Clean or Dirty?

Posted on October 1, 2011 by Barb

It’s laundry day here at my house.  Among many other things.  Too many things, too little time.  Story of my life.

So as I was buzzing around doing forty-seven things at once, I dumped a load of clean undies on the couch to fold.  Thirty-four seconds later when I was ready to fold them, this is what I found:

So now my question for you is…… are they clean or dirty?

Doesn’t Boo have that “touch these clothes at your own peril” look in his eye?

And fifty-two seconds later this is what happened:

Doesn’t really matter if they are clean or not, they will remain untouched until this guy decides it’s time to move.  You see, cats rule at our house.  Rule Numero Uno at our house is, “If you have a cat on your lap, you can’t get up.”  Which is really quite great because if you need anything, the other person in the house has to get it for you.  Unless he has a cat in his lap too.  Then everyone just has to wait. 

Unless the bathroom is what you’re needing.  Then the cat just has to understand getting dumped off.

But I digress….

By the way, I vote for clean.  We are cat lovers at our house.  Everything we own has a little cat hair on it.  We’d be in big trouble if cat hair made things instantly dirty around here.

It also looks like the folding of the laundry is going to have to wait a bit.  But since I have 4,673 quilt show pics to organize for a blog post and the guild website, I suppose I can find something else to do while waiting.

And yes, I just displayed my underwear for all the world to see on the internet.  Dear Hubby’s too.  I’m sure that makes him very happy.

Happy Saturday!
Barb

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Homemade Almond Milk

Posted on September 27, 2011 by Barb

Crazy vegan woman here.  With another crazy vegan recipe.  I know, I know.  I’m over the top.  But I can’t help myself.  We’ll get back to quilts in the next post.  I have lots of quilt pics to share.  And a quilt show coming up too!  Stay tuned.

In the meantime, humor me.  Act interested in my healthy diet.  And try some almond milk.  You might actually like it.

 

When it comes to Almond Milk, you can buy it in a box like this.  Or a carton.  If you do buy it, I highly recommend Almond Breeze and not Almond Silk.  Unless you actually like milk that is more like cream.  In other words, thick.  I prefer Almond Breeze on my cereal.

OR…….

You can make your own.  Really.  It’s super simple.  You just need a blender.

You start with almonds.  Big surprise, eh?  You can buy them already blanched or you can blanch your own.  Since I’m going for the Totally Back to Nature Vegan Gal of the Century Award, I blanched my own.  Just pour some boiling water over 1/2 cup of almonds and let them sit a minute.  Then rinse and cover them with cold water.  The skins just fall right off.

See?  Well, they don’t actually fall off.  You kind of have to peel them.  But they peel easily.  Promise.  I just used my fingernail to get it started.

I sat in front of the TV and peeled these.  Oh, come on.  You can do it.  It’s only 1/2 cup of almonds.  Really.  It’ll take about 5 minutes.  Be a crazy vegan woman with me and peel your own almonds.  I need support with this new healthy me.

Put the blanched almonds in the blender with a cup of water.  Add a tsp of vanilla.

I also add a dash of almond extract.  Just to bump up the flavor a bit. 

And because I like it a little sweet……

…. I drizzle in a little agave nectar.  Or you could use a little honey.   And a pinch of salt.

Then just turn the blender on and let ‘er rip for about 2 minutes.  You want to really pulverize those almonds.

Then stop the blender and pour in 4 more cups of water.  Blend again for about 2 minutes.

See how nice and frothy it is?  It really is quite yummy.  I actually like Almond Milk much better than regular cow’s milk.  It’s especially good on oatmeal and cereal.

I usually then pour it through about 3 layers of cheesecloth.  But on this particular picture-taking day, I just used a small strainer and poured it right into my milk bottle.

That’s all there is to it.  Simple.  And really delicious.  And healthy.

This week I also found a recipe for Cashew Milk.  Apparently you can make milk out of lots of things.  The recipe was even more simple.  Just 1/2 cup raw cashews and 2 cups of water.  A little sweetener if you wish.  And a dash of salt.  You can add more water if you like it a little thinner.  This recipe said to soak the cashews in water for about an hour, then drain, rinse and add to the blender with fresh water.  Apparently cashews pulverize easier than almonds.  A softer nut, perhaps?  I didn’t even strain the cashew milk at all.  And it was very tasty on my morning cereal.

In fact, this looks so good I think I’ll have a bowl before I head to bed tonight!

Almond Milk.  Cashew Milk.  If you’ve never tried it before, I challenge you to give it a try.  Very yummy.  And you might just break out in health.

Hugs,
Barb

Posted in food, healthy, recipes | Tagged , , | 7 Comments

A Slideshow of Quilts

Posted on September 23, 2011 by Barb

Next week is my local guild’s Annual Quilt Show in Fort Worth, Texas.  If you’re in the area you might want to come and check it out!  You can get all the details at our website.  So although I should be finishing up my one and only entry in the show, I’m taking time out for blogging instead.  Remember me?  Last Minute Lucy?  I’m still hand quilting my entry with less than a week to go.  Good thing I work well under pressure.

In honor of our upcoming show, I thought I’d give you a bunch of fun quilts to see today.  Last Monday at our monthly Quiltsitters Club at Quilter’s Dream, Beverly asked for the gals to bring some of their very first quilts that they made.  She started off the Show ‘n Tell for the day with these:
 

This log cabin quilt.  It was one of her very, very early quilts.  I should tell you that the requirement to be a part of this club is that you complete a few quilts based on an old book by Mary Ellen Hopkins called, It’s OK if You Sit on my Quilt.  If you’ve been in the quilting world very long, you will recognize that name.  Basic, traditional patterns like this log cabin.  Mary Ellen’s philosophy was to make quilts simple and fast.  The idea being that it is OK to sit on them and use them, because you can just whip out another one.

This is the back of Beverly’s log cabin.  You can’t really see it but she quilted straight lines in the ditch because she didn’t want to cross any seams in her quilting.  And she made it clear that she was showing her quilts first so no one would be embarrassed to show theirs.

By the way, that nice wide blue border?  That’s the binding.  Apparently she hadn’t been taught that it was supposed to be about 1/4″ wide.  And no, it is not full of batting to the edge.  Judges would not give this quilt really high scores.  But it has been loved and used by one of her sons for many years.

See?  Loved and used.  And coming unstitched.  If I knew how to do it, I’d put an arrow on this picture to show you where.  If you look closely, you can probably find it.

This nice double Irish chain was the next quilt she showed.  She learned about this quilt in a lecture class.  She took wonderful notes that said 1½” strips.  Apparently that was supposed to be the finished size.  But she cheerfully cut her strips that size and then had to make a lot more blocks for this quilt because she was committed to it fitting her son’s twin-sized bed.  A nice, tiny double Irish chain.

And this one has been chewed by the dog.

So it got a nice fabric patch.  Out of dog fabric. 

Loved and used.  Even by the dog.

Here’s another simple pattern.  A triple rail fence quilt shown by Susan.  Cute!

Suzann only made 4 log cabin blocks before she decided she’d had enough of those.  And she showed them so quickly, they were just a blur.  Action shot.

Suzann turned her triple rail blocks on point!  And then decided that the crooked binding on this was too challenging to do.  And this poor quilt has been waiting for a binding ever since.  We told her to just whack off the sides and bind it.  But she was having none of that.  She liked this look and still wants to bind it this way.  Have fun with that, Suzann!

A pretty double Irish chain.  With some cool quilting in the open spaces.

A fabulous log cabin by Claudette.  Complete with the ribbon it won when she entered it in a quilt show.

Another triple rail.  It was fun to see these quilts in all different fabric choices.

Another log cabin.  I love log cabin quilts.  Perhaps one day I’ll make more blocks to go with the 25 I’ve already made and actually sew them together in a quilt.  But only if you give me a deadline.

And another triple rail.  Lovely.

This is not, I repeat, not a simple “It’s OK” quilt.  And Susan might not even let you sit on this one when it’s finished.  But we have all kinds of Show ‘n Tell at this group and I especially thought you needed to see this one.  Beautiful.

This one is an It’s OK Sampler quilt.  A bit of Irish chain in the middle with log cabin blocks around.  Flying geese and churn dash too.  Fun quilt!  And I love the red, white and black.

A pretty sampler quilt.  With wonderful quilting too.

Another pretty sampler. 

This quilt is a Magic Nine Patch.  The pattern was created by Beverly.  She is a math genius.  Very simple and quick to make and is our go-to quilt when we need to make one in a hurry.  Strip pieced with wonderful pressing instructions too.  If you don’t have this pattern, you absolutely need it in your pattern stash.

This quilt was a Mystery quilt that the group did recently.

And another.  Same pattern, different fabrics.

How about this fabulous log cabin variation?  Love it!

Foresteen is a relatively new quilter.  She made this wonderful double Irish chain.

And also this pretty one called Mandevilla.  Also from the “It’s OK” book.  Very nice.

Another Magic Nine Patch.  The request was for a camouflage quilt.  I think she did a great job.  And I camouflaged it further by making it really blurry.  Happy to oblige.

Carolyn showed this pretty Christmas quilt she finished.  Fabulous.

Hey JSS gals!  Recognize this fabric?

And finally, another Magic Nine Patch.  In bright, cheery colors.  We actually have kits for this one at the Shop.  Feel free to call them if you want one.  817-481-7105.  The colors are even more fabulous in person!

And now I’d better get back to my quilting.  And organizing things for my job at the Quilt Show.  I also have toasted sesame seeds sitting in a cookie sheet on the counter fresh from their toasting in the oven.  For tahini.  For hummus.  I need to make some roasted red pepper hummus!  My stomach is growling at the very thought of it.

See you at the Quilt Show!
Barb

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Three Soups and a Book

Posted on September 3, 2011 by Barb

I’ve been in a soup kind of mood lately.  All of a sudden.  I think there are a couple of  reasons.  One is this great new cookbook that a friend sent to me.  She was telling me about it and I told her she’d have to share recipes and the next thing I knew there was a cookbook on my front porch.  From Amazon.  She ordered it.  And here it is!

 

12 Best Foods Cookbook.  When I asked my friend what the 12 foods were, she ordered me a book.  And if you squint really hard and are not reading this blog on your Smartphone, you can probably figure them all out!  Healthy things.  I was happy to know that they were things I was already eating.  And now I have a cookbook full of recipes.  So I had to try them out.

The other reason that I was in the mood for soup was wishful thinking.  I was hoping that pretending that Fall was just around the corner would make the temperature lower here in Texas.  Fat chance.  Although I did hear that a cold front is supposed to come through tomorrow.  If you consider 94° cold.  I’m happy to settle for just less hot.  Perhaps cold is on its way? 

See?  Wishful thinking.

And apparently when you buy a used book from Amazon, you never know where it will arrive from.  Thank you San Diego Public Library!

In case you haven’t noticed, I’ve been in a blogging desert lately.  I’m out of the habit.  I’m missing it a lot.  Being out of the habit, I forget things.  Like pictures.  Oh, you have noticed?  I’m so sorry.  I’ll try to do better.  Really, I will.

The first soup I tried from my new cookbook was Sweet and Sour Cabbage Soup.  And man was it yummy.  Dear Hubby declared it so instantly.  After just one bite.  I’ll be making this one again.  Maybe next time I’ll remember to take some pictures?

Please pretend there are ingredients in this pan.  Lovely soup ingredients.  Imagine celery, onion, leeks and carrots all sizzling away in the pan.  Can you see them there?  I’m a hopeless excuse for a blogger these days.

Now picture cabbage and kale being thrown in.  See how healthy it is?  Can you see it?  Picture the veggies after they’ve been steamed and have given up their juices.  That’s exactly what the recipe says “cook tightly covered until the vegetables have given up their juices, 5 minutes.”  Apparently forcing those veggies to let go really makes for a delicious soup.

Next picture………oh, nevermind.  A link to the recipe for the delicious Sweet and Sour Cabbage Soup will be included at the end of this blog.  I’m moving on to Soup #2.  Because I did remember to take pictures of that one!

Soup #2 is Black Bean Minestone and it was yummy too.  This one uses Swiss chard.  I’m all about getting our daily serving of greens into our tummies any way possible these days.

You start with leeks, celery, carrots and onion for this one.  Very similar to Soup #1!  One medium leek, just the white part, halved and sliced; one rib of celery, thinly sliced; one medium carrot, thinly sliced; one chopped onion.

By the way, please notice my new cutting board.  My Dear Niece bought it for me when she and my Dear Sis visited in July.  I love my new bamboo cutting board!

Throw them all in a pot with 1 tablespoon of sizzling olive oil.  See you can picture them cooking!  Cook them until the onion is translucent over medium-high heat.  It should take about 4 minutes.  Then throw in a garlic clove that you have minced in the 4 minutes that the other stuff was cooking.  And cook for 3 minutes more, stirring often.

Add 4 cups of vegetable or chicken stock, 3 cups of coarsely chopped Swiss chard, 1 medium potato, cubed, 6 tomatoes, seeded & diced and a heaping tablespoon of tomato paste.  Simmer until the potato is tender, about 10 minutes.

Add a can of black beans, drained and rinsed.  The recipe calls for a cup, but I just threw in the whole can.  We like beans at our house.  And black beans are one of the 12 Best Foods.  I figured you can’t eat too many.  Cook for about 5 minutes or until the beans are heated through.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.

That’s it!  Oh, wait.  I have a picture of the final product in the bowl.

Healthy.  Very healthy.  And equally yummy.

How about a close up of the spoon?  Just before I took a nice big bite.  Good stuff.

On to Soup #3!  Are you souped out yet?  Too bad.  You’re getting one more.  I’m all about giving you choices today.

Soup #3 is Scotch Oatmeal Soup.  Who knew you could put oatmeal in a soup?  It’s actually steel-cut oats and I will use them again in other soups.  They add a nice crunchy-ness and thicken up the broth really well.  And if you didn’t know what it was, you’d probably think it was rice.  Or some other grain.  Oh, wait!  It is some other grain!

Steel-cut oats.  Not just for breakfast any more.

This time you use canola oil.  Heat it over medium-high heat.  Throw in one chopped leek (this might be my new favorite soup ingredient), one sliced carrot and one chopped onion.  Stir to coat everything with the oil.  Then throw the lid on the pot, reduce the heat to medium and let them cook and “release their juices,” about 10 minutes.

Next you’ll need 1/2 a cabbage.  This is Savoy cabbage.  I needed it for Soup #1.  And although Soup #3 just called for cabbage, this is what I had.  It says to quarter it, remove the core and then slice it into 1/2″ strips.  I think my slices might have been a bit smaller.  You know us quilters.  The only measurement we know is a scant 1/4″.  I don’t think it was terribly important in the grand scheme of things.

Mix the cabbage in the pot, cover and cook until the cabbage is wilted, 8-10 minutes.

I peeked at about 7 minutes to see how wilted it was.  How are you supposed to tell with the pot covered?

Next you add in a 15 oz can of diced tomatoes, 4 cups vegetable stock, 1/2 cup steel-cut oats, 1 tsp dried thyme, 1/2 tsp sugar, 1 bay leaf and 1/2 tsp salt.  Then season to taste with coarse black pepper.  At our house that means about 6 tablespoons.  Not really.  But we do like our pepper!

Stir this all together and simmer uncovered for about 30 minutes or until the oats are cooked and the cabbage is tender.

The oats caused the soup to thicken quite nicely.  Dear Hubby likes thicker soup, not the broth-y kind.  This is destined to become one of our favorites!

Here it is in my bowl.  Right before I took a nice big bite. 

I mean, after all.  I had to be The Official Taste Tester, now didn’t I?  And I declared it yummy too.

Here’s a link to each recipe – for easy printing.

Sweet and Sour Cabbage Soup

Black Bean Minestone Soup

Scotch Oatmeal Soup

I can hardly wait to move on to other things in this cookbook.  I got a little stuck on Chapter 3 – Soups.  I’m also anxious to try Sweet Potato Carrot Soup.  And Salmon & Creamed Corn Chowder.  But I’m equally excited to try Garlic Roasted Tomatoes.  And Salmon Fried Rice.  Or how about Mexican Chicken Stew with Black Beans?

Who knows?  Maybe Fall will be here before we know it.

Soup’s On!
Barb
P.S.  The 12 Best Foods in case you couldn’t read them on the book cover are:  blueberries, black beans, sweet potatoes, oatmeal, salmon, spinach, broccoli, tomatoes, chocolate, walnuts, soy and onions.  The author gives you fabulous information about each food in Chapter 1.  And the foreword was written by Dr. Oz!  Great book.  I have the best friends.

Posted in food, healthy, recipes | Tagged , , | 9 Comments

Deadlines Rule!

Posted on August 15, 2011 by Barb

Let’s hear it for deadlines!  It’s the only way I get anything done around here.  But then, you already knew that about me, didn’t you?

Today the new schedule comes out for classes at Quilter’s Dream, where I work.  So it was time for me to come up with a new quilt.  Since life’s been a bit complicated lately, I decided to go for a simple quilt.  One that could be made quickly in my busy schedule.
 

I chose some pretty batik fabrics.  Even fabric selection was simple since the pattern only required four.  Another plus in my busy life.

The pattern came from the book, Favorite Quilts, by Fons & Porter.  With a little pile of sashing strips.

Garden Window.  Even the name makes me want to create the quilt.

I knew I was going to need a little fortification (aka caffeine) to get me through the whole day of sewing.  Since I’d waited until the last minute and the deadline was looming.  So I made a whole pot.  I may never sleep again.  And I thought the cool snowflakes on the cup would make me forget it was still 100° outside.  Wishful thinking.

Boo wanted to help.  He’s such a helpful cat.  Or perhaps I’m confusing help with getting in the way?

Maybe he just wanted my coffee.  I can’t turn my head for one second or he drinks right out of my cup.  A coffee loving cat.  That’s Boo!

He tried to distract me and divert my attention.  Look, Ma!  Over here!  See how he’s pointing the other way from the coffee cup?

Then he decided to really get into the sewing.  He was quite focused on the work.

Soon he was all wrapped up in half square triangles.  So he gave up and just went to sleep.

Isn’t he cute when he’s sleeping? It’s a good thing he likes to sleep or I wouldn’t get a thing done on my project.

 

We clip dog ears off our half square triangles at my house.  No dog ears here!  After all, we are a cat family.

Chain piecing rocks when you’re in a hurry.  Or when you have a deadline.  That’s looming.

And Boo continued to nap.  Good for Boo.

The quilt top is coming together.  Sashing strips added to one side of each block.

Ta da!  OK, so it’s only half a quilt.  But at least it’s half!  And later this week when I finish the bottom half and add the borders, I’ll get a picture with better lighting.  What do you expect at 3:00 in the morning anyway?

Please disregard all the extra stuff in the picture above.  My design wall is a work in progress.  With lots of progress happening on it.  In my dreams.

I have a very good excuse for only getting half done.  And pictures too.  Perhaps when I become a real blogger again, I’ll share them with you.  I know you want to see them.

Deadlines.  Gotta love ’em!

Hugs,
Barb

Posted in Boo, classes, quilts | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments