Archive for July, 2011

Don’t you just love laying out your quilt blocks to see the progress?  It also helps me to see what my quilt needs as far as color and pattern.

I’ll finish this quilt in bits and pieces.  I love setting a goal of how many blocks to make a day.  10 blocks is my goal.  It’s a humble, doable goal-  one I can accomplish with only a minutes a day.

Yes, I know I’ve already shared this more than once.  But it’s finished.  I need to wash, block and frame it now… and I’m daunted by that, as I never was when stitching.   The embroidery and the quilt above will be in the same room… and I love seeing them together in photos.  I loved every stitch and really was heart broken to finish.  If you are interested in the pattern, it’s available from Sarah Jane Studios as a PDF download.  I traced it because I was too impatient to go to the store, but you could be smart and use a printable transfer paper.

For the frame, I feel like I should make something, you know, make it do.  But we’ll see.  I don’t know any old homes or barns being pulled down where I could salvage some window-pane wood, so I may just buy a frame.  The 8″ x 8″ shape may mean a custom mat.

Summer is rolling along at such a fast pace, but at least we are getting in some wonderful reading…

Thanks to a reminder from a reader, I went down to my storage bookshelf and dusted off my old copy of The Secret Garden and am reading it to my girls.  It’s an illustrated copy by Graham Rust, that my mom gave me for my 17th birthday.

The girls love the Secret Garden as much as I hoped they would.  It’s such a lovely read aloud.

The boys are reading Fablehaven by Brandon Mull.  My son tried to read it on his own last summer, but gave up because it starts slowly.  My husband is reading it aloud this summer.  He said it took 50 pages or so to really get going, but now they are totally hooked.  They are already on book two and they can’t get enough.  We read it around the campfire late at night and it was a wonderful campfire book.  He read it on his own for miles while we drove.

My husband and I also started listening to the A Game of Thrones audio book for our long drive to the Tetons and through Yellowstone.  The book was my husband’s choice, and I was SO skeptical since fantasy isn’t really my cup of tea.  Well, I did love Tolkien and C.S. Lewis, so I’m not totally against the category.  But I was skeptical none the less.

But guess what?  I’m hooked.  Weeds in my garden beware, I get so much more weeding done when I have a good book I’m listening too.

I’m also reading Plate to Pixel by Helene Dujardin.  It’s a wonderful read for anyone hoping to improve their food photography skills.  I hope it makes a difference in mine.

It’s time to get serious about school clothes and bags.  I’ve been working on a school bag pattern, which I hope to have ready by next week sometime.  I just need to clone myself.  Instead of working on it today, we’re off to the swimming pool with our cousins…. so patterns and sewing will wait.

In the summer heat when I can hardly bear to turn on the oven, nothing makes me happier than a good salad for dinner.

This salad is out of this world good, easy enough for dinner tonight and lovely enough to serve for company.  Serve it with grilled fish or chicken and you’ve got a great meal.

The recipe comes from my sister-in-law Jen who has been experimenting with salads all summer long, much to our delight.  With summer raspberries in season, this is a must make salad now all the way through fall raspberries.  And since the vinaigrette can be made with frozen raspberries, be sure to preserve the bounty of the season by freezing some berries for the winter.

Here’s how to make this delicious salad:

Start by making the vinaigrette.  You can make it in a blender, small bowl of your food processor, or even with a whisk.  Add vegetable oil.

Red wine vinegar.

Add 6 fresh or frozen raspberries.  If you are whisking, mash them with a fork.

Add raspberry jam.  Thankfully I still have raspberry freezer jam left from last year.

Dijon mustard is one of my favorite ingredients in a vinaigrette.

I love poppy seeds in a vinaigrette too.  So pretty.

A 1/4 teaspoon of onion powder is fast and easy.  If I have it, I also love a couple of tablespoons of minced shallots in it’s stead.

Blend it together.  Isn’t that color gorgeous.

Candy the pecans by adding butter and sugar to a saute pan over medium heat.  Once melted add the pecans and cook for one minute.  Turn out onto a sheet of wax paper to cool.  Break apart with a fork before tossing on the salad.

Layer the salad and drizzle with the viniagrette and serve.  It takes restraint not to lick the plate clean.

Summer Raspberry Salad with Raspberry Poppy Seed Vinaigrette

For the vinaigrette:

1/2 cup vegetable oil

6 whole raspberries (they may be frozen raspberries)

3 Tablespoons red wine vinegar

2 Tablespoons raspberry jam

1 Tablespoon sugar

1 Tablespoon Dijon mustard (Country Style is best)

1 teaspoon poppy seeds

1/4 teaspoon onion powder

Mix together in a blender or small bowl of a food processor.

To candy the pecans:

2 Tablespoons butter

2 Tablespoons sugar

1/2 cup of pecans

Add butter and sugar to a saute pan over medium heat.  Once melted toss in pecans and cook for one minute.  Turn out onto waxed paper to cool.  Break apart with a fork before adding to the salad.

For the Salad:

Mixed lettuce greens of choice- I love Spring Mix mixed with Spinach)

Fresh raspberries

Candied pecans

Sliced red onion

Crumbled feta cheese

Diced avocado is optional

Layer ingredients on a platter, drizzle with the vinaigrette.