January Cooking

January means more time at home, more cooking.  I've been re-visiting old favorites, tweaking recipes, trying to get things just right, and eating the trial runs!  Finally the blueberry muffins are perfect, tender and yummy, blueberries oozing out on my blue plate, topped with a drizzle of icing.  

I've made artisanal pizza, deconstructed beef stew (incredible!), oatmeal cookies that will fill you up all day long.  We are losing weight steadily because I truly believe made from scratch food, real food, is better for you than a diet.  Oh, and a bit of moderation, which isn't easy when things taste so good.

Real French fries!  I was moaning and complaining about how I don't even bother ordering them anymore with a meal in a restaurant as they are so generic, or so coated with batter.  What's with batter on potatoes anyway????  Mine were easy, fast, crispy and melt-in -your-mouth good.  Fresh ground sea salt dusted on them and they disappeared in minutes.

Pizza, also easy and delicious.  It has taken more experimenting than with other recipes, but now I can whip one out quickly and be fairly consistent in quality.  Below, one I made over Christmas, note the red/green cutting mats.  Fresh ricotta cheese added little pillows of deliciousness.....yum.  And fresh spinach for the touch of green!  I was out of little fresh grape tomatoes, but usually add those for their sweetness and color.

Today we'll coast with very easy stuff, some avocados that I'll use for guacamole, as it is Green Bay Packers and the playoff game.  Oliver likes football as there tends to be lots of yelling from His People as they watch.

Thanks for all the comments on Mud, and I know many of you will simply shake your heads and think wow, weird world of color that Diane lives in.  Yes, I realize many of you simply hate anything dull or drab or hinting of olive green, but as you dip into your guacamole, consider that lovely color for a quilt!  

Below, Kettle Moraine Star, my first true "mud" quilt, with khaki, the color of  men's pants, as the background...................

Keep quilting!  Your work gets better every day.....

Diane

Windows

 

We are still in the Polar Vortex, like much of the country.  Last Sunday we had balmy temps of 30 degrees, sun, no snow, no wind.  We fled the house on a wonderful visit to nearby Wauwatosa, WI, suburb of Milwaukee for a dinner out.  We walked down a charming street filled with small businesses and shops, and I stopped in amazement to see two big old-fashioned store front windows in a dry cleaner's store filled completely with pots of geraniums, blooming, growing, blossoming in the afternoon sun.

 

What a complete treat, a luxury to behold in the middle of the frozen winter with sun once a week if we are lucky, and snow and cold almost every day.  The flowers must have been on the sidewalk outside for all of last summer, and then brought in to flourish through the winter in the windows.  The owner saved them, loved them enough to keep them going thru the winter and let us, those who walked by or came in for business, delight in their beauty.  All those shades of pink, rose, red, white! 

 

Note the gloomy, snowy, bleak landscape behind me in the photo, and our reflections too, all bundled up, trudging along.  Sigh.

 

We saw a mini library outside too, next time I'll get a photo of that, they are so charming.  The old shoe store but with modern Clark's in the window, and real moccasins, love that one too.  The chocolate shop, the bakery with incredible confections.  Then we arrived at Balistreri's Italian restaurant, one of our favorite local places, for yummy pizza.  We experienced Christmas all over again with the holiday décor, and spent a very enjoyable time, eating delicious thin crust melt-in-your-mouth real pizza. 

 

 

We're headed to way below zero again, and the icy ferns on my window will reappear, just another winter window for me to enjoy. 

 

I think I spoke too soon about enjoying the treasure hunt in my new Windows 8 computer, eeeeek!  I am finding it so frustrating not to get my old menus, not to be able to easily find and do things, but it is getting better as I conquer this.  I do like the slide shows of the photos from the App screen, much like those in tablets.

 

I reached my breaking point last week trying to print a coupon for the office store.  It was a pdf attachment and showed on a black screen.  No matter what, no menu, no right click, no way to say "PRINT."  Finally I read the Help topics and did a Screen Shot, saved it, and could print that from the little file folder system on my taskbar.  Well, it printed the entire black APP screen plus the coupon, which I did take with me to show my tech guy and ask how to do it.  He didn't know, and they all laughed at my using half an ink cartridge to get the coupon........grrrrr.  I had to laugh too.

 

I figured it out now; I hook up my old Windows 7 Netbook I used for travel, open the email and coupon in that, click Print, and out it comes on white paper, perfect.  There must be a better way.........

 

Then I get an email from HP telling me they will soon have new laptops with Windows 7!  Ah, too late.

 

Hope you are surviving winter, it's a bad one for the entire country.  I am glad I am not driving to teaching gigs, or the airport at 5 a.m. on dicey roads. 

 

Today I was organizing my photos, writing an article for American Quilter Magazine, and found the one, below, of my window in the room I often had at Asilomar where I taught for several years.  I loved that window.  I could relax after class and before dinner and evening events, feel the cool ocean air, smell the Monterey pines, and just "be." 

 

 

 

Soon I hope to crank up my trusty Bernina and do a bit of quilting.  I think Oliver would like to be back in "that room" again, looking out his two front windows, watching the world go by!

 

Keep quilting; don't let the cold grey days stop you.  Your work gets better every day...

Diane

 

 

Classes at Phat Quarters

Main Street in Galena, IL this week was beautiful, a step back in time but had shops and restaurants that were cutting edge, a nice contrast in old and new. I stayed at the beautiful DeSoto House Hotel, built in 1855, and that too was a step back in time. The rooms had very high ceilings and period decor, but yet were simple and comfy. I slept well, and left my cares at the door.

Classes at Phat Quarters Quilt Shop, just around the corner from the huge hotel, and across from the post office, the oldest functioning one in the country, went very well. It was a full house, students squeezed themselves in, but stayed cheerful and eager to learn some free motion skills. Beginners went from nervous to confident and at least to me seemed to have a good time and relax and enjoy machine quilting. I think everyone improved, and the results were very gratifying.

So much was covered in 2 1/2 days of class, and I think it's a great start to getting some of those stacks of quilt tops finished, by yourself, not by another quilter. With a few basic designs, knowledge to adjust the machine stitch so it looks perfect, having even, consistent stitches, and the right thread color and weight, success is right around the corner.

Jane, the owner, treated me one night to fabulous thin crust pizza at a little Italian restaurant down a few blocks from the hotel. It was heaven. I think I ummmmmed out loud there for a moment at my first bite!

There were quilters from out of the area who flew in for the classes and met some midwesterners on their turf. The weather was lovely, warm for November and no rain or snow. This little town is one of the prettiest historic locations, so if you plan on coming, take some time for the shops, historic tours, and restaurants, plus of course the great quilt shop.

I learned some new things from my students and demos that I did on the amazing Bernina 730, and hope to get some new samples made for future classes.

Below, the post office and behind it is where the quilt shop is, the back of my hotel to the right. The town is built on river bluffs, and you can see the very very steep steps carved into the rock hill that go straight up to High St. behind Main. No, I did not climb them! Below that, more photos of the DeSoto House Hotel. Many Civil War figures played their role in Galena's history and stayed at the hotel, including Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas, and you can tour Ulysses S. Grant's home.

More tips on my website as soon as my old laptop can crank itself up, and more info on this blog soon. I have many new tips after working with students in class, fielding questions, and explaining things that I do in my quilting.

My best advice is to work on a real top. Try something not too huge for starters, perhaps a small lap quilt, baby quilt, large wall quilt so you don't feel overwhelmed. Then stabilize it with ditch quilting first, break it down into areas to be quilted, work from the outside in when possible, and do the smallest scale quilting last.

Don't jump around between techniques, but try and do the same styles of quilting and then switch to a different one. For example, quilt all the feathers, then add the pearls in the spines. Then do the backgrounds. This really helps build skill.

Take breaks. Re-boot that mental computer you are using, and don't think you are chained to that sewing machine. Machine quilting takes intense focus and concentration even if it looks very easy when you watch it being done.

Strive for quality, not just speed in machine quilting. Be careful with stops and starts and loose threads. Do your best. You will be happier and your quilt will show your effort.

Keep quilting! Your work gets better every day.

Diane