pie.  So we baked two.

We peeled lots and lots of Granny Smith apples, and the pie at the top is Sweet Teen's very first apple pie [with streusel topping].  It brought $50 at auction.

 This is the one that I expected to bring more.  It's an apple cranberry pie with an almond or hazelnut streusel topping (sorry, I've forgotten which we used).  You can see that she also made this crust a lot prettier.  It only brought it $35.  Of course, that's a lot more than any pie I've ever made!

With the leftover apples and cranberries, I made a little artisan pie and baked it in the DeMarle "hat." (I did try to secure a link to the DeMarle at Home catalog page, but was totally frustrated by trying to get it for you.  Probably something about their website not playing nicely with my browser.)  I did learn that you can buy DeMarle at Home from amazon.com--but you don't want to do that because you'll have to pay a lot more than getting the products from a representative.  (Joining the DeMarle at Home family of representatives is something I plan to do when my life changes somewhat--a great way to meet people, socialize, provide a needed product and service in a fun way, and even make some money!)

I'm thinking I'll be making more little pies since a full size pie in our current household is likely to end up in the garbage before the last piece makes it to our stomachs--not because we don't like it, but because a full size pie is just too big for us to eat in a timely manner.

(I'm thinking I probably bought that pretty red serving plate because it looked like a piece of fabric--because it certainly doesn't go with anything in our house--although it makes the pie look even more delicious.)

Happy quiltmaking....it would be a good idea to use a treadle to burn off a few of those pie calories!  Of course, I well working treadle takes almost no energy.

Scone Variations

If you've been reading my blog for a while, you probably recognize that I love cooking for people I love--although if you remove the people I love, I probably wouldn't enjoy it nearly so much.  (I guess I will find out next year when Sweet Teen heads off to university--although I may just find some more people to love.....)  In any case, I love the comfort of home baked breakfast treats on the weekends.

Here's my recipe for scones with a bit of a nutritional boost.

 Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Mix these dry ingredients together in a medium to large mixing bowl:

 2 cups flour
1/2 cup ground flax seed
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 Tablespoon baking powder

You can use 1/3 cup brown sugar and mix it into the dry ingredients or 1/3 cup blue agave syrup and mix it into the following ingredients:

1-1/2 cups heavy whipping cream plus 1/4 cup water
OR
1-3/4 cups half and half
1/2 cup dried date pieces (or 1/2 cup any dried fruit)
2 tablespoons freshly grated orange peel or 1 tablespoon dried orange peel

(Optional: mix 1 teaspoon of pure vanilla extract into the cream or half and half.)

Pour over dry ingredients and stir until mixed.  Then using hands, finish mixing ingredients in mixing bowl or turn onto a floured board and finish mixing (using hands).

Shape into 15 to 18 balls of dough and flatten slightly.  Place on Sil-Pat, Flexipat, or on a cookie sheet or jelly roll pan that has been sprayed or rubbed with grapeseed oil or olive oil.

Optional:  Using silicone brush, paint tops with cream or half-and-half.

Bake for approximately 18 to 20 minutes until golden (and toothpick inserted into center of scone is removed clean).

NOTE:  We live at 6200 feet, so our flour dries out quickly, which means you may need less liquid closer to sea level.

You could use granulated sugar or honey just as easily as blue agave syrup.  I like the blue agave syrup because it is metabolized more slowly.

If you prefer traditional wedge-shaped scones, you can pat the dough into a circle about 1/2 inch thick on your pastry mat and cut into wedges with the edge of a dough scraper.  (I like the round shapes because they cook more evenly than the wedge shapes.)

If you decide to make fewer but larger scones, you may need to add a  bit more baking time.

 These are wonderful served with softened cream cheese, creme fraiche, or orange marmalade (or even a spread of cream cheese, marmalade, and a few more date pieces). Left over scones can be stored in a one-gallon ziplock bag.  To reheat, wrap two scones in a moistened paper towel and heat in microwave for 20 to 30 seconds.  This wet-wrapped reheating will also soften scones that have lingered for several days.

If you try these, please let me know how you like them. They are so easy to make and so much less expensive and more delicious than the ones you can buy at bakeries (and can definitely be ready to eat in less time than it would take to walk or drive to the bakery and back).

Okay, we should get back to quiltmaking, or at least I should.....

Happy 2013, plus Quilting Progress

Wishing all my family, friends, blog followers, and readers a happy year of faith and prosperity.

I

It began snowing here at 8:00.  Big, fluffy snowflakes.
According to the weather service, the snow is missing us--and 7 miles to the west, it's not falling.
But it's beautiful here.
I've been missing from my blog because we've had over two months of unreliable connectivity.  I've been able to read for very brief periods--and I've tried posting a few comments from Sweet Teen's i-pad (much more complicated than using a keyboard), but otherwise I've just had to back off from the internet.  Oh, how I miss my online friends!

I'm at the quilting stage of the Southwestern Sunrise-Sunset quilt, but it's not yet finished.  Here's the "walnut" quilting in the blank blocks.....

 and some of straight line quilting in the double Irish chain blocks.....

 with a lot more still to be added.  (Threads are from the basting that's not yet ready for complete removal.)

My maternal grandmother was amazingly superstitious and wanted a perfectly clean and tidy house for New Years Day.  I came close--with a shiny sink (I do love my new sink!) and stove top and all the crucial laundry caught up--but not to the point that I'd want a photographer in my house.  Sweet Teen spent New Year's Eve with a friend, but then they returned from Les Miserables so late that she decided to stay until yesterday afternoon.  That worked out fine because it gave me the chance to meet up with a long-time friend for lunch yesterday. Today she met another friend to go see another movie in Albuquerque, so I'm watching the snow fall, trying to update my blog, and hoping to get more quilting done.  Because of the presence of our Christmas tree, I moved the treadle to a different window, so I'm thinking that we'll take our tree down later today so I can move the treadle back to my bird-watching window.

Our schools don't re-open until Monday, so we've been enjoying our break and watching lots of movies. (One of my favorites was Amish Grace, although I cried almost all the way through it!  One of the women at church suggested we get a group together to watch it.  I don't think so!  Public blubbering is definitely not something I want to do!)   I've been doing quite a bit of fun cooking: beef bourguignon, chicken piccata, tortellini soup, turkey, several omelets, and cherry yogurt muffins, among other delights.  No photos, so I'll skip posting recipes.  Besides, with winter temperatures, I'll be doing quite a bit more cooking, although I'm still fascinated by the fact that cooking for people I love is so much fun despite the fact that I don't enjoy cooking for the sake of cooking.

I've finally joined The Quilting Board.  My blog was getting a lot of hits from QB members who would then post questions on the quilting board about where I had copied patterns instead of just posting their questions on my blog.  That's very disconcerting because I wasn't copying patterns from other people--and if I do, I will always give them credit.  The thing is, I've been quilting so long that my first templates were made of oak tag and sand paper.  I had to learn to look at quilts and draft the patterns.  I was living in Peoria, IL at that time, and the big main branch of the library downtown had less than a dozen quilting related books.  Therefore, to this day, although I've purchased dozens of books over the decades, almost every quilt I've made has been one I've designed myself, usually taking inspiration from vintage and antique quilts.  Over the holidays I found not only a photograph of the 1903 Oklahoma quilt that inspired Southwestern Sunrise-Sunset, but also a photograph of the quilt I made in the late 80's and early 90's based on the 1903 quilt.  I thought I had copied it exactly, but it turns out that I had done a variation for the border.  Although the 1903 quilt was blue and white, this new quilt is a closer copy except it's colors are very different.  When we can get the rest of our connectivity problems solved, I'll scan those photos of the 1903 quilt and the 1980's quilt and do a post about all three.

In the meantime, dear ones, stay warm, and happy quiltmaking.....

Tatting & Blueberry Muffins

One of the things I discovered about six weeks ago, was that not only were my reaction times slowed by my head injury but also my fine motor skills had been impacted.

I am exceedingly grateful that I'm regaining oral fluency (although abstract thought and organization is one of my next challenges).  However, my knitting has slowed considerably, and my ability to manage the mechanics of tatting as well as the organization of a pattern are also challenging.


Yes, this is one of the tatting shuttles I've had since the 1970s.  The thread, however, is brand new.  I ordered this thread, in Pansy, and French Country from Jessica. Jessica has a delicious tatting blog, dyes variegated thread from a very high quality six-cord, and sells them on Etsy, http://www.etsy.com/shop/Tatilicious.

Yes, I know I can hand-dye fabrics and could hand-dye tatting thread too.  In fact, in the past I even hand-dyed some of my own variegated embroidery floss.  Because Jessica does such a great job and creates such beautiful threads, I choose to buy from her. (For those of you who like red-work type embroidery or like to use chain stitch machines for this type of embroidery, Jess's threads would be perfect if you used size 40 or 80.  And her size 20 is perfect for crocheted or tatted thingees for spool pins on sewing machines--and a lot prettier than those felt pads.)

  Yesterday, while sitting at Vacation Bible School before my therapy appointments, I wound Jess's threads on spools, put the Pansy thread on a shuttle, and started this lace. (In the process, I discovered that one of my favorite ladies at church used to tat too.) Most tatting projects are built around a certain number of stitches separated by a space to make the little picot.  This pattern is based on repeats and variations of four stitches, as were most of my paternal grandmother's projects. If any tatters out there would like this pattern, I'd be glad to write it up and post it. I created this pattern myself because I wanted something that would create some yardage but not use too much thread--since I have only 50 yards. That is not to deny that sometime in the past someone may have already created this pattern.  Like patchwork, there are some limits to what a pattern can be, and there are fewer elements in tatting than in quilted patchwork.


I've noticed that most of my projects in the past were done in size 30 thread, and apparently that was my grandmother's favorite size too.  Jess dyes threads in size 20 (largest) to 80 (for years considered the standard for edgings for handkerchief lace).  My new favorite is size 40--because it's large enough to look delicate and yet works up quickly.

 This lace will go on a set of pillowcases if it turns out to be long enough.  It's been so many years since I made lace specifically for a project, that I don't even remember how far 50 yards will go.  Most of the time when I carry along tatting to keep my hands busy and to keep me from fidgeting, I just add to a project that's already yards long.  Jess's beautiful colors have inspired me to focus on something more specific.

My other satisfying project yesterday was another healthy revision to my flax-seed muffin recipe. We had to be on the road by 7:45, so this was a great way to start the day (and we took muffins along for a couple of Sweet Teen's friends, who were also helping with VBS).

 If you'd like to start your day with a healthier version of muffins, here's my recipe.

Flaxseed Muffins

Take two eggs and about 1 1/4 cup milk from refrigerator, as well as 1 to 1 1/2 cup fresh blueberries.

Wash blueberries and drain in colander over paper towels.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. 

In large mixing bowl place two cups flour, mixed with 1 tablespoon baking powder and 1/2 teaspoon salt.

To the flour mixture add 1/2 cup ground flax seed (I use Bob's Red Mill and store it in the freezer in a large plastic lidded jar).

Place 1/4 cup to 1/2 cup coconut oil in large measuring cup along with the milk, and heat in microwave at 20% power until room temperature.  (Yesterday it was so hot that our cocunut oil was already nearly liquid, but this step was still necessary, because once it meets the cold milk, it will return to solid state.)

Add two eggs to the milk coconut oil mixture and whisk together.  Add 3 to 4 tablespoons of blue agave syrup and a large splash of pure vanilla and whisk some more. Set aside.

In a small bowl, place the now-much-dryer blueberries along with 3 to 4 tablespoons of cane sugar to coat the blueberries.  Set aside.

Add the liquid mixture to the dry mixture and stir with large wooden or plastic spoon just until all dry ingredients are wet.  (Do not over-mix because that would excite the gluten in the flour and make the muffins tough.)

Fill 12 muffin cups 1/2 full.  (I use muffin trays from DeMarle at Home, so I do nothing to them before adding the muffin batter.  If you don't have this type of muffin pan, you may wish to spray the muffin cups or fill them with paper liners and spray the muffin papers.)

[If you have a family member like my Sweet Teen, fill two of the muffin cups completely--because she doesn't like muffins that contain fruit.]

Drop some coated blueberries into each of the half-filled cups, add remaining batter, and then place three or four coated blueberries on top of each filled cup.

Bake at 400 degrees F. for 17 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in muffin removes clean, except, in this case, for a bit of blueberry juciness.  Remove from oven, remembering to turn off the oven because it's going to be a very hot day, and enjoy your muffins with a hot cup of coffee or tea.

Store extras in a ziplock bag--during hot weather like this, I put them in the refrigerator because the berries are so juicy.

 I'm off to work on a couple of doll quilts.
Happy quiltmaking........

Happy Birthday--and an Easy Recipe

 I came home to the scent of chocolate cake.  Sweet Teen said she was disappointed because she wanted it to be a surprise.  It was a surprise, just not timed the way she would have preferred. I suggested that it would be really, really hard to surprise someone when the house is filled with lovely chocolate cake smells.
The really fantastic thing about this cake, aside from it's great flavor and texture, is that it's a "scratch cake"--a devil's food cake from the Betty Crocker cookbook, made with no adjustments for our high altitude, and it came out beautifully perfect.  I'm thinking it must have something to do with the fact that it was baked in a DeMarle pan. The cake was gorgeous as it came from the pan, but Sweet Teen also made chocolate cream cheese icing, from scratch, of course.

She mentioned later that she had had no idea what "shortening" was--so she looked it up on the internet.

We should probably do more cooking together, but with my long intense days, I'm often not good company after work--just way toooooooo exhausted and need time to unwind from the assaults.

She also made one of our favorite blustery day--or cold day, or both kinds of days--winter casseroles.

Yep, we dug right in.  This is a very hearty casserole, great for a few meals in the cold of winter.

Sweet Teen's Sausage Potato Dinner

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Sprinkle a couple of ounces of grated sharp cheddar cheese in the bottom of a DeMarle pan (Sweet Teen used the Sunflower Mold) or a casserole pan.

With kitchen shears, cut a link of turkey kielbasa (or a similar sausage) into slices about 1/8 inch thick. Scatter a few slices around the bottom of the pan.

Add alternating layers of potato cubes (or frozen hash browns), a couple of ounces of grated sharp cheddar, and potatoes.  (We do use frozen potatoes because our time is so limited.) End with another sprinkle of grated sharp cheddar.

Add enough milk to 1 cup of sour cream to make it "liquidy enough to penetrate the layers.

From the looks of this one, Sweet Teen sprinkled a mixture of Herbs de Provence over the top.  (I usually stir them into the milk/sour cream mixture--but I'm not sure it makes much difference which way they are added.)

Bake for about 1 hour.

We often scatter frozen peas or frozen sliced carrots throughout this dish too.

Since this makes a good sized casserole and since it is so rich, we have a simple salad with it and usually get several lunches from the leftovers.

She made the cake in DeMarle's fluted square mold.  Cakes (and almost anything else) come out of these molds looking as if you worked some magic glazed finish on them--I think she frosted this one so she could write her message to me.

One of the nicest things was that since she cooked, I did the dishes, and since she used the DeMarle pans, it took somewhere between ten and thirty seconds to wash each pan.

A few years ago, I recognized that although most people think I cook because I love to cook, the real reason I cook is to nourish people I love.  The other day Sweet Teen and I both commented that although we enjoy the food [and enjoy it a lot more knowing cleaning up with DeMarle will be so fast], we both cook because we love someone we're cooking for.

A blessing: so far the family and friends who have reported in have reported that they escaped harm from the tornadoes that have besieged so many in Mid-America and the South.  Our prayers go out to those who've lost property or loved-ones, and we thank those who immediately pitched in to help with clean up.

 

Autumn Cooking and Getting Stuck

One of the things I love about fall is the fact that using the oven is so much more pleasant.  On my treadle sewing machine list a topic of conversation has been cleaning pans after cooking.  I confess, that's something I don't really concern myself about, since I can always clean my pans in a few seconds.
That wasn't always the case.
About six or seven years ago, one of my friends told me about DeMarle at Home.  By now most people probably know about Silpats, even if they haven't bought one.  At that time I hadn't even heard of them; then my friend began selling DeMarle products--and I fell in love with cooking nutritious meals and cleaning up (in a hurry).  DeMarle products are made in France to extremely high standards.  Their products are made from silicone and a glass mesh--and have almost nothing in common with the silicone cooking products you may have used or purchased elsewhere.  They literally clean up in seconds!  Other people make gooey or messy foods in pans that they throw away or soak for hours after cooking.  I no longer hesitate to make gooey or messy foods.  I do make the concession of using a silpat on a perforated aluminum tray beneath the Flexipans when there's likely to be a spill or bubble-over. The acorn squash above could have been a mess because I had to cut off the very pointy end of one of the squash halves to get it to sit upright--and then before it was done cooking, the buttery, spicy sweetness inside ran all over the bottom of the pan--creating what would have been a caramelized challenge if I hadn't had access to a Flexipan.
(The other cool thing about these pans, a trick I use with the muffin pans, is that they can be turned inside out to make clean up even easier!)
I don't work for the company--but I would if I could manage it!
Next up:

Ever just get stuck during the quilt-top process?  I'm stuck right now--and neither EQ7 nor a mechanic ;-) would help. Over a month ago I picked out these for a quilt for Mary's birthday.  Some of these fabrics are gifts from Mary--she's given me quite a few fabrics for prayer quilts, and she really, really deserves a quilt.  But I just can't get moving on it.

It's not the only quilt top I'm stuck on.  I'm also stuck on a purple/gray/white one for a nephew--it's a prayer quilt.

And I'm guessing that despite how much I need quiltmaking therapy, I'm not likely to get much of it with the really long commute that begins Monday and will be part of my life for the rest of this academic year.
Trying to stay positive--a lot of niceness from fellow staff members at the school I've been at for seven years has been gratefully received in the last week--and I banked it in memories and am going to be drawing on it frequently, I'm sure.

Sentinals of Spring: A Flower and Strawberry Crepes

One lone narcissus. I think this one was just checking--so she could tell the others if it's safe to come out. I surely do hope so.  We live a couple of thousand feet higher than Albuquerque and where I work, and we have the added "benefit" of high winds, so it takes several more weeks to actually accomplish spring than those other areas.

Yesterday was solo and ensemble adjudication for bands from around our area.  (Be aware that our "area" is larger than quite a few entire states.)  Alex was incredibly nervous as usual.  Of course, I found myself reminding her that her value as a human being has nothing whatsoever to do with the rating she gets and that it's okay to just relax and enjoy the experience.  She was still more nervous than I'd like, but she did receive a superior rating.  She's glad the competition was yesterday because today her throat is really swollen and sore.  I think it's allergies; she really hates taking the nutritional supplements that make them less extreme.

Due to the severity of her sore throat (and the fact that the choir has the morning off), we stayed home.  I made these:

Crepes, fresh strawberries, and whipped cream.  Alex was definitely not happy about that.  She said she wanted french toast.  Too bad!  She has no idea how lucky she is to have a mom who makes crepes for her.

I use a very basic French recipe: 1 part eggs, 1 part milk, 1 part flour.  Today I used 3 eggs, 1 cup milk (whisked together); 1 cup flour, whisked into the liquid mixture until there are only a few baby lumps left. Because these were to be served with fruit, I added about a tablespoon of blue agave syrup (because it's very low glycemic) and a dash of vanilla. (Sometimes I use almond extract instead.) I then let it sit in the mixing bowl while I sliced strawberries and made whipped cream. Then I took my sweet time cooking the crepes over medium low heat.  As they finish I stack them rougher side up on a plate and separate them with Kabnet Wax tissue on my stove's warming center. (I don't think it's waxed; in the "old" days, I precut sheets of waxed paper.)

Then I lift each one to the side, still on the tissue square, and fill it, then place it on the serving plate.

If I'm making more than I'll need, I omit the sweetener and flavoring so I can stuff them with a cooked chicken/turkey and vegetable mixture later.  Those go into a baking dish until it's time to put a little extra sauce and grated cheese on top and heat in the oven for lunch.

When we used to have 10:00 or 10:30 church services, I loved cooking a real Sunday breakfast for my family.

Before she had eaten anything, Alex asked, "What's for lunch?" Having had my efforts and my crepes shunned, I replied "Whatever you fix, dear?"  (Bad mama!) I realize she's not feeling well--all the more reason not to do the pearls before swine routine today.

Instead, I think I'll go count how many flowers will be ready to burst into bloom this week.